Alan, Gordon thought to himself as he searched along the beach, is like a puppy.

A puppy, who if you took your eyes off for one second, would (will) wander off.

Well… it wasn't one second. It was more like forty minutes. But Alan was napping and shouldn't have woken up for at least another twenty minutes! So imagine Gordon's surprise when he returned to where he left the kid only to find Alan up and gone.

"Alan!"

That morning, Brains had asked Gordon to do a maintenance check on one of the sensors off the north beach. It had been giving off some strange data readings and needed to be checked out, possibly replaced, and of course, Gordon wasn't going to turn down an opportunity to go to the beach.

Being the great big brother he was, he decided to take Alan and make a day of it. The kid looked bored as he moped about the villa with nothing to do other than sneak into the hangers or fiddle with the puzzle cubes John kept casually littering the villa with. A trip to the beach was much welcomed and Alan was practically buzzing with excitement when Gordon asked. So after packing a backpack with towels, sunscreen, the maintenance kit, and a generous lunch (consisting mostly of juice boxes and ham and cheese sandwiches that Grandma made), he gathered up a bouncing Alan, and they set off.

The morning had, actually, gone really well. With an accident-prone little brother, Gordon couldn't have asked for more. They played in the ocean. Alan got knocked over by a couple of waves. Gordon got absolutely swamped in seaweed. He pretended to be a seaweed monster for a bit. Alan wasn't impressed. The kid picked up a few seashells, and they ended their morning by building a giant sandcastle. The thing was, honestly, taller than Alan.

By the time afternoon rolled around and they had finished their lunch (considering the sandwiches didn't require any actual cooking, they weren't too bad), Alan had that distant far-away gaze that children often got when they were reaching their limit. Gordon figured it was probably time for a nap, so he laid out a couple of towels well away from the shoreline and set up the giant sun umbrella.

Then, suggested that they lie down for a moment.

Which was probably the first mistake, because Alan fervently fought every nap as if his life were on the line.

Alan tried to come up with any and every excuse not to lay down. He insisted he wasn't tired; that they should build another sandcastle, or splash around in the waves for a bit to cool down; and didn't Gordon have something to do? Maybe they should do that instead of taking a nap.

Gordon just sat himself down on the towels and made it clear that they were going to lay down for a moment.

The kid huffed.

He crossed his arms and turned away.

Then Alan began to slowly walk to the shoreline, looking for seashells with energy Gordon knew he didn't have. Oh well, it was only a matter of time before the kid cracked anyway. He just had to be patient. When Alan hesitantly glanced in Gordon's direction, Gordon made sure to lay back and stretch out with a big dramatic sigh.

It only took a few moments before he heard the soft patter of little feet coming closer. Gordon cracked an eye open just in time to see Alan plop himself down on the adjacent towel with a mumble of 'you're no fun'.

Gordon chuckled softly. He swiftly leaned over and hooked one arm around the kid's torso. With a squeak, Alan topped into his immediate older brother's hold. Gordon tried to give the best squid hug he could. Alan just squirmed and giggled in his hold.

Then Gordon released his grip and the kid fell back onto the adjacent towel with a loud laugh.

Gordon looked at Alan with a big grin. "Naptime, Sprout," he said softly.

Alan pouted a little, but Gordon just let himself relax in the sand. He had work to do, so he didn't let himself get too comfortable, but he did keep Alan company for just a little bit.

Alan fought sleep the best he could, startling himself awake and snapping his eyes open every few seconds. Eventually, his body's need for sleep won out. Gordon continued to lay beside him for a few minutes, allowing himself to listen to Alan's soft, even breathing. He carefully brushed a stray strand of hair from the kid's face. Alan looked so peaceful. Gordon's heart swelled with the sort of brotherly protectiveness that he imagined his older brothers had for all of them.

With a sigh, he pushed himself up. As much as he would have liked to take a nap on their tropical beach, he had work to do.

Mistake number 2.

In hindsight, it really wasn't the best decision to leave a child alone on the beach, but it was a private island and Alan was fairly familiar with the terrain. Plus he wasn't actually a child.

It should have been fine.

He fished the maintenance kit out of the backpack before walking a little way down the beach. The sensors weren't in the most convenient places. This particular sensor was about a fifteen-minute wade/swim through the ocean to some rocks that stuck out of the water. The currents could be particularly strong around these rocks, but it wasn't anything Gordon hadn't seen before. Alan, on the other hand, wouldn't have been able to make the journey. At least, not in his current state. Hence, why he was left behind on the beach.

Upon arriving at the sensor, Gordon could see it wasn't a major problem. It seemed like the waterproof seal broke and the circuit board short-circuited. So he put in a new seal and replaced the circuit board. The job didn't take more than 10 minutes. Yet when he returned to where he left his slumbering little brother, he only found towels. No blond-headed, blue-eyed boy in sight.

Gordon's heart dropped to his stomach. Scott was going to kill him.

"ALAN!"

Gordon held his breath as he listened for a response that didn't come. After a few painstakingly long moments, he swore and began to jog down to the shoreline. Staring out into the ocean, he silently prayed that Alan hadn't decided to go for a swim and had been swept out to sea. The afternoon sun reflected harshly off the water's surface and made it increasingly difficult to look for a blond-haired boy. Seagulls and rocks poking just past the water's surface fooled Gordon on more than one occasion.

He was about waist-deep in the water when he felt assured that there wasn't a blond head bobbing out in the ocean somewhere, but it did little to relieve the panic he felt.

"Alan!" He called out again.

He looked back to the towels. They were still mockingly empty.

Where could Alan have gone? There weren't many places to go on a private island.

His gaze traveled further up to the jungle that lay just beyond the sandy shores of the beach. He swallowed the lump in his throat. If Alan went into the jungle, then the chances of finding him slimmed considerably.

Oh, Scott was so going to kill him.

Gordon willed himself to calm down. He was getting ahead of himself. Perhaps there was some sort of clue as to where Alan had gone.

There were footprints by the towels, but Gordon couldn't tell if they were fresh footprints or the old ones they had left behind. He wasn't about to give up. He looked past the towels, for any small footprints that lead away.

Bingo!

Gordon's heart leaped into his throat as he spotted a trail of small footprints leading off down the beach.

Just around the bend, Alan sat on his knees before a small mound of sand.

"Alan!"

Relief coursed through Gordon's body as he fell to his knees beside the boy and pulled him into a brief hug. However, just as quickly as relief came, anger replaced it. He pulled Alan away and gave him a hard look.

"What were you thinking? Why did you move from the spot I left you?"

"I- I"

"You don't just wander off like that! You nearly gave me a heart attack when I couldn't find you!"

"I-"

"I thought maybe you'd gone in the water or the jungle. I couldn't find you!"

Alan cast his look down. His bottom lip wobbled worryingly. "I- I couldn't find you."

Gordon gripped Alan's upper arms. "That's not an excuse, Al. When you wake up alone, you stay there and wait for one of us to get you. You hear?"

Alan's face scrunched up, "I'm not a kid." He tried to tug his arms out of Gordon's grasp but Gordon strengthened his grip.

"I know you're not a kid, but… you can't do things like you used to. Look, Scott would kill me if anything happened to you, and… I wouldn't forgive myself either so-"

"I know," said the small voice. Alan kept his gaze strictly on the ground.

Gordon felt the tension ease out of his own shoulders. His hands relaxed and he let go. Inwardly, he winced at the angry red fingerprints that bloomed on Alan's upper arm. Oh, he was going to have fun explaining that to Virgil. But, Alan, at the very least, wasn't in any danger.

He then allowed himself to look Alan over. The kid looked sad, with his red-rimmed eyes and sullen expression. Of course, Gordon had just chewed him out, so it was to be expected. But, he also noticed Alan was favoring one foot over the other, shifting awkwardly to one side.

That was not to be expected.

"Did you hurt yourself?" Gordon asked as he tried to get a better look at the kid's foot.

Alan pulled away. He wrapped his arms around himself, and didn't answer Gordon but continued to look down, lip still wobbling. If Gordon listened carefully he could even hear the soft hitches in his breath over the roar of the ocean.

"Alan," Gordon sighed. Perhaps he'd been a bit too harsh. He sat back and opened his arms. "Come here. I'm not mad. Promise. I was just scared and worried."

Alan hesitated for a brief moment. He looked at Gordon with uncertainty before he flung himself into the arms of his brother and broke down in tears. He babbled out sentences that, honestly, were too jumbled for Gordon to make them out.

Gordon, on the other hand, wasn't expecting this reaction from the kid. Alan wasn't usually one to break down when he was scolded. He might be butt-hurt for a little while, but he usually took it in stride. Gordon gently wrapped his arms around the sobbing Alan and wondered if he had missed something. Perhaps there was something more going on that he wasn't aware of. He warily eyed the small mound of sand. Perhaps it has something to do with that? But, he wasn't going to find out until the kid calmed down enough to tell him.

So there Gordon sat, in the sand, rubbing Alan's back and softly shushing as the kid heaved out sobs and garbled watery words.

"I d-don't des-serve to be in Interna-ational Res-scue."

It was the first thing that Gordon could make out from Alan's garbled spew of words, but it had him stiffening instantly. There was definitely more going on here than met the eye and he wasn't really prepared to deal with it. Gordon was all jokes and laughter. Virgil was the one who gave the good pep talks.

Not that they didn't all have this thought every once in a while. It comes with the job. It comes with their family, the pressure to perform, and the lives on the line. Sometimes, on bad days, it's all Gordon can think about. That's when Virgil really shined. Hot chocolate and long talks and all that.

With Alan being out of commission, and International Rescue still running without him, this thought was bound to come up at one point.

But… today wasn't a bad day, was it? What had brought this up? How long had Alan been feeling this way?

"Hey, hey. Don't say that." Gordon said softly. He rubbed circles into the base of the kid's neck. "What makes you say that?"

"I- I ki-illed a cr-ab."

"..."

"I k-kill-led a crab-b."

"... I- I'm not following you, Sprout."

"H-he was in-nocent."

"... still not following."

"I-I t-took innoc-cent l-life."

"Ok…" Gordon readjusted his hold on the child, as he tried, for the life of him, to figure out what the kid was talking about, "why did you kill a crab then?"

"H-he pinched me."

"..." The gears were slowly turning in Gordon's head. "Why do you think you don't belong on the team?"

"I k-killed a c-crab." Alan said again as if it answered all questions.

"..." How does Alan even come to this conclusion off of a dead crab?

"I d-didn't mean t-to."

"I know you didn't, Sprout," Gordon responded. What would Virgil do? What would Scott do? Scott would be all 'big brother' about this. "That doesn't mean you shouldn't be a part of International Rescue. We all make mistakes."

"Y-yes it does."

"Why?"

"Because we d-don't hurt p-people."

"But a crab isn't people."

"He was innoc-cent."

Gordon gently pulled the kid away and looked him in the eyes.

"Alan, listen to me. You deserve to be in International Rescue as much as I do. Unless... you think I don't belong?"

Alan's eyes grew comically wide and he shook his head fervently. Gordon couldn't hold back a small chuckle.

"Just because you killed a crab, doesn't make you any less deserving. And by the way, Sprout, that crab wasn't innocent. It pinched you. Scott would have totally beat up that crab if you hadn't."

Now Alan couldn't hold back a chuckle. Gordon felt a small weight lift off his chest. He reached out and ruffled the kid's messy blond mop. As he thought more about the situation, a thought slowly popped into his head.

"Is the crab why you woke up? And why you were looking for me?" Gordon asked softly.

Alan nodded. "He pinched m-me."

Gordon sighed. Alan, most likely, woke up confused, in a strange place, alone and in pain. He probably freaked out and killed the crab by accident, as he claimed. Alan's also, probably, been mentally beating himself up, wracked with guilt, the entire time. Then Gordon came along and yelled at him for running off. The kid was only confused and distraught.

He pulled Alan back into his embrace. "I'm sorry for yelling"

"It's ok." Alan said softly, "I didn't mean t-to run off. It just kinda happened."

Gordon gave a soft chuckle, then pulled Alan away. He looked him in the eyes, then glanced back down to the sand mound beside them.

"Well," Gordon said. "I see you've already buried the crab-"

"Mr. Pinchers."

"Huh?"

"I named him Mr. Pinchers. It was the least he deserved."

Gordon smiled. "Ok. Well, it looks like you already buried Mr. Pinchers, but what do you say we spruce up his grave a little? Then you can say a few words and give him a proper goodbye."

Alan agreed and they set off to gather materials. They gathered up various small stones, seashells, and twigs. Gordon found a rock about the size of his hand to use as a headstone, while the kid lined the edge of the sand mound with their various findings. In Gordon's honest opinion, this ended up being the nicest grave he'd given any crab.

Alan stood at the foot of the small grave, the waves lapped at his feet. The high tide was definitely going to sweep their grave away, but Gordon didn't say anything.

"May you rest in peace, Mr. Pinchers. I'm sorry I killed you." Alan said in his small voice. Then he looked up at Gordon with large eyes, clearly expecting him to say something as well.

Gordon knelt and rested his hand on top of the mound. "Ashes to Ashes. Dust to Dust. May you rest in peace now little crab, Mr. Pinchers. And may we, one day, meet again."

Gordon turned to Alan just in time to see him rub at his eyes and produce a small yawn. Just how long had Alan slept before the crab so rudely woke him up?

"Let's head back, yeah?"

"Didn't you have something to do?" Alan said followed by another yawn.

"I already checked the sensor. Come on, let's head back." The two of them made their way to where the towels were still laid out.

"What was wrong with it?"

"Water got in it and shorted the circuit."

"That's weird." Alan responded, "Wasn't the seal supposed to hold for another five years?"

Upon their arrival at the towels, Gordon started to shake them out and fold them up. "Yeah. They were." He recalled, "But the current can be pretty strong there, so maybe it just wore off faster?"

But it wasn't supposed to.

He stuffed the folded towels back into the backpack. Alan nodded before he yawned again and began to blink heavily. He clutched onto Gordon's shirt with one fist, as if it were the only thing keeping him up. Gordon chuckled and swung the backpack over his shoulders. Wordlessly, he picked the kid up, allowing him to rest his head on his shoulder.

After an active morning, being woken up from his nap early, then having nearly a full breakdown, the kid must have been exhausted. He essentially melted in Gordon's arms. By the time they reached the Villa, Alan was completely out for the count.

Gordon absentmindedly rubbed circles between Alan's shoulder blades as he walked through the house. He put his nose to Alan's messy mop, breathing in all that he was. The kid smelled like salty ocean water, sand, sunscreen, and just a hint of the lavender shampoo their grandmother used. His skin was rough from the salt and sand caked on, but his body was soft, unaware of the intense training that would later hone it. He was definitely going to need a bath later. They could deal with that later. The kid was completely relaxed in Gordon's hold. Soft snores brushed against his neck and Gordon was sure that none of them could wake him if they tried.

Alan, Gordon mused as he set the kid on one of the couches, is just like a puppy.


Happy New Year!

Wow wow wow, I can't believe TBFA is a year old now! Thank you so much for reading my story, and your comments mean the world to me!

With this chapter, I wanted to give Gordon the opportunity to show off his big brother skills. I'm pretty content with it!

Stay tuned for more!