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Virgil sat by the unconscious body of his older brother. Scott’s body was in shock, pushed to the limits from back-to-back rescues and then overwhelmed by hitting the ground far too fast. He had jumped out of Thunderbird One, diving towards the ground in a last ditch attempt to save someone. It wasn’t a surprise to anyone in his family that Scott had ignored his body’s limits and done something incredibly stupid in the name of saving someone else. He did it every week. But normally he had back-up there with him to save him from the worst results of his lack of concern for himself.
But this time he had been on his own, Thunderbird Two just far enough away that all Virgil could do was watch as his big brother dived towards the ground, and when it became clear that his jetpack wasn’t enough to keep both him and the woman he was rescuing up, he had removed the equipment from his shoulders and strapped it to hers. It had slowed his descent enough to keep him from dying on impact, but the human body was not designed for those kinds of maneuvers, despite what Scott and Alan seemed to believe, and the collision had caused serious damage to his body.
So Virgil sat watch, refusing to allow his brother to leave him behind. He and Grandma had spent hours keeping Scott stable, fighting against the multitude of injuries to keep him alive. They had done all they could now, and all that was left was to wait. Scott was strong, and he could fight his way back to them. Hopefully. It was all up to him now.
Virgil hadn’t even realized he was crying until the tears began to land on the blanket covering his brother’s limp form. He loved his brother. He truly did, but the lengths Scott was willing to go scared him. He didn’t know what he would do without him, and Scott seemed not to have ever thought about what losing him would do to the rest of the family left behind. Alan would be destroyed. He had already lost one father, and didn’t need to lose another one. Gordon and John would keep going. That’s what they did. They kept pushing on, no matter what. But it would crush them, even if they wouldn’t admit to it. But Virgil…
Virgil would crumple under the weight. Ever since they were little, he had been the one following after Scott, chasing him as fast as his short legs could carry him. He couldn’t count the number of times their mother had warned him that just because Scott did something didn’t mean he needed to do it too. Not that it changed anything. He was still right behind Scott, no matter what.
He was at his best when he could support, not lead. He lived to help others, to build them up when the world tried to tear them down. He had never wanted the spotlight for himself. He had never wanted to lead. Scott was the leader. Scott was the one who shouldered the burdens to keep them off of his brothers, who was always willing to put aside his wants for his family’s needs, who took foolish risks in the name of saving someone.
Virgil’s shoulders shook as he realized just how close they were to losing his brother. He didn’t think he could survive losing Scott. Fragments of an old song swam into his head, and he whispered them haltingly through the tears.
If you're gonna run, I'll run with you
Scott knew that, right? That no matter what he did, Virgil would be right there beside him.
Falling off the edge of the deep blue
He may be older now, and know that not everything Scott did was the wisest choice. That didn’t change anything. He would follow Scott to the ends of the earth if he needed to, and if that wasn’t far enough…
My mother always warned me when I was young
But if you're gonna jump
If you're gonna jump, I'm jumping too