Decisions.

Disclaimer: Please see Chapter 1.

Thanks for the reviews everyone. Thanks to Sam for reading this through you are amazing.

Chapter 5: Guilt and Realisation.

Virgil found himself in the cockpit of his beloved craft. He sunk down onto his seat and placed his head in his hands. Taking a few deep breaths, he brought his hands down and gazed out of the cockpit across the hanger. His brother's words just kept going round and round in his head. He had almost killed his two youngest brothers. How the hell was he supposed to deal with that? What would have happened if John hadn't been talking to him before that? Why the hell had he flown home injured? Virgil thumped his hand on the console before him and pain flared up his arm but he ignored it. If only he could remember what had happened, maybe some of this would make sense.

He sat back in his seat and closed his eyes. Taking some deep breaths he tried to think back to the rescue and see if he could remember anything. All he could see was mud and lots of it.

Suddenly, he was pulled out of his thoughts by an incessant bleeping. Looking down, he realized it was coming from his watch. His father's face appeared once he had activated it.

"Penny is about to land. Are you coming to join us?"

"Yeah, sure, be right up," he replied, knowing he couldn't hide down here for much longer. Plus if he was honest, he was quite curious to see Kate again. He knew Scott spoke to her regularly and he got a sense that his oldest brother was growing close to the young English woman. Perhaps she could be the one to show Scott that it was possible for him to have a relationship even with the job they have. After all she already knew exactly who he was. Standing up, he took one last glance out of the window and then headed towards the door. For now all thoughts of guilt were gone but they would be back.

Scott stood on the landing strip and felt a flicker of nerves course through him as the plane landed. This would be the first time he had seen her since he was in hospital. Although they had spoken often, it wasn't quite the same thing. To make this meeting even more nerve-wracking, he had to tell her that some psycho could be after her and that was not going to go down well. A part of him longed to just not say anything but he knew he had to. She needed to know even with the protection Penny could offer her, she was still at risk.

The door to the plane opened and Penny was the first to step down. His father walked forward to greet her and Scott knew he should follow but hesitated for a moment. Gordon had noticed his hesitance and nudged Alan. They both sniggered and then received a smack from Virgil who had caught them. With a slight grin, Virgil walked forward and gave his oldest brother a light shove forwards. Scott turned and glared at his brother.

Rolling his eyes, Virgil sighed and muttered, "Greet her, dumbass." Nudging him again but with a bit more force, Virgil smirked. "If you don't, I will." He knew his older brother would never let that kind of challenge go unanswered.

"Not a chance, little brother," replied Scott with a slight grin. He then turned and made his way to the plane.

Kate had already alighted from it as he approached and had her back to him saying something to Parker. Whatever she was saying brought a smile to the face of the seasoned chauffeur. She then turned to face him. "Hi," she said with a shy smile.

"Hey, how was your flight?" he asked, smiling back at her.

"It was okay, thanks and how are you?" she asked.

"I'm very well, are you?" he asked, noticing that she seemed a little pale.

She nodded before answering, "Bit of a long flight and I haven't really flown much before."

Scott just nodded as his father walked over to his eyes, Virgil sighed and muttered, "Greet her, dumbass." Nudging him again but with a bit more force, Virgil smirked. "If you don't, I will." He knew his older brother would never let that kind of challenge go unanswered.

"It's nice to see you again Katherine," he said, smiling at the young woman who had saved his son's life.

"You, too, Mr Tracy, but please call me Kate," she replied, smiling nervously at the older man. She couldn't deny that she felt a little intimidated by him.

Gordon then stepped forward and grinned at her. "I'm Gordon and if there is anything you need whilst on the Island, I'm your man."

Scott glared at his younger brother but Kate just grinned back. Scott had told her all about his brothers so she had been expecting something like this from him. "Thank you very much and I will keep that in mind."

Alan then stepped forward and introduced himself. Kate smiled at the youngest of the Tracy brothers then turned to the one she had learnt the most about. The first thing she noticed however was the bandage to his head.

"Are you okay?" she asked, gesturing at the bandage.

"Yeah, just a concussion but I'm okay," he said, smiling at her.

"Ouch, was that on a rescue?" she asked and was surprised to see a pained expression cross his face.

Gordon interrupted, knowing that was still a touchy subject. "So what do you think of the Island then?" he asked.

Kate looked around and sighed, happily. "It's absolutely beautiful. Paradise, doesn't quite cover it."

"You are quite right," said Penny, smiling at the young woman. She had been able to tell straight away that Kate was a good person and she also had a feeling that she was about to become a big part of their lives.

"Why don't we go indoors where it's a little cooler and Scott, why don't you show Kate to her room?" suggested Jeff, noticing how hot Kate looked.

Kate smiled gratefully at the older man. She wasn't used to temperatures like this. She was from England and it was lucky to see temperatures reach 25 degrees let alone anything higher.

Scott grabbed her bag and then turned to Kate. "Come on, Kate, Kyrano has your room prepared," he said, smiling. Kate smiled at the others and then followed Scott.

"Is Virgil really okay?" she asked as they walked along.

"He hit his head on a rescue and ended up with delayed concussion," explained Scott.

"Ouch," she replied as they stopped outside a door.

Scott just nodded and opened the door. Kate sensed there was more going on but could also see that Scott didn't want to talk about it so she didn't ask. She looked around the room and her eyes instantly landed on a picture on the wall. It was the sun setting over the ocean and was beautiful.

Scott spotting what she was looking at said, "That's one of Virgil's."

"Wow," she said, turning round to look at him. "He's really talented. I can't draw to save my life."

Scott nodded, "I'm the same but Virge is just amazing." Scott, catching her yawn, decided to leave her alone for a while. "I'll let you get sorted out and see you later," he said, moving to the door.

"Okay and thank you for inviting me here. I needed a holiday and what better then paradise with the most eligible bachelors in the world," she replied with a grin.

Scott had to grin back. There was just something about Kate that got to him. She seemed so down to earth and wasn't bothered that he was the son of a billionaire. For the first time in ages, he felt that he could truly be himself with her. He left her room and made his way to the lounge.

The room was empty and judging by the noise he guessed the rest of his family were by the pool. Impulsively, Scott decided to contact John and check in with his younger brother. He knew how much John hated being up there whenever any of them were hurt. Luckily, it was changeover tomorrow so John would be able to see Virgil in person and know he was okay.

"Go ahead, Base," replied John and then grinned as he realized who had called him. "Kate arrived yet?" he added.

"Yes, as you well know," replied Scott, rolling his eyes at the astronaut. No plane could land on the Island without John's knowledge.

"How is she?" he asked.

"She's fine but I didn't call up to talk to you about her," replied Scott, knowing John was trying to wind him up.

"Is it about the row you had with Virgil?" asked John.

Scott stared at his younger brother in surprise, "How do you know about that?"

It was John's turn to roll his eyes now, "Because I know you."

"Yeah, we did and it wasn't good," admitted Scott. Although his brother had joked with him earlier, Scott could sense that his brother still hadn't forgiven him yet.

John nodded knowing it wouldn't have been. Scott and Virgil didn't argue often but when it did happen it could be explosive. "You know he isn't the one you're angry at don't you?"

"I'm not angry at him anymore," replied Scott. Virgil was just as protective of their younger siblings as he was and would never have flown home if he knew he was badly injured. He'd known that even as he'd lashed out at him.

"You never were angry at him."

Scott looked at John with confusion. "Huh?"

"You were angry at yourself and just projecting that on him. You blame yourself for not realizing he was hurt," explained John and could see a look of realization dawn on his older brother's face.

"How did you know that?" asked Scott, he couldn't deny that his brother was right. He should have known Virgil was hurt and should have forced the pilot to allow Gordon to fly home.

John sighed, "Because I feel the same way." He paused and Scott could sense he had more to say so stayed quiet. "I was talking to him and I didn't even realize he was hurt. I was looking at him and didn't realize he was about to pass out on me. How could I not have noticed something?"

Scott could see the anger and guilt building in the blonde's eyes. "The same way I didn't. Because the mark to his head was hidden by all the mud and Virgil himself didn't know he was injured. Brains said that delayed concussions literally hit with no warning whatsoever."

John suddenly grinned, "Exactly. You're not God and you can't know everything. Some things are just going to happen that none of us can control."

Scott suddenly realized that John's guilt was just a ruse to get him to talk and that it had worked too. "That was a bit devious, bro."

John grinned smugly. "Worked though, didn't it?"

"Yeah," agreed Scott. He felt better about the whole situation now but knew he still owed an apology to his brother.

"So, when are you telling Kate?" he asked, changing the subject. He knew Scott was no longer blaming himself and he also knew that Virgil would forgive him too.

Scott let out a deep sigh, he didn't want to have to tell Kate that her life could be in danger but knew he had to. "Later or tomorrow depending on how she is feeling," he said finally.

"Good, get it over with and then you two can have some fun," said John with a cheeky grin.

Scott glared at John and placed his hand over the button to end communications. "Goodbye, John."

John waved, still grinning as Scott hit the button.

Gordon wandered through the villa, trying to locate Virgil. It was obvious that he'd had a run in with Scott earlier and Gordon wanted to make sure his artistic brother was okay.

He finally located Virgil in his art studio. "Way to go, Gordon. You know he turns to art and music when he's upset and this is the last place you look." His brother was sat in front of a blank easel and appeared to be lost in thought. "You okay, bro?" he asked, entering the room.

"Why wouldn't I be? It's not like I nearly killed my brothers or anything."

"You didn't nearly kill us, Virge. We were there, she barely even dived," replied Gordon, knowing he was lying.

Virgil whirled to face him, snapping angrily, "That's crap and you know it. She dived for over two minutes and was less than a hundred feet from the ocean when you took control of her."

"How do you know that?" asked Gordon. Had Alan told Virgil what happened?

"I checked Two's flight data and it was there in black and white. I also know that you two were asleep and that John is the only reason we are all still standing here."

Gordon felt his heart sink at his brother's words. He could see that this had devastated Virgil and he had no idea how to help him. "Virge…" he began but was interrupted.

"Don't, Gordon, there's nothing you can say. I almost cost you your life because I was too stubborn to admit I was injured. I don't know how to deal with that or if I should even be a Thunderbird anymore," he said and then turned and left the room.

Gordon stood frozen, completely stunned by what he had just heard.