Well, folks, this is the final chapter for this story. It covers a lot of ground, so it's a little bit longer than the others, but I hope you enjoy it.

I also hope I've stayed true to the characters, especially to Virgil. I know you don't see it until Unplugged, which takes place after Crosscut, but there were times in that episode where you see him question his abilities. I think it was seeing those moments of doubt and hesitation that gave me the idea for this story.

So, then, let's see how he resolves the cause of his nightmare - with, of course, some more help from the world's best big brother. Thanks again for all your kind reviews, and hope to see you back here soon!

Balancing Act

Chapter Four - Calculated Risk

Dawn had fully broken now. Morning had come to Tracy Island in a spectacular show of colours.

Scott and Virgil had enjoyed every moment of it, in the peaceful quiet it deserved. As the glorious range of reds, golds and pinks started to fade, so the silence between them ended too.

"Hell of a sunrise."

From a subtle cough beside him, Virgil rolled his eyes. Uh-oh. Big brother still in 'mind-your-language' mode.

"Sorry. Heck of a sunrise."

To his surprise, Scott just shrugged this time. Or, he thought dryly, he was too warm and comfy to chastise him further. Either way, there was still enough easier feeling between them for Scott to change the subject - gently shifting them back to the discussion they'd been having before the wonders of Nature had intervened.

"You've always had good instincts, Virg. I know Gordon has them too, and... yeah, I've got to admit, so does Alan. But yours are the ones I've come to rely on the most. And even if I don't say it as often as I should, you must know how much I appreciate them."

Just a few hours ago, the distracted nod he received in reply would have unsettled him. Now, though, it made him smile as his eyes settled on its cause.

Sketchpad + pencils + talented brother = another breathtaking picture to hang up in the den. As the family's resident artist put the finishing touches to his latest masterpiece, it left Scott free to reflect on the morning's events.

They'd almost resolved it now, this issue that had often troubled and, just occasionally, divided them. Virgil hadn't just faced his demons, he'd gone on to identify the true cause beyond it.

Three hours of soul-searching had led him to the conclusion that had surprised him, but that Scott had known all along. A 'what if?' fear of failure had set a potentially disastrous seed of doubt into his mind. Triggered his nightmares, pitching him into the tragedy he dreaded above all others. Made him question his judgement when, in fact, that judgement was as sound and well-founded as it had always been.

As he'd just ruefully admitted, having that extra mozzarella on his pizza last night hadn't been such a good idea. From now on, he'd promised, he'd just stick to pepperoni.

A fond smile settled on Scott's face too, as he watched him pack up his sketch-kit. From overdoing the cheese to questioning his instincts, there were times when his brother was his own worst enemy.

Then again, so was he. Riding his luck so often in the past might have been easier for him. More easily justified. But now? Well, their father's disappearance had changed all that.

The thought was a sobering one. For him more than any of them, it had changed everything.

In their father's absence, Scott knew he had to start taking his actions more seriously. He had to consider the brothers who were looking to him now, more than ever before. Relying on him for leadership. Guidance. Hope. Courage. The strength to keep doing what they did best, until their family was made whole again.

He had to consider all of that now, before they suffered the grief and anguish of another, senseless loss.

Of course, he wasn't so naïve as to think he wouldn't still need to make those life-or-death decisions, or to take the risks associated with them. But now he'd learn to try and anticipate them, just that little bit quicker. Do all he could to try and reduce that risk as much as possible. And if that meant accepting offers of help, or suggestions, or just some calming advice - well, so be it.

So much of that support would come from the brother who shared the majority of those missions with him. Aside from John's equally unflappable calm, Scott couldn't think of a better head to have around in a crisis.

The bond between them held its greatest strength in the trust they placed in each other. So when he finally spoke, his voice was quiet. Completely serious, until his brother's response to what he was saying made him smile too.

"I know I rush into things sometimes, Virg, and... yeah, okay, wise guy... a lot of times."

Leaning across to lightly thump Virgil's arm, he settled back again. Gave himself a few more moments to re-gather his thoughts, before he put them into carefully chosen words.

"But as team leader, Virg, I need to make decisions. As I said before, there's nothing I can do to change that. More often than not, I don't have the time to ask myself if I'm doing the right thing or not. All I can do is trust my instincts, and yours, to know you'll be there when I need you."

Another soundless response. But then, all the reaction that Scott could have hoped for was written through Virgil's eyes. That gentlest of smiles. Complete understanding, grounded by the trust and respect that forged this remarkable bond between them.

Still, no harm in making that bond even stronger. After all, you just never knew when you were going to need it.

"What I can do, though, is learn to listen more. Just take those few seconds while we're flying out to listen to whatever you suggest. I can't guarantee I'll be able to carry those suggestions out. You know as well as I do that we rarely know what we're facing until we get there. But I can promise you this. From now on, I will listen."

Wow. The last time he'd made such a heartfelt speech, his brother had almost ruined the moment. The glint in Virgil's eyes suggested there was more of the same to come.

"That'd be appreciated. I'm much too young and handsome to go grey just yet."

As the eldest, and no doubt the first, to inherit that family trait, there was no way Scott was going to let that one go.

"Modesty, thy name is Virgil."

Answered with a nonchalant shrug, he wisely chose to ignore it. Instead, he drew a more serious issue to a quietly determined close.

"Whatever I do on these missions, Virgil... whatever decisions I have to take on them, I'll never put my life at risk, or anyone else's, unless I know for sure that..."

"...you've got me, or Gordon, or Alan, close enough to back you up," Virgil finished for him, rolling his eyes as his brother grinned, giving that thought a uniquely sadistic twist.

"Hey, you could always have them ride shotgun with you, just to make sure, and... yeah, good luck with that."

Baulking at the thought of not just one but two kid brothers on his tail, Virgil then grinned too. His eyes glinted with the kind of mischief that his eldest brother admired, shared - and silently feared.

"Yeah, I could rig up Pod Three with a sound-proof box, and just lock 'em in there."

Drastic and draconian, maybe... but in terms of keeping the Terrible Twins in line, it was brilliant. For all those times when they'd driven him nuts... yeah, Scott just wished he'd thought of it first.

Still, there were enough spare rooms in the villa for Virgil to convert one of those instead, and -

"...you know, between keeping those two in line, and saving the world, we make a pretty good team."

- planning that bolt hole for long suffering big brothers was going to have to wait. More immediately, that big brother needed to one last bit of big brothering.

"Yes, we do. We always have, and we always will," he agreed, taking the grin that followed as his cue to put in his bolt-hole order after all. "And for my own personal brother-bunker, I'd like my own couch, a reclining armchair, a full size holo-TV... with popcorn maker... oooh, and a sunlight outside the door for... well, emergency expulsion of unwanted intruders."

To him, of course, it was a perfectly reasonable request. So he really didn't understand why Virgil was now staring at him as if he'd grown an extra head. That lack of enthusiasm in his voice, too. Really disappointing.

"Hey, you want it, you build it."

Whatever he was going to say further to that turned instead into a yawn as big as TB2's hangar. When another followed, Scott grinned, in both amusement and approval. His eyes were now fighting a losing battle to stay open. Yep, no doubt about it, his brother was going bye-byes. Just as he'd been as a toddler, he was just too damn stubborn to give in to it.

Soon, though. The inevitable was rushing towards him now with irresistible speed. Virgil's eyelids flickered for a moment, in a doomed last stand of resistance. Then they slid fully shut - and showed no sign of re-opening. Just a few more minutes, and those deafening snores would send those loungers flying back into the surrounding gardens. And if there was ever a moment to catch for blackmailable posterity, this had to be it.

Still watching him, Scott eased himself off his lounger and started to pad silently towards the house - freezing in mid stride as a low voice instantly thwarted the mischief that he'd had in mind.

"Do it, and I'll turn you into a human diving board."

Busted! And just to make sure he got the message, Virgil opened one eye and used it to throw his brother a truly evil glare.

Not daring to defy it, Scott returned to his lounger in double quick time. Settled meekly back onto it. Then he just lay back, obeyance personified - and silently waited.

He didn't need to wait long. From the sun's warmth, a corker of a breakfast, and a now fully soothed mind, Virgil drifted back to sleep. And this time, he stayed there. Under the proudly watchful eyes of his brother, he settled into the deepest, and sweetest, of dreams.

He looked so peaceful, so contented, and Scott saw no reason at all why he should catch up on some lost sleep himself. But then he saw a blur of movement to his other side, and knew that chance for peaceful quiet had just disappeared.

Damn, he'd forgotten about that. Gordon had come down for his usual, early morning swim. And as he knew from past experience, Gordon Cooper Tracy didn't do anything quietly. Even his shirts were the loudest clothes on the island.

Sitting up, he quickly motioned to his brother that making any kind of noise right now would be a really, really, bad idea. Kinda like sneaking up on a hibernating bear, and poking it with a stick.

"Ssssshhhh!"

Duly warned, Gordon made the rest of his approach to them on comically overdone tiptoe. Still watching him, Scott just rolled his eyes. There were times when having four little brothers, and this little brother especially, just pushed him to the edge of his sanity.

Luckily, Gordon could also be as completely serious as he was. Never more so than when any member of his family was hurt, or threatened, or in any kind of trouble. Now that he was close enough to see him properly, the sight of his brother asleep in such an unusual place turned his trademark grin into a puzzled frown.

A poolside lounger, instead of his bed? And in his sweats, too? That alone set the alarm bells ringing - an anxious glance towards their resident mother hen assuring him that whatever crisis had brought them both out here had already passed.

"He's okay, Squid. Just had a bit of a rough night. He'll be fine once he's caught up on some sleep."

As happy with that assurance as he could be, Gordon nodded, all thoughts of his morning swim forgotten. No, he'd just do things a bit differently this morning. And since it was such a lovely morning, he was sure Alan would appreciate being bounced out of bed, so that he could enjoy it too.

At least, that was what Scott naturally assumed as he watched his brother head back into the house. Well, he'd deal with that later. Right now, he was far too comfortable to handle the Terrible Twins, and... hello?

Hmm. Maybe he wouldn't need to.

Watching Gordon tip-toe back towards him, Scott then grinned. Without even having to ask for it, he was going to get some cheering company, and - yeah, he'd gratefully take it.

Carefully lifting another lounger to Virgil's other side, Gordon settled onto it while tossing a holo-pad across to him.

"Thought we'd need some way to pass the time... especially if we're out here a while."

"Good idea," Scott grinned, wincing slightly at the loudening snore that rose up between them. "Don't suppose you remembered the-?"

*thoomp*

Oh, he had. Thank God for that.

Nudging the godsend of earplugs into place, Scott settled back on his lounger - smiling at how naturally Gordon did the same. They even shared the same smile as they glanced across at Virgil, before returning to their respective reads. For Gordon, it was his old swimming team's progress in the latest Olympic qualifiers, while Scott checked through the upgrades that Brains had suggested for Thunderbird One.

And Virgil? Well, he was smiling too. Safe in the depths of his dreams, he slept without a care in the world.