I have been inspired by discussion on Tumblr of Tracy Brothers and hugs. This was the outcome. You can find my Tumblr blog at: blog/madilayn

Tanusha Kyrano had, when she was much younger and new to the Tracy family, envied their close affection. Especially their willingness and ability to give and receive hugs. They didn't really care that those outside the family thought that they were weird.

She supposed it was rather unusual, especially when she looked around and saw that most males didn't really give that sort of tactile affection to other males.

But then, the Tracy family had been through enough tragedy that they had worked out what was really important to them.

It really wasn't until they all moved to Tracy Island that Tanusha really got to observe them closely. When all five brothers were home, the Villa was a cacophony of noise and large male bodies rushing from one place to the other.

It was then that she observed several things. The first was that they seemed to have the absolutely amazing ability to give and receive hugs whilst doing other things. John seemed to be the master of this, often not even breaking stride as one of his younger brothers draped themselves around or over him, merely moving his arms to snuggle back whilst continuing his conversation, astronomical observances or (attempting) to continue working on whatever he was doing at the time. You could, however, see his eyes and face soften and his head tip to rest against the other head on his shoulder. Later on, when he spent most of his time in space, John mastered the art of the "eye hug". Not quite as good as a real hug, but they could, as she discovered, convey that same warmth and could spread it amongst more than one person at a time. It almost made up for him not being there.

Almost.

Virgil was the one who could be stopped in his tracks with a well timed hug. When a hug attacked Virgil, he would get a slightly soppy smile on his face, his brown eyes would warm and half close as his arms – in fact seemingly his whole body – would wrap around the recipient or giver of a hug. He always seemed vaguely sad when the hug ended (often with a muffled "leggo you great lump" or words to that effect) but that didn't last long as there was usually another hug just around the corner.

Scott, orderly and disciplined, seemed to prefer more sedate hugs. They seemed to be the "big brother" hugs that told you that you were safe, and nobody and nothing would ever hurt you while he was there. Whenever one of the others was feeling sad, it was Scott they went to for hugs. As for Scott, he seemed to gain energy and resilience from the same hugs. It was as if, she thought, something inside of him fed from the energy of the hugs, revitalising him for whatever next crisis he had to deal with. She'd seen the mess of scars on his body from the action that gained him a "For Valour" medal and could understand how the hugs would help him.

Gordon's hugs were more often than not rather wet affairs. Wet and slightly clammy from all the time he spent in the water. After the accident that almost killed him, his hugs, given and received, held an extra tenderness, and were a little tighter and longer than they had been. He could also give hugs with just a touch and a warm gaze, and seemed to need to be touching somebody most of the time.

Alan was the boisterous hugger. Unscarred, except for childhood mishaps, it seemed like he was made of rubber, the way he could launch himself at his brothers and wrap his lanky frame around them. He could hang off their arm, snuggle into a side or climb onto a back and just cling, expecting the receipient to adjust to accommodate him. And they always did.

Gordon and Alan also liked to do what they called the "tandem stealth hug", where both of them would launch a devastating hug attack on a chosen recipient. If it was Virgil, it would be guaranteed to have him almost purring (though Alan swore he did). If it was Scott, the penetrating blue eyes would soften and grow almost teary as he made sure that they settled into a comfy spot for a long time of hugging. When it was John, he tried to continue with what he was doing, but inevitably he had to give up in the face of determined huggers and just gave in with a short laugh.

As she had grown up and gone from Tanusha to Kayo, she did receive hugs, and gave them, but always with a feeling of being slightly outside.

After Mr Tracy disappeared, she noticed that the Tracy brothers needed even more hugs than ever, yet she couldn't quite break the habits of her lifetime, even though something in her craved those hugs.

It wasn't until after the Fireflash incident that Kayo realised what she had been truly missing out on. After she referred to them as her brothers, all of a sudden she became the recipient of hugs. Many hugs. Sometimes it was overwhelming the hugs she received.

She discovered first hand what she observed, and that Virgil did, indeed, purr (or was it growling?) and made a funny almost silent whimper when a hug ended. That Scott's hugs usually included a good measure of advice (whether wanted or not) and queries as to the state of your health, your current interests, any injuries and general needing to know you were OK. And she discovered that made his hugs even better. She had not really registered that he always ended a hug with a quick kiss to the top of the head – it worried her until she watched closely and realised it wasn't just her.

She wasn't quite sure if she was ready to be big brothered to death by him, but realised it was too late to change.

Kayo rather liked the boisterous hugs from Gordon and Alan. They were fun, playful and loving and left you in no doubt that you had been hugged and that more hugs were expected at some time in the near future.

Oh – and don't let the hugs distract you from any pranks that may be being played on you at the same time.

It was, however, John's hugs that she didn't really experience. Not that he was on Earth much. But she started to see the difference in his "eye hugs". Some people said John Tracy's eyes were a little cold looking, but they weren't. They would glow with warmth when he spoke to them, and he always made sure that before he signed off, he spent long seconds looking at each of them in turn, almost as if memorising their faces.

The strange thing was when he contacted her alone, there was something else in his gaze. His eyes were warm, but in a way that made her lips part and her breath come slightly faster. She felt her own eyes warming, but she craved more.

When she and Alan returned from rescuing the asteroid miner (and Gladys), they had been greeted with the sight of John on Earth, it was in a lull when John had managed to shake off Alan to his other brothers that he had turned to her.

His hug was different. His arms slipped around her waist and he pulled her close. Hers went around his neck and she felt just perfect standing with him like that. They fitted. He said something to her, but she only heard the low voiced "My Tanusha". And when he did finally step away from her, she couldn't take her eyes off his until she felt his gaze move to her lips, and her eyes dropped as she felt her face grow warm.

She felt even safer in his hug than she did when Virgil gave one of his huge bear hugs, or Scott gave one of his "big brother" hugs.

She took a back seat as Alan regaled them with the story. She would have liked to have sat next to John, but Scott was keeping close to him, and Kayo could guess that something about the reason John had come to Earth unexpected had frightened the default family head.

But when he did leave, his words of pride made her warm. But the look in her eyes made her even warmer.

And when, much later, after their latest crisis was solved, he contacted her when she was fresh from the shower, wearing an vintage wrap she had found in a second hand shop, her hair dripping, she saw that warmth again.

And for some reason, like she would have done only a few weeks before, she didn't excuse herself to get dressed. Instead she came as close to his image as she could and discovered a remarkable new fact about hugging.

It was possible to give and receive a hug from a hologram. If it was the right hologram.