Virgil sat on his bed turning the compass around in his hands thinking about the ordeal in London as he listened to music from his phone, he could've tried harder to rescue that girl in the crane without getting upset. The door wasn't even that heavy, and thinking back he probably couldn't have rescued her even if he had the jaws whilst hanging in the air. With a sigh, he tossed the compass onto the sheets in front of him and lay back on his pillow, the arrow pointed to the door and someone knocked.
"Virg? Can I come in?" It was Scott.
"Yeah."
Scott walked in and immediately noticed the compass on the bed, "cool compass, when did you get this?" He picked it up and looked at it.
"Grandma gave it to me," Virgil sat up. "It belonged to Grandpa. Grandma told me that if ever I felt lost again, the compass would lead me or guide me right."
Scott sat down on the bed, "lost?"
Virgil looked up at his brother from under his eyelashes with a nod, "I lost my confidence today."
Scott's eyes widened, "confidence? But Virg, you're the strongest out of all of us, especially in your confidence."
Virgil shook his head sadly, "I didn't have access to any gear and there was nothing I could do to save anyone."
"Oh Virgil, it was a power cut, you weren't expected to be able to perform a rescue properly," Scott said sorrowfully.
"I didn't try hard enough Scott, and I should have," Virgil hid his face in his hands leaving his brother speechless.
Scott leaned forward and placed his hand on Virgil's shoulder, "sometimes Virgil, we can only do our best. No one died and you rescued that girl in the end. Virgil, look at me?" Tear filled brown eyes met his, "you are not weak alright?"
Virgil smiled as tears fell down his cheeks, "I'm not?"
"No."
"But what would've you done in that situation?" Virgil dried his eyes.
"Probably the same as you; lost my temper then tried to find a solution to why the power was out." Scott smiled, "but I would've been in Thunderbird 1, imagine if she had crashlanded? I probably wouldn't be here, and if I had survived, what equipment would I have used?"
"I don't want to imagine that scenario."
Scott shrugged. "Come on. Dinner is nearly ready, you wouldn't want to miss that, well, on the other hand maybe you would," he stood up and moved towards the door.
"Scott?"
Scott turned, "yes?"
"You'll always be there for me, won't you?"
"Of course Virgil, what are older brothers for?"
Virgil smiled, "thanks."
Scott simply returned the gesture then left the room, Virgil picked the compass up and stood up from the bed, he slotted it into his pocket and left to join the family at the dinner table.
"Did you have a good time in London, Grandma?" Scott asked.
"Same old, busy city brought to chaos by unknown causes."
Gordon laughed, "how is Penny?"
"She's fine, she helped us out didn't she Virgil?"
Virgil nodded, "she seemed to be on her own mission which crossed into ours."
"A power cut huh? Not a usual one at that, I watched the whole of London go down from Five. I'm surprised there weren't more casualties than the ones I read about."
"There were casualties?" Virgil looked up at John in shock.
"Virgil, life support machines turned off which we couldn't do anything about. EOS and I managed to clear the sky above London before planes could join Thunderbird 2 on the ground too."
Virgil's shoulders sagged in defeat, "I think I'll skip the rest of dinner."
The family didn't question him and soon they heard him playing the piano up in the lounge. John's portrait flashed and he appeared above the table.
"Hey, Virgil."
Virgil turned his head but didn't stop playing, "hey John."
"What are you working on?"
"I'm just composing, it helps me to clear things from my mind," Virgil answered.
"I'm really sorry I brought up casualties," John said softly as he watched his brother play.
Virgil sighed playing a delicate glissando, "there's no need to apologise."
"I know, but you saved the rest of London and that girl in the crane, she wrote a message to us thanking you."
"Whatever," Virgil depressed the pedal and settled into a rhythmic melody leaving John to dwell on his words.
The lounge sang with the piano, and for a moment John froze listening to his brother play, but he wasn't the only one who had frozen. Scott looked up from the poolside and moved inside the house. Virgil was playing a piece their mother had written when they were younger and slowly he made his way up to the lounge to listen. The brothers watched quietly as Virgil lovingly expressed his feelings in the music before he brought the piece to an end and gently released the pedal, he heard Scott exhale and turned around.
"That was beautiful Virgil," Scott smiled.
"Thank you."
"I remember mum writing that," John blinked back tears.
"I know I shouldn't let today get to me, but I can't stop thinking about those in hospital I couldn't save," Virgil left the piano and went to sit beside Scott who put his arm around him.
"Maybe we saved them once before they ended up there."
"Maybe," Virgil rested his head on Scott's shoulder.
"You're home safe and that's the main thing," Scott said running a hand through Virgil's black spiky hair. "Don't feel guilty."
From the entrance to the lounge, Grandma smiled at her three grandsons and shook her head, they were so close but were missing something. They needed Jeff, his disappearance was beginning to hit hard, the family didn't feel complete anymore. John signed off leaving the two eldest alone on the couch together and Scott continued to stroke Virgil's head thinking about how he had reacted to the power cut in London, Grandma stepped forwards and approached the couch, she was about to say something when she noticed Virgil had fallen asleep in Scott's lap.
"How is he, Scott?" Grandma whispered.
"He's fine. Did he cope in London? Tell me honestly Grandma."
Grandma looked down at her sleeping grandson, "he didn't cope. He cried."
Scott closed his eyes and ran his finger down Virgil's cheek, "I knew he didn't tell me the whole story."
"He said that he had never been in a situation where he didn't have anything to help him complete a mission and that he felt alone," Grandma continued.
"But you reassured him and kept him calm," Scott looked up at his grandma proudly. "He would've been worse if you hadn't been there."
"That's what I'm here for son."
"Well, I'm going to put him to bed."
Grandma shook her head, "no Scott, you've done enough. Let me."
Scott grinned and spoke softly to Virgil. "Come on Virg, bedtime," he helped his brother to his feet, then Grandma took over.
"Goodnight Scott."
"Goodnight Grandma, I'll see you in the morning," Scott watched them leave then turned the lights off to go to bed himself.
Virgil wearily walked into his room after Grandma said goodnight to him and he got dressed for bed, as soon as his head hit the pillow he was sound asleep but his mind still buzzed with the events of London. Was Penelope happy with him, or annoyed that he hadn't considered going after the Hood before finding out Parker had given him the slip? He buried his head deeper into the pillows messing up his perfect quiff in the process and shut his eyes tighter hoping not to have a nightmare.
