A/N: Hallelujah! I finished the latest update to this story and by finished I mean these two chapters. I'm still planning several more chapters for this story. I apologize for the ever increasing delay. If you follow A Walk to Remember, you'll see in that update that despite being done with University...FINALLY I am still incredibly busy. Since relocating, I've been a busy little bee with preparing a fixer-upper house in mild disrepair for a relative that is moving down from up North. The potential move up North that I think I mentioned in one of my last author's notes has been mothballed, thus the reason for my relative moving closer.

Constructive Criticism only if a reader has a problem with my stories, otherwise reviews are appreciated. I will not tolerate flames so if you have anything negative to say that can't be phrased as constructive criticism, keep those comments to yourself.

Enjoy!

Virgil sighed tiredly, grumbling with a shake of his head when Gordon pestered him to take his place in helping Alan during physical therapy. Gordon had been sneaking away constantly over the last two weeks and now Gordon just suddenly decided that Virgil had to take his place. It wasn't Virgil's first preference to spend the day at the hospital with Alan, but if given a choice between heading over to Tracy Enterprises and sitting in a stuffy board room with a bunch of equally stuffy men and women or sitting in the hospital with Alan, then Virgil would rather spend the day with his youngest brother. He did question the logic behind the duffel bag that Gordon practically threw at him, but he shouldered it without further question when Gordon gave him a huge goofy grin and an "I owe you one".

He walked to Blythedale children's hospital and smiled in greeting at the front desk receptionist, signing in happily at the prospect of seeing Alan again. It'd been almost a week since he'd gone to visit Alan and his kid brother was snoozing when Virgil slipped in to visit. He'd sat by Alan's bed, reading the book he'd left by Alan's bedside during his last visit. It'd been an especially unexciting visit and he wondered why Alan had taken to sleeping through many of his visits with his brothers when any of them aside from Gordon came to visit. He knew they couldn't be that boring.

When he reached the door to Alan and Fermat's room, he knocked lightly before he entered the room. Setting the duffle bag just inside the door, Virgil strode forward to see Alan. He was surprised to see Alan sitting on the edge of his bed unassisted, but he still sat by Alan and hugged him as tight as Alan could bear.

"When did you begin sitting up?" Virgil asked when he pulled away to look at his brother with a smile.

"We've been practicing in therapy so I can learn to walk again." Alan said with a smile before he reached out for the wheelchair that had become a near constant companion. Virgil noticed that Gemma was nowhere to be seen and he looked around for a moment before asking.

"Where's your bunny?" Virgil asked with a questioning glance.

"She's with Fermat. He asked if he could hold her." Alan said as he pointed at his friend that was snoozing with Gemma resting on the top of his head. The bunny seemed to take a special liking to both Alan and Fermat's hair.

"Why is she sleeping in his hair?" Virgil asked with a raised eyebrow. Alan looked bemused at the question and he looked up at the ceiling with a small eyeroll. "Alan?"

"What? Gemma began sleeping in my hair every time I'd go to sleep. My hair is just where she prefers sleeping. She'd keep me awake if I kept her out of my hair." Alan said, despite knowing that he was supposed to put Gemma in her carrier at night so she wouldn't get used to sleeping in bed with Alan.

"You know what. You're supposed to make sure she doesn't get too used to sleeping in bed with you. She won't be able to when you go back to the island." Virgil said carefully, hoping Alan didn't get upset with him.

"I know that, but every time I put her in her carrier she'd rattle the cage and whimper and she keeps me awake." Alan told Virgil with a slight grimace. "I'll have to crate train her when we get back to the island."

"That you will." Virgil said. When he saw Alan reach down for his wheelchair he extended a hand to Alan but his little brother stopped him.

"Lacey wants me to practice building my upper body strength. She says it'll help me when I can begin walking." Alan said before he supported his whole body on the arms of his wheelchair and swung the whole of his weight into the chair. Virgil's eyes widened a fraction at Alan's ability to move with such ease. "So, what are you doing here? I thought Gordon was coming?"

"I don't know, he just asked me if I'd take his place this morning." Virgil said before he gestured to the duffle bag that Gordon gave him. "I have no idea why he gave this to me either."

"You'll see." Alan said before he heard a barely audible knock on the hospital room door. "Come in."

It was about that moment that Lacey entered the room, not that Virgil was familiar with her voice.

"Hello Alan?" Lacey said from behind the curtain.

"Well, hello to you too." Alan said before he smiled widely at his physical therapist. And if Virgil wasn't mistaken, he'd think Alan was flirting with his physical therapist.

"Are you ready for therapy?" Lacey inquired before she peeked in beyond the curtain and sighed when she saw Alan was still in his hospital gown. "Alan, why aren't you in your shorts?"

"Shorts?" Virgil asked when he didn't quite understand why his brother would need to wear shorts.

"Virge?" Alan asked, gesturing to the duffle bag. "Can you hand me my clothes?"

"What clothes are you talking about?" Virgil asked before Alan managed to snag the duffle bag before he dragged it to himself and retrieved a pair of shorts and a shirt. Lacey helped Alan get his shorts on and Alan managed with the shirt by himself. Once he was ready, he looked expectantly at his older brother who was more than a little puzzled at Alan's wardrobe. "Um, are you going somewhere?"

"Wrong, we're going somewhere. Go on and use that bathroom to get changed." Alan said before pushing the duffle towards Virgil.

"I don't have anything to change into." Virgil replied, dropping his arms down to his sides.

"Wrong again…looks like Gordo was kind enough to pack your swim trunks too." Alan said, pointing at the duffle, to which prompted Virgil to look inside and pull out his own swim trunks.

"What…?" Virgil asked with surprise at the fact that he'd need to change clothes.

"You're gonna help Alan with his therapy." Lacey replied. "Gordon wanted to help Alan in the water, so since he's not here you get to take his place."

"Okay." Virgil said before he turned to go into the in-suite bathroom to change. When he came out he noticed that Alan had pulled a towel from the duffle and was sitting across his lap. "I'm ready."

"Alright, let's go gang." Lacey said before she tilted Alan's wheelchair back and turned him so he could go around his bed and out the door. Virgil followed silently as he waited for either Lacey to speak or Alan. When they made it to the pool, Virgil watched as Alan locked the breaks on his wheelchair. He was more than a little surprised when Lacey walked over and fastened what Virgil knew to be a gait belt around Alan's waist.

"Wait, what are you doing?" Virgil asked as he saw Lacey help Alan to his feet before transferring him to a sling.

"Come on, go ahead and get in the pool to help navigate when I lower Alan in." Lacey said as she fastened the belt in the sling so Alan couldn't slip out. Virgil hesitated for a moment before he entered the pool and waded out and waited to receive his little brother. When Lacey lowered Alan into the pool, the middle son held on to Alan while Lacey shed her Blythedale cardigan and climbed in also to assist Alan and Virgil with Alan's therapy. "Okay boys, we're going to walk through the water. Virgil you're going to lead Alan back and forth, Alan you'll need to hold onto Virgil's hands and let him lead you. Nice and easy guys, nice and easy."

TBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTB

Gordon sighed as he helped push the shopping cart with his grandmother leading the way. He couldn't believe he'd agreed to help his grandmother with shopping. She had been talking the other night at dinner and she wanted to make Alan and Fermat blankets to keep them warm. Alan still complained regularly about being cold despite his hoodie that he got for his birthday from the nurses at Manhattan General. He'd nominated Virgil to take his place because they'd been talking just the other night about Alan's progress when they were supposed to be asleep. John and Scott had gone with their dad and grandmother downstairs to have a drink at the bar. Their grandmother had been requesting a brandy and asked for company from her son and Scott and John asked to tag along.

When Scott and John extended the offer to Virgil, he looked at Gordon laying on the couch playing his PSP and shook his head. He was legally allowed to drink, but he hadn't wanted to desert Gordon. They ordered a pizza since they still felt hungry and ran to the corner market for a couple sodas before they'd returned to their room and binge watched some of their favorite shows before retiring to bed.

After they'd gone to bed, Virgil laid flat on his back for a while whilst staring at the ceiling and after tossing and turning for a little over a half hour. When it became apparent that Virgil wasn't going to fall asleep at a time considered normal for the middle son, Gordon rolled over to look at his brother. He propped his head up and laid on his side talking to Virgil who finally decided that lying on his back was comfortable.

"You know, Alan's making a ton of progress in therapy. I think you'd be surprised." Gordon said, looking carefully at his brother. He knew Virgil was worried, he was trained extensively in medicine to take on the task of medic for International Rescue.

"Don't get me wrong, but I'm still worried about Alan recovering fully. Every time I hear a report on him, it's always 'he felt this but not this' or 'he felt this but not that' and it's just making me worried." Virgil commented, moving his arms so they were outside the blanket and folded over his chest. "I know it's stupid to be so worried, but I can't help it. I know the chances that Alan will be able to walk without difficulty are slim even with therapy. There may always be times where he won't be able to feel sensations or may have a type of analgesia, so he may burn the soles of his feet if he walks around barefoot on the property."

"Virgil, you're rambling." Gordon said after listening to Virgil talk incessantly for several minutes. After Virgil had quieted his ramblings, Gordon spoke up. "Listen, I know you're worried about Alan…I am too but do you remember what you said to me two weeks ago? We need to not show Alan that we're worried. He needs to see that we believe in him. If he sees that we have our doubts, he might throw in the towel before the getting gets good."

"I know that and I know what I said to you two weeks ago, but I just have my fears that he may be suffering more damage than we're ready to accept. I'm not ready to accept that he may not be able to walk." Virgil whispered, glad for the darkness to conceal the tears that were welling in his eyes. He and John were the most soft-hearted brothers that weren't afraid to show emotion, if they were going to cry they'd cry. If they were mad they both typically removed themselves from the immediate location to spare their family of their tempers and apart from Alan they rarely hid if they were going to shed a tear.

"Virge, you can't keep focusing on your fears that Alan won't one day walk soon. He's making a crap ton of progress in therapy and I think when you see him at it, you'll be blown away." Gordon tried and he bit his lip when he heard the tell-tale sniffle indicating that Virgil had begun to cry. "Listen, why don't you come with me tomorrow. Come along when I go to help Alan with his therapy and see what he's learned."

"Why? So, I can see how badly that Robert bastard hurt my little brother?" Virgil growled before he rolled onto his side facing away from Gordon.

"He's my little brother too and I think you should give him a chance. Let him prove to you that he won't walk one day here very soon." Gordon said before he rolled onto his opposite side to ignore Virgil like he was doing to Gordon.

It was the very next day that Gordon was reminded that he'd committed to taking his grandmother shopping and when that realization was made he'd decided that Virgil should take his place in helping Alan with his therapy. Then he could see the progress Alan was making for himself.

Gordon sighed as he continued to push the shopping cart behind his grandmother. She was looking an assortment of colors of yarn. Stifling a yawn, Gordon tried to keep his wits about him while he stared uninterestedly at the reams of yarn.

"Gordon do you think Alan would like this color red and black zig-zag stripes or do you think he'd like this color instead?" Grandma asked as she held two similar shades of red colored yarn for Gordon to choose. The redhead looked at the two reams of yarn with a raised eyebrow, the colors were so close that Gordon couldn't see an immediate difference.

"Which do you think he'd like more?" Gordon asked back in confusion. He couldn't see the difference. His grandmother was shooting him a glare because she'd asked his opinion first. Gordon shrugged but still looked at the spools of yarn before pointing at one that he thought his grandmother would want to work with. She looked between the two spools of yarn before selecting the one opposite selected by Gordon. The redhead slapped his forehead in disbelief that his grandmother would ask for his opinion before deciding against his selection.

"We need to pick out a color for Fermat too, I don't want that poor dear to feel left out. He's just as much my grandson as you boys are." Grandma said before she started perusing assorted colors that might be Fermat's favorite color. Gordon redirected her efforts when he realized that Fermat would likely prefer a blanket with orange instead of the forest green his grandmother was looking at. He may seem aloof to the rest of his family but he was in fact very observant and in all the years that he's known Fermat, the youngest genius always seemed to gravitate to all things orange. "Thank you, Gordon, let go on ahead to check out. Then I need your help with wrapping this into a ball."

"Yes, grandma." Gordon said, still disbelieving that he'd agreed to this.

TBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTB

Virgil shook his head, making water fly in all directions after he'd grabbed Alan when the younger lost his balance and started to fall. Virgil fell with Alan as did Lacey and they all came up sputtering. Lacey was laughing and Alan was blushing. Virgil smiled at his little brother, he wasn't mad about going for a dip. If he was being honest, he'd built up a sweat making laps with Alan. As it was it was refreshing to be submerged in the lukewarm water.

"Okay boys, what say we dry ourselves off then go to the fitness room to work on Alan's balance?" Lacey asked as she stood and squeezed her braid to get rid of the excess water. The brothers agreed.

"So how are we going to get Alan out?" Virgil asked as he glared at the lift system that had originally put Alan in the pool.

"Do you mind carrying me? Gordo helped me out of the pool every time my therapy ended." Alan said to Virgil prior to the elder agreeing to help Alan and pulling him close and draping an arm over his shoulder.

"Okay, easy does it Al. Let me take all your weight." Virgil said before bracing his feet firmly against the pool floor and lifting with his knees to pick up Alan. The younger knew he could trust Virgil not to drop him. He was more at ease when Virgil helped him as opposed to when Gordon picked him up, primarily because Gordon was only a little bit bigger than Alan. The redhead was a swimmer and so he had a swimmer's build. Gordon wasn't incredibly strong, it'd taken him some time to build the strength to pick Alan up. Virgil knew he could carry more weight-wise, he was bigger and bulkier than his other brothers, though Scott beat him height wise. Scott was the tallest of them all, John was in between Gordon and Virgil in size, having more of an athletic frame. Alan was still the shrimp among them all though he was still a kid and had yet to have a growth spurt.

When they ventured out of the pool Lacey who had gotten out of the water prior to the boys had laid a large bath towel in Alan's wheelchair to minimize the probability of dripping from Alan's time spent in the pool.

The plan from here was to take Alan to his hospital room where a CNA would change Alan from his swim clothes to Alan's wrap around hospital gown before going to the fitness room to practice strengthening the muscles in Alan's legs to condition them to support Alan's weight without the aid of the water. When they made it to Alan's hospital room, Virgil went back to the duffle bag where his clothes had been stashed before slipping behind the bathroom door to change. When he'd changed back into dry clothes, Virgil stepped out and took the time to tie his shoes while Alan was still getting changed into his gown.

After the curtain had been moved, Virgil noticed that Alan was now wearing not only a hospital gown, but was wearing scrub pants that were really baggy and had been rolled up several times at the ankles. Virgil was immediately reminded of Alan when he was a toddler and he'd be allowed to play dress up with their grandfather's clothes while at their grandparent's house. Alan would always come waddling out of their grandparent's bedroom with their grandfather chortling behind him after their grandpa Grant had put Alan in a set of his clothes and they'd be pooling on the floor around Alan's legs.

"Not a word Virge." Alan hissed when the younger saw the smirk on Virgil's face.

"Not me, I was just recalling a time when a baby Alan enjoyed playing dress up with grandpa's clothing." Virgil said with a smile. He stuck his tongue out playfully at Alan who glowered at him for a moment before he accepted both Virgil and the CNA's help to move back into his wheelchair. Once he was in his wheelchair, Virgil took control of the wheelchair and he pushed Alan back out of his room. "So, Alan…how long have you been practicing in the pool? Has Gordon been hording this juicy secret all to himself this whole time?"

"Yeah, kinda. I told him I wanted to surprise you all, it honestly took me by surprise when you showed up today. I was expecting Gordon, not you…not to say I was displeased that you came in place of Gordon. I was actually pretty happy to see you again." Alan said, tipping his head back to smile at his older brother.

"Well, I was happy to see you again too Sprout." Virgil said, taking one hand off the wheelchair handlebars and ruffling Alan's damp hair affectionately. "So, what other tricks do you have up your sleeve that we don't know about yet?"

"Nothing right now, this is the first time that I'm going to the activity room. If I'd known I'd be going, I might have asked Gordo to grab me some shorts or something." Alan said. He looked down at his wardrobe self-consciously. It's not that he felt underdressed for going to the activity room, it was just he felt like his clothes were swallowing him whole and he would prefer his regular clothes or at the very least, a pair of his brother's clothes.

"Well, I guess we'll learn your limits together then, won't we?" Virgil asked with a grin.

"Yeah, I guess so." Alan said trying to hide how nervous he was about transitioning from being bed and wheelchair bound to practicing weight bearing in the pool to hopefully walking. He worried that he'd feel a lot like a baby, but what he was most worried of? Disappointing not only himself, but disappointing his father and brothers also.

They walked along, or Virgil walked more like. He pushed Alan's wheelchair along and Alan pointed out the signs that were directing them to the activity room. When they made it there, they smiled at Lacey when she came walking over. She greeted them with a smile of her own while she flipped her still damp hair over her shoulder.

"Okay boys, we're going to come over here to the parallel bars." Lacey said as she instructed Alan and Virgil to go over to the equipment against the wall. When they were there, she placed the gait belt she'd used earlier around Alan's waist before she moved the foot pedals that Alan's feet were resting on. Alan groaned lowly in his throat when his feet were set on the floor. Virgil locked the wheels on Alan's wheelchair and he put his hand against Alan's back when Lacey pulled him up to his feet. Alan was holding the parallel bar handles tightly as he struggled to remain standing.

Virgil moved Alan's wheelchair back slightly so Lacey could stand behind Alan while Virgil moved to stand beside Alan outside of the parallel bars.

Already Alan had worked up a sweat as he held tightly to the parallel bar handles. He took each step painstakingly slow and he panted after just a few minutes of activity.

"You're doing a really good job Alan. Just a little while longer." Lacey said encouragingly. Virgil was instrumental in keeping Alan's confidence built up even when he groaned and admitted defeat more than once.

"No Alan, you can't give up. There's no giving up, not now." Virgil hissed, emulating his high school football coach. "You're already so close, just a few steps more."

"I can't!" Alan groaned when he stopped, his legs and arms shaking.

"Yes, you can! Don't give up!" Virgil insisted, his voice almost low enough to be a growl. "Tracy's don't quit. We fight for what we want."

"I'm tired!" Alan sobbed when he stopped again, ready to call it quits.

"You want to walk again someday?" Virgil asked, though he knew that question was a low blow.

"Yeah." Alan whispered.

"Are you a Tracy?" Virgil asked, making Alan look at him in disbelief.

"Of course, I am!" Alan replied shortly.

"Then you don't quit! Don't quit!" Virgil insisted. Alan started taking each step, groaning aloud. His tears were combining with the sweat pouring down his face. Alan had been at it for a little over fifteen minutes. Mind you those were the longest fifteen minutes of Alan's life. He just wanted to be done. "Don't quit on me buddy!"

After they'd finished a few more laps around the parallel bars, Alan had reached his limit and without further ado he plopped down on the floor. Lacey lowered him down when it became apparent that Alan wasn't going to be able to support himself any longer. Virgil walked around the parallel bars and knelt in front of Alan, taking Alan's chin between his thumb and forefingers when Alan choked out a sob about how tired he was and how much his body was throbbing.

"You did it little buddy. I'm so proud of you. Even when the going got tough, you pushed through the pain and you worked for what you wanted." Virgil whispered before he leaned forward to hug his little brother.

TBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTB

Alan needed another wash after his physical therapy in the activity room, but this time instead of sitting in a hard-plastic chair under a shower he was taken to the "big tub". It was a large tub with a built-in seat that allowed for the person in the tub to get a good soak. He was glad for the soak, he felt like he'd been tortured using one of those medieval devices…the rack was what came to mind with his body being pulled apart.

He sighed as he relaxed in the shoulder deep water and inhaled the menthol scent of the bath soak that had been added to the water to treat his sore muscles. He closed his eyes tiredly, listening to the sound of his nurse pottering around the bathing room.

"How're you enjoying your bath Alan?" Katie, Alan's new nurse asked cordially as she gathered a new change of clothes for Alan and a towel for when he was ready to get out of the bath. She hummed softly to herself and Alan found himself lulled to a light doze, his head resting back against the lip of the tub. He woke a brief time later when Katie fished one of his hands from the tub so she could begin to clean his arms and prepare him for getting out of the water. Once he'd finished his bath he was helped out of the bath when Katie requested a nurse's aide to assist with removing Alan from the tub. He was dried and his hair ruffled with a towel before he was put in a new hospital gown. He blinked tiredly when he was moved from the bench in the big tub to his wheelchair and was covered in a large, and incredibly fluffy towel.

He lost track of time after leaving the shower room and soon he found himself being tucked into his bed, blankets pulled up to his shoulders and muffled whispers. If Alan didn't know any better, he'd have thought that his dad was in the room if the kiss on his temple was anything to go by.

TBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTB

Jeff smiled to himself as he gently brushed a lock of Alan's corn maize blonde hair from his face. He'd just gotten in when Alan was returning from his bath and Jeff was surprised to see Alan so far gone. He supposed he shouldn't be so surprised, but he couldn't help it. He still found it odd that Alan according to Virgil and Gordon was undergoing physical therapy and he didn't want anybody to know. The only reason Virgil and Gordon told him was because he'd cornered his two middle sons and interrogated them about where they'd been disappearing to.

This was the first time that Virgil had snuck away for the entire day and Jeff had lost count of how many times Gordon had just been gone over these last two weeks. So, he'd wheedled the information out of his boys before he'd gone to visit Alan. He wasn't as surprised as he'd assumed he'd be when he entered Alan's room after the nurse delivered him to his room and his son was sound asleep before the nurse even left the room.

"You always find a way to keep me on my toes, don't you son?" Jeff whispered to a sleeping Alan. He smiled more to himself as he took in just how much his boy had grown over the years. Before the fire, Jeff hadn't known that Alan had craved his attention like he was now. It'd taken him by surprise originally, but now that he'd spent time with Alan, focusing on him instead of work, he was shocked to learn so many new things about Alan that he felt he should have known.

It made his soul cry out with something akin to pain when he found out that Alan thought his father didn't care for him like he did his brothers. He resolved that when Alan was back home, Jeff was going to dedicate time to spend with Alan. Sure, he'd likely include his other sons, but he also wanted to spend some one on one time with Alan. He knew Alan loved NASCAR, so he figured that when Alan was well enough to leave the hospital he'd surprise Alan with tickets to a few races. He himself could never get into the sport of car racing, but he'd attend a few races with Alan if it meant spending time with him.

"You're growing up too fast son, what I wouldn't give so that you'd be a tiny little tot in my arms and begging me to play airplane again." Jeff mused aloud with a nostalgic smile. "You always did love going 'zoom' around the house and back yard."

"I still love going zoom, I'm just too big for it now." Alan murmured tiredly before he pried his eyes open to smile at his dad. "Now I just need a motorized vehicle to go zoom."

"I didn't mean to wake you up son." Jeff said softly.

"It's okay, I wasn't really sleeping. I was just copping a nod." Alan replied before he pulled himself into a sitting position and hissing softly when his muscles gave an almighty throb. "Wow. Ow."

"Hurts, doesn't it?" Jeff asked knowing that Alan was doing physical therapy so he was bound to be sore. After all, Alan hadn't been active due to his injuries for several months.

"Just a little bit. Nothing I can work out though." Alan said, bring one hand to his bicep and rubbing and squeezing his arm. Jeff observed Alan's hand and wished not for the first time that it was too bad that Brains and he couldn't devise a device that would restore the skin that was damaged in the fire. Alan had a tremor in both hands and Jeff hated that.