Just a little something for Scott and Virgil as I haven't written for them in TAG verse properly since 'Recharge' from Series One I believe. So enjoy.


At that point, the mountain may as well have rained more snow down upon them.

"You're promoted to chief test pilot."

"What?" At the news Scott actually appeared to be self-destructing, his boots leaving lights tracks and quiet cricks as he stepped across the snow, hands flying towards his head. He'd likely be muttering something.

"FAB, dude. I don't think he heard me. Scott? Scotty! I'm just gonna' talk to him."

"This is nice. We should invite that kid over.

"That would drive Scott up the wall." Kayo was exactly right. He'd been thinking the same. Scott probably already was half way up that wall, or mountain.

"Exactly."He knew what he was acknowledging and just how mean a joke it was, but he simply couldn't help himself. He'd taken the time to watch Brandon's 'B Extreme' broadcast from today and he picked Thunderbird One up, thanks to John and Thunderbird Five managing to relocate the ship. He wasn't going to tell Scott how close it was to tumbling over the edge despite the breaks and stabilisers. Not right now anyway…

He simply couldn't help himself. He'd got so much enjoyment out of watching the broadcast, of seeing and hearing Scott's dismay, the words of the conversation still scrolling through his mind;

"You're like two peas in a pod."

"Yeah, well this pea wants out of the pod and off of this mountain."

How could he possibly give this up?

"Hey, Brandon…" Scott had long disappeared into the silent, sole safety of his beloved Thunderbird One. That would make it all the more surprising. "How would you like to ride with me?"

Everyone had long gone to sleep. Alan was complaining of a headache, Gordon was speechless, John had long disconnected the communications system to avoid a certain teenager constantly trying to call 'International Rescue'.

Scott wanted to sleep the most, yet he still sat on the sofa, lounging now compared to his previous straight backed approach.

Virgil kept watching him out of the corners of his eyes. It was easy enough despite the continued concentration the beautiful instrument in front of him demanded. He'd done it for so long, after all.

Eyes were closing to the gentle lull of the melodies…

The Alps were beautiful and snow was lovely in the winters… for some reason it was now snowing on Tracy Island. He supposed that must be Brains' doing, maybe John's if they'd worked together. Or nature had just decided to be nice and answer a Christmas wish.

Or, maybe right now, horrible. He'd had enough of snow…

But it was oh so lovely and since moving to the Island they'd seen so little of it. Despite having it so close to their reach, they never used the Thunderbirds for jolly trips, so that knocked the option out a little…

Was Virgil actually going to try and throw a snowball at him? When would he learn not to call his name in warning?

"Scott?"

He jumped up straight as Virgil called his name from before him. The keys of the piano had fallen silent with not even an echo. So the middle child had been there a while then… so he'd… oh…

Virgil sat down beside him, crossing one leg over the other and leaning back onto his arms.

"You're tired."

"No."

"You were asleep."

"You were throwing snow." Virgil looked briefly confused as he realised what he'd said and tried – and clearly failed from Virgil's muffled laughter – to fix it. "I mean playing piano."

"I stopped. I love it, but two hours straight can hurt your fingers."

Two hours. Had Virgil really been playing that long? He'd lost complete track of time since Kayo had sneakily called Lady Penelope and Parker to do them a rather large favour…

One they wouldn't have needed to call in if someone hadn't brought him here. Oh he knew. It was obvious by the guilty glint in the third Tracy's eyes. It was a successful yet failed plan he was sure. Virgil couldn't have known the havoc it would bring.

"Why?"

"You know why." Virgil was assuming Scott was singing from the same song sheet. Of course, they were. Brotherly connection.

"It worked. It had already worked. It was-"

"The last straw."

They did that. Finishing each other's sentences.

He just hummed in reply. "When did you realise?"

"Before we landed."

"Whoa."

Virgil only nodded. He could remember that flight clearer than his Mechanic caused crash. He'd pegged that as the worst flight of Thunderbird Two as well… now it was only second.

"In Thunderbird Two? Epic!" After that, Brandon barely ceased running his mouth. "So, you're Virgil right? Cool. I'm Brandon Berenger. You've probably heard of my blog right? B Extreme. It's got a lot of followers. I say quite a lot, I mean millions. I'm pretty cool. I thought 'Hey Brandon,' the coolest thing ever would be to travel in a Thunderbird. The bigger and the greener the better. And you know what, Virgil? I'm about to do that right know. B Extreme."

Yes, he talked far, far too much. He didn't quite know for certain, but he was tempted to say he would have preferred to rescue Lemaire.

"He talk you to death?"

"You could say."

Scott knew what that meant. Virgil knew he did too. They had that sort of brotherly connection which allowed it.

"Gordon didn't last long."

"Or Alan."

"At least they didn't have to be stuck on a mountain with him."

"Sorry about that. John didn't even chance it."

"We'll get him for that."

"How? He's not exactly reachable."

They'd figure something out. They both knew that.

"Sorry, Scott."

"Don't mention it." He exhaled deeply. "I think I've climbed down the wall now anyway."

"I think you fell, is more like it." Scott elbowed him lightly. It made him smile, the chuckle long waiting finally escaping his lips. They stayed there for a while. They both knew sleep wouldn't happen tonight. Scott would eventually get to his feet and check on Alan and Gordon. Lady Penelope would at some point let them know if Brandon made it home without Parker throttling him (she could remain remarkably calm of course), and morning would roll around sooner than they knew. It gave them plenty of time to start thinking on how to get John back anyhow…

"You know, you and Brandon definitely weren't peas in a pod."

"Oh don't remind me." Scott's hands instantly flew to his head, his body leaning back into the comfort of the sofa. They'd stay here and – should sleep come at all – sleep here. They'd wake with cricked necks and bad backs, though it was hardly the first time.

"It was a mean trick though, Virgil."

"Come on, Scott, it would have been hilarious."

"For you, yes. That's if he hadn't wound up your cogs so soon." The eldest paused. "Or Gordon, or Alan…"

"Kayo made the right choice to take a trip."

They silently knew their agreement lay with the thought they should have done the same and left the youngest with the kid. They both also knew they never would have.

"At least he didn't damage the piano."

"Be real, Scott. You know it's not extreme enough."

"I'd have been extreme with him if he had."

"Not like the experience he just had."

To anyone else it might seem like they were on separate thought tracks, but they knew. They always knew what they were on about whether it seemed crazy or no. And that's why Virgil knew what was coming after the nice, long, peaceful silence in which Scott had relaxed and closed his eyes. His breathing had told the younger he was still awake. And so, it was easy to predict.

In five, four, three, two, one…

"By the way, Virgil, what happened to Thunderbird One's side?"

Oh no. He'd really hoped – but known it was unlikely – that the minor scratch would go unnoticed.

How could he put this now…?

Maybe they could use their intuition, because surely Scott did already know.

Scott and Virgil.

They were peas in a pod.

The pod was called Tracy Island.