AngelMouse5 - glad you enjoyed the chapter. I think john believes in all of his brothers which is what I'm hoping I show in my writing. Thanks for reviewing.

Queen of the Elven City - glad you liked the last chapter. This one is a little longer.

I-like-chickens - thanks !

IloveSam - sorry about the wrong version of here/hear. I haven't fixed it yet but I do plan on doing so. Thanks for pointing it out. Glad you enjoyed the John/Jeff talk. This one is longer than the last chapter.

Fiona1260 - it's longer! probably not as long as you would like though.

Marblez - here's your update. Hope it was quick enough for you.

moonlightbear - thanks for the review. as for Alan passing his classes I think that is kind of predictable. I mean he is in Wharton academy in the movie.

Lauzjamin - nice to see a new name in the reviews. Glad you're enjoying the story and thanks for the review. It's much aprreciated.

Alan's POV:

With a sigh, I closed my history book. I wasn't getting anywhere anymore. I had been studying ever since I came back to my room after dinner and the dates and names were starting to mix together. I definitely needed a break.

I got up and walked out of my room. I felt no where near ready for some of my finals, and history was one of them. Chemistry was the other one that had me worried. The closer it got to the time for me to go back to school the more worried I got about them. I was starting to think I didn't stand a chance. I still had tomorrow though and no matter how I looked at it by this time next week I would be back here again and this past semester would be nothing but a bad memory.

The house was quiet. Dad was probably in his office and I wouldn't have been surprised to find John there too. Of all my brothers, I understood John the least. He seemed so much older than me, older than even Scott. The fact that he was so close to my Dad didn't help any either. I always felt like I had to be on my best behavior around him because anything I did would be reported to Dad. Not to mention I was jealous. Jealous of the close relationship that John had with our father. The kind of relationship that I wanted.

Sighing to myself, I made my way to the kitchen. I heard laughter coming in from outside. It sounded like Virgil, Fermat, and Tintin were having a great time.

I got a glass and filled it with water. Sipping the water I looked out at the pool in front of the house. Virgil and Tintin were playing a game of volleyball in the pool. Fermat was sitting on the edge of the pool, with his feet dangling in the water. Knowing Fermat, he was probably keeping score.

"Hey Squirt."

I jumped at the sound of Gordon's voice behind me. I turned as he strolled into the kitchen. He was wearing shorts and a t-shirt and no shoes.

"Don't sneak up on people."

"It's not my fault you weren't paying attention," Gordon told me as he grabbed a banana off of the counter. "Of course you were probably daydreaming about actually being out there with them instead of stuck in here."

"I don't see you out there," I countered.

"Yeah, but the difference is that I can go out there and jump in the pool whenever I want. Your stuck in here," he told me. I could feel the anger rising in me. Leave it to Gordon to take the opportunity to rub in the fact that I was grounded.

Of all my brothers, it seemed as if I got into arguments and fights with Gordon the most. Probably because he was the closest to my age. When we weren't trying to get on each others nerves though, he was probably the brother I was closest too. Despite the sibling rivalry that often surfaced the two of us talked a lot and when I was actually home spent a lot of time together.

"So what. I'm not the one that sent John to the hospital," I shot back. I regretted the words as soon as I said them. I knew Gordon felt bad enough about what happened on the mission without that remark but it just slipped out before I had time to even think about what I was doing. It was something that I did a lot and something that always led me into getting into trouble.

Gordon didn't say anything but his face showed plenty. I could see the shock there. Shock that I had actually stooped that low as to throw that back in his face. After the shock came the hurt and the guilt. I knew I had gone too far with that comment. I would give anything to have been able to take it back but I couldn't.

I opened my mouth, to try and apologize but Gordon didn't give me a chance. Without a word he turned and walked out of the kitchen. I heard the front door open and close as he retreated outside.

I contemplated following him but thought twice about it. I wasn't so sure I wanted to risk a longer sentence just for an apology. The apology was just going to have to wait until Gordon came back inside. Maybe by then I would be able to figure out exactly what to say anyways.

With a sigh, I turned back toward the window. The other three were still at there game of volleyball. As I watched the game going on in the pool, I saw Gordon walk by the pool. I saw Virgil pause before serving the ball, looking in Gordon's direction, probably trying to convince him to join them. Gordon just kept walking.

Tossing the ball over the net to Tintin, Virgil headed for the side of the pool, most likely to go after Gordon.

'Great, now I'll have two brothers mad at me', I thought to myself turning away from the window to find John standing at the bottom of the stairs.

"How much did you hear?" I asked, trying to get over my surprise of seeing him there. This just wasn't turning out to be my day.

"Enough," he told replied. I tried to figure out his tone. He didn't really sound angry. John sounded more like he was disappointed but disappointed in who - Gordon or me. "I wish the two of you wouldn't go at each other like that," he told me.

Maybe it just wasn't me then. I didn't really feel like asking though.

"I wasn't thinking. That comment just slipped out."

"Unfortunately, there's been a lot of that going on in this family lately," John said. I got the feeling that he wasn't just talking about me this time.

I suddenly felt very uncomfortable in his presence. I wasn't sure why but I just wanted to get out of the kitchen. Get away from John. I needed to do so without being too obvious about it.

"I should be getting back to my homework," I told him. I had no intention on going back to my school books again right now but it seemed like a good excuse to leave the room. An excuse that John probably wouldn't question.

I walked past John, and started up the steps. I was about halfway up when I heard John call my name.

"Hey Alan."

I turned around to acknowledge him but I didn't say anything. I really didn't have the desire to have a conversation with him but to just keep walking would have been too rude.

"Everything is going to work out," he told me.

I didn't say anything. What could I say, that wouldn't get me into more trouble? Turning I continued my trek back up the stairs, half expecting John to follow me. Half wanting him to follow me.

He didn't though, I went back to my room and turned my music on. It was a little louder than I really should have been listening to it but no one came to tell me to turn it down for a change.

Breakfast the next morning was quiet. Dad had already left in Thunderbird 1 to meet with Lady Penelope and Brains had decided to skip breakfast and continue his work in the lab on the autopilot program. Kryano, Onaha, and Tintin had all taken their breakfasts outside to the patio to enjoy a quiet breakfast together which left Fermat, John, Virgil, Gordon and me.

Both Virgil and Gordon were giving me the cold shoulder. I could tell instantly that Virgil was on Gordon's side from the looks I was getting from him. I thought about trying to say something to them but I wanted to talk to Gordon without an audience.

John tried at first to get a conversation going but it didn't work. Nobody was much in the mood to talk to one another. Fermat kept casting looks in my direction but kept quiet. He never had been much for getting involved in the arguments and disagreements that came up between my brothers and I.

As we were cleaning up the breakfast dishes I took a chance and tried to talk to Gordon.

"Gordon can we talk?" I asked him, still not wanting an audience for my apology.

"I have nothing to say to you," he told me icily.

"Just give me a couple of minutes," I said.

"Why don't you just leave him alone," Virgil said coming up behind me. "I think you said quite enough last night."

I felt my anger rising. Yeah, what I said to him had been wrong but it wasn't like what he had said to me was completely in the right either. He had been getting on my case about the lab fire since I came home. Virgil had apologized about the comment he made when I came home but Gordon never had.

"Why don't you stay out of it," I snapped at Virgil.

"Will you three cool it," John said from where he was standing. I had completely forgotten that he was even still in the room.

Without another word, Gordon and Virgil headed for the front door.

"Gordon, can we please talk?" I said not ready to give up. I didn't want to go back to school with things like they were.

"No Alan. I want nothing to do with you right now," Gordon called out over his shoulder as he reached the front door and disappeared outside. Disappeared to a place where he knew that I couldn't go after him.

I felt an arm come to rest across my shoulders. I turned my head, expecting to find Fermat standing next to me. Instead, I found it was John that was standing there. At least I knew it wasn't three against me.

Gordon's POV:

After Virgil and I jogged on the beach for a little while, he headed back to the house. I stayed down on the beach. I was still mad at Alan and was determined to avoid him. He went back to school today so all I had to do was wait until he left the island.

I sat down in the sand right above where the waves were hitting and looked out over the ocean. I knew the reason that Alan's remark had bothered me so much was because he was right. John going to the hospital had been my fault.

I had been the one who caused the metal scraps to fall through my carelessness. John had been trying to protect me. I wasn't even sure why John wasn't mad at me. I knew the arm had to be painful. Pain that was my fault. I wouldn't have held it against him if he never wanted to talk to me again.

That wasn't the case however. Instead, John kept trying to convince me that it wasn't my fault. That all it had been was an accident. I had just started convincing myself of that when Alan had made his remark last night.

I wasn't sure how long I was down on the beach. I hadn't put my watch on, so I didn't even know what time it was.

Hearing a low rumble overhead I glance upwards to see our small private plane fly overhead. That probably meant that either John or Virgil were flying Alan and Fermat back to the Churchill school for boys. That also meant that it was safe for me to go back up to the house. I wouldn't have to face Alan again until he came home for the holiday break.

Standing up, I started in the direction of the house, with the intention of getting my swim trunks on and swimming some laps in the pool.