Epilogue

White…it was so white it hurt his eyes.

But then a shadow blocked the light…two shadows……head shaped……and then they weren't shadows.

They had colour.

Scott tried to focus on the head to the right……blonde hair…tanned skin……

"J-…Johnny?" The head smiled a smile that Scott realised he had missed terribly. He looked at the other head and managed to focus on it's familiar face.

"Virg?" A smile lit up the second face.

"Welcome back to the land of the living." Virgil greeted in his best imitation of Scott's voice.

"Very funny…" The injured eldest smirked.

"How are you feeling?" John asked.

"Like my brain is trying to escape through my ears…" Scott groaned. Virgil laughed.

"Don't worry, that shouldn't take long." The middle Tracy teased. Scott turned to his blonde brother.

"Johnny…please." John immediately punched Virgil's arm, "Thanks." The three brothers laughed together, happy to be in each other's company again after the turmoil of recent months.

"So…what happened?" Scott endured the pain he had gotten used to and pulled himself up slightly, resting on the pillows that John adjusted for him.

"Well……the Hood had a knife, he found you and slashed at your stomach…he cut you pretty badly……you lost a lot of blood…"

"Was the Hood captured?" Scott inquired. Virgil nodded.

"As soon as they saw what had happened, Gordon and Alan jumped him," He explained, "We got you to hospital as fast as we could…the doctors took you straight to surgery…they managed to close up the wound…but you'd lost so much blood already, they weren't sure if you'd last the night……at one point during surgery, your heart stopped………I thought you were going to…" Virgil stopped, unable to say the words. John placed a reassuring hand on his brother's shoulder and continued for him.

"They revived you and then it was touch and go for a while…you were in a coma for four days," John explained to a surprised Scott, "I swapped with Brains so I could come down here with Dad-"

"Dad's here?" Scott interrupted.

"Yeah, of course…Alan, Gordon, Fermat and Tintin too." Scott groaned. Peace and quiet was going to be a rare pleasure from now on.

"Listen, Scott………Virgil told me about what happened…and about what you wanted to say……you've got nothing to be sorry for…it's was my fault, I wasn't alone because people left me, I was alone because I made sure I was……I guess it was just my way of grieving…I'm sorry, I should have told you, I never wanted you to feel guilty……" Scott couldn't meet John's eyes.

"Let's make a pact," Virgil suggested, "If we're ever feeling angry, hurt……alone…then we tell each other and we're completely honest with each other…the three of us can face our problems together…deal?"

John smiled and lifted his fist to a parallel with Scott's shoulder. Virgil put his fist next to John's and finally, Scott lifted arm, forming a triangle. The three of them smiled in silent agreement.

Scott's eyes looked away for a moment and he looked like he was about to tell them something but a series of bangs on the door cut him off. After a few seconds, Alan and Fermat burst into the room.

"Scott! You're awake!" Alan exclaimed.

"Wow! Really?" Scott replied sarcastically. Alan frowned at his older brother's teasing but he couldn't stay mad at him for long. After a moment he wrapped him in a warm hug, careful not to press on his stomach. Virgil and John looked at Scott curiously. Just before the door knocks he had looked sort of…guilty? Virgil looked at John and he nodded. They would have to ask him about it later.

Fermat nervously stepped forward. The young genius was unsure whether he belonged in this brotherly environment.

"H-…Hi…S-S-Scott." Scott smiled warmly at him.

"Hey Fermat, how's it going?" Fermat's face brightened.

"Yeah it's been g-g-g-excellent, I mean, not that it was better with you hur-hur-hur-injured-"

"It's okay Fermat, I understand, I'm glad things are good." Scott said with a laugh, although he winced when the pain hit him.

"Guess I'm gonna have to lay off the jokes for a while." Gordon smirked as he entered the room.

"Not a chance! Wouldn't be the same…and don't you dare quote me on that!" Scott replied with a grin. His grin was mirrored by Gordon who came to give his eldest brother a hug.

"You know you could have done us all a favour and agreed with him Scott." Everyone turned around to see Jeff entering the room, Tintin walking at his side. The young woman immediately moved to the side of the bed and gave Scott her own hug.

"Okay everyone, do you all mind if I speak to Scott alone for a while, please?" They all nodded and began to head out.

"Glad to see you awake big guy, we'll see you later."

"Thanks Gords." Scott smiled. Virgil and John were the last to leave.

"If you need anything-"

"You will be the first to know about it, thanks John." The blonde smiled before following Virgil out of the room.

Once everyone had left, Jeff sat on the chair beside the bed.

"How are you feeling?" He asked his eldest son.

"Not bad, but if it weren't for the drugs they've put me on I'd probably feel a lot worse." Scott replied with a grin. Jeff had no words so silence hung over them like a thick fog.

Finally, Scott couldn't take it anymore.

"I'm sorry!" He blurted out. Jeff looked stunned.

"Sorry? What on earth for?" He asked his guilty looking son.

"If I hadn't got caught then they wouldn't have been able to set the trap and I wouldn't have put my brothers in danger." Scott shut his eyes and turned away. The guilt he had been about to confess to John and Virgil, was now threatening to consume him. It took Jeff a few moments to understand Scott's point of view.

"Scott……trap or not, when that landslide happened it put people in danger, you had not choice but to go…and I know what happened when you and Virgil reached that basement…" Jeff paused for a moment to look at his son's bandaged stomach and leg. The doctors had decided, despite Scott's protests, that he would be in a wheelchair for at least a week and then in crutches for another two weeks after that.

"Virgil made it out of there alive and unhurt because you held back the guards, putting your own life in grave danger to protect him," Jeff continued and then added with a defeated smile, "You and your brothers are all the same, if one of you was in danger, nothing I could say or do would stop the rest of you going in to rescue them…although you ended up rescuing the rescuers……...you've got nothing to be sorry for Scott."

"They did rescue me," Scott said softly, deep in thought, "When the Hood got me with the knife, he wasn't going to stop…he would have killed me…but Alan and Gordon jumped him……and Virgil……Virgil really looked after me out there, always trying to reassure me even though I knew he was scared……yeah…they did rescue me." Scott smiled sleepily. He could feel his father holding his hand.

"You should try and get some sleep," Jeff told him. The Tracy patriarch thought for a moment and then asked-

"Do you mind if I stay?"

"Sure…why?" Scott asked as his eyelids began to slide shut.

"I just want to look after my son." Jeff answered quietly. Scott sighed quietly. John had obviously told their father and everything and, when he thought about it, Scott realised he didn't mind. He liked the idea of his Dad looking after him. He liked it a lot.

"Dad? ..." Jeff Tracy looked to see his son smiling softly with his eyes closed, "……thanks." Jeff smiled at his brave, strong and caring eldest son as he drifted off into a sea of quiet and peaceful slumber.

The End