#did you really think i would kill yancy AND raleigh off in this one?!

[rockthistowninsideout]

DigiWeek 2021

Day 5 - Crossover

Pacific Rim AU

continuing from Digimon OTP Week 2017 and this fic. (Finally!)

   “What are you doing here!?”

   “You might remember that this is my Jaeger, too.”

   “No, I don’t remember that!”

   “Well, then your mind is even harder up than I thought. Little wonder we cannot pilot anymore.”

   “Oh, so you’re saying that this is my fault now?”

   “Of course it is! It’s certainly not mine.”

   “Are you kidding?! It was not me who charged at that Kaiju even though the Marshal told us to stand clear.”

   “Since when do you follow orders? And if we hadn’t attacked, the Nisga'a Nation wouldn’t exist anymore. Or at least would be severely damaged.”

   “Yeah, but you know what has actually been severely damaged? Flaming Eagle, our Jaeger! They’re still not done repairing him. You’ve saved a stretch of coast-”

   “- which is what we’re here for!”

   “- but now we’re unable to participate in any other mission!!”

. . .

   “Sir, can you not just order them to get their shit together?” Ranger Raleigh Becket asked Marshal Edwards as they watched Rangers Daisuke Motomiya and Miyako Inoue quarrelling in front of their Jaeger.

   Again.

    Raleigh’s brother and piloting partner Yancy giggled behind him and drew a line on a black board that was covered in chalked tally charts. “Argument number 165”, he announced with glee.

    The Marshal rolled his eyes. “This is not funny, Ranger Becket. If Flaming Dragon is ready to go again after mendings are finished but its crew isn’t then I don’t know what we are supposed to do. We need to be at our full force if we want to win this war. And this is not about wanting, it’s about needing to win!”

    “And if we just lock them up in a padded room and only let them out there when they live in harmony again?”, Yancy suggested.

    Marshal Edwards shot him a look. “These two are so stubborn, they’d probably rather starve than reconcile.”

    “I can’t believe that they really have the highest drift compatibility in the entire Jaeger program. You would never guess that when you saw this for the first time”, Raleigh said and indicated them still bickering.

    “If I hadn’t seen the stats, both about compatibility and kill count, myself I would have never let them on the premises. Not even our neurologists can explain this divergence.” The Marshal pinched the bridge of his nose. “And no, Becket, ‘opposites attract’ is not an appropriate explanation”, he said as Yancy was about to open his mouth.

   He snapped it shut again and looked at his brother. Raleigh just shrugged.

   Suddenly the Kaiju siren started blaring. “Dear mother of God, please no!”, the Marshal muttered before strutting away to the stairwell leading up to LOCCENT. Raleigh and Yancy had started to move as well, in the opposite direction towards the Drivesuit Room.

__

   “Sir, we have lost Lady Danger!” the coordinator yelled but he didn’t need to state the obvious. The entire Shatterdome had watched the gruelling battle between G. Danger and Knifehead. How Yancy Becket had been torn out of the cockpit and Raleigh had ended the fight alone before the radar connection had been cut off and Lady Danger had staggered away into the fog.

    Marshal Edwards’ face was a motionless mask. Underneath, grief, anger, and denial were fighting a battle that none of the emotions could win. He gripped the back of the chair the coordinator was sitting on before issuing through gritted teeth “Dispatch the search party!” An armoured squad in helmets swarmed out down below.

    “Sir!”, the coordinator piped up again.

    Marshal Edwards closed his eyes, inhaling for a moment, before answering “Yes?”

   “The Kaiju sends life signals again. I’m afraid it’s still alive.”

   For a split second, the Marshal thought it to be a sign, help from above, to solve the issues between Rangers Motomiya and Inoue. But he quickly suppressed the idea again, it was spit on the wet graves of the Becket brothers. He leaned to the intercom and bellowed “Flaming Dragon, prepare for launch! This is an order! Two Pilots have died fulfilling their duty to protect humanity from the Kaijus and I expect you to honour their memory by suiting up and finishing the fight they’ve lost their lives in!”

   Down on the ground, Daisuke and Miyako stilled. Their first response, incidentally in unison, had been to shake their heads and talk back, simply out of habit, but then they knew better. The Becket brothers were dead, one probably eaten by a Kaiju and the other swallowed by the ocean. It would be a disgrace and go against every reason they had enlisted for if they refused service now. So instead of being uncooperative, they set off to the Drivesuit simultaneously. The J-Techs hurried to suit them up. The Pilots averted eye-contact with them, out of shame, while they were strapped into the Rig.

   Suddenly their antics, their constant bickering and arguing felt childish, unnecessary and completely out of place. This was a war they were fighting in and yet they had decided to put their own meagre disagreements before the welfare of humanity. When the female AI announced that both hemispheres were calibrated, Daisuke and Miyako looked at each other.

   “Ready for the Big Drop?”, Daisuke asked, in different circumstances he would have produced his trademark bright smile.

   “Ready when you are”, Miyako retorted before saying “I’m sorry.”

   “Me too. Now let’s do this.”

   Miyako nodded. At this point she would have added her cheerful “Bingo!” but right now it felt inappropriate. Instead she said “For the Beckets!”

   “For the Beckets!”

__

   Yancy and Raleigh Becket were sitting upright in separate hospital beds, watching incredulously and in awe through the window between the infirmary and the doctor’s office how Daisuke and Miyako were bantering. What was so baffling to them was the fact that they apparently were sharing friendly banter. They were laughing - the Beckets could clearly imagine how loud it was right now in the office as both Japanese pilots had boisterous laughs - and hitting each other amicably on the shoulder every once in a while.

   When the Marshal entered the infirmary, the brothers turned to him. “What happened to them?”, Yancy asked.

   Marshal Edwards shrugged. He looked tired but relieved. “Some say it’s a miracle, others insist on common sense. I’m just happy that the drama is over now.”

   “Oh, I wouldn’t be so hasty”, Raleigh said and indicated the window. Yancy and the Marshal followed his index finger and groaned at the same time because apparently the mood between Daisuke and Miyako had turned sour again. They seemed to get physical soon if it wasn’t for the doctor who’d stepped between them.

   “That was a short-lived miracle”, Yancy remarked.

   Marshal Edwards just sighed.

[inthedrift]

More Chaleigh headcannons

Because I’ve been spreading a lot of sad recently so

Who hogs the blanket? - Chuckles, Raleigh doesn't feel the need for the blankets half the time, he grew up in Alaska for gods sake, a blanket in Sydney might just finish him off. Also Chuck gives off the heat of a dying star and is always adamant about wrapping himself around Raleigh's back and causing him to almost expire from heat exhaustion. So it's less Chuck hogging the blanket and more Raleigh fighting to have the thing as far away from him as possible

Who eats the others uneaten pizza crusts? - Rals, he spent 5 years on rations, he doesn't let anything go to waste. Even before that when Richard bailed and Dominique got sick they didn't have a lot of money so every bite of food counted. They get plenty of food now but it's still a hard habit to break if its on a plate in front of him he's not gonna leave it.

Who is more likely to cry over a sad book or movie? - Honestly I think Chuck, like he's this emotionally walled off kid effectively. And he probably didn't get to watch or read a lot of stuff and when he did it will have been engineering books or something. So Raleigh comes along and he had a childhood before the kaiju attacked he was 15 before the world even started ending, he didn't even enlist till he was 17 so like he spent his childhood with films and books. So he picks these films that Chuck missed that he has to see and some of them are sad, like super sad and Chuck has spent so long bottling in any emotion that wasn't anger or smugness and Raleigh makes him feel safe so these films the sort of shock the tears out of him. And at first he's embarrassed but Raleigh is always there always comforting and honestly sometimes it's more beneficial than their mandatory therapy sessions as he feels so much safer crying about a film with Raleigh and just being normal.

Who talks smack while playing video games? - Both of them. Are you kidding me? Raleigh is a middle child like, he probably grew up with a wii, bet you he tried to beat Yancy to death with a wii remote once for blue shelling him (they hurt, my brother broke my finger with one). So like Raleigh was raised on smack talk and video games, but Chuck who no doubt missed out on a lot especially like COD or stuff, is a competitive and contrary little shit. No way is he taking anything lying down, bet you he starts teabagging Rals the first time he kills him even though he has no clue what it is or that it has a name. Also bet you they've fallen out/actually had a physical fight over Mario Party just saying.

Who sings along with the radio? - Raleigh probably, like again he was old enough when the war started. So most songs that come on the radio he will know and he'll take great delight in pissing Chuck off by singing at the top of his voice and out of tune (he can sing in tune, fairly well tbh, but were is the fun in that). Chuck surprises him though, like ok he doesn't know any of the modern stuff but he knows like everything 80's and some vague 90s stuff and Raleigh is kinda shooketh, and the kid is adorable when he knows a song on the radio and he just can't help himself singing along, (Raleigh won't say it outloud but he's not a great singer, but he loves Chuck's voice so he couldn't give a shit) also and Chuck would kill Raleigh if anyone else ever found out but Chuck knows musicals. Like he doesn't know movies but Angela loved musicals and Chuck has a playlist - he listens to it in the shower.

Who would accidentally set the kitchen on fire while cooking? - Chuck. Raleigh had a sick mother, who lets be real he would have had to cook for as Yancy must have been working to bring some money in other than any benefits or sick pay or whatever. So Raleigh is like a super competent cook, maybe he hasn't done it in a while but it's ingrained into him. Chuck on the other hand he hasn't lived anywhere but military bases and shatterdomes since he was 12. Food just kinda appears, like he tips up to the mess hall and there it is. So the first few times it will go as expected the food isn't great, but it's edible like Chuck is too much of a perfectionist to fuck up that badly. But then he'll get a little confident a little bit cocky and will try and do two things at once and before you know it he's put a towel on a burner ring and all the sprinklers go off.

Who would throw the other into a pool? - Raleigh? Again he's a younger sibling, I feel things like that come from either having a sibling or high school shenanigans and seeing as Chuck has experienced neither he just wouldn't consider it. But Raleigh decides it would be fucking hilarious to grab Chuck off the stretcher he's been reading on by the pool bridal style and it takes Chuck a second to react first by dropping his book followed by an "Oi, Ray, fuck do you think you're doing" and before you know it the kid has been dropped in the deep end. Queue all out war, Raleigh still has a tan line in the shape of a dick on his back.

Who shops for groceries? - Raleigh, Chuck comes along and just throws garbage in the cart like he'll 100% see how many snacks he can sneak in there before they get to the check out. If Raleigh sent him alone they would have exactly nothing with any nutritional value.

Who kills the spiders? - Max, Raleigh is scared of them like not to the point where he'd die if stuck in a room with one, but he isn't getting close enough to the fucker to kill it. And Chuck well Chuck is deathly afraid, like would happily just burn the house to the ground and leave kind of afraid. He trained Max to eat spiders, because if there's even one in the room with him he can't sleep, can't focus on anything but where the thing is. Like he's slept in the mess hall a few times to avoid a spider.

Who is the morning/night person? - Raleigh is a golden retriever personified, he's all baby Anna from Frozen "The sky's away so I'm awake", so like it will be 6am and he'll be raring to go and he's not exactly quiet or tactful when he wakes up, and Chuck will be jostled awake and every morning without fail Chuck will have to debate whether he punches Raleigh hard enough in the throat that he passes out. Chuck has learned however that Raleigh will sleep in later if he's well and truly fucked the night before so that's usually his tactic, alternatively if Chuck can wake up long enough to give Raleigh a good blow job he tends to go straight back to sleep, so yeah Chuck is certainly not a morning person and has learnt to use sex or violence as a way to get more sleep.

Who proposes? - Honestly I think it would probably be Chuck, like Raleigh probably wouldn't even consider it. He loves Chuck like with his whole being, but Raleigh's experience of marriage is a father who had a whole other family and bailed on his mom so he's not exactly the sort of person who would consider it the ultimate declaration of love. But Chuck his happy memories were from when his mum and dad were together and it was the three of them and Herc still loves Angela so of course Chuck would see it as a way to show Rals he loves him and Raleigh would be so shocked and awed that Chuck would want to saddle himself with his has been ass and of course Raleigh says yes.

Who forgot to put the cat dog outside before sex? - I mean Raleigh probably as Chuck has experienced that awful feeling of eyes on him during sex only to turn and see Max staring woefully at him from across the room probably way more times than he wants to admit but Raleigh. Raleigh has probably never had a pet and has never had to worry about being watched by anything other than another human which they tend to remove themselves from the situation fairly quickly when they've grasped what's about to happen. So yeah Raleigh would forget and they'd be happily cracking on as it were and Max instead of just watching in that creepy unblinking way that pets tend to have he'd come up and actually lick any part of either body he could reach standing on his hind legs and Raleigh would actually fucking squeak and Chuck would be laughing to hard to focus on much of anything else for a good while. So they don't forget anymore.

Who posts vines of the other doing embarrassing shit? Chuck? Like I can see Raleigh doing more embarrassing shit, like tripping over constantly or just being a fucking dork and Chuck just films it. But Raleigh is 100% the more likely one that if Chuck did trip over or he caught him singing Les Mis or something to post it somewhere. He’s also the one that’s gonna get a bo staff to the head for the trouble but he’d probably only regret it when he’s lying in bed with the lights off because he has a minor concussion and the light makes his head want to explode but at least Chuck is stroking his hair and hasn’t turned them back on so that probably counts as a win.

Who breaks the most phones? Raleigh probably. I see him as being the clumsy one but if Chuck is mad he’s so gonna launch phones at things like walls or people. But I think Chuck accepts that failing and would have a proper case on his phone, Raleigh on the other hand is always adamant that he won’t drop this one cue two weeks later having to admit to Chuck that the screen is in a million pieces and the battery might be leaking as he dropped it off one of the engineering decks.

Who thinks they can do something really well even though they can't? Neither? Like Raleigh isn’t that sort of cocky, he would never think he’s good at something that he isn’t - he knows what he excels at and is perfectly accepting of what he can’t do. And Chuck honestly I think he’s pretty good at a lot of things and he’s far too proud to do something that he’s bad at and wouldn’t be willing to make a fool of himself in front of others. So I think they both know what they can and can’t do

Who is more likely to get kicked out of the bed? Rals 100%. Like he’s an eternal sunshine child, he goes from 0-60 in the blink of an eye and Chuck is not into the whole being awake before a reasonable hour unless a goddamn kaiju is here and about to fuck shit up. So I don’t doubt that if Raleigh is being either too noisy or too handsy before Chuck is either willing to wake up or willing to have morning sex before having a nap then I can bet Raleigh has either been pushed/kicked out of bed forcefully onto the floor, punched somewhere usually the throat or his balls or Chuck has actively tried to smother him either with a pillow or just his own body. That and I’d put money on Raleigh taking great delight in coming back early from being outside maybe just taking max for a wee and putting his cold hands/feet against Chuck’s skin, and Chuck has just removed him not just from the bed but the entire room and left him out in the corridor until he’s ready to get up.

[dannilea]

New Fic!

Title: Anchor in the Dawn

Fandom: Pacific Rim

Chapter 1/?

Summary: Raleigh Becket has a problem, and frankly, he blames Mako Mori. Five years on the destined to fail Wall doing everything he could to just not think (not about Yancy, or Knifehead, or Jaz, or the future beyond trying to snag another shift) means he is completely unprepared for the end of the Kaiju War. He also, incidentally, is not prepared for Mako, Tendo, and Herc refusing to let him continue avoiding his problems.

or;

Mako Mori has a problem and that problem is a co-pilot with no sense of self-preservation (and a severe underestimation of his ability to move on from a war they won)

@itsonlyforever82 and @3fluffies here’s that monstrer fic ya’ll have been encouraging.

---

Falling, Raleigh knew, was easy. He’d told Mako that anyone can fall, and he wasn’t wrong, and he wasn’t lying. All he had to do after he ejected her (because he couldn’t lose her like he lost Yancy, ripped from his mind panicking and screaming and desperate because even in his last moments all Yancy wanted to do was protect Raleigh) was fall into the breach and let Gipsy (his Jaeger, every bit a part of him as Yancy and Mako) blow and destroy that link between the Anteverse and Earth. It had been the easiest thing he’d done since Knifehead.

What Raleigh didn’t know how to do was stop falling. The only thing keeping him from falling right through the bottom of the chopper and into the ocean (and into and endless void he’ll never be able to forget) was the weight of Mako leaning against him, head on his shoulder, with his hand clasped in hers. Raleigh hadn’t felt this grounded since Yancy died and he didn’t really know what to do with that besides laying his head on top of Mako’s, eyes closed, and just listening to her breathe and reminding himself that she was there, that they were both fine and Mako wasn’t gone (even though he’d felt her fade from the drift, gradual and slow as her oxygen ran out and all part of him could think was painYancy’sgoneRaleighlistentome and ohgodohgodnotagaincan’tdothisagain).

It was, of course, in this moment of pseudo-peace that Raleigh had tricked himself into, that one of medics approaches and roused both him and Mako.

“Alright, Rangers. Heads up, you need to stay awake until we get back to the dome for a full assessment,” the medic said.

Raleigh cracked open his eyes reluctantly but didn’t lift his head. Mako squeezed his fingers a little tighter and he squeezed back. It may have been awhile since he had to deal with post-combat procedures, but he remembered how they went. There hadn’t been time after the double event in Hong Kong for a thorough check-up by the medical staff- just enough to tell which Rangers were fit for combat- and then there was the triple event and Operation Pitfall. Raleigh hadn’t thought he was going to make it out of Gipsy Danger, let alone all the way back to the Shatterdome for a full medical and psych evaluation. He was, honestly, very aware that if it hadn’t been for an imminent apocalypse he would not have been cleared to step into the conn-pod by any psych team on the planet, let alone in the PPDC.

Raleigh was not looking forward to talking to the psychs.

Mako, sensing that her co-pilot was not as settled as he was letting the crew believe, shifted and squeezed his hand again, tucking herself closer to his side. In the ghost-drift, he could feel her reassurance and echoic grief. With a jolt, he remembered that she had lost a father today, and now was not the time to lose himself in his own grief and lingering panic. Mako needed him here in the present, not lost in the past trying to fight a long dead monster.

Maybe Raleigh didn’t know how to anchor himself to the present, but he could anchor Mako.

Raleigh had known medical was going to be a nightmare. Shortly after the copter carrying him and Mako had landed, they were hustled out of their armor and drive suits and dropped into the improvised double bed that usually appeared for pilots dealing with post-combat drifting. Raleigh was positive he and Mako had been poked, prodded, scanned, and tested with everything the doctors had on hand, as well as a few things they probably had Newt come up with.

Mako, able to read him scarily well after only drifting three times, leveled him with a Look that had him swallowing the rather scathing reply he had to the doctor’s latest round of questions. Raleigh knew he was pissing the doctor off by refusing to let go of Mako, but honestly, Raleigh had already had one person die in his head and with the number of times he’d had to relive the memory in the last few days, they were lucky he wasn’t  curled around Mako hissing at anyone that came too close like a demented cat-lizard

(Okay, so the insomnia leads to binge watching some weird shit and maybe his similes and metaphors were little out there).

After someone insisted on trying to separate them again Mako leveled them with the smile – the one Raleigh knew from experience leads to an ass-kicking.

“We stay together,” she told them, the perfect picture of cooperation and calm and absolute steel, “And if you have a problem with it, get the Marshal.”

Raleigh was pretty sure he was in love.

“Keep it up with the heart eyes, Becket Boy, and you’re gonna be making me rich!”

Raleigh grinned and turned to face the door, “Tendo! They finally let you go

Tendo strolled up to the bed, “Yup. What’s left for me to do in the post-combat investigation can wait until we all get some rest,” he said with a pointed look at Raleigh. Raleigh honestly was not very surprised that Tendo already knew about his issues sleeping. Shatterdomes, Raleigh had learned, have better gossip vines than high school. When he couldn’t sleep he resorted to four things, generally: working out, reading, Rosetta Stone, and watching really weird late-night programming. Raleigh had attracted audiences while working on the Wall in Alaska (because apparently it was interesting to watch even washed up Rangers run through Jaeger Bushido drills) and he hadn’t really slept since coming to the Hong Kong Shatterdome. Raleigh had bumped into plenty of the late shift personnel and figured that one or all of them had to be Tendo’s source of information.

“Resting wouldn’t be much of an issue if they’d stop trying to make us separate,” Raleigh grumbled. He was exhausted and wanted to sleep but was, on a rather large level he was trying not to acknowledge, a bit terrified that if he let go of Mako one or the both of them were going to fall away and he was going to feel it again – that burningpanicourmindwasrippedinhalf and yancyyancyyancycan’tfindyouohgod. He knew having Mako’s mind torn from his – not the gradual fade out that happened in the breach when her oxygen ran out, but the full on rippingtearingshredding he felt when Yancy died – would kill him.

Mako turned from the nurse she was talking to and raises an eyebrow at Raleigh. He was aware he sounded a bit like a petulant child, thanks Mako.

“We’ll be resting soon, Tendo,” she said and Raleigh feels a bit guilty. Mako, unlike her co-pilot, does not suffer from insomnia and she looked exhausted. He could feel her desire to sleep through the ghost drift but he also felt her stubborn refusal to sleep and leave him halfway to panicking.

Raleigh was sure there was something to say or do here, but it turned out purposefully isolating yourself as much as possible for five years kind of destroys your people skills.

“You better. I remember how stubborn this one gets when he doesn’t want to do something, so let me know if you need any help, Mako.” Tendo responded

“Hey!” Raleigh objected, mildly offended.

Tendo rolled his eyes, “Raleigh, I’ve known you since the academy. I worked in LOCCENT for all of your engagements, and you can be a stubborn asshole when you want to be.”

Raleigh really couldn’t protest again – he knew Tendo was right and with the way Mako was smirking at him, she knew it too. Raleigh just sighed and leaned into Mako. He was pretty tired too and could probably sleep for once. He did not remember the medical crew being this much of a pain in the ass five years ago. He was pretty sure he’d fallen asleep sprawled across Yancy before and nobody so much as blinked. He had no idea why they were trying to get him and Mako to different beds now. Also, from what he remembered that was against post-combat protocol for Jaeger pilots.

Which even after five years, Raleigh was pretty sure that hasn’t changed.

Probably.

Raleigh frowned at the doctor he, Tendo, and Mako had been ignoring, “Isn’t it against regulation for pilots to be separated after combat?”

The doctor, a man in his 40’s, if Raleigh had to guess, pursed his lips and responded, “Usually, yes, but neither you or Ranger Mori are showing signs of drift shock. Actually, you’re both remarkably...settled for pilots that are barely three hours out of combat.”

Mako gave the doctor her best are-you-an-idiot look, and Raleigh’s face fell into something entirely nonplussed. Tendo regarded the doctor with a look of exasperation and told him that he was possibly the stupidest man he’d ever met.

“You’ve got two generally reserved people who are clinging to each other and are refusing to put so much as an inch in between them. Just because they’re not in hysterics doesn’t mean they’re not dealing with post-combat drift symptoms,” Tendo said, “Where the hell did you get your qualifications for treating Rangers?”

“He hasn’t,” snapped a voice from the door. Mako and Raleigh turned and saw Herc Hansen strolling into the rather heavily equipped room they and had been stashed in. “He was just hired by the PPDC during the move to the Hong Kong Shatterdome; he hasn’t been trained in treating Rangers yet and shouldn’t be the lead physician for you two.”

The Marshal scowled at the doctor, “Well? Get the hell out of here and get McCoy!”

The unnamed doctor (Raleigh was sure he had introduced himself at some point, but honestly, he couldn’t care less at the moment about the idiot’s name) scowled and marched out the door. Raleigh had never been more happy to see a pissed off Marshal in his life.

To be fair that was because before it was always Raleigh pissing off the Marshal, so not being on the receiving end of Herc’s ire is a nice role reversal he could get behind.

Herc turned to Mako, Raleigh and Tendo before rolling his eyes, “Now that that moron is out of here, you three get to quarters and go the fuck to sleep.”

Raleigh frowned, “We aren’t waiting on Doc McCoy?”

Herc leveled Raleigh with a look.

Raleigh and Mako practically sprinted back to her room.

---

By the time Mako was ready for bed, Raleigh had already managed to sprawl along one side of the bed and squeeze himself against the wall, leaving just enough room for Mako to flop down against his side and fling an arm along his back.

From the drift, Mako knew Raleigh had trouble sleeping, and when he did sleep it usually wasn’t for long because he’d eventually end up reliving Knifehead in his dreams and wake, sudden and harsh, as if the water spilling into the conn-pod in his memory was hitting him again in the waking world. She also knew that sometimes these memories and a flashback in his dream were triggered by the photos he kept on his wall.

So, today, after they finally won the war, Mako was determined that her co-pilot was going to get to sleep. Which is why they were in her room and not his (even though, technically, he had more space. She had more personal effects- the toys Sensei and gotten her and the few things she had left of her parents, such as her mother’s tea set and her father’s sword. She also had a desk for work that made her room seem much smaller than it actually was since it took up a good portion of one of her walls). Mako also hoped that the two of them together like this would keep her own personal monsters at bay; after reliving Onibaba just hours ago and then losing Sensei soon after, she knew it was very likely she’d have her own nightmares and flashbacks tonight.

Mako buried her face into Raleigh’s shoulder and slowly drifted to sleep. She dreamed of childhood snowball fights and learning to forge a sword, a mother with the scent of cigarettes clinging to her clothes and another mother teaching her to make her favorite sweet dish. She dreamed of the ground shaking with monstrous footsteps that inched closer much too quickly and far too slowly. Normally, when she dreams of the monster that killed her parents she is alone – small and frightened and clinging to a tiny red shoe. Now she stands tall in Gipsy Danger, Raleigh, and sword at the ready.

This time, she slays the monster in her nightmares.

(And some part of them, that part that is created from their two minds merging, that stays connected outside of the Drift, stepped into Raleigh’s nightmare-memories of claws digging into the conn-pod of Gipsy, and the unending burning in his arm where his own monster and ripped it off, and the  overwhelming pressure on his mind from taking on the entirety of Gipsy’s neural load,  and of the other half of his very being being ripped into the sky and landing in freezing water. Together Mako and Raleigh climb into the cradle and stop the monster before its claws can ever get into Yancy Becket.

Later, when she was awake, Mako wished it was that easy to heal herself and Raleigh. She wished they could just step into each other's minds and slay the monsters that lay there, freeing them from nightmares and should haves. But Mako had learned from Sensei and the child psychologist he insisted she see after he adopted her that healing, the healing she and Raleigh need, takes time.

She also knew that five years of isolation did not help Raleigh at all, and she wouldn’t let him wander away to stab at open wounds that had barely begun to stop bleeding, let alone scab over.

As long as they’re together they can heal).

[gutterballgt]

I feel like plaguing you with angst tonight. So Raleigh is clearly fucked both mentally and physically, and Chuck is too, but not as much. They obviously try to help each other as much as they can, but most of the time it falls onto Chuck to help Raleigh out, just because Raleigh is the one that needs it more. So on Raleigh's bad days Chuck has to practically carry him out of bed, help him do daily tasks, offer words that Raleigh can’t seem to find, and keep him from getting too frustrated. -Kai

Kai, why would you do this to me? I thought we were friends!!

*sniffles*

Fine. This is what you get!

Because sometimes Chuck needs the attention. He feels like he died with Pentecost and Raleigh has to remind him that he’s alive, that he’s real and this future Chuck never expected really exists. That it’s okay to still be breathing, that it’s okay to need comfort from someone he trusts. Sometimes it takes a few minutes and a kiss. Sometimes, it takes all day with both of them burrito-ed in blankets with lots of patience and cuddles.

Sometimes, Chuck hates his physical therapy and feels like he’s getting nowhere, and Raleigh has to talk him through it. Fight him through it, even.

Sometimes, the psychiatric therapy just devastates Chuck. He had so much that needed work BEFORE Pitfall, so afterward, acknowledging that he’d expected to die and was in no way prepared for an entire life’s worth of adulting and taking responsibility for his actions is more than he’s capable of. These times, Raleigh can only listen, let Chuck run through it all, sob and rage, and hold him when it’s over. Coax him into washing his face with cool water, drinking a bottle of water, taking a warm shower, and going to bed early in his comfiest pajamas and burrowing in Raleigh’s arms until he falls asleep, exhausted and wrung out.

Yeah. Sometimes, Chuck needs Raleigh to be there for him, and Raleigh never disappoints.

But when Raleigh needs Chuck… Jesus Christ, it’s an entirely different story.

Because sometimes, Raleigh just passes the fuck out midstep. It doesn’t happen all the time, but it DOES happen, and if Chuck isn’t nearby to catch him… well, there’s been blood on too many hallway floors for Chuck to feel comfortable with the pretty sod going anywhere alone.

Sometimes, the bloke thinks he’s Yancy. Or gets stuck in that moment where they both knew Yancy was fucked, was gonna die, and they tried so hard to keep that mental connection that neither of them could admit it was gone. Or screams suddenly in the night and clutches his chest, feeling anew Knifehead’s fucking beak spearing through him, through Gipsy’s chest, though his fucking soul.

Sometimes, the bloke’s right eye will fill up with blood. They don’t talk about those times. They know what it means. Another leaky aneurysm. More brain damage. A migraine that won’t go away no matter what that requires dark and cool and quiet and please don’t touch me but please don’t leave me alone, Chuck, I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, I’m so fucking damaged why do you even want me just fucking leave and save yourself I wish I’d died with Yancy–

Chuck doesn’t like those times. Thankfully, they’ve only had three of them. It’s more than enough.

Times when the drivesuit damage incapacitates him by locking up or going completely numb.

Times when he forgets his own name, forgets he ever met Chuck, forgets they reconciled and so much more and wants to fight, forgets Mako – and those times are arguably worse than any others because it’s bad enough when Raleigh is emotionally fucked but when MAKO is emotionally fucked, ain’t no one getting out without soul-crushing despair.

Forgets all the cuddling on any available surface. Forgets the time he brought Chuck a bunch of chocolates and Chuck made himself sick, he ate so many of them, but he refused to throw up because “that shit was AMAZING and EXPENSIVE and fuck knows when I’ll get more and it’s just gonna have to fucking stay put”. Forgets the first time they had sex and it was a little awkward but they managed to laugh about it instead of getting mad and calling it off and they were both so glad because it was so fucking good and they immediately did it again. Forgets nights on the shatterdome’s landing pad, looking up at the stars. Forgets walkies with Max, aimlessly walking about the dome’s grounds and talking about everything and nothing whilst Max enjoyed the fresh air.

Times when no one even knows exactly what’s happening because Raleigh refuses to tell anyone and just pushes everyone away and disappears for hours on end, which fucks Chuck up because what if the wanker passes out and bashes his goddamn beautiful head in without anyone to catch him??

Times when he thinks he fell off the Wall and all of this is just a silly, fluffy fantasy his dying brain tells itself as he dies, broken and alone, in the mess.

Times when he breaks and collapses to his knees and begs Chuck to kill him, for the love of God if you ever loved me you’d kill me and stop all this.

Sometimes, there’s literally nothing Chuck can do to help except… be there. He feels helpless and useless. He feels like he isn’t good enough, can’t be enough.

But he never, not even once, even THINKS about walking away.

He loves Raleigh more than life itself. And he knows Raleigh loves him back, just as ruthlessly.

They’re in it together now. For better or worse, whether they’ve exchanged actual vows or not.

They can’t leave each other alone now.

[bamfcoyotetango]

Number 7, Chaleigh please. 😁

Oh gosh, this is so very late but the Muses ate the prompt and gave me this .

7. Fake Relationship AU

Hand In My Hand

Raleigh's in the middle of setting up the music for the piano when Hansen, their bartender for the night, cleared his throat behind Raleigh.

"You need help cutting the citrus?" He asked sympathetically.

All the bartenders hate citrus and Raleigh's pretty good with a knife.

The only problem was that Hansen didn't ask for help.

Like... Ever.

"Yeah, actually. I, err, I've been meanin' t' talk with you." Hansen relented, his broad shoulders slumping in a show of emotion Raleigh didn't expect.

"Oh?" Raleigh arranged the music and left the wide performance platform, careful to step over the wires the sound crew hid under the rich red carpet. "Any reason in particular?"

The other man handed over a knife, a cutting board and a bag of mixed citrus. "Look, I know I'm not... the most social."

Raleigh snorted at that, "No shit."

"Oi, fuck off yeah? I'm trying here." Hansen growled defensively before he sighed. "I've got a problem."

"... And you think I can fix it?" He countered dryly as he sliced the fruits into multi-colored discs. "I  know I'm the bar's handyman and all but uh, I normally don't fix people as a rule."

"Yes." The blunt honesty has Raleigh setting down his knife and turning to face Hansen. "Look, you're pretty enough that my Dad might be fooled inta thinkin' we're datin', alright? He knows I don't swing too often the other way and Mako's like my sister so I can't ask her an' the rest of the bartenders-"

Raleigh held up a hand and mulled it over, parsing out the basics of it in under two minutes. It wasn't exactly a secret that Raleigh appreciated multiple types of people. Hansen might've been a surly jerk but damn if he didn't fill out his bar polo shirt nicely. "You want me to date you... because your Dad is a hard ass?"

"Look, he's coming to visit in a few months an' he keeps a hairy eyeball on my social media, yeah? He knows when I'm not datin' and he gets all sad an' mopey like he didn't do a job 'n a half raising me. My old man wants to see me happy. So... are you in or what?" Hansen grumbled even as he rubbed at his nose.

Raleigh thought of his Maman, in remission, being overjoyed that her middle child finally found someone.

"I'll make you a deal," He allowed carefully, "if this is for your Dad, then it's also gotta be for my Maman. She's in remission and now she's tryin' to meddle in my love-life. You break her heart and I'll break your face. I'll pretend to date your ass for her sake if nothing else."

"What about...?"

Raleigh gritted his teeth and sucked in a calming breath. "Let's just say he's a bastard."

"... Oh. I guess we need to outline what's not okay to touch as a topic." Hansen pointed out.

"Yeah, might be a good idea." He admitted.

"For starters, don't ask about Mum and I won't ask about the rat bastard."

"Got it."

"By the way... M' name's Chuck." Chuck held out his hand and Raleigh shook it.

"Raleigh."

Chuck, for all of his asshole tendencies, was pretty decent with the whole dating thing.

Once Raleigh got past the scowl and the snark and the Alaskan-sized chip on his shoulder, that is.

He'd even bothered to ask Raleigh for his favorite flower (sunflowers) and had presented them with a scowl at the start of their next 'date'.

Somewhere along the way, dating Chuck had become less obligation and started to feel like... something Raleigh shouldn't enjoy as much as he did.

He shouldn't enjoy the under-the-breath quips that were so sarcastic that Raleigh actually cracked up laughing when he caught them.

He shouldn't sneak glances when Chuck closed his eyes and reveled in the wind coming off of the sea.

He shouldn't save a sunflower from each bouquet Chuck "remembered" to bring.

Raleigh spun a thick stem between his fingers and quietly admitted to himself that if he fell in love with Chuck, it might not be so bad.

It wasn't like the ginger bastard would ever return his feelings after all.

Raleigh was one of, it turned out, a lucky three people who had Chuck's phone number.

""So, Chuck hasn't called in and I have it on good authority that you're dating. I got the Kaidonovskies to cover his shift but could you do us all a huge favor and go check on him?"" Sergio asked. ""He's never done this before so I'm a little worried.""

"I'm on it, Serg. I'll let you know what's up, okay?" Raleigh hummed and then scrubbed a hand down his face as he texted Chuck.

  Raleigh: Where r u?

It took near five minutes for Chuck to respond, which was way longer than his usual five seconds.

  Chuck: m sick

  Chuck: don't come over

  Chuck: if I die u get my dog

He snorted, texting as he grabbed his jacket, his scarf and his washable surgical mask Mako had given him for his birthday.

  Raleigh: drama llama

Raleigh: Ur not gonna die

  Raleigh: I'm coming over

Chuck appeared to rouse at that.

  Chuck: NO

If Chuck thought he could out-stubborn Raleigh, he had another thing coming.

  Raleigh: YES

  Raleigh: I'm making you homemade soup

Raleigh: u giant wiener

Chuck didn't respond for several moments as if shocked that Raleigh would do something that nice.

Chuck: U need my address

  Chuck: Or did u expect to kno

  Chuck: where I live, u wanker

He did laugh at that, midway through testing a tomato with his fingers.

  Raleigh: I could ask Mako

  Raleigh: She'll provide the info

  Raleigh: with half the hassle that

  Raleigh: Ur giving me

  Raleigh: btw

  Raleigh: R u allergic to tomato?

His phone buzzed with the response as Raleigh finished grocery shopping.

  Chuck: no, not allergic to tomato

  Chuck: pick up some tissue

As though he sensed he was being a little rude, he followed it with another text.

  Chuck: ... pls?

Raleigh shook his head, flicked on his voice-to-text app and said, "Already on it period. Send."

Chuck sent the address and Raleigh pulled over into a gas station to input the address. He paused, contemplated labeling it 'U Grumpy Bastard' and then grinned at it occurred to him.

Chuck's address ended up as 'My Dumbass

An English bulldog sat in his way, Raleigh's arms aching as the grocery bags creaked.

"Uh, hi, pup. Could you do me a favor—"

"Max, get." Chuck rasped, poking his dog with his socked foot to let Raleigh into his apartment.

He toed off his boots out of habit and nudged them into a vaguely neat pile near the door.

Raleigh set all the bags down, found the trash can and the fridge and got to work.

By the time the tomato soup was bubbling on the stove, Chuck had been served eucalyptus tea, meds and tissues, in that order.

Raleigh absently texted Sergio as he watched his soup, keeping half an eye on a bemused and snuffling Chuck. He reigned in the urge to kiss the frown off of Chuck's face.

Chuck frowned and then wrote on the whiteboard Raleigh had brought from home.

'What? Do I have something in my face?'

"Nah. Just an old habit from when my sister was sick. She'd sneak off the couch and then get me sick cause she likes to cuddle when she's loopy on meds." He deflected as he poked at the soup.

The squeak of the marker was proceeded by Chuck gathering his blanket nest and sitting on the tall chair next to the counter.

'U have siblings?'

"Mm, two. Yancy's the oldest and Jazzy's the youngest. I'm the middle kiddo."

'Why tomato soup?'

"I'll have you know that Maman and my Mémé would skin me alive if I fed you anything else aside from this. It's supposed to be loaded with nutrients and good protein to help you get better." He countered with a raised brow.

'Meme??'

"French for Grandma. Maman is Mom." Raleigh explained. He pulled out the bacon, frowned and asked, "Where's your frying pan?"

'Under the stove.'

"... You don't cook, clearly, cause otherwise you'd know that that's the broiler, not a drawer. Also, these are really nice pans and it's a shame they don't get used more often." He talked mostly to himself but Chuck blew a raspberry from behind the covers. "It's true."

'Don't b rude. It's my space u know.'

"Supposed to be our space, remember? Shit, should I move in?" Raleigh asked and Chuck shook his head hard enough to negate that.

'NO.'

Chuck wrote quickly and then thrust it out as Raleigh patted the bacon to get the excess grease off.

'I'm already regretting asking u, alright? The last thing I need is to see u in ur undies. I bet u wear whities.'

"Hey! I wear boxer briefs, you jerk. Tightey-whities are soooo last season. Also, Jazz would murder me for that fashion crime. She's majoring in it and if I'm related to her, I'm gonna not cause her pain by dressing, and I quote, 'like a fisherman with no sense'. She's already tried to kill my sweaters, okay?" Raleigh grumbled as he dumped most of the bacon into the soup.

'Wait. Seriously?'

"Yeah, seriously."

'Ur jumpers r how I know it's u. No one else at the bar wears them like u do.' If Raleigh tilted it right, it might've been a compliment but Chuck didn't do those.

"Uhhhh, thanks, I think. Now, eat your soup and rest some more, alright?" Raleigh served up a decent bowl that would go down well with Chuck and reserved the rest of the soup in the pot, closing it with a lid. "Don't even think about ruining my soup by sticking it in the microwave. Heat it up on the stove on low." He looked at Max. "Do I need to take Max for a poop?"

'Probably. His lead's in the hall.'

Raleigh grabbed the red leash and Max was suddenly at his feet, butt wagging furiously.

He barely had room to tug on his boots.

"I'll be back! Finish that soup, Chuck!" The door closed with a clunk behind him. He laughed when Max tugged him down the street, barely giving him time to shrug on his jacket and wrap his scarf up the right way.

"Is that Max I hear?" Max boofed and somehow his butt wiggled even harder. "It is~" An older woman was sitting on the porch, her hands cradling a warm drink with a blanket in her lap. "Oh! You're not Chuck!"

"Ahh, no. He's sick," Raleigh mentioned with a shrug, his muscles straining as Max tugged on the leash in this woman's direction. "Max, pas maintenant*." He chided.

"You must be that friend of his."

"... Umm," Raleigh's face heated up as he thought about Chuck, who was probably miserably eating his soup and scrubbed at the back of his neck.

"Oh, I see. How long?" Her confidential tone made Raleigh want to combust from embarassment.

"Coupla months," he choked out, "Gotta go, ma'am, Max is, umm..."

"Go on. Chuck's got himself a keeper! You tell him Mrs. Gage said so, okay?"

"Yes, ma'am." Raleigh agreed as Max tugged on the leash again.

"Chuck, I swear to God that you've got the nosiest neighbors—" Raleigh froze at the sight of a man who could only be Chuck's Dad.

He let Max off the leash on autopilot after he closed the door, hanging it up like he'd seen it earlier. Raleigh kicked off his boots again and set them against the foyer frame, this time a great deal neater than they'd been before.

"You must be Raleigh," the man said as though he hadn't thrown their whole plan out of wack. "I'm Herc."

"Pleasure to meet you, sir." He let his manners take over, a smile on his face as he shook the offered hand. "Can I get you anything? Tea, coffee?"

'Dad doesn't do tea.' When the whiteboard popped up from the couch, it seemed Chuck had retreated back with his blanket nest.

"Mm, coffee then?" Raleigh hummed as Herc looked between them. "Milk? Creamer?"

"Creamer, if you don't mind."

He busied himself preparing two cups of coffee and then dug into the supplies he'd organized on the counter, muttering to himself in Korean as he read the instructions for the citron tea he'd brought over.

"Coffee 'n creamer for us, tea for Chuck. Don't make that face. It's gonna feel nice and it's yuzu, vaguely lemony with honey." He sat next to Chuck, reaching to adjust the blankets and handing over the tea.

'Ur gonna get sick.'

"Mmm, yeah, probably. Do I look like I mind?" Raleigh pointed out as he gently pecked Chuck on the lips. Chuck grumbled wordlessly but snuggled closer as he drank his tea. He made a noise of surprise at the taste and looked at Raleigh with a wordless question. "So-Yi suggested it when I dropped by the bar. Y'know, half of them thought you got in a fight or dropped off the face of the planet. Being sick never even occurred to them."

'Liar.'

"No, that's what you get when literally three people have your number, you dumbass." He bickered back, looking up when a muffled laugh brought him back to their current situation.

Right.

Chuck's Dad.

"Y'know, I almost didn't believe my son when he said he was dating someone. He works hard and doesn't remember to leave time for himself but I can see he's in good hands with you." The pride Herc had for his son was clear in nearly every word he spoke.

"Yeah, well I could've said the same a while back. Chuck's sweet under like, fifteen layers of asshole, but you gotta have enough patience for the layers." Raleigh ribbed Chuck gently, letting himself touch instead of shying away from Chuck. They had to make this convincing—At least that was how he justified it to himself. "Mmm, you've got a fever." He told Chuck as he brushed the damp ginger hair away from Chuck's forehead.

'No shit, u wanker. What r u doing?'

Raleigh leaned in close and whispered his answer, "I'm being your boyfriend, hell practically the perfect one. The least your dumbass could do is play along, right?"

Chuck huffed at that and leaned into the casual touch. 'whatever. R we still doing that ice thing?'

"Like I'm gonna miss the chance to see you fall on your ass?" Raleigh teased. "We'll just have to reschedule for when you're better."

"I'll leave you two to be cutesy." Herc chuckled and Raleigh nearly face palmed.

They were totally—"Oh God, I'm the worst host-"

'Sorry Dad.'

"Don't be sorry. You two remind me of a better time." Herc only smiled at them and let himself out, nudging Max away from the door with his foot out of years of practice.

Raleigh practically turned the air blue with French curses before he sighed. "At least your Dad's convinced?"

"Why'd you kiss me?" Chuck's voice, as raspy as it was, caught his attention immediately.

"We're supposed to be dating. If I really was your boyfriend, I wouldn't let a cold keep me from kissing you. You were just so adorably grumpy," Raleigh replied before he caught what came out of his mouth. "I-I mean, I've gone and done it with my other relationships, y'know, so I thought you wouldn't mind—"

"Raleigh." Chuck's gaze cut off his voice faster than anything else. "Did you call me adorably grumpy?"

"No," he denied it quickly, valiantly trying to ignore how his face felt like it was on fire.

"You sure?"

"Yes!"

"Raleigh, I-"

"I think I might be in love with you." He blurted and then slapped both of his hands over his mouth in shock.

Oh he was so screwed; Chuck was going to break off their agreement, break up with him even though they weren't really dating and why did that thought hurt so much?

Raleigh made to stand, one foot planted on the floor when Chuck's hand shot out and grabbed the front of his sweater.

"I thought it was hopeless," Chuck coughed before he continued hoarsely. "that there was no way in a million years that sunshine personified would ever like me enough, but you said... You said you're in love with me."

Huh. Weren't they a match made in heaven; oblivious as hell until one of them confessed.

Raleigh settled back into the blankets and whispered, "'Sunshine personified'? Really?"

"Don't you start, Rahleigh."

"Well, since we're actually dating, there is a way to shut me up."

He was going to regret it later, he knew, but the feel of Chuck's tongue in his mouth over-rode the resignation of being sick right along with his boyfriend.

Mako only laughed when Raleigh whined about being sick.

[maidenofiron157]

@artistic-ape YOU ASKED FOR THIS

the BASIC PREMISE is that Steve is Raleigh and Sam is Mako. or the other way around. either way. that’s what started it:

Steve n Bucky were a pilot pair vis a vis Raleigh n Yancy for their jaeger Avenger Maverick, and Bucky was killed (or lost his arm, but ‘killed’ fits the movie more and also makes it sadder, lol) in a kaiju attack and Steve had to kill the kaiju and pilot it back to shore alone, where he then left the program because of trauma, which, y’know. understandable. he comes back after Fury goes to recruit him bc jaegers are dropping like flies and the kaiju just keep coming, where he meets ~*~Sam Wilson~*~, the love of his life, who has also been recruited by Fury after having been out of the game for a while after losing his own partner, Riley, and their jaeger, Falcon Dynamite

when they get there its the last open shatterdome in the world bc every other world politician has decided to back General Thaddeus “Shitstain” Ross and his frankly fucking idiotic pacific wall program. there are still only four jeagers available - Aurora Immediate, piloted by Wanda and Pietro Maximoff (think the Kaidonovskys); Strike Team Delta, piloted by Natasha Romanoff and Clint Barton (think the Wei triplets; more about them later); and Guardian Renegade, piloted by Thor and Loki Odinson. (think the Hansens; also more about them later)

Panther Maelstrom, piloted by King T’Challa and Princess Shuri of Wakanda, had to leave the program when their father died to take over ruling in his place, but are still helping on the sidelines by providing new technology and calculations and such when and where they can. Defender Olympia, piloted by Matt Murdock and Foggy Nelson, was taken out alongside Terra Infinite, piloted by Peter and Gamora Quill, several years earlier after fighting the first Cat 3 on record, though all four pilots did manage to survive thanks to the escape pod tech they had available. (can you tell how much I don’t like people dying lol.) they have not reentered the program bc the program no longer has the money to afford to make new jaegers, and theirs were unsalvageable

Iron Roadhog, piloted by Tony Stark and James Rhodes, had just recently been knocked down for the count au-timeline-wise - Tony came away pretty banged up but otherwise alright, but both of Rhodey’s legs were broken, so even if their jaeger wasn’t completely unsalvageable anyway, they wouldn’t be piloting it any time soon, so both of them have been working with Bruce Banner, Betty Ross, and Jane Foster on breach calculations and how to stop the kaiju in the mean time. their jaeger was the only one that could fly for any length of time on its own aside from Falcon Dynamite (Roadhog utilized thrust from blasters, while Falcon utilized built in jetpack-and-wings combo to get some lift; both worked fine). Tony and Rhodey designed that thing from fucking scratch, and it was one of the best and oldest. the two of them actually worked a little (or a lot) on all of the jaegers, and they feel the hit every time one of them goes down. it primarily used missile, laser, and blaster/repulsor tech as its main weapons; it was also the only one to use an arc reactor to power it, as Tony didn’t trust anyone else with the technology, since practically anyone could get their hands on a jaeger when it goes down, especially in the sea, what with the currents. (cleaning Roadhog up to make sure no arc reactor debris made it into the wrong hands was an Event)

more on Wanda & Pietro: they’re still mutants, but not, like, “artificially made” I guess, they were born that way. the drift makes things really weird for mutants, its been found out, because apparently their powers can transfer in the ghost drift afterward. they don’t keep them, but its wildly disconcerting. their jaeger has a hard time keeping up with them (a giant metal robot can only move so fast no matter how fast you run), but it can handle Wanda’s whole... energy... thing... fabulously. they can make all kinds of weapons with it, its very versatile, which makes Aurora very, very effective

more on Nat & Clint: originally I was gonna go full-on Wei triplets and give them a three-manned jaeger w Coulson as the other piece, but I’m still not 100% on if I want him to be a jaeger pilot or want him to be like Tendo coaching from the sidelines. either way, Clint 100% calls their jaeger ‘STD’ for short bc he’s a little shit and Natasha always hits him for it. their martial arts training doesn’t translate well in a giant body often weighed down not just by itself but by water, but they make it work, and they have built in crossbows on both arms, to utilize Clint’s special skill-set, as well as what can only be described as giant wrist tasers (Widow’s Bites) to pack a punch

more on Thor & Loki: they are still asgardian in this au. just bc I want them to be bc how fucking awesome would an asgardian jaeger be. especially with those two, lightning and vicious storms in the middle of the ocean fucking up the kaiju, meanwhile, Loki has fucking magic, he could make illusions to confuse them, or conjure fire, or ice, or giant blades - its endless. (the only problem for him would be power, but maybe the drift w Thor would amplify it too? who knows!) to be fair though, their first drift was... Not Great. as a matter of fact, some would say it was a downright disaster. Thor fried all the circuitry in the room and destroyed another in a rage, while Loki, ah, vomited, and accidentally dropped the aesir glamor he had, showcasing all his blue glory while simultaneously freezing the entire room. they are very drift compatible (98% in fact, right after Steve n Bucky and T’Challa n Shuri, with Wanda n Pietro taking to top slot of 99%, and Tasha n Clint and Tony n Rhodey bringing up the rear behind them at a slightly lower 98% lol). their first drift was so disastrous because 1) sharing memories from hundred if not thousands of years, instead of just decades, and 2) the whole “you’re the golden child, Odin loves you more, he hates me, you hate me, everyone hates me, I hate me” thing w Loki kind of made Thor realize how fucking shitty his brother’s life was and what kind of impact he had on it and how pissed it made him at himself, and Loki realizing that Thor actually did love him, and just... ugh. brotherly bonding, afterwards. lovely. (I love Ragnarok can you tell)

ANYWAY, the rest of the movie proceeds as such: Steve and Sam, like Mako and Raleigh, test to see that they’re drift compatible (which or course they are), and their first official drift in the newly revamped “Falcon Maverick” goes as poorly as Mako and Raleigh’s because this time they both have shitty my-partner-got-ripped-out-of-the-cockpit-too memories. Sam’s is the one who chases the rabbit first, so to speak (like Mako). meanwhile, Tony, Rhodey, Bruce, Betty, and Jane are all working on the breach, and Tony and Bruce (mostly Tony) come up w the idea to drift with the brain segment they have (like Newt), which the other three resoundly dismiss because its practically suicide (like Hermann), but they DO IT ANYWAY because WHAT THE FUCK DO THEY HAVE TO LOSE. Rhodey and Betty wind up being forced to stay at the shatterdome for calculation work while Tony and Bruce go out to find another kaiju brain from whoever Hannibal is in this au, I have no idea, my first idea was Loki but I wanted him to be a pilot too badly to follow through with it SO, Tony and Bruce go out into the Hong Kong Bone Slums with, surprisingly, Jane in tow, as their babysitter to keep them from doing anything more stupid to compromise the mission, and those three together do the joint drift w the kaiju brain like Newt and Hermann and rush back to give the shatterdome the bad news

during this, Aurora Immediate, Strike Team Delta, and Guardian Renegade (like Cherno Alpha, Crimson Typhoon, and Striker Eureka) are battling it out in the Hong Kong harbor and actually, y’know, doing better, bc they have asgardians and mutants on their side, but its still pretty tight, so Falcon Maverick is sent out to wrap it up. they come out with no casualties, unlike in the movie, but Aurora Immediate and Strike Team Delta are still too damaged to follow through with Operation Pitfall, especially since they definitely don’t have the resources or the time to prepare them for it, so even though Wanda, Pietro, Natasha, and Clint are still alive they still can’t be of much use at that point (and they’re pretty injured, so), so Guardian Renegade and Falcon Maverick face it alone

like in the movie, two Cat 4′s and one Cat 5 leave the breach, but Guardian, having asgardian pilots, does better at fending them off, but they’re still losing. blah blah blah, they blow the bomb and make it out safe thanks to Loki’s magic and also their alien physiologies, and Steve and Sam go in to finish the job. it ends a lot like the movie after that, but with no dead bodies! ayy! good times

[gutterballgt]

So this has been on my mind for days so I had to share. What if Chuck and Herc had been at the Academy for whatever reason when Knifehead hit? Do you think they would have gone to see Raleigh, since Herc is a fellow Ranger? How do you think little Chuck felt watching his favorite non-relative Rangers fall like that? Do you think Chuck demanded Herc take him to see Raleigh? And if he did, do you think they would've walked in on Raleigh screaming for Yancy?

*rubs hands together*

This is a top-shelf ask, and it’s gonna get the royal treatment. Because I, too, have wondered, and I’ve even been tempted to write about it.

So, to start: “What if Chuck and Herc had been at the Academy for whatever reason when Knifehead hit?”

I think it’s a general fandom consensus that Chuck idolized the Becket brothers during their glory years. I mean, he borderline hated his father (never; he never ever hated Herc for one second, no matter how bitter and angry he was), he was already beyond determined to become a jaeger pilot and get revenge for all the things… and here are these two young, stalwart, unpredictable but HIGHLY EFFECTIVE blokes who are killing kaiju left and right and making all the headlines.

It doesn’t hurt that they’re also pretty to look at. But that’s beside the point.

Young Chuck, too angry and hurt to look up to his own father (we’ll not talk about Scott because that’s a whole ‘nother bag of snakes to lay straight), would’ve been very likely to grasp onto these kids – because Raleigh really was just a kid when they joined the program – who were everything he wanted to be, saving the world and shit. I can’t imagine him NOT idolizing them, frankly.

So maybe he pestered Herc – who had NO idea what to do with his prickly, ball-of-rage-and-gall son he’d saved in a moment’s blind panic when he realized he couldn’t save both of them and Angela would kill him if he’d saved her and left Chuck to die – to take him to the Academy. Not to meet the Beckets, of course not, why would he want to meet those stupid American wankers? But to get a feel for the Academy itself, since he was by-God going there himself as soon as they quit with the bullshit age restrictions and accepted him.

And Herc, guilty and lost and with nothing but the war and his already-dodgy brother and his small, angry, standoffish son who never wanted ANYTHING because he was always so angry… made it happen. Maybe it would lessen some of that anger. Maybe… they could get past it if they could just spend some time together. Fun time, not shatterdome time.

Now: “Do you think they would have gone to see Raleigh, since Herc is a fellow Ranger?”

Oh, my, yes. That would’ve been #1 on the list for Chuck, though he would never have admitted it. Young Chuck would have put it as an after-thought, an “Oi, while we’re here, can I maybe meet that youngest pilot bloke and tell him not to rest on his laurels because I’MA be the youngest pilot any day now?”

And Herc, likely hoping the Beckets’ easy-going manner and friendly smiles would coax back some of the brilliant, happy little boy he’d lost back in Australia, set that shit up like it was nothing.

Then: “How do you think little Chuck felt watching his favorite non-relative Rangers fall like that?”

Okay, Satan. YOU ASKED FOR IT.

Because even so young, Chuck was no stranger to the concept of mortality. Sure, the jaeger program had, up to this point, been a resounding success. That doesn’t mean he’d missed how badly we’d fared against them before the giant robots. How much of our own planet we’d poisoned fighting them off with nukes because… what else could we do?

He was a bright kid. Too bright to NOT know what was happening.

So even though the jaegers hadn’t started falling in earnest yet, he knew there was a distinct possibility of it happening sometime.

But not the Beckets. Not those shining examples of youth and ingenuity overpowering brute strength and terror. Not now. Not YET. Not when he was supposed to meet them TOMORROW, dammit.

They… they were… humanity was WINNING. How could it have gone so wrong?

Herc, of course, got immediately sucked into a strategy meeting because, even then, Stacker Pentecost knew who he did and didn’t trust. Chuck was worried because Herc had made mutterings about how stupid it was to call what happened “disobeying orders” because you don’t bloody get to argue an impossible order when a goddamn kaiju pops up in your bloody face, and it sounded like… maybe the younger Becket was in trouble.

BIG trouble. Get-kicked-out trouble.

If he lived, which wasn’t expected. Because everyone knows that when your Drift partner dies, so do you.

It wasn’t his mother dying all over again. He’d never met the kid, after all. But… he had a Becket brothers poster on his wall in his bunk, and one of those brothers was already gone, and the other one was in critical condition and rumored to be more than half out of his mind in the med bay (understandable, considering how much of him must’ve been yanked out with his brother’s body), and apparently going to be kicked out in disgrace if he DID live, and….

For a while, young Chuck couldn’t do anything but sit on the edge of his bunk and, well… not cry, exactly. Again, it wasn’t grief. It was… a loss. A loss of hope. A blow to his dream of being the youngest jaeger pilot and kicking kaiju ass and saving the world.

He’d always wanted to be Raleigh Becket. Now, Raleigh Becket was damn near a vegetable and might not live out the week.

So: “Do you think Chuck demanded Herc take him to see Raleigh?”

HELL NO. Are you kidding? The little bastard snuck away when Herc was off in yet another meeting about what to do now that the world knew the jaegers might not be enough anymore.

He just needed to KNOW, okay? Maybe… it wasn’t all over before he ever got a chance to prove himself. Maybe… Becket could still be okay. Maybe… and he was rather proud of this one… maybe he could actually be of comfort. Maybe they could be friends.

Hell, if he played his cards right, they might even end up as co-pilots. Him and Raleigh Becket. Kicking kaiju ass and saving the world.

So you bet your ass he snuck away. I won’t divulge whether or not he was humming theme music as he kid-ninja-ed his way to the medical bay (he totally did, and he was blissfully unaware that literally all the shatterdome personnel he passed saw him; they were just too gobsmacked themselves to do anything about some kid running around while the world was falling apart around them).

And finally: “And if he did, do you think they would’ve walked in on Raleigh screaming for Yancy?”

Not exactly. Not screaming, anyway. More… constantly weeping in both physical and mental pain, unable to grasp that the presence in his mind was gone – but sort of wasn’t at the same time, which was worse; like a phantom ache but inside his mind instead of in a missing limb – unable to stop repeating his brother’s name, though his voice was little more than a harsh whisper.

He was strapped to the bed. At first, Chuck was FURIOUS. How DARE they? This was one of the best jaeger pilots in the world, dammit!

But there was blood on the pale blue hospital johnny, a blotchy stain over the right flank, a weirdly tidy patch in a geometric pattern over the left shoulder and chest, and before he could make a right ass of himself, he realized the restraints were an attempt to get Becket to hold still and stop reopening his injuries.

Jesus. This wasn’t… he couldn’t….

Was there anything left in that young, handsome, All-American blonde head but a dead man’s name and unendurable pain?

Chuck lost his nerve. It was only for a moment, but it was long enough for him to turn away from the demoralizing sight on the bed. Long enough for him to take a step toward the door, toward telling himself none of this had happened, because if this had happened to Becket, it could happen to HIM, and he damn well wanted to pilot a jaeger someday, and to do that, he had to get that image out of his head.

That could be HERC, and he had to get away right now because no.

Then, the constant, hoarse litany of broken Yancys stopped, freezing Chuck just inside the door.

A soft, soul-weary sob.

Another.

Gritting his teeth, young Chuck turned his stubborn self back around and faced the truth. The truth was Raleigh Becket, strapped to a hospital bed, cheeks wet and almost blistered from the constant stream of tears, lips cracked and voice wrecked and body scarred and broken in a blood-stained hospital johnny.

“Mr. Becket?”

Jesus. He sounded like an idiot.

But the restless would-be thrashing stilled.

“Uh… do you… need anything?” He narrowly avoided facepalming. “I mean, I could… are you thirsty? I can get you–”

Raleigh Becket suddenly screamed, full-throat, his body arching against the restraints, fresh blood staining the pale blue. If Chuck had been even a few years younger, he’d have pissed himself in terror.

It was a near miss, even now.

“Raleigh, stop! Jesus, mate, please stop!”

Because the scream went on, hoarse and throat-tearing and awful, and years later, after he’d picked a fight with the has-been, he’d go back to his bunk in a fury and suddenly remember that scream and how it had seemed to reach down his throat and grip his guts in a frigid clutch until he just wanted to sit down right there on the floor. Until he clapped his hands over his ears because surely his eardrums would burst from the intensity of it.

The sudden memory – how could he have forgotten? it had haunted his nightmares for years, though he would never admit it – would send him into the jaeger bay to work on Striker, and he and Herc would have yet another shitty argument about how Chuck would never be good enough.

And he would again remember that scream and how he’d wanted to maybe be Becket’s friend, his co-pilot, but he had instead damn near pissed himself and, in a panic, had used the kerfuffle of all the running medical personnel to skulk away like a coward, instead.

He never told Herc.

But eventually, after Pitfall and a few tentative, awkward conversations that slowly became easier and full of more laughter than painful silences, he did tell Raleigh.