John sighed as he made his way towards his youngest brother, who was sitting in the sand. It had been two weeks since Alan had been home and he still hadn't had the heart-to-heart that he had been hoping for.
Alan was still having night terrors, a direct result of being (he had been. Personally, John did not blame him for any of it. He was still terrified that they would lose Alan as well. That somehow, despite their security, someone would come back. That someone would kidnap his youngest brother. Still, he knew he had to fight the feelings. Sure, an enemy could come back. But they would deal with that when and if it happened. Thankfully, it hadn't happened yet.
"Alan?" John asked him careful, when he approached him. "Care if I sit down?"
His younger brother glanced at him. "No, go ahead."
"I wanted to say I was sorry," John said. "I wish that I could have taken your place. That you did not have to go through what you had to. That I did not put my foot in my mouth when I made fun you. I cannot take back the past, but I can apologize for what I did."
Alan stared at him. "You mean... You don't hate me?" he asked, almost afraid to get a real answer.
"Oh, God, no, Alan!" John said, horrified that his brother one think such a thing.
"It is just that you never said anything to me," Alan responded, "and I was afraid that, that, you agreed that I was worth nothing..." Alan allowed his voice to trail off.
"Alan," another voice said, "look at me."
Obediently, Alan turned. "What?" he asked hesitantly.
His four older brothers slowly filed into a line. "Alan," Gordon started, "What we said right before you were abducted was awful."
"It was totally out of line," Virgil agreed.
"Way, way, stupid," Scott added, shooting a look at the two. "We want to say that we're sorry, Alan. You shouldn't have had to had gone through what you did, and it sucked, but you got through it."
"I don't think I would have survived it," Gordon added. "Two weeks without my swimming pool? I don't think I could have managed."
John cuffed his younger brother on the back of the head.
"There is one thing that we would like to give you," Scott said. He offered the box to Alan. "Dad sent the memo out this morning."
Inside the box was a Thunderbird ring. "What... I..."
"Let's be honest, bro – you're a Thunderbird, true and true," Gordon responded. "It runs through your blood more so than water does through mine."
"Which is saying something," Scott remarked. "So, what do you say, little brother?"
"Hell, yes!" Alan said enthusaistically, embracing Scott in a hug.
He was truly home.
He could even ignore Virgil's cry of "language, Alan!"
FINISHED!
Thanks to all my wonderful reviewers who made this story possible.