Thank you all so much for such a friendly welcome into the fandom. And for those of you who followed me from SN- thanks for reading this even though it's about a different group of brothers. I hope whatever your reasons are for reading, you'll enjoy this.

And of course, thanks go to Phx for helping make this better!

Why did I have such a splitting headache?

I moaned, bringing my hand up to massage my temples. It could've been a migraine...except I don't get migraines. But I'd imagine this is what one would feel like if I did. I rubbed my eyes and blinked before looking around the dark room. I was surrounded by pillows, obviously being propped onto my side, but where the hell was I? And why did it feel like there was an elephant sitting on my chest?

Cautiously, I pushed myself up and tried to take a deep breath. Bad idea. I doubled over, holding my head as hacking coughs wracked my body.

"Ow."

I managed to tear one hand away from my head to massage my chest. Obviously, I had been injured in some way... Then suddenly, I knew where I was; I was downstairs in sickbay. Although there was minimal light in the room, a quick glance around confirmed my suspicion.

"Okay..." I coughed, continuing to rub my heavy chest "Think. How did you get here, Gordon?"

I tried to figure it out, but the pounding headache was fighting against me. Since I was in sickbay, I decided to head over to the medicine cabinet for some Ibuprofen. I probably could've used something stronger, but since I didn't know what happened or how I got here, I wasn't about to drug myself.

Slowly, I shifted the weight off the bed and onto my feet. The world tilted and abruptly, I was back on the bed.

I took a deep breath and began choking, again. "Stop...doing...that." Eventually, my coughs calmed. "Okay, let's try this again."

For a second time, I gradually attempted to moved my weight onto my feet. I was still unstable, but at least I wasn't falling down. I began to stagger toward the cabinet.

The world slanted to the left and I crashed into a wall. Maybe I was drunk. That would certainly explain the headache and the fact that I couldn't seem to walk straight.

"Oh well, even if you are drunk, you still need the ibuprofen."

I literally pushed myself away from the wall and fought the uphill battle to get to the cabinet. The floor was tricky since it seemed to have turned itself into a conveyor belt, but eventually I did manage to get to the pills.

"Now that that's taken care of..."

I looked down, for the first time noticing that I was wearing only my swim trunks. Now that was weird. Why would I be drinking and swimming at the same time? I wouldn't. Those two activities certainly did not mesh well.

I moved my arms around, but I seemed to be surrounded by the wet substance. It felt like I was floating on my side, but I couldn't figure out where the air would be. And my legs weren't much of a help since they seemed to have glued themselves together and wouldn't uncurl from my body.

I froze as my memory bombarded me. I had drowned! How the hell was that possible?! I was an Olympic swimmer for Pete's sake! What the hell?! Knowing something had happened, but not being able to remember what it was, I was starting to panic.

Knowing my anxiety would not help, I forced it aside and squeezed my throbbing head. "Okay. Come on, think Gords. Start with where."

If I was in sick bay, it had to either be the pool or the ocean. Based on my flash of memory, I was going to go with the pool.

Scott's purple face appeared in front of me. "You know what?!" I fell backwards.

"Ow, owhow." I had actually fallen onto the floor.

"Well, that's the first time you've ever been literally floored by a memory." I chuckled despite my intense headache. Sometimes, I just crack myself up. With a groan, I pushed myself back onto my wobbly feet and resumed my little trip down memory lane. Had the blood vessel on the side of my face not been threatening to blow up, I might have thought to sit down before continuing with my flashbacks.

So I drowned...or almost drowned as it apparently was...because Scott pushed me into the pool. Okay, still missing something, but okay. Now, why did Scott throw me in?

Blue ink flew through the air, landing in lines across my brothers' brand new Armani suits. My aim had been true and their once bright white button-down shirts now sported uneven blue stripes. I watched as the dark liquid slowly spread, saturating the fabric.

I winced. "Yeah...I can see how they might not have taken that so well."

In my defense, it was disappearing ink and I had been planning that one for months. I think since the very day that my brothers came home with their four-figure suits. It was just too good an opportunity to pass up- and now I had a headache to pay for it.

"Great."

With a sigh, I pushed my way off the medicine cabinet and stumbled to the doors. If I could manage to crawl my way up the stairs- the pain in my skull had receded enough to allow my brain to figure out that walking up the stairs would not end well- then I could at least watch some TV while I waited for my brothers to get home from the party. I shuddered to think how pissed they probably were at me. Sometimes I forget that Scott and Virgil don't always share in my sense of humor.

Feeling somewhat contrite, I hauled my body to the stairs.

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I was quite proud of myself for making it all the way up the stairs and through most of the hallways; granted, that was with me sliding along the wall the whole time, and I was completely out of breath, but whatever. Finally, I was within sight of the family room.

I froze. Somebody was in there. Nobody was supposed to be home. Alan was at school, John was on Five, Kyrano and Tin-tin were in Malaysia, and Brains was at the party with father, Scott, and Virgil. But somebody was on the island, in the house, in the family room!

Then my brain caught up- that was Virgil's voice...and Scott's. Were they back? What time was it?

I bit my lip, knowing that I wouldn't have time to relax before facing the music. Although, there was always the chance that they would've had such a great time at the party that they would've forgotten about the whole ink incident...

With much trepidation, I slid along the wall and into the room. My brothers were standing to my right, holding up one of their suit jackets. I squinted my eyes at it. Unless I was seeing things, which given the way I was functioning was entirely possible, the red satin lining in the jacket appeared to have pink and white blotches all over it. I stifled a cough. I knew that somehow, those splotches had to have had something to do with me.

"Did I do that?" And now I sounded like Urkel. Family Matters...that was a good show. Alan and I used to watch that every day on the classics channel; well, that and He-Man. Alan used to like He-Man, I was more of a Aquaman kind of guy, but then Aquaman didn't rerun on the classics channel.

"What the hell are you doing?!"

I looked up with a start. I had gotten so lost in my thoughts, I had forgotten that my brothers were even there. Apparently my Urkel impersonation had drawn their attention to me. They were staring at me, their faces covered in surprise and shock. It would've been funny...no, it was funny, but I was afraid to laugh. First, I'd start coughing, and second, it would not work towards my gaining their forgiveness.

"Are you insane?!"

I was thinking that it was a definite possibility, but I honestly couldn't figure out what I had done to tip Virgil off to the fact that my mind was not right. Not wanting to tick him off further, I froze. "What?"

He dropped the jacket and stalked towards me. I stared at it confused. He dropped his Armani jacket? Onto the floor?! Maybe he didn't realize it. I pointed to the discarded clothing. "Your jacket-"

He waved it off. "It's ruined anyway."

Oh, that wasn't good. I cringed. "Because of me?"

Finally by my side, Virgil pulled me off the wall and supported me while guiding me toward the couch. "How did you know I couldn't walk?"

He halted and looked at me in concern. "What do you mean you can't walk?"

I was seriously having a slow-day...and I thought I was confused before. Now I didn't seem to understand anything. Why was it that nothing made sense? I tried to explain my lack of coordination. "Everything's all wobbly, like the ground's not straight."

"We should've taken him to the hospital." Scott's voice made me jump.

Virgil shook his head. "There was no fracture. Plus, his lucidity is much better and it's only been a few hours."

My lucidity was better?! I chuckled to myself; I couldn't imagine what I was like before if this was better.

Sitting me on the couch, Virgil crouched down in front of me. "How's the headache?"

I sighed. "A little better than when I woke up. I took two Ibuprofen."

My brother immediately looked at his watch. "When did you take them?"

I could barely walk, he was asking me about time? "Uh...maybe fifteen, twenty minutes ago?"

He squinted and I could tell he didn't like that answer; I must have taken some not too long ago and forgotten. "Just regular Ibuprofen?"

I nodded – and then winced. Nodding? Definitely a bad idea.

Scott spoke as he sat next to me on the couch. "It's been two hours, it shouldn't affect his stomach and it's not enough to overdose."

Virgil seemed to agree. "No more though for at least 24 hours." He looked back at me. "If your head starts hurting again, I'll give you something else."

"Maybe I should clarify. My head's still hurting, it's just pounding less now."

Two sets of eyes rolled before Virgil replied, "Maybe I should clarify. Let me know if the pain goes above a six."

I nodded and leaned back against the sofa. The pain was currently at a four...maybe a five. It was going to be a long night.

"Gordon."

My focus returned to Virgil. "Are you nauseous?"

Honestly, I hadn't been, but as soon as he brought it up... "A little."

"Any double vision?"

I shook my head. "No, just the crooked floor thing, and I'm really confused."

Scott tugged at my arm. "Let me see your hands."

My hands? I tell them I'm confused and Scott wants to look at my hands. Really, was it me? I couldn't imagine that that'd make much sense if I were clearheaded either, but then, I was currently insane, so who was I to judge what made sense?

I offered no resistance as my brother picked up hands and began inspecting. "Something happen to my hands?" Absently, I wondered if he was checking for red paint, but then, I hadn't been doing anything sneaky...I hated being caught red-handed. Once again, I laughed to myself; I just couldn't help it. Even if nobody else got me, I thought I was pretty funny.

"I'm just checking for cyanosis."

That took me a minute, thanks yet again to my brain not running on full power, but then it kicked in: cyanosis is blue lips, nose, finger tips...associated with loss of oxygen. Before I could question it, Virgil was interrogating me again.

"You sound a little out of breath."

Was I? Then I noticed it. Virgil was right, I was panting. "It was a lot of effort to get here. It's a big house." I rubbed at my chest. "Plus, it feels like something's sitting on me." Virgil frowned and Scott gave me my hands back. "Why are you guys here anyway? I thought you'd be at that party."

"You're kidding, right?"

"What do you remember?"

They both spoke at the same time while staring at me as though I was crazy. I suddenly felt as though I was on display. But Virgil wanted to know what I remembered...so this was a good a time as any to see how well the forgiveness would go. Of course, the fact that they never made it to the party was probably not in my favor.

"Uh..." I coughed and slouched down, fearful of their reaction once I reminded them of the 'ink incident'. "I remember squirting you guys with the invisible ink and you not taking it so well..."

Someone must have flipped the on switch in my head because out of nowhere, my brain started putting things together. I remembered the scene from when I first walked in; my brothers inspecting Virgil's jacket and the splotches that were on the lining. Was that caused by the ink? Is that why they couldn't go to the party? I was so dead.

"Do you remember how you hit your head?" Scott asked.

I looked over at him. He looked just as nervous as I felt, which was odd to see because very rarely did Scott show his nerves. I bit my lip. "Not really. I remember shooting you with the ink, you getting really mad and pushing me into the pool, and then it's kind of fuzzy. I think I was drowning?"

Scott's expression morphed from nervous to guilty/upset. I was starting to get very curious about what happened. He looked down at the floor as he explained. "When I pushed you in, you fell at an angle, diagonal across the corner of the pool. You hit your head on the cement right before you went under-"

Virgil added, "You inhaled about half the pool."

I looked between both my brothers as they spoke. Well that explained a lot- the headache, the drowning, my brain in slow-mo, why Scott looked nervous and guilty. Currently, I only had control over one of those things. "Scott, were you aiming for my head to hit the cement?"

His head shot up, horror written all over his face. "No!"

I rolled my eyes. Of course he wasn't, I was trying to make a point. "Then what's with the face? You've thrown me in a zillion times. Heck, given how ticked you were, I probably deserved worse."

Virgil cut in. "No, I really don't think you did. You got seriously hurt, Gords, seriously hurt."

I rubbed my temple; my older brothers definitely did not share my 'all's well that end's' well approach to the world. "It was an accident, Virg. You do know what that means, right? That means the person didn't mean it and therefore you let it go."

Next to me, Scott shook his head, once again staring at the floor. "I'm sorry, Gords." He brought his eyes up to meet mine. "I was angry, but I never wanted you to get hurt. I'm really sorry."

I turned my eyes to the sky. Thickheaded is what they were. I looked back at him and spoke slowly so that he could understand. "Scott...it was an accident. It's okay. No big deal-"

"It is a big deal."

I shot a look at Virgil for interrupting. "It is not. Let it go, Virg. We've all thrown each other in, including you. It could've happened to any one of us."

I heard Scott swallow. "I'm still sorry."

I chose to ignore him. There was only so many times that I was willing to repeat myself. Moving on to a new topic...or rather, an old one, "So, why aren't you guys at the party? And what happened to your jacket, Virg? Was it because of the ink?"

Shaking his head, Virgil stood out of his crouching position and made his way over to a chair. "No, the lining and various parts of the material got bleached by the chlorine."

I pondered that. "Yeah, but how did it get on the lining?"

This time Scott answered. "After I pulled you out, you wouldn't stop shivering. He put his jacket over you."

There was a moment's silence and I had just began to drift off when I heard a rustling behind me. Before I could determine what it was, something soft was covering me. It smelled like my brother Virgil. I sighed and closed my eyes, my shivers slowing in the new-found warmth.

"I think I remember that." Then I caught on to the rest of what Scott had said. I looked at him, surprised. "You pulled me out?"

He nodded as Virgil spoke. "We heard your head smack against the concrete. We waited to see if you were going to swim back up but after a few seconds, your movements were too uncoordinated-"

"You were in trouble-"

"Scott jumped in and pulled you up. You were underwater less than a minute, but with the head injury...I know you think you're a fish, Gords, but no matter how much time you spend swimming, you will never grow gills."

I rolled my eyes. "Yes, thank you, Virgil. So nice of you to point that out to me." Then, Scott's words and my memory combined and something occurred to me, but it couldn't have been possible. "Wait." I turned back to Scott. "Were you wearing your Armani suit when you jumped in?"

He looked back at me as though I was insane. "No, I thought I'd strip down first. You were drowning, Gordon. I wasn't going to wait until you stopped breathing because I didn't want my suit to get wet."

He actually jumped into chlorinated water while wearing his Armani suit. It really did surprise me. And it was ironic- Scott sacrificing his new outfit to save me only to murder me later on for ruining the suit. I cringed as I ventured to ascertain the fate of the suit. "If Virgil's jacket's ruined and it barely touched the water, I'm guessing your suit's-"

Virgil finished it for me. "El garbage."

I bit my lip. "Sorry, Scott."

Leaning his head on his hand, he sent me a weary look. "It's all right." He turned serious. "It was just material. Despite what you may think, I do have my priorities in order."

So I was more important than his brand new suit and father's business party. Who would have guessed? I cleared my throat and had a 'Scott's a lot cooler then I often give him credit for' moment. "Thanks for saving my life, Scott."

He put his hand on my arm and clutched it briefly. I could tell that he was still pretty shaken up by the whole thing. I really did feel bad about that, but since he wasn't listening to me about letting it go, I decided to use his stubborness to my advantage- even if it was wrong of me. "So...does that mean you're not still mad at me about the ink?" My brows raised in hope as I stared at him.

He smiled and shook his head. "You're still an asshole, but I feel too guilty for almost killing you to be mad at you."

I grinned, greatly relieved. "I'll take that."

Scott laughed and I turned to Virgil. "How 'bout you?"

He sent me a devious smile. "I didn't throw you in."

"No guilt for you then. So you're still mad?"

His smile grew and he sat back. "Why should I be mad? I know you keep your word."

My confusion returned full force. I had no idea what he was talking about. A look at Scott indicated that I wasn't alone in my lack of comprehension. Virgil, on the other hand, seemed to be living it up. "Uh, does this ring any bells, 'If the suit's ruined, I'll pay for it.'?"

My eyes widened. That did sound familiar...and it was definitely something that I would say...and Virgil wasn't the type to lie about something like that. I scrunched up my face in discomfort. Shit.

Scott was laughing. "I completely forgot about that." He turned to me. "You did say that."

I nodded slowly. "I believe you. I don't remember it, but I believe you." I cleared my throat, which of course sent me into a coughing fit. Once it had ended – and Scott stopped pounding my back – I slid myself down, once again lying on my side.

"You tired?" Scott asked.

I was. I had been feeling a little stronger, but then the fatigue hit in full force. I rubbed my eyes and questioned Virgil. "So how much was your jacket?"

He stood up from the chair as he answered. "It's the whole suit actually. The pants and tie got ruined carrying you down to sickbay."

Great. I closed my eyes. "So how much?"

"Two thousand."

My eyes shot open and I pushed myself up on one arm. "Are you kidding me?! You spent two thousand dollars on a suit?!"

He shrugged before pointing to Scott. "His was over twenty-five hundred."

I groaned and shut my eyes again, lowering myself back down. "Do me a favor, Scott? Next time just let me drown."

I heard a laugh and felt a blanket draped over me. "It's just money, Gordon. You need to get your priorities in check. Besides, you were the one who decided to shoot us with the disappearing ink."

Honestly? I wouldn't have if I had known the actual prices. But in my defense, "The ink didn't ruin the suits."

"Not directly."

I groaned again and another laugh reached my ears. "You should just be happy Scott kicked off his loafers before jumping in."

"I'm thrilled." I felt my head lifted and a soft pillow placed underneath it.

"How 'bout you just buy me a new suit? It doesn't have to be Armani. Something reasonable this time."

I sighed, close to sleep. "No, I said I'd pay for it, and Virgil's right, I do keep my word."

"We'll talk about it later, when you're feeling better."

I don't think I responded. I was too far gone.

"Go to sleep, Gords. Father should be here by the time you wake up again."

Great- I couldn't wait to explain to him why his sons never reached his big business party...

So there it is, my first Thunderbirds story completed! I was toying with the idea of exploring Scott's point of view of the whole incident, but I'm not sure about it. I'd love for some feedback on that. I am interested in what he saw, but I don't want to be repetetive either... And of course, I'd love to know what you think about this chapter/the story. So please review and let me know! And thanks for reading!