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Happy birthday, Darkflame! Hope you have an amazing day and I believe you asked for something a while ago? Hope you enjoy it!

Scott looked around, his gaze instinctively seeking the next victim to reassure. There was no one there. Double-checking, the Field Commander of International Rescue breathed a sigh of relief and loosened the strap on his helmet. He desperately needed fresh air, but knew the area was not secure. He couldn't risk removing any of his protective gear just yet. After ensuring he was indeed alone, Scott looked up at the mountain towering above him and glared at it as he touched his communicator.

"We're done up here, Thunderbird Two," he said. Twisting, he instead looked down the mountain and could see the Excavator coming to a stop. Virgil had been up and down the mountain more times than Scott had counted today, evacuating a number of small villages from their precarious positions on the mountainside. When Alan had reported the landslide, the 'birds had launched before they were requested. There was only so much the emergency services could do and Scott was glad they hadn't wasted any time. They had been hard at work all day, numerous rockslides forcing them to take extreme measures to ensure everyone was safe.

But now it was over and they had done it. As Virgil's confirmation came floating back through the comms – promising to come and pick Scott up as quickly as he could – Scott finally allowed himself to smile. Now he knew the job was over, he felt his whole body aching and his throat hurting from shouting instructions for hours. It wouldn't have been so bad if he hadn't had to repeat himself, but panicked civilians didn't make his job any easier. Seeing a large boulder – one that had no doubt come down with the last wave – Scott crossed over to it and perched on the top before lifting his wrist.

"Thunderbird One to Base."

"Go ahead, Scotty."

"John?" The voice was not the one Scott had been expecting. "What are you doing? Where's Dad?"

"Pleading with Kyrano to give him another coffee."

"How many?"

"At least five. Are you done yet? I need you here for damage control."

Scott smiled at the light-heartedness to John's voice. His brother knew Scott wouldn't have called in unless there was a problem or the rescue was almost complete. John spent most of his time listening to rescues rather participating; he heard things that weren't said.

"Just waiting for Virgil to pick me up." Scott glanced at what remained of the small track that had once led from the village to the base of the mountain. He winced. The path now couldn't be distinguished from the rest of the shale covering the mountain. Making his own way down wasn't an option; if he slipped and broke his neck, Virgil would never let him hear the end of it.

"How bad is it?"

"Seen worse." Scott rolled his neck as he spoke. He was looking forward to getting home – a nice hot shower would soothe his aching muscles. John didn't say anything and Scott knew his brother didn't want to intrude on whatever Scott was thinking about. Scott stared at the rocks surrounding him. He was hardly a stranger to mountaineering. He had climbed the dormant volcano on the island a handful of times at least – after checking with Brains there was definitely no activity. He could vividly remember Gordon insisting it was actually a sleeping dragon when they had first moved to the island. He smiled at the memory.

Feeling the rock he was sitting on trembling slightly, Scott linked his fingers and stretched his arms above his head.

"Gotta go, John. Virg has just made record time getting back up here."

There was a second of silence but it told Scott so much. When John spoke, his voice was hesitant.

"I'm listening in on Virgil's communications. Scott, he's still dealing with the locals."

The rock was trembling more violently now and Scott turned to look back at the mountain. All seemed still. But then a few small rocks suddenly slipped on their own accord, rolling down the mountain and gathering speed as they did so. Scott watched them, frozen, before he snapped into motion.

"Tell Virgil to clear the area and lock down the Excavator," Scott ordered. His tone was not one of a brother, but of a commander who expected his orders to be followed. He stood up, vaguely aware of John passing on his instructions as Scott kept the communications open. More stones were moving now and Scott knew it would only get worse when the rocks from further up reached him. The fresh slide was just starting but it still didn't give Scott enough time to do anything useful.

"What about you?" There was worry lining John's voice and Scott forced himself to take a breath before he answered.

"I'll do what I always do, Johnny." There was false cheer in his voice and he knew his brother would hear the tension. "I'll improvise."

Scott didn't cut the line, knowing communication would be paramount if things got worse. But he didn't say anything as he carefully edged along from where he had been sitting. There had to be somewhere he could shelter. But looking at the feebly constructed buildings made him grit his teeth. There was a reason why they had needed to evacuate every village – there was no shelter, nowhere that was safe from an avalanche.

The ground under his feet was moving and Scott had never concentrated so hard on putting one foot in front of the other, checking for lose stones before shifting his weight. As he made to take another step, another rock – larger this time – skidded past him and Scott nearly overbalanced as he tried to shift his weight to avoid the impact. He managed it, but then was forced to do it again as more rocks came thundering down. He could hear the movement now and knew the danger was only just beginning. He had to find some sort of shelter, somewhere that would be safe.

In the end, he didn't have much choice. He had only passed a few of the feebly constructed houses when he realised that half the mountain seemed to be trying to come down. Wondering how there were still lose boulders to move considering the damage he had already seen that day, Scott dove into the closest house. He wedged himself against the wall, trying to make sure he was as stable as could be. There was nothing else for it other than to wait out the avalanche and hope Virgil made it up before the next one.

Scott had always enjoyed listening to the rain. But hearing rocks smacking against the side of the house did not have the same soothing effect. He crouched, hands resting on his legs with his fingers clenched into fists. His knuckles were white, his gaze locked on the wall. The bricks were already beginning to bow under the pressure of the onslaught and Scott wasn't sure how much more they could stand. No sooner had the thought crossed his mind when another hit caused a brick to shift.

Scott jumped up. He wasn't safe here. But he hadn't taken a single step towards rectifying his position when a thud made the whole building shake. Scott felt as if he was watching in slow-motion as the wall opposite him suddenly exploded inward. Scott automatically threw his arms up to protect his head as he was showered in falling debris. One brick made a direct hit with his shoulder and the impact made him drop to one knee.

"Scott? Scott, are you okay? What's happening?"

Scott didn't answer, looking up in horror. He had thought half the mountain was coming down on him. Considering the size of the rocks he could see through pouring into what had been the village, he knew he couldn't be far wrong. Gritting his teeth, he forced himself to stand, his hand feeling the back of his shoulder. His fingers came away spotted with blood and Scott was relieved it wasn't worse.

He moved quickly, but the ground beneath his feet was too treacherous. Three out of the four walls of the house had been destroyed. As his ankle turned over on a lose stone, Scott gritted his teeth. He needed to find somewhere more sheltered than this, but he had no idea where. Scrambling out of the house, he ducked behind the still-standing wall, checking the strap on his helmet again. Thinking of trying to move sideways and so out of the path of the rocks, Scott steeled himself to make a dash for it.

But he was sent pitching to the ground as a rock struck the wall from the other side with such force it once again over-balanced Scott. He had no chance of moving out of the way as the final wall gave way, the sliding ground refusing to support it. Scott yelled something incoherent as he felt himself move without his say-so but he never heard John's answer. Blinding pain shot from his leg and even as Scott made to clutch at it, a stone smacked into his helmet so hard that Scott saw stars before the pain overwhelmed him and he lost consciousness.

TBTB

"I don't care what he ordered, I'm going back up there." Virgil snapped into his watch as he slammed the Excavator into reverse and spun the hulk of a machine into a three point turn that even Alan wouldn't be able to carry off. He disconnected before John could tell him not to be stupid, but Virgil glared at the sliding mountainside. His brother was still up there with no shelter and Virgil was not just going to sit here. Their job was rescuing people, damnit. If he couldn't rescue his own brother, what was the point?

Shoving the controls in the right direction with far more force than necessary, Virgil started taking on the mountain to get back to Scott. His going was slow but he knew if he pushed the machine too hard and the engine overheated, then he would be further away from Scott than he was now.

"Virgil?"

"What?"

"I can't get an answer from him."

Virgil stared desperately out in front of him and willed the machine to move faster.

"Keep trying," he said tersely. He knew there was no point taking it out on John when his brother was no doubt feeling as helpless as he was. Virgil didn't know if it was just wishful thinking, but the ground seemed to be stabilising again as he moved up the mountain and the Excavator picked up more speed, crushing smaller stones into dust as it moved.

Virgil almost drove past the village. It was only a small part of a wall that caught his attention and he slammed on the brakes. Lifting the hatch, he stared out in horror.

"Oh my god," he muttered. He didn't care if John heard him or not. The area had been flattened. If they hadn't got to the villagers in time, there would have been major casualties. Knowing they had got them to safety did nothing to comfort Virgil though. There had still been someone up here, after all.

"Scott!" He yelled into the dust. He cut the engine and climbed out. He couldn't continue in the machine without knowing where his brother was. "Scott, where are you?"

Silence met his shout. The rocks had stopped falling and Virgil didn't bother with his helmet as he scrambled through the dust and debris. He climbed up the wall, using the height to try and find his brother. To start with, Virgil could see nothing. Then he forced himself to calm down. Scott was up here somewhere; panicking wouldn't help. He scanned the area again, his eyes drifting over fallen walls and stones. Finally, a flash of colour amongst the grey caught his eye and he clambered over and around obstacles before he reached it.

"Scott!"

Virgil wasn't sure if he dropped to his knees or fell over, but he landed next to Scott. For a split-second, he could only stare. Scott was almost buried; stones and dirt covered the majority of his body. Then Virgil snapped himself out of it and hastily pushed at the small rocks sitting on Scott's chest. His relief at seeing his brother breathing was short lived when he realise the man was unconscious. Quickly checking around his neck for any sign of injury, Virgil carefully eased Scott's helmet off, wincing at the dent in it. But his probing fingers felt no lump on his brother's head and he knew the helmet had done its job. Once he had reassured himself that Scott had a pulse – steady if a little weak – Virgil rested back on his haunches as he surveyed the damage. For the most part, Scott had been lucky. There were a few shallow cuts and his brother was going to be a walking bruise, but he had escaped any major damage.

But then Virgil shifted his gaze further down and realised he was wrong. Scott wasn't going to be a walking bruise. He wasn't going to be walking anywhere. Virgil had to press the back of his gloved hand against his mouth and breathe through his nose as he tried not to be sick at the angle of Scott's leg. He was suddenly glad his brother was unconscious.

"John?" As his hand lifted so his watch was clear, Virgil could see if was shaking. "I've found him. He's alive. But he is hurt."

"How bad?"

Virgil had no idea John was echoing Scott's earlier words. But there was nothing light-hearted about this situation. He rested a hand very lightly on his brother's leg. There was a huge boulder right by Scott's twisted foot and Virgil assumed that was the culprit.

"He has broken his leg at the very least." Virgil was impressed about how steady his voice was but John's silence revealed the gravity of the situation. It was so rare that any of them came back with anything more than bumps and bruises – a concussion at the worst – that it was taking time to process that Scott had actually been hurt. When John did speak, his voice was steady and professional.

"Do you need help?"

"No. I've got a med-kit with me." Hating that he had to leave Scott but knowing he had no choice, Virgil stood. He looked down at his brother for a long moment.

"Stay there," he muttered. Then he scrambled his way back to the Excavator and pulled out everything he needed. The machine could take so few people that he had come fully stocked in case of more landslides between runs getting people off the mountain. He even had a hover stretcher folded away and as he unfolded it and activated it, Virgil was grateful over how paranoid he had been.

Using one hand to guide the stretcher and carrying his supplies with the other, Virgil made it back to his brother in record time considering the terrain. Examining him again revealed Virgil had been right – it was only Scott's leg and his brother's state of consciousness that gave him cause for concern. But considering the former was probably responsible for the latter, Virgil forced himself to ignore it for now. He had checked for head wounds and Scott was in no immediate danger from anything Virgil could detect.

Reaching into his pack, Virgil cleaned the cut on the back of Scott's shoulder, awkwardly supporting his brother's upper body while he did so. He knew it wasn't important in the long run. But he wasn't ready to tackle Scott's leg yet. But when that was done, he knew he had no choice. He pulled out a splint, wincing at how insufficient it seemed. Glancing at Scott's still face, he checked his brother's eyes were closed before setting to work. He had done this so many times on rescues that Virgil's hands moved confidently, setting the splint around his brother's leg while trying not to move it as much as he could. Once that was done, he yanked the stretched down to hover at ground level.

By the time he had navigated Scott onto it, he was panting. His brother wasn't the lightest of men and trying to move him while not changing the position of his leg until they could set it properly had been a challenge and a half. But Virgil had done things like this before and he was satisfied he had done the best he could. Packing up his things and returning the stretcher to waist height, Virgil swore when he saw Scott's eyes flickering. As quick as he could, he drew out a shot of morphine and already had the needle in his brother's arm by the time Scott looked at him.

"V'g?"

"Welcome back, Scott." Virgil said softly. The pain hit his brother seconds later and his whole body went rigid. Virgil quickly put one hand on Scott's good shoulder and the other on his chest.

"Lie back, Scott," he instructed. "Just lie back. Your leg is broken but I've set it the best I can. I've given you something for the pain, it will kick in within a few moments."

Scott gazed at him and Virgil wondered how lucid his brother was. But now he was awake, Virgil didn't want him losing consciousness again. He gently squeezed his brother's shoulder.

"Stay with me here, Scotty," he murmured. Flicking a switch on the stretcher, Virgil started what was to be a slow walk back to the Excavator, trying to keep Scott talking as he did so. The morphine took effective and Virgil resulted in slapping his brother lightly to wake him up now the pain wasn't keeping Scott alert as effectively.

"You've got to stay awake," Virgil told him. "I'm going to get you home, I promise. Just stay with me here."

Virgil knew getting both 'birds back to base was going to cause issues. He couldn't focus on that now. He kept all his attention on Scott as he cajoled him into staying awake. Virgil knew it was going to feel like a slow journey home.