It was one after the other. That was nothing new but this time Gordon called it.
Virgil was the medic in the family, but Gordon was the psychologist.
Well, not by any qualifications and he would never attempt to psychoanalyse any person not a member of their family, but he had to say that he had umpteen degrees in knowing his brothers.
And this brother needed downtime.
He could have said ‘Virgil, stop.’ But his brother was as stubborn as they come and the immediate response would have been to rebel and ‘do the right thing’ which would have involved launching into the next rescue.
So what Gordon did was much more subtle and over the top.
He had a reputation to maintain after all.
Before they could launch from the grassy mountain top in Austria, Gordon dumped all their equipment where it was supposed to go…and then he bolted.
“Gordon, what the hell?”
But he was already far enough for that baritone to fade just a little.
Before his irate brother could switch to comms, Gordon contacted Five. “Johnny, he needs a rest.”
John sighed. “Gordon, there are ways.”
“Yeah, and this one will work.”
“It’s your funeral. Redirecting to the GDF.”
“Good. Make them earn their pay.”
“Gordon…”
“Sorry, busy avoiding the bear. Speak to you soon.” He cut off his comms.
Said bear was still quite a distance away, but his glare had a long range. Not to mention his stalk. Gordon paused and looked back as Virgil strode through the knee-high grass and wildflowers.
He needed a diversion and he needed it now.
Flowers.
Gordon plopped himself on the grass, grabbed the nearest two daisies and started weaving them together.
Arty and crafty, Virg could never resist.
Gordon suddenly knew how Muhammed might feel if the mountain ever came to him.
And leant over him, frowning fit to split something.
“Gordon, what the hell are you doing.”
“Taking a moment.” He threaded one daisy into the other.
Daisies were their mothers favourite flower, weren’t they? Virgil claimed that they were.
Gordon had no memory of that.
“We have another situation.” Virgil gesticulated towards his ‘bird.
“Nope. GDF is taking it.” Gordon grabbed another flower. “You need to sit down and relax, bro.”
Virgil’s lips were pressed together so hard they had lost circulation.
Time for an earnest little brother to intervene. He put everything young he had into his voice. “John agrees. I’m tired, you’re tired, sit down a moment. Hell, enjoy the Sound of Music landscape. Julie Andrews was always your fav. I’ve certainly heard you singing her stuff enough.” His lips curled. “I dare you to run across this hill top singing with your arms flung out.”
His brother’s dark eyes widened and honestly Gordon could tell he was caught between anger and the need to either rest or simply explode.
Or maybe even run across the hilltop like Julie Andrews.
Gordon could always hope for that kind of footage.
The cool breeze played with Virgil’s hair, picking at it like a bird.
Gordon kept up the ‘little brother’ expression and watched every muscle in his big bro’s body slowly relax. Remove the rescue, remove the responsibility, and he could usually peel Virgil back to the kind but tired man he was, and derail the emergency responder responding.
This was usually the point where the medic caught up with exactly what Gordon was doing and…
“You’re an ass.”
Right on time.
Gordon grinned up at his brother and wove another daisy into his garland. “Sit down, Virg. Take a load off.”
A glance back at his ‘bird, a gaze around their immediate vicinity – hmm, maybe some of that security protocol Kayo had been trying to drill into Virgil’s head was actually working – and his big brother sighed, sinking down into the grass.
Gordon was still grinning, but he let it slip into a smile and started singing quietly…”How do you solve a problem like a Virgil?”
“Shut it, Squid.”
“Aww, but you love to hear me sing.”
He got a grunt for that.
He held out his half-completed garland. “Here, use all those arty engineering skills and finish this.”
Virgil stared at him a moment longer, something unidentifiable in his eyes, before he grabbed the garland and did exactly what Gordon wanted him to do.
See, psychologist.
The next step was to wind him down just a little more and music was always the key to this brother. So, plucking another daisy, Gordon started humming ‘Wildflowers’, one of his relaxing favourites.
The arched eyebrow he got for that one was hilarious.
You belong among the wildflowers
You belong on a boat out at sea
Sail away, kill off the hours
You belong somewhere you feel free.
And yes, there was a small smile forming on his brother’s lips.
Honestly, Virgil was so easy to manipulate if you knew how.
Not like John or Scott…they were just hard work.
While weaving his own flowers and humming away, he watched Virgil slowly wilt over his own pile of flowers.
Honestly, you only had to get the man to pause on his headlong rush to save the planet and his actual condition would start to shine through.
The breeze wafted over the grass causing ripples. Snow-topped mountains, birds in the trees off in the distance, everything was just beautiful.
Virgil’s eyelids started to droop.
Gordon continued to hum and intentionally fake-ignore his brother while stringing more flowers.
Virgil’s flowers dropped onto the ground.
On the surface, it was ridiculous for International Rescue operatives to be chaining daisies in the middle of a field miles from nowhere. But the rescue had been the most recent of far too many and the fact he had managed to get his brother out here in the first place was clearly a sign that a break was needed.
Virgil was literally falling asleep where he sat.
Exactly why flying back hadn’t been a great idea.
Scott would be proud.
Here’s hoping John or Allie had that big bro in hand.
Gordon continued to hum and before long, he was joined by soft snores as his big brother drifted off to sleep sitting amongst the daisies.
Gordon resisted the urge to smile, almost broke a few muscles with the effort, in fact. Virgil just looked adorable with flowers in his lap and such peace on his face.
He needed it. Hell, Gordon needed it. But one Tracy brother at a time.
Eventually, Gordon was able to let off the humming and their soundscape was reduced to the breeze and birdsong. It was lulling and ever so peaceful.
But he continued to weave flowers together enjoying the quiet moment and the soft sound of his brother’s breathing.
Which was interrupted by a snort as Virgil toppled sideways.
Gordon moved.
Fast.
It wasn’t a conscious thought, just action. After all, it wasn’t as if Virgil was going to hurt himself falling over in the grass, but priorities…
Somehow he did manage to leap fast enough to catch Virgil before his head hit the ground. A sign of reflex if nothing else. But he ended up with his hands full of sleeping and very heavy big brother.
And grimy. Virgil definitely smelt like hard work.
Gordon wrinkled his nose and lowered him gently down to the grass. His brother immediately rolled over and flopped onto his back, and Gordon had to move quick or be squashed.
Virgil wriggled a little and went back to snoring, this time much louder than earlier.
Sitting back on his heels, Gordon did take this opportunity to smile down at his big brother. The man was a goofball of his own definition. Here he was, lying in a field, amongst giant mountains with scenery fit for a major musical, and he had dirt smudged on his nose and a caught flower in his hair.
Gordon blinked.
Flowers in his hair?
His smile grew into a grin.
Scampering quietly back to his half-finished garland and gathering up the discarded and partly squashed remains of Virgil’s, wove them together into a crown.
Reaching over ever so carefully, he placed the flowers in Virgil’s hair. His brother’s hair gel was plenty stiff and fully capable of supporting Gordon’s creation.
Leaning back he checked his composition.
Virgil kept on snoring, white petals fluttering on each exhale.
Perfect.
Phone out, photo and video taken…okay, several photos and videos from several different angles, some cropped and artistically edited, and sent to certain family members on the other side of the planet.
He flicked his phone to silent as replies came flying back.
In amongst the smart-ass comments were two lines from Scott that stuck to Gordon’s heart.
Thank you for looking after him.
Don’t forget yourself.
Gordon sat back down on the grass and stared at those words.
Perhaps he was more obvious than he thought.
But the sun was warm on his cheeks and Virgil was safe, and there were more flowers to weave together, particularly if he was going to decorate Two on the way home.
So Gordon sat chaining daisies together, in a field, on a mountain, humming to himself in his own musical.
Watching his big brother sleep.
-o-o-o-
@godsliltippy ‘s gorgeous art can be found here :D
Something Cheerful From Tiny Tim & Charlie Brown 😊
Tip Toe Through the Tulips with Me
Performed By Tiny Tim
"Tiptoe Through the Tulips", also known as "Tip Toe Through the Tulips with Me", is a popular song published in 1929. The song was written by Al Dubin (lyrics) and Joe Burke (music) and made popular by guitarist Nick Lucas. On February 5, 1968, singer Tiny Tim made the song a novelty hit by singing it on the debut episode of the popular American television show Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In.
As a Chicago area Anglophile and frequent flyer on British Airways, we wanted to share a couple of interesting developments. First, British
I'm very fond of Terminal 3 (shown here), with its abundant natural light and that globe sculpture hanging from the ceiling. (Well, not actually hanging...) Here's hoping that I'm on one of these departures sooner or later!
