John had him clean up and have a shower. Virgil was tired and arguing required more energy than he had. Thunderbird Five was doing his big bro tango with skill.
Following that, his red-haired brother rounded him up and escorted him, crutches and all, to the kitchen and the sounds of family.
Virgil almost baulked, but a gentle hand in the middle of his back nudged him down the stairs.
"Virgil! Scott's home!" Alan bounced up to him, nothing but glee-filled relief on his face and the engineer couldn't help but lift his own mood to match.
The sight of his big brother sitting at the table, pale and wan, managed Virgil a step further in relief, but a step back in worry. "Shouldn't you be in bed?"
"And good morning to you, too, Virgil." Scott shoved a forkful of pancake into his mouth, making a point to lick the maple syrup off his lips. "Besides, look in the mirror."
Virgil was aware of Alan shooting him a concerned look, but he ignored it.
The room was filled with the wonderful smell of fresh cooked pancakes. A glance into the kitchen itself and Virgil found Gordon at the stove, busily producing the pancakes that Scott was so eagerly consuming.
"It's lunch time." It was a redundant statement, and said without thought.
He paid for it appropriately.
"Pancakes for lunch is perfect for an invalid fresh home from the hospital." Gordon's tone was sharp and Virgil was forced to realise his fish brother hadn't yet forgiven him.
His heart sank.
"Sit down, Virgil, before you fall down." Scott was eyeing him as he shoved another forkful in his mouth.
He got cream on his nose.
Alan immediately pointed it out and cracked up laughing as Scott purposefully attempted to lick his own nose and made a complete idiot of himself in the process.
Anything for his brothers.
Virgil sighed as John pointed him to a seat beside their eldest brother. A short stack of pancakes were procured and placed in front of him, as was some orange juice.
He opened his mouth, but before he could say anything, John shut him down. "No coffee. And don't think I don't know that you've been sculling the stuff all morning. I've seen the free range coffee cup herd in your studio."
Virgil grunted and glared at the glass.
Condensation reflected his image back at him thousands of times at the microscopic level.
He let the sounds around him merge into the soundscape.
Each brother had his own pitch. His own timbre. Kayo waltzed through at one point, her voice a higher melody amongst the masculine chorus.
Alan's laughter bounced around the room like someone had dropped a set of cymbals and they were clattering into everything.
Gordon's tone was unusually sharp and Virgil closed his eyes, knowing it was his fault. His sunshine brother was well into the brass section today.
John was a woodwind. Calm, quiet, melodious. Subtle and sneaking up like a dramatic lead into a surprise.
And Scott…
Virgil's forehead furrowed.
Scott conducted it all. His warm voice drew it all together and made it work. He was the creator of the symphony that was their family.
Something cold and wet was suddenly smeared on his nose.
What the-?
He opened his eyes to a mixture of white blob and laughing blue.
Somewhere, Alan cracked up again. He must have fallen over, because there was a crash and a squawking Gordon, who in turn began to laugh his ass off.
"That's a great look, Virg." Scott was grinning at him.
Beyond Scott, John was smiling ever so fondly.
Virgil turned back to his big brother. "That better be cream."
His brother's grin got even wider.
Virgil just stared at him a moment longer before poking out his tongue and casually licking the cream…it was thankfully just vanilla whipped cream…off the end of his nose in one quick swipe.
The room erupted in both awe and horror.
"How the hell did you do that?"
"Ew, gross!"
Even John had a rather weirded out expression on his face.
Only Scott was unfazed, still grinning as if he knew what would happen.
Which he did.
Which was probably why he had done it in the first place.
For his brothers.
Virgil grabbed a napkin and wiped his nose clean properly. He dropped it on the table and then, shifting his chair over a little, let himself slide gently sideways until his head was against Scott's shoulder. "Glad to have you back."
Still smiling. "Glad to be here."
The exclamations of both awe and ew continued until it became a war between the terrible two and who had the longest tongue.
Virgil just let his eyes close and relaxed against his big brother. Eventually an arm crept around him and pulled him a little closer. It felt warm.
It felt safe.
"I'm sorry." It was a whispered exhalation.
"Nothing to be sorry about."
Virgil grunted, but was too comfortable to disagree.
Scott was home, and the familiar sounds of his family swelled around him, leaching away the worry and the fear.
It felt safe.
Because Virgil was a brother and obviously, Scott would do anything.
For his brothers.
-o-o-o-
FIN.