Third chapter. It's a little bit sappy, sorry, but I think both Virgil and Scott need it!

Enjoy!

The next day Virgil woke early, the sun streaming in between the curtains that had been left partly open. Gordon lay snoring next to him and Scott was spread across the other side of the bed, hanging precariously on the edge where one nudge from Gordon's errant foot would send him into a rude awakening.

The Mini Tracy sleepover.

Ever since their Mum had died there had been an onslaught of bad dreams resulting in the Tracy's joining each other so that they could band together to fight the terrors. More often than not the battle took place in Virgil's bedroom, though Virgil rarely realised; he usually slept right through the night.

However the younger two Tracy's were none too fond of sleeping by themselves, even Alan who was barely two at the time, hence why they snuck into their older brother's bedroom in the early hours of the morning and made themselves comfortable in his bed. Over the course of the night somehow all five Tracy sons ended up in that bed, Scott to check on the younger ones and John because it was peaceful. Virgil suspected that they were more scared than they let on; he'd heard Scott sleep-talking more than once.

Scott had named it the Annual Mini Tracy Sleepover in order to make it sound less girly that the four boys were sleeping in their brother's bed - two of them older than the owner of the bed. John didn't see how this name made it sound any less girly, in fact he thought it made it more so, but Scott ignored him and the name stuck.

If Virgil ever wondered why his father bought him a double bed the next year, he never asked. Scott was under the impression that Virgil was awake during the invasions and actually enjoyed the company, but John pointed out that Virgil would be a lot more grumpy being woken up at one o'clock in the morning, and none of them had been decapitated yet (a favourite threat of the middle Tracy), so how could he possibly be awake?

Virgil, however, knew exactly what was going on and didn't mind that the others sought solace in his room, even though it routinely left him waking up on the floor or with an incredibly sore back.

He crawled off of the bed, the blanket that he hadn't realised was there dropping to the ground in a puddle of dark blue. It was too early, much earlier than he usually got up, but worrying about Gordon's head and thinking about how he and Scott would react to each other later in the day had kept him up well past when both of his brothers had fallen asleep. Scott had gotten up at some point in the night, presumably to go to the bathroom, but Virgil had ignored him.

He stretched, wincing as the aching muscles pulled in his back, crept out to the lounge and headed into the kitchen, dumping the blanket that had trailed behind him onto the couch in the hope that he could catch up on sleep later. A movement on the TV stopped him. John's face popped up.

'Hey Virge,' he grinned. 'How're you feeling?'

"Sore," came the reply. John laughed.

'Yeah, you look it.' He fiddled with something off screen and turned back to his brother, smile replaced by a grimace. 'I heard your fight with Scott last night.'

"So you know he's being a–" Virgil still wasn't very happy with Scott's decision to leave Gordon in the building. He'd been saving someone, the boy with the broken leg's sister, just like an International Rescue operative should, and Scott's order to leave Gordon in the building still stung.

John shifted uncomfortably and interrupted.

'Virge, I think there's something you should see.'

John's face was replaced by a video, which Virgil recognised as the rescue from the days before. Scott was yelling something into a microphone, his body wound and tense, ready to snap at the slightest obstacle.

'This was after you told him Gordon had entered the burning building.' He hesitated for a second. 'You might want to sit down.' John turned on the sound and loud orders filled the room. Virgil stood stunned.

"You need to … just get him out … no, I'll be down there … I DON'T CARE, JUST GET HIM OUT ALIVE!"

Virgil watched as Scott slammed down the receiver of the phone and fiddled with the controls, landing the 'Bird. He watched as Scott ran for the opening hatch. He watched Scott through the windshield as he sprinted for the burning building both Gordon and Virgil were now inside.

At the rescue he'd assumed Scott had landed to pick up the injured; that had been the reason he'd stayed inside of Virgil's 'Bird as opposed to his own during the rescue. Virgil had been needed on the surface as a field medic. Now he could see that Scott hadn't given the waiting injured a second glance.

He'd assumed that Scott had happened to be outside of the door after finishing with the wounded. His eyes hadn't been clear enough to notice that they were all still lined up when he came out of the building.

He'd assumed the fire-fighters had finished their work with the other buildings and come to put out the one they were trapped in last. Instead Scott had gathered them up and sent them to the building both younger Tracy's were in and made them put it out first. Rescuers couldn't save anyone if they were dead.

He'd assumed the on-hand oxygen tank both himself and Gordon had had access to was only there because it was finished with by others.

And, most importantly, he'd assumed that Scott had told him to leave Gordon there, stuck in the building to die a fiery death alone. But he watched the video and saw that as soon as he'd called Scott with the news, Scott had started making his own plans of rescue. He hadn't cut off from Virgil to think about the heavy decision he'd supposedly made of leaving Gordon behind. He'd been organizing the few fire-fighters that were left in a rescue mission for their younger brother. And, from the look of the half-donned fire-proof suit, he intended to be at the head of the party.

"Oh God." Virgil's face was white and his hands started shaking.

He hadn't listened yesterday when Scott had been trying to tell him that Gordon wasn't going to be left behind; that he, Scott, would be going to rescue him with the help of the fire-fighters as opposed to a single man recklessly diving in without a plan.

He hadn't listened when Scott had told him not to go into the building, and both him and Gordon had almost been killed because of it.

He hadn't listened to Scott at all.

"Gordon kicked me off the bed," Scott moaned as he walked into the room. He noticed Virgil standing perfectly still in the middle of the lounge and headed towards him. "You're going to need to – Virgil, are you alright?" he asked urgently, striding forward and grabbing his brother's arms. "You look like you're about to pass out. Here, sit down." He tried to lead Virgil over to a chair but found that he couldn't move him.

"Virgil, seriously, I think…"

Virgil's head was hanging, his shoulders tensed up and his feet were stubbornly refusing to move.

"Virge?" Scott asked hesitantly.

Virgil, in one sudden movement, grabbed Scott and wrapped his arms around him in a tight hug.

"I'm so sorry," he said almost silently. Scott's arms came around his brother readily.

"That's," he cleared his throat uncertainly. "That's okay, although I'm a little surprised at the sudden change of tone. I thought you hated me?"

"I don't hate you," mumbled Virgil into Scott's t-shirt miserably.

"Well, I still think you ought to sit down. Hate me or not, you're still really pale." This time Virgil let him lead him to the couch where Scott noticed the TV still on.

"John showed you then."

Virgil nodded, face still buried in his older brother's shoulder.

"Traitor," huffed Scott. "I told him not to show you; I knew it would upset you. It seems you're not the only one who doesn't follow his field commander's orders, huh?"

Virgil shook his head silently, back shivering.

"Doesn't help my villainous image much, does it?"

Virgil shook his head again. Scott sighed.

"You really thought I was leaving Gordon behind, didn't you. It didn't occur to you that I told you to stay away for your own safety? You could have been seriously injured as well. It's a miracle that neither of you were seriously hurt." He paused. "You know I would never leave any of you behind, right? Never. I will always come back for you." Virgil didn't respond and Scott reached over him to grab the blanket he had trailed out of his bedroom when he'd gotten up. Virgil quivered as Scott let go and huddled closer once he'd thrown the blanket over him. Scott, unsurprised at the tactile response and clingyness, just wrapped his arms around him again and sat, just sat, relaxing in the quiet as Virgil most likely cried himself to sleep again.

Gordon came in ten minutes later, rubbing his head slightly.

"Hey," he said. "He okay?" He nodded at the still form resting against Scott who was now sprawled across the couch. Scott smiled.

"Yeah," he replied softly. "Just a bit of delayed shock. And not much sleep for the last few hours. Probably too busy worrying about someone's head." Gordon grinned.

"It's much better," he said in answer to the silent question and headed into the kitchen to grab some breakfast.

"Hey, Gordo," Scott called softly through the doorway and dining room.

"Yeah?" Came the reply. There was a bang and the sound of something flopping over. Scott winced, stopping when Virgil shifted slightly.

"You know I'd never leave any of you behind, right?" There was silence except for the sound of something pouring in the kitchen. Gordon came back in, bowl of cereal in hand and raised an eyebrow as he came to stand in front of Scott.

"I'm not going to answer that. It's insulting." Then, as a thought popped into his head, he frowned. "I never asked before, but what happened to that boy's sister? Is she okay?" He flapped his hand at Scott when his brother frowned in concern. "I'm still a little fuzzy."

"Yeah, she's fine. Her and her brother were taken to the hospital with everyone else after we dragged her, you and Virgil out of the building. She had bad smoke inhalation and some bad burns on her back, but she should be fine." Scott looked at Gordon steadily. "You really did a good job at the rescue . . .and I don't think I've said this, but sorry for yelling at you."

"You were worried, that's how you are," shrugged Gordon. "I said before, it's okay. But seriously, you and Virgil have some trust issues and you're going to need to sort them out before the next rescue. You need to trust Virgil to make the right choice. You may be the field commander and you may be able to see the bigger picture, but you need to know that brothers will always come first."

"As all of you would for me."

"Yeah. I know." He hopped from one foot to the other. "It's Virgil who can't get it through his thick skull. He can be a real moron sometimes. But it explains why he was so shocked when you said to leave me in the building and why he was yelling so much last night. He's terrified you're going to leave him somewhere as well and not come back."

"Why would he…"

Gordon shrugged.

"Some childhood trauma of getting left behind? Maybe on a bus somewhere?" He smirked and then shrugged, looking down. "You're his hero, Scott."

"Oh yeah?" But Scott couldn't deny it pleased him a little. "And whose yours?"

"Aquaman. Now move over, you're hogging the couch."

The End.