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Gordon locked eyes with Virgil, forcing his voice to be level despite the pain.
“You know what to do.”
“But, Gordie, I-“
“No.” Gordon said firmly. “Save Alan. Do whatever you have to, just save our baby brother, okay?”
“I can save both of you.” Virgil insisted, the tears already falling. “I’m sure there’s a way to even out the pressure, neither one of you will have to die. I can fix this.”
Even as Virgil spoke the weight on top of Gordon shifted and he gasped, his vision exploding. Distantly he could hear Alan give off a pained shout and if anything that hurt more than the hundreds of tonnes pressing down on him.
“Virg.” Gordon’s voice cracked. “Please. He’s in pain.”
Virgil’s hands hovered above Gordon, desperate to do something to help. No other rescuers were coming, at least not in time to save Gordon and Alan. It was up to Virgil to get them out of here, it was up to him to work out how to get the weight off one of them without crushing the other.
Except there was no way to do that.
Gordon was right; Virgil had to make a decision. Either he got Gordon out of the rubble, making the entire weight of the building crush Alan, or he rescued Alan and damned Gordon to that same devastating fate. Virgil couldn’t consider it a miracle that his brothers had managed to survive the initial collapse, not knowing that he was going to have to choose which one of them to save and which to sacrifice.
Alan was the youngest of them, the most desperate to prove himself to them despite having already earned his place at International Rescue time and again. He was brilliant in the things he excelled at, always one step ahead of the rest of them in terms of crazy plans that always somehow worked.
Gordon had been through the most out of all of them. He had been old enough to remember Mum, had been the one to always look on the bright side of her diagnosis, while still being young enough to believe that there was truely good in the world. Gordon loved so many things, the ocean, the creatures that littered said ocean, Lady Penelope especially when she let him talk about the ocean. Gordon had barely survived the Hydrofoil Crash all those years ago but he had worked so hard since then to get back all of his function and most importantly his humour and his endless smiles.
Virgil loved his brothers dearly but one of them was going to die and he was the one who had to choose. Give Gordon the mercy of not recovering from a second traumatic injury and force Lady Penelope to grieve him? Or let Alan die, knowing that the duty of an older brother is to protect all those who came after, especially the youngest?
No. He couldn’t be the one to make that call.
The building shifted again and Gordon’s eyes squeezed shut, his breath leaving him. Distantly, over the other side of the wall, Virgil heard Alan sob.
“I’ll be right back.” Virgil promised.
Gordon forced his eyes to open, lips cracking into an attempt of a smile. A line of blood rolled down his chin.
“Gordon, you’re-“
“Go to Alan.” Gordon whispered. “I’ll be fine here.”
Virgil felt like he was being torn in two. Alan was still sobbing, no doubt in incredible pain, but Gordon was actively bleeding internally. If Gordon was not freed soon, then… No. He couldn’t think about it.
“I’ll be right back.” Virgil said again, his voice tight. “Just, hold on, okay Gordie?”
“FAB…”
Virgil stood slowly before picking his way through the rubble. He had to be careful not to knock anything, the buildings structure was already failing and one wrong move could make the whole thing collapse on not only Gordon and Alan but on Virgil too and then he wouldn’t be able to help either of them.
He kept glancing back at where Gordon lay until he couldn’t see him anymore, coming around the half collapsed wall to where Alan was. The slab of concrete that was pinning both of them creaked and Virgil felt his heart race, realising that he was running out of time.
Alan was still sobbing, only his head and one arm sticking out from the rubble. Virgil closed the distance between them, kneeling down beside the youngest Tracy.
“Hey Allie,” Virgil said gently. “How are you doing?”
Dulled eyes looked up at Virgil and he wasn’t even sure if Alan could see him.
“Virgil?” Alan croaked.
“It’s me, Allie, I’m right here.”
“Virgil it hurts.”
“I know Bud. I’m going to get you out soon, okay? And then we can all go get ice cream. What flavour do you want?”
“Virgil, I’m scared.”
Virgil’s heart hurt. He reached out, brushing the hair from Alan’s face. Virgil’s hand came back red.
“Everything’s going to be just fine.” Virgil said, hiding the blood from Alan. “Help is on the way.”
So Gordon had suspected internal bleeding and Alan had a suspected head injury and god knows what else. Both conditions were critical, both could be fatal even if they were freed from the rubble.
“Virgil?”
“Yeah Allie?”
“Where’s Gordon?”
Alan had known exactly where Gordon was the last time Virgil had spoken to him, Virgil had explained to both Gordon and Alan that there was the same weight that was on them and if Virgil started shifting things around it risked a total collapse.
Alan had known. He had begged Virgil to save Gordon in the same way that Gordon had begged for Alan to be rescued. Alan had known all of that and yet he barely seemed aware of where he was let alone the predicament he was in. The head injury was worse than Virgil had feared.
He had to get Alan to a hospital. Now.
There was coughing, loud wet coughing, and Virgil felt his blood run cold.
“Alan,” Virgil said. “I’ll be right back, alright? I just need to… See to someone.”
“Don’t go.” Alan begged, his eyes wide.
Alan reached out towards Virgil, frowning when he realised that he could not reach him because Virgil was already standing. A fresh tear rolled down Alan’s face, mingling with the old. There was more blood that stained the floor beneath him now but Virgil forced himself to ignore it.
“Just count to one hundred,” Virgil said. “I’ll be back before you’re done.”
For a moment Alan pouted and Virgil could have almost been fooled into thinking that everything was fine and he wasn’t trapped he was just being a dramatic teenager with an attitude that doesn’t like listening to instructions.
“One. Two. Three.” Alan said, each number a little slurred.
Virgil forced his tired body to move back towards Gordon. Given how quickly Alan was deteriorating, he didn’t have much more time. Gordon was still coughing by the time Virgil reached him.
“Gordie!” Virgil said, skidding on his knees the last few meters to get to him.
Gordon’s whole chin was red now, the colour otherwise drained from Gordon’s face. Gordon’s amber eyes flickered to him. He didn’t even attempt to smile this time, coughing up more blood. Virgil needed to get him on his side to keep him from drowning in his own blood but there was simply no leeway with how Gordon was pinned.
“Go.” Gordon choked, his body trembling. “Get him out of here.”
“Gordon, I won’t leave you.”
“Virg, please, if you wait any longer we’ll both die. Get Alan out. Now.”
Alan or Gordon.
A head injury or internal bleeding.
A brother or a brother.
Either way it was the wrong choice yet he was still going to be forced to choose or else he was going to lose both of them.
Virgil remained frozen in place.
“Virgil,” Gordon sighed, the coughing at last seeming to pass. “If it helps, I can’t feel my legs. If you get me out instead of Alan and it turns out my back is broken again you know exactly what I will do.”
“Don’t say that.”
“It’s the truth.” Gordon said. “There is no choice to make. You are saving Alan and you are saving him right now. But…”
Gordon took in a deep breath and for a moment he flinched and Virgil was certain he was going to bring up more blood. He didn’t. When Gordon continued, he was sounding even weaker than before.
“But I can’t promise you I won’t scream. You need to keep moving anyway, no matter what happens to me, okay?”
“Gordon please… Don’t make me do this.”
“I’m sorry Virg, I guess I was always the annoying one. Tell Penelope I love her, won’t you?”
Virgil wiped away the tear that rolled down Gordon’s face. Then, he lent down, pressing his lips against Gordon’s forehead.
“She already knows.” Virgil assured him. “You did declare it on international television.”
Gordon barked a laugh but the laugh quickly became a cough. Virgil waited by his side until it passed, brushing fingers through Gordon’s hair if only to keep himself distracted from the crimson that stained Gordon’s lips.
“Not my finest moment.” Gordon said. “Though in my defence, I do remember you making a fool of yourself at that same interview. Something about Conrad?”
It was Virgil’s turn to laugh and if he closed his eyes maybe he could fool himself into thinking they were back home, sharing these laughs over a good drink and maybe a video game. Alan would be there too, tackling Virgil mid game if only to make him lose. Scott would be pretending to be too old to enjoy game night while he stayed close by anyway and John might even get enough time down on Earth to come to.
Yes, if he closed his eyes, Virgil could almost imagine it.
But then the rubble shifted again and Gordon bit back a cry, tears mingling with the blood. Alan hadn’t made a sound loud enough for them to hear this time and if anything that worried Virgil more than if he had screamed out.
With one more kiss on Gordon’s forehead, his eyes stinging, Virgil stood and left his little brother for the last time. Every step towards Alan felt harder than the last but he continued on anyway knowing that Alan needed him.
Alan was still awake but he seemed to have only gotten more confused in the time that had passed, blinking slowly and mouth moving in silent words.
“Hold on Allie,” Virgil said. “I’m going to get you out of there. It’s going to hurt, but I need you to trust me, okay?”
Alan’s eyes flicked to Virgil. He blinked. And again. Finally, Alan tilted his head.
“Virgil.” Alan mumbled. “What are you doing in my room? It’s not Christmas yet…”
Virgil crouched down beside Alan, testing where he could lift from. Alan jolted as the weight on top of him shifted, his eyes blowing wide and though Virgil rushed an apology, another shift happened first and Virgil heard a piercing scream from the other side of the wall.
Recognition dawned in Alan’s confused eyes and tears started flowing freely.
“Gordon.” Alan said. “That was Gordon. I have to… I have to help him. I have to, he’s my brother, I have to…”
Virgil gritted his teeth and tried the rubble again. This time Alan screamed too and it was all Virgil could do to keep working, keep moving the rubble without thinking about how he was most likely killing both of his brothers right now. Quickly he moved, quicker still as Alan gave off a new cry, the weight apparently crushing his leg.
Virgil kept working even as Alan begged him to stop, even as Gordon’s screams broke off, even as his own heart pounded against his chest and his mind roared at him that he was hurting them, that he was killing them.
Virgil kept working because there was nothing else he could do.
Clearing the worst of the rubble off of Alan, Virgil gripped Alan’s arms and tugged. Alan screamed, his leg still trapped. Gordon still wasn’t making a sound but Virgil kept working, trying to free Alan’s leg as quickly as possible as the whole building creaked around them.
One final pull and Alan was shaking in Virgil’s, his leg bleeding profusely and his head threatening to roll back, blond hair mixed with red.
“I’m going to lift you up,” Virgil warned.
Even with a warning Alan screamed. How could he not, his leg was badly cut and the whole world was spinning. Alan clutched onto Virgil’s uniform and buried his head into his brothers chest, desperate for the pain to stop.
Virgil carried him outside, apologising with every step, only setting him down when they were fully clear of all the damaged buildings. Alan tilted forward and threw up.
“What’s…” Alan moaned, holding back another gag. “Happening?”
“It’s okay Allie,” Virgil cooed, rubbing circles into his back. “You’ve just got a concussion. And most likely a bit of shock too.”
“Shock.” Alan said dumbly. He blinked, slowly. “There are two of you.”
“Yep.” Virgil said. “That’s the concussion too. Now, Alan, help will be here soon but I’m going to need you to stay awake. Call out to anyone you see, okay? There’s… Something… I need to do.”
“Something.” Alan mumbled.
He was tilting forward again and Virgil realised that he should not risk leaving Alan, not when it was highly likely that he would throw up again and possibly fall into his own sick. But he couldn’t just leave Gordon trapped there, even if Gordon had gone silent. Even if Gordon had made his own peace with it, Virgil had not yet given up on him.
Virgil stood, his legs shaking.
Who was he kidding. He had known what would happen when he made his choice. Alan or Gordon. Not both. It could have never been both.
“Virgil!” A voice called.
How Virgil would ever be able to look his family in the eyes again he simply did not know. As an older brother, he was meant to protect his younger siblings and yet he had let Gordon die in order to get Alan out.
He had failed Gordon.
He had killed Gordon.
“Virgil, look at me!”
Virgil blinked.
“Scott?” His voice cracked.
But Scott couldn’t be here. The signal had been lost in the initial disaster, there was no way Scott could have found them so quickly.
“It’s me, brother. Are you okay? Is Alan alright? Where’s Gordon?”
Virgil’s lip wobbled. In an instant Scott was holding him, a hand on the back of Virgil’s head.
“Just breathe, Virgil,” Scott murmured in his ear. “Breathe.”
“I tried… I couldn’t… If I got him out then it would have crushed Alan and he was begging me Scott, he was begging me to save Alan. He said that he couldn’t feel his legs and you know how hard it had been for him after his accident and he was begging me. There was nothing I could do.”
“Shh, Virgil, it’s alright. Deep breathes, follow me. In, two, three, four. Hold, two three, four, out, two, three, four. That’s it… That’s it Virgil, you’re okay.”
It had been a long time since Scott had held him like this, usually it was Virgil who was offering Scott support after difficult missions. But in the same way that Virgil was an older brother to Alan and Gordon, Scott was Virgil’s older brother and so he would stand here holding him for as long as Virgil needed.
Virgil took in another few deep breathes before he had the strength to pull away.
“Alan has a concussion,” Virgil said. “He’s been vomiting and there’s a deep laceration to his right leg. It didn’t hit his femoral but it’s still pretty bad.”
“Okay.” Scott said. “John, did you get all that?”
When John’s familiar voice crackled over the radio, Virgil wanted to cry again. Somehow communications had been set up again and Virgil had been so out of his depths that he hadn’t even checked.
“I’ve got an ambulance en-route.” John said. “Updating them on Alan’s condition right now. Any word on Gordon?”
Virgil stiffened and Scott set a hand on Virgil’s shoulder, squeezing tightly.
“Call another ambulance,” Scott said. “We’re going to get him out of there.”
Virgil did not need to be told twice, his legs already taking him back towards the collapsed building. Towards his little brother, towards the hope that maybe everything was going to work out after all.
It took another fifteen minutes before the first ambulance made it onto the scene. Alan was extremely confused as they loaded him into it, asking after Gordon while barely understanding why he was so worried about him in the first place. Gordon was always fine and yet Alan distantly knew that something was wrong, distantly remembered him crying out in pain.
According to the paramedics, Alan had been lucky. The excessive amount of blood from his head was from a superficial wound and with rest and fluids his concussion would settle. He would still have to be on the head injury protocol and his leg would have to be operated on but he was going to be okay all the same.
It was another seven and a half minutes after that before they managed to pull Gordon from the rubble. He was unconscious and bleeding internally just as Virgil had guessed but by some miracle he was alive. From preliminary reflex tests on the ambulance, Virgil holding his hand the whole time, it was declared that Gordon’s back was actually not broken though a multitude of tests at the hospital would be needed just to be certain.
Virgil contacted Lady Penelope on the way and she assured him that she would be at the hospital at the earliest possibility. Virgil did not mention how he had chosen to save Alan’s life over Gordon’s and he wasn’t sure if he would ever be strong enough to admit that to her.
He had been lucky this time, both Alan and Gordon had somehow survived despite the fact that not only had Virgil hesitated to make a call he had eventually decided after all that one of them should survive at the sacrifice of the other.
No, while Virgil had been lucky this time that didn’t mean they had gotten out of this unscathed. How he would ever face Gordon again knowing that he left Gordon to die, even at Gordon’s own insistence, Virgil did not know.
All Virgil did know was that he never wanted to be forced to make a choice like that again.