Chapter Text
It was currently no secret that Alan hated to be babied by his older brothers. He was in that awkward teenager phase of wanting to be independent and fighting off the hands trying to ruffle his hair, or grab him into a hug and frowning at the babyish nicknames given to him by his brothers. The only one who could get away with any of that was his Grandma, but none of the Tracy brother’s could ever deny her anything. Except for tasting her cooking. So it came as a shock to both Virgil and Gordon when they entered the den after a rescue to find Alan sat sideways on Scott’s lap, the eldest brothers arms wrapped tightly around the youngest’s middle as his head rested on Alan’s chest, with Alan’s arms laid loosely around his shoulders, and resting his chin atop Scott’s head.
Alan turned his head to them with a glare as he whispered harshly, “Don’t you dare wake him up. I’ve only just gotten him to sleep.” Scott’s sleep was sacred. All the brothers knew this. If they ever found Scott asleep, they left him there to get as many hours as he could before he woke up or was woken up by the alarm being sounded. So how Alan had managed to end up in this predicament was anyone’s guess.
Gordon held his hands up in surrender, before grabbing his phone to take a photo for future blackmail and plopped himself down in a chair as Virgil frowned and disappeared into the kitchen, coming back with a medscanner to run over Scott.
“Virge, he’s fine, just exhausted. So just….leave him be for a while.” Alan was almost pleading quietly, and looking at the results of the scan, it just confirmed what Alan was telling him.
“Alright….alright, but we’re talking about this later.”
“Sure, Virge, but not right now.” Alan agreed, before turning his attention back to Scott when his breathing started to hitch, stroking his hair and murmuring softly to him until he relaxed into a peaceful sleep again. Virgil took in the scene before him, at the roles of the oldest and youngest being reversed. It was always Scott that managed to chase away Alan’s nightmares, the only one who could get him to sleep again, with the rare exception of John being able to manage the feat on occasion. And yet here Alan was, making sure Scott wasn’t plagued by nightmares and actually had more than three hours of consecutive sleep.
“What are we going to do if the alarm goes off?” Gordon asked quietly, knowing that nothing would wake the sleeping brother faster than the emergency alarm sounding.
“John has been alerted to the situation and will send any alarms to your watch monitors. Scott and I are off rota for a while….” Alan explained quietly, carding a hand through Scott’s hair, which was falling in soft waves, and not slicked back with product in its usual style.
“Let me know when he wakes up.” Virgil said as he moved to go put the medscanner away. “I need to check on him properly, make sure he’s not dehydrated or anything.”
Alan didn’t even respond with words, just nodded at him and went back to making sure Scott didn’t wake, and glared at Gordon taking yet more pictures for his hoard of blackmail that Alan was going to make him delete later. This wasn’t funny. It had taken him a long time to get Scott to sleep after John had asked him to check on their eldest brother after trying to call him and witnessing Scott acting strangely by dad’s desk. He knew he would have to talk to his brothers about it at some point, but it could wait until Scott had managed to get a decent amount of sleep. Yeah. It could wait until then.
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It was late afternoon by the time Scott stirred, and by that point, Alan’s legs were numb and he was sure Scott’s would be the same, but he didn’t care. He stroked his hair softly as Scott blinked his eyes awake, and yawned, giving a soft groan as he tried to straighten his back up.
“Alan?” He asked blearily, frowning slightly when he realised what position they’re in.
“Hey.” Alan replied softly with a small smile. “Are you feeling any better?”
“Any better?” Scott looked confused and Alan realised that he didn’t remember what had happened before, and he wasn’t sure he wanted to remind him either.
“Yeah… you were pretty out of it earlier. You’ve slept for a couple of hours. And by the way, Virge wants to see you in the medbay.” Alan gingerly untangled himself from his big brother, stretching out his limbs and wincing as they cracked, stepping away until he felt a hand reach out to grab him.
“Woah there, hold on a minute, Al. Are you okay?” Scott asked, big brother mode becoming engaged as he felt the uneasiness of his younger brother. “You seem a bit rattled.”
Alan gave him a quick smile and nodded, trying to put Scott at ease. “I’m fine, Scott, I promise. Go see Virge, or he’s going to drag you there himself, okay?”
“You promise you’re okay?”
Alan mentally sighed and walked back over to Scott to hug him tightly. He felt like this reassurance was more for Scott’s peace of mind than anything else, and he was going to oblige after what he had witnessed today. “I promise, Scott, I’m okay. I am okay.”
Scott relaxed a little in Alan’s hold and nodded, so Alan let go and stepped back again, giving Scott space to stand up himself and stretch himself out. “If you’re sure. Alright. Why does Virge want me in the medbay?”
“Cause he caught you sleeping without having to be strapped to the bed and forced to?” Alan replied cheekily, quickly sidestepping the hand coming up to cuff him.
“Very funny, Al.” Scott grumbled, but headed towards the lift. “Fine, fine, I’m heading down.”
“FAB, Scott, I’ll let him know to expect you.” When Scott left the room, Alan flicked on his com to talk to John. “I just want to let you know that Scott is awake and currently heading towards the medbay.”
“Thank you, Alan.” The relief in John’s voice was evident, and Alan nodded in response.
“You’re welcome. Can you let Virgil know that he’s on his way down?” He asked, and now John’s worried look was being aimed at him.
“I can do that… Are you okay, Alan?”
“I’m fine, John. I just. Need some time to myself for a bit. I’ll talk to you later.” Alan cut off his com and sighed. He just needed a few moments to himself.