Scott was the eldest of five brothers, all unique and as individual as himself. They had always functioned well as any family, even if to outsiders it seemed that the five were too…what was the word? Too close, too protective, too perfect. Especially the first and third boys.
They most definitely were not perfect.
Scott had a wicked temper on him, and although he usually took time to get provoked by a brother, it could switch on in an instant if the threat or cause was an outsider and was directed at one of his family.
Virgil was almost the complete opposite. Calm under pressure, he so rarely got riled up, even when his peers were ribbing him. Of course, this was mostly because Scott just got there first with his fists. However, put Virgil in a situation where the person ribbing was a brother, he would put up with only so much before the bear bit back.
The other three brothers were not much better. John was scary. He was cold and aloof and could pin you with a stare while confusing you with logic. Gordon was almost as free with his fists as Scott had been, but whereas Scott would knock the crap out of you and that would be that, Gordon would plot revenge and get you weeks later. You never knew if you were safe. Alan, well Alan was an amalgamation of all his brothers, he just rarely got to show it.
This, of course, was what outsiders saw and was such an incomplete picture of the subtle and nuanced dynamics that bound the Tracy boys to each other.
They balanced each other out in ways they could not ever quantify.