What?! An update?! MADNESS!

Sorry it's been so long...I think with the combo of homework (yes, summer homework, yay for me...), driver's ed, among other things, I've just kinda lost my spark for writing for FF. I'll keep trying though, I always do. :)

Oh and the other obstacle was that I might be starting writing a couple of books, it's always been a dream of mine (and I've had some good inspiration from an old neighborhood of mine- ex-convicts, panty thieves, cheating priests, you name it. I kid you not.), and even though I promised I'd finish these first, I've just been itching to get them started. So I'm sorry I've been neglecting my duty to you guys...lol

ANYWHO, on to the story!!

'Ugh, why does my head hurt so goddamn bad?' Scott thought sourly as his consciousness brought him into an unpleasantly white world, which, as his vision became clearer, he realized was the infirmary. Groaning, he propped himself up on one elbow as he gripped his forehead in a futile attempt to get the world to stop spinning. As it slowed to a reasonable pace, Scott blinked the remaining sleep from his eyes and fully sat up. The inky blackness of night could be seen through the windows, a lucid contrast to the glaring lights above him.

'Why am I here? I don't remember going on a rescue…' He thought groggily. As he began to focus his still-jumbled thoughts, he decided to rest back on the bed and folded his arms behind his head on the pillow. He closed his eyes to think harder, and soon the memories came with an appalling vengeance. He could see his father and brothers slumped on the floor unconscious…the Hood with a gun and a murderous grin…and Alan, eyes wide with shock, shirt dripping with blood…

Shooting straight upwards, Scott had to keep himself from screaming. His eyes grew wide and he swiftly threw the bed covers from his body as he quickly jumped from the bed, though he found his legs were weak and shaky and he promptly collapsed to the ground. The world began to spin around him as his head throbbed, and his vision became less focused. He let out a hoarse and cracked cry for Alan, though he wasn't sure he'd made any sound at all. He could hear the stuttered and alarmed voice of Brains nearby, but he couldn't make out the words. Hands grasped his arm, but he feebly fought against them. He could faintly feel soft tears tracing his cheeks, though he didn't have the energy to wipe them away. As he slipped into darkness once more, the only thing running through Scott's mind was one simple thought.

'Alan…dead…No, he can't be dead! No…Alan!'

As consciousness once again came to the oldest Tracy brother, he found that daylight had come, and that his father was sleeping soundly next to him. Jeff's face was resting heavily on his propped arm that leaned on the arm of his chair, and his other hand was grasped tightly around Scott's. Scott was confused for only a short time, as the memories flowed back to his mind much quicker than before. Eyes widening, Scott quickly shook his father's hand.

"Dad? Dad!" Scott pressed urgently. Jeff quickly sat upwards, looking around slightly until his eyes came to rest on Scott.

"What? What's wrong Scott?" Jeff said worriedly, though still blearily. He blinked a couple of times to get rid of the exhaustion from his eyes, and they quickly changed to show a look of concern.

"Dad," Scott began, his voice dry. He coughed a couple of times, and Jeff swiftly provided a glass of water that had been sitting on the side table. Scott took a rushed couple of swigs of the water, and then quickly continued. "Dad, what happened…What happened to Alan?" His voice threatened to crack again, though this time not from dryness. Though he tried to keep his tough, strong, older brother visage, tears still threatened to spill past his eyelids. "Is…is he okay?"

Jeff sighed, obviously empathetic for his eldest son, as he took the glass from Scott's hands and placed it back on the table. "Scott," he started, though Scott immediately cut him off.

"Oh God," Scott breathed, taking his father's signs of stress as his answer. His eyes widened and became brighter with tears. "No…Please say he's not…"

Obvious frightened by his son's assumption, he quickly assured, "No, no Scott, he's fine! Alan's fine. I was just upset that you didn't know that yet. I suppose you didn't hear Brains trying to tell you last night…"

Scott visibly relaxed, though he still held some apprehension in his eyes. "He's okay? I mean, really okay?" With Jeff's nod and slight smile, Scott then finally and truly let his tension go. Closing his eyes, he fought to keep the looming tears in his eyes at bay. The pure rush of relief nearly overwhelmed him. Once he calmed his rapid heartbeat, he opened his eyes once more. "What time is it, is he up yet? Can I see him?"

Smiling, Jeff nodded and stood. "Sure, it's past ten, so hopefully he's up by now."

Scott smiled more genuinely than he had, as far as his memory stretched, in a long time. He watched his father leave and anxiously waited for his return. In the time that he was gone, however, Brains decided to do a quick once over on him, only agitating his restlessness. However, he had one question that remained unanswered in his mind.

"Brains, why don't I remember the events of the last year? I mean, I was there for them, right? So shouldn't I remember everything?" he asked annoyed as Brains shone a flashlight in each of his eyes.

"W-W-Well that's j-just a simple s-s-side effect of the m-machine," Brains explained calmly as he listened to an exasperated Scott's heartbeat. "Y-You should r-r-recover those mem-memories within a d-day or t-t-two."

Nodding as Brains finished his exam, Scott suddenly snapped his head towards the infirmary door as it slid open. His eyes immediately locked onto the youngest Tracy, who was deep in conversation with Virgil and Gordon who followed quickly behind, John and Jeff not far behind. Alan stopped talking, however, when he felt Scott's strong gaze on him. Turning, he smiled gently.

"Hey Scott," Alan said awkwardly, though happy. He wasn't sure how to deal with the temporary memory loss in his brother. However, when Scott uneasily stood, a hauntingly pained look in his eyes, Alan quickly went over to his oldest brother and instinctively wrapped his arms around him. Scott, though surprised at first, returned the gesture with even more fervor, holding on for what seemed to be dear life. After what seemed to be a lifetime, Scott finally pulled back, though he kept his hands on Alan's arms, and looked Alan in the face.

"Hey Sprout," he replied quietly, with a chuckle. Sighing, he ruffled the blonde's already messy hair. "God…you don't know how good it is to see you."

Alan pulled out of his brother's grasp and tried to fix his hair the best he could. With his trademark smirk, Alan said coolly, "Oh I know, I am devilishly good looking, aren't I?"

Laughing, he ruffled Alan's hair once more as he sat back onto his bed, receiving a scowl from the youngest Tracy. The others, who'd been watching near the doorway, found it safe to join them and gathered around Scott's bed, Alan sitting next to Scott, John and Gordon on the bed across from them, and Jeff and Virgil stood.

"So," Scott sighed, "care to fill me in on what happened after I passed out?"

The others seemed to suddenly find either a wall or the floor quite interesting, and none seemed to want to start. Finally, Gordon began.

"Well," he started unsurely, "I was the first to make it back to the living room after you passed out…I was just down the hall when I heard the shot. I would've gotten there sooner, but someone decided to try to lock me into the safe room." He stopped to shoot Alan a sour glance while Alan looked away sheepishly. Scott fixed him with a reprimanding look momentarily, then looked back to Gordon when he continued. "When I got there…God, it was horrible…" He took a shuddering breath, and John placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "All of you were passed out, and the Hood was standing right above you and Alan, laughing…I didn't know what else to do, he didn't see me, so I got my gun out and...well, I shot him."

Scott's eyes widened, looking at his brother in disbelief. After a moment of silence, he asked carefully, "Did…Did he..?"

John quickly shook his head. "No, he didn't die. But he nearly did. Some little shred of humanity stopped us from letting him. I still don't know why we did let him live. But instead we got him safely back to the mainland, where he was put under the highest security prison we could find."

Scott nodded, and Gordon continued, his eyes distant as he thought back on the horrid day. "I just…neither you nor Alan was moving, and I saw all of this blood…I just, God, Scott, I thought you were both dead…" Gordon looked downwards and clenched his eyes shut, fighting back tears as his breathing became more ragged. John rubbed his back soothingly as he continued the dreadful story.

"That's when me, Virg, and Dad started to wake up…We really thought the same thing. I was- I mean, we were all so scared. At first we were too shocked to really move, but we got you both to the infirmary, and we got Alan just in time. You woke up a couple hours later, yelling for Alan…"

"Not much unlike last night," Jeff said morosely. "But that time, we didn't have much reassurance to give you…"

Scott swallowed, unable to imagine if Gordon or the others had been any later in getting to Alan. Not wanting to hear much more, he sighed, "Okay, I think I get the gist…I'm just glad you're okay." Smiling at Alan, he put his arm around his youngest brother's shoulder, as one final reassurance that Alan was really there.

"Scott, you'd better get some rest," Jeff suggested, noticing the weariness that remained in his eldest son's eyes. "Why don't you lay down for a while? Then maybe if you're up to it you can have dinner with us tonight."

Though he hesitated for a moment, Scott nodded. "Yeah, I guess I am pretty tired." Yawning, he smiled as his brothers and father filed out the door, and he succumbed to some welcome rest.

However, he was more fatigued than he first believed, and he slept past dinner and far into the night. Unfortunately, his sleep turned from restful to an outright hellish nightmare. One he'd experienced many times before, after Alan's death. However, instead of the glint of the deadly blade that he'd seen before, the blade became a shining silver pistol, held in the hands of none other than the Hood. His blood ran cold when he heard the icy words of the Hood: Die, Tracy.

Scott tried to move, struggling against invisible steel chains that bound his entire body. He cried out, watching helplessly once more as the fatal shot rang out, piercing Alan's chest as blood poured forth, and Alan's eyes went from shocked and pained to a dim lifelessness. Scott screamed, his throat going raw, but he still couldn't reach Alan…

"ALAN!" he screamed out once more, only to realize that this time he had screamed it into his empty room. Looking around, Scott tried to catch his breath as he wondered how he'd arrived there. Scott quickly concluded that while he'd been asleep his brothers had probably brought him here as they knew he would prefer the comfort of his own room to the starkness of the infirmary. However, this time it only served to shake his nerves. The room was chilly and dimly lit, only adding to the coldness of both his body and soul. The only light came from small streaks of the early morning sun sneaking in between the drawn curtains. Previously, he'd woken up like this too many times, only to be met with a cold, unforgiving silence.

However, this time was different. Suddenly, his door swung open, and a frightened Alan stared back at him.

"Scott, what's wrong? Are you okay?" Alan quickly asked, rubbing sleep from his eyes. However, he became more alert when he saw the haunted look in Scott's eyes, and the cold sweat glistening on his skin. Going over to his oldest brother's bed, Alan sat down and looked in Scott's eyes. Scott could only stare at him in slight shock for a moment, until he wrapped his arms around his brother and let two twin tears fall from his eyes.

"Scott?" Alan asked unsurely. "Scott, look at me," he said more determinedly after a moment. Scott sat back, but looked away, embarrassed and almost ashamed that he was still having the nightmares. However, Alan stayed firm. "Scott. Look at me." When his brother did as he was told, almost feeling like a child again, Alan continued. "Scott, I know this is hard for you. You told me when I recovered a few months ago about what really happened, that I really died…" Scott looked away again, hurtful memories flowing through him as Alan said those words. "No Scott, look at me. You need to hear this." Scott hesitantly looked back, and Alan took his hand in his and held it in between their faces. "See this? I'm still here aren't I? Scott I'm here, I'm alive, I'm fine. I know it's something you can't just get over in one night. But I promise you, I am not going anywhere. There's no more need to be sad. What's done is done, what's in the past is gone. We can get through this."

Scott looked at his brother in awe, before calming and smiling warmly, enveloping his brother in another warm embrace. "Thanks, Alan," he said quietly. He gave one last squeeze and he let go. "I know together, we'll get through this. It'll just take a little more time." Which, he thought in relief, they now would have.

Alan smiled and nodded, and stood to leave. He smiled when he reached the doorway when he heard Scott joke, "…Little brat gives better older brother talks than I do…" Alan chuckled at his brother's comment. He should be pretty good at it; he had heard plenty of the big-brother talks over the years.

Emerging into the bright, sun-filled living room and breathing deeply of the soft tropical breezes, Alan's face was awash in smiles. Hearing the rest of his family, their voices raised in laughter as they joined around the kitchen table for breakfast, he began to lightly jog off to join them. He didn't know what would happen tomorrow, but for today he was simply happy to be alive. Catching up with the others at the table, Alan let the love they had for him wash over him like a gentle embrace. The one thing he would always be sure of was that the love the Tracy Family had for each other would always be set in stone.

Awww, don't you love cheese? I know I made Scott seem pretty child-like at the end, but I really think after what he'd been through he should have been. I'm sure hoping you liked this ending (courtesy of the fabulous criminally charmed)! Thanks SOOOO much to criminally charmed for being an AMAZING beta too. She helped me with all of my extremely stupid errors. And thanks to all of my readers...I know putting up with my far-apart updates is tough, but thanks to those who stick with it. One finished, two more to go! ;)

Megz