Chapter 13

Jeff had been surprised to get out of his meeting and find the memo on his desk. He hadn't known his eldest son was coming home so the request that he make it back in time for dinner was pleasant if unexpected. It would be nice to have another adult in the house. Maybe having Scott around for a few days would set a good example to Gordon and get him to buck his ideas up; his fourth son was still being a distinct trial on his patience.

He entered the apartment to snippets of conversation and laughter that drifted down from the kitchen. Scott's clear voice carried strongly down the hallway and the sound of his eldest brought a smile to his face and he hurried through to see the son he now saw the least of.

"Evening Gordon" a quick, curt greeting to one son before turning to the other, "Scott, this is a pleasant surprise, how come you're here?"

"Hi Dad. I just had some leave owing, I thought I'd come back and see you folks. It is ok for me to stay isn't it?"

"Course it is, Son, this is your home after all."

"Thanks. Dinner's nearly ready, it needs another, what, ten minutes?" Scott looked across at Gordon for confirmation and got a nod in return.

"Great, I'll just go get washed up. Where's Alan?" he asked, noting that the table had only been set for three.

"Senior science club. You'd know that if you paid any attention to his schedule."

The animosity radiated off of Gordon and Jeff noted the warning hand Scott placed on his younger brother's arm, urging him to keep his cool.

"Fine. Well, I'll be back in a few minutes boys."

As Jeff exited the kitchen Scott turned to Gordon, still keeping hold of his arm.

"Look, I know things aren't great between the pair of you…"

"Understatement" he was interrupted with a snort and an eye roll.

"...but please don't make things any harder than they have to be."

"Fine, I'll be a good boy."

"Gordon…!"

"Ok. No arguing with the old man, I get it. Now, can you let go of me please, I need to turn the stove off."

Scott released his brother who turned back to the bubbling pans on the stove and put the finishing touches to the meal he was preparing. They carried the plates and dishes over to the table between them and waited for their father to join them before starting. The smells coming out of the pots were really quite tempting, it looked like Virgil was right when he said their brother had hidden talents. The meat was grilled to perfection and the sauce was full of flavour.

"This is delicious Scott." Jeff commented after spearing a piece of broccoli.

"Actually, Gordon cooked, I just did what I was told."

"Hmpf, at least one of you can follow instructions then. Did you finish your personal statement Gordon? I want to see it after dinner."

Scott realised that the arguments clearly flowed both ways. No wonder Gordon had been so miserable if every achievement was overlooked and every opportunity to take a dig at his failings was fully exploited. With every passing minute they were in close proximity, and each sniping comment from their father, that fragile confidence he had bolstered was visibly leaching out of Gordon. He noticed with concern that Gordon's plate was still worryingly full. How could a man that was meant to love his children equally be so complimentary to him in one breath and scathing to Gordon in the next? He had always been prepared to excuse their father's faults, the long hours of work and pushing responsibility onto himself and Virgil was an unfortunate consequence of a man trying to do his best for his family, but he couldn't stay quiet over tonights' injustice. Placing down his fork he took a deep breath and prepared to enter the fray.

"Actually Dad, Gordon and I have been busy this afternoon. It's my fault he hasn't done it."

"Well he can work on it after dinner then, the next college application cycle will be closing soon. Perhaps you can give him some pointers."

"I'll help Gordon with his application but it won't be for college."

Jeff, sensing insubordination, narrowed his eyes. He had come to expect it from Gordon but Scott had always followed his lead. This new development was surprising.

"Well what else would he be applying for?"

"WASP." It came out slightly louder than Scott intended causing the surrounding silence to deepen ominously. He held his father's gaze and set his jaw in determination. He had committed to supporting Gordon and was prepared to make a stand.

"Not that nonsense again" The rebuttal was swift and accompanied by the clatter of steel against crockery as the remains of the meal were abandoned. Jeff's anger rose swiftly at the mention of the aquanaut patrol. "He's too young and hardly has the right temperament to follow orders. Even if they would accept him he would probably be court marshalled out within a month and I will not have that sort of shame brought on the family"

"He won't be too young in February and he has exactly the right temperament to join as an officer."

Now it was Gordon's turn to be surprised. He was grateful to Scott for his support in joining WASP but to hear his brother thought he should be an officer was a step further than he had ever considered. He had been staying silent during the verbal tennis match between Scott and his father, trying his hardest not to inflame the situation. Tensions around the table were escalating. Scott had always deferred to their father previously but his time in the Air Force had him used to being in command and now it was like watching the alpha male and the young contender circling for dominance in the pack. He wondered if the comment was deliberately designed to challenge their father or if Scott really meant it.

"Gordon? An officer? You cannot be serious about that." There was derision at the mere thought of Gordon taking a role of responsibility.

"I'm perfectly serious. You never saw him at Marineville. You never heard what his assessors said about him. If he hadn't had to withdraw from selection they were going to offer him a commission, they could see he was wasted in junior ranks and I have to say I agree with them. WASP selection makes the Air Force tests look like a cake walk but Gordon was good out there. If he wants to go into WASP then I for one will support him, it would be nice if you could support him too."

"I think I know how best to support Gordon and that is in continuing his education, that's if Gordon is even still eligible for college." Jeff reached into his jacket and drew out an envelope, it was addressed to Gordon and bore the marks of the California Department of Education. He slid it across the table. "This was in the mailbox downstairs. I was hoping to talk to you about it privately, Gordon, and save you any embarrassment, but seeing as your brother is determined to play a part in your future we may as well discuss this now. I can only assume there has been some error in the awarding of your high school diploma."

Scott looked at the envelope with some concern. If Gordon really had flunked his diploma then becoming an officer was off the cards and even junior ranks looked doubtful. WASP really could afford to take only the best and this could be a major stumbling block. His younger sibling paused for a moment, trepidation etched across his features, before reaching out and picking up the letter.

"Took them long enough, I've been waiting for this." There was something in his tone that Scott couldn't quite place; more nervous anticipation than worry.

Gordon slit open the envelope slowly, as if not wanting to see what it contained despite having been expecting it. A single sheet was carefully extracted and it only took Gordon a moment to read the short correspondence.

"Bastards." The exclamation was spat out as the page was thrown down in disgust.

Whatever reaction Scott and Jeff had been expecting it wasn't this.

"Gordon, what's going on?" Scott butted in, cutting off their father from issuing a rebuke for foul language.

"They won't change the topic."

"Topic?" Scott looked at his brother in confusion.

"Yeah" Gordon sighed heavily, too exhausted to maintain the mask he normally wore around his father. The anger in his features mixed with pain as the memories resurfaced. "You wouldn't have had to do this one back in Kansas but California have a unit on Modern American History and Dad here is a compulsory assignment. I wrote and asked them to take it off the curriculum."

"Why would you try and do that? I know things aren't great between you two at the moment but surely you don't want to wipe Dad out the history books." He tried to place a reassuring hand on Gordon's forearm but the limb was yanked out of his reach.

"This isn't about Dad, it's about ALAN!" Gordon dropped his head into his hands, his elbows slamming painfully against the tabletop. Grief and a sense of failure bubbled up inside him as he hid his face from twin questioning gazes. He hated showing weakness, hated giving his father yet more ammunition to throw back against him, but the memories were too strong to repress.

"What the hell has Alan got to do with this. Seriously Gordo, you aren't making any sense." First it was about school, now it was about Alan. Scott felt like he was trying to read a book with half the pages missing. He was sure it made sense somehow but at the moment all he knew was that Gordon was clearly upset and hurting.

Jeff snorted, choosing to ignore the deep breathing as Gordon fought to maintain control. "I dare say your brother will do a better job than you when the time comes. From what I remember of that paper you barely scraped a pass grade. It really says something about your abilities when you can screw up what should have been the easiest assignment of the lot. It's your own family for goodness sake."

"Easy?" Gordon's head snapped up, locking eyes with his father and channeling the grief into anger. "That was the hardest paper I've ever had to write in my life and it's going to be ten times worse for Alan. At least I wasn't mentioned by name."

"Gordon, what's going on?" The rising flush of emotion to his brother's cheeks filled Scott with concern.

"The paper, it's not just about Dad, Mom's in there too. Do you have any idea how hard it is to have the worst moment of your entire life there in the set text for the whole class to see? The avalanche, Mom dying, Alan surviving, it's all there. They didn't even have the decency to put it in the main text either, it's just a footnote like it isn't really important. Our Mom's death is a fucking footnote and I didn't want Alan to have to deal with it like I had to, it's not like I'll even be here to help him when the time comes. Ever since Dad decided I was going to be packed off to college I've been trying to get it changed."

"That...that sucks." Scott couldn't even begin to imagine what it would be like to have to face their own personal tragedy in the classroom. What it evidently had been like for Gordon. "But Alan won't be dealing with it alone, Dad will be here."

"What, like he was here for me? You and Virgil were better parents than Dad has ever been. He only cares about the bottom line. Make the grade and nothing else matters." The chair was shoved back angrily.

"Gordon, you should have told me." Jeff cut in quietly, his face ashen at the sudden reminder of the tragedy that had ripped his wife away forever. That Scott and Virgil were viewed akin to parents by the younger ones rather than just brothers was also a shock. Had he really been so far removed from his family? What else had he been blind to? His eyes tracked backwards and forwards, trying to keep pace with Gordon who was now striding about erratically on the opposite side of the table in a display of energy Jeff suddenly realised had been absent for many weeks.

"I tried to but you weren't exactly in a listening mood. You were too busy bawling me out for getting suspended."

"You got suspended?" How much had he missed out on in the last seven years? If Gordon had ever confided this to Virgil his next younger brother had never shared the burden of knowledge. The Gordon he had left behind may have been a bit of a pest at school with the occasional prank or missed homework but nothing that would warrant him getting suspended.

"Guess some of my screw ups Dad didn't even want to share with the family. Yes Scott, I got suspended. I...well...I got upset in class and some of the others kept going on about it and then one day I snapped. Ended up breaking someone's nose. The Principal took it off my permanent record though when he found out what it was over. I think he felt sorry for me."

"So you tried to get the Department of Education to drop the topic."

"Yes." Gordon picked up the letter again, a look of disgust crossing his face. "They won't though. They 'thank me for my concerns and provide their strongest assurances of the factual accuracy of the text books'. He's got another year to go yet but when he gets there please look after Alan" this plea was directed straight at their father, "cos I can't if I'm at college and it's going to be rough for him."

Scott found the disgust mirrored in his own features, not just at the Education Board, but also for the actions of their father who had clearly skipped out on the emotional wellbeing side of parenting. Gordon had faced the demons alone and was now doing his level best to protect Alan.

Any further discussions were cut short by the arrival home of that same small, blonde hurricane.

"Scott! When did you get here?" Alan launched himself across the room and draped himself around Scott's neck, nearly strangling his older brother. The new arrival seemed unperturbed by the obvious tensions around the table and Scott wondered just how normal it had become for the youngest to be surrounded by bad feelings and barely concealed arguments.

"Hey, let a guy breathe." The clinging arms loosened slightly but weren't released completely and Scott returned the hug. "C'mon, we've finished here. Do you need to eat? Any homework due tomorrow?"

A shake of the blonde head. "You're as bad as Gordon. What is it with everyone checking up on my homework?"

As bad as Gordon, not as bad as Dad; Scott filed that away for the next time he spoke to Virgil. He had been so happy to be free of the responsibilities of family that he had never really considered who had stepped up to take his place.

"Well if you're sure you're good let's go somewhere more comfortable, you're pushing me off this chair."

Jeff watched as Scott unhooked Alan's arms and led the party through to the lounge. Those were the questions he probably should have been asking as a father but hadn't thought to. Scott had stepped in first as though checking in on the youngster was the most natural thing in the world.

All traces of the argument were put to one side for the sake of the youngest but the look Scott shot Jeff showed that the discussions were far from over.