Day 26: Seeing Double | Working To Exhaustion | "You look awful."

Characters: Scott, Virgil, John, Gordon, Alan

Warnings: Passing out, Medical interventions

Virgil sighed.

Scott was asleep at the desk again. Virgil bit his lip. His brother looked…awful. The worst he'd ever seen, and that was saying something.

He frowned as he surveyed Scott's still form. His brother had flown back from a week of back-to-back meetings at TI headquarters in New York and immediately sat down at that damn desk and started paperwork all over again, this time for the GDF and the rescues he hadn't been on. It didn't matter that he hadn't been present, the paperwork the GDF 'requested' – demanded more like – had to be countersigned by the Commander.

They had tried to help lessen Scott's load, but as TI took off under Scott's leadership and the world needed rescuing even more now that the Mechanic and the Chaos Crew were on the scene Scott was being torn in all directions and he and John could only help with so much. As it was, John dealt mainly with the finances and communications and Virgil himself had taken on the R&D side and still it wasn't enough.

Scott had discarded his jacket on the couch and had set to work with a promise of only being up for a couple hours. Virgil knew he was lying, both to him and to himself, but after not seeing him for a week he didn't want Scott's first evening back to be marred by a fight.

Now, with Scott's head pillowed by his arm on the desk, Virgil could see how thin his brother had got where his shirt had been pulled tight. He frowned. He could have sworn Scott hadn't been that skinny before he'd left.

Brains might have engineered their suits for lots of unforeseen occurrences – which usually occurred – but he hadn't yet installed a Medscanner of any description, so whether Scott had been sensible while away or whether he'd fallen into old habits of not eating when stressed out and alone was anyone's guess.

Right now Virgil would guess that Scott's secret vice was back.

Self-flagellation by starvation was not a new thing for Scott, but it was one that both Virgil and John kept an eye on. The news that their Father might be alive, that the Mechanic may be their only hope of successfully building a new T-Drive engine and the damning thoughts of how he had given up searching for their father were just additional sins to bear on top of the usual perceived ones their eldest brother carried.

Virgil sighed.

He hoped that they would succeed in their endeavours to rescue their father if only to give Scott some peace. But he also knew that that was a false hope. Their Dad had been trying for years to assuage Scott's guilt and had never managed before his abrupt departure had added new fuel to that fire. Still, if they did manage the impossible – they were International Rescue after all – maybe having Dad back to tell Scott how well he'd done would be just the thing to turn the tide of their brother's emotions.

Grabbing the throw off the couch, Virgil walked as quietly as possible up to Scott, hoping not to wake him. He should, of course, wake him up and force him to bed, but there was a real danger that if he woke Scott up then Scott would stay up.

Unfortunately, in his need to be stealthy Virgil had not seen one of Gordon's socks on the stair, and as he put his foot on it he began to slide.

In any other circumstances it would have been hilarious. Virgil was aware he was windmilling his arms in an attempt not to fall over, either forwards or backwards, but gravity eventually made itself known and he fell heavily forwards onto all fours, cracking both knees quite loudly.

Scott didn't even stir.

Virgil's worry ramped up into panic and he scrambled up to check. Scott was out cold but was breathing…but his two fingers on his brother's throat told him that his heartrate was slow.

Rushing down to the kitchen to grab the Medscanner, Virgil yelled for John. By the time he'd made it back upstairs John had been filled in and was already prepping to come down.

The Medscanner showed low heartrate and blood pressure, dehydration, electrolyte imbalance and was busy flagging up other yellow warnings when a hand on Virgil's shoulder made him instantly relax.

'What's the damage this time?'

Gordon's voice was soft but full of steel.

'Our idiot big brother has been working himself to exhaustion again, and he's back to his old tricks.'

'I'll go fetch one of the hover-stretchers.'

'Please. John will be down soon and hopefully we can get Scott installed in the infirmary between us before then and without waking Alan.'

'Agreed.'

As Gordon sped off to grab the stretcher Virgil contemplated the best way to move Scott. He could simply throw him over his shoulder but while Scott was passed out right now it didn't mean he'd be unconscious for long, and an awake Scotty would be a fighting Scotty as soon as he realised where he was going.

While Virgil might be tempted to tranq his ass, he really didn't want to in Scott's current state.

Manoeuvring Scott between the two of them was easier, and by the time John arrived Scott was installed in one of the beds, one are confined by a *PPN drip, the other by a soft restraint in case Scott woke up alone. It wouldn't keep him in the bed, but it would tell a groggy Scotty that something serious had happened.

He got busy drawing bloods while John and Gordon sat either side of their big brother and waited for him to wake up. They didn't flag up anything Virgil hadn't already suspected and he sighed with relief. They could handle this one at home, which was good. His conscious brothers both looked at him and he nodded reassuringly to them.

'Good. Can't tie Scotty to the bed on the mainland, they tend to frown at such things.'

'Gordon!'

'What? John – you know I'm right and you know that Virgil has already thought it.'

They both looked at him again and Virgil flushed.

'Aha! See – I told you! Anyway, it's only for BB's benefit.'

'BB? I can't see Scott liking that as a nickname.'

'Well, as soon as he wakes up he can tell me that himself.'

But Scott didn't wake up for almost 24 hours, telling them all just how bad he really was.

The two were alone, for which Virgil was thankful for. Alan had been furious that they hadn't woken him up and it had taken both Gordon and John to soothe the teen. He waited for full consciousness to hit Scott before he said anything, and the slight rattle of Scott's wrist against the restraint and the sigh told him now was the time.

'You look awful, despite sleeping a full 24 hours.'

'Virgil? Wh' happ'ed?'

'You were an idiot. Again.'

Scott just looked confused and Virgil sighed, knowing he'd gone in boots first too early. He helped his brother sit up and gave him a glass of water, insisting he drink it all before saying another word.

As expected the first thing Scott did was to reach over and uncuff himself before demanding an answer. He already sounded better after only one drink. His demand was soft, telling Virgil that, while he might not know why he was here, Scott could pretty much guess. He found that annoying.

'What happened?'

'What happened was I went to get a glass of water in the early hours to find you unconscious at the desk.'

'Unconscious?'

'Yes! Not asleep – unconscious. You've been out of it for almost 24 hours, Scott!'

Scott shifted uncomfortably. He'd known he was pushing his luck, but there was just so much to do…

'I knew I should have stopped when I started seeing double.'

'WHAT?!'

'Virg, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to stay up, I just got caught up in the paperwork. I wanted to get that one report finished…'

'Instead, you worked yourself to exhaustion again.'

'I'm sorry.'

Virgil pinched his nose and sighed again. Castigating Scott while he was doing that to himself was not the answer, god knew they'd been down this route before. And he knew Scott was sorry. He always was. Well, time to try something a little more drastic.

'You're always sorry, Scott. But this time it's not enough.'

'Wha-what do you mean?'

'I'm tired. Tired of finding you unconscious at the desk, tired of running around after you picking up the pieces.'

'Virg…'

'I'm done.'

There was a sudden heavy silence. Virgil hadn't realised that as he'd spoken he'd gotten louder, and all his brothers had rushed to see what was going on. He couldn't see them as they were standing behind them, but he could feel their eyes on him. But he only had attention for Scott.

'You're done? Done doing what?'

'Done. With this. With International Rescue. With you.'

'You don't mean that. You can't mean that, not now. Not now we have a chance to bring Dad home!'

'You don't get it, Scott. We won't be bringing Dad home if you kill yourself before we even find out where the Mechanic is!'

'But it's Dad…'

'I don't care about Dad! I care about YOU!'

Once he'd said it he couldn't unsay it. Alan had gasped and Virgil could hear Gordon shifting to him to help him, but John stepped up beside him and placed a hand lightly on his shoulder.

That hand was as heavy as an anchor to Virgil's soul. He remembered he needed to breathe.

'Virgil's right, Scott. We all want Dad back, we're all working crazy hard to achieve that. But if getting Dad back meant losing you in the process, well, I'm not agreeing to that.'

'Their right, Scott. No point sacrificing one life for another. Even you should see that.'

Gordon and Alan stepped up on Virgil's other side, Alan firmly entrenched in a half-Squid hug. But as Gordon spoke Alan pulled away and flung himself onto Scott.

'I – I miss Dad, and the prospect of having him back is way more amazing than anything I can say. But Scott, they're right. I'd rather have you than nobody, and if you die then that's all we'll have. Virgil's right. I'm done trying to save Dad if that means losing you.'

They waited for Scott to say something. The man was clearly in shock, and they all thought that maybe he didn't realise he was crying. but then he pulled Alan in tightly with one arm and opened the other for them.

They all piled on the bed and into Scott's embrace.

'Ok. Ok. We're ok. I promise I'll be better at this. We'll get through this.'

'Virgil and I will be taking on more of the GDF stuff so you only have to skim it and sign.'

'And I'm gonna talk to the board.'

'Gordon?'

'We have heads of departments and people in place so that the company should be able to run itself mostly. They are obviously not pulling their weight.'

'Gordon's right, Scott. John will help him with that while I will help Brains more with the T-Drive.'

'What can I do?'

'Virgil has a special job for you, Alan.'

'Yes I do. Al, I want you to make sure Scotty here rests. I don't care if you have to sit on him, he needs at least three days of no work and just rest and food and drink. You think you can do that?'

'Sweet! I can teach him how to play the new Zombie Killer IX and he can help me on the latest Cavern Quest update!'

And Alan was off to get everything ready.

Scott stifled a groan as Gordon sniggered and John outrightly laughed at them. The two disappeared to get things started, leaving just him and Virgil.

Virgil sat up and bit his lip. That conversation was not the one he'd intended to have, and he felt like he'd said far more than he'd intended. Scott's hand gave his forearm a squeeze.

'I'm so sorry.'

It was simple and honest and full of emotion, and it broke Virgil. As he all but collapsed Scott pulled him in and held him tightly.

*PPN: Peripheral parenteral nutrition (PPN) is delivered through a smaller, peripheral vein, perhaps in your neck or in one of your limbs. PPN is used to provide partial parenteral nutrition temporarily, using the quicker and easier access of the peripheral vein.