Chapter 4: A Brother's Job

Thunderbird 2 had launched quickly with Thunderbird 4 stashed onboard. The two remaining Tracy brothers had remained quiet as they sped away from their home and the argument in the lounge.

"Scott?" Gordon had been taking quick glances at his older brother, trying to gauge if it was safe to speak to him yet or not, but his curiosity was getting the best of him. "Why did you send Virgil to space? Knowing how bad he is at it and all. I mean, you or him are capable of piloting my bird—as long as you ignore the mess—I wouldn't have minded going with Alan."

"I know." Scott sighed. "I admit, I feel a bit guilty sending him up there, but I had my reasons."

"Which were?" Gordon twisted in his chair to look at his brother.

"Do we have to talk about this right now?"

"Yes."

"Why don't you get on the scanner and start looking for Thunderbird S." Scott thumbed to the seat behind him.

"FA—Wait, you're not trying to sidetrack me are you?"

"Just get back there." Scott waved a hand at Gordon to get him to move, his eyes still on the sky and the controls before him. "As for my reasons, well we were going to the Indian Ocean and if Kayo had crashed and already sunk into the water I wanted our best diver ready to go after her."

"Alright, I am that." Gordon smiled a little as he hopped from the front co-pilot chair to the one behind Scott. "What's the other?"

"Who said there was another?"

"You said reasons. With an extra s." Gordon brought up the scanning program and started setting it up.

"Alright, just start scanning." Scott sighed a little. Gordon wasn't going to let him off that easily, but then Scott should have expected that. "Virgil is kind of my lucky charm."

A cackle came from behind him. "Your brother is your lucky charm?"

"If you'll let me I'll explain." Scott paused for a moment to try and find the right words. "Virgil has always been there, right next to me. I mean, I can't remember him ever not being there. Growing up he followed me around. In school he was always right there behind me, supporting me. And even now, Thunderbird 2 is always there when I need him. I just know that nothing will go wrong when he's there."

"Aw, that's so sweet." Gordon laughed a little but he was smiling as well. Scott wasn't the only one that depended on Virgil.

"Oh, shut-up."

"No. It's nice. I-I know what you mean." Gordon blushed a little and was glad that his brother couldn't see him. He reached forward and ruffled his big brother's hair—Scott immediately pulled away from him and reached up to fix it. "So, if Virgil's your lucky brother, what am I?"

"You're my fish."

"Right, because of my swimming." Gordon rolled his eyes a little.

"No, because you smell like one."

"What?" Gordon sniffed his armpit. "I took a shower yesterday!"

"Try doing it everyday, little bro." Scott laughed.

They settled into a companionable silence as Scott maneuvered Thunderbird 2 into a search pattern starting along the outer boundaries of the ocean and working their way to the center in a spiral pattern.

"Scott, can you move east a few miles? I think I saw something." They had been searching for a little over an hour at that point, had had a few hits that had turned out to be nothing, but Scott still adjusted his course because hopefully one would be right on.

"FAB." Scott turned the wheel a bit to his right, causing the great green bird to bank a little harder. "What do you see?"

"I'm not sure." Gordon readjusted the settings on the scanner and tried to get a clearer image. "I'm getting a visual now."

"Man, this is what I miss about my bird. All I would need to do is look down." Scott sighed for a moment as he waited for Gordon's report.

"Found it. She's been crashed on a small island. Looks pretty beat up too." Gordon threw the image over to the flight controls for Scott to see. "I'm scanning the topography to see if there's a place for us to land."

"What have you gotten yourself into this time, Kayo." Scott pinched the bridge of his nose hoping it would relieve the mild thumping in his head. Scott sighed and scrutinized the image of Thunderbird S. "Do a quick biometric scan, see if she's nearby. We may be able to just pick them both up and head home."

"FAB" There was a moment of silence as Gordon started the scan. "That's odd."

"What? Is she actually being good and sitting next to her plane waiting on us?"

"No. There's no sign of any humans."

"Figures. That girl needs to learn how to sit still."

"Scott, there's also no sign of any living creature down there. Not even an ant."

"Are you sure about that?"

"Positive." Gordon's hands were moving, going from one scan to the next, upping the perimeters and scanning again. "And there's nowhere for us to land."

"Alright, I'll drop you and Thunderbird Four just off the coast." Scott banked and took them around the island in preparation for the module's release.

"FAB!" Gordon stood and was halfway to the hatch that led to the modules when the floor suddenly pitched forward. "Scott!"

"I've lost all control, we're going down!"

"My bird!" Gordon had grabbed onto the back wall to keep himself from flying into the controls next to his brother. He pulled himself back to his feet and through the door.

"Gordon! No!" Scott let out a mumbled curse as he pulled up on the yolk but the green behemoth was not responding to him. He put his foot on the console—a move he could already hear Virgil complain about—and pulled some more. He reached above him and tried to restart the computer and engines but with no luck.

He was just about to prepare for a nosedive into the water when suddenly the plane leveled out a little. Scott wasn't sure what had changed but it was enough to allow him to aim for the island.

Thunderbird 2 skipped across the surface of the water before hitting a small strip of sand and then crashed into a rocky cliff face. The sound would have normally cause birds to scatter and make a raucous equal to that of the crash. But when Scott came two the only thing he could hear was the beep of a single alarm.

He opened his eyes and moaned, a blurry red light blinked on and off somewhere in front of him. He pushed himself up off the yolk and held his head, waiting for the dizziness to subside. He blinked a few times, his vision slowly coming back into focus and looked straight ahead out of the windows of Thunderbird 2.

"Virgil is going to kill me." Scott looked at the nose cone that was crushed into a sheet of rock. He reached up, silenced the alarm, and checked everything out. Multiple damaged systems, including the comms. He touched his insignia, a small prayer that he'd still be able to reach his brothers or the island. "Thunderbird 2 to Thunderbird 5. John? Brains?"

No response.

The space station's communications must have been compromised. This didn't surprise Scott, but he hoped the silence was due more to John shutting down the systems to keep the hacker out and not because they hacker had gained control over them.

However, without Thunderbird 5 or Thunderbird 2's communications antenna there was no way to reach Tracy Island.

In addition to that, without access to either of his two engineers he probably wasn't going to get her flying any time soon.

Scott sighed and shook his head. There was nothing he could do about Thunderbird 2. Right now, he had to make sure his brother and Kayo were okay.

"Gordon, are you there?" He had reached up and touched his insignia again, but still nothing but silence. "Gordon!" Scott pushed the seat back and stood, wobbling a little on his legs, and stumbled to the hatch Gordon had disappeared though.

Scott followed the small hall back to the door that led to the module, only when he opened the door the module wasn't there. Scott blinked in the brightness of the sun and looked around for his brother. The back half of Thunderbird 2 had dug a trench in the sand and water, the waves crashing against the side.

Scott made his way down the ladder and dropped down to the sand below—falling flat on his bottom when his legs refused to support the landing. He waded, and then swam a little over to the other end and climbed the ladder up a short ways to the top of her back end.

The module had dropped not far away in the shallows just off the island. Scott jumped into the water behind Two and swam over to the module. Swimming wasn't too bad, but when he reached the shallows and had to walk again he slowed down quite a bit, the world still tilting a little under him. He made it to the module and lowered the hatch.

"Gordon!" He found his brother laying on the floor of the module and dropped to his knees beside him. He did a quick look over and didn't see any major injuries, just a large cut on his head. "Gordon you better wake up or help me—"

"Help you with what?" Gordon smirked a little, but grimaced at the light that was streaming into the module. He looked up at the blob that he assumed was his brother. "I'm wake, don't worry. Are you okay?"

"You're asking me that?" Scott just shook his head. "Stay there, don't move." Scott pushed himself to his feet and made his way over to the wall and grabbed the med kit. He settled down next to his brother and started to tend to the cut on his head. "So, what the hell was so important that you had to risk your life for?"

"I had to drop my bird." Gordon jerked away from Scott's tending. "That hurts."

"I imagine it does." Scott allowed a small smile on his otherwise worried face. That explained why he was able to level out, a drop in weight.

"I knew if we crashed with the module still intact, there was a chance we wouldn't be able to get my bird out."

"That was quick thinking, if not dangerous."

"Hey, that's everyday for us." Gordon smiled and tried to sit up, but was pushed back down. "Will you stop that, I'm okay."

"It's got dirt and grease in it. Do you want it to get infected?" Scott held Gordon's chin keeping him from moving as he sprayed some antiseptic into the cut.

Having no choice Gordon suffered in silence as his brother finished cleaning and bandaging the wound with a waterproof bandage. "Are you done?"

Scott sat back on his heels and shrugged his shoulders. "I'm sorry, your head is a lost cause."

Gordon tried to shove his brother away a little, but his eyes were still a little blurry and he found nothing but air. Still he was smiling and finally was allowed to sit up. "How's Thunderbird 2?"

"Pretty bad off. Stay here and I'll go back and see if there's any sign of Kayo." Scott got back to his feet and made his way down the hatch and towards what as left of Thunderbird Shadow.

Gordon frowned as he watched Scott make his way back to the beach. It took him a moment to stand and as soon as he could he followed his brother. "How bad is Two?"

"I thought I told you to stay?"

"Like I'd listen?"

Scott sighed and shook his head. "Her nose is smashed and the computer only partially booted up. Several systems are down including the comms."

"That sounds better than Shadow at least." They were standing just below her but could see the full extent of her damage. She was leaning against the same cliff that Thunderbird 2 had crashed into, one wing was broken off and her tail was MIA. The cockpit was still in one piece so that was good.

"Now, where is Kayo? She couldn't have gotten far." Scott sighed and put his hands on his hips. "I'm going to head this way, see if there's a way up the cliff face."

"No need, Scott. I think I found her. Or rather which way she went." Gordon had made his way to the other side of the black plane which was closer to the water.

"Did she leave a sign? Message?"

"What do we leave that shadows don't?"

"Gordon we don't have time—"

"Footprints." Gordon pointed out where it was obvious that Kayo had dropped from her bird into the sand. He then made his way to the shore and found what was left of her footprints—the tide quickly trying to wash them away. "If we'd been any later they'd be lost."

Scott couldn't hide the small grin at Gordon's joke. The fact that he was joking meant that he was feeling alright. "Alright, let's go."

"Let's?" Gordon frowned at his brother, still not sure he was alright. He wasn't stumbling any more, but he was still pinching the bridge of his nose as if he had a headache—him and Virgil both did it, and it usually meant stress. "Why don't you stay behind and work on getting Two up and going?"

"Without working comms there's not much I can do. Plus I'm worried about Kayo. She put in that call for help almost three hours ago and we don't know how long she's been under water."

"Maybe she went under just to get to the other side of the island?" Gordon shrugged as he started towards his own bird.

"If she had you would have picked up life signs, but you didn't."

"Ah, touche." Gordon frowned a little but couldn't come up with any other excuse. "Alright, but you are going to be strapped into the back."

"You don't want me seeing your mess?"

"You can see my mess from the outside."

"Then I'm riding next to you."

Gordon sighed again. "Why does everyone always want to ride up front with me?"

"Cause you got the best view." Scott put his hand on Gordon's shoulder as he made his way into the module.

Gordon followed his brother and soon they were both in the cockpit of Thunderbird 4. "And launching in 3, 2, 1. Thunderbird 4 is go."

Because of the angle of the pod the mini sub had to make a small excursion in the sand before making it back out to water and then dove down when it reached a drop off.

"Oof, remind me when we get home to mention to Brains about putting some straps in here for passengers."

"No way." Gordon huffed at the suggestion. "If you don't want to worry about sliding around, go sit in the back. The front is for action."

"You've had others up here before too."

"And they've never complained."

Scott couldn't help but roll his eyes a bit.

The little sub dove down deeper and deeper. "Is the ocean supposed to be this—empty?"

"No. And it's freaking me out a bit."

"Any idea as to why?"

"Not a clue. Unless it's related to Shadow and Two crashing like they did." Gordon glanced up at his brother who was once again pinching the bridge of his nose. "If you need some medicine it's in the back."

"Still trying to get me to go back there, huh?" Scott waved off his brother's worry.

"If what caused us to crash was something along the electromagnetic lines, if it was consistent and constant enough it could be keeping the fish and other forms of life from coming into the area."

"Do you think Kayo is still around here?"

Gordon frowned, but turned his attention back to the empty ocean around them. "She wouldn't be able to go too much deeper, her suits not made to withstand the pressure."

"How deep are we?"

"Just about one-thousand feet."

"And just how deep could Kayo dive with her suit and equipment?"

"Hm, considering how Brains engineers his stuff, and the fact that he did just give her an underwater breathing apparatus similar to my own—she could go down a couple of thousand feet on her own. Anything past that you would really need something like this baby."

"Alright, go down just a bit farther than start a search pattern. Hopefully she's just trying to find some life as well."

They continued on in silence for a bit. Scott sat next to him, doing his best to keep an eye around them, while also worrying about Virgil, Alan, and John. They should be getting back to the island by now, but without comms they wouldn't know until they themselves got back.

However, John had blood running down his face in his last call—a concussion at the very least meaning he'd be down for a week. Then considering how he had left Virgil, he would probably be a bit grumpy himself having to go into space like he did. Scott made a small mental note to make sure all that grumpiness was directed solely at himself—he was the one that had ordered him up there after all.

He found his hand going back up to his nose and rubbing it a bit, hoping it would ease the ache that was still simmering away inside his head—the landing sure hadn't helped it any.

"Hey, Scott." Gordon's voice was hesitant and that snapped Scott from his other thoughts for the moment.

"What—" He didn't get his question finished as he saw what Gordon had. A submarine was floating just below them with their spotlights shining right up on them.

"Can you tell anything about it? These lights are making me as blind as a bat."

"No, you're as blind as a Malagasy Cave Fish."

"A what?" Scott was thrown off a little by the reply and looked over at his brother.

"A Malagasy Cave Fish. It's a blind fish and you are underwater."

"The submarine, Gordon. What kind is it?"

"It looks like a SeaWolf class, but it's too long to be one, unless—" Gordon squinted into the spotlights.

"Unless?"

"Unless it's the Jimmy Carter."

"Wasn't he a president?"

"Yeah, it was named after him. It was the only Seawolf class sub to be that long, they had added like a hundred feet of hull for a special compartment for sea research, but the sub was lost during the Global Conflict."

"Didn't the US try to retrieve it?"

"Of course, but they never found it, hence why I said it was lost." Gordon smirked at his brother.

"That looks like awfully good shape for a lost sub."

"Hey, you take care of something and it will last. Some of the most popular theories is that there was a group of pirates that took no side in the conflict but went around grabbing anything they could once it went down. I didn't really think much of that theory—I kinda went with the main thought that it had found its way down the Mariana Trench or something like that—but it looks like they were right."

"Have they tried to contact us yet?"

"Nope, radio's quiet."

"Why don't you try to contact them? Maybe they've seen Kayo."

"I'm not sure that's a good idea. They've taken off all of its markings, and subs nowadays are required to send out a warning beacon announcing that they are there to keep one from crashing into another—which is probably how they found us—and this baby is silent."

"All we're asking is if they've seen a wayward diver. I don't care what they are actually here for." Scott raised his voice a little and thumped his hand on the console, then moaned a little as the thumping in his head intensified.

"You okay?"

"Yeah, just a headache from earlier." Scott was sure there was a mountain of stress that had caused the initial headache, the concussion he got in the crash hadn't helped it, and now more stress as they searched for Kayo. However, he couldn't let it take over and pushed it aside until everyone was back home and safe. "You know, I think I will take those painkillers you mentioned. Where are they?"

"Port side, next to the dry tube hatch." Gordon moved out of the way so Scott could exit the cockpit. "If you want I can take you back up. The pressure down here is killer on headaches."

"I'll be fine, squirt." Scott smiled as he pulled himself out of the cockpit and then ducked back in. "Do you want some? I imagine your head's throbbing a bit with the hit you took."

"Nah, it's not that bad. Anyways, I take one of those things and I'm out like a light." Gordon laughed a little. "So are we going to pass by as if we never saw them?"

"We're International Rescue, not spies. Contact them and tell them the truth; we're responding to a destress call and we're looking for signs of the downed plane and think the pilot went diving when we happened upon them."

"FAB." Gordon slipped back into his seat as the hatch closed and flipped the radio on. He was hesitant, his squid sense was tingling and not in a good way. This sub reeked of trouble.

"This is Thunderbird 4 of International Rescue, please respond." Gordon waited, but the sub maintained its silence. "I repeat, this is Thunderbird 4 of International Rescue. We're looking for a downed pilot. Have you seen anyone?" Gordon was holding his breath, hoping that the sub was just going to pass by them, but after a moment the radio crackled to life.

"This is The Golden Hind. We have our torpedoes locked onto your craft. You will dock on hatch two or we will fire." The radio returned to silence.

"Did you hear that, oh fearless leader?" Gordon had opened the coms so Scott could hear from the back.

"Do as they say." Scott sighed as he threw the pills to the back of his throat. "Last thing we need is to be blown up.

Gordon wanted to make a snide remark, but even he knew when to keep his mouth shut. He reached for his controls and brought the small sub up to the larger one and lined up his secondary airlock with the one on the sub. He flipped his chair back finding Scott waiting on him. Hesitantly he opened the hatch. On the other side they were met by three men with guns pointing straight at them.

"You expect us to believe that stupid excuse?" A burly man with a shaved head and a full beard laughed as he pushed Scott into a long room lined with beds.

"It's not an excuse. We're telling the truth." Scott had explained why they had been diving in that area, but the men that had greeted them did not seem interested at all with what they had to say. "We're looking for a friend." Scott had kept talking as they were walked through the sub. The medicine he had taken on Four had not helped at all, in fact it was getting worse as his frustration of not being believed aggravated him. "Surely you've heard of us."

"Oh, we've heard of you. Do gooders who try to save people. But you weren't able to save my kid from terrorist attacks in the Middle East two years ago."

"Terrorist attacks?"

"Yeah, a small village off the Gulf coast. It was burning and you just hung out nearby, not even trying to make sure everyone was safe." The burly man spat into Scott's face.

Scott flinched and took a step back. He was staring at the man in shock.

"Scott, don't listen to him." Gordon knew just what incident the man was referring to. It hadn't been a terrorist attack, though that had been a thought at the time. The GDF had forbade International Rescue from going into the disaster zone because they feared there were even more dangers hidden in the area. Scott had not been happy and had somehow convinced Colonel Casey to at least let them evacuate the village.

"You shut up!" The man that had a hold of Gordon twisted his arm quick and hard before throwing him into the room with Scott. "You two will stay here until we decide otherwise."

"I say we go check out that little sub of theirs." The burly man smirked as he pulled the door closed. They could hear the click of the lock and the voices fade as they walked away.

"You better not hurt my bird!" Gordon punched the door and then pulled on it. He hoped the door was loose, or hadn't been shut properly, but unfortunately, it had been sealed tight.

Gordon knew that his bird was safe, he had made sure that the hatch locked as soon as they had left and it would take a genius hacker to unlock it. With a sigh Gordon turned around to look at his brother. Scott always knew what to do in situations like this. Not that they had ever been in a situation like this, but regardless he was sure Scott would have a plan. "What are we going to do now?"

Scott was still staring at the door, his jaw tight, his hands in fists. He also knew just which rescue the man had been speaking of. He had called the all clear himself. There had been no others in that village, he had been sure of it, but how could he have been so sure? If they had stayed any longer they would have been in danger, but what if they had left someone behind.

Now, because of his incompetence at that rescue he had gotten himself and Gordon an enemy and into a dire situation. They had no comms, and by the time Virgil had returned to Earth and started to miss them they would be far from the wreckage of Thunderbird 2. It was true they themselves, as well as their birds, had trackers but without Thunderbird 5, how precise were they if they had to rely on the world GPS satellites? Add to that, would Virgil be up to a rescue after being forced into space?

If John was hurt he wouldn't be able to come. If Virgil was still suffering from his sickness he'd be grounded as well—though it was possible he'd still attempt to come anyways.

That only left Alan.

It wasn't that Scott didn't think Alan could help them. Alan was the best pilot out there, and he would do anything for his family, but this wasn't something Alan should have to do on his own. True, he could call Lady Penelope for help, but even still to have to rescue one, deal with a space sick one, and then to come back and search for two more brothers—that was a lot to ask of their youngest.

And then there was Kayo. Was she alright? She as was supposed to have checked in with them daily, but had missed the last two day's check-ins. They had all been too busy with rescues to check up on her, and John had assured him that both her and Shadow's trackers were functioning and moving about. But where was she? Scott would have been lying to say he hadn't been worried about their adopted sibling. So when she had finally contacted them Scott had wanted to go find her, make sure she really was alright. John had just been a quick pick-up and go, surely Virgil could have handled that.

But what if he couldn't. What if not only John but Virgil is down? What if Alan was struggling to get his two older brothers back to Earth?

This was all Scott's fault. He knew it, but he couldn't show it. He had to be strong for his younger brothers. He had to be the leader.

Gordon was starting to freak out just a little. Scott was still standing just inside the door, his hands and jaw clenched his eyes staring a hole in the door yet unfocused. His mind was going, that was clear enough, but what was it going on about? How to get them out of there? Or about that rescue that was now very much in the past.

"Scott?" Gordon took a hesitant step forward and reached out to put a hand on his brother's arm. "Hey, don't let what they said bother you. It wasn't our fault. His kid may have died in the initial explosion. We got all the living out of that village."

Slowly Scott looked down at him, his eyes still unfocused. "No, I-I must have overlooked something." Scott shook his head, but that didn't seem to clear the thoughts in his head. "We need to find a way out. A ventilation shaft, another door—"

It was as Scott was talking that Gordon noticed the black circles under his eyes. When was the last time he had slept? Gordon thought hard. The past few days had been busy—one call after another. They had all taken turns to sleep though, hadn't they?

Alan had piloted Thunderbird 2 for the last rescue while Virgil rested and Scott had been with them in Thunderbird 1. But that couldn't have been right because Scott and Virgil had just gotten back from a rescue before that. Then when he and Alan had gone to bed just a few hours before sunrise, Virgil had just woken up and Scott had gone off on another short mission.

They had only slept for about five hours when Scott had woken him, wanting everyone in the lounge because of a situation with Thunderbird 5. When would Scott had slept during all that?

Gordon suddenly remembered a scene that had occurred that morning on his way to the kitchen for a quick bite to eat. He had passed Virgil and Scott in the hall, their voices low and their heads together. It wasn't unusual to find the eldest together discussing something, especially before a larger group meeting. Gordon had assumed it had something to do with Thunderbird 5, but now-now their words were clear in his head.

"Scott, this is it." Virgil had his hand on Scott's shoulder and turned him away from Gordon.

"Not yet." Scott brushed the hand away and shook his head. "I want to make sure everyone is safe first."

"Promise me then. As soon as John is home." Virgil returned his hand to his brother's shoulder, sliding it across so that his arm was pulling his brother into a sideways hug and lead him down the hall toward the lounge.

"Alright, as soon as he's home."

Gordon hit himself in the head. Twenty-four plus hours without sleep, stress, and a concussion from the crash—it was no wonder he had a headache that Gordon was now sure was worse than Scott was letting on.

Now, here in this small narrow room there wasn't much they could do, so Scott was wandering around trying to keep himself busy, but Gordon could see that his body was trying to shut down, to make him rest.

Gordon walked up to where he was trying to open another door and grabbed his arm. He pulled him back to the bunk behind him and tried to push him down onto it.

"No!" Scott pulled his arm away. "We have to find a way out."

"There is no way out." Gordon grabbed his arm again, both arms and stood in front of him to keep him from going back to the door. "We have to wait till those guys come back."

"There must be a vent, another door, a secret entrance, an airlock—" Scott's head was swinging from side to side looking for options, trying to do what he needed to do—find a way to save his brother.

Gordon had to put his hands onto his chest and push him against the bunks to keep him from roaming about more.

Scott looked down at Gordon when his back hit the top bunk, his eyes still unfocused, and seemed to have just noticed that Gordon was there. "You need to sleep Gordon. Lay down. I'll keep looking."

Gordon barked out a laugh that even he had to admit sounded a lot like Virgil. He wasn't the only one that seemed to have heard it and Scott jerked a little at it. "Scott." Gordon lowered his voice a little trying his best to sound like his brother and mimicked what he had heard earlier. "This is it. You need to rest."

"But we're trapped."

"And there's nothing to do but wait. Rest, I'll wake you up when the others get here."

"What about you?"

"I'm fine. Once you've rested, I'll take a nap."

"A-Alright. You'll wake me though, I can't sleep for long."

"I promise."

Slowly Scott lowered himself onto the lower bunk, Gordon took extra care that he didn't accidentally hit his head on the bunk above him.

"I have to be strong." He laid down on his back, his unfocused eyes still locked on Gordon. "I have to keep Gordon safe."

"And you will." Gordon found it hard to keep the act going—seeing Scott like this, so out of it. "You just need some rest. Close your eyes."

Slowly and hesitantly, Scott finally let his eyes close. His breathing eased and within a few minutes he was asleep.

He wasn't going to sleep too long, Gordon was sure, but at least he was sleeping. Gordon sat on the edge of his brother's bed and watched him breath—counting the breaths, making sure there wasn't anything else going on with him—he knew he wouldn't tell any of them if there were.

Gordon couldn't help but wonder just how many times the situation was reversed. How many times Scott sat by his bed and watched him sleep. There was one year that would trump all the others in that aspect. One year in which Gordon would wake and often find Scott asleep in the chair next to his bed night after night.

He had yelled at Scott for doing it, for suffocating him. He understood now, though, the fear that if you looked away that breathing may stop. So Gordon sat and waited. Watched Scott sleep and hoped that Virgil, Alan, and John would get back to Earth and come save them.