I need to stop using my phone to write these… but it's so much more convenient =P

Hope yall enjoy!

Kisses

Virgil chuckled inwardly at his little brother's dismay. Apparently, Scott found the situation amusing as well, giving Gordon's shoulder a good pat as the aquanaut finally righted himself. It's was rare, but not unexpected to receive physical gratitude at the end of a rescue mission. The rush and ebbing of adrenaline in the victims could produce any number of responses. A kiss full on the lips was Gordon's reward today.

He'd been the one on the ground, so to speak, securing the occupants of a small river cruise that had caught fire. It didn't help that the majority of the people were significantly inebriated. The woman, no more than thirty years old, had been particularly attached on the flight to meet the local authorities.

Now, the brothers watched her retreat hastily towards the awaiting ambulances. A sputtering from Gordon returned their attention to the blond.

"Ach-" he spat unceremoniously onto the ground, "I don't know what she was drinking, man is it nasty."

Virgil followed him into the module of thunderbird 2. "Catch you back at home, Scott."

The older brother saluted with a dimpled smile, "FAB."

Virgil found Gordon by the infirmary with a bottle of water, rinsing and spitting in the small hand washing sink. He took a towel, wiping off the excess.

"That bad?" The pilot moved past him towards the cockpit of his ship.

"Worse." He followed, water bottle in tow.

The flight back to Tracy Island was uneventful; half an hour spent wondering what would be for dinner, who would do the clean up, and what they would do afterward. Alan greeted them in the lounge, barely looking up from his tablet as he waved.

"How'd it go with the party boat?" He twisted the tablet as he played his game.

"Pretty straight forward." Scott answered. "Casanova even scored some extra points."

"Who?" This had the younger brother's attention. His view shifted past Virgil, who had jerked a thumb to Gordon. Alan frowned, looking over the aquanaut, now in jeans and his tropical shirt. His witty quip died at the back of his throat. "Wow, Gordon, you look..."

After landing, Gordon had departed to change while Virgil went through the post-mission checks. Now that he could get a good look at him, he saw the beads of sweat speckling his brow. His skin was pale and he looked almost ready to fall over. Moving over, Virgil placed a strong hand on Gordon's shoulder, the other hand catching his chest as his brother wobbled at the contact.

The medic side kicked in, "Gordon? When did this start?"

Letting his brother assist him to a couch, he rubbed his mouth, "About fifteen minutes ago. Dealing with some pretty serious nausea." He swallowed, "And it feels like my face is on fire."

Virgil frowned. This didn't sound like anything bacterial or viral that he was familiar with. "Did you eat anything unusual recently?"

Gordon grimaced, shaking his head. "I've been with you guys all day."

Scott was standing with them now, "Let's get you to the infirmary, have Brains run some tests."

Virgil's concern continued to rise as he helped his brother stand. He was now leaning against him for support. Whatever this was, it was accelerating at an alarming rate.

The trip to meet Brains was halted as Gordon doubled over, releasing the contents of his stomach. Scott took up supporting his other side as he and Virgil practically carried their brother the rest of the way.

"Brains!" Alan had rushed ahead to alert the scientist of the new development.

"What is the m-matter?" His eyes widened at the sight of the two brothers, their second youngest hanging between them. "Oh, m-my! Hurry, place him on the examination t-table!"

They did as instructed, Virgil grabbing monitor cables, connecting them to Gordon, who could only blink up into worried brown eyes. The monitors flared to life with beeps of alarm.

"Heart rate of 45?" Virgil glared at the monitor. He looked back to Brains, who had just finished collecting a blood sample. All he could do now was wait and listen to the too-slow beeps. Alan had taken Brains' spot on the other side of Gordon while the scientist was running tests. Scott was standing guard at the end of the bed, likely as terrified as the rest of them as they dealt with an unknown attacking their brother. The symptoms were bothering him the most. The word 'poison' was blaring at the front of his mind. It would be up to Brains to figure out just what kind.

It wasn't much longer when the results appeared on the screen beside the exam table.

"Ah, f-found it!" There was a hint of relief in his voice, "Aconitine! A poison from a plant best known as wolfsbane or m-monkshood. The symptoms match! Bradycardia, sweating, fatigue, n-nausea."

"Is there an antidote?" Alan's head whipped around, his hand still holding reassuringly to Gordon's.

"Not so much an antidote as a t-treatment." Brain's frowned. "Without knowing the exact moment of contact with the toxin, I can't say how far it h-has progressed. We treat the irregular heart rate, monitor blood pressure. We will start with atropine."

Virgil was already on the move, collecting what he would need for the intravenous administration of medication that could potentially save their brother's life. He gave Grandma a reassuring look as she entered the infirmary, having been alerted to the situation by Scott.

"What I don't understand is h-how Gordon came in contact with monkshood, much less i-ingested it."

His big brother's inner rage was kindled now, evident by the hard set line of his jaw. "Do what you need to Brains, I'm going to go make some calls."

Gordon on the other hand looked to be about twelve years old, his tired eyes pleading for his big brother to fix this. Virgil took the hand that lay at his brother's side and gave it a quick squeeze before getting to work on the IV.

"You'll be ok, bro." Alan worked to pull Gordon's attention away for the clinical work.

"Just... really hate needles..."

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

Twelve hours later and it was just Gordon and Virgil. The medication had done it's job, was still doing it's job until the toxin was out of his system. John had come down after a quick update from Grandma. After a while they had been forced to disperse and get some rest. Virgil sat watch while Gordon slept peacefully, monitoring his vitals with a well trained eye. Every so often the idea that someone might have done this on purpose crossed his mind. He chalked it up to an overactive imagination with excess free time.

That was, until Scott came in wearing a mixed expression of anger and sadness.

"What did you find out?" He watched as his older brother took his earlier spot at the end of the bed.

For a moment he didn't say anything. He just watched the rise and fall of his little brother's chest. Finally, he came to sit next to Virgil.

"One of the people we rescued today died." His voice was low as he continued, "She went into cardiac arrest at the hospital. They said it was an unexpected event."

"Who?" He found himself a little more rattled than he thought he'd be.

Scott nodded towards Gordon, "The one who kissed him."

Part if that made sense. If she had died from the same affliction that had fallen on Gordon, they had part of their answer. What didn't make sense was why.

Scott had the answer to that as well. "I had Lady Penelope do some investigating..." He paused, "Her name was Kelsey Meyers."

It only took Virgil a moment to remember. The rescue gone bad. They lost someone in a building fire. Gwen Meyers. The family had been devastated.

"They went to her apartment and found-" he scrubbed his face with tired hands that didn't want to be holding this information. "Virgil, the whole apartment... It was... she hated us so much. They found photos of us that she or someone had taken. And lists of how she was going to kill us. I don' think she planned on dying today."

Virgil's mouth hung open in horror and disbelief. He began to wonder if anything like this could happen again. It would have if she had still been alive. He stopped his train of thought. This was one person in a very large, and mostly good world. They couldn't dwell on a fear that their victim might be out to get them.

They sat in silence for a while, each processing the information and disliking every avenue they went down. A soft jab of an elbow to his arm roused him from his thoughts.

"I'll take watch," Scott tried to flash him a reassuring smile, but it didn't quite reach his eyes. "Go get some rest. I'll let you know if anything changes."

Virgil almost started to protest, his heart just as connected to the monitors as his little brother, but he was quickly approaching exhaustion. "Just a couple hours, then I'll be back."

Scott nodded, his gaze turning up to watch his charge who had yet to stir during their conversation.

One more glance back at the pair as he left and Virgil felt the deja vu. His mind went back to a different hospital bed, their father sitting in a chair much like Scott. He shook the memories away and left. He was too tired to entertain visions of the past. Today, they had defied death again.

The end.