Walk on the Wild Side

By Sapphire

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Chapter 3: Meet the Tracys

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They had been in the cave for over an hour, when Brains' watch/communicator finally went off again.

"Brains here."

"Brains, here's Jeff. The last of the WASP people have just left the island. Please come back to the house and bring our guests along."

"FAB, Mr. Tracy. W-w-we will be at the house in ten m-m-minutes."

He turned to Scott and Virgil and made an inviting gesture towards the cave's exit. They waited until Brains had switched off some of his equipment and then helped him to climb out as well.

It was late afternoon and the volcano was now between them and the sun, which had begun to set. The temperatures outside had gone down a bit, but after the cold cave the outside was still pretty warm.

Together they started on the familiar path back to the house, Brains leading the way, while Scott followed. Virgil looked around, without doubt looking for any differences this island had from the one in his home dimension. His face had grown dark again, his whole posture so unlike the energetic man Scott knew so well.

Damnit, what was wrong with Virgil?

This wasn't the time to ask him about it, though. Besides, Scott doubted that right now he would get any more information out of Virgil than before.

As they reached the living room, Jeff, Gordon and Alan already had assembled. Kyrano stood to one side against the wall, resembling almost one of those Asian statures that could be found in Malaysian temples.

Scott's eyes were drawn to the place where the other Virgil had been shot, but there was naturally no trace of the blood that had been spilled in the other dimension. Virgil hesitated after stepping into the living room, his eyes on the same place Scott had been looking. But then he visibly pulled himself together and stepped ahead.

"Sir, Gordon, Alan," Scott greeted the three man. He nodded at Kyrano.

Their father made an inviting gesture towards one of the sofas and they settled down. Brains found a seat next to Alan. Jeff flipped a switch on his desk, and John's portrait on the wall turned into a video screen.

"Scott, would you please be so kind and tell us what the situation is. How badly is Virgil wounded? And why did you two come back here?"

Even though Jeff's voice had been kind enough, it was clear that he felt somewhat anxious. As Scott knew how his father would have reacted if the roles had been reversed, he wasn't surprised.

He took a deep breath and started to explain everything that had happened on his Tracy Island since he had come back to his own dimension.

"… We then heard gunshots coming from the living room. When we arrived there, we saw that your Virgil had been shot in the shoulder. Scott went to give First Aid and I went to my father to cut his bonds and explain everything to him. I have to say, he took it surprisingly well, but with two of each of us there, I don't think there was much room for doubt.

"Scott managed to stop Virgil's bleeding and he led him to the couch. He looked pretty well, all things considered, alert and conscious."

Scott toned down the extent of Virgil's injuries a little bit. He didn't think it was necessary to tell Virgil's father that his son had passed out twice and that his counterpart had been forced to give him mouth-to-mouth. It was something a father didn't need to hear.

"Anyway, about that time WASP finally showed up. As we didn't want to explain why there are two Scotts and two Virgils, Father told us to come back here. Scott wanted to stay with Virgil, naturally. He will be well taken care of, you don't need to worry, sir."

One look at Jeff's' face told Scott that he would worry anyway. His son was seriously injured and he couldn't be there to help him. Scott's own father would be in agony, and he suspected that his 'father' in this dimension wouldn't be any different.

Jeff inhaled deeply, visibly gathering himself.

"Thank you very much, Scott," he said, "there isn't much we can do right now but wait. How long do you think will it take until we can have our people back?"

Scott did a quick mental calculation.

"Virgil is going to need surgery. They will keep him at least over night in the hospital on the mainland. That means he could be back by tomorrow or the day after that."

Jeff sighed.

"I think you are right. Well, that means that you will be our guests until then. By tomorrow, we will again try to establish contact with your dimension. But I will not send anybody across, until we have a clearer picture of the situation there."

Scott found his brother standing on the balcony, looking out at the sunset. Without a word, he leaned on the railing next to Virgil.

They had been given the rooms of their counterparts in this world and Scott had been only too happy to take a long, hot shower. A short foray into the kitchen had revealed that dinner would be ready in about half an hour. So he had decided to use the time to try to find out what the heck was wrong with Virgil.

From the looks of it, Virgil had also had a shower. His hair was still wet, and even though he obviously had put a comb to it at one point, it now stood in every which way. This was very atypical of his usual so fastidious brother.

As Scott looked at his side, he saw Virgil racking his hand nervously through his hair, explaining the newest fashion his younger brother was suddenly sporting.

"They seem to be nice enough," he said conversionally.

"Hmhm," Virgil replied barely audibly. Scott couldn't say if it was an answer to his question or simply an acknowledgment of him having said something.

"Alan seems to look older in a way, more responsible somehow," he went on.

"Hmhm."

"Gordon could use a haircut, though."

"Hmhm."

Scott looked again at Virgil. His younger brother's gaze seemed to be a million miles away. Damnit, what was going through his head?

"Dad looks good in a hula-skirt."

"Hm… What?"

Virgil finally tore his eyes away from the setting sun and looked at his older brother, a surprised expression on his face.

"What did you just say?"

Scott grinned.

"I was wondering if you've been listening to a word I've been saying just now."

"Sorry, I've been a little distracted."

He pushed himself off the railing he'd been leaning on, standing up straighter.

"I've noticed," Scott said still smiling. He placed a hand on Virgil's arm. "Honestly, what's wrong with you? You seem to be … I don't know … withdrawn all of a sudden. Is it this parallel universe stuff?"

Virgil shook his head.

"No, I'm fine with that. Fascinating, really. I've read about the possibility of multiple universes in a science magazine a while back, but that was all theory. To find a gateway into another universe practically in our backyard is quite a thing."

"If you're so fascinated why aren't you with Brains and theorize your head off? He's one smart guy and can most likely answer any question you might have."

Virgil sighed quietly.

"I'm just not in the mood, that's all."

"Virgil," Scott said, tightening his grip on Virgil's arm. "Something is wrong with you. I'm your older brother and I can tell that you've got a problem. Let me help you. Please."

There was a moment of silence, only interrupted by the evening sounds of the jungle surrounding the house.

Virgil inhaled deeply then let out the air in one long, shuddering breath.

"I've never killed a man before," he said, his voice barely audible.

For a moment Scott didn't know what to say. Then he gave himself a mental slap. Of course, he should have thought of that right away.

Virgil had been forced to shoot the pirate's leader in order to save the other Virgil's life. He had seen how his brother's hand had shaken when he had placed he gun he had used on the table. He should have seen immediately that Virgil had been in shock. But he hadn't.

Scott had been with the military for over ten years now. Though most of his training had been focused on aerial combat, he had also been trained in hand to hand and had had some other weapon training. He had been involved in several conflicts, and even though he hadn't killed anybody yet -- at least he didn't think so -- there always had been the possibility that he would need to. It was something anybody in the military had been trained to cope with somehow.

But Virgil wasn't military. Scott should have realized that he would take the taking of a life hard.

"You've had no choice," Scott told his brother, knowing that those words wouldn't make any difference.

Virgil sighed again.

"I know. How often do you think I've told that to myself? It doesn't change a thing, though."

"I'm sorry, Virg. I wish there was something I could say to make it better. I know you did the right thing."

"I know that, too. Still … I'm sorry. I shouldn't take it so hard."

Now it was Scott's turn to sigh.

"Virgil, you wouldn't be the brother I know, if you would take something like that lightly. Taking a life … it's hard. I know. It just will take some time. That's all. It will get better. I promise."

Virgil's mouth curled into the approximation of a smile. He turned to his brother, really looking at him for the first time since Scott had joined him on the balcony.

"Thanks, Scott. I'm glad you are here with me."

"No problem. I'll be here when you need somebody to talk to. Just … don't hide in a shell. Talking helps. And I'm a good listener."

Virgil turned back to look at the setting sun, but his posture seemed more relaxed now, the tension not as prominent as before.

Scott settled down next to his brother, watching the sunset together with him.

It was there where Alan found them half an hour later and called them for dinner.

TBC

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