Prompt: The Fortress and the Guardian
'This family has one rule and one rule only. You look out for your brothers.' It was the rule that every Tracy brother was raised on.
They all looked out for each other. And for some brothers that was easier to do than others. It led to some interesting dynamics growing up, and quite often Jeff rued the day he'd taught them that rule.
When John had been ill but went up onto the roof anyway to stargaze, Scott covered it up. Jeff knew John had been on the roof – no-one else went up there – yet Scott had been adamant it had been him and had taken the punishment on the chin.
When Virgil had got into a fight at school it had been Scott who talked to the teacher, Scott who had treated Virgil and Scott who had said nothing had happened at school today, even though Jeff had had a phone call from the school.
When Gordon put itching powder into everyone's clothes 'by mistake, Scott, honest,' no-one had owned up and Scott, as eldest, claimed responsibility for not looking after his brothers better.
When Alan accidently blew up one of the barns again Scott took responsibility for the same reason.
Jeff tried to be a fair man, but it was difficult with an eldest son who insisted on protecting his younger brothers.
His brothers were no different when it came to Scott.
John outright lied several times over where Scott was when he was late back or had snuck out. As did Virgil. And Gordon.
When Scott went through his (thankfully very brief) spell of smoking the boys all began spraying air freshener everywhere.
When Scott crashed his car Virgil claimed it was his fault for distracting him, when Jeff knew very well that one Alison Granger was the cause.
And when Scott took them all to the fair despite Jeff grounding him they all denied everything, despite Alan having cotton candy down his top and Gordon having several new plushies, curtesy of John no doubt, and Virgil having a new picture in his room.
If Jeff thought that they would grow out of protecting each other once they were men and all working to save the world, he was sorely mistaken.
Time and again he knew Scott didn't tell him everything in the debrief, thinking that he didn't need to know minor slip-ups. Most of the time Jeff let that slide, but occasionally he had to remind his Field Commander who the Commander was, and why they had rules about debriefing. It never changed anything. Scott still protected his brothers and his brothers returned the favour.
He wished his children felt that they could be honest with him, but Jeff accepted that that was just the way it was going to be.
One evening the three of them – Jeff, Scott and Virgil – sat on the balcony overlooking the pool, whisky in hand. Jeff raised his glass to his eldest children on Earth. He was feeling particularly mellow tonight. The rescue had gone well, despite Scott hiding the fact that Virgil had miscalculated something, and Virgil hiding the fact that Scott had got bruised pushing him out of the way. The fault hadn't really been Virgil's – he'd been given bad information.
'Do you know what you to are?' he suddenly asked his boys. Both chorused 'no, father.' It never ceased to amaze him how Scott and Virgil were so attuned to each other.
'You, Scott, you are the Fortress. You keep this family safe from the outside world. And you, Virgil, you are the Guardian. You keep Scott on the right path. Together you are a formidable team, and I am so blessed to have you both here to look after each other and everyone else.'
There were embarrassed smiles all round, and they drank and chatted as if they didn't have a care in the world.
Four days later the Zero-X happened. Jeff didn't know just how much of a fortress Scott was going to be, nor how much of a guardian Virgil would become.