Alan was sure he was going to pass out from the pain in his ankle, not to mention the other problems he was experiencing. He was now crying, sweating and shaking like there was no tomorrow. He was all in all, a total wreck. Scott placed his youngest brother onto the same infirmary bed he had been in before, then walked back over to the double glass doors, locked them and closed the curtains. Alan looked up with watery eyes as his eldest brother perched on the corner of his bed.

"Sc-Scotty. W-what's going on? Why are we here? We need to wake up again!" Alan said, getting more and more upset. He attempted to sit up but strong arms held him down. He began to struggle and thrash around under the sheets, trying to push the arms away but they were like stone. Scott's words travelled through Alan's confusion and he instantly relaxed and sighed.

"Alan. Stop it! C'mon Allie. Stay still. Talk to me. Calm down." Scott had a look of immense concern on his face

"Scott! Don't you understand, I am dreaming! We are dreaming! They were trying to hurt me again and I need to wake up! WE need to wake up!" Alan tried to remain calm like Scott had said but he was finding it impossible.

"Alan, listen to me very carefully" Scott said firmly, putting a hand under Alan's chin and turning his face to face his own. "We are not dreaming. This is reality. You woke up, wanted to see the others and we went down to the family lounge. Remember?"

Alan nodded. "But then the Hood actually did hurt you. He hurt all of us but he has been moved to a windowless room in the prison and so he can't hurt anyone ever again. I can understand if you are confused now Alan because the Hood was in your dreams as well as in reality. But you and I are not dreaming and our family is not trying to hurt you! Now I need you to repeat after me, who are John, Virgil, Gordon and I to you?"

"My-my brothers, of course, I don't understand how-"

"Just answer the questions Alan. Please? Okay next, what do brothers do for each other?"

"Pro-protect each other? Scott, I-"

"Yes. So what are John, Virgil, Gordon and I going to do to you?"

"Protect me?"

"Exactly!" Scott said with a relived sigh. "And what is Jeff Tracy to you?"

"My dad. But-"

"And what do dads do to their children?"

"Protect them… as well as brothers I guess."

"Precisely!" Scott said with another sigh of relief then fixed his eyes on his brother's, "So none of us are going to hurt you." He said firmly.

Alan stared at his brother, letting the stern words sink in. His eyes widened as he realized Scott was telling the truth. "Oh my goodness. What have I done!" Alan shouted and tried to get out of bed again, "I've got to say sorry! I've got to explain!"

Scott was unprepared this time and let Alan slip through his arms. Alan tried to pad across the room towards the doors but fell and collapsed onto the cold floor with a yell of pain. Scott was instantly next to him, lifting him of the floor and re-placing him on the bed. "Don't do that again Alan! You have badly sprained your ankle and it has yet to be bandaged up. Stay here. I'm going to go and get Virg so he can do it because he's the medic. Okay? Are you okay with seeing him?"

"Yes, okay." Alan nodded through his tears as he was clutching his ankle.

"And are you okay if I explain things to them, I think they deserve to know?" Alan simply nodded this time.

Scott now made his way across the room to the glass doors and pulled open the curtains. The faces that greeted him were not pleased. If looks could kill, Scott would have been dead on the infirmary floor and there would have been four murderers in the family. John looked slightly shocked that the curtains had opened, Virgil looked at Scoot for a second then beyond him towards the bed that held Alan and Gordon looked fuming, fists clenched and all. Jeff looked disappointed but Scott wasn't sure if it was at himself because Alan hadn't gone to him or at Scott for keeping it a secret.

Scott unlocked the doors and pushed them open. He took a deep breath and spoke quickly and efficiently. "Before any of you shout at me, remember Alan is in there. Before any of you shove passed to go in there, remember Alan is terrified of you for a reason and I am about to tell you why."

"IT'S ABOUT TIME SCOTT!" Gordon yelled.

"You've been keeping it from us for too long and you shouldn't have at all!" John sounded furious.

"Oh, I can't wait to hear this!" Virgil crossed his arms, looking expectantly at Scott.

"Will you let me talk or would you just like to continue to express how YOU feel? How do you think I feel? Eh? I've been keeping this to myself for Alan's sake and to keep a promise I made to Alan, not for my own use, not to annoy you. I did all of this for Alan because he is scared, terrified and exhausted and he wasn't ready for interrogations or overcrowding." Scott yelled back.

"Okay Scott. Get on with it and watch your tone with your brothers. They have every right to be angry." said Jeff sternly, "true, you made a promise to Alan to keep it to yourself but that does not explain why you have kept HIM to yourself."

Scott sighed, 'Here goes nothing!' he thought. "Alan has been having recurring nightmares. You know like we do after certain rescues where we wish things could have gone differently. Well, Alan's nightmares are about the Hood's attack. But not the Hood himself, just his voice in Alan's head, telling him things that he doesn't want to hear. Things like, for example, that we don't love him and that we all blame him for mum's death." Scott stopped talking for a moment to hear all of the gasps that followed.
"But why-" Virgil
"I don't know why Virg, but I'm getting to the most important bit if you wouldn't mind stop asking questions until the end." Scott interrupted, clearly annoyed.
"Scott." Jeff said sternly, "tone."
"Yeah, I know." Scott dismissed his father's warning with a flick of a hand and continued, much to Jeff's disapproval. "Anyway, in his dreams Alan is running into the jungle away from something. Somethings. You guys. You are the ones he runs from and when he falls down, you hurt him." Scott looked sullen, but not as bad as the shocked and painful faces that his brothers and father held.
"So, do you see now why he was so scared of you? Do you see that that was why he has been so pale and shaky? And let me say now, I'm sorry for lying to you all." Scott said, closing his eyes and holding the bridge of his nose.
" What are you taking about Scott?" John asked, changing his shocked expression to a more confused one.
"Alan didn't miss-hear dad's order, he was too afraid to go back from the rescue with all of the brothers that were in his dreams. He didn't fall asleep in the storage cupboard, he hid and cried. Why in TB1 and not just hide in TB2 you ask? Because he feels safe around me as I was not in his dreams apart from later on to help him. He told me not to tell you any of this because he thought you'd get angry. I'm only telling you now because he changed his mind"
All of the brothers spoke at once, a mixture of anger, confusion and despair in their voices.

"ENOUGH!" Jeff roared over the voices and they instantly stopped. Jeff turned to Scott, and in a normal, calm voice said "We understand why you did what you did Scott, but why did Alan run away earlier and not to you then?"
Scott sighed again, "He is confused, since the Hood's attack earlier today, about what is his dreams and what is reality because the Hood wasn't just giving Alan pain earlier, he was taking to him like in his nightmares. Alan knows he can trust me in reality and slumber but was so scared he ran. And then you'll never guess where he landed. That stream, that slope where we found him, that's where he fell in his dreams. And then you were there and it all got too much for him. I only just managed to persuade him that this is reality and that no-one is going to hurt him. He wants to see you all, to apologies, but only Virgil is going in there with me to begin with, to introduce Alan gradually to all of you and so Virg can apply a bandage on Alan's ankle that he injured when he fell."

Scott grasped Virgil's upper arm and led him through the double glass doors, turning his back to John, Gordon and their dad. He stopped before the doors swung closed and said, "I'm not going to lock the door this time but if you value your relationship with Alan, you will not follow us". As the doors closed and the curtains were drawn, Jeff and his two remaining sons were left stood in awe at Scott's words and Alan's feelings.
"Well" Gordon began, slightly more cheerful than he should have been. "That explains a lot." That remark only got him a warning glare from his father and his second oldest brother.

Back in the infirmary, Scott led Virgil over to Alan's bedside and explained that his right ankle was sprained. Whilst Scott had been outside the room, Alan had drifted in and out of sleep but was never comfortable enough to rest without Scott's presence. He watched as Virgil revealed a bandage and started to wrap up his ankle. Scott saw how exhausted Alan looked. "Alan, it's just Virgil. He's just going to bandage up your bad ankle okay? You can rest, I'm here and I'm not going anywhere. "
Nodding, Alan closed his eyes and drifted fully into slumber. But Scott's reassurance was worth nothing as from the moment Alan was at peace, he was running out of the villa, into the jungle once more.

"SCOTT!" Alan's eyes flew open and he tried to sit up but he couldn't. Something or someone was holding him down. Alan thrashed and kicked out. Something was holding his wrists tightly and all he could hear was shouting and yelling. Alan screamed and yanked his arms away, fists clenched. His left first came into contact with something and another yell echoed around the room. Alan finally sat up and opened his eyes for the first time since his nightmare. Two figures were looming over him; he couldn't see their faces but jumped out of his bed before they could hurt him again. He rushed across the room into the bathroom with great pain from his ankle but made it. The figures were fighting and coming after him. Alan slammed and locked the bathroom door before they could descend on him and sank heavily to the floor, shaking one more.

Jeff, John and Gordon, still waiting outside the infirmary had had enough of standing by. They ran through the double doors into the infirmary after hearing shouting. They arrived just in in time to see Alan slamming the toilet door and locking it and to see Scott pinning Virgil's arms behind his back and pressing him up against the wall. Scott's angry, red face was shouting at Virgil and the eldest Tracy sibling was also sporting a black eye.

What do you think happened? reviews are loved :)