It had been a tense day and a half. There wasn't any denying that. Everything that had happened, plus the mere shock of it all, had everyone a bit high-strung. Gordon sat in the kitchen. He watched the last licks of daylight disappear as he nursed a cup of coffee and waited for Virgil to return. Hopefully, with the kid in tow.

Alan had been upset when he stormed out of the kitchen. That much, Gordon knew. He could only imagine why. The whole situation sucked. No doubt Alan was struggling as well. After all, everything had been torn away from him. His whole world changed in the blink of an eye.

Gordon gripped his mug a little tighter.

When Virgil came into the kitchen at some ungodly hour of the night, carrying a sleeping Alan, Gordon felt the tension leave his shoulders.

Alan was draped on top of Virgil. He had one arm loosely around Virgil's neck, the other around his shoulder, as his head rested on top of it. His eyelids were red-rimmed and fluttered shut. If the light hit his face just right, Gordon could see the tear tracks that streaked his face. His blond hair was askew and it draped softly over his forehead. Virgil supported him under his legs with one arm, the other wrapped around his back, rubbing soft circles as he entered the kitchen.

Virgil shot Gordon a shaky 'it was rough but everything is ok' smile. Gordon couldn't help but notice that Virgil's eyes were slightly red too.

"That bad, huh?" He said softly.

Virgil shook his head, mindful of the child in his arms. "He's just scared." He said in a low voice, "... and worried. Can you blame him?"

"No," Gordon shook his head. He thoughtfully looked down into his cup of coffee. "I know I'd be pretty freaked if I was him."

Virgil hummed softly and leaned his back up against the counter. "He's worried he'll burden us."

"What?" Gordon looked up from his cup, but upon seeing the look on Virgil's face, he sighed and hung his head. "Well, he's a Tracy for sure. Stubbornness and pride all the way through."

"We all have trouble accepting help when we're down. You were a nightmare when you were recovering from your accident."

Gordon gave a breathless chuckle. "Yeah." Those weren't fun days. Those were days filled with the frustration and depression of not being able to take care of one's self, and not being able to do the things he loved. He'd been stripped of both the pool and International Rescue. He took it out on his brothers. He even made Alan cry once. The memory still sat bitterly in his stomach. "But Scott's worse, you know."

"Oh, I know." Virgil scoffed, "Scott's the perfect example of 'do as I say, not as I do'. It's all recklessness and pride with him. I can't blame him either. He's under a lot of pressure."

Gordon hummed in understanding. The cool salty tropical night breeze blew through the kitchen as he and Virgil stood in comfortable silence for several minutes. Each recalled moments when their eldest brother pushed the limits a little too far; when he scared them a little too much; or how he fidgeted when he was grounded, eager to get back out there and prove that he was capable, worthy.

Then, Alan snorted in his sleep.

Virgil gave a soft chuckle. "I suppose I should get him to bed. Come on. You look dead on your feet too. I think we could all use a good night's sleep."

"Yeah," Gordon agreed, as he tried to keep from laughing out loud.

He quickly downed the last of his coffee and put his cup in the sink before joining Virgil. Together they made their way up the stairs to the bedrooms. Just before Virgil turned to enter Alan's room, Gordon got one last glimpse at the sleeping kid. His heart swelled at the sight. Everything would be ok. There was no doubt in his mind about that, even if the future looked a little rough.

A new morning, brought a new day, brought new adventures.

"A pillow fort?" Virgil raised an eyebrow.

"A pillow fort." Gordon said confidently over the bundles of blankets he held in his arms.

"A pillow fort?" Virgil clarified.

"A pillow fort!" Alan smiled over the pillow in his arms.

It was Gordon's idea. After two days of heavy tension, they needed something lighthearted that they could do together. Plus, he hadn't built a fort since he was a child. It might be fun. When he cornered Alan this morning, the kid's eyes lit up at the idea of building a fort. The wide grin and starry eyes still had Gordon smiling.

"Yeah, Virge. A pillow fort. Do you have a problem with that?" Gordon retaliated.

"NO. no. just…" Virgil cast his glance to the floor, "be quiet ok? John is still recovering and readjusting to Earth's gravity. He'd probably like the peace and quiet."

Now Gordon raised an eyebrow. "Did… you want to join us?" Because the engineer in their older brother would absolutely love to join them.

"No!" A nervous chuckle, "No. Besides, even if I did, I can't. Thunderbird 2 needs maintenance."

"Ok, Virge." Gordon walked past him, clapping a hand on one shoulder. "You have fun with that. If you need us, we'll be in the lounge."

Alan trailed behind him, being sure to step carefully. The pillow he carried was massive and clumsy. It was one of the biggest ones they had on the island. His arms didn't even wrap all the way around it! But he was determined to make it to the living room, even if it killed him.

They had been gathering supplies all morning. By now they had acquired a decent pile of pillows and blankets. There were large pillows, small pillows, fluffy pillows, flat pillows, large blankets, thin blankets, thick blankets, decorative blankets, blankets with holes, and some blankets Alan hadn't seen in a very very long time.

Upon reaching the pile, he tossed the obscenely large pillow on top of it. In all honesty, the pile was bigger than he was. Alan had to fight the urge to fling himself into it. That would just be immature. Instead, he stood before it and basked in the glory of the pillow pile.

"I think we have enough supplies, don't you?" Gordon asked as he too stood in the wonder of the pile.

"Yeah!"

Then came the fun part. The planning. Alan pulled a piece of draft paper from the study, along with a couple of pencils. There was so much to consider. Height, width, length; how much area they would encompass; what they would use for support; the physics of the whole thing, the tension here, the compression there, the friction of the blankets. Where will the entrance be? What will overlap with what? Could they have a window? How about air circulation?

At some point during the planning process, John joined. Apparently, being confined to one's room on strict orders to rest, was boring. After a discussion with their resident medic, he was now confined to the couch on the condition that he rest. Not that John could do much anyways. He was still far too unsteady on his feet to stay standing for very long. Paired with his too pale complexion and the bags under his eyes. Yeah. He wasn't going anywhere.

"What are you guys up to?" John asked as he lowered himself on the couch.

"Planning." Alan mused, currently biting the end of his drafting pencil.

"Planning for… what?"

"For the-" Alan cut off as he turned to look at John. He'd been too engrossed in planning to notice his brother enter the room. "John! You're here!"

John let a soft smile across his face. "Who did you think you were talking to?"

Alan shrugged. "I'm 80% sure the lounge is haunted. So honestly, could have been a ghost… or Gordo."

"You'd talk to a ghost?" Gordon asked.

"... maybe." No. No, he wouldn't.

John shook his head. "So, am I going to have to guess what you two are planning or will you tell me?"

"Oh!" Alan turned back to his drafting paper and lifted it up for John to see. "We're building a pillow fort."

John's eyes widened. "A pillow fort?"

"Yup!"

"We haven't built one since you were actually this tiny."

A blush crept onto Alan's cheeks. For a moment, he had forgotten he was trapped in the body of his five-year-old self. "Do you… do you want to help?"

Alan could have sworn John had actual stars in his eyes. "Yes. Absolutely. Show me what you have."

From his spot on the couch, John offered up as much advice about the design plans as he could think of. It had been quite a long time since he'd drafted anything. So they set off on planning it together.

When it came time to build, Gordon did all the heavy lifting. He gathered chairs, brooms, boxes, tape, really anything he could get his hands on. Alan wanted to help too, but John asked for help sorting the blankets. They needed to be sorted by thickness. Thin blankets, like bedsheets, would be used for the top of the fort, while thicker blankets would be used on the floor. By the time Alan and John had successfully sorted the blankets, a very winded Gordon had already gathered all the materials.

John suggested they build the fort by the bookshelf just beyond Virgil's chute. They could wedge the blanket (or sheet) between a few heavy books to secure it. Then drape the other end over the backs of a few tall chairs to form the ceiling. This way, they'll have books inside their fort. John's eyes absolutely sparkled at the possibility.

Gordon had a grander plan.

They would use the whole back wall. It would be more than a fort. It would be a castle.

But, of course, they'd keep John's suggestion. As a matter of fact, that could be the entrance to their castle of pillows.

It was also important to keep all the access chutes clear. If they took up the back wall, just beyond Virgil's painting, then there would be no fear of interfering with International Rescue.

So they got to work. They scattered the chairs in an organized manner to form the foundation. Alan would secure one side of the blanket over a chair or two, while Gordon would secure the other end up high. John watched, inputting advice every now and again.

It was definitely more work than either of the two realized. There was a lot of lifting and stretching. Sometimes a blanket wouldn't stick and it would fall, putting a dent in their progress. They would just laugh it off and start again.

"Al, give me some more blanket would you? I can't quite get it high enough." Gordon called out as he attempted to tape one end of a blanket upon the window. They were about halfway done with the fort. He just needed to tape this one piece up. He was stretched out fully on his tippy toes. He couldn't quite reach. Almost there-

"Let me help you."

Gordon let out a not-so-manly yelp, dropped the blanket, and stumbled back in surprise.

Scott, with the experience of being the oldest, quickly caught and steadied his younger brother by the upper arm. Then he flashed Gordon one of his award-winning smiles and lifted the blanket with his other hand. He stuck it up where Gordon had wanted it, with ease. Seriously, Scott was a giant.

"You looked like you needed help," Scott said.

"I did not." Gordon rebutted, "I have help…"

Speaking of help, where was Alan? The kid was supposed to be helping. Gordon looked around the room to see Alan perched on the couch beside John.

John was showing Alan one of the pillows. He was pointing to a specific spot and encouraging him to look closer. Alan, being ever curious, looked. He peered down at the spot where John was pointing, leaning over so much that he was nearly on top of the pillow. Gordon, having pulled many pranks in his lifetime, could see where this was going from a mile away.

John briefly looked up and caught Gordon's gaze. He flashed him a mischievous smile. Then, without hesitation, he lifted the pillow, promptly smacking an unsuspecting Alan in the face with it. Gordon had to bite back his laughter. It was rare, but John could be mischievous when he wanted to.

Alan sat back in shock for a moment, the wheels in his mind processing what just happened. John was muffling his laughter as he watched the kid. Alan broke out in a wide smile before he grabbed a nearby pillow and softly smacked John's arm with it.

"I missed this," Scott said. Gordon looked over to his older brother. His eyes were sparkling with laughter.

Gordon's eyes fell back on his brothers just in time to see John throw the pillow into Alan's face. But Alan was better guarded this time, and he blocked the attack with another pillow. The offending pillow then flopped down to the floor, and the lounge filled with their laughter.

"I did too," Gordon said.

Scott and Gordon resumed construction on the fort, talking amicably between themselves. It had been a while since Scott had done anything with his brothers. Usually, he was too busy running himself into the ground with work.

After a few moments, Alan remembered what they were doing and came to help out as well. With Scott, construction went much faster. He could reach the high places that weren't quite accessible by his younger brothers. They worked at a decently quick pace.

John looked like he was itching to help out, but every time he tried to get up Scott shot him a 'you'll stay there or I will send you to your room' look. Then John was suddenly content sitting on the couch and watching.

Eventually, Virgil came up with sandwiches. Apparently, lunch was more important than maintenance… and fort building.

All five of them sat amongst the mess of pillows and blankets and ate together. Gordon looked between his brothers. They were all smiling and conversing with each other. It didn't take him long to notice that everyone seemed to be focused on one person. Gordon wondered if Alan was even aware of all the attention he was receiving.

Probably not. The kid looked too engrossed in the story Scott was telling to notice how John ran his fingers through his hair or how Virgil kept trying to help him eat his sandwich.

Virgil, when making the sandwiches, didn't consider cutting them into smaller pieces so the kid could actually eat them instead of making a mess. As a result, Alan gripped the sandwich with both hands as best he could, but he still got its innards all over himself.

Gordon chuckled at the glare Alan shot Virgil when he tried to wipe his face. With the face of a five-year-old, that glare did very little to intimidate their older brother. Still, Virgil raised his hands in mock surrender. Though, the kid was definitely going to need to wash up before he touched any of the blankets.

Gordon sighed. Alan had them completely wrapped around his finger and he didn't even know it… yet.

Gordon sat back and watched his brothers. Scott was becoming more and more animated as he told of one of his more exciting rescues. Alan's eyes seemed to sparkle as he listened. Then Gordon looked back at their nearly done castle of pillows.

They were going to be ok. He just knew it.


Hark! Tis' a new chapter! I hope you enjoyed reading it!

Aw, this chapter felt like a nice slice-of-life type of chapter. It was cute and fluffy with undertones of moving past the trauma that happened. Also, when I was brainstorming for this chapter, I thought of the TAG episode where Alan wanted to build a fort (I don't remember what the rescue was about) but his brothers just looked at him weirdly. Poor baby. Pillow forts are awesome, no matter your age.

Anyway, Stay tuned for the next chapter!