Before work cos I desperately needed to. Not fluff.
Virgil Tracy wore flannel. No matter the climate. No matter the temperature. He wore flannel. At least when he wasn’t wearing his uniform.
This flannel came in a variety of shades, but mostly red plaid. Red is a very warm colour and he took advantage of it to not only keep warm, but to feel warm.
Visitors to Tracy Island may have commented on it; queried why he was wearing not only flannel in the tropics, but two layers with a shirt underneath. All such questions were answered with the breathability of cotton or the need for protection while working on equipment, and the topic would no doubt be changed shortly thereafter by one brother or another.
Because no one on Tracy Island ever talked about why Virgil wore flannel unless they were forced to. They all knew why he did it. The topic did not need to be brought up unless in extreme circumstances...where the need occasionally got out of control.
Today was one of those days. One of those days that gave Scott extra grey hairs and brought up memories no one wanted to remember and forced discussions on a topic no one wanted to discuss.
The trigger was obvious. Scott saw it coming and John tried to deflect the need for Virgil in this instance, but as always, Virgil was needed and he went.
The brothers would just have to pick up the mess when they got back.
It was the woman they recovered. The woman wrapped around her little girl. The woman who had died to protect her daughter.
Virgil is a seasoned emergency responder. He has seen it all - horrors that wake him in the night, failures, body parts and screaming victims. But everyone has their triggers and Virgil’s is an old, old one.
The frozen expression on that woman’s face...
Gordon was able to take the little girl. Virgil, still wrapped in his exo-suit stood frozen for a full thirty seconds before his brain rebooted in safe mode. As Gordon bundled the little girl up for transport, he kept an eye on his big brother as he functioned on a rote level. Nothing was said. Virgil performed at his usual excellent level. Two took off as smoothly as ever and delivered the victims to the nearest population centre.
Relay and situation check with Five and they were heading home.
Gordon excused himself from the cockpit and sent a warning to Scott who was also inbound, but from the opposite direction.
There would be soup for dinner. Grandma had hot chocolate prepared.
John was on his way down.
The expression on his big brother’s face was blank as he brought Two into land. No word was said as he brought her to a stop. Fingers prodded controls automatically as she came to a smooth halt in her hangar.
Gordon faffed around attempting to look busy until he could handball Virgil to Scott.
He didn’t have to wait long, the older pilot appearing in the hangar moments later.
At that Virgil did sigh and close his eyes, his hands dropping to his sides. Gordon let the hatch down so his biggest brother could board.
Scott stepped onto Two’s deck and caught his eye. Gordon nodded and hurried past, taking that same hatch down to the hangar floor. Scott would handle the eruption. The rest of them would handle the pyroclastic flows.
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