Young co-pilots (with Suicidemission)

[thelastbecket]

Raleigh moved through the stretches and exercises in the kwoon, testing out his body's fresh scars and regained muscle mass now that he had finally been entirely cleared by medical. He couldn't believe they already wanted to put him back in a jaeger. He should have been discharged and sent away. It had almost happened, the UN had wanted to crucify him in the media because obviously it had to be the pilots' lapse in judgement that led to the wreckage of Gipsy Danger and the first mid-battle pilot death since the beginning of the war.

The UN had wanted him dishonorably discharged and Raleigh would have taken it, he would have left without fighting, but the Marshall had fought for him, defending his and Yancy's actions on the grounds that they had indeed saved the fishing boat, kept the kaiju off the Miracle Mile, and Raleigh all alone, had brought Gipsy Danger to shore.

Some days during recovery Raleigh was grateful that his life would still have purpose. Others he hated Stacker Pentecost for not just letting him go. The conditions of his stay dictated an active return to duty. Not just in a training or reserve capacity, but in a 100% back out there piloting a jaeger capacity. Raleigh didn't even know if he could stand the sight of a suit, let alone get in a conn pod with someone that wasn't Yancy.

Comments

[suicidemission]

"Whatever."

Chuck hadn't been sure Raleigh was going to show up, truth be told. He steps over to the left side of the pod and stomps his boots into the clips, securing himself before the techs come and do the rest of the work.

"Focus, Becket," Chuck snaps, not bothering to look over at him. If he won't afford the same courtesy to Chuck then Chuck's not giving it to him. "Don't latch. Don't fuck this up for me."

[thelastbecket]

Raleigh takes another breath and doesn't rise to Chuck's rudeness. They strap in, Tendo counts them down.

Initializing neural handshake

Everything seems to be going okay, the shock of the neural hookup is familiar and sends the usual endorphins running through his system. The memories start flowing, kid scenes playing with a track of American and Australian accents, their moms, beautiful, hardworking, and dead. It's working, they're almost there. Then Raleigh looks left and he's not Raleigh anymore.

He's Yancy. Older, but not all that wiser and there's a fishing boat somewhere on Gipsy's left side counting on them. Knifehead's clawing at the conn pod. He knows something's going to happen and it's not going to be good, but he's so fucking glad it's on his side and not Raleigh's. There's panic welling up in him and nothing they can do to stop this.

Raleigh, listen to me- He screams because it's not enough that they're sharing a brain. He has to make Raleigh hear this--He feels the claws wrap around his body and then he's gone.

Raleigh comes back to himself and all he can see around him are the same red blinking alerts and all he can feel is the hopelessness and rage.

[suicidemission]

Chuck thinks maybe it's going to work. He relaxes, lets the Drift go by - he can do this, it'll be fine.

He sees buildings burning, he sees it from a chopper as he screams for his mother, a mother that burns under the nuclear bomb that he sees dropped on Sydney before his father can cover his eyes. He sees a little Japanese girl with a blue coat that becomes a sort of friend until they're older, and she's unable to advance because of reasons she's sworn him to secrecy on. He sees his father, tall and proud and unapproachable, a God among men that Chuck could never hope to compare to but still he tries, he tries and he fights and it's not teamwork, it's a competition. He sees Raleigh, sparring with him and his feelings color the Drift, bright yellows and reds of anger and frustration - and lust.

And then it shifts to Becket and everything goes to hell in a handbasket.

Godammit.

Chuck knew it'd happen, knew that Raleigh was going to start chasing. He'd known it, prepared for it, hoped it wouldn't happen.

It did, though - it did, and fucking Christ Becket was right, it was goddamn awful. Chuck's teeth are grinding in his head and he feels everything - he feels Yancy's fear, his pain. He feels Raleigh's pain and hurt and hopelessness and his rage.

Chuck feels it too. He understands rage, he understands pain and anger very well.

"Becket!" Chuck shouts, worming his way through memories and forcing himself to be a presence that's there, clinging onto the edge of Raleigh's consciousness.

"Raleigh Becket!"

[thelastbecket]

Raleigh's full of rage and ready to take down Knifehead again, but then Chuck's there, screaming his name in his face and as mad as Chuck has made him, as much hurt and guilt as Raleigh has felt over him, it's nothing like losing Yancy. So, it breaks the cycle and the memories or churning again, through their matches in the kwoon and then he's stabilizing. Yancy's there, fluttering and fretting at the back corner on the right, but it's the usual everyday stuff, not the debilitating personality warping stuff.

He's there, they're connected. Raleigh feels shaky as hell though, and kind of like Chuck's half supporting his weight. Which isn't the point, you shouldn't have to carry your co-pilot. Raleigh sucks it up, ignores Yancy's worries and the way his left arm twinges until he locks into place better and begins to feel like he's carrying his own weight in Gipsy Danger.

"Thanks." He says aloud, because all the gratitude in his brain isn't enough.

[suicidemission]

Just like Chuck said he would, he supports Raleigh. He forces himself into Raleigh's head and holds him up and it's goddamn exhausting, taking on that much of the neural load but he said he'd do it, said he'd get him up and running again and Chuck means what he says, and stays true to his word and carries the weight until Raleigh stabilizes.

He might be a little prick, but he's a damn good cadet and he's going to be an even better Ranger.

"Breath," Chuck croaks, flexing his fingers before running his eyes over the screen in front of him, checking the diagnostics. "She's welcoming you back, Becket. Say hi to Gipsy."

[thelastbecket]

They're up and they're going patched in seamlessly with Gipsy's circuits. He can feel how much Chuck's admired him, been disappointed in him, all of it. The best thing though, is Chuck's determination. In retrospect, Raleigh can't believe he ever thought he wasn't going to end up in a jaeger with Chuck Hansen. Raleigh hefts just a bit more of the neural load to give Chuck a chance to settle in again. Carrying just a tiny bit more won't hurt him while Chuck catches his breath.

He's even able to laugh at Chuck's words, grinning despite the fact that chasing the RABIT had worn him out. "Hello, gorgeous. I missed you, meet your new rookie. He's a prickly asshole, but a good guy."

[suicidemission]

Chuck sighs when Raleigh takes some of the load off of him, feeling like a small truck was just lifted from his shoulders.

"Your old pilots a bit of a pain in my ass," he tells her, rolling his shoulders in the harness, grinning wildly when Gipsy mimics his movements. "Took a bit to get his sorry self back in here."

[thelastbecket]

Raleigh sends the thought out, starts running them through their paces, stretching out Gipsy's arms and feeling the old elation and power piloting a jaeger always gave him. He figures he'll have nightmares and crash later, but maybe getting back in the drift, high and strong again was the kind of thing that would push his mind towards the same kind of recovery his body had made.

"But I'm back now." He says it with a quiet conviction.

[suicidemission]

"He's back," Chuck agrees firmly, moving with him, letting Raleigh take the lead and push them through the routines. He keeps an eye on the screens, checking statistics and sending Raleigh little mental nudges if something's off or if they're not moving perfectly in tandem.

They're good, though. The Marshal and Tendo and the others watch from Loccent and this beaten up pilot and hard-headed teenager are pretty fucking good together.