Chapter 7.

It was the early hours of the following morning by the time Scott and Kayo arrived back home.

Virgil was lying on one of the sofas in the lounge, happily dozing beside Alan, when he was shaken awake by the vibrations reverberating around the house as Thunderbird One disappeared beneath the pool.

Whether said vibrations came from Thunderbird One or the fuming Scott, Virgil couldn't tell.

Thankfully, Gordon had taken himself off to bed shortly after midnight. Virgil didn't really fancy having to deal with the inevitable chasing session that would commence once Scott caught sight of the brother who'd ruined his otherwise perfect date.

The hangar door slammed shut several stories down, closely followed by a series of grunts and groans as the pilots of Thunderbird's One and Shadow tackled the unforgiving staircase connecting the hangars to the house. Virgil fought back a guilty smile. The four and a half mile walk Scott and Kayo had had to endure to get back to Thunderbird One sounded as if it hadn't been kind to them.

Kayo emerged into the lounge first, clutching her back and shuffling like a woman three times her age. Scott appeared behind her, flexing his shoulders and wincing as his spine clicked. The footage from the mini-cam had revealed that they'd spent the majority of their marathon hike back to Thunderbird One arguing. Kayo was mad because Scott hadn't anticipated Gordon's prank attack, while Scott was mad because Kayo's 'sweep' of Thunderbird One had failed to locate the fart machine that he himself had been rigged with.

The language had been foul to say the least, and Virgil had been forced to turn the audio off when Alan had started asking questions. He'd have to ask Brains if a scientific connection existed between the concentration of lactic acid in a person's calves and the severity of the language they were prepared to use.

Kayo kicked off her boots and placed her hands on her knees, raw pain evident on her face. Gingerly, she started towards her bedroom, whining slightly as she doddered towards the staircase. Scott, who'd limped down to the kitchen and returned with a pack of frozen peas, lowered himself onto one of the sofas without even offering a cursory goodnight wish.

Considering they'd come awfully close to snogging on Mount Grinnell, Virgil had to wonder if part of Scott and Kayo's attraction was that they were both so temperamental. The tense atmosphere that was now wedging them firmly apart betrayed nothing of the flirtatious tension that Virgil, John, and Alan had all been entranced by a few hours prior.

"Rough date?" Virgil asked sympathetically.

Scott didn't answer, opting instead to lower himself onto the cushions with a chant of, 'Ow! Ow! Ow!'. Once seated, he kicked off his shoes and rested his abused feet on the pack of peas, "Virgil, you'll have to carry me up to bed I'm afraid."

The engineer smiled, "You had us all on the edge of our seats, bro. I think it's safe to say that, irrespective of the ending, you absolutely nailed that date. Myself, Gordon, and Alan don't stand a chance now."

Scott grunted and allowed his head to loll back, "I'm sure you'll do fine. She's not hard to please and isn't exactly an expert on dating etiquette herself."

A hum of agreement danced out of Virgil's throat, "What did the ranch owner have to say about you losing his horses? Those mustangs didn't look like common mules."

Scott leant down to readjust the peas, "He was asleep by the time Kayo and I got back, so I left him a written apology and wired enough money for him to buy two replacements. I don't think he was overly attached to either of them, although the farmhand who I spoke to when we arrived did mention that he'd had Kayo's mare since she was a foal."

Over on Virgil's left, Alan shifted in his sleep and kicked the cushion he was hugging onto the floor.

Scott frowned, "Why isn't he in bed?"

A casual shrug was offered, "He wanted to keep making notes right up until you got home. I tried to tell him that the names you and Kayo were using weren't exactly romantic, but he didn't seem to care. He worships the ground you walk on, Scott."

A smile managed to peek through the lines of fatigue decorating the eldest brother's face, "We're rocket brothers."

Virgil rolled his eyes and shook Alan's shoulder, "C'mon Al, time for bed."

The fetal position was assumed.

"Leave him down here," Scott instructed, trying and failing to haul himself to his feet, "I don't care where he sleeps so long as he does. Now, if you'd be kind enough to save my tortured feet with those biceps of yours and haul me up to bed, I'd be very grateful."

Virgil crossed his arms, "Oh yeah? What's in it for me? I don't come cheap, you know."

Scott's face barely twitched, "Carry me, and I won't let that baby photo of you that John found accidentally-on-purpose find its way onto the internet."

The little internal computer that monitored Virgil's pride responded immediately, "To your door or actually to your bed? And will it be bridal style, or the single shoulder?"

Scott gave his brother a deadpan look, "Virgil, I've just had the date from hell. I deserve a little pampering. Bridal style, if you please."

Virgil complied and scooped his brother off the sofa, silently praying that John or Gordon wouldn't wake and choose that precise moment to stick their heads out of their own rooms. The sight of their engineer brother carrying his new 'bride' would no doubt be something that they'd refuse to let go for a very long time .

Scott remained silent, no doubt embarrassed by his somewhat undignified mode of transportation, "Shut the door on your way out. I don't intend to surface before midday."

"F.A.B," Virgil replied, clicking the door shut before padding off towards his own room for some well-earned shut-eye.

-x-

John knew Scott's date had gone badly.

Sure, he'd been present to witness the horses flee after Gordon's 'intervention', but he also knew that things had gotten much worse after he himself had called it a night and turned in.

Hence his reason for occupying the bathroom at just gone dawn. He had zero desire to run into his grumpy brother and if his calculations were correct (which they always were), Scott probably wouldn't sleep that well and would be up to shower even earlier than usual.

Watching his brothers from orbit was lonely at times, but the main payoff was that John could recite each of their daily routines down to the minute.

So it went without saying that the redhead was shocked when the bathroom door burst open, revealing not Virgil, not Gordon, not Alan, but Scott himself.

A quick visual sweep of Scott's features showed that the worst of his anger had passed, replaced instead with a look of sleep-deprived irritation.

"Morning," Scott grunted, moving to occupy the sink next to John's.

The redhead swallowed thickly, unsure of how to approach the situation. Pre-date jitters, post-date depression, and anything involving the word 'date' was one of the few fields he wasn't well versed in.

"Morning," John replied in what he hoped was a casual tone, channelling his inner turmoil into towel drying his hair. By the time he'd calmed down enough to chance a glance at Scott, his red mane had accumulated enough static to power a small town.

"At least the torture is over for us," Scott began, his eyes meeting John's in the massive mirror that occupied most of the bathroom wall, "We can go back to behaving somewhat like adults now."

John nodded, "Agreed. Still, it's a bit of a shame. You two really seemed to click."

"I said the same about you," Scott admitted, shoving a toothbrush in his mouth and brushing with more force than was necessary, "You know, I think Kayo's playing with us a bit. What are the odds that she tries to snog you and me less than twenty four hours apart?"

John frowned as Scott's comment sank in, "She certainly isn't behaving like she usually does. I mean, we live with her for crying out loud. If she really liked one of us, don't you think she'd opt for a less public way of showing it?"

Scott shook his head around his toothbrush, "Nope, I reckon her living with us is the very problem. She's got everything to lose if things didn't work out. In this little game she and Penelope have cooked up, she's safe to satisfy her curiosity under the guise of 'helping us'. I was thinking about it last night, and it's actually pretty obvious. I'm amazed we've made it this far without picking up on it."

John's eyes widened as the pieces began to fall into place. Granted, they would need to monitor Kayo's behaviour with Virgil, Gordon, and Alan before they could prove their theory, but it sounded suspiciously like Scott had hit the nail on the head.

"You could be right," John mused, reaching for the hair gel, "Still, it is a shame your date didn't go to plan. Kayo's a great girl and I do like her a lot, but I don't think we're really each other's type. You're the one she really likes."

The mouthwash inside Scott's cheeks was abruptly spat across the mirror, "Excuse me?"

John cringed at the mess his brother had made, "I just said that you're the one she's got a real thing for. I don't want it getting back to Alan, but yeah, apparently you're the ketchup to her fries."

Scott's eyes widened as he gestured frantically for an explanation, "And how exactly do you know this?"

Long fingers began to comb through red locks as John set about styling his fringe, "I've read a couple of her electronic diary entries. Being in orbit can get a bit dull at times, and EOS easily guessed her password. Most of her entries are fairly bland, however a few feature you."

Valuable blood began to drain from Scott's face, "Me?"

John nodded, secretly enjoying the effect he was having on his normally unflappable brother, "Oh yeah, the days where you two have gone on rescues together make for some pretty juicy reading. Of course, last night's entry wasn't quite so positive…"

Scott cursed and let his head drop into the sink, "Geez, John! Why didn't you tell me this before? I could have used it to my advantage yesterday!"

A devious smirk danced across the redhead's face as he finished his hair and helped himself to some of Scott's deodorant, "As Gordon would say, survival of the smartest, not the smoothest."

"Gordon!" Scott's head shot up, as if suddenly remembering that it was Gordon who was responsible for his current mood, "I'll kill him!"

Not bothering to finish his morning routine, Scott barrelled out of the bathroom and off towards the slumbering aquanaut's bedroom.

John meanwhile, had a different set of priorities.

"You could have at least cleaned the mirror."