For both Gumnut and Tsari who both asked for Angstember prompt 4: Don't Let Go, but with different boys, Virgil&Scott for Nutty and John&Gordon for Tsari. This is going to be fun…

Snow was not any Tracy's favourite medium, not by a long shot, but the past was – in a very large way – a reason for the present so personal feelings were pushed aside, boxed up to be released once the rescue was over.

This was a big rescue with a restricted timeframe. And one so very close to home. A ski resort buried under an avalanche meant all hands on deck, and with John already down when the disaster struck it had led to an unusual pairing up on the scene.

Normally, Scott would be with Alan and Virgil with Gordon, but Scott was adamant that Alan would not work the slopes and the other older Tracy's agreed. Alan would work with Kayo, and John with Gordon. The four of them were tasked with the main building and the chalets around while Scott and Virgil took the slopes, where they were almost certainly dealing with more dead than alive, something the youngest didn't need to see.

It was going to be a long rescue. Thankfully it was at the very end of the season so they were not as full as they should be, with around 100 people in and around the resort rather than the usual couple of hundred. Half of the life signs were in the lodge, some dotted around the chalets and around eight on the slopes.

Virgil dropped off a large tent that had been adapted to serve as a triage and collection point along with two Sherpa pods, John, Gordon, Alan and Kayo, before he and Scott set off up the mountain. The others paired up and went on their own rescues. The GDF soon joined them, setting up more tents while they dealt with rescuing people further down the mountain that had been caught up too.

…

John and Gordon took the main building. The place was huge and had been completely swamped and it had taken some time to get the pod safely through the snow in such a way that they could get into the building without adding to the already compromised safety.

Within seconds of making an entrance they had come across 15 people huddled together for warmth. Gordon led them outside and took them to the triage point in several trips while John followed EOS' directions and found more people. There were some minor injuries on the ground floor, and John treated them as best as possible before leading them to the foyer for Gordon to retrieve.

John moved on to the middle floor. There were 14 life signs over this floor and the top floor, most in the middle. John and Gordon were a well-oiled machine and they soon had them treated and out. John moved up to the top floor while Gordon whisked the last rescuees off.

There were only a few life signs left, and John was pretty sure that any people who were up here would be more seriously hurt than those downstairs. The floor groaned as he picked his way over and through the snow, causing him to pause several times. Good job that he was light, John was pretty sure it probably wouldn't hold for Gordon.

Three bodies and one live person with some serious abdomen injuries later, John heard Gordon climbing the stairs and together they stretchered the injured man down to the pod where Gordon sped off down to the medic centre and John returned to hunting out the remaining four life signs EOS had pointed out.

…

Alan and Kayo seemed to have a slightly easier time than Gordon and John. The large three-story lodge had protected the chalets below it from the worst of the snow, and the avalanche alarm had given most the time to reach the built-in shelters each chalet had. Those who had not been caught and had not been injured had already begun to dig out those that had.

With the heat cone on the Sherpa pod it was easy to reach the doors, and once it was established that there were no injuries Kayo and Alan would move on to the next place while the uninjured guests and a few GDF officers that had stayed helped them to the triage area.

Where there were injuries the pair worked quickly to patch them up before Alan took them down to the triage point in the pod. It took longer than they would have liked, with the chalets dotted around so much, but eventually EOS reported that they had rescued everyone, and the pair made their way over to assist in finding the last couple of life signs in the lodge.

…

Scott and Virgil had taken the mountain itself, knowing that they would probably be pulling more cold bodies than warm. EOS pinpointed life signs and they investigated, Two under EOS's control while they dug and hunted.

They were right. Even with EOS directing them they found more dead than alive, but by the time Alan and Kayo had finished the chalets they had rescued six people in various stages of hypothermia and with mostly limb and head injuries, and Virgil spent most of his time in the med bay while Scott carried on searching.

Once Virgil had done all he could for the last person they found, he called both Scott and Grandma and said he was going to drop them off to the triage centre. Scott agreed and carried on searching for the last two life signs while Virgil dropped them off.

…

John was just reaching the second staircase, one further back from the entranceway, where EOS had pinpointed the four remaining life signs in a room just off there, possibly indicating that they had attempted to reach the stairs but had failed to get there in time.

He needed to tread carefully, the flooring was very weakened and even John, the lightest brother besides than Alan, was causing quite frankly alarming groaning. He picked his way across carefully, listening to the floor and keeping an ear on his brother coming up the stairs.

A particularly loud creak had John pausing, but Gordon came up behind him. John waved his arm behind him, hoping that he'd understand that he needed to stop. Gordon did stop, but only for a moment. Because as he stilled, the flooring collapsed underneath John, who disappeared both suddenly and in slow motion.

Gordon shot forward to see John clinging on by his fingertips. Laying down on his belly, Gordon inched forward and grasped his brother's left wrist just as John's fingers slipped. The floor shifted under Gordon's torso as he held John's wrist tightly, John twisting his own wrist so his long fingers could grasp hold of Gordon's wrist.

'Reach up, John!' Gordon grunted. He needed John's other hand to be able to pull him up. As it was now, he could barely move with his shoulders hanging over the void. John swung himself slightly, reaching for his arm. There was a cracking sound, and the floor dropped slightly below Gordon.

John looked down. They were on the second floor, it wasn't a long drop, but there was debris littered all over the floor in the snow, and while it would hurt it likely wouldn't kill him. At least, he didn't think it would. The alternative was that they both fell, and with Gordon's back…He glanced back at Gordon, whose expression dropped.

'No, John! Don't let go!'

There was a hint of anger in the desperate tone of Gordon's voice. He knew that look. John was being a stupid protective big brother when he absolutely didn't need to. As if in answer to his thoughts the floor shuddered again. And John smiled.

And let go.

…

Scott wasn't having much luck finding the remaining two life signs EOS had said were there, and his hope was dwindling with each minute. Virgil had already said that he was on his way back, and Scott acknowledged him with a grunt, eyes intent on the ground before him and the readouts EOS was constantly updating. There was always danger of a second avalanche, and he was treading warily. Besides, who know what the avalanche had hidden?

As the thought entered his mind his foot connected with a patch of snow that gave way under his foot, and suddenly Scott found himself falling. Instinct took over and almost as soon as he had begun to fall the grapple was arresting that tumble, and he hit the ice wall with his shoulder, still caught in the surprise of the fall. He took a moment to get himself together, feeling the bruising of the fall.

Virgil, EOS and Grandma were all shouting in his ear, and he cleared his throat to get their attention. 'I'm fine.' It probably would have been more convincing if his voice was stable and hadn't cracked.

'I'm right above you, Scott. Can you get back up to the surface?' Scott looked up.

'No, the grapple caught too far down the surface.'

'Ok. I could drop a cable down, but the entrance isn't straight down and the cable might snag. Can you see the bottom?'

'No, not from here.'

'Right. I'm coming down to get you.'

'Ok, Virg. I'll hang tight.'

Gordon would have snorted at that. But EOS disappeared from the collection of voices abruptly mind sentence and then so did Grandma, and Scott's heartrate shot up. Something was wrong somewhere else.

'What's going on?' The pause told him more than Virgil asking him to hang on. 'Virgil?'

'John and Gordon are having some kind of problem.'

'You don't need to know what the problem is,' Scott heard the words inferred but not said, and while it probably was true that hanging part-way down an ice crevasse on a mountain was not the best of situations and one that should require all his attention, it was not going to stop him worrying about John and Gordon. However, Scott held his tongue about enquiring further, knowing he wouldn't get any more information.

'Ok, I'm heading down, Scott.'

'FAB, Virgil.'

Scott didn't have to wait long, although he was showered with ice as Virgil struggled through the slit that he had fallen through. At one stage there was grunting, and Scott realised that the entranceway must have been much narrower and more convoluted than he realised – Virgil was definitely struggling.

Eventually Virgil made it down to him, and for a moment the pair just hung there. 'Only you could have fallen through such a thin crack, Scott,' Virgil grumbled. His shoulders ached from wriggling through, and he couldn't risk the time it would take to widen the slit in case it caused a collapse. He rolled his shoulders as he hung, cable attached to his harness, and wished he could have fitted through with his exosuit.

Resisting the urge to give a sarcastic reply, Scott merely rolled his eyes and grinned at his brother. Virgil grinned back, reaching around to unclip the second cable so that he could hook Scott up to Two and they could get out of there.

…

Bad things happen in threes. Even to the Tracy's.

…

As Virgil stretched over to attach the clip to Scott's harness, the extra stretch caused something to tear. Both men froze, eyes wide and staring at each other. The entranceway was far narrower than either had realised, and as Scott looked his brother over, he could see a tear forming on the harness Virgil had donned instead of the exosuit. The rocks and ice that Virgil had wriggled past to enter the crevasse had done their damage.

He reached over to pull Virgil in. He wasn't fast enough.

Scott's fingers brushed Virgil's arm as his brother dropped before his eyes. For one second startled brown eyes met blue eyes and then he was gone. But Virgil's reactions were as good as Scott's, and suddenly Scott's ankle was grabbed. The extra weight tore at his shoulder and he let out a grunt.

But his brother was safe. For now.

Not being able to reach down to Virgil's hand, not being able to retract his grapple in any way that could help them, Scott frowned. He needed to get Virgil safe. The broken harness with Two's cable was dangling just beyond his reach and seemed the best way to achieve this.

As he contemplated a course of action a gasp over the comms told him they weren't alone, and whatever was happening to the others was just as serious as what was happening to them. He looked down and could see that Virgil was feeling the same, the frown of concern that Scott was no doubt mirroring saying he was worried about them too.

Scott gritted his teeth. His shoulder felt dislocated – could possibly be just wrenched – but he wasn't in a position to do anything about that. He braced, pushing against the ice to try and start some momentum to reach the cable, but with Virgil's extra weight he just couldn't reach. The entrance to the crevasse may have been narrow, but it widened considerably where they were and the cable stayed stubbornly out of reach.

As he hit the wall again Scott glanced down as Virgil looked up. This wasn't working. He couldn't get the momentum right in the space they had. By the look on Virgil's face he could see that his brother had come to the same conclusion.

And then Virgil smiled.

Scott froze.

'Virg? What are you thinking?'

'We both know that you can't reach the cable, not with me hanging on your ankle.'

'No! No, I'll think of something, just hang on.'

'You know, I never thought I would be the one in this position.' There was a wistfulness in Virgil's voice, and it squeezed Scott's heart. 'You're always the one to sacrifice for us, the first one to give something up. Well, now I have the opportunity to return the favour.'

'Don't you dare, Virgil! Don't let go! Please!' But the smile that Virgil flashed him told Scott that Virgil had made his mind up. There was a squeeze on his ankle and then a void.

Virgil had let go.

…

Gordon tried to lunge forward to catch John, but he was too far away. He screamed his brother's name and watched.

What happened next Gordon wasn't quite sure. One second John was falling, another second he was not. Gordon had been so intent on keeping John safe that he hadn't even noticed Alan and Kayo make it up to their floor. Alan was holding Kayo around the waist to assist bracing her on the unstable floor, and Kayo was standing on the edge, grapple in hand.

She had caught John just before he would have hit the floor, the jerk as the grapple caught his baldrick driving the air from his lungs. Kayo let him down gently to the floor, and once he was free from the grapple Gordon was there to check him over while Kayo and Alan set off the rescue the remaining four people.

John hadn't moved, other to sit down on the floor. He honestly thought that he was going to hit the floor, and the shock of the jolt caused by the grapple had thrown him. Gordon kicked something out of the way and sat down beside him, shoulders touching.

Neither said anything. They listened as the four remaining rescuees were helped to safety. They stayed there while Alan took the people back in the pod and Kayo came over, perching on a piece of something next to Gordon.

By the time Alan came back John was quite back to himself, and the three of them were waiting for him. They got into their respective pods and set off.

'What's going on?'

'John's been talking to EOS.'

'And?'

'Scott and Virgil are in trouble.'

Alan sped up.

…

Scott didn't even hesitate.

The second after Virgil let go so did Scott, detaching the cable and plummeting right after his brother and twisting so that he was facing down. He fired the grapple at his brother's baldrick, and the instant it snagged he began to reel it in as fast as possible. Virgil, seeing that Scott had let go after him, held his hands up, trusting that his brother would catch him as he always did.

As soon as Scott caught hold of Virgil's elbow he released the grapple and fired another one upwards. It snagged and twanged tight, slamming Scott into the wall again before swinging them back out into the openness of the crevasse. They both took a breath. That was altogether too close.

Their hands tightened on each other's elbows. Scott hadn't shot the grapple up the crevasse wall; he had fired at the cable. Once again Virgil marvelled at the accuracy his military brothers showed, being able to pinpoint that cable while falling – he wasn't sure he could have done that.

Just as their momentum slowed there was a shower of ice and rock chips. And a cheery voice called down to them.

'Ahoy, shipmates! Ready to come aboard?'

Scott and Virgil looked at each other and rolled they eyes in unison. There were more showers of ice, and then they were moving up. John and Gordon helped the two to climb out completely and they all grinned at each other.

'Where's Alan and Kayo?' Scott asked, needing to know that they were alright too. John pointed just a little further down from where they were standing. Sure enough, the two were assisting the remaining two rescuees to get into their pod.

He had been so close to them. Thankfully the last two rescuees had only minor injuries, having deployed their avalanche pods, and as Virgil remotely lowered Two's rescue platform, he, Scott, John and Gordon climbed on board with the victims while Alan and Kayo took the pods down to the triage point.

Gordon flew Two while John wrangled Scott and Virgil saw to the two rescuees. Scott, adamant that there was nothing wrong with him other than a strained shoulder, argued against having the Medscanner run over him. John ignored him and did it anyway, showing up a multitude of bruising and some torn ligaments in both his shoulder and ankle. He smiled at Scott's grumbling as he insisted the man allow him to strap both.

To John's surprise Virgil repaid the favour, scanning John while he was finishing up with Scott. He was going to have a nice bruise across his chest where his baldrick was pulled tight, but apart from that he was fine.

Virgil then turned to go, only for a hand from each brother to stop him. Slightly guiltily, he suffered the Medscanner too, and was also flagged as having extensive bruising to his shoulders and upper back. Thank goodness their uniforms were so robust, or he and Scott would have had scraped themselves badly.

Once they had reached the triage point and discharged their patients to the waiting EMT's, everyone collected in the cockpit. There was a moment of silence as each one came to terms with the fact that they could have lost three brothers in the rescue, and the move to a group hug was as simultaneous as it was spontaneous.

'Ok everyone. Time to come home,' Grandma stated, and they broke apart and began to prepare everything to leave. The GDF could handle everything from here on in, EOS stating that all life signs had now been rescued. Scott wasn't allowed to help, and he stood and watched, grumbling about overprotective brothers under his breath. The highly amused look that Gordon flashed him told him he wasn't as quiet as he thought.

They arrived home to hot chocolate and chocolate chip cookies, curtesy of MAX, and were soon arranged in the den. If they were all, Kayo included, sitting much closer together than usual, no one commented, and Sally watched her grandchildren as they unconsciously gravitated to Scott and Virgil until they were just one big pile of Tracy.

They were all asleep before the film was even halfway through.