The air was brisk and startlingly cold on his face, but he revelled in it nonetheless.
It was late afternoon on a lazy day on Tracy Island. Lazy because Virgil had thrown a fit and demanded IR be shut down for twenty-four hours.
Alan was in bed with a broken arm sleeping off a rescue from hell the day before. Gordon wasn't much better with his back, having over done it pulling Virgil out of sinking ship. Virgil himself had enough bruises to transform him into a groaning hulk of a man no-one wanted to go near. Even Johnny had been yanked from orbit to help corral the three injured operatives.
Not that Scott didn't have other reasons for grounding his space brother. The man didn't know what the word 'stop' meant after all.
This, of course, caused a rebellious backlash from said brother and Grandma had stepped in, banning both of them from any Tracy Industries work as well.
Scott had literally been sent to his room.
But his room was a boring place. He didn't want to sleep and the thought of sitting by himself and staring at the holoprojector was just depressing.
He wanted out.
It wasn't long before he had drifted onto the residential balcony and, with a single word to Eos, lifted his silver-grey wings and leapt into the air.
The air was his comfort zone, his escape, his reassurance. It flowed over his body and his wings in predictable patterns. Bare chested, he could feel its caress as it supported him.
Far below the ocean stretched out before him, the afternoon sun an angled glare scattering sparkles on the blue, not unlike the blue on his wings.
He folded them and dove directly down, revelling in the exhilarating speed. Moments before he would hit the water surface, he edged his wings open again, catching just enough lift to shift his angle, enabling him to spread to his full width and swoop with an eager whoop over the waves.
This close the water blurred into solid blue reflecting the sky above him. His shadowed reflection blurred with it.
A single stoke and he was climbing again, wing muscles grabbing at the air, pulling him higher, high enough to tip sideways and dive again, this time in an arc that saw him closer to the water than before.
Another swoop and he was hollering at the sky.
Stroke after stroke he climbed higher and the air grew that touch colder, chilling his skin even more. He gained enough momentum to stop and hold in the air, wings still, for just that split second before he let himself flip and dive again.
This time he curled one wing and set himself spinning before pulling both wings in tight and spiralling faster and faster, daring the ocean to reach up and slap him out of the sky.
But he was Scott Tracy.
He played the currents as if they were his own and just as if he was in his 'bird, the fastest aircraft on this planet, he manoeuvred at the last moment and was once again skimming across the surface of the water.
A sudden shadow passed over him and a familiar voice danced on the wind. "If you caught us doing that, we'd be dead."
Despite the words, Scott let out a laugh and arched back on his flight path, flipping himself upside down and over his younger brother and his gliding span of black feathers.
"Show off."
Scott grinned like a madman. He'd shown Virgil a lot of his tricks, but not this one and he had no intention of sharing any time soon.
It was far too amusing to watch his expression every time Scott caught him with it.
Virgil was calmly gliding a decent height above the water, just keeping pace with Scott. He was as bare chested as his eldest brother and yesterday's bruises were well on show. It was sobering, but Scott was happy to see him nonetheless. It had been some time since they had last just flown together.
And as always, it was very fast becoming the usual, almost an echo of their flying styles in the Thunderbirds. Virgil calmly gliding through the sky stroke after long stroke while Scott darted about him, faster and a little too eager to be out with his brother.
The air regressed Scott in age. It gave him freedom.
It was home.
And he was happy to have his brother as a guest to entertain.
Just to stir him a little more, Scott threw himself into a curve that encircled his brother at a safe but still daring distance.
"You tangle with my feathers, and I'll kick your ass." But it was said with amusement and Scott didn't miss the smirk on Virgil's face. His brother trusted him, otherwise he wouldn't be out here.
A smile on his face, Scott broke off in an arc and turn to the east, wings climbing fast. He didn't look back.
He knew Virgil would follow him.
It was a law of physics he was ever so grateful for.
But then a shadow suddenly over took him and Virgil was climbing faster than Scott.
And snickering.
Now that broke the laws of physics.
He couldn't let a younger brother beat him at his own game, could he?
He threw more energy into his climb. Virgil's greater wingspan could claw more air and his brother physically had more strength, so much like his 'bird it was damned scary. So technically, Virgil could outpace Scott on a vertical climb.
But that was if Scott kept to the rules.
Which he didn't and since he was high enough to do what he wanted, he did exactly that and flipped himself backwards into another plummeting dive.
Air rushed past his ears and he let out another yell as he played dodge with the planet.
Of course, his big brother radar was running the entire time, keeping an eye on exactly where Virgil was. His little brother was strong in the air, but far from as agile as Scott was and with that bruising likely not at his best anyway.
The squawk of protest as Scott dropped away, was proof enough of that.
A tiny flash of guilt at teasing his brother flickered through Scott's mind, but he dismissed it. Virgil knew what to expect and he also knew Scott was out here to have fun.
To let loose and shake the dull off his feathers.
As Scott swooped into a glide, Virgil broke from his plummet towards the ocean, his huge wings spreading to their full span quite impressively and braking mid-air. A stubborn flap, a glare shot in Scott's direction and he eased into a simple dive that brought him alongside.
"You won't give an inch, will you?"
"Do you expect me to?" Scott grinned at his brother.
A grunt was all he received for that. Virgil wouldn't expect him to be anything other than his best. Certainly not out here.
Wouldn't stop him from grumbling about it though.
"C'mon, Virg, fly with me." He smiled at his brother, just happy to have him out here with him.
A flicker of a smile in return that lit up those dark eyes.
Scott's smile became a grin and he banked, shifting the wind currents around him enough to turn back towards the sun.
Virgil followed, his turn not as sharp but as equally as graceful.
For a while they just flew together, Scott leading, Virgil following his every move, calmly and quietly. Scott didn't push it. There was consideration for Virgil, but honestly, it was comforting for him as well to just rest on the wind.
Sometimes he wished he could sleep in the air. It was so relaxing.
The sun began to dip towards the horizon eventually and Scott knew his freedom was coming towards an end.
He rebelled at the thought. He just wanted to stay out here forever.
Virgil had moved a little closer, their wings almost touching. A glance in his direction and his brother pointed down towards the ocean.
A frown and Scott looked down just as an orca breached the surface and flung itself into the air at a considerable velocity before arching backwards and hitting the water with a huge splash.
Scott didn't need his brother's empathic connection to know that was no ordinary whale.
"He's supposed to be resting."
"So are you." A different but ever so familiar voice answered him as a pair of artificial wings swooped in to join them.
John's span made just that slightly different sound to natural feathers that set them apart from the rest of their brothers', but Scott was determined to not let it affect him.
The Hood had taken far too much from them already.
John levelled off on the other side of Scott from Virgil and it felt ever so right to have a brother either side.
Virgil had slowed their progress, likely for the eager orca below, but Scott didn't mind.
There was only one missing…
As if he had some kind of telepathic link with is youngest brother, Alan suddenly swooped over the top of all of them, dipping into a glide just below them.
Probably in an attempt to hide the arm he had strapped up. "Alan! What the hell are you doing out here? You have a broken arm."
"Arm, not wing! I am quite capable of flying, Scott. Besides, you've been flying with Virg for hours and he has a bruised rib."
"What?!" He glared at the engineer. "Why didn't you tell me? And why the hell are you out here?"
"Goddamnit, Alan!"
"How did he know and I didn't?"
"Because he doesn't mind his own business." The glare sent Alan's way promised so many words in the teenager's future Scott might have to intervene. "I'm okay, Scott. I promise. Spending this afternoon out here with you was worth it anyway." Virgil looked over at the sunset. "It has been so long since we've done something like this."
As if in emphasis, their brother orca exhaled in a fountain of water below.
Scott glanced over at John to find his brother staring at the sunset just as much as Virgil.
Below them Alan's golden wings shone even more gold in that light and Scott had to admit it was just nice to have all his brothers out here with him.
Out in his element.
Out where he was free of everything…except perhaps the antics of a rapscallion brother or four.
But he could live with that.
The air was cool against his face as it lit up gold with the setting sun, but he had four brothers with him and that was enough to keep him warm.
-o-o-o-