Prompt(s) Filled: 8. Back from the Dead, 12. "Mayday, mayday!", 21. "You're safe now.", 28. Anger Born of Worry, 28. Punching the Wall, Alt 15. Tears
"What do you mean he hasn't come back?" Scott snapped as he addressed his brother's hologram.
Deep down, he knew this wasn't John's fault. However, at that moment, he had no one else to yell at.
"He went to that warehouse twenty minutes ago. I haven't heard from him since, and I can't get through to him," John repeated everything he had just told Scott, which wasn't helpful.
Instead of wasting any more time on replying, Scott spun on his heel and hurried out of Two's module. Virgil was in there with him, and Scott heard the sound of his footsteps as he followed after him.
"Scott, wait up!" Virgil called, but Scott didn't slow down in the slightest.
"No, Virg. Something is wrong. Gordon wouldn't just ignore John, he knows how serious that is." He didn't even turn around to talk to his brother as he made his way over to the docks.
He found the warehouse that John had sent Gordon to. There was an open side door, and Scott went to step inside, but was stopped by the hand on his shoulder.
"Are you sure you want to just head straight in there? If something has happened to Gordon… we don't know what we'll face."
Scott didn't even need time to think about his answer.
"If something has happened to Gordon, then I'm not going to just wait out here in case he needs our help."
He shrugged Virgil's hand off, and then burst into the building.
The room that met him was spacious. There were a bunch of empty shelves lining the room, like this place was once used for storing something, but there was nothing else around. No boxes or people, and no sign of their brother.
"Scott, over there!"
Virgil pointed over to something that was left abandoned in the middle of the open floor. It was blue and yellow, and had Scott running towards it.
For a moment, Scott thought it might be Gordon, curled up in a ball on the floor. But when he got closer, he didn't find his brother, just his abandoned uniform.
He picked up the sash, and thumbed the logo where there was a dirty scuff.
Something was very, very wrong. Gordon wouldn't just take his uniform off and go off on a wander in his underwear. Not unless he was concussed and confused, but even if that was the case, it still begged the question: where the hell was his brother?
He clenched the sash in his fist, and his big brother instincts told him that whatever had happened, it was very, very bad.
"Why weren't you in constant communication with him? You should have realised he was gone sooner."
It was later, and they were back on the island after a very stressful day of searching for their missing brother. They were all crowded in the lounge, with John's hologram in the centre.
"Scott, this isn't his fault," Virgil tried to interject, but neither of them were having it.
"Sorry if I was busy making sure the rest of you didn't die," John countered.
"We weren't the ones in danger!"
"Would you two just calm down?" Virgil raised his voice, and the other two snapped their mouths shut, even if they continued to glare at each other. "You can deal with that later. Right now we should be focused on looking for Gordon."
"Virgil is right." Their dad stood from his seat, where a pale looking Alan was next to his side. "This is not the time to fight."
Scott knew he was right, but he was also not done taking it out on his brother. However, there was a time and a place for that, and this was not it.
"Sorry," John muttered, but Scott stayed quiet.
"What do we know?" Their dad asked, bringing them back to the task at hand.
"In the twenty minutes between my last communication with Gordon and when Scott and Virgil reached the warehouse, he had seemingly disappeared," John explained what they all already knew. "The only trace of him was his uniform and sash."
Jeff nodded along, taking it all in again even though he had already had it explained to him earlier, when they first called him to bring up the situation.
"You said you saw tire tracks, right?" He turned to Scott and Virgil, who both nodded at the reminder.
"They led out of the warehouse, but they disappeared soon after they reached outside," Scott confirmed.
"And the GDF?" He turned to John.
"They're still at the site, but haven't sent any updates. Colonel Casey said she'll get in contact as soon as they find anything."
"How can something like this happen? We were right there." Virgil asked it to the room, but no one there could answer.
They all grew quiet, feeling the weight of the situation on their shoulders. This growing feeling of helplessness felt all too familiar to a moment over eight years ago.
Then, the silence was broken by the youngest one present.
"It's time we face it. Someone has taken Gordon."
They all turned towards Alan, who was hunched over on the couch. His eyes were on the table in front of him, but his gaze appeared lost.
"There's no other explanation, right? Denying it will only make this take longer."
His eyes were wide and haunted with unshed tears. They carried the trauma of a child who had gone through something so very similar, and had only recently started the recovery after the missing piece was brought back.
Scott did not want to put his family through something like that again. If they found their dad, they could find their brother.
He turned on his heel, and headed out of the pit and towards his chute.
"Where are you going?" His dad called after him.
"Back to the site. If the GDF can't find something to help, then I will." He grasped onto the lamps and turned to face his family.
"This is ridiculous. You don't know if you will find anything. We need to be together right now," Virgil tried to stupidly reason.
"We'll only be together when we get Gordon back."
He pulled the lamps down, and the wall began to spin.
"I'll go after him," Kayo said, which was the last thing he heard before he made his way down to his ship.
"What do you mean you still have nothing?" Scott yelled in outrage.
"Like I told you, there was no CCTV in the building, and everything else nearby was destroyed by the earthquake taking the powerline out. No one who was on the site at the time reported seeing any suspicious vehicles in the area, including you guys." Colonel Casey stood straight and unwavering, like she hadn't just basically blamed them for what had happened.
"And it took you a week to get back to us with this? Who knows what Gordon has been going through in that time."
That was if he was even alive, but Scott didn't want to delve into those thoughts just yet.
"Colonel Casey is not to blame here," said the other hologram in front of him. "She's doing the best she can."
"Shut up, John." Scott clenched his fists as he glared at his brother. The other man should be thankful he was miles away in space right now, and not within punching distance.
John just rolled his eyes and didn't rise to the bait. He turned to Colonel Casey, who also didn't seem fazed by Scott's anger.
"Maybe you should give us a minute. We can pick this up later?" John suggested, and she gave a firm nod.
"Of course." She then locked eyes with Scott, and her gaze grew soft with understanding. "We're still doing all we can to find your brother. We will not stop until every table is turned."
She then blinked out, and it was just Scott and John in the room.
"She is doing everything she can. You don't need to yell at her."
Scott huffed. "It was her fault that dad went missing. She could have done more then. She can do more now."
"You know that's not true. You shouldn't make accusations like that." John's voice was filled with shock, but Scott just scoffed at his naivety.
"Don't act like you haven't been thinking the same thing these past years." He started to pace in frustration. "If it wasn't for her, the Hood never would have stolen the ship that sent dad into space. And all the other times the Hood hurt us? What did she do then?"
"She has always done everything in her power to help us. You can't blame her for the things out of her control."
"Then who am I meant to blame!" He shouted as a fist flew into the closest wall.
He winced as he pulled his hand back to his chest. His mind caught up to his actions as pain screamed across his knuckles. The back of his hand was cut and bleeding.
His fight dissolved, and all that remained was pain and fear. And guilt.
"If I have no one to blame, then I can only blame myself." His voice was small, barely audible to even his own ears. "And I don't think I can survive knowing I did this to my own brother."
"No one is to blame except the people who did this to Gordon." John's voice carried across the room, but Scott didn't look up from his bruised fist. He didn't deserve his comfort. "And when we find them, because we will, I know you will give them hell to pay. This is not your fault."
But it was. He knew it was, deep down. He blamed others because he didn't want to admit it to himself.
However, there was no escaping it. As their leader, he should have stopped this from happening. He should have done better.
He didn't deserve to be their big brother.
Without replying to John, he quickly made his way out of the room, ignoring his brother's calls for him to come back.
Scott didn't know where he was going. He just let his feet carry him, and it wasn't until he walked into the room that he registered where he was.
The infirmary.
He didn't know why he would go there, but then he felt a flash of pain in his hand, and he remembered.
"Scott?"
He turned to see Virgil making his way into the room.
"How did you know I was in here?" He asked, but then realisation dawned. "Wait, did John tell you?"
Virgil didn't need to reply as he sent Scott a knowing look. Yeah, when did John not get his nose involved everywhere.
"Sit," was all his brother said to him as he gestured to the bed.
Scott, feeling like a child who had been caught doing something he shouldn't, perched on the bed with his head hung low, not meeting his brother's eyes.
He was ready for the grilling about how he shouldn't have shouted at John or Colonel Casey, and how he shouldn't have punched the wall in his anger.
However, Virgil said nothing. He worked in silence as he pulled a seat over and sat down across from Scott. Not a word was spoken between them whilst Virgil cleaned his knuckles and wrapped a bandage around his hand. All that could be heard were the occasional winces that escaped past Scott's clenched teeth.
Eventually, the silence was too excruciating, and Scott had to say something.
"Virgil, I-"
"Save it." Virgil looked up after he'd taped down the end of the bandage. "It's not me you should be apologising to."
Scott nodded, knowing who he was referring to.
"I don't even know what to say to him."
"You can start with 'I'm sorry'."
That voice wasn't the one of the brother in front of him, and Scott turned to find John hovering in the doorway.
"John? How long have you been there?" Scott had never heard him approach.
"Only a second, but I guess it's good timing."
John crossed the threshold and came over to sit next to Scott on the bed. At the same time, Virgil stood up, and sent John a nod before he left the room.
"John, I am so, so sorry for what I said to you," Scott said as soon as the door was closed again.
"It's fine." John shrugged. "I get you're just worried."
"But I've been horrible to you since Gordon-" Scott couldn't even find how to finish that sentence. "I shouldn't have blamed you. Or Colonel Casey, for that matter."
"She will understand. She knows how much we're hurting, and I know she feels guilty for not doing more for dad."
"She shouldn't. She did everything she could." Scott could see that now his brain wasn't clouded by anger.
"You should be telling her this." John smiled fondly.
"I will. Later. I want to hear what their plans are next." However, Scott needed to calm down before then, so he wouldn't say anything he would regret.
"You need to also remember it's not your fault either," John added, but Scott still felt the guilt gnaw at him.
"How can I not be? How could I not have noticed any vehicles leaving the area? There weren't many around. They probably went right by me, and I didn't even know."
"If they managed to get Gordon so fast, then they knew what they were doing. Besides, you were busy getting everyone to safety. You can hardly be to blame."
"But I'm his big brother. I should have just known something was wrong." He clenched his fists, but winced when it aggravated his cuts.
"Virgil and I are his big brothers too. We also never noticed until it was too late. I mean, I was the one who sent him to that warehouse. Would you blame us too?"
"Never." That was without question.
"Then don't beat yourself up. What matters now is just getting Gordon back."
Scott supposed that was true. Here he was making this all about him, when Gordon was out there somewhere probably going through hell.
Then, John voiced what they were all thinking, but no one would admit.
"I think it's time we made it public. Maybe someone out there knows something?"
Scott knew that logically it was the best move. However, it meant that they had tried all they could and were practically admitting defeat. Not only that, they were admitting to themselves that Gordon wasn't just going to walk in one day and say it was all a prank. This was real and terrifying and their worst nightmare coming true.
The chances of someone out there knowing something when they hadn't come to them already was slim. The only people who knew anything, were the people who had taken their brother.
But also to tell the world what had happened was to tell them that they had failed one of their own, and if they were capable of that, who would ever come to them in their time of need again?
"You're right." Scott pushed those thoughts aside. Those worries were for later, because at this point what else did they have to lose. "Let's go and talk to the others about it."
This was a decision they had to make as a family, and together they had to work out their approach to tell the world their brother was missing. This was going to bring up a lot of pain, some new, and some almost a decade old. They would need to be there for each other.
John floated on his back as he looked at the walls of the ship around him. Beyond them were endless stars, filled with secrets he could never fathom.
Maybe one of them held the answers as to where Gordon was.
It had been a month.
One month, almost to the day, since Gordon had seemingly vanished. They had searched far and wide, but still were no closer to finding him. The GDF team dedicated to their case had never stopped, and neither had they.
However, it was hard to keep themselves from spiralling into a pit of despair. They needed to keep themselves distracted, which was why they continued with rescues. They didn't tackle as many as before, and most were redirected to local services to keep them all from getting too overwhelmed, but it kept them busy in the moments they had nothing else to do.
They knew that Gordon wouldn't want them to stop saving the world just because he wasn't with them, but it was still incredibly hard to keep going. Without his never-ending energy and constant beam of sunshine, everything around them just seemed dull.
It was a life that John would never want to become permanent. He didn't think he could survive with all this grey. Its cloud would suffocate them all.
He let out a deep sigh as he continued to float. He wondered if in moments like this, Gordon would be found in a similar position, but surrounded by water instead of stars.
The sound of a call came in.
With another sigh, John swiped his hand at the hologram in front of him until the call was brought up.
"International Rescue, what's your emergency?"
"International Rescue?" It was the voice of a woman. She didn't have her video up, but neither did John, not when he couldn't provide them a comforting smile when they needed it. "My name is Maria Harper, and I think I have your missing member."
John resisted the urge to end the call right at that moment. Ever since they had told the public about Gordon, they had been receiving calls from people who had 'supposedly' seen him. After the first few calls, it had become too overwhelming, and they ended up shutting their line off for a whole week until they could face it all again.
Now, John usually just sent them straight to the GDF to handle. However, maybe it was because he was feeling extra upset about the recent milestone, but he couldn't disconnect without saying anything.
"You think it's funny to make a prank like that? This may be a joke to you, but-"
"No. You don't understand." She cut him off. "I'm being serious here."
John rolled his eyes. "Take it to the GDF."
His finger hovered over the button that would redirect the call, but in the split second before he pressed it, she spoke, and her next words made him freeze.
"I am Doctor Maria Harper and I work at Oregon General Hospital. I have your brother here. You need to listen to me, I'm telling the truth."
Oregon. That was where the earthquake that John had sent his brothers off to had been. At the time, he didn't know one of them wouldn't come back.
His hand lingered over the button, still unsure whether he should believe her. By all means, she could just have come across someone who looked enough like Gordon for her to be mistaken. It had happened before.
John didn't want to give into the hope that she was right. He had been burned too many times by false sightings, but there was a nagging feeling that wouldn't let him ignore this. What if this really was Gordon? He wouldn't be able to live with himself if he'd just turned his back on him.
Besides, a month in, he didn't think they had much to lose at this point.
"Okay," John relented, and really hoped he wouldn't regret this later. "I'll send someone to you."
Scott's heart hammered so hard he was afraid it was going to burst out of his chest. He pulled Thunderbird One to land on top of the hospital building, and then took several moments to take some deep breaths.
He was prepared for disappointment. The chances of a hospital finding Gordon so long after he went missing were slim. If he was at a hospital now, why hadn't he gone to one sooner? There were pieces missing to this story, and it made the possibility of his brother actually being in there almost nonexistent.
That was the reason Scott had travelled to the hospital on his own. They couldn't let the rest of their family get their hopes up only for this to be another deadend. He was sure their dad wouldn't be able to take another disappointment.
John had come to Scott privately and had given him the details, so only the two of them knew where he was right now. But that would still be one brother who Scott would inevitably have to let down later.
Rather than prolong the experience, Scott finished off his post-flight checks and got out of the ship. The doctor who had called John said she would meet him on the roof, and so Scott wasn't surprised when he saw her step out of the door leading to the elevator.
"Doctor Harper?" He called as he approached. "I'm Scott."
"Hi, Scott. Let me take you to your brother."
Scott tried to hide his grimace. If it wasn't Gordon, then he was uncomfortable with anyone describing whoever it was as his brother.
She led him through the door and into the elevator, where she pressed a button to send them down several floors.
"When did he come in?" Scott asked her. Even if it wasn't Gordon, he still wanted to get some information out of her on the slim chance it was.
"Last night. I only started my shift this morning, but I called as soon as I realised."
They reached the floor they needed, and Scott followed the woman through the hallways.
"He's only woken up once so far, just a couple hours ago before I called. He was really confused, kept muttering about something I didn't understand, but hopefully he'll be a bit more coherent when he sees you."
They walked through the busy ICU, where nurses and doctors wandered from one room to another. The further they went through the hospital, the more Scott started to hope that Gordon was really here. He could picture seeing his brother's face right in front of him, and he was only seconds away from that potentially happening.
Doctor Harper stopped in front of a door and turned to Scott. There was a window next to the door, but the blinds were closed.
Scott took a deep breath, and then sent a nod to the woman.
She nodded back, and then opened the door for him.
Scott refused to step over the threshold, but as his eyes landed on the figure in the bed, he knew instantly.
His legs carried him to the side of the bed even though his mind had gone blank. The man in front of him looked different to the one he knew, and Scott dreaded to think what he had been through all this time. But beneath the bandages and bruises, he was still Scott's baby brother.
"Gordon."
It was a whisper as he perched on the edge of the bed. He wanted to place his hand on his brother, to know for sure he was really there, but he didn't know where it was safe to touch him without hurting him.
Eventually, he settled on his shoulder, and as soon as he made contact, the reaction was instant.
Gordon's eyes flew open and darted around the room. The monitor next to him started to beep erratically as he began to panic.
"Hey, Gordon. It's me."
He rubbed his brother's shoulder reassuringly, but Gordon just tried to move away from his touch.
He weakly tried to push himself back against the pillows and away from Scott, and Scott felt his heart shatter into a thousand pieces. What had happened to Gordon to make him act in such a way to his big brother?
"It's just me. It's Scott." He let his instincts take over and he reached over to place his hand on Gordon's head. He brushed his fingers through the slightly longer than usual locks, just like he always did to comfort one of his little brothers.
It did as he was hoping, as Gordon stilled, and then started to relax.
After several moments where they both took deep breaths, Gordon blinked, and then his eyes settled on Scott.
"Scott?" His voice was so small, and he sounded like a child.
Before Scott could say anything, Gordon launched at him with enough force to almost send him backwards.
Scott felt Gordon's cast hit his back as he wrapped his arms around his waist. Scott was hesitant to hold him for fear of hurting him more. But then Gordon buried his face into Scott's neck and his body started to shake as he sobbed.
Any hesitancy was gone as Scott's big brother instincts kicked in, and he pulled Gordon closer whilst still being gentle.
"It's okay now. I'm here," Scott whispered into his hair as he tucked his face into Gordon's head. "You're safe now."
Gordon's body trembled in his arms and he was racked by tears. Scott felt his own start to brim in his eyes, but swallowed them down. This was not about him. He would deal with his emotions later.
His brother's body felt so fragile in his arms. He couldn't fathom what he had been through in the past month, and not only that, he had to go through it alone. None of them would understand.
His mind screamed at him to get answers, but that wasn't a problem for now. All that mattered then was that Gordon was safe and back with them.
Gordon continued to sob, and he didn't hold anything back as cries escaped his throat. Scott rubbed a hand up and down his back as he soothed his brother's pain with all the words he could find.
Eventually, Gordon had exhausted his emotions, and his cries quietened until he sagged in Scott's arms. Scott gently laid him back against the bed, and he adjusted his pillows and tucked the blanket around him to make sure he was comfortable.
He watched his brother for a long moment. His cheeks were tear stained, and Scott thumbed the tears away to erase his pain. No longer would he need to feel scared or alone. Scott swore he would not let anything like this happen to his brother again, and he would make whoever did this regret ever coming after his family.
Apologies for the slower updates. I've caught up on all my prewritten chapters so you're getting them as I finish them XD
