Title: My Dying Flame

Summary: After months of molly-coddling from his brothers, Alan is getting annoyed with it, but that all changes when suddenly the teasing comes out once more. With John helping with the repairs to 5, Alan is left to defend himself against Scott, Virgil and Gordon's teasing. Alan suddenly snaps after a particularly hurtful taunt from Scott, he hides himself away in his room, hiding both his hurt and the internal pain he is keeping hidden from his family. What is he hiding from his family and can 'Doctor Virgil' figure it out before it takes their baby away from them? Done on request from Parimalik

Disclaimer: I do not own Thunderbirds, Thunderbirds Are Go or the 2004 movie or any and all registered trademarks. They belong to the rightful owners.

A/N: NO FLAMES! Not accepted.

Alan Tracy wasn't enjoying the molly-coddling he was getting. He wasn't piece of glass. He wasn't going to break on one mission! He wished Scott would quit giving him the simple jobs. Simple and free from dangers. Help the survivors to the ambulance, Alan or take care of mobile control while I help Virgil. He was never allowed to try and get dirty, his flight suit had not a speck of dirt on it. He hated it. He hated this even more then he had hated their teasing. Well at least that's what he thought. But if this headache got any worse his head might just split in half.

"Al! You in there?" Gordon's voice crackled through his ear-piece.

"You're loud and clear Gordon." Alan replied.

"Yeah, thought you'd zoned on us there for minute. You feeling ok?" Gordon asked.

"Fine, thanks Gordon. What's up?" Alan answered through slightly clenched teeth.

"We're about ready to pack up and head home, Squirt. You ready for that?" Gordon said.

"Yeah, hey Virgil?" Alan asked, changing to his medical brother. This headache was unbearable.

"What's up Sprout?" Alan might deny it but he loved their nicknames for him.

"You got some pain killers in your med-bay in Two right?" Alan asked.

"Yeah, I think I've got some endone. Why are you hurt?" Virgil asked, Alan ignored the note of panic in his voice.

"Nah, just got a headache." Alan responded.

"Alright. As long as you're not hurt." Virgil said, Alan could almost see Virgil and Scott's faces relax. It was getting ridiculous.

Sitting in the co-pilot's seat of Thunderbird 2, the endone Virgil had given him working wonders for his headache, Alan relaxed.

"You sure you're ok Alan?" The older man asked turning to his baby brother after activating the autopilot.

"I'm fine, Virgil. This headache just got to me that's all." Alan said, quietly, opening one of his eyes to look over at his brother.

Virgil smiled satisfied, "that's good." That was all Virgil said. Alan didn't mind, he liked the relative peace and quiet when they didn't talk. The roar of the engines didn't bother him – it never had. Even when the klaxon would wake him when he was younger and didn't understand why his father and brothers would risk their necks for people they didn't even know! But that was the job. He was the one to sit up on Brains' knee with Fermat while his father and brothers went off to 'save the world'. At least that was what 5-year-old Alan had thought. Because his father and his brothers were heroes. They would save the world and save him, because he was their world.

Alan had almost dozed off what Virgil was giving him a shake. Startling the youngest of the Tracy clan to full wakefulness. Grinning honey eyes met blue and a raised eyebrow was sent up in reply.

"Come on Sprout. We're home." Alan grinned up at Virgil and followed his brother out of the green ship. Alan may hate how they were molly-coddling him but he had missed his brothers being just that. His brothers. Alan followed Virgil up to his father's office for the debrief. And as soon as he stepped into the room he felt eyes on him. He knew Scott or Gordon had mentioned his headache.

"How's your headache, Alan?" His father asked. Yep, they'd told.

"It's good. Virg gave me some endone. I'll take some Advil later if it comes back and get some rest. It's been a big year." Alan grinned. Jeff had to agree with his youngest one that. Spring Break had tried them all, and now this summer was proving just as big. With Alan, Fermat and Tintin still with their on-going training and test missions – small ones, not huge ones – they had to keep an eye on how they all dealt with it.

Yeah, keep Alan away from the ships, he's a hazard Scott's words from Spring Break still echoed in Alan's mind as once more – now that he had been on one mission and not hurt himself - the teasing began. And Alan began to miss the coddling. Right now he was trying to ignore his brothers as they teased him at the dinner table again.

"Sorry, Alan, if that mission was too much for you, you are just a kid after all." Gordon said, giving him what would have been – complete with a different tone of voice – a comforting pat on the back.

"Yeah we wouldn't have taken you if we'd known. But that's mostly because you never think before you act." Virgil stated, with a bit of a smirk, the same one that he had when he had suggested that Alan had 'homework to do or something' on Spring Break.

"And you tend to act a little selfishly, Sprout." Scott said that voice came back again, telling him he was a hazard to be around the ships. Had they forgotten? He'd flown Thunderbird One to London and held Thunderbird 2 steady and so had Fermat over the Themes to rescue people in a monorail car that ended up on the bottom of the river bed.

"Maybe you're not ready Alan. Maybe you'll always be the liability you are." That snapped Alan's patience. He pushed his chair back from the table and went upstairs. Ignoring his father's stern 'that's enough boys' before calling Alan's name. He even heard Scott and Virgil yelp in pain as if they'd been hit by Grandma Tracy's wooden spoon. Alan didn't even let himself smile, he just needed to be left alone. His headache had returned and he was tired and he felt really hot. He knew he needed rest. Taking an Advil to try and dissipate the headache Alan got into bed and was asleep in seconds.

Had it always been this difficult to wake up? Alan wondered as he woke several days later and he regretted not closing his curtains the night before. Had the sun always been so bright? His neck was stiff too. He stretched out his neck muscles but it didn't help much. His headache was back. And…Alan froze, then bolted to his bathroom barely making it to the toilet to empty the meagre contents of his painfully empty stomach. He groaned and wrapped an arm around his stomach, he was painfully hungry but the very thought of food made his feel sick. He didn't know what was going on with him.
It had been several days since he holed himself up here. Even his father had tried to get him to come out but he refused. He hadn't been ready to face his brothers. They thought he was a joke. A liability. He knew they'd had a rescue, had they needed him? No. They managed without him. He knew it had only been the three of them because, his father, his grandmother, Fermat and Tintin had all tried to get him to come out.

"Maybe a few graham crackers and water might help." Alan said out loud to himself. Resigning himself that he would need water anyway, he got to his feet shakily and made the mistake of looking in the mirror. Pale skin looked back at him, he almost didn't recognize the person that stared back at him from the mirror. But it was him alright. And it scared him.

It was Doctor Virgil that emerged about the same time Alan did. One look at Alan and the medic appeared.

"Al? Are you feeling alright? And don't say you're fine. You're not." Virgil said, placing a cool hand on Alan's burning forehead. Instead of letting Alan continue to the kitchen Virgil took him to the infirmary and made him sit down while Virgil checked his vitals.

"I'm fine Virgil!" Alan snapped, Virgil looked startled, but frowned, "I'm not sick! I'm perfectly fine."

"No, you're not." Virgil said, he lifted one of Alan's hands to take his pulse and dropped it as if burned. Alan's hands were like blocks of ice. He was still pale but now it sounded like he was beginning to hyperventilate too. Frowning, Virgil put the thermometer in Alan's mouth under his tongue and turned to look up these symptoms – he'd read them somewhere. He flicked open a well-thumbed textbook and found all these things listed under 'meningitis'. Cursing under his breath, Virgil turned to look at Alan's back. He wasn't going to like what Virgil had to do to be sure. And he knew what would happen. Alan was terrified of needles and would often have to be held down just to receiver a booster. At school when the immunisations came around, Alan would ask for a day off and he'd call Virgil and his brother would agree that the following weekend he'd come out and give Alan the booster. Alan just didn't trust doctors or nurses. Despite the fact his brother was a Doctor without a Ph.D. He maybe Doctor Virgil Tracy just without the M.D.

"Alan?" The blonde looked up and he looked – if possible – worse than he had merely ten minutes ago! He looked like he didn't even see Virgil, the blank expression was frightening for the older man and he sighed.

"Alan, I'm going to have to give you a needle ok? I need to." Virgil said, he knew showing Alan was a bad idea but when he held up the spinal needle, the blank expression vanished.

"No! No way!" Alan was on his feet and out of the door before Virgil could speak. Pressing the intercom to the house he called on his brothers to stop Alan at all costs. Since Scott and Gordon were the only ones around they all readied to stop the blonde. Scott missed but Gordon anticipated and tackled Alan to the floor.

"What's got you in a rush Buddy?" Gordon asked.

"No, needles. Please no needles." Alan whimpered as he fought weakly against Gordon. Glancing up at Scott, together the two of them took Alan up to Gordon's room. Virgil asked his grandmother to make sure there was some very bland food for Alan because he'd need to eat after.

Their father was waiting when Virgil got to Gordon's room. He had heard the alert and wanted to know what was going on. He locked Virgil with his steely gaze and Virgil's sighed, he'd have to tell them now.

"I think its meningitis. Not seriously. Just the viral I think. Otherwise I wouldn't be doing this. If it was bacterial – we wouldn't be here." Virgil said, "But I need to be sure." Virgil held up the needle he needed to use, and Scott and Gordon now saw why Alan had freaked.

Virgil frowned at Alan down on his stomach, it didn't seem right. He dug in his pocket.

"I need to make a call. I don't know what to do…I need help." Virgil said.

"Virgil! You can't waste time talking to your girlfriend!" Scott snapped.

"I need the help!" Virgil gripped his cell in his hand and speed-dialled the familiar number.

"Hello?" The girl on the other end answered.

"I need your help." He said. No pleasantries in this call.

"Virgil? What with?" She asked.

"A spinal tap. I need you to talk me through it." He said.

"What's going on?" She asked.

"It's Alan. Please, Aysha, just talk me through it." He pleaded.

"You'll need your spinal needle. I know you have one. Do exactly what I tell you. You can't make any mistakes and you might only have one shot at this. Alan will need to be held down. Because this isn't going to be cosy for him. Do you have a local?" Aysha asked, Virgil could hear her flicking through a book. No doubt a refresher for her would be good too.

"Yeah." He replied.

"Deaden it. You're going to need to. What makes you think he's got Meningitis?" She questioned.

"He's showing several symptoms. He had a bad headache a few days ago but a dose of endone fixed that for a while." Virgil said as he filled a syringe with the correct amount of local anesthetic to deaden the area.

"Ok…while the skin is soaking in the anesthetic you'll have to get ready. I need you to get Gordon and Scott to help Alan get into the basic fetal position. Or as close as he can get. He needs to be on his left or right side. And have his chin tucked into his chest." Virgil repeated the actions as his father linked his phone to his earpiece and handed it to Virgil.

"Ok." He said.

"Alright, you need to go in his lower back. Between his L3 and L4." Aysha said.

"Right." Virgil said as he found the two vertebra and slowly began to push the needed in.

"Push it in until you feel it 'give' and then keep going until you feel a second 'give'. That will mean you're past his dura mater. Then take the stylet out and let the fluid drain. You'll only need a little bit." As she spoke Virgil did as she said. Alan was whimpering and it was difficult to hear but this wold help.

"Ok, got it." He said.

"Right now, sit your forefinger and middle finger of your other hand on either side of where you have the needle. I want you press down as you withdraw the needle. It will help and will stop the skin from pulling too much." Aysha said, "do you need me to talk you through the test?"

"No. But can you talk to Al?" Virgil said.

"Sure." She agreed, Virgil moved and put the ear piece on Alan's ear, "Alan? Can you hear me?"

"Yeah." He replied.

"You are so brave, Buttercup. I'm so proud of you!" Aysha praised.

"It didn't hurt." Alan remarked.

"He numbed the area of your back. He needed to. I know you hate needles Alan, but really it's unavoidable sometimes." She told him.

"Thanks Aysh." Alan said.

"Your welcome honey." Aysha said before ending the call.

"Just as I thought it's nothing serious, it's just Viral Meningitis. He'll be fine. Fluids and some pain killers for his headaches and regular aches and pains but all in all, he'll be fine." Virgil said, with a small smile. It was good news. But still Jeff refused to leave Alan's side. Even Gordon was cautiously leaving the room at night to go to bed. Scott too – but that was part of the big brother complex really. Even John had checked in regularly just to make sure Alan was alright and recovering well. Virgil promised John that he could stay in space, Alan was just fine.
Virgil regularly checked Alan's vitals in case of any change. Luckily there was only improvement. Grandma Tracy was the only one that could get Jeff to sleep. She'd threatened more than once to get Virgil to put a sedative in Jeff's coffee to put him to sleep. And Virgil had promised he would if his father didn't go and get some sleep.

"Dad." Jeff looked up to see Virgil in the doorway, "I'll watch him. You should get some sleep." Jeff rubbed his tired itching eyes, ignoring Virgil's chuckle. This was one way to get him to sleep, telling him he was tired.

"You should too." Jeff replied. Virgil shrugged at his father's remark.

"It's 4am. I have to check his vitals anyhow and I've already slept for 6 hours. I'm good." Virgil said. Jeff looked at Alan then back at Virgil, "Scott will be here at about 8am anyway. Don't worry Dad. Anything happens I'll come and get you." Virgil promised. Jeff slowly agreed, kissed Alan still heated forehead and left reminding Virgil to get him if anything happened, however minor. And thankfully nothing happened during the night, leaving Virgil to have a bit of time to think, Scott to sleep and Jeff to catch up on some much needed rest.

It took about a week and a half. But Alan was recovering well. He was force fed water and whatever Grandma felt he should eat, as long as Virgil said it was ok and he could keep it down. He still got headaches occasionally but an endone would fix those. One day while sitting outside watching his brothers in the pool, his father came out and sat beside him. Alan welcomed the extra presence.

"How are you feeling, Son?" Jeff asked.

"I'm ok. I think I'll be fine." Alan said.

"Good." Jeff nodded, Alan bit his lip before speaking again.

"Dad? Are you guys going to be molly-coddling me again?" He asked.

"Do you want us to wrap you in cotton wool? Because your grandmother would love to." Jeff said.

"No, but a bit of care would be good." Alan said with a smile.

"I'll talk to them about the teasing then." Jeff promised.

"Thanks Dad." Alan said, closing his eyes behind his sunglasses and letting the tropical sun warm his pale skin. Alan had to be careful but a bit of a tan would be good for him. And Doctor Virgil had prescribed some sun to help his vitamin D levels to come up a bit. He needed it. Tintin sat near him some days and sometimes Fermat did. But most often it was his father who came out and sat with him. Taking a much needed break from his office and the confines of the house.

"You ok Al?" Alan looked up from where he was wrapping a child's arm in a bandage.

"I'm good Virg, thanks." Alan said. To tell the truth he'd preferred the molly-coddling to the teasing and right now, he was loving the constant stream of question that he was ok. The child had tears streaming down their face and Alan finished wrapped their arm. It had been sliced open by a stray piece of wire, Alan gave the child a smile and pressed a tiny gentle kiss to the bandage over the cut.

"All better." He told her, she smiled and nodded at him. She then got to her feet to follow Virgil over to where her family was. Alan was helping more with rescues now, they weren't scared of him getting hurt anymore. He had been wrapping bandages over children's injuries that didn't need stitches and he had a way with kids. As they were packing up to leave a tug on his flight suit made him look down.

"Mr Thunderbird." The child said, Alan couched down to her level, "thank-you for making my arm all better. I wanted to give you this. I saved it from the house." It was picture drawn by a child's hand. But it was clear what it was. It was a large green ship with a person beside it, whom now had blonde hair because in her other hand she held a yellow crayon. She held out the picture to him and Alan took it to look at it.

"It's lovely. Are you sure you want me to have this?" He asked, she nodded. He took her hand and gently kissed it, thanking her very much. She blushed a pretty pink before hurrying back over to her family. Alan was finally a Thunderbird and he was fully recovered and he wasn't being teased as badly. It was just light-hearted and he fought back with his own ammunition – thanks mostly to John's stories of young Scott, Virgil and Gordon. Now finally he was no longer a dying flame he was burning just as brightly as his brothers. And for now, that would do.

I'm not sure I'm completely accurate with the whole meningitis thing so if anyone knows anyone who has had it or has had it themselves I'm sorry if anything was incorrect.