Disclaimer: I don't own Thunderbirds.
Scott falls.
That's not an unusual state of affairs. Virgil lost count years ago, if he ever kept one in the first place, of the number of times he's seen Scott fall. What goes up must come down, and Scott's always been one for going up.
Climbing on the back of the couch, climbing onto the roof, climbing up trees. Up, up, up, because big brother always wanted to touch the sky.
The inevitable falls were varied. Sometimes they were controlled, a simple jump from a safe height that had Scott flashing a cheeky, innocent grin at whichever adult had told him to get down from there, Scott. (It's the exact same grin Gordon started using when it was his turn to be the troublemaker.) Sometimes they should have been controlled, Scott having something on hand that should have kept him safe during the descent but didn't always do its job – Virgil still vividly remembers the day he leapt from the top of the old oak with a folded bedsheet for a parachute, and the broken arm that followed.
Most of the time, it fell into varying levels of control. Scott flies high but he knows how to land, because his family are there and he's worried them enough in his lifetime not to take some level of care over it. Virgil was not the only person who made sure Scott's IR gear was chock full of ways to slow and stop his falls – whether it be a jetpack, remote controls for his Thunderbird, or grapples. Even a wingsuit snuck its way in, for particularly reckless stunts.
But sometimes, it's not controlled. Sometimes, Scott's gear isn't enough, or he doesn't have it with him. They're still only human, after all, and the heart that makes a little jump whenever Scott first falls makes a giant leap to lodge in his throat when he realises Scott can't save himself. Not that time.
It's a good thing Scott has Virgil.
Virgil knows his big brother. He knows his recklessness, how he prioritises things, sees the way his own safety is sometimes a little further down that list than it should be. So he sees the signs. He sees the way Scott charges ahead – not without thinking, because Scott always has a plan, but without expending the mental energy required to look after himself at the same time – and sighs but pulls in the backup.
Because Scott might like to go up, and sometimes neglects to care about the down again, but Virgil's the down to earth brother. Solidity and stability is his priority, and his brothers, too, are always at the forefront of his mind.
Scott falls, but Virgil catches him, and somewhere along the line he began to wonder if that's why Scott is so willing to fall. There's no reason to fear the fall if you know you'll always be caught, after all. And Virgil will always, always catch Scott. Literally, with a POD beneath him or a warm hand clamping around an outstretched arm, or metaphorically, with gentle words and a crushing embrace when the world pushes him too far and he doesn't know when to stop. Whatever Scott needs, he'll give him.
So Scott might fall, and Virgil's heart might surge upwards into his throat when he can't save himself, but his heart can do what it wants while his body moves and Scott is once again caught.
(and if sometimes it's Virgil who pushes too far, who puts his own wellbeing further down the priority list than he should, well. He has Scott)
Day Seven of Earth&Sky Week on tumblr, with the prompt 'Hey Brother by Avicii'. The final day of the event, and honestly I wasn't expecting to manage this because this has been so much Virgil... So much. But I did it and I'm delighted I managed it!
Thanks for reading!
Tsari