I liked this; both vivid and believable thoughts for Gordon to be having. Although he does sound as though he may have been up all night (checking on Virgil, perhaps?)... it's the way he keeps drifting off - 'Great, now on top of everything else, I have a craving for some of Grandma’s toffee' - that says to me 'sleep-deprived'. Or - no, I know! Hungry. Definitely starving hungry. It's all the food metaphors he keeps using. Toffee. Apple pies. The boy needs feeding. It's good though, the way you don't pick the obvious way to say something, you try and pick a Gordon way to say it.

I also like the way Gordon picks up on the fact that Virgil would be furious with him, given it was Virgil's idea in the first place. I always thought that Virgil was strangely calm about the whole thing; but it makes sense that the older boys would find it easier to go with the professional detachment - especially given that Scott and Virgil have a lot more rescue experience than the others. But I think you could've given Gordon more of a sense of discipline from his WASP days - I mean, he's probably been in that situation when he had to shot someone, he does know where the Commander's coming from; probably more even than Virgil does, if you think about it. Maybe he'd be more likely to get mad over 'why didn't you radio him to find out if he was friendly or not? Why the hell didn't you even TRY to discover what he was before shooting?'

Not really sure, just a few ideas I'm throwing around after having read it... thanks though, enjoyable read.

t-d

A friend recommended your story to me, and I'm glad she did. I've often thought along similar lines as to how Gordon would have felt in the company of the man who nearly killed his brother, but I don't think I would have been able to express it nearly this well.

You did a great job in showing us Gordon't inner turmoil - the 'professional' side of his characterin conflict with the 'brother'. Well done!

Hi there Ellie,

It has been such a refreshing change to read a true TB storyline, let alone one that realistically develops the characters into how they feel about certain situations. I think you portray Gordon's predicament perfectly, mate. Well done!

All the best and looking forward to more.

mcj

This was a very enjoyable read and captured very effectively a side of Gordon that is all to easily missed. We tend to see him as the light-hearted joker of the family, a character used for some light relief. This story really does highlight the key emotions that Gordon would most certainly have felt and the cruel fact that if he did not co-operate with those who had injured his brother, he wouldn't be fulfilling his job as a member of International Rescue.

Thank you for sharing this with us.

What's great about this is that you wrote it in Gordon's POV. You present us Gordon's darker self and that turns it into an excellent piece of writing. You portray how IR has affected the usually happy-go-lucky Gordon. His thoughtfulness and maturity in dealing with jumbled emotions and roles are the results of your exploration of his character. The fact that you put his sentimentil side (message in a bottle at his mother's death annivesary) just makes it so much better.

This is a great piece fo work. It#s exactly what I could imagine happening after the attack on TB2. Well written.

Great story! I loved the turmoil of emotion you had rolling around in Gordon's mind. We really had a chance to see his more rational side battling with the anger he felt over the fact that the Commander nearly killed Virgil - man that was a fantastic episode, huh? My favourite, actually. And I loved how easily you managed to get into Gordon's mind. He's always been a slightly unexplored character in comparison with the other Tracy's, but I think you handled everything wonderfully. I take my hat off to you.

Great piece of writing. Thanks for posting it, and I hope to read more of your work soon!

I like this a lot. No one has tried to look inside Gordon's head and heart before during this particular episode and how being on the ship that shot down Virgil would give him conflict. It's great how you've balanced his personal feelings and thoughts against what he needs to be and how he knows he needs to be this, but is struggling with it internally.

I think you've really captured his inner voice here; between the angry, hurting brother, and the I-know-what-I-have-to-do operative. I also like how the prankster sneaks in slightly from time to time as when he identified the pun. It's like he can't completely stop that side of him, even in the most dire of circumstances.

Nicely done, Ellie. Thanks for coming back to the fandom.