DISCLAIMER: Standard disclaimer applies. We don't own the Thunderbirds. Neither are we making any money off this endeavor.

Chapter 13 – HELP ALAN

Scott sat in a chair next to his brother's bed. Every few minutes he would mop John's sweat covered brow with a cool cloth, while trying to keep the cooling packs in place as John moved around. As predicted by their father, John's delirium was hard to take. He alternated between anger and cursing at Scott demanding to be released, to begging with tears running down his face, to even trying to pay Scott for his release. He struggled against the restraints, locked in various fever-induced scenarios.

Once when Scott was wiping John's forehead, John locked eyes with him. In a child-like voice, he begged. "Please, I want to go home. I want my mommy and daddy." Tears began to fall from John's eyes. "I need to help mommy take care of Virgil and Gordon. Mommy is going to have a new baby. Please, I promise that I'll be a good boy and help her. I have to go home. I want to see my mommy."

Scott brushed the hair back from John's forehead. Through his own tears, Scott tried to comfort his brother. "It's OK, Johnny. You'll see Mom soon."

All of a sudden John's demeanor changed. "Get your filthy hands off me, you coward. Let me loose and fight me like a man." He challenged. "You won't get away with this. You have no idea who you're dealing with. Come on, prove that you're a man."

Scott went back to sitting quietly next to his brother. John finally fell into a light and restless sleep. Scott checked his watch. Virgil should be relieving him in about 40 minutes. Scott put his head in his hands and began to think. Scott decided to talk to his dad about Alan. It had been incredibly difficult for him to sit with John and listen to his rantings. He knew it would be hard for Virgil and Gordon too, but he had faith that they could handle themselves. Alan, on the other hand, was only fifteen. He wasn't ready for this. Scott was going to tell his dad that it would be too traumatic for Alan. He just hoped that both his dad and Alan would understand his concerns.

John's voice drew Scott back from his thoughts.

"Alan?" John said.

"No John, Alan isn't here." Scott replied. Glancing at his watch, he could see that John only slept for about fifteen minutes.

"Scott?" John said in confusion. "I'm in the infirmary?"

"Yeah, you're pretty sick here." Scott replied. This was the most lucid that John had been in the last two hours. Scott couldn't help but wonder how long it would last.

"Scott, I have to find Alan. He's hurt." John said pulling slightly on the restraints. "You have to let me go."

Although John seemed calm enough at the moment, Scott knew that he could turn combative at any moment. "I'm sorry John. I wish that I could let you go, but you could hurt yourself."

"But Alan…I have to find Alan." John pleaded.

"Alan is fine, John." Scott tried to placate his brother. "He's getting some rest, like you should be. We are all taking turns sitting with you."

"No Scott." John said getting more agitated. "He's hurt. I can feel it. Please, if you won't let me go find him, then you go. He needs help Scott. He's our brother. We have to help him."

"OK John, ok, settle down." Scott said. "I'll contact Alan and have him come down here so you can see for yourself that he is ok. Will that work?"

"He can't come. He's hurt. He needs help." John insisted.

"Then I'll have Virgil find him." Scott said. "Calm down. I'm sure that everything is OK."

"Tell him to hurry. Find Alan. He needs our help." John said closing his eyes.

Scott moved away from the bed. He wanted John to be able to sleep if he could. He tried reaching Alan but did not get a reply. He began to wonder if maybe John was right. "No," Scott thought to himself. "He was really upset when he left. He probably went off somewhere alone and left his watch behind, not wanting to be disturbed."

Scott contacted Virgil and explained the situation to him. "So I told him that I'd have you find Alan and bring him here."

"You don't think John is right, do you? That Alan is hurt?" Virgil inquired.

"No, I think it's part of his delusion, but if it calms him down, I want Alan to come here." Scott explained.

"F-A-B Scott. I'll let you know as soon as I find Alan." Virgil said as he ended the communication.

Virgil spent the next fifteen minutes searching for Alan. So far, he had checked Alan's room, the lounge, the kitchen, the pool and the gym. He headed to Brains' lab thinking maybe Alan had gone there to try to help in any way that he could. When he entered the lab, he found Brains and Kyrano in a deep discussion. Tin-Tin and Fermat sat together in another corner of the lab.

"What's going on?" Virgil asked Tin-Tin.

"Brains is trying to use the extract from the orchid root to find a cure." Tin-Tin answered.

Virgil's eyebrows shot up. "Could it really work?"

Tin-Tin shrugged. "I don't know. The orchid roots have been used as a natural cure for different illnesses for many years. My dad is the expert on natural remedies. That's why he is trying to help Brains. All we can do is wait."

Virgil nodded his head. "OK, has either of you seen Alan? John's been asking for him and Scott thinks that seeing him will help calm him down."

Tin-Tin shook her head. "I haven't seen him since we were on the beach together."

Virgil turned to Fermat. He was confused by the guilty look on the young man's face. "Fermat?"

"I saw h-h-Alan when he left the in-in-sickroom." Fermat said. "He looked pretty an-an-an-upset."

"Did you see where he went?" Virgil asked.

"He was h-h-h-going toward his room." Fermat said.

"I checked his room. He wasn't there." Virgil replied. "Any other ideas where he might have gone?"

"He may have g-g-g-went to the beach." Fermat hazarded a guess. "He goes there s-s-s-a lot when he is up-up-bothered by something."

Virgil looked at Fermat. "There's something else that you're not telling me. Give."

Fermat looked at the floor. "Well in the p-p-p-before when Alan was this up-up-bothered he usually ends up in tr-tr-tr-making problems."

"Well, I hope he has more sense than that." Virgil said. "The last thing we need right now is him causing trouble. If you guys happen to see him, let me know."

Fermat and Tin-Tin both nodded and Virgil left the lab. He headed back towards the bedrooms hoping that maybe Alan had returned. Again he found Alan's room empty. So he headed back toward the exterior doors so he could check the beach. As he passed John's bedroom door, he stopped as a thought dawned. If he wanted to feel close to John, what better place to go than his bedroom.

Virgil slowly opened the door partway. "Alan? Are you…" He stopped when he saw the state of the room. "What the hell." He said as he pushed the door open the rest of the way. He saw Alan sitting against the wall. He was slightly surprised that Alan had not reacted when he opened the door. Moving towards his brother, he began a lecture. "My God, Alan, did you do this? What were you thinking?"

He stopped short when he saw that Alan's hand was covered in blood. He ducked into John's bathroom and grabbed a clean towel. Kneeling next to Alan, he began to carefully examine his hand. "Oh Sprout, what did you do to yourself?" He asked quietly.

He could see various cuts across Alan's knuckles and the back of his hand. Most of the cuts were minor and had already stopped bleeding. There were two spots though that were still slowly bleeding. Virgil gently wrapped the towel around Alan's hand being careful not to put it on too tight. He didn't want to re-open any of the cuts and make the bleeding worse.

Alan continued to stare at his hand. Virgil was getting concerned over the lack of response from Alan. "Alan? Sprout? Can you hear me?"

Alan finally turned toward Virgil. Virgil was startled to see the hauntingly vacant look in his brother's eyes. "Come on Sprout. You need to have Brains check out your hand." Virgil said in what he hoped was a reassuring tone. "Can you stand? How about walk?"

Alan struggled to his feet. Virgil helped him up relieved that Alan was finally responding to him no matter how small. When Alan was finally on his feet, Virgil noticed a picture that had been lying next to Alan. He picked it up and saw the broken glass still clinging to the frame. "Is this what you cut your hand on?" He asked.

Alan's gaze fell on the picture. He reached out with his good hand and gingerly took the picture from Virgil.

"Hey careful," Virgil admonished. "There's still broken glass in the frame."

Alan again ignored his brother and held the picture to his chest. He began to slowly shuffle to the door. Virgil debated about taking the picture from him but decided that trying that would cause a fight which could lead to one or both of them getting cut.

Gently placing his hand on Alan's back, Virgil guided Alan down the hallway. "Let's get you to the infirmary, so Brains can help you."

Scott looked up when he heard the door open and was shocked to see Virgil guiding a slow moving Alan into the room.

"Let's get you on the bed." Virgil told Alan. "Then I'll call Brains."

"Virg?" Scott said questioningly, moving towards his brothers.

"He'll be OK, Scott." Virgil responded. "He just cut his hand. I thought Brains should look at it. He may need to put in a couple of stitches."

Scott sighed and shook his head. "John was right. I don't know how, but he knew."

"Scott?" John's voice interrupted Scott.

Scott moved back to John's bedside. In the background, he could hear Virgil talking to Brains. Knowing that Virgil was taking care of Alan, Scott turned his attention to John. "John, how are you doing? Do you need something?"

"Scott, what's wrong with Alan? Is he OK? I need to see him." John said pulling lightly on the restraints.

Scott was confused, but also relieved, to see John calm and lucid. "I don't think that's a good idea, John." Scott said. "He's OK, I swear. He's just got a couple of cuts on his hand. No big deal."

"Then why can't I see him?" John asked. "Please Scott. It's important to me."

It was breaking Scott's heart to have to say no to John. "John, you've been so sick. I really think that you should stay in bed and rest."

"Five minutes Scott." John argued. "Five minutes with Alan and then I'll go right back to bed. I promise. Please, Scott."

Scott's resolve wavered and then crumbled. "All right, John. Five minutes and then back to bed and I stand beside you the whole time and when I say back to bed, you go back to bed with no arguments. Deal?"

"Deal," John agreed.

Scott removed the restraints and helped John into first a sitting and then a standing position. John suddenly turned on his brother. He threw a punch connecting solidly with Scott's jaw, sending him reeling back into the bed.

"Virgil, grab him." Scott yelled as John pulled out his IV and moved to Alan's bedside.

Virgil, who was talking to his dad, looked over at Scott's startled cry. He was shocked to see John out of bed. "What the hell? Dad, I have to go." He said as he disconnected the communication. Virgil cautiously approached John who was trying to get an unresponsive Alan to move. "John, come on buddy, you need to get back to bed."

"I'm getting my brother out of here." John said in an angry, menacing tone.

Scott collected himself and began to advance on John. "We're your brothers too, John. We just want to help you."

John gave Scott a snort. "Do you think that I am as stupid as you?" His gaze flicked back and forth between Scott and Virgil. He held a warning hand out to them. "Don't come any closer. I don't want to hurt you. I just want to get my brother out of here. I won't let you hurt him anymore."

"We didn't hurt him, John." Virgil said still advancing on John holding his hands up in a non-threatening manner. "We want to help him just like we want to help you."

"Yeah, sure, you want to help me." John said sarcastically. "You've been a great help so far. You've tied me to a bed and you're pumping only God knows what into my veins. Yeah, big help you've been."

Suddenly John's adrenalin rush dissipated and he sagged against Alan's bed. Scott and Virgil grabbed him on each side and steered him back toward his bed.

"No, let me go." John fought weakly against his brothers, but he had lost all his strength. As the restraints were replaced, John looked over at Alan who still remained motionless on the bed. "Alan, I'm sorry that I didn't save you. Please forgive me." John said as he dissolved into tears.

Scott fought his own tears. "We should've just used the original antidote. At least this would have been over by now." He hadn't even realized that he had said it out loud until he felt Virgil's open hand connect with the back of his head with a thud.

"Don't say that." Virgil said angrily. "Don't even think that, especially in front of Alan. He's having a hard enough time dealing with this."

Scott finally exploded. "And do you really think that this has been easy for me. I am sitting here watching my brother in pain, not even knowing who I am, and I know there is absolutely nothing that I can do to help him. I…you…" He stopped to collect his thoughts and emotions.

Virgil placed a comforting hand on Scott's shoulder. "It's hard on all of us, but Alan was right. As long as John is still alive, we have to have hope. Brains is still working on new ideas. We just have to wait a little longer."

Scott nodded his head as he brushed a tear away from his eyes.

Author's note: Is John psychic of something? Boy, did Scott learn the hard way about thinking with his heart and not his head. Poor Alan, how long will he shut down emotionally? Can Virgil help his brothers deal all this?

From Convert: Aww, this chapter even brought tears to Grumpy's eyes, and that is a hard thing to do.

From Grumpy: What can I say? That scene with John so child-like got to me. So sue me.