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For a moment, Jeff could only watch as Virgil skidded along the floor on one knee, somehow managing to get in between Scott and the floor, catching his brother awkwardly. Due to the angle and Scott's dead weight, Virgil was unable to hold his brother up for any length of time and quickly lowered him down again.
"Infirmary, now!" he practically barked, and, hurrying forward, Jeff made to help his son.
"What about...?" His question hanging in mid-air, Alan stepped forward uncertainly, clearing wanting to help, but not knowing what he could do that would mean he wasn't in the way. Glancing at him over his shoulder, Virgil knew precisely what his youngest brother was going to ask. What they should they do about Gordon? The redhead looked slightly stunned to say the least as he watched his father and brother with Scott, but Virgil couldn't help but notice there was a strange light burning in his eyes, a look there that Virgil was not expecting to see.
"No time."
"I can get John..."
"Alan, what's the point?"
Sensing his father's warning look at his blunt tone, the medic sighed irritably, hooking his hands under Scott's shoulders and half-lifting his brother. As Jeff took Scott's feet, the two of them somehow managed to hoist him back into the air and slowly but surely, the two of them began to carry the pilot towards the one room in the house he hated more than anywhere else. Gordon snapped himself out of his daze, jogging ahead to make sure the way was clear and most likely darting into Brains' lab on the way past to let him know what was going on. Other than Virgil, the resident genius was the one all of the boys trusted when it came to their health. In fact, since he didn't moan at them for not reporting an injury in the same way as their brother did, all of the boys had gone straight to Brains more than once if it meant avoiding the wrath of Virgil.
Sure enough, as soon as Virgil and Jeff finally reached the infirmary - Jeff motioning to Alan to open the doors and so give them access to the array of medical equipment waiting within - Gordon was not the only one in there.
"W..w...what h...happened?" Brains stuttered, pushing his glasses further up his nose as he waited patiently for the Tracys to dump Scott – somewhat unceremoniously – on the nearest bed. Almost instantly the father found himself forcibly nudged out of the way as Virgil bustled around, hooking his brother up to a variety of different monitors, his brow furrowed as he muttered to himself, clearly trying to work out precisely what had caused his brother's collapse. When no one answered Brains – three out of the four Tracys being slightly unsure of what to say for fear of Gordon's reaction – Virgil eventually opened his mouth.
"He was being too stubborn for his own good."
"T...that doesn't, uh, h...help," Brains muttered, trying to sidle closer to the bed to examine the patient for himself, only to find that he was subjected to the same treatment as Jeff and pushed out of the way. Virgil had always been the same way: if he could do a job, there was no way he was about to let someone else try and do it for him, especially not when it concerned his brothers' health. Glancing over his shoulder as Gordon hitched himself onto the opposite bed, his legs swinging freely as he tried to keep out of the way, Virgil knew that they couldn't hide it any longer. Not if this was the consequence.
"His body temperature is far too low."
"W...why?" Brains asked, causing Jeff to curse softly under his breath. With everything else that had taken place over the last day or so, he had completely forgotten that the debriefing for the rescue had never happened. This was the very reason why he had always insisted one took place, just in case something like this happened. Everyone on the island needed to know of any problems the rescuers might have, keeping secrets just didn't work in their organisation, despite its very existence being the biggest secret of them all.
"That's what happens when you get stuck in a freezer," Gordon responded casually, causing Virgil's hands to slip from where he had been trying to set the thermal blanket to the right temperature before draping it over the still form of his oldest brother. Instantly, a deadly silence spread throughout the room, Brains frowning in confusion as he glanced between the Tracys. Jeff shut his eyes, taking a deep breath before slowly turning to face his fourth born.
"How long have you known?" he asked quietly, not being sure whether he should be worried by Gordon's relaxed posture. Leaning on his hands, Gordon lounged back on the bed but raised an eyebrow at his father's question. Not knowing where the family was going with this, Brains muttered some excuse and quickly bustled out of the room, clearly not wanting to get in the middle of things.
"Practically since the guys got home. Well, I knew something had happened then, just didn't know what until this morning."
"How?" It was Alan who spoke this time, confusion lining his voice as he stared at his usual partner in crime, wondering how Gordon could be taking it so calmly. He knew how it felt to be left out from knowing something that could have cost one of the brothers their lives, but, unlike his explosive reaction, Gordon simply shrugged.
"It was easy. Sorry, Al, but if I've never been able to get Scott into the sickbay of Two, there is no way you could have tricked him in. And Virg, do you really think I would believe you helped Alan? I know what you are like on rescues."
"And the freezer part?" Virgil asked quietly, returning to his task. Within moments, Scott was almost obscured from view under the blanket, but, his eyes flickering to the screen that was monitoring his brother's temperature, Virgil was satisfied that it would not take very long before Scott regained consciousness; his body had reacted well to the blanket. The medic knew this had only happened because his stubborn older brother had refused to let him check him out properly once they had returned to the island, claiming they needed to keep it from Gordon. He was just lucky that people had been around when he had collapsed; there could be no telling how bad it might have been otherwise. Running a hand through his hair with a sigh of relief, Virgil sat down heavily on the end of Scott's bed, his attention completely focused on his immediate younger brother. Jeff pulled up a nearby chair, swivelling it around until he was sitting next to Scott, before also turning his attention to his son.
"Alan," Gordon responded simply.
"I didn't say anything!" Alan exclaimed immediately. He turned to face Virgil, innocence plastered over his face supporting his words. For Virgil's part, he simply let his eyes flicker back to Gordon. If the redhead had already figured out that something had happened just from the way they were behaving when they arrived home – something that Virgil should have known would have provoked suspicion, considering how lax about their usual protocol they had all been, even Jeff - then he knew that Alan wouldn't have needed to say anything. Sure enough, Gordon's next words confirmed his suspicions.
"You didn't have to, Sprout."
"So how did you know?"
"Your face."
"Oh charming," Alan muttered, sitting down on the floor and crossing his legs as he did so. The look in his baby brother's eyes didn't escape Virgil's notice as he glanced across at Scott before removing the pilot from his eye line. Sighing, the medic made a mental note to check on Alan later. The kid had always looked up to their oldest brother in a way that bordered on worship, and the rest of them were well aware of how much it affected the young man when something happened to the elder.
"What do you mean, son?" Jeff prompted, still at a complete loss as to where Gordon was going with this. He knew that whilst Alan hadn't liked being kept in the dark himself, he certainly wouldn't have gone against his brothers and let the redhead know. The fact that Virgil and Scott were disagreeing as it was didn't matter, their younger brother didn't know that at the time.
"When you told Tin-Tin that you couldn't reach the ice-cream she wanted and she suggested getting Scott to go and get it."
Shutting his eyes with a groan, Alan rested his head in his hands. He had completely forgotten that Gordon had been in the room for that. All he had thought about was there was no way that Scott was going into another freezer; the image of his barely conscious brother was still burnt into his mind's eye. If he was honest, whilst he may have realised that Gordon would have picked up on his reaction – despite normally being partners, there were occasions where even Gordon would play the big brother card – Alan didn't know that his brother was already on the way to figuring out what had happened. If Gordon hadn't thought something was wrong, he would have been able to gauge nothing from Alan's reaction.
Watching him, Virgil sighed. Only Gordon would have been able to figure out what had happened through reactions like that. Thinking about his troublesome brother, Virgil found he was hard pushed not to mirror Alan's actions and groan out loud when he thought back to something Gordon had said on the obstacle course. He had claimed that he was letting it go because nothing had happened on the previous rescue. But even when he had uttered those words, the aquanaut had had some idea that something was going on, even if he hadn't yet worked out precisely what. Had he been testing his brothers, waiting to see whether they were going to come clean with him or lie to his face? Wondering if the blunt tactic would work this time, Virgil opened his mouth.
"Are you okay, Gordy?" Whilst his voice was low, Virgil found that he was watching Gordon closely, waiting to see if there was the slightest flicker of emotion that would betray him. For his older brother was sure that the younger man was simply going to brush everything off. It came as a bit of a surprise when Gordon turned to face him head-on.
"Why wouldn't I be? Think I might be worried that something weird is going on? I mean, it's not like this is the second accident to happen in as many rescues, both ones where people's lives weren't in direct danger as such. It's not like the rest of my family decided that lying to me might be better than telling me that my brother nearly died. So wouldn't I be okay, Virg?"
Shutting his eyes, Virgil swallowed hard. This was precisely why he had disagreed with Scott about keeping Gordon in the dark. Whilst Gordon's voice had been light-hearted, sounding just like his usual self, Virgil found that made his words cut even deeper.
"Now you know what it feels like," Alan muttered under his breath, causing Virgil to roll his eyes.
"Not helpful, Alan."
"What would you know about what is helpful or not, Virgil? It's not like anything got kept from you!"
"Yeah, maybe because I've been the one who has had to save their asses both times! Don't tell me I don't know what it feels like, Alan!"
"Boys, enough!"
Both Virgil and Alan immediately fell silent at their father's tone of voice, knowing automatically that they had gone too far. Alan sank further down on the floor, but Virgil glanced across to Gordon. Or, at least, to where Gordon had been, for all that remained now was an empty bed. Turning so he was looking at his father, Virgil was surprised to see Jeff on his feet. He hadn't heard either of them move, finding that his annoyance with Alan had clouded his senses to everything else. But he knew that it wasn't just Alan he was annoyed at, but the whole situation. Things should have never got this far in the first place.
"Virg, gerroff my feet."
Jumping, Virgil leapt up in surprise, Alan scrambling up off the floor as both brothers came to stand side by side, identical smiles stretching across their faces as Scott glanced up at them, trying to sit up. Realising what his brother was trying to do, Virgil stepped forward at the same time as Jeff, both of them instinctively putting hands on Scott's shoulders, trying to force the pilot to stay still.
"Let me up," Scott protested weakly, trying to dislodge his father's hand, seeming to think that it would be an easier task than removing Virgil's.
"No way."
It was his brother who answered him, however, and, putting more weight behind his hand, Virgil glared at him.
"Virg..."
"No, Scott. If you hadn't been so adamant about hiding things from Gordon, this wouldn't have happened.
"Virgil, shh!" Scott hissed, his eyes darting around the room. It came as a surprise to see Alan watching his struggles, but no Gordon in sight. Thinking that perhaps the rest of the family had been able to cover up his collapse, Scott smiled in relief. Seeing the smile – and correctly interpreting it – Virgil frowned down at his stubborn brother.
"He knows, Scott."
"You promised you wouldn't tell him!"
"No one told him, son, your brother figured things out for himself." Jeff's words did what their hands could not, and Scott fell back against the pillows with a long groan. The fact Gordon wasn't in the room showed just how well that had gone down.
"Is he..?"
"We don't know if he is okay or not; he left when Alan and Virgil were arguing," Jeff continued, shooting the sons in question meaningful looks. Sitting back down on the edge of the bed, Virgil rested his hands against his knees, leaning forward slightly. That was the second time he had had that argument, although with two different brothers. He couldn't help but think he was lucky that John had been able to calm him down, it would have been worse if the star-loving Tracy was annoyed at him as well. All he had wanted to do was what was best for his little brother.
Knowing what he was thinking, Scott leant forward again.
"Not having a good day, Virg?"
"It wouldn't have been so bad if you hadn't been so damn stubborn."
"You know me, Virg," Scott said softly, a touch of a smile ghosting his lips as his brother turned to face him. He had no desire to continue the argument with Virgil, especially considering it would have been more than pointless as Gordon had already discovered what it was they were arguing about. Besides, it was Scott's job as the big brother to try and make Virgil feel better, not worse. "You didn't think I was going to make life easy for you, did you?"
"Would have been nice if it was a bit easier," Virgil muttered, suddenly feeling drained. It had been a long day as it was, what with deciding to do the obstacle course at dawn to beat the heat – regardless of the reason he had given Gordon – then his initial argument with Scott and now this. It wasn't even lunchtime yet, and Virgil felt like it should at least be early evening.
"It's not exactly been easy for the rest of us either, you know," Alan mumbled, more under his breath than to his brothers as he copied Gordon's earlier position and pulled himself up onto the opposite bed. Taking a deep breath, Virgil had a horrible feeling he knew where this was going. Despite Scott's accident, Alan certainly hadn't the chance to get over what had happened to Gordon, let alone anything else. No sooner had he found out than they had been rushing out on another rescue, another one with slightly dangerous consequences. His previous outburst had already shown that he was fired up, something that was not going to have been helped by Scott's collapse.
"Alan, we told you the reasons behind that..." Virgil began, feeling Scott tense up next to him as the older brother worked out what was going on.
"Just like you told Gordon? That went down really well, didn't it?" Alan snapped back. Feeling his temper beginning to get the best of him, Virgil stood up. Immediately Scott grabbed onto the back of his shirt as Jeff stepped between the two brothers.
"That is enough, the pair of you! What has happened has happened. Admittedly things have been rather shaken up over the last week or so, but there is no need for you to take it any further than it has already gone."
"But Dad -"
"No, Alan. I don't want to hear another word about it. I'm going to be speaking to you all individually about what has happened. Not so much the accidents, they are just unfortunate. But this sudden need to lie to each other, it stops. Now! Lives could be at risk if you lot are acting like small children."
And with that, Jeff strode from the room, pausing long enough to give Scott a swift, but searching look, clearly trying to reassure himself that his oldest son would be alright. Alan followed his father out almost immediately, refusing to meet the eyes of either of his older brothers, clearly not knowing what was going to be said next. No sooner had Alan left than Scott finally let go of Virgil's shirt.
"What happened?" he asked simply.
Virgil knew instantly that his oldest brother wanted to know what had sparked the two of them off before Scott came round.
"He's still angry that we didn't tell him about Gordon."
"And you?" Scott prompted, and, smirking, Virgil knew that he should have known Scott would have realised that Alan wasn't the only one who was worked up. Normally, Virgil was able to hold his temper against his younger brother, unless something had already managed to wind him up beforehand.
"You were being a stubborn ass," he responded truthfully. For a moment, a stunned silence fell between the two boys, until Scott suddenly let out a laugh, reaching forward and ruffling his little brother's hair.
"Virg, did you really expect me to do anything else? You would have been worried if I had let you check me over, admit it."
"Oh shut up," Virgil muttered, feeling the tension drain out of him at Scott's words. He knew Scott wanted to keep his accident from Gordon, just the way Gordon had wanted to keep hisfrom Alan. Yet the only difference between the two occasions was that Virgil had agreed with his brother about Alan. And as for Scott letting the medic check him over, the day that happened without a fight was the day Virgil knew something was seriously wrong.
Before anything else could be said, Virgil's watch suddenly beeped, and, with a smile, he patched the pair of them through to his other older brother.
"Hey, Johnny."
"Virg, are you with Scott?"
"Yeah, why?" Voicing his confusion, Virgil couldn't help but share a puzzled frown with the said brother as John spoke again.
"Can I speak to him?"
"John, why didn't you just call Scott?"
"I wasn't sure whether he would be able to reach his watch."
Virgil couldn't help it; he had to burst out laughing as Scott let out something that sounded like an indignant splutter. After all, that was not the first time Virgil had had to restrained his older brother just to make him stay put; Scott was notorious for not staying in bed when he should.
"Just patch yourself through to him, John, he can reach."
"Where are you going?" Sticking out a hand, Scott made Virgil pause halfway through crossing the room, turning back to face his brother as he did so.
"To find Gordon. We've got some explaining to do."
"Let me know how he is?" Scott all but begged, and, nodding, Virgil turned to leave. Whilst he by no means trusted Scott to actually stay in the infirmary now that he was left on his own, with John talking to him the medic was not as worried as he would normally be. He knew that John would quickly inform him if there was any change in Scott's condition, and, despite not being on the Earth, the blond was scarily talented at being able to make any of the brothers do something. Apart from himself, if there was anyone the artist was happy to leave Scott with, it was John.
He had just exited the infirmary, intending to do precisely what he had just told Scott he was going to do, when raised voices drew his attention. Recognising Jeff's voice, Virgil momentarily pushed thoughts of Gordon aside and crept down the hallway towards the voices. It didn't take him long to figure out that it was Alan his father was arguing with. Shaking his head, Virgil moved past the closed office door, pausing by one of the many windows scattered downthe hallway. Letting the calming movement of the waves draw his attention, Virgil sighed heavily. He knew he wouldn't have to look very far to find Gordon; he was almost certain where he would find the water-loving Tracy. What was playing on his mind more was his father's previous words. What was going on with the family that they were arguing and finding the sudden need to lie to each other? It was not something they had ever done before, and yet over the last week, it had just been lie after lie, attempting to keep one brother or the other in the dark. Alan was right when he said that no one kept Virgil in the dark, but as he crossed his arms over his chest to try and hide his sudden shudder, Virgil thought back on his response. He had been forced to pull his brothers free of potentially deadly situations in both rescues, and he knew deep down that it was only luck he had made it in time for both. They couldn't keep relying on luck.
Forcing himself away from the window, Virgil couldn't help but wonder whether he was suddenly mirroring Gordon's thoughts. If he knew that they couldn't keep relying on luck, did that mean he too thought that there was a chance that there could be another accident? That, just maybe, the accidents were not as accidental as Scott was still claiming. He had no idea how Alan was feeling about them - he hadn't had the time to monitor his little brother, everything had been moving far too quickly since the youngest member of the family had found out. He knew that John had managed to persuade Gordon that the ropes could have been cut by an accident, but thinking back on the conversation they had had in the silos, he knew that his star-loving brother hadn't ruled out the possibility that someone had cut them.
With a sigh, Virgil shook himself free of his musings. He knew that if either John or Scott caught him thinking along those lines, Gordon wouldn't be the only brother that they were suddenly being cautious around, but with everything that had happened so far, Virgil knew that he wouldn't be able to face the concerned looks. Deciding it was about time that he found his missing sibling, Virgil walked slowly down the hallway and into the lounge. Just as he had predicted, Gordon was in the pool. Crossing the room, the artist came to a stop by the doors, his hands resting lightly on his hips as he watched the redhead in the water.
Despite having a presence about him on land that made everyone aware of when Gordon had entered a room, there could be no denying the elegance he possessed when he was in the water. It took Virgil a few moments to allow his eyes to adjust to the speed his brother was moving at, barely making a ripple in the water. Whether Gordon saw him when he came up for air, Virgil could not have said, but the younger man certainly gave no sign that he had. In a way, Virgil hoped his brother hadn't seen him, it was better than the alternative - that he was being ignored.
How long he just stood there, watching Gordon move effortlessly through the water, Virgil could not have said. But after watching his brother complete a perfect turn and send himself forward again, Virgil found himself frowning as Gordon suddenly slowed down. Coming to a stop, the redhead broke the surface, giving Virgil a glimpse of a pain-filled face before he disappeared under again.
Without thinking, the big brother and rescuer in Virgil took over, and he was out of the door before his mind had even registered that Gordon was in trouble. Ripping off his shirt as he ran, the artist was thankful that he had already been wandering around barefoot as he took a running leap and dove into the pool. With a few strong strokes, he reached his brother. Diving under, he hooked one arm around Gordon's chest, striking for the surface with the other.
Immediately coughing as they broke the surface, Gordon found himself leaning back on his brother gratefully as he took in welcoming lungfuls of air. For a moment, he just rested his head against Virgil's shoulder, barely aware of his brother towing him slowly to the side.
"Stupid cramp," he muttered quietly, sounding utterly exhausted. Pulling them onto the steps, Virgil refused to let go of his brother until they were both sitting waist deep in water, Gordon stretching out his leg with a groan as he did so, causing Virgil to wince in sympathy.
"Taking it out on the water a bit too much, kiddo?"
"Something like that," Gordon muttered, not wanting to go into the reasoning behind why he had been pounding out lengthsquite so desperately. He knew it had been dangerous going at that speed without warming up properly, it was one of the lessons his old coach had driven into him relentlessly. But he had been so annoyed with everything that was happening within the family that Gordon had found he didn't particularly think about what he was doing; too busy focusing on burning off some of the frustration. He knew it wasn't the fact that they hadn't told him which was the issue; he hadn't exactly gone out of his way to let Alan know about his own accident, after all. No, that wasn't the case, not without him standing up and admitting he was a hypocrite. It was the fact that the three of them had quite clearly lied to him about why it was Alan flying One home, constructing a whole cover story and thinking that they would actually be able to get away with it.
"You okay, fish?" Virgil asked gently, slinging an arm around his brother comfortingly as he took note of Gordon's uncharacteristic silence. He had a strong feeling it was not the cramp that had restricted the words from his normally vocal brother.
"What's happening to us, Virg?" Gordon asked quietly, staring at the water as the sun danced across the top, glistening prettily. Following his brother's gaze, Virgil once again sighed. He had been thinking the same thing himself.
"I have no idea, Gords."
As the two brothers simply sat there, side by side in the water, an awkward silence fell between them. There could be no denying that something was going on, whether it was related to the accidents or not. One thing was for sure though, and that was that both brothers were thinking the same thing. It stopped. Today.