Jean gotta admit, it felt good meeting someone that could match his speed and return his moves at training sessions. It was almost like watching himself in a mirror, only this one, a more lunatic version of himself. He dodged, she hit, he spinned, she blocked, he attacked, she ducked, everything was so in sync it no longer felt like a sparring to him, more like a perfectly practiced dance routine.

And he would do anything.

Anything, to be in that time again instead of standing here, watching his co-pilot wail and scream to the darkness. The neural handshake was a success, they were drift-compatible as Jean thought they would. Which was a mistake, because he shouldn't be looking at these. At the Sasha Braus he had never known before, a rookie pilot and her bestfriend in the very same Jaeger they were in right now. He was standing next to her, watching as a young pilot she'd been calling out for, laid cold on the left hemisphere. His drivesuit was broken, entirely disconnected from the system.

"Connie!" she screamed again, "Please.. wake up! Please.."

He could saw her tears behind that helmet, and he could also feel this sudden pain in his chest as the girl helplessly wrestled to free herself from her tightly secured drivesuit. How could someone endure this much and still be alive, Jean asked himself. How could she go through all this and became that person in the cafetaria? The Sasha Braus whose happiest time was breakfast, lunch, and dinner. One of the strongest opponents in training sessions, and a hundred more sides of her that was nothing like the girl in front of him.

"Sasha!" he tried, but she just kept screaming to the dead pilot next to her. Half of the system was down, and she seemed to had lost control over Gipsy Danger, completely open to the Kaiju's next attack. The storm was raging, competing with her cry.

"Sasha, stop! Wake up! It's just a dream, a nightmare.. okay? Wake up!" he stood right in front of her, trying to look into her eyes. But those eyes went right through him, turning him into a ghost as she shouted the name again, "Connie..!"

Jean turned to his right, and there she was, trapped in her memories. The blaring signal couldn't even get her out of there. "Sash- -" he stopped. No use. She couldn't even feel his presence.

"Hey! Shut it down! Shut everything down!" he yelled into his communicator as he began unstrapping his drivesuit from the dock.

/I'm sorry, we can't, Jean..the system's insisting to proceed with the Trial Mode./

"Are you f*ckin kidding me Marco?! It's killing her!" he roared, rushing to take her helmet off. Her usually high ponytail dangled low into a loose. She was drenched in tears, choking in silence. Eyes set on him, but not looking back.

"Please, just wake up! They're not shutting it down for you so you gotta snap out of it! Do you hear me?! Sasha!" he shook her seemingly lifeless body. He knew it wasn't easy, and would never be for anyone to watch someone dying in front of them.

"I'll get you out of there, alright? Come on, Sasha.. Come on.." he kept trying to reach her while carefully unplugging the wires attached to her suit. He could hear Commander Irvin's orders for him to wait until she passed the R.A.B.I.T stage, but Jean couldn't take it anymore. The whole time she got lost in her memories, they were drifting. Whatever ran through her mind, ran through him, and it was pure torture. He hated that corner of her mind as much as she was, and letting her go through all those by herself was unbearable.

"Ssshh.. it's okay. Everyone's alright. I'm alright." he repeated those words over and over again before unplugging the last wire on her shoulder. Jean anticipated a reaction, but nothing changed. She was still standing there, staring into the void. He cupped her wet cheeks with his armored fingers, waiting for her to look at him.

"C-Connie.." she wept, finally releasing her sorrow to the surface. This time, she was looking at him. He wasn't invisible anymore.

Jean broke into a series of laughters as he pulled her into an embrace, "…I'm so glad you're back.."

/Kirschstein! What is going on there?/

Jean was about to reply to their Commander when Sasha pulled away from him, saying, "C-Connie Springer… is dead, sir."

"Sasha..you.. hey, listen. None of it was real. You are here now- "

"I know, Jean.." she nodded to him. No wires connected between them anymore, but Jean could tell as much that Sasha was conscious when she said those words.

"I'm sorry I couldn't finish that report two years ago, sir." she said, knowing that the Commander was still listening.

It took some time, but the Commander finally replied. /Have some rest, cadet./

"Thank you, sir.." she smiled, and Jean could tell how exhausted she was when her knees began to tremble. Swiftly, he put her arm behind his neck, lending his shoulder for her to lean on. He could still hear another 'thank you' mumbled under her breath, before letting her fall into a deep sleep.

"You won't have nightmares anymore..sleep well.."

..and I'll be right next to you if that time ever comes again.

. . .

a repost from my tumblr: post/72545626210/ill-wake-you-up

This is a fic made based on potato-thief's fabulous Pacific Rim AU here:

post/72160708215/hhhhhhhhhhh-pacific-rim-au-where-connie-and-sasha

Reviews would be nice :D

Thanks for reading!