Hunter
The Winchester brothers had faced everything from vengeful spirits to witches, vampires to zombies, even demons and angels. Sam and Dean could take down just about anything.
But when the kaiju arrived, they had finally encountered a monster they couldn't fight. The kaiju weren't supernatural, not in the way the Winchesters were used to. They were otherworldly; they were aliens.
The attacks took millions of lives. Within months, the hunter network was scattered, half the hunters dead and the other half tucked away somewhere drinking away the last of their days, convinced that this was the end.
All the usual threats disappeared just as quickly – many monsters were taken out along with the countless human lives and the rest fled and hid. The demons retreated back into hell because Earth was no longer much better. The angels, confronted with something even they had never encountered, decided the world was no longer their problem and left.
With no hunts and a seemingly invincible new beast threatening the world, what were a pair of trained killers supposed to do?
Sam and Dean felt truly useless for the first time in their lives.
Then they discovered the Jaeger program.
The brothers first learned about the program on the news. On April 23, 2015, they watched from a motel sofa as a Mark-1 prototype called Brawler Yukon took down a kaiju in Vancouver. The report afterward explained that the Jaeger was operated by a test pilot and a scientist who together had achieved the first drift – a neural connection between two minds that was strong enough to pilot the machine when previous attempts had failed. The reporter went on to say that given the first successful kaiju kill, the Jaeger program would commence and soon they would begin recruiting pilots to fight.
Sam glanced over at Dean, who sat with his arms folded, frowning at the television, skeptical of these new fighting machines.
The report moved on to a live press conference with one of the program's scientists, Dr. Jasper Schoenfeld. Reporters from around the world took turns asking questions about the program's budget, how the machines worked, how many more would be built. Towards the end of the interview, a timid journalist in the back of the crowd raised his hand and Schoenfeld motioned for him to speak.
"You refer to this as the 'Jaeger program', and I have to ask – what does Jaeger actually mean?"
The ghost of a grin appeared on Schoenfeld's face as he leaned toward the microphone and simply said,
"Hunter."
That time both Sam and Dean turned to meet each other's eyes.
Six months later, the boys are officially sworn in as pilots after completing rigorous training at the Jaeger Academy. They are both top of their class and Dean jokes that now Sam isn't the only straight A student in the family.
They are stationed in the Hong Kong Shatterdome where they have to wait another several months for the Mark-2 to be completed. As kaiju attacks continue to take lives, the boys grow impatient, but keep their complaints to themselves. They know better than to argue with Marshall Pentecost.
Finally, the Winchester brothers are assigned a Mark-2 Jaeger. It is outfitted with better shields and greater speed, and the pilot suits have been improved to lessen the effects of radiation found in the Mark-1.
Their Jaeger is sleek and sturdy, with a shiny obsidian finish and silver detailing. The first time they set eyes on it, Dean can't stop staring. When Sam sees the look on his face he knows the machine reminds his brother of their beloved Impala, which was wrecked in the chaos after the first kaiju attack.
After being briefed on the new model's specs, the brothers pass the time waiting for an attack by customizing the Jaeger. They secretly paint sigils and devil's traps on the inside, just in case. Dean pulls out the license plate from his old car, the only piece they were able to salvage, and convinces the mechanics to attach it to the lower back of the Jaeger. As a finishing touch, they sneak out into the dome one night and carve initials, D.W. and S.W., into the new paint on one of the huge metal feet.
The builders give it some military-sounding name like the others, but Sam and Dean have other ideas. This whole program, like so many other battles in their lives, is a last ditch effort, a final stand against a threat on humanity. With that and the memory of their parents in mind, the brothers christen their Jaeger "Hail Mary". Pentecost shakes his head when he hears this, but Tendo Choi, the quirky Shatterdome technician who is never without a rosary on his wrist, grins at the boys and says something about how a little faith never hurt anyone.
One day, on a visit to the Academy for some additional training, the Winchesters pass a pair of new recruits in the hallway, brothers like themselves. The Beckets, they later learn. They are goofing off, the older brother attempting to get the younger one into a choke hold and the younger one fighting back and laughing. Sam and Dean can't help but smile at the familiar scene. They don't acknowledge the pair, but both secretly wish them luck, knowing all too well the pain of losing a brother.
They are soon called back to the Shatterdome when a new event is detected, a Category III headed to the Asian coast. The boys suit up and take position in their Jaeger for the first time. Dean takes the right arm position, the arm equipped with a massive gun that he can't wait to use. Sam is in left arm position, which has the option of wielding a huge blade.
When the brothers drift for the first time it leaves the observers in the control room awestruck, even Tendo, who has overseen more drifts than almost anyone. Never before had two pilots synched so well so quickly. It's as if their minds were already one and the neural bridge only strengthened the bond. Sam and Dean coast through each other's memories with ease, both the happy and the painful, before their eyes snap open and in unison they shift into a fighting stance.
"Let's get this son of a bitch," Dean says with a signature smirk accompanying his bravado.
"Sounds good," Sam replies, unable to hold back his own smile.
Finally they are hunters again.