Gordon submitted with good grace to a complete medical scan after he'd had quite a long shower in Two, and EOS gave him a clean bill of health apart from the bite mark to his hand. It was slightly sore, but she couldn't find any trace of anything harmful other than that. She checked Virgil over just to be sure. He also had a swelling, a little worse but that was to be expected as it was fresh.
Gordon was fairly bouncing around as usual, and his enthusiasm was infectious. Virgil had missed his co-pilot – Alan was fine, but he and Gordon were intuitive – and he looked forward to working together once Four had been scrubbed and Gordon had liaised with his professor to pass over the rest of the data.
Life settled back down into the normal routine of rescues and waiting. It was almost five weeks before anyone began to notice that Gordon was behaving differently. Scott noticed it first as he had to talk to Gordon about his upcoming TI meeting. He opened the door to Gordon's room and…it was spotless. Over those weeks Gordon began to be more serious and tidier, going so far as to give Alan a lecture on recycling when he put a drinks can in the wrong waste receptacle. No-one said anything though – it was actually kind of a relief compared to the slob he had been before, and he always had been hot on keeping the Earth clean.
The only change that was commented on was the sudden increase of time Virgil spent in the pool. Although he could swim, it was not really a pastime Virgil had ever indulged in – if he wanted exercise he would be in the gym, if he had downtime and he didn't want to paint or play then he could be found stretched out on a lounger in the sun. Gordon was ecstatic to have company.
Over the next week Virgil and Gordon were virtually inseparable, so much so that Alan began to grumble and Scott began to feel a little uneasy. This was not normal behaviour for either of them. However, it wasn't exactly unheard of – while growing up all five of them had switched friendships and allegiances all the time.
Gordon's meeting with the Aquatics division of Tracy Industries was rapidly approaching, and Scott was not surprised to have Gordon knocking on the office door asking for a favour. He wanted Virgil to come with him, something to do with his artistic flare and his presentation. Scott frowned. He wasn't aware that Gordon was making a presentation, it was a simple quarterly board meeting to be updated on all the department's work. He sat back in his chair and observed his brother. Gordon was perfectly still, almost standing to attention, while he awaited his answer.
This was so wrong. Something was not right with his brother, but he couldn't put his finger on what. He had not been injured over these past six weeks and the medic scans had come clean on his return. Maybe he needed to have them run again. He needed to talk to Brains. In the meantime, he gave permission for Virgil to go with Gordon on the proviso that he be shown the presentation before hand or he would also attend as CEO. Gordon was quite happy for Scott to come, saying the presentation would not be ready until on the day.
So Scott waited and watched his two brothers with concern.