Decisions.

Disclaimer: Please see Chapter 1.

Thanks for the reviews everyone. Well here is chapter Two. Sorry for the huge delay but illness kept getting in the way. Thanks to my totally amazing beta for making this readable, love ya.

Chapter 2: Trouble and Smothering brewing.

As Gordon fought desperately hard to pull the huge leviathan out of its dive, he saw Alan appear by his side. Without even questioning what was going on, his only younger brother joined him in the fight. Finally, Thunderbird Two came out of the dive and began to level out.

John, who had been watching the whole event from his view screen, let out the breath he had no idea he was holding. He sent a silent prayer of thanks for saving his brothers and then turned his attention back to the two of them before him.

"What the hell happened?" asked Alan.

Gordon ignored Alan for a moment as he checked on the unconscious pilot. His brother's pulse was a little weak but it was there. As he straightened up, he arched his back and then rubbed the lower section. Noticing the worried look shoot across his younger brother's face, he turned his attention to John. "What happened?"

"We were just talking and he zoned out on me for a moment. When I finally got his attention, his eyes were glazed and unfocused, then he just keeled over," explained John, unable to get the image of his brother collapsing out of his head.

"What caused him to collapse like that?" asked Alan.

"He never said anything about an injury," replied Gordon, turning his attention back to their fallen brother. It was then he noticed something on his brother's head. He gently wiped the mud away to reveal a laceration. The amount of mud on the artist's face had hidden it from them all.

"Why the hell didn't he tell us he had been hurt?" asked Alan, noticing the cut.

"Probably for the same reason the rest of us don't," muttered Gordon as he moved to the first aid kit.

"Well either way, Dad is going to flip when he finds out," replied Alan and then he gave a slight grin before adding, "If Scott doesn't beat him to it."

"Help me move him onto the other seats so I can fly this heap of metal home," replied Gordon, undoing his brother's harness.

John watched as his two youngest brothers moved Virgil onto the rear seats. Once he was strapped in, Gordon moved forward and took control of Thunderbird Two. John felt totally helpless stuck on Thunderbird Five but then he realized there was something he could do to help them. "Gords, I'm going to contact Base and let them know what's going on. You okay to fly home?" he asked, concerned by the pained and worried expression on his brother.

Gordon rolled his eyes at John. "Yeah, I think I can just about manage to fly this over inflated watermelon home."

"If he finds out you keep calling his baby names, he's going to be angry," replied John, grinning at his younger brother.

"Scott's gonna kill him long before he finds that out," said Alan, with a grin.

John grinned back knowing that Alan was right. Scott was going to freak but that was one job he wasn't doing. His father could tell Scott. He signed off with his brothers and began the task of calling his dad.

"Go ahead, John," replied Jeff as his image appeared.

John took a deep breath before responding, "There's been a situation with Thunderbird Two."

"What's happened? Are they all okay?" asked Jeff.

"Virgil collapsed mid-flight but we don't know why yet. Alan and Gordon were able to keep Thunderbird Two in the air," explained John, rubbing his temples as he felt a headache coming on.

Before Jeff could respond, Scott requested permission to land. Jeff agreed but made no mention of what John had just told him. He then turned back to John. "Was he injured on the rescue?"

"Not that anyone knew, though Gordon did find a small laceration to his forehead," replied John.

Jeff nodded and knew he would need words with the artist once he was better. For now he was just relieved that Alan and Gordon had been on board to prevent Thunderbird Two from crashing. Jeff's mind instantly went back to the time that The Sentinel tried to shoot down Thunderbird Two. Virgil had just managed to land his craft before he lost consciousness. He suddenly realized that John was trying to get his attention.

"Did you say something, John?" he asked.

"Are you okay, Dad?"

"I'm fine. Do you know Gordon's eta?" asked Jeff, knowing that Gordon would be the one flying Thunderbird Two home.

"Ten minutes," replied John, checking his systems that monitored the location of all the crafts.

"Okay, Son, I'm going to have Brains prepare Sickbay then head to the Thunderbird Two's silo."

"Let me know how he is," said John, still feeling worried about his immediately younger brother.

He then remembered the other thing Jeff needed to know. "Oh and Dad, Scott doesn't know yet. We thought you would be the best one to broach that subject."

Jeff just nodded as his son's image disappeared. It didn't surprise him that Scott hadn't found out yet. His oldest son was not going to take this well and it would definitely be better for him to be on the ground before he learns what happened. As Jeff stood up, the man in question came into the room. Jeff could see how exhausted and dirty his son looked but knew it would be pointless suggesting a shower first.

"Dad, what are you doing?" asked Scott, wondering why his father was not sat at his desk.

"I'm off to meet Thunderbird Two as she lands, there has been an incident and Virgil requires medical attention," explained Jeff. As he uttered the last word, Scott took off for the Silos. Jeff quickly went after him knowing his two youngest sons would need his back up.

Arriving in the Silo, he watched as Scott slid to a halt. Thunderbird Two glided gracefully in and came to a stop. As soon as she stopped, Scott entered the giant craft and headed straight for sick bay with Jeff just behind him.

Gordon began the post flight checks feeling relieved that they didn't take too long. He wanted to check on his brother and make sure that Scott wasn't harassing Alan too much. They all knew just how bad Scott could be when one of them was ill or hurt. He had to admit though that secretly he was glad to be in the cockpit away from Smother Scott in all his glory. That was why he and Alan had decided earlier to not mention the near fatal crash into the sea. They knew it would only make things worse and they didn't need any extra stress. Scott would be stressing enough and Gordon knew that he would also be feeling guilty too. As Field commander and their big brother, Scott would feel like he should have known Virgil was hurt but then so was he. He had been racking his brains on the way back, trying to remember if there was any sign that Virgil was injured before they took off. He couldn't remember anything though, no sign of the injury or any sign that his head was bothering him. Wrapped up in his thoughts Gordon never heard his only younger sibling enter the cockpit.

"Gords!" called Alan but got no response. He had come to check on Gordon as he had been gone so long. Luckily, Jeff and Scott were too busy worrying about Virgil to notice. Moving closer he could see Gordon was staring out across the silo. "Gordon?" he said, laying his hand on his shoulder.

Alan's hand sent Gordon soaring back from his thoughts and he realized he had clearly been a while. "What's up bro?" he asked, grinning sheepishly.

Alan could sense that Gordon had been lost in some pretty serious thoughts but knew that his brother wouldn't want to talk about it. "Just checking you hadn't fallen asleep in here," he replied, trying to keep his tone light. Gordon would talk about it if he needed to.

"Nah, didn't want to get in the way of the smothering," replied Gordon, standing up and rubbing his back once more.

Alan watched with concern as Gordon rubbed his back. He knew that the force needed to pull Thunderbird Two out of its dive would have put major pressure on his brother's back.

"We better go see how Brains is coping with Scott and Dad," replied Alan and they both made their way out of Thunderbird Two.

They exited the Silo and headed straight for the sickbay. As they passed by the bedrooms, Alan hesitated. "If you need to grab some painkillers, I'll keep the others distracted."

"No, I just need to walk around and stretch the muscles a bit," replied Gordon, walking on past his bedroom.

Alan wasn't convinced by that and decided to keep a close eye on his water loving brother. He knew Gordon would suffer through the pain whilst Virgil was hurt. They reached sickbay and Alan watched Gordon stretch, grimace and then force a calm expression on his face.

Virgil still lay unconscious on the bed with Jeff and Scott on either side of him. Brains was nowhere in sight which didn't surprise either brother. The scientist would have checked Virgil over and then left the family on their own.

"Everything okay?" asked Jeff as his two youngest walked in.

Alan and Gordon both glanced at each other before Gordon spoke. "Yep, just had to run a couple of the checks twice."

"It's all sorted now though," added Alan.

Jeff just nodded realizing that Gordon had needed a moment on his own before coming down here. "Brains believes that Virgil has a delayed concussion but will be fine. Apart from a fairly nasty headache for the next few days," explained Jeff, as his two youngest came over to the bed.

Gordon then grinned and added, "Plus the one Scott is gonna give him when he wakes up."

Alan stifled a chuckle as Scott glared at his younger brother. Jeff just shook his head at them all but knew that Gordon was right. He then realized the grin had faded from Alan's face.

"What's the matter, Son?" he asked.

"I think Virgil is waking up," replied Alan, pointing down at his fallen brother whose eyes were fluttering.