~#~ (Chapter 10)

Virgil and Gordon stood guard outside the bathroom while Scott had a wash, cleaned his teeth and then slowly dressed himself in a t-shirt and some loose-fitting cotton slacks.

"I feel like I haven't eaten in a week," he grumbled as he left the bathroom, rubbing his stomach. "I don't think I'll risk anything solid yet but I'll have some more of that tea if there's any left."

Gordon shook the flask. "You only had a bit, Scott so there's plenty left and it should still be pretty warm. Grandma promised she'd make some more if you needed it. Where do you want it?"

Scott stood by the window and looked out. "It's a bit windy for sitting outside. Let's aim for the sitting room and see who's about. I want to check on One first though. Just so I can see for myself that she got back safely."

Gordon looked at Virgil who smiled back. "She's fine, Scotty," he chuckled. "…but yes, by all means, we'll check on her on the way."

~#~

After checking on One, Virgil and Gordon dragged a visibly-flagging Scott into the sitting room and dropped him onto one of the sofas. Jeff, who was sitting at his desk, pulled his glasses off and looked across at them. "Should you be up?" he asked.

Scott scrubbed a hand through his hair and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Possibly not," he sighed. "…but I wanted to check on One. I only wanted to take a look and check she was alright but I admit that climbing the gantry to the cockpit may have been overdoing it a little."

Virgil scowled down at his brother. "Like I told you it would be when you first suggested it. You've eaten nothing, drunk very little and have been violently sick a number of times. You…" Virgil paused and waved his hand around in front of himself. "You've used up your energy reserves and you're running on empty, Scott. However tough you think you are, you're not going to be back up to speed for several days and you'll turn that into weeks if you insist on overdoing it."

Even though the tirade was in no way aimed at him, Gordon backed away from his brothers and went to stand by the picture window. He rested his head on the glass sheet, stared downwards at his beloved pool and silently listened to the goings on in the room behind him.

Jeff stepped out from around his desk and squatted on the floor in front of the sofa. "Scott," he said softly. "Listen to your brother. You may not like what he's got to say but he's got your best interests at heart. I know you don't like showing anything that could be perceived as a weakness but, Scott, it's not weak to ask for help when you literally cannot stand up on your own two feet."

Scott nodded and rested the elbow of his right arm on the arm of the sofa. He let his head sink into his hand and sighed. "I'm grounded. Aren't I?"

Jeff reached out and rested a hand on Scott's shoulder. "You know the answer to that without me having to tell you. You wouldn't let your brothers out in the condition you're in, now would you?"

Scott shook his head and let out something that sounded suspiciously like a sob. He breathed hard for a moment, bit down against his lip and used Jeff's shoulder to lever himself to his feet. "I can't do this now," he croaked. "I'm going to bed. Don't bother coming to get me if there's a call out. I can't do anything without my ship."

Virgil reached for his brother but found himself being brushed aside as Scott hurried from the room. Jeff held his hand out and grabbed Virgil's arm to stop him following. "No," he murmured. "Let him go. Whatever this is, it's really done a number on him. I think it's time we got everyone together to discuss exactly what went on out there and by everyone I mean you, me, Gordon, Alan and John. I do not mean to include Scott in this for the time being. He's…Gordon, what on earth are you doing?"

Gordon had been listening in on Jeff and Virgil's conversation with his forehead still resting on the window. He had been concentrating hard on the words and the emotions they were conveying and had blocked out almost everything else. His communicator had sounded, startling him badly and he had jumped and hit his head against the glass pane in front of him. When his head hit the glass, Gordon had yelped and Jeff spotted him just as he'd stumbled backwards, cursing loudly. Gordon pressed a hand against his forehead and peered at his watch. "You'll have to have the discussion without me," he announced. "I've been summoned."

Virgil took a step forward and opened his mouth to speak before almost-immediately changing his mind, stepping back and closing his mouth with an audible click.

"Virg knows everything that I do, Dad," Gordon said softly, well aware that Virgil was only a hairs-breadth away from snapping at Scott's apparent sudden favouritism of his water-loving brother. Scott and Virgil were usually inseparable and Gordon couldn't comprehend the pain that Virgil was going through watching Scott suffer while being able to do very little to help. "I'm sorry, Dad, Virg, I've got to go."

Jeff nodded and the pair watched as Gordon hurried from the room. Jeff patted Virgil's arm and turned to face him. "Just be glad he's not trying to go through this alone," he murmured. "For all his joking and acting the fool, Gordon's got a sensible head on his shoulders and he won't let Scott do anything stupid. I only wish I knew exactly what it was that we were dealing with."

~#~

Gordon stepped quietly up to Scott's door and paused with his hand over the door controls. He took a deep breath, tapped his code into the door to open it and stepped inside. He wandered quietly though into Scott's bedroom and frowned when he saw his brother.

Scott was lying on his bed with his back towards the door. His arms were wrapped around his head in a protective manner and his face was hidden from view.

"Scott," Gordon whispered. "Are you awake?"

There was the briefest twitch from Scott's head which Gordon took to be a nod. "Are you alright?"

This time there Scott gave a definite shake of his head and attempted to curl himself into a ball. The only result of this was that his knees hit the plasterboard wall and he flopped onto his back with a groan. After a moment or two and he uncurled the arm nearest to Gordon and held it out, leaving the other one covering his face.

Gordon smiled sadly and clambered onto the bed, tucking himself under Scott's outstretched arm and snuggling against him. Scott pulled him close and sighed. "I lost the tea," he whispered despondently. "...so I'm back to square one. All I need now is the IV back and it'll be like most of today never happened." Scott finally let his other arm fall away from his face and Gordon could see he'd been crying. "God, I wish I could turn it further and make it that all of today never happened. I don't like this, Gords. I don't want to be dependent or needy or…or…"

"…sick?" Gordon finished for him. "You can't help being sick, Scott. It's a natural bodily function. A nasty one, I'll give you that but it's completely natural." Scott snorted and peered at him with bloodshot eyes. "You're not being unnecessarily dependent or unreasonably needy but even if you were, I wouldn't care. I don't know what's caused all this and I'm not going to ask; just know that I'm here if you need me."

Scott sniffed loudly and rolled onto his side facing Gordon and wrapped both arms around him. To anyone looking in at that moment it would have looked as if Scott was comforting Gordon rather than the other way around but the eldest was drawing strength from his younger brother. "Stay with me," he whispered. "I'm sick, I'm grounded and I'm a mess."

Gordon rolled his eyes. "I'm not going anywhere," he replied. "You've been there for me my entire life, Scott and if I can pay back even the tiniest bit of that then I will. As for being a sick, grounded mess, I have to remind you that we haven't even been home a whole day. You've puked your guts up more times than I'd like to count today, you've blacked out twice and your emotions are shot to hell. You can't expect to get over…well, anything in such a short space of time, Scott so please, please give yourself a break."

Scott smiled tiredly and snuggled his face into Gordon's neck. "I don't think I'm going to have a lot of choice in that matter," he admitted. "If I try and get up at the moment I may well find myself on the floor."