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gumnut-logic · 1 year

Text

Belongs

This isn’t my best, but at least it is something and finished.

Thank you to @gaviiadastra for the readthrough and for being her usual amazing self.

We have a conversation and a pile of FishTank that may or may not make any sense, but since it is past midnight and I have a 9am - 8pm day tomorrow, I’m dumping it here and running away.

I hope you enjoy it in any case ::hugs the lot of you::

-o-o-o-

“I want to do it.”

Gordon sighed. This was the fifth time his heavy lifting brother had asked and apparently he didn’t want to hear a no.

“You don’t need to do it, Virgil.” The breeze caught in the caldera cooled off his wet hair.

“Yes, I do. You can do it. I should be able to, as well.” He slapped his helmet on as if to end the argument.

Gordon sighed again and, shoving on his own helmet, pushed off the rock they had been using as a starting point for the afternoon.

They were supposed to be doing recertification diving drills…and they had. All the required ones. But apparently Virgil had a bee in his helmet and wanted to attempt some seriously deep diving.

Chances were the big softy had heard or seen something that could get a younger water-borne brother into trouble in some random situation.

Ah, for goodness sake.

He surfaced, swam back to Virgil, and switched to comms. “C’mon, fess up. Why do you need to know? It’s way beyond what you will need in the field.”

Virgil glared at him through his visor, lips thin with annoying determination. “But you can do it, can’t you?”

“Well, yeah. Aquanaut, you know.”

“Then I want to be able to do it.”

“That’s ridiculous.”

“I don’t care. I want to do it anyway.” He pushed off the rock and looked ready to dive into the centre of the caldera and damn the depth.

Gordon followed him, determined not to let him out of his sight. “I just don’t understand.”

Virgil’s green-striped aqua-suit helmet turned to him. “What’s to understand? I thought you’d enjoy showing me this.”

“It can be dangerous.”

“Which is why I want to make sure I can do it.”

“Because you don’t trust that I can do it?”

“What?”

“I know it sucks having to sit up in Two and just watch, but you know I know what I’m doing, don’t you?”

“Of course!”

“Then why? I’m the only one who needs to know how to dive that deep. You don’t, and I don’t want to risk you.”

“Now who isn’t trusting.” Virgil turned away.

“No, that’s bullshit, Virgil and you know it. I trust you with everything. It’s just…” His voice ran out of words.

Virgil turned back to him, the water rippling with his movement. “Just what?”

“It’s not safe for you.”

“But it’s safe for you?

“Of course, it’s safe for me! I have the training and experience. It’s not something that just happens, Virgil, it takes years of physical training…training that you do not have!”

Finally, it appeared to hit home, Virgil frowning in a way that screamed acknowledgement of facts.

“I’m sorry, Virg, this is beyond your current physical capability.” Gordon drew in a breath. “You are a good diver. As good as any, and I’m proud of your achievements. I love that you can swim with me, but there are things that you just can’t do.” He let the breath out. “I’m sorry.”

Virgil looked across the surface of the water, away, towards the villa, high on its cliff. He muttered something that didn’t quite make it over comms.

“Virg?”

“’S nothing.” He slipped beneath the water and his blue-green yellow shadow swam off towards the beach on the far side of the caldera.

Yet another sigh. Great. Now his brother was pissed.

And still Gordon didn’t know Virgil’s motivation for wanting to push the limits. He had his certification, enough for rescues, enough to accompany Gordon pretty much everywhere except the deep sea.

There was no way Gordon was letting any of his brothers down there. Certainly not without a Thunderbird.

Gritting his teeth, he swam after his stubborn brother.

-o-o-o-

Virgil got his feet under him and strode through the water and up onto the beach. The breeze chilled his hair as he took off his helmet and, with a sigh, clipped it to his belt.

The yellow of his underwater baldric was a glare broken by two green lines either side of the silicon leather and he randomly missed the familiarity of his green engineering and logistics baldric.

Because he wasn’t an aquanaut.

Just not aquanaut enough.

Behind him he heard Gordon surface like the fish he was, fast and as fluid as the liquid he lived in.

There were going to be more questions, Virgil could see them coming.

Sure enough. “Virg? You okay?”

“I’m fine, Gordon. Don’t worry about it.”

There was silence for a moment.

Just a moment.

“What’s got you so worked up?”

“I’m not worked up, Gordon.” He retracted his flippers and headed towards the track that led to the villa.

“Virgil!”

“What?!”

“Talk to me.”

His shoulders dropped as he turned back to his brother. “What do you want me to say? That I would like to be able to reach you at all times? That, yes, it is hard to sit up there and watch? That you need back up and I’m it? Well, you’ve made it very clear it isn’t possible, so it doesn’t matter. I’m fine. I’m going home.” He turned away. Coffee would be great. A visit to Two in her hangar might be a lovely distraction as well.

“Virgil!”

Oh, for the love of-

“You do know that for all intents and purposes I am rarely that far out of reach. We do deep so rarely, the chances-“

“Have proven to be enough. Once is far too many times.”

“And what exactly do you think you could do?”

“Go with you.”

Gordon stared at him. The caldera washed up ankle high wavelets as if to beat off the time his brother was emphasising with his eyes. “And do what? Put both of us at risk? Force Scott to drag you off the ocean floor as well as me?” Gordon rocked back on his feet, one hand pointing at the sand in emphasis. “No. I won’t put him through that. Just no. You stay where you belong. Where you are most effective.”

“And where is that, Gordon? Where do you think I belong?”

Gordon opened his mouth as if to say something, but nothing came out. He stared at Virgil, his eyebrows slowly creasing his forehead down the middle.

“You’re a pilot.”

“Yes, I am.”

“And an astronaut. Fully certified.”

“Yes, we all are. Your point?”

“You don’t belong in space anymore than you belong in the water. And you’re only a pilot because of Dad and Scott.”

“What?!”

“That’s it, isn’t it.” Gordon took a step towards him, his expression one of revelation. “Scott was born to fly. John and Allie were made for space. But you…and I thought I was the odd one out.”

“What the hell are you on about?”

“You’ve gone out of your way to follow all of us, haven’t you.”

“We’ve all cross-trained, Gordon, its part of the job.” Virgil waved a dismissive hand, swallowed the lump in his throat, and turned back towards the path. And here he’d thought volunteering to learn a little more might have been appreciated.

So much for that.

The sand stuck to his aqua shoes as he stepped onto the gravel path, climbing up back to the villa.

He could feel Gordon’s eyes boring into his back.

He grit his teeth. Sure, he had shown interest in what his brothers were doing. They all found so much joy in what they loved, Virgil had wanted to support them any way he could.

Gordon was right in that Scott was born to fly. The moment he had been old enough, Virgil had vowed to follow him into the blue.

And yes, John being so far away, demanded that Virgil reach even higher when he needed to.

Same went for Gordon and his obsession with the ocean. He needed to understand and be there for his little brother, both to keep him safe and to show him how much…

And Allie. Virgil had to keep up.

He had to.

“Hey.”

Virgil startled out of his thoughts, jumping as Gordon grabbed an arm, suddenly right…there.

Brown eyes, much like his own, but surrounded by soggy blond hair stared up at him, before pulling him into a hug, a very tight hug.

Virgil wheezed. “Gor-don.”

But his brother didn’t let go.

Asphyxiation by aquanaut was a thing, apparently.

He was just considering an application of heavy lifting muscles when Gordon finally let him go.

Virgil staggered back a step. “Are you okay?”

But Gordon was looking up the path, one hand still on Virgil’s arm. “C’mon, race you back. I’ll whip you up an iced mocha, just like you like it.” And Gordon was moving, tugging Virgil along behind him.

Okay.

But he couldn’t help but smile, just a little, despite his concern for his brother’s mental state.

Because really, Gordon had answered his own question.

Virgil knew exactly where he belonged.

With his family.

-o-o-o-

#thunderbirds are go #thunderbirds #thunderbirds fanfiction #Gordon Tracy #Virgil Tracy #nuttyfic #FishTank #Sense is optional

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