This is totally the-original-sineater fault! They posted a creativepromptsforwriting for Coffee Shop AU's and this is the result. How many prompts can I get into a single shot? Turns out I can fit 8 in one fic.

Scott gets up at 3:15am on the dot. In military precision he has cleaned his teeth, dressed, gone downstairs to the cellar and switched all the machines on in eight minutes. He then goes for his daily jog in the fresh predawn air of downtown New York City for precisely 16 minutes. Up the stairs, shower and dress in six minutes.

In the 30 minutes it takes Scott to do all that, John has got up and has brewed the first coffee of the day. Guatemalan roast. When Scott enters the cellar the coffee is ready, a double expresso for the speed freak, while John sips his Earl Grey tea.

Fifteen minutes later and the first batches of bread and cakes are coming out of the ovens.

Both men are lean and tall, with fine fingers that are prefect for baking. John is the bread king, baking 30 loaves of soft white bread, 5 loaves of wholemeal and making 100 bagels. Scott is the pastry champion. The cakes of choice are muffins, bear claws and cupcakes.

They turn then to the other prep needed for the day. Gordon joins them at 6am, hair still damp from his early morning swim. He helps Scott take up the finished cakes and sets about getting everything ready for opening the coffee shop at 6:30am. This means making sure the three coffee machines are up and running, plates and cups are stacked, and cakes are on display. It's Gordon's job to write out the chalkboards with the menu for the day.

John has moved on to sandwich prep. Those loaves will be turned into Swiss Cheese and Ham, Salt Beef and Pickle, BLT's and plenty of Cheese ones for grilling. He makes Salmon and Cream Cheese bagels. They don't have an extensive range, there are only six of them to serve at the best of times, and they are very popular.

Once the cakes are upstairs Scott helps John finish off, then John heads up to serve with Gordon while Scott starts decorating his whole cakes. There is always a Red Velvet, a Coffee Cake of some description and a Coconut Cake. He varies the additional ingredients and icing with the last two – today it's Coffee Mocha and Coconut and Lime. And he gets the deep-filled apple pies and the vanilla cheesecakes that he made last night out.

Gordon serves their first customer dead on 6:30am. The man always orders a soy latte and a Thunderbirds special to take away. He is a shy man, not rising to Gordon's attempts to engage him in conversation. Mr. Kinnear then looks at the cakes and decides to buy two double chocolate chip muffins. Just like he does every day. Gordon wonders what kind of job the man has, he's always waiting for them to open.

By 7am John has joined him, and Gordon watches as John proceeds to grind more coffee. Their Thunderbird Special has a secret mix of coffee beans from all around the world, a guaranteed caffeine hit stronger than the average. It had made their coffee shop, 'IRCafé' one of the most popular in the area.

From 7am there is a steady stream of customers, the majority are regulars that Gordon chats freely with while John and Scott make coffee and serve cakes. Gordon is looking out for the 8:21 customer. The haughty Frenchman, Lemaire, is always ratty, acting as if he is above everyone else in the queue. Yep, there he was, grumbling under his breath.

Gordon watches events play out – as they do every day. In front of Lemaire was hulking bloke. Gordon and Clarence got on very well, and they chatted every day. And every day Gordon (and John and Scott) watched with growing amusement as Clarence's sister Hannah cut the cut to join him, much to the very loud outrage of Lemaire.

They had been taking bets over the last couple of days as to when Lemaire would blow his stack, and it looks like today is the day. The man is an idiot. Clarence is a huge, huge man. Anyone who took him on, at face value, could only be a fool. Of course, the Tracy's know better. Clarence was as soft as marshmallow, and as Lemaire steps up into Clarence's face, Scott prepares to go into battle.

He didn't need to worry. A hand almost as big as Clarence's pulls Lemaire back and Virgil is standing between the two men. Scott comes forward with Lemaire's Caramel Macchiato and the two men escort him out. When he complains Scott points out he got a free coffee and no call to the police and he should be grateful. He is not, and for once they breathe a sigh of relief and carry on their business.

Clarence orders a latte for himself and an expresso for his sister. Hannah stands beside him, biggest, cheesiest grin on her face. She does this every day to irritate Gordon, and it does. He knows Hannah hates the friendship between him and her brother. Scott, however, always flashes a broad grin, complete with dimples at her, and the smile on her face takes on a slightly more honest hint.

Virgil replaces Scott at the counter and Scott takes the corner table and sets about sorting out the paperwork that is never-ending.

10:30am

10:35am

10:40am

Casey is late. Gordon, fresh back from a break, is worried about her. Casey is as regular as clockwork, even though she works at the GDF and probably has so much going on, but Gordon worries. He catches John's eye, and the man nods. He's noticed too.

Then the door swings open and Casey is there with her trusty sidekick. Captain Rigby. Gordon is tight-lipped but he maintains his composure. John, even with his back to the counter, can feel the sudden tension radiating off his brother. He glances at the table where Scott is sitting and yeah, Scott has sat up and his frowning. John sighs. He knows what is coming.

Casey goes and sits at her table, smiling at Scott and watching as Virgil makes his way over to the piano. Casey visibly relaxes and Scott smiles in return. This is a well-rehearsed routine for the godmother of their youngest brother.

Rigby orders his boss a mocha with an extra shot and a black Americano for himself. Gordon takes the order and turns to John. In his loudest voice he calls over the order. 'One café mocha, extra shot, extra hot for the Colonel. One straight up black americano for Ruby.' The man groans. Gordon can never get his name right, and Rigby is beginning to think that it is intentional.

Gordon smirks at the man's groan. This man had the gall to diss his sister and Gordon will never let him live it down. Kayo may be able to hold her own, but he has his own way to get his own back. He bites his tongue so as not to laugh out loud, and it is the disapproving glare from Scott that makes him hold back.

Lunchtime is their busiest time. It is all hands on deck, and both Alan and Kayo join them. Scott, John and Kayo make the coffees while Alan and Gordon serve and Virgil plays, often to request. He often has a small queue of people who have requests. Grandma helps out by clearing tables, but the clientele are well trained and most clear up after themselves.

Once the rush is over they take turns to have a break and Scott and John disappear downstairs to bring up the remaining cakes for the afternoon crowd.

3pm and John is waiting. Waiting for the English Lady and her butler. Penny and Parker arrive at 3:05 and sit at the same table every day, the one closest to the counter. John takes a break with her and they drink Earl Grey.

Penny wrinkles her nose at the coffee, she doesn't really like the smell, but the Tracy's are dear to her, and she pretends not to notice how Gordon shoots jealous glares at his brother while she is secretly delighted at the compliment. Parker scowls at the younger man when he notices.

They are still there when the 'internet man' comes in. Alan is convinced the man is a criminal mastermind. He serves him a filter coffee with cream and watches as he takes the table in the farthest corner and sets up his laptop. Alan nudges Gordon, and the two watch him. The man notices and pulls the hood of his jacket up to hide his face. Alan has taken to calling the man 'The Hood'.

He stays for one hour precisely. They are betting on what his is writing on his laptop. Alan and Gordon agree that it is running a criminal network. None of the other brothers care to speculate, but Kayo secretly agrees. But then, she always makes sure she is elsewhere when the man comes in every day.

They have an evening rush, where most of their morning clients return for a fix before going home, and by 7pm they are closed and clearing up.

The night time is preparation time for the next day, and it is all hands on deck again as they plough into the work to get it done. It is Friday and it is the weekly baking day. The tables are pushed back and Brains appears with a large trolley with six ovens on them.

Scott teaches baking to a small class of six people every Friday night. Tonight, they are going to make a chocolate apple cake. This one is suitable for vegans and is one of Scott's personal favourites taken from their Mom's cookbooks.

By 9pm everyone is gone and the Tracy's can at last have time for themselves. Pizza and a movie, and by 11pm the youngest two are in bed, Virgil and Brains are tinkering with the coffee machines downstairs as usual and John is on the roof, patching into NASA's live link so that he can see the stars he loves but cannot see.

Scott is in the basement, making sure that everything is ready for tomorrow. He heads to bed at midnight, checking in to see his brothers and sister and his grandmother are fine before settling in for sleep himself.

He smiles to himself.

It's been a good day.