Chapter Two,

"Virgil, I've got something to...no that wont do...Virgil would you mind if I...no, stupid, stupid..." Fermat stuttered as he paced restlessly. Alan had suggested,

"How about just telling him?" earliers so Fermat was now trying to figure out how to tell him.

"Virgil..."

"Yes?" Virgil poked his head into the room. Germat froze and stared at him like a rabbit caught in the headlights of a car. "Did you want something?"

"No, no I-I was just t-t-t-wondering what to get you for c-c-christmas," Fermat lied, his face burning red. Virgil looked at him questioningly before shrugging and leaving. "Great."

"That was one of the hardest missions yet," Gordon murmered. Virgil couldn't speak, he could still see the faces of the children pleading with him to get them out. He'd gotten half of them out before the supports collapsed. There wasn't much left after that.

"Virgil, it wasn't your fault, we cant always save everybody," Jeff said to his quiet son. Virgil, not having much of a temper nodded weakly and quickly showered, dressed and left his family alone.

"I'm worried about him dad, he was watching the kids when it collapsed," Scott admitted.

"I know son, but we'd better leave him alone for a little while."

Fermat watched Virgil walk strait past him and out to the pool, tears streaking down his cheeks. He followed quietly and watched Virgil go right to the end of the diving board and sit, gazing into the pool with more tears falling from his eyes.

'If only I'd been quicker, If only I'd noticed the beams, If only...' he knew he could go on for ever with 'If only's,' he knew it wasn't healthy for him to think that way but he just couldn't stop. To Virgil he had killed those 9 children.

"Virgil?" Fermat asked quietly. Virgil glanced at him, sending him a sad smile before returning to gazing at the water. "Are you alright?" Virgil sighed.

"No Fermat, not really," Virgil admitted quietly. Fermat went to the side of the pool and tried to look at Virgil, his balance not too safe.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Femat asked quietly, his stutter amazingly not bothering him for once.

"Not really," Virgil murmured.

"I'll leave you alone then," Fermat said before turning to go. Unfortunatly his foot caught on something as he turned sending him with a cry into the deep pool.

"Fermat!"

tbc...

A/N There we go, little cliffhanger. Poor Virgil, BTW Fermat can only swim when he's not got shoes on or in deep water which is why Virgil's panicked so much.