Time seemed to slow whilst Gordon and Alan were carefully transporting Scott over to Two's infirmary. But it wasn't until they were just outside that Alan remembered to ask where Virgil and Kayo were. Gordon had the good grace to slightly colour before answering that Virgil would be in the bed next door to Scott.

'S***! Why didn't you say anything?' Alan said, stopping dead in his tracts. Gordon sighed. 'With everything else that has happened today? It's been a bad day, that's for sure.'

'So, let me get this straight in my mind. Scott's unconscious with three broken limbs. Virgil is unconscious from a stab wound. Myself definitely and Kayo possibly has concussion, and you received a punch to the kidneys.' Gordon nodded. All sounded about right. He hoped the punch wasn't quite bad enough to be peeing blood, but there was no denying it had stopped him dead.

John came over the comm. He was much calmer now, and ever so slightly embarrassed he acted like that. John couldn't remember the last time he had frozen over anything, although hearing the news about Scott like that just after Virgil had certainly thrown him.

While Alan and Kayo settled Scott into a bay and ensured he was strapped in, John directed Gordon to Vancouver General, one of the closest hospitals that could manage Two. He himself was about to descend to the island to pick up Grandma and Brains. EOS was piloting One home, and Gordon was asked to come pick up the rest of the family as soon as everyone was off. Kayo had already been in touch with Penny and the security teams, and the hospital had opened up a closed isolation ward where everyone could be kept together.

Gordon wasn't sure he liked that idea – Scott and Virgil together was a given if you wanted any peace at all, but Alan and him sharing with the Smother Twins? No thank you! Gordon was under no illusions that he would be spending the night just to make sure – no-one would argue with Grandma. And she would definitely ground his ass tonight once they'd arrived back at the hospital. She'd probably make John pilot.

As the medics took away the four operatives, the GDF waited for the attacker from the trawler. They had apparently apprehended the three from the failed attempt to re-open the mine. The family lawyer was going to be busy…

It didn't take long for Two to get home and back again – if you ignored the time difference – but neither of the two older boys were out of surgery yet. Sally, Brains and John caught up with everything. Kayo had had Virgil's butterfly stitches removed and had a neat row of stitches in a nice black thread. They'd dissolve in 7-10 days, and she'd got off lightly with no concussion. Alan had a moderate concussion from the blow to his head. It hadn't broken the skin, though, and so it was just a monster headache and nausea to deal with. Gordon had a bruised kidney and yeah, had peed a little blood. His attending physician had said 24 hours bed rest. Gordon had argued that he didn't need it. Grandma had simply looked at him, eyebrow cocked, and Gordon had given in. Weaponised eyebrows were a Tracy norm.

The family set out to wait.

Sally reflected that nothing ever went easy when it should. Both rescues on paper were classic easy ones, ones that the boys had done time and time again. Yet here they were. With both Scott looking like he'd be out of action for months and Virgil for several weeks at the least, iR would be standing down for at least seven days, until Alan, Gordon and Kayo were up and running.

They all needed time. Time to process what had happened literally in the space of less than half an hour. Time to get better in the hospital. Time to heal at home.

This was going to be a nightmare. For everyone. Sally wondered whether she should send Scott away somewhere once he was fit enough, goodness knows he would be awful while the others went on rescues without him, but equally, did she want to inflict that on someone else? Or even on Scott? This is going to require a lot of planning.

Time marched on.

Virgil was the first back, which surprised no-one. The doctor explained that nothing vital had been damaged, a deep puncture wound coupled with tearing down for about three inches meant a lot of stitches. Virgil was on the good stuff, and the position in his side meant that he'd find it difficult to get comfortable once he regained consciousness.

Scott's surgeon turned up three hours later. The only good thing about his injuries was that the breaks were clean. However, both fibulas and tibias had been broken, twice in his right leg and once in his left, and his femur on his right had also broken. They had cast his left leg after manually manipulating the bones, but they had used wires on his right. The surgeon explained that they would usually have used screws and a metal rod though the tibia, but they had decided not to because of Scott's job. The down side of that was it meant another surgery in six weeks to remove them. Similarly, Scott's right arm had also been wired together, with one clean break of his ulna and radius and several smaller fractures to his wrist and fingers.

Of more pressing concern was the head injury. He had a small skull fracture that thankfully was not depressed, but that would be more debilitating in the short term due to the severe headaches he would get. And there had been no bleed on the brain nor any leaking of fluid, but the multiple fractures Scott had increased the likelihood of infection. They had cleaned the site and stitched the skin. This raised the glimmer of a smile with Alan and Gordon, the thought that Scott would have had some of his head shaved.

There was a discussion regarding symptoms to watch for in regard to possible infection and post-concussion syndrome, which Sally already knew and by now so did all her grandsons, and the surgeon left, saying Scott was in recovery and would be along within the next hour or two. Virgil would possibly be awake by then.

Time was supposed to be this great healer, and he supposed it was, but sometimes he hated her with a passion. There was never time for him to be there for his brothers, never time to just be. Even now, with Grandma calling a weeks' hiatus to iR's activities and Colonel Casey agreeing, he was busy tapping away with EOS, digging into the men who had hurt his brothers, ensuring that there was no greater threat involved. And there wasn't. Two men with documented history of severe phobia regarding flying and heights. Three idiotic men who thought an old copper mine could contain gold. Just two extremely unlucky circumstances. John sighed heavily; and was startled when Grandma reached across and took the pad from him, instructing EOS to continue without him for at least 48 hours. EOS quite happily agreed to that, the traitorous minx, and John suddenly found that maybe, just maybe, he did have the time to be with his brothers.

Virgil began to wake up. He was groggy and a little unaware of what was going on, yet it came as no surprise to any of them when the first coherent words out of his mouth were asking if Gordon and Kayo were alright. If Alan's headache wasn't so bad he would have yelled at him. It took almost a full hour and a half for Virgil to be aware enough to realise Scott wasn't present, and it was almost uncanny timing that his older brother was wheeled in just as he was asking.

If Virgil said anything embarrassing nothing was said. With Sally present and the severity of injuries no-one was inclined to gather evidence.

Time passed slowly again while they waited for Scott to wake up.

It took almost a complete 24 hours before both Scott and Virgil were solidly awake enough to hear the verdict on their injuries. And as each family member's injuries were detailed, Scott's frown got deeper and deeper. His concentration level was severely impeded, though, and he couldn't retain much of what was said that first time.

Gordon was given the all-clear after 24 hours, as long as he didn't over exert himself for a couple of weeks. Kayo was also cleared with just a caution to take it easy for a couple of days. Alan was allowed out after 48 hours and banned from flying and active duty for at least a week, possibly more if the headache had not gone by then.

Virgil slept on and off for most of those 48 hours. But there was no infection, and he was healing well. They kept him in for a week before allowing him to go home, but he would probably take another month or so before he could move freely without pain. The wonders of Brains' and Sally's medical knowledge combined meant that he would be free to heal properly but at a greater speed than conventional medicine would give.

Scott. Scott was out of it for most of the first week, mostly due to the concussion and the pain. The hospital had offered for him to stay the entire six weeks until the operation to remove the wires, but Sally had refused, knowing that he would heal better at home. They came to an amicable arrangement for him to stay two weeks, to ensure no further risks of infection.

John flew Two over to pick both Scott and Virgil up. It had come as no surprise when Virgil offered to stay with Scott. iR had been back in operation for a week, and EOS was filtering calls, sending all but the most extreme cases to local operators.

For John, Gordon, Alan and Kayo the next four weeks passed in a whirlwind of activity where there seemed to be no time at all. For Scott, and to a slightly lesser degree, for Virgil, time for those four weeks was so slow it was painful. Scott was perpetually grumpy, desperate to be of some help but lacking the concentration to be any. Virgil, well Virgil coped by painting – carefully – and trying to be there for Scott. He really was an awful patient.

But time does heal all, and they were soon back in Vancouver for the removal of the wires. A short operation, and one that gave Sally and Brains the opportunity to see how Scott was healing. And they were both relieved at the positive signs. Usually these injuries would keep someone in casts for six months at least, with a further two months of therapy. But with Brains' bone regenerator working at its maximum, the healing was far further along. The surgeon was optimistic that Scott would be out of the casts within another two to three months and was sure that for such a fit person with their facilities, he would be on his feet again far quicker.

All told, with Gordon and Virgil helping Scott with his physio, iR was back up to full complement in just over five months. Time had been good to the older boys, they had healed with no complications at all and John, whilst escaping every now and then to Five, had spent longer on Earth than he had done for years. Everyone had used One and Two and were now proficient on both ships.

Discussions were held. Where the two youngest were extremely vocal about the self-sacrificing idiocy of certain older brothers. Both Scott and Virgil had been slightly – only slightly – discomforted by the outburst. Both promised to try not to leap in front next time. No-one believed them for an instant – that instinct ran deep in all of them – but it did bring a sort of closure to the entire affair.

Sally looked over the deck as her grandchildren played. Time was a great healer, it was true, and she wished with all her heart sometimes that they did not need it. But they always would.

They were who they were always meant to be, and time did not change that. And neither would she.

NOTE:

There is such a thing as a bone regenerator that is used to speed up healing fractures, and I'm pretty sure the future would bring better technology for this. Six to eight months is average healing time for tib/fib fractures, and using screws, plates and poles that stay in place is standard practice. However, I'm sure that that would not be helpful flying at supersonic speeds, so wires are my choice of fixative.