Fischler and Reeves were as ready as they were going to be, strapped into two drift units that Fischler had cobbled together. Langstrom picked up the power unit.
‘You ready for this?’ he shouted over his shoulder.
‘Oh, yes, yes,’ mumbled Reeves.
They turned to the baby Kaiju.
‘Initiating neural handshake in five…four…three…two…one.’
He pressed the button.
The Drift showed images of them as children…playing with a model aircraft, working at school, getting laughed at, hiding in a corner, college, getting a tattoo…
An eye.
The eye was a slit, rather like a reptile’s eye, and then the images were of machines, the sounds of cutting and guttural growls, flesh being cut into and pulled apart…
The Breach.
The two men came out of the Drift with a gargled scream. Both were bleeding from the nose, sweating and pale. They coughed and groaned.
‘Are you ok?’ Fischler asked, unstrapping his helmet.
‘Yes, of course,’ replied Reeves, removing his helmet and breathing heavily. ‘I’m completely fine.’
And immediately he ran across the clearing to a toilet basin and threw up.
Fischler handed him a cloth, and Reeves got himself clean. He turned to his fellow scientist. There was urgency in his voice.
‘The Drift . You saw it?’
‘Yeah.’
‘Did you?’
‘Listen, we have to warn them. The Jaegers…The Breach…The Plan…’ Fischler was struggling to get his breathing under control.
‘It’s not going to work,’ Reeves finished for him.
~
The helos carried both Jaegers into the sea just off the breach. The bomb strapped to Striker Eureka’s back was large but didn’t affect the balance of the machine.
‘Disengaging transport,’ John’s voice came over the comm. And Scott was once more grateful that his brother could be so calm under pressure.
They fell into the water, and Taylor confirmed they were ready, followed by Scott.
‘Loccent – Thunderbird Five – all ports sealed. Ready to submerge.’
‘All ports sealed. Ready to submerge.’
‘FAB,’ John replied.
In Thunderbird Five John had been joined by his brothers, with Virgil taking up the usual extra station.
‘Both neural handshakes at 100%,’ Virgil stated.
‘Neural handshake confirmed, sir,’ John added.
Marshal Casey strode over to the microphone.
‘Two actives still in circle formation in the Guam quadrant,’ she told the four pilots. ‘Codenames Scunner, Raiju. Both Category Four.
‘Roger that,’ replied Taylor.
The Jaegers were striding across the ocean floor, and Taylor decided now was as good a time as any to go over the plan.
‘Half a mile to the ocean cliff, we jump! It’s 3,000 metres to the Breach.’
‘Half a mile? I can’t even see a damn inch ahead!’ replied Rigby, flicking switches to try and increase the light outside. ‘How are we supposed to deliver the bomb?’
‘Visibility’s zero. Switching to instruments now.’ Scott flicked some switches in One, hoping that they could use them to see where the lights could not go.
They strode hard across the ocean floor, kicking up dirt and trying their hardest to keep an eye out for the two Kaiju awaiting them.
Neither saw one swimming beside them, until John cried out ‘Sir!’ and Casey directed them.
‘One, you have movement on your right. Three o’clock! Three o’clock!’
Thunderbird One’s head turned but they continued moving forward as EOS spoke.
‘100-feet radius clear.’
‘Right flank’s clear. I got nothing,’ Scott confirmed.
In the Loccent John, Virgil and Casey were tracking both Jaegers and the one Kaiju that was showing up.
‘Left now! And moving fast! Fastest Kaiju on record!’ John shouted.
And then they heard it. The Kaiju let out a cry, but still they couldn’t see it on either screen or visually.
‘I don’t see anything. It’s moving too fast!’ Scott shouted.
‘Eyes on the prize, One. 600 meters from the drop,’ Rigby sounded.
They moved ever forward.
Fischler and Reeves had managed to get one of the transport Helos to come and pick them up, and the door had barely begun to open before they were trying to climb out.
As the two Jaegers powered across the ocean floor the two scientists were running for Thunderbird Five.
As Striker Eureka jumped down the cliff they were sprinting up the stairs.
As Thunderbird One landed beside her sister they made the Loccent level.
‘Four hundred metres and closing,’ confirmed Taylor.
‘Bogeys are stopping,’ replied John, showing all four on the holoscreen.
‘Striker! Bogeys are stopping. One o’clock,’ Casey stated.
Taylor stopped walking.
‘Taylor, what are you doing?’ yelled Rigby.
‘They’re stopping. Why the hell are they stopping?’
Both men were yelling.
‘I don’t give a damn, sir! We’re 300 metres from the jump!’
‘Something’s not right!’
‘Striker, the bogeys aren’t following,’ Casey confirmed. ‘Take the leap NOW!’
And the two men burst into the Loccent.
‘Don’t do it! Don’t do it! It’s not gonna work!’ shouted Fischler, waving his arms around and pushing Casey out of the way of the mike. He spoke nineteen-to-the-dozen as Reeves came to stand beside him.
‘Blowing up the Breach, it’s not gonna work!’
‘What do you mean? What’s not going to work?’ Taylor demanded.
‘Sir, just because the Breach is open does not mean you’re able to get a bomb through.’
‘The Breach genetically reads the Kaiju,’ continued Reeves. ‘Like a barcode at the supermarket and then lets them pass.’
‘Okay, so you’re gonna have to fool the Breach into thinking that you have the same code!’
‘How are we supposed to do that?’ interjected Scott as they continued getting into position.
‘By making it think you are a Kaiju,’ replied Fischler.
‘You have to lock onto the Kaiju, ride it into the Breach,’ added Reeves. ‘The Throat will then read the Kaiju’s genetic code, and let you pass.’
‘If you don’t do it the bomb will deflect off the Breach, like it always has andthe mission will fail.’
There was a beat of silence, both in Five and in both Jaegers, as the import of what was being said sank in.
Casey snatched the microphone back.
‘All right. Now that you’ve heard all that, Striker, take the leap!’
Before anything else could happen, John made an announcement that all could hear, his usually calm voice betraying more than a hint of fear.
‘Sir, I have a third signature emerging from the Breach!
On the mainland Reeves was talking to John while Fischler was setting up the machinery to drift with the baby Kaiju.
‘Two signatures? Two?! There are…there are two Kaiju signatures in the breach, not three like I predicted?!’
‘Tycho! I haven’t exactly had a very good day, okay?! I got about five minutes before brain death occurs here!’
‘Should be three Kaiju!’ the man muttered even as he came over to help Fischler.
‘I don’t want to talk about your theories!’
‘This is all wrong! There should be three Kaiju coming through, not two!’
‘Oh, there should be three and there’s two? I’m sorry, it hurts to be wrong, doesn’t is, Tycho?’
‘I am not wrong, but there is something here that we don’t understand.’
‘Ok. Tycho, hopefully we can argue about any mistakes you made in your predictive model in the future! But in the meantime, the neural interface is way off the charts! If you want to help, help with that!’
Fischler grabbed the helmet and set about getting it ready. Time was running out, and with each passing second his panic showed in his jerky movements and the speed at which he was talking. Reeves put on his glasses and turned to the computer, fingers flying over it almost as fast as John Tracy’s did.
‘Langstrom, I am not wrong. There is only one way to make sure, and that is to do this together.’
He turned to Fischler, who still had his back to him, although he had paused at Reeve’s words.
‘I’ll go with you.’
Fischler turned to face him.
‘That’s what the Jaeger pilots do, share the neural load.’
‘You’re serious? You – you would do that for me? Or…you would do that with me?’
‘Well, with worldwide destruction a certain alternative…do I really have a choice?’
But he was smiling as he said it, and Fischler’s heart rose. They used to be friends, maybe they still could be.
‘Then say it with me, my man: “We’re gonna own this bad boy!”’
‘By Jove, we are going to own this thing for sure!’
They shook hands, and Fischler laughed.
~
Taylor, Berrenger and Rigby disappeared discretely while the Marshal was still talking. There wasn’t much time to talk about anything, everything, that they all wanted to say, and none of them were much for talking about feelings anyway.
Lee stood before his two boys. They had always done him proud, even if he wished Wayne wasn’t such an ass sometimes. He put it down to needing the strength to drift, first with himself and then with Brandon.
‘Hey now,’ he said softly. ‘When you drift with someone, you feel like there’s nothing to talk about. I just don’t want to regret all the things I never said out loud to either of you.’
‘Don’t,’ replied Rigby.
‘You don’t need to,’ added Berrenger, looking first to Wayne and then to his uncle. ‘We know them all.’
‘Always have,’ finished Wayne.
‘I am so proud to have had this time with you, boys. Thank you for indulging this old man.’
They laughed and broke apart, unshed tears in all their eyes, and then the moment was broken and Taylor and Rigby moved, Taylor striding over to the Marshal and Rigby to the lift.
Everyone watched as Lee Taylor and Val Casey briefly embraced, and unheard words were spoken before Taylor moved over to his Godsons and hugged each and every one of them.
Brandon watched as he joined Rigby in the elevator that would take them up to Striker Eureka. Red eyed and lip trembling, he was a true Taylor, no tear falling until he was alone.
A similar conversation was being had between Scott and his brothers. He was encircled by them, hands on shoulders and heads touching.
No words were spoken. Nothing needed to be said, they knew how much they meant to each other, how much Scott meant to them all. If Alan clung just little bit tighter, if Gordon and Virgil squeezed just a little harder, if John lingered in his touch just that little bit longer…well, they knew.
They all knew there was a good chance that this was a one-way trip.
Jane and Casey watched them, standing shoulder to shoulder, until the Marshal couldn’t help herself and slid an arm around the young woman she’d cared for like a daughter.
‘I could not be any prouder than I am now,’ was all she said, but those ten words carried the world in them.
Then it was time for Scott and Jane to get fixed into Thunderbird One. They entered the lift as Casey, Berrenger and Scott’s brothers all scattered to their various tasks in preparation for what was coming next.
As Scott and Jane were plugged into One, he turned to the woman he’d only known for little over a week but who had become his closest friend.
‘You know, Jane, all those years I spent living in the past, I never really thought about the future. Until now.’
Jane watched him.
‘I never did have very good timing.’ He snorted softly.
Nothing more was said as the Jaeger’s head was dropped into place and they powered up.
@whumpay2022 Day Nine: Trope: Because You Can Cope / Abandonment Issues
For mballyntyne and their fic Forbidden Hero. I strongly encourage that you read this beautifully angsty fic. This fic is based on a line in chapter three that I have the author’s permission to write, and with thanks to @gumnut-logicand@tsarinatorment who helped (many moons ago) thrash out some of the details.
Trope: A character is abandoned, neglected, or thrown to the wolves by someone they love and trust because said caretaker decided to look after someone else
~
He was tired. It was 7am and he was just so god damn tired. It was another day of school and Scott had been up since some ungodly hour getting everything ready for him and his brothers, and the least Virgil could do was get up on time for school.
But he hated early mornings. With a passion. Mom always called him her teddy bear because he hated mornings. The thought made his breath catch. Mom was gone, almost four months now. Grandpa was also gone, both taken by an avalanche that had very nearly taken Scott and Alan too.
That avalanche had also taken their father and grandmother away from them, and it looked like it may actually claim Scott after all if someone didn’t do something. Virgil’s anxiety was through the roof, and school only made it worse.
Scott had been trying to look out for him, but he had his hands full of toddler Alan, hyperactive Gordon and totally-not-coping John. Virgil was trying so hard not to need his eldest brother like the other three did, Scott was spread thin enough as it was, but just occasionally it would be nice to have some attention for himself. Scott was his very best friend, but they’d never been so far apart.
Sometimes he felt a little abandoned. But then he would shake himself. Mom would have wanted him to help Scotty in any way he could, even if it meant pretending he was alright so Scott could concentrate on those who were not.
School was a nightmare as usual. He didn’t have any overlap with Scott or John’s classes being two years beneath them, but they always had lunch together. Judging from the black eye Scott was getting and the downcast expression on John’s face they were having just as good a day as he was.
It was the ride home that got him though.
The bus was full as usual. Scott and John were sitting further back, quietly chatting, and he was sitting two rows in front, discussing an upcoming concert with another member of the band.
Their stop was coming up when a commotion broke out at the back of the bus. Virgil twisted in his seat, but he couldn’t see anything, not even his brothers, so he turned back to finish the discussion.
Finally the disturbance quietened down and Virgil breathed a sigh of relief. He hated such things at the moment, and he looked around to make sure Scott and John were alright, only to find that they were no longer on the bus.
He’d missed his stop and his brothers were gone. Without him.
Virgil panicked.
Scott was discussing with John what chores they needed to do when they arrived home. Dividing the work between the two of them made it easier to get everything done, and they were talking about what John would cook for dinner when a hard shove from behind pushed Scott to the floor.
He immediately came up fists swinging, but he didn’t know for sure who it had been – there were several likely candidates on the bus – so he took some deep breaths and made to sit down when he was shoved again.
This time he knew who it was, and a swift knuckle sandwich soon had the back of the bus crowing. The driver yelled for them to stop, and to Scott’s credit he did, shaking out his fist as he grabbed John and his bag in preparation of getting off.
He looked around for Virgil and saw the thick head of black hair at the front of the bus. He sighed. His brother wasn’t looking around for them, and Scott was worried that this fight may have pushed the sensitive artist too far. He watched the head bob down the stairs and set off, and Scott’s attention was on John.
They were almost halfway home before Scott realised his mistake when the group around Virgil turned off the street and Virgil – not Virgil – entered a different building.
Scott panicked.
Scott never panicked. But Scott was definitely panicking. John grabbed his brother by the shoulders and shook him.
‘Scott, I’ll get Gordon and Alan and take them home, you go find Virgil.’
He could have hugged John, but didn’t, instead bestowing a squeeze on his shoulder and set off for the last bus stop. If he cut across town through the back alleys then he would arrive only a few minutes after the bus.
Thanking his track coach for the lessons on breathing, Scott was only just out of breath when he arrived at the depot. He could see his bus and he made his way over, hopeful that Virgil had had the good sense to stay on the bus.
Norman, their designated driver, was just clearing up the bus when Scott appeared at the doors. He was puffed, and Norman frowned. He liked the Tracy boys, even if they had been part of the fighting on the bus earlier. They were always polite and helpful.
‘Scott Tracy? Is everything alright?’
‘Mr Denver, have you seen Virgil? He didn’t get off the bus with us.’
‘He didn’t stay on the bus, Scott.’
‘Damn. I don’t suppose you know where he got off?’
‘I don’t, but the cameras will know. Come into the office with me.’
Virgil, panic clouding his thinking, got off the bus at the very next stop. It was a part of town that he didn’t know, and he started running down the streets, forgetting everything his parents and Scott had ever taught him about what to do if he was lost.
He ran and he ran and he ran.
Eventually, he came to a park with a climbing frame set, and Virgil climbed into the frame, pulling his legs up tight and clasping them, rocking a little as the tears fell.
‘There!’
Scott watched his brother dashing off the bus, panic clear in his movements.
‘That’s three stops late, he’ll be down by Patton Avenue.’
Thanking the man over his shoulder, Scott set off once more, praying that Virgil had waited where he was, but doubtful. He was pretty sure the twelve-year-old had never been in this part of town, and the fear lent speed to his running.
His brother was not at the bus stop.
Scott stopped to catch his breath and pulled out his phone, trying to call Virgil, but there was no answer. So he set off to try and find him, calling John to make sure everything was alright at home. John assured them they were fine and promised he would keep calling Virgil while Scott searched.
And searched.
And searched.
He found evidence of Virgil’s flight in a snagged coat and a fallen book, and eventually he could hear the tones of Beethoven, and he knew he’d finally found his brother.
Scott crawled up into the climbing frame to find Virgil curled up in a ball, so far gone in his panic that he wasn’t hearing his phone, wasn’t even aware of Scott sitting right beside him. Not until Scott nudged him, and Virgil jumped enough to hit his head.
Wild, wet eyes stared at his for a moment, and then Virgil launched himself at Scott, crying anew.
‘You left me behind! I looked up and you’d both gone! And – and I didn’t know where you were or where I was.’
‘I’m sorry, Virgil. I’m so sorry. I thought you were ahead of us. I’ve got you now. I’ve got you.’
They continued in this way for a few minutes until Virgil calmed down. Scott wiped his eyes and held him tight before releasing one arm and calling John to let him know Virgil had been found. ‘Just bring him home safely’ was all John asked.
Scott kissed the top of his brother’s head as he held him.
‘I promise you, Virgil, I will never ever leave you behind again. Never.’
Scott and Jane walked through a very different Shatterdome than the one they left a couple of hours earlier.
They were surrounded by cheering people and everyone was patting them on the back. It was a phenomenal feeling, even if, for Scott, it was also tinged with the sadness of loss.
The crowd virtually carried them through to the Loccent, where they were met by Rigby, Berrenger and Taylor. Rigby had his arm in a sling, but it was Taylor who approached them both.
‘Scott!’
The crowd quietened down as Taylor shook their hands.
‘My kid would never admit it,’ he said, looking back to Rigby in the crowd, ‘but he’s grateful. We both are.’
Scott smiled and nodded to Rigby. The man offered a small smile back. The door behind them opened, and everyone turned at Marshal Casey’s voice, splitting down the middle to let the woman through.
‘Mr Tracy, Miss Carter!’
She strode up to them.
‘In all my years of fighting…I’ve never seen anything like that. Well done.’
She was smiling, both the proud commander and the even prouder Godmother and mother.
‘Proud of you. Proud of us all.’
Casey looked at those gathered, noticed who was missing, and her heart ached.
‘But, as harsh as it sounds, there is no time to celebrate. We lost two crews. There is no time to grieve.’
She looked to Scott, to Jane. To Taylor. And she frowned, motioning to Taylor. The man touched a finger to his nose and turned sharply and disappeared, but not before Scott noticed.
By the look on Jane and Casey’s faces, they knew what was wrong with his Godfather. It didn’t surprise him, at one time he knew that his mom and dad had thought the two would marry, and although it had never happened, his Godparents had stayed firm friends.
As everyone scattered to get the jaegers ready for the next attack Scott had two visits to make.
He found Taylor in the bathroom, washing his face.
‘How sick are you, and why didn’t you tell me, Uncle Lee?’
Scott’s voice was quiet, tired, and Taylor sighed.
‘What’s to tell? You know them Mark One’s, your Dad and I scraped them bad boys together in 14 months. Last thing we were thinking about was radiation shielding. I ran nearly a dozen missions. Stayed under the medical radar for a while, but the last time I jockeyed was Tokyo. With your Godmother, Val. I finished the fight, but for three hours I burned. They warned me if I ever stepped foot into a Jaeger again, the toll would be too much.’
Scott sighed and sat down as his Godfather continued to talk.
‘You and I are the only two pilots that ever ran solo combat. That’s why Casey brought us here. In case we are needed in that capacity.’
‘Are – are you telling me that Aunt Val…and Dad?’
‘Yes. Your Dad had already started feeling the effects. That’s why Brains engineered your suits – not just to protect you from getting radiation sickness, but to keep your father going for longer. And Val, well, Tokyo was her last time too.’
Scott buried his head in his hands. He felt like he was losing his father all over again. Lee crouched in front of him, hands on his shoulders.
‘Let it all out, Son. But don’t cry for us. We all had a pretty good run when you consider the life expectancy of a Jaeger pilot.’
He pulled Scott close and held him until the man was ready to be released. Lee looked into his eldest Godson’s eyes, so similar to his very best friend, and smiled.
‘Go find your brother, Gordon needs you.’
Scott pulled him into another hug before leaving. He was right, official or not, there had been something between his fourth-born brother and Penny. And it wasn’t just Gordon he needed to find. Alan had been connected to Gordon when Penny fell, he would be suffering just the same.
Calling first on Alan, he was relieved when the youngest was asleep, cocooned within Virgil’s embrace much like he had been with Scott what felt like a lifetime ago but was less than 24 hours. Virgil offered him a small smile and a thumb’s up, and Scott left knowing Alan was in good hands.
He found Gordon, not in his own room, but in his room. The man was curled up on his bed, much like Alan had been only yesterday, but Gordon was awake and staring into space.
‘Don’t. Please.’
Scott closed his mouth. He knew how hollow condolences were, and he completely understood that his brother didn’t want to hear them. So Scott did what he did best.
He lay on the bed and gently folded Gordon into a hug and held on as his brother tensed before going boneless and crying into his big brother’s chest until he fell asleep. Even then, Scott stayed holding him. There was no sleep for him, though. That heavy weight of knowing someone you love is going to die and there is nothing you can do was like an anchor on his chest making his breathing difficult.
A couple of hours later they were joined first by Alan, who wedged himself into the small space between Gordon and the wall, and then John, who quietly pulled the chair over and sat beside the bed, his hand on Scott’s shoulder. Virgil had begun working flat out to get the Jaegers up and running.
The decision had been made to concentrate on Striker Eureka and Thunderbird One. Something had been fried in Thunderbird Three that wasn’t going to be an easy fix, so Casey had ordered all engineers and workers to concentrate on the other two.
Marsal Val Casey had a bad feeling.
The early hours of that morning proved that feeling to be right.
The holocomms bleeped, and she answered it. John appeared, looking tired and drawn – not that she could blame him after yesterday – and it was immediately clear there was trouble.
‘What is it?’
‘Sir, it’s happening. I just got two signatures with unprecedented dilation, 40-metre spikes.’
‘What Category?’
‘Checking the ratios, Category Four.’
‘Where are they headed?’
‘That’s the thing, they’re not heading anywhere. They’re hovering just above the breach. It’s…it’s like they’re protecting it or something.’
Casey took a breath and hit the open comms.
‘Thunderbird One, Striker Eureka on deck.’
‘Sir, Berrenger cannot ride, his arm…’
‘You heard me, John.’
And she turned away to get ready.
~
John was busy overseeing, well, everything. He was so good at multitasking it had become second nature to him. He looked up as Rigby strode towards him, yelling as usual. That man had no manners.
‘Oi, John. John!’
‘You’re not suited up.’
‘Yeah, I’m aware of that, genius. I need to know what’s going on.’
‘Marshal said suit up, so suit up.’
John walked away, he had much to still organise, but Rigby followed, still talking.
‘John, I can’t pilot Striker on my own, now, can I? Berrenger’s hurt, so who’s gonna be my co-pilot?’
They stopped by Scott and Jane, already suited up, and they all turned to look as the main doors opened.
In strode Casey, Berernger and Taylor. Taylor was suited up. They strode up to the four waiting. Taylor rubbed his stomach.
‘I don’t remember it being so tight.’
He walked past, and Scott caught up to him.
‘Getting back into that Jaeger will kill you.’
‘Not getting into one would kill us all.’
He placed a hand on Scott’s shoulder.
‘You are a brave man, Scott. I am so lucky to have seen you grow into a man equal, if not better than, your father. But if I am going to do this, I need my Godson there to protect me.’
Both men ignored the stray tear that fell down Scott’s cheek.
Casey watched them talk, sadness mingled with pride on her face. She stood on a piece of fallen Jaeger to address the crowd.
‘Everyone! Listen up.’
The crowd gathered, pilots to the front. Scott found himself with John and Virgil on his right, Gordon, Alan and Jane on his left. Rigby and Berrenger were with Taylor. There was silence as Marshal Val Casey addressed the room.
‘Today…today…At the edge of our hope, at the end of our time, we have chosen not only to believe in ourselves, but in each other.
‘Today there’s not a man nor woman in here that shall stand alone. Not today.
‘Today we face the monsters that are at our door and bring the fight to them!
‘Today we are cancelling the apocalypse!’
As she spoke Casey got louder and louder and the crowd cheered with every statement. It was an arousing speech, and Scott appreciated his Godmother’s efforts to galvanise them. It worked well.
He’d been dreaming of this moment for so long that now it was here he found he was nervous.
Gordon observed her from afar.
She was without doubt the most gorgeous girl he had ever clapped eyes on. And since his family knew a lot of people – his dad was well on his way to making his first billion, and money like that came with networking – that was really saying something. Although Gordon would have been the first to admit that girls hadn’t really been on his radar until recently.
She was sleek, all smooth lines and shapely body. He’d fallen head over heels for her the first time he’d seen her and now…now it was his turn. He’d spent the last two years getting in shape for her.
The only girl he knew for sure who wouldn’t be impressed with his gold medal.
Striding confidently towards her, his smile getting wider and wider as he approached, Gordon stopped in front of her, letting out a low whistle now that he was right up close to her.
She looked and smelt good.
Gordon saluted her bodyguard and was in return saluted.
‘Lieutenant Gordon Tracy requesting permission to come aboard, Sir.’
‘Permission granted, Lieutenant Tracy. Welcome aboard the Stingray.’
The Angsty One:
Jeff had finally come home. Sure, he’d been rescued four months previously, but he’d not come home, not permanently. They had whisked him off to the mainland and a rehab unit almost as soon as they had touched down.
But now he was home for good. Well, he still needed weekly appointments, but at long last he was living at home with his boys, his daughter and his Ma.
It was so good to be home.
He spent the next few days just enjoying being around his family, when they weren’t out on rescues, and what he saw made him frown. His boys were being run ragged.
This one was the worst.
Both Alan and Virgil had been injured. Not life-threatening, but enough to warrant weeks of being grounded.
But it was the haunted look on his eldest’s face that worried him the most.
Jeff had devoured the reports. Read what his family had been put through in the eight years he was gone. The decisions his Scotty had had to make. They had made his heart ache.
Now the bravest man he’d ever known stood before him, a shadow of his usual self, but all Jeff could see was the child he’d held in his arms.
Scott came to a halt in front of his father. He was swaying as he stood there, and for the first time Jeff knew that Scott had no more to give at the moment.
‘Permission to stop now, Sir.’
‘Permission granted, Commander.’
Scott’s eyes rolled up and he folded on the spot.
The Whumpy One:
‘Please don’t go.’
The voice was pleading. He was sure he knew it, but his brain was fuzzy and he couldn’t place it.
‘Don’t leave us. Don’t leave me.’
He couldn’t feel anything. Nothing at all. All he had was the voice anchoring him to wherever he was.
Tired.
That was the only thing he felt.
Tired.
He wanted this to end. To finish.
‘I don’t want you to go, but…but I understand if you do.’
He couldn’t remember what his brothers had been like when they had lost Mom. Only two at the time, all Alan could really recall was a period of uncertainty and quiet sadness.
He did remember what everyone was like when their Dad died. Frenetic activity, lots of hugs and tears.
Gordon slipping into his military persona and struggling to drop that when he was home.
Virgil alternating between crushing bear hugs and bouts of Medic-ness.
John, never home but always calling to check he was alright.
And Scott.
His eldest brother had kept them all together. Organising search grids, making sure they all ate and rested. Just being there.
Scott was the one who dried his tears and hugged him until he slept. And not just Alan, either. He’d found Gordon and Virgil ensconced in the eldest’s arms more than once, found Scott’s arms wrapped around Kayo as she cried.
It had been Scott who went up to Five and brought John home.
It was Scott who pulled Alan out of boarding school and kept him home.
It was Scott who decided to stop concentrating on searching, leaving Five to run algorithms to find clues to their father’s whereabouts.
It was Scott who decided to restart International Rescue.
Alan looked up to Scott in a way he had never looked at his father, and he’d noticed his brothers all did the same.
Was poking around in my fic folder and found this. Not sure if I have posted it before? Maybe? Dunno. But anyway, random whump, complete with whump warning. Small mention of blood.
-o-o-o-
Somebody was testing them.
Or perhaps someone was torturing them.
Scott sighed enough to fog up his helmet and regretted it immediately, blinded by his own breath.
His suit’s systems soon caught up and cleared the plexiglass so that what little he could see came fast back into focus. Sprawled on his butt in the cold snow of their tiny bolthole, that did not amount to much.
“Scott?”
He jumped.
That was not a good sign. He needed to be alert.
Virgil needed him.
His brother lay propped up against a partly fallen wooden wall, the pallor of his complexion only increased by the poor lighting. Like Scott he still had his helmet on, but unlike Scott, he had a nasty broken leg.
“Sorry, what?”
Dark eyes probed Scott like a medical scanner. “You sure you’re okay?” Virgil held up a hand. “Give me the medscanner.”
“Virg-“
“Now.”
Scott sighed and handed it over. He was a fool to attempt to keep it from Virgil. Might as well put the medic’s mind to rest. After all, there was nothing wrong with Scott at all, bar the headache.
“You have a concussion.” His brother frowned at the scanner readout, lips a worried line. “You need to rest.”
What?
The flicker of yellow light passed over him again, his brother’s obvious worry increasing by the moment.
“Scott, come here.”
The snow under Scott shifted as he moved. “I need to see to your leg.”
Virgil’s eyes darted at him. “You need to rest.”
“You’re bleeding, Virgil.” He reached for the rest of his compact medkit.
I unfortunately didn’t get to see the concert because of money but watching the 1966 Thunderbirds Are Go movie in it’s original 35mm was amazing and unexpectedly meeting @inertplanetary@fallenfurther@misssquidtracyand@willow-salix before I went in was wonderful. ❤️
Extra Note: I may have spoken/seen more of you without realising inside the cinema I was the girl with the green International Rescue T-Shirt on
It was an amazing weekend and I’m so glad I went, even if I did have some intense blues on Saturday.
My highlights include:
Meeting everyone is seen online. (It was so much less scary than I expected) it really was like meeting old friends and I felt so welcome
Getting hugs from people
Seeing the podcast live
Managing to get a selfie with Richard James (It took three goes to pluck up the courage to ask but I’m so proud of myself for doing it.)
Hearing all those soundtracks live. They were played so well and sounded fantastic.
The orchestra’s cosplay!!
Being able to just sit and chat with people afterwards in the pub.
Being Scott Tracy for the day! I loved seeing people in Birmingham recognise it and smile. It also made it easier for people to recognise me from meeting up as there were so many faces to remember.
Winding down the weekend with a lovely trip to Sealife
The whole weekend was made so much better because I’d been on the zoom with them (even if life has meant not so frequently recently). They all added so much to the enjoyment of my weekend.
@fallenfurther oh my god, I do believe you were the aforementioned thunderbirds dress that I missed catching a glimpse of because of the offsprings tiny bladder. This is awesome, hats off to you, that’s epic, I would have squee led, and then where would my cool image be?
@womble1 Sorry I missed you, and I doubt your cool image would have been lost. Hopefully we’ll be able to meet next time.
Thank you Now I’ve got the cosplay I plan to wear it again at the next meetup/convention so I’ll be easy to spot, and because it’s so fun to be Scott.
I unfortunately didn’t get to see the concert because of money but watching the 1966 Thunderbirds Are Go movie in it’s original 35mm was amazing and unexpectedly meeting @inertplanetary@fallenfurther@misssquidtracyand@willow-salix before I went in was wonderful. ❤️
Extra Note: I may have spoken/seen more of you without realising inside the cinema I was the girl with the green International Rescue T-Shirt on
It was an amazing weekend and I’m so glad I went, even if I did have some intense blues on Saturday.
My highlights include:
Meeting everyone is seen online. (It was so much less scary than I expected) it really was like meeting old friends and I felt so welcome
Getting hugs from people
Seeing the podcast live
Managing to get a selfie with Richard James (It took three goes to pluck up the courage to ask but I’m so proud of myself for doing it.)
Hearing all those soundtracks live. They were played so well and sounded fantastic.
The orchestra’s cosplay!!
Being able to just sit and chat with people afterwards in the pub.
Being Scott Tracy for the day! I loved seeing people in Birmingham recognise it and smile. It also made it easier for people to recognise me from meeting up as there were so many faces to remember.
Winding down the weekend with a lovely trip to Sealife
The whole weekend was made so much better because I’d been on the zoom with them (even if life has meant not so frequently recently). They all added so much to the enjoyment of my weekend.
And he flew her fast. Scott could estimate his ‘bird’s speed just by the sound of the atmosphere roaring over her skin.
Gordon had her maxxed out.
Scott could only agree with that decision.
Considering how fast they were going, Scott should have his sleeping brother safe in one of One’s patient retrieval units.
But he couldn’t let go.
Dark hair, limp and rank, brushed against the blue of his uniform, the remains of red plaid flannel torn and tangled in what was left of the bloodstained shirt beneath it. Skin, grimy and gaunt, showed through where the dirty material didn’t cover.
Scott held him curled in his lap.
Virgil had always been shorter than him, little in the little brother sense, but as he had grown into adulthood, he had filled out. He didn’t workout to build muscle. Virgil wasn’t vain in that sense. He worked out to enable his body to do what he needed it to do. His physique was one of a hard-working man, not some polished, half-starved model.
It had been.
Now his little brother was small. Scott swallowed and he clutched him closer under the safety straps as Gordon banked at speed.
Small and frail.
As if sensing Scott’s thoughts, Virgil whimpered in his sleep.
And it only fuelled the fire burning in his big brother’s belly.
Someone was going to pay for this.
They were going home. They were going to help his little brother. And then…
And then all the might of the Tracy name was going to find who did this…
