Just one more after this one – sorry again for slow updates, next one should be faster! Thanks for the feedback x

ooooo

John, Scott and Virgil got ready in a tired silence. The sound of rain rhythmically patterning the roof would have normally been comforting, but John was not cheered at all. Rain meant mud, damp tents, and cold morning dew to wake up to. He sighed as he rolled out his sleeping bag. It was a very musty one and faded in colour, no doubt designated to him by Gordon the dictator. The other two had been granted relatively new ones. John narrowed his eyes but said nothing.

Virgil had claimed the central spot and was now wedging himself onto the small stretcher. It was a tight fit for the middle brother who seemed to have broadened since John had last seen him. Clambering tentatively inside the old sleeping bag, John sidled himself down on his own camp bed. It was easier for him to fit with his thinner build, but his feet still dangled off the end awkwardly. Virgil's arms touched both Scott and John's beds. He tried to make himself smaller by hunching his shoulders, but it was no use.

Scott snorted. "I think the tent shrunk." It was strange for John to see Scott —now an Air Force pilot—cocooned in his sleeping bag like a child. Shuffling down, he shot his younger brothers a pleased grin. "I forgot how comfy these things were."

Virgil pulled his sleeping back up to his neck. He yawned, "Maybe you'll get addicted to camping."

"I doubt it," Scott chuckled. His face morphed from one of enjoyment to disgust as he looked up at the roof. "Especially since there are about ten thousand bugs above us right now."

John followed his brother's line of sight. Sure enough, small black dots scattered the canvas roof, illuminated by the dim light of the lantern. "Yeah we're probably going to eat some of those in the night."

"Thanks for that John."

"No problem."

Scott switched off the camp light and they were covered in darkness. Only the sound of crickets and the call of night birds could be heard. Ah, it was blissful. John closed his eyes. If only he could see the stars. Then he might actually start enjoying himself.

A melodramatic shriek on Alan's part broke the silence. It made Virgil and Scott bolt upright, all ready to go to the aid of their youngest brother. Loud laughter from Gordon indicated that the youngest Tracy was not being murdered. Scott breathed out in relief, flinging himself back down onto his bed. Virgil did the same.

"That kid's a menace," Scott uttered fondly, turning his head to look at the both of them.

"Couldn't agree more," Virgil said. He pulled his earphones out of nowhere and plugged them into his ears. Eyes closing, he uttered a single word, "night."

Scott's face fell like a child at a slumber party whose friends had all gone to sleep. He opened his mouth to say something, then appeared to think better of it. John wasn't sure what he was expecting. Virgil wasn't exactly the type to emotionally spill all his feelings at the first chance they got. Shrugging it off, Scott muttered his own goodnights and tried to get comfortable.

John said nothing. It was very clear Virgil wanted to avoid any discussion of College, girls, or whatever problems had been plaguing him since the summer had started. If that meant avoiding talking to older brothers, than that was fine.

John closed his eyes again. Blissful, remember? Just picture the stars and listen to the sounds of the owls. Nature is much better than Tokyo anyway, right? Right. Sighing contently, he started to believe it for a moment.

Then he felt a drip splash onto his face.

Eyes flinging open, John looked around. Did he imagine that?

Drip. Nope, not imagined.

Drip. Right. There was a hole in the tent.

Drip. Of course he had to be right beneath it.

Drip. It couldn't have been Scott, or Virgil, no, it had to be John.

Drip. Gordon probably planned this as well.

John was ready just to lie there and allow himself to be dripped on all night. That was probably a bad idea, but there was no way he was moving tents. Toying with the idea of asking Scott to swap places with him, John just ended shuffling himself further down the stretcher. Now his legs curved over the end of it, but at least he didn't have water dripping on his face.

No, now the water was dripping onto the stretcher, and any moment now it would make its way down the back of his neck. Perfect. John sighed. Was it still better than joining Gordon and Alan? Probably.

Soon, Scott's soft snores combined with the sound of the rain. A frail tune was barely audible from Virgil's headphones. As his breathing evened out too, John knew he was the only one left in the land of the conscious. That didn't bother him all that much. A night owl at heart, John had spent many hours on his own while everyone else slept. The silence was peaceful, it always had been.

Rhythmic pounding of the rain and the heavy breathing of slumbering brothers soon lulled John into a sense of false security. Eyelids growing heavy, thoughts slowing down, sleep was just about to catch him when the sound of footsteps entered his drifting mind.

Eyes fluttering open, John watched as a mysterious shadow — shaped like Gordon — made its way around to the front of the tent. Groaning inwardly, John wondered if he was about to catch his younger brother in the act of some sort of trick. The zip on the tent was opened slowly and a silent teenager stepped into the temporary abode.

Gordon's hair was wet just from the short trip between tents. His white t-shirt was stuck to his skin, bare feet and flannel pants dragging loose pieces of grass in with them. His face fell drastically upon seeing his brothers sleeping. It was like they had ruined his master plan. Standing still, Gordon just watched them for a moment before turning to leave.

"What are you doing?" John asked in his usual indifferent tone. Well, it wasn't his usual tone. But it was his usual tone for Gordon.

Gordon's swiveled, eyes lighting up. He stepped carefully around Virgil's stretcher to stand at the foot of John's bed. "I thought you'd be doing fun stuff, so I came to join…but you're all just sleeping. Why? That's boring."

"As you get older sleep becomes the most fun possible," John responded dryly, keeping his voice low as to not wake the others. "What did you expect us to be doing? A séance?"

Gordon snorted. "Something to do with fruit and hairbrushes."

"What?"

"Nothing."

There was a silence as Gordon hovered awkwardly. John blinked up at him from his bed. "Dad will freak out if he wakes up and you're not there."

"Dad is snoring. Loudly. Alan was asleep before we even got into the tent. They won't notice."

"…does that mean you intend to stay?"

"Don't sound so horrified."

"Hmm, yeah well sorry; you can't stay here unless you're older than twelve."

"I am older than twelve you jerk."

"Since when?"

"Three years ago. I know you're stupid John, but come on."

John rolled his eyes in vexation. That was silent John speak for go back to the other tent and let me sleep. Gordon understood that, but with that stupid grin of his, he climbed onto John's stretcher. Attempting to lie down next to his brother, Gordon just ended up almost tipping the whole thing into the side of the tent.

"Gordon, what are you doing – gross you're wet," John shuffled the other way to balance it out and stop them from falling. Gordon's legs were on top of his, and his elbow dug into John's side, but there was no way John was moving the lanky teenager. It seemed that sometimes Gordon forgot how old he was too, and how much he had grown. "Get off me."

Chuckling at John's disgust, Gordon just wiggled his shoulders in excitement. "Isn't this great?"

"…no."

"Not this specifically, I mean camping. All of us together. Isn't it awesome?"

"No?"

Gordon nudged him sharply.

"Ow! Ok, it's nice. There, you happy?"

Gordon's smile was quickly washed away by the droplet of water that splashed onto his face. He looked toward the roof of the tent in personal offense. A cackle escaped him as his eyes flickered between the hole and John. "Hey, you got the leaky side!"

"I'm very aware of that."

"That's excellent."

An unwilling smile tried to break its way onto John's face. "No sympathy? What a surprise. Sometimes I think you really don't like me."

"It's true," Gordon wriggled his eyebrows playfully. There was a pause as John pretended to be offended. Gordon poked his brother in the side. "Just kidding. I don't like not having you at home."

"Oh yeah? I'm sure you don't notice all that much."

"I do so!"

"Why, because there's nobody to help you with your homework?"

"Basically, yeah."

John rolled his eyes again, affectionately this time. He knew what Gordon was trying to say, and he didn't need to elaborate. "I miss you too kid." John freed his arm from being pinned at his side and looped it behind his brother's shoulders. It wasn't often that John initiated physical contact. He rarely even liked hugs. But he did know that Gordon was a very physical person. Occasionally, even John gave in to what his little brothers wanted.

It wasn't a lie either. John did miss Gordon when he was away. Well, he missed all his brothers, though he'd never admit that. It was just that he and Gordon had a strange relationship that revolved around insults, bad puns, and a fundamental understanding of one another. They were as different as any brothers could be, which was what made them so compatible. John didn't have to think when he was around Gordon. He rather liked not having to think once in a while.

"Don't call me kid."

"But you're twelve?"

A fist hit his shoulder. "Shut up Mr Astrophysics."

"That's not an insult."

There was a momentary pause. Gordon turned his face toward John's, any trace of a smile vanished. "I don't like not having Scott home either…It's going to be strange when Virgil goes."

John raised an eyebrow at the sudden change in disposition. It wasn't a surprise to him that Gordon didn't like them moving out, he had always been very family oriented. It did, however, only just occur to John that organizing this camping trip might mean as much to Gordon as it did Virgil. "It will be strange at first," he said quietly. "But you'll get used to it."

Gordon shifted his eyes away. "I don't know… I'm still not used to you leaving."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. When you go up to space it will be even longer."

John smiled at the 'when'. There was no doubt in Gordon's mind about his brother going up to space. His faith was unwavering. John attempted to turn onto his side so he could face him. "I'll let you in on a secret…you can't repeat this or I'll tell them about that time you climbed off the roof at midnight and almost broke your ankle."

"I think you mean we climbed off the roof at midnight-"

"I'm not used to it either really. Leaving everyone," John cut him off. "I know I act like I don't care but…" he shrugged. "Strangely, at times all your company is the only company I seem to be able to tolerate."

Gordon shook the camp bed as he chuckled. "What a compliment." He paused and thought on the words. "Really?"

"Hmm."

"You really need some friends Johnny," Scott's amused voice made them both flinch. John struggled to turn his head towards the eldest. He was pushed up by his elbow; chin resting on hand as he watched the both of them with a charmed smile. "Apart from that old lady who lectures you on Tuesdays."

"Mildred is a very lovely person thank you very much," John grumbled, annoyed but not really surprised that Scott had woken up. "She even invited me over for a cup of tea."

"Wow, that'll be your first date in a while."

John glared at him. "Scott."

Gordon cackled and practically pushed John over the edge of the stretcher. John reached a hand out to steady himself, but rather than meeting with ground, his hand landed on Virgil's shoulder. Like a vampire, Virgil's eyes flashed open at the touch. He tugged both earbuds out of his ears and glared at the second eldest.

"Blame Gordon," John whispered. He wasn't sure why he was whispering since everybody was awake, but it just felt appropriate. Now he really felt like he was on school camp again, and Virgil was the angry teacher awoken by everyone's talking.

"Gordon? Wha- oh," Virgil spotted his brother as he said it. Groaning, he closed his eyes again. "I should have known you'd be here."

"I was the only victim alive so he latched onto me," John muttered, only just realizing he still had his arm around his younger brother. Oh well, it was comfortable there, a little longer wouldn't hurt. Gordon graced them with an evil grin.

"We were just discussing John's new girlfriend, Mildred," Scott said casually. The gleam in his eye instantly told John where and what he was aiming for with that statement. Girlfriends. Nice Scotty.

"Mildred?" Virgil's face twisted. He looked as though he was about to say something mean, then scolded himself for doing so. Classic Virgil. Too nice to insult someone he hadn't met yet. Instead he came out with, "Oh I didn't realise you…you didn't say…err…is she nice?"

"She's sixty eight, very nice, and already happily married," John replied bluntly. "So in essence, not my girlfriend. Scott's just a jerk."

"Ah," Virgil smiled tentatively. "That I can agree with."

"I am not. Gords, back me up here?"

Gordon pretended to stumble. "Err…um…well…I guess I could say that erm…uh no. Oh look, have you noticed what nice weather we're having?"

Virgil let out a small laugh. Scott's eyes lit up in delight, dimples appearing as he smiled. "You're such a brat, you all are. Alright, so we know John's happily married to his college degree, but what about you Virg? How's this Lizzie going?"

Gordon's small intake of breath hinted that he too was now aware of the plan. Nice segway there, Scott. Virgil fidgeted with the earphones he still held in his hands, toying with the idea of putting them back in his ears. Then he laughed a self-deprecating laugh and shook his head. "What is this? Slumber party 101?"

Scott shrugged indifferently and lay back down. "I'm just interested, that's all."

"Well then…she's fine I guess."

"Fine? You guess?"

Virgil rubbed at the back of his neck, shuffling uncomfortably in his sleeping bag. "Well she's…she's going to study in England. I'm not. So…yeah…maybe not so fine."

John swore he heard a good riddance slip from Gordon's mouth.

Scott made the appropriate sympathetic noises, even though he already knew all of this. "Sorry man. That's tough; she doesn't know what she's leaving. But hey, at least you'll be unattached when starting colleg-"

"Stop." Virgil threw out a hand. "Can we not talk about college? Please? I'd really rather not. In fact, I'd rather sleep. Can we do that?"

Scott narrowed his eyes. John was all for going to sleep and letting things lie, but unfortunately had an unwanted passenger in his bed. That passenger sighed and moved closer to his brother, so much so that his hair was practically in the John's mouth. "You're no fun Virg," Gordon muttered.

"Since when is college talk fun for you?" Virgil snapped.

"Virg," John warned softly.

"No, since when did you want to talk about it? Since when did any of you want to talk about it? I've had to do this all on my own. Now when I don't want to talk about it, all of you do? That's not fair."

Scott's eyebrows drew together. "Just because we weren't coming home didn't mean we weren't going to talk about it-"

"Really? It kind of felt like it. You were supposed to be helping me but you can't because you're not around. You're never around anymore and I hate it-"

"And soon that will be you, I know." Scott interrupted casually. Unaffected by Virgil's words, he did that 'all knowing look' which irritated John to no end. His next statement came out of nowhere, "I was scared when I left too bud. It's ok to be nervous-"

"I'm not scared," Virgil sat up, body rigid. John had absolutely no idea where Scott had pulled that from, but if Scott 'knew' then he really did know. So John just kept quiet, as he usually did through conversations between these two. Gordon opened his mouth to say something and with quick reflexes John reached his free hand over and covered it.

"I remember I threw out so many of my college applications," Scott continued as though he hadn't heard Virgil at all. "For weeks I wasn't sending them out with the excuse that they 'weren't good enough' or that I 'wouldn't get in'. Really I was just doing it because I was scared to leave home. Same with the college visits. It made it final, you know? It's only natural to be scared—"

"I'm not scared!"

"—because when you're at college, nobodies around. You think you're doing this all alone now? Just wait till you get there. It's good though, once you get used to it."

"I'm not worried about that-"

"You can always call though, I'm sure Dad would appreciate that. Of course Gords would visit, and we would too-"

"Yeah!" Gordon licked John's hand to get it away from his mouth. John made a disgusted noise and pulled away, almost pushed off the stretcher again at Gordon's enthusiastic reply. "I'll come visit that would be fun."

"See?" Scott smiled gently at his brother. "We'll still be there."

Virgil's shoulders drooped. He drew his knees towards his chest, filling the tent with the noise of ruffled sleeping bag material. "I don't even know if I want to go," he whispered, too tired to stay in denial mode much longer. "I'm so used to everyone being around, how am I supposed to handle being on my own? Maybe…maybe I could just go to one nearby instead?"

Gordon's head shot up at this. He studied Virgil as though seeing him in an entirely different light. The younger also looked overly eager about this idea. John was unsurprised by the revelation and was more concerned that his arm was growing numb. It was a big change, of course he was scared.

Scott rolled his eyes fondly. "Virg you've had your heart set on Denver for months now."

"Yeah but I haven't even got in yet-"

"But you will," Scott said it with such confidence and affection that there was no denying how much he believed that. "Once you start there, you'll love it. Trust me. All this anger and frustration – it's just nerves."

Virgil's hands went limp and he stared down at his feet. "I guess so…" he hesitated. "I wish you were staying longer so you could…I don't know…"

"We've got more days here don't we?"

"Hey, I'm here too. I can give you tips." John finally spoke up. Both Scott and Virgil only just seemed to recall that they weren't alone. Gordon snickered at his forgotten brother. John 'accidentally' kicked him in the knee.

"Yeah but yours isn't exactly the 'typical' college experience, is it?" Scott teased.

John glared at his older brother. "Early nights, straight A's and tea with professors sounds better than passing out in the street and almost going to jail-"

"That was one time."

"I'm going to need the story behind that one," Gordon leant over John and laughed as both his brothers collectively groaned.

Scott shifted his eyes from side to side and lowered his voice. "I don't know if I can trust you, you almost gave away my other adventures to Dad tonight…"

"Come on Scott – I covered for you! You totally owe me this."

"Alright fine," Scott looked a little too pleased to be sharing this story. John rolled his eyes. He had heard it so many times it felt like he was actually there at the time. Virgil too looked intrigue, and had shifted his body to face his brother. Smile still wary but a little more genuine, John figured that maybe this had all been a good idea after all. "So, it was the fourth day of orientation week…"

ooooo

There had been no sign of a storm before they set out. In fact, the sky had looked calm, with only a few clouds dotted around. Gordon had thanked the weather gods that—after such a horrid night—they would be allowed some form of sunlight.

Neither Jeff nor Alan had noticed Gordon's absence the night before. Once he'd been kicked out by John, he returned to the tent in the early hours of the morning with a whole lot more knowledge about his older brother.

They spent the early morning around the campsite. Gordon had been trying to organize maps and food with Alan—though the younger soon got bored of this duty and bounced away to annoy John. Virgil and Scott lazed about in the fleeting sun like old bachelors, chatting about girls and the future. Gordon was pleased to see that Virgil was finally joining in. Jeff on the other hand, was pretending to read, when they all knew he was secretly doing work.

Eventually Gordon had got restless and ordered everyone towards the hiking trail. So off the six of them went without a care in the world—well maybe John had a few cares—if only Gordon had remembered that nothing went as planned on these sorts of outings.

It had just started to rain again when Jeff and Gordon neared the end of their race. Gordon was racing through the woods like a doe, kicking up leaves and dirt as he went. Jeff, puffing tiredly, tried to catch up, but was no match for Gordon's swimmer endurance skills. Yes, those worked on dry land too.

Gordon rammed his hand against the tall oak tree they'd agreed to stop at, and whirled around with a victorious expression. "Woo! You're losing your touch, old man."

"Oh yeah?" Jeff gasped for air, having to place one hand on the tree for support. "Well…my pack is definitely heavier than yours. It weighed me down."

"Oh sure. All you're carrying is the food!"

"Exactly! There's a lot of it."

"I'm sure you've had plenty on the way here."

Jeff hit his son's arm playfully. "Hey Mr. I'm guarding it from a certain hungry teenager who'd eat everything if he could."

"At least I work it off."

"Are you implying something?"

Gordon grinned and wiggled his eyebrows. "Not at all dad, you're beautiful."

Jeff gave a rough chuckle as he started to regain his breath back. "That's the truth if ever I heard it." He held out a hand, confirming that it was rain he was feeling and not spit. "Oh great, this is going to make John's day."

"Don't let it dampen your spirits," Gordon nudged his father with a wink.

Jeff groaned but couldn't deny Gordon's infectious optimism. "You're right; a little bit of water never hurt anyone. The others will no doubt complain whether it's rain or shine. Let's wait for them to catch up."

"Let's just wait for you to catch your breath you mean."

"Cheeky."

Gordon smirked and stared down the trail they had just raced up. There was an echo of Alan's laughter from further down it, followed by what sounded like a grumble. Gordon looked back toward his father with a curious expression. "Dad can I ask you something?"

Jeff raised a wary eyebrow. "…sure."

"Did you purposefully book a trip over Virgil's college visits?"

"What? No, of course not. Why would I do that?"

"It's just that I remember when it was Scott's turn to go to college and you had all those meetings in London. Then during John's summer I'm pretty sure you were called back to New-"

Jeff held up a hand. "None of those were intentional."

"Really?"

Pausing, he contemplated it for a moment. "Well, maybe subconsciously…but can you blame me? You're all growing up too fast."

Snorting, Gordon shook his head. It had never even crossed his mind until the night before that Virgil was afraid of leaving home. It also hadn't really crossed his mind that he, Gordon invincible Tracy, would miss him a lot. They were definitely going to have to talk about that. "So we're all in the same boat then…"

"What?"

"Oh, nothing."

Jeff studied him for a moment but said nothing further.

"One," Scott called loudly as he burst through the trees. He had leaves and sticks scattered through his hair and a giggling Alan beneath one arm.

Virgil followed behind them, arms crossed, face lit up with reserved enjoyment. "Two…" he said slowly, eyeing Gordon with amusement.

"Three!" Alan ducked out of Scott's arm and skidded towards Gordon and his father. "I found four! We didn't lose him!"

"Hey I'm supposed to say it," Gordon nudged his little brother's arm. Clearing his throat, he put on his best posh accent and announced, "Four is accounted for."

They all paused and waited for John's reply. They didn't get it however, instead they got a silent figure, his white shirt splashed with mud and wet pine needles. Nothing about John looked amused about his current situation. A drop of rain splashed down the side of his face when he opened his mouth. Shutting it again, he just glared at Gordon.

"Looks like Five fell over again," Gordon quipped.

"You know that thing I said about fratricide? I'm very near to committing it."

Gordon burst into laughter while the others looked on in confusion. Alan tugged at his father's sleeve and pulled him to start walking again. "Come on guys! I'm hungry; we have to find a place to eat."

"But…it's…raining?" John said. Everybody ignored him. Scott flung a lazy arm around Virgil's shoulder and they walked away like a couple of stumbling students. Gordon skipped over to John and offered him a sympathetic smile. John apparently took the bait, warily agreeing to walk beside him.

He was right to be wary however, because, at first opportunity, Gordon pushed him into the nearest bush.