Scott and his father stood waiting on the high gantry above the hanger for Thunderbird Two. Gordon had landed safely and was just now swinging her back into her ready position.

"How's our patient, Gordon?" Scott asked over the radio.

"Still asleep." They could hear Gordon running through post flight in the background.

"Alright son, good work getting him back. We'll get him to the infirmary. You finish post flight and get yourself sorted."

"Yes, father."

Jeff turned to his eldest son.

"You anaesthetised him, but only with a quarter the usual dose, you said?"

"Yes father." They began their descent down to the hanger floor. "Given the way he reacts I thought it best." Scott cast worried eyes up at the entrance to Two. "I had thought he'd be awake by now though."

Jeff clapped him on the shoulder and gave a reassuring smile.

"You did the right thing."

It didn't look like Virgil had moved from where Scott had strapped him to the jump bed. Mindful of the injury Jeff placed a hand on his dark-haired son's uninjured shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze.

"Virgil, time to wake up."

Virgil woke with a start and looked round in utter bewilderment.

"Dad? Why are you in Paris?"

"Paris?" Jeff looked amused.

"Yeah. You don't even play the piano."

Jeff and Scott shared a look and both tried to suppress a laugh – Jeff more successfully than Scott.

"Come on, Virgil." Scott unfastened the harness and started to guide his brother upright. "Grandma wants a look at that shoulder."

"Why is Grandma in Paris?"

"You're not in Paris, son" Jeff said patiently as they got Virgil moving. Scott was just pleased that, although clearly disoriented, Virgil was moving under his own power. Getting Virgil moving when he didn't want to was always hell and had been since Virgil hit teenage years. As he'd bulked out it had only got worse. "You're at home." He turned to his eldest and said quietly, "are you sure it was just a quarter?"

"I was until just now" Scott admitted.

Virgil seemed deep in thought as they got him situated in the infirmary.

"Does that mean I haven't missed Xing Meili play?" he asked suddenly.

Grandma looked up from where she was readying the scanner.

"No dear" she said. "You will have plenty of time to see her play once I've checked out that shoulder of yours."

"Oh, good." With that he settled back against the bio bed and promptly fell asleep again.

Jeff and Scott both looked at the calm older woman aghast.

"Do you not listen to him when he talks?" she said unamused. "He's been talking about the International Piano Competition for the last few months. He wanted to see Xing Meili for goodness knows how long, he even had tickets to see her last year but then he got caught up in-"

"Columbus" Scott face palmed. "Yes, he did. He was a bear with a sore head for days afterward. I, uh, don't suppose this piano thing is in Paris? Is it?"

"Piano thing" she scoffed. "It's the biggest classical piano competition in the world. We watch it together every year."

"I had no idea" Jeff admitted, moving to assist his mother in removing the top half of Virgil's uniform.

"Jefferson, I love you dearly, but you can't hold a tune in a basket" she said moving the scanner into place. She tisked at the initial readings. "Though, you might consider sending him this year. It is in Paris, Scott. Is that where he thought he was?" Scott nodded. "What have I told you about giving both him and John reduced painkillers in the field?" she scolded. "You know they both get hit hard by them." She didn't give Scott a chance to reply as she gazed down at her middle grandson. "Looking at this he'll be out of action for a good few weeks."

"It isn't broken though? Right, grandma?" Scott was unable to keep the worry from his voice.

"No, dear. Though there is plenty of ligament and muscle damage. Do you know how he did it?"

"I think a piece of the ceiling fell on him."

"Well, it's going to be mighty painful when he wakes up but I'm not seeing any signs of nerve damage." Jeff let you a relieved breath. "A couple of weeks to rest it and he can start light duties. We'll have to evaluate as we go after that to see when he'll be fit to pilot Two again."

Jeff nodded.

"Thanks mom. Come on Scott, let's let your brother rest."

"A couple of weeks before he can fly again?" Scott said to his father as they left the infirmary. "You know he'll try and have that sling off in a few days. Keeping him grounded for a few weeks with a sore shoulder is going to be a nightmare."

Jeff agreed. Of all of his boys Scott was the worst for downplaying an injury, but when that happened Virgil was always on hand to sit on him if need be. Unfortunately, Virgil ran a close second. Jeff sighed to himself and momentarily wished his other sons were more like Gordon when it came to an injury. Gordon knew where the line was, how hard he could push and didn't have to be persuaded when he needed to rest. But then Jeff thought about how Gordon came by that mindset and decided firmly that he'd rather have four sons who didn't know when to quit rather than another who had learned the hard way. Besides, it wasn't Scott who was injured. It was Virgil, his calmest most easy-going son and, if Virgil decided to emulate his eldest brother, well, there was always Paris.

I just wanted to say a massive thank you to everyone who has commented or DM'd me about this but particularly to LMC25 who has taken the time to comment on eve chapter. Interactions keep me going, so thank you everyone.

I also wanted to let you know that updates are moving to Friday only so that i can stay far enough ahead of the story to do my own beta work and rewrites. Chapters are going to get longer from this point on as we start to find out what Salvatore has planned for Thunderbird Two and her pilot and whether or not Oracle can really be trusted.

Thanks again x