"Don't move, don't move, don't move don't move."
Gordon wasn't sure if he was telling himself that, or if he was telling the small ledge that that he was standing on not to shift from underneath him. It wasn't like the rocks of the cliff face could hear him, but that didn't stop Gordon from talking to it, over and over like a mantra. Commanding it to hold his weight for just a little bit longer.
He pressed his back against the side of the cliff, although it wasn't like he could get any closer to it with how the jagged rocks were already digging into his back. He grasped tightly onto what he could and tried to tuck his feet closer onto the ledge, but quickly stopped his movements as he felt the ledge start to crumble slightly.
His heart was beating quickly in his chest and his breathing was coming fast. He needed to calm down or in his panic he was going to move too much. He tried to take in deep, albeit shaky, breaths. He felt himself calm down slightly, but then he was startled as John's voice suddenly came through his comms. He almost slipped as he jolted from shock, and had to clenched tighter onto the rocks.
"Gordon, Virgil's making his way over to you now. Just don't move."
"What do you think I'm doing?" Gordon had a death grip on the cliff at this point, but he didn't think it was of any use. If the ledge he was standing on fell out from under him, he was definitely going to fall. He chanced a look down at the ocean below him, and as much as he enjoyed swimming in it any other day, today he did not want to go diving down towards it.
When he had slipped over the edge of the cliff, it felt like he had fallen quite far before he'd managed to find a hold on something. But now that he was looking down it seemed that he had barely gone anywhere, if the deep drop below him was anything to go by.
"How are you holding up?" John's voice chimed up again.
Gordon let out another deep breath, still trying to stay calm and still, although it was getting harder the longer he stayed hanging on to the cliff. "I don't appreciate the pun."
"It wasn't intentional." Gordon was sure he heard a small chuckle at John's end, and despite the situation he couldn't help but smile.
However, that moment of contentment was ended abruptly as the small ledge Gordon was standing on suddenly fell out from under him, and he went tumbling down the side of the cliff again.
He frantically tried to grab onto something. He managed to grab onto a ledge or two, but he was falling too fast and they slipped out of his grip. He felt the rocks scratch against his body, some cutting into his suit and causing him pain that he barely noticed.
Then his fall was suddenly halted as he managed to grab hold of a rock protruding out of the cliff. His face smashed into the cliff side at the abrupt halt, and it took everything in him to stay clinging onto the rock.
"Gordon?" John sounded concerned, but it was understandable. He likely had the holograms up of the scene in TB5, and would have seen Gordon tumble down the side of the cliff. Thankfully for him, he would have also seen Gordon stop again before he reached the sea. It was because of that reason that Gordon almost didn't reply, too busy concentrating on keeping a hold of the rock. But John still deserved to know that Gordon was still there, still okay.
"I'm…alright," he said tightly between breaths.
"Virgil is close, just hold on a little longer."
Gordon didn't say anything to that. He concentrated all his strength on holding onto the ledge, his knuckles white. He was so focussed on that, he barely even heard the sound of TB2's engines as the ship came to hover above him. He heard Virgil's voice come through his comm, saying something about how he was going to come down with a harness whilst Alan kept TB2 steady above them. Gordon barely paid it any attention.
It felt like an eternity had passed before Gordon heard Virgil's voice come from just above him.
"Gordon, just stay still. I'm going to attach a harness onto you, which will be attached to mine, and once you're secure we'll be winched up."
By the time Virgil had finished speaking, he was already next to Gordon. He grabbed a hold of Gordon, and Gordon threw his free arm around Virgil's shoulders and hung onto him. He felt Virgil attach a harness onto him and Gordon could feel the harness as it took on his weight.
Even though Gordon knew that he safe, it still took him a moment to release his death grip that he had on the rock. When he had finally convinced himself that he was secure, he slowly peeled his fingers off and let go of the cliff. He still clung onto Virgil as they began their ascent, and he felt Virgil hold him tightly around his waist in return.
Despite wanting to be on flat ground again as soon as possible, Gordon was thankful that the winch didn't pull them up too fast. He didn't think his heart could take that right now.
However, it didn't take too long until they were being pulled into TB2's module. The module closed beneath them, and then they were lowered to the floor. Virgil detached their harnesses from each other, and Gordon immediately went to lie face down on the ground.
He was probably shaking, but he didn't even notice or care. He just cared about the stable ground beneath him. His brothers may have enjoyed flying through the air at breakneck speeds, doing flips and tricks or nose diving towards the ground before they pulled up at the last possible second, but Gordon was happy to stick to his little sub in the sea. Where there wasn't nothing between you can the ground below, where gravity dragged you down slow enough that you weren't scared of breaking every bone in your body when you reached the bottom.
"I'm never moving from this floor," he mumbled against the ground. He didn't know if anybody heard him, but it didn't matter. He knew he would eventually get up at some point, but for now he was content to lie there for a moment and feel the vibrations of TB2 as it flew back towards land.