p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"The Breach was destroyed; the kaiju gone. That annoying, flipping wall-clock had since been inactive. It just… hung up there, reminding everyone. The Anteverse, as the world knew it, was obliterated thanks to Gipsy Danger's nuclear reactor./p
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;" Operation Pitfall took two more Rangers at the end of the Kaiju War; Raleigh almost went with them./p
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;" People died all the time. That's what people do; it's expected. Every nineteen seconds – on average. The two Ranger pilots of Striker Eureka that had sacrificed themselves to make way for Gipsy's were part of those numbers. But to Raleigh Becket, Herc Hansen, Mako Mori, and everyone else in the world, Stacker Pentecost and Chuck Hansen will always be remembered as much more than statistics./p
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;" Research was still set to continue for the Pan-Pacific Defense Corps' K-Science division. Even without the Jaegers, there's more to do, and even more to discover. Herc Hansen, taking over as the new Marshal, made to oversee that everything went smoothly in the last remaining 'Dome in Hong Kong./p
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;" The man hid it well, that was a given. While everyone mourned for their friends and heroes, he mourned the loss of a son. emA son, his son. /emHis son that had grown up a boy-soldier; grew up without a mother; grew up detached from the world, thanks to him./p
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;" In those precious moments, Chuck had accepted that the life he once "quite liked" was something he wouldn't be returning to. It was he who thought sacrificing his life in order to save the world would right the wrongs he's made; that it would make the past life he had lived worth something.../p
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;" And it was that same son whose room was being cleared out today./p
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;" Herc was too busy to do it himself, with countless meetings and briefings and overseeing. Even though, in the back of his mind, he felt as if it was his job as a father. Chuck's room lay untouched in the weeks following the end of the war. No one has yet left, but the days had droned on and on for most of the remaining crew./p
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;" Raleigh was planning to leave the Shatterdome and the PPDC, travel the world with Mako Mori. Something he once promised his brother. But before he did, he had a debt to pay for the Hansens./p
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;" "You don't need to do it, Raleigh."/p
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;" "Got nothing left to do, sir. Might as well lend a hand."/p
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;" That's what he aimed to do for his last day at the 'Dome: sort out the room of the late Striker Eureka pilot./p
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;" Herc's lower lip disappeared for a second. "Fine," was his curt response. "Boy, just don't throw anything, we clear?"/p
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;" "Yes, sir. Wouldn't dream of it."/p
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;" Raleigh had never been to the side of the building where Chuck's room was at; never had the need to. Hell, he once emdespised/em the thought of roaming around by himself and running into Chuck, at some point. Now he never has to worry about that./p
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;" Now he felt a little bad about it./p
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;" The door-lock jammed, but he got it opened eventually. Chuck's bunker-room didn't look any different from the other quarters. There was a queen-sized bed, a desk, a corkboard, a closet, a bathroom... For not being at the Hong Kong Shatterdome long, posters, pictures, and lanyards had decorated the otherwise empty room./p
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;" Normal stuff you'd find in a Ranger's room./p
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;" The Becket boy shuffled his feet sheepishly. He didn't feel like he belonged. Compared to what length his and Chuck's relationship had spanned – from down-right hatred to leveled respect – he stuck out like a thumb./p
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;" In the back of his mind, Raleigh felt like he wasn't meant to move anything. Chuck could probably swim out of the ocean one day and find his old stuff all boxed up, and then go on a rampage./p
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;" Raleigh humored the thought for a bit, the hope to see the young Hansen kicking again./p
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;" Fight to live, live to fight: that's Chuck for you./p
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;" While Raleigh was packing stuff in boxes, it was all he could think about. He was Chuck at one point; in his shoes, figuratively speaking. He was his age once, always coming back after every deployment, starting to get a big head, getting cocky. That changed drastically after Yancy. Raleigh became reserved. Quieter. He's always hated people, but he didn't mind lending a hand. That was Chuck, too. They were two sides of the same coin./p
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;" Maybe, if Raleigh had known him longer, Chuck would have grown on him. Perhaps they would've set old rivalries aside./p
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;" Come to think of the little bastard, Raleigh had an inkling he and Yancy may have met him once before. Or was it the other way around? He could distinctly remember a kid from –/p
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;" Raleigh's train of thought was interrupted when his foot kicked something hidden under the mattress. He dropped the box in his hand on top of the bed covers. Raleigh got to his knees, lifting the comforters, and felt around for whatever he had made contact with./p
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"em Cardboard?/em/p
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;" He pulled it out from under the bed./p
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;" Yep. Shoe box./p
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;" Raleigh cracked a grin. On the cover was, written in big, black block letters: strongDO NOT OPEN/strong. It was something a teen would do. It was something emhe /emwould have done, when he was younger./p
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;" He took off the cover of the box and put it off to the side. His smile stayed where it was. If anything, Raleigh's grin only got broader and broader. The contents of the box were not only amusing, but it actually hit home./p
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;" There was a ten-inch tall figurine of a Gipsy Danger replica, a little scratched and worn. Miniature Lucky Seven and Striker Eureka figures were lying in there as well. Without a second thought, Raleigh propped them up on the bedside drawer. He got to his feet then./p
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;" Something in the box shifted. He blinked. emIs this really? He didn't./em/p
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;" It made his stomach churn. Not in a bad way. The way you feel... when one realized that someone cared – when one emknew/emsomeone cared. And who would've thought that it was emCharles Hansen/em?/p
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;" Raleigh carefully picked up the two action figures into his palm. Both toys were Jaeger Rangers. Both blond. Both brothers. Both in their late-model, white DriveSuits./p
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;" They were in pretty mint condition compared to the Jaegers. And they were of him and Yance. Chuck "Fan-Boy" Hansen. It made the Ranger laugh to himself./p
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;" "Would'a never pegged you as the type, Chuck," Raleigh said into thin air. Barely a whisper, but no one was there to hear it. He wouldn't admit it, but he was hoping that Chuck was listening, wherever he was./p
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;" The former knew that the latter would have punched him for calling him out. That thought made Raleigh steel himself. His grin faded./p
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;" He stared into the box again. Instead of emptiness, he saw smiles. Chuck and Yancy./p
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;" They emhad /emmet before./p
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;" The picture wasn't a Polaroid, but it was developed – from the years when pictures were still being developed, mind. It had lain at the bottom of that box for – what? emYears? /em– and it still looked as good as new, save for the slightly worn corners./p
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;" Yancy's hair was still a little shaggy, the way it was before he regularly got it cut. Chuck was wearing a red bull-cap, donning his own messy ginger locks. The two of them looked cheerful, happy./p
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;" The red-toned date on the corner of the picture said "12/20/19 12:57 PM". If his calculations and memory were correct – and they usually were – that would have been when they were at Manila after the three Jaeger drop. Gipsy Danger had rode alongside Horizon Brave and Lucky Seven – the first team, with Herc and his brother, Scott – and had stayed in the Philippines for a few days before leaving for their respective 'Domes./p
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;" They'd met before. Chuck was a kid before; barely sixteen. Herc was Chuck's hero. Yancy was Chuck's hero./p
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"em Raleigh/em was Chuck's hero./p
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;" And he never gave the boy the time of day./p
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;" Raleigh left the boxes and action figures where they lay. Those could wait for later. He stood up and pinned the picture onto Chuck's corkboard, smack dab in the middle. A sad smile replaced the sullen look on his face./p
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;" Hopefully, Yancy would do better than him up there./p
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;" Operation Pitfall took two more Rangers at the end of the Kaiju War; Raleigh almost went with them./p
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;" People died all the time. That's what people do; it's expected. Every nineteen seconds – on average. The two Ranger pilots of Striker Eureka that had sacrificed themselves to make way for Gipsy's were part of those numbers. But to Raleigh Becket, Herc Hansen, Mako Mori, and everyone else in the world, Stacker Pentecost and Chuck Hansen will always be remembered as much more than statistics./p
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;" Research was still set to continue for the Pan-Pacific Defense Corps' K-Science division. Even without the Jaegers, there's more to do, and even more to discover. Herc Hansen, taking over as the new Marshal, made to oversee that everything went smoothly in the last remaining 'Dome in Hong Kong./p
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;" The man hid it well, that was a given. While everyone mourned for their friends and heroes, he mourned the loss of a son. emA son, his son. /emHis son that had grown up a boy-soldier; grew up without a mother; grew up detached from the world, thanks to him./p
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;" In those precious moments, Chuck had accepted that the life he once "quite liked" was something he wouldn't be returning to. It was he who thought sacrificing his life in order to save the world would right the wrongs he's made; that it would make the past life he had lived worth something.../p
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;" And it was that same son whose room was being cleared out today./p
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;" Herc was too busy to do it himself, with countless meetings and briefings and overseeing. Even though, in the back of his mind, he felt as if it was his job as a father. Chuck's room lay untouched in the weeks following the end of the war. No one has yet left, but the days had droned on and on for most of the remaining crew./p
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;" Raleigh was planning to leave the Shatterdome and the PPDC, travel the world with Mako Mori. Something he once promised his brother. But before he did, he had a debt to pay for the Hansens./p
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;" "You don't need to do it, Raleigh."/p
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;" "Got nothing left to do, sir. Might as well lend a hand."/p
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;" That's what he aimed to do for his last day at the 'Dome: sort out the room of the late Striker Eureka pilot./p
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;" Herc's lower lip disappeared for a second. "Fine," was his curt response. "Boy, just don't throw anything, we clear?"/p
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;" "Yes, sir. Wouldn't dream of it."/p
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;" Raleigh had never been to the side of the building where Chuck's room was at; never had the need to. Hell, he once emdespised/em the thought of roaming around by himself and running into Chuck, at some point. Now he never has to worry about that./p
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;" Now he felt a little bad about it./p
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;" The door-lock jammed, but he got it opened eventually. Chuck's bunker-room didn't look any different from the other quarters. There was a queen-sized bed, a desk, a corkboard, a closet, a bathroom... For not being at the Hong Kong Shatterdome long, posters, pictures, and lanyards had decorated the otherwise empty room./p
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;" Normal stuff you'd find in a Ranger's room./p
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;" The Becket boy shuffled his feet sheepishly. He didn't feel like he belonged. Compared to what length his and Chuck's relationship had spanned – from down-right hatred to leveled respect – he stuck out like a thumb./p
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;" In the back of his mind, Raleigh felt like he wasn't meant to move anything. Chuck could probably swim out of the ocean one day and find his old stuff all boxed up, and then go on a rampage./p
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;" Raleigh humored the thought for a bit, the hope to see the young Hansen kicking again./p
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;" Fight to live, live to fight: that's Chuck for you./p
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;" While Raleigh was packing stuff in boxes, it was all he could think about. He was Chuck at one point; in his shoes, figuratively speaking. He was his age once, always coming back after every deployment, starting to get a big head, getting cocky. That changed drastically after Yancy. Raleigh became reserved. Quieter. He's always hated people, but he didn't mind lending a hand. That was Chuck, too. They were two sides of the same coin./p
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;" Maybe, if Raleigh had known him longer, Chuck would have grown on him. Perhaps they would've set old rivalries aside./p
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;" Come to think of the little bastard, Raleigh had an inkling he and Yancy may have met him once before. Or was it the other way around? He could distinctly remember a kid from –/p
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;" Raleigh's train of thought was interrupted when his foot kicked something hidden under the mattress. He dropped the box in his hand on top of the bed covers. Raleigh got to his knees, lifting the comforters, and felt around for whatever he had made contact with./p
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"em Cardboard?/em/p
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;" He pulled it out from under the bed./p
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;" Yep. Shoe box./p
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;" Raleigh cracked a grin. On the cover was, written in big, black block letters: strongDO NOT OPEN/strong. It was something a teen would do. It was something emhe /emwould have done, when he was younger./p
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;" He took off the cover of the box and put it off to the side. His smile stayed where it was. If anything, Raleigh's grin only got broader and broader. The contents of the box were not only amusing, but it actually hit home./p
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;" There was a ten-inch tall figurine of a Gipsy Danger replica, a little scratched and worn. Miniature Lucky Seven and Striker Eureka figures were lying in there as well. Without a second thought, Raleigh propped them up on the bedside drawer. He got to his feet then./p
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;" Something in the box shifted. He blinked. emIs this really? He didn't./em/p
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;" It made his stomach churn. Not in a bad way. The way you feel... when one realized that someone cared – when one emknew/emsomeone cared. And who would've thought that it was emCharles Hansen/em?/p
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;" Raleigh carefully picked up the two action figures into his palm. Both toys were Jaeger Rangers. Both blond. Both brothers. Both in their late-model, white DriveSuits./p
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;" They were in pretty mint condition compared to the Jaegers. And they were of him and Yance. Chuck "Fan-Boy" Hansen. It made the Ranger laugh to himself./p
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;" "Would'a never pegged you as the type, Chuck," Raleigh said into thin air. Barely a whisper, but no one was there to hear it. He wouldn't admit it, but he was hoping that Chuck was listening, wherever he was./p
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;" The former knew that the latter would have punched him for calling him out. That thought made Raleigh steel himself. His grin faded./p
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;" He stared into the box again. Instead of emptiness, he saw smiles. Chuck and Yancy./p
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;" They emhad /emmet before./p
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;" The picture wasn't a Polaroid, but it was developed – from the years when pictures were still being developed, mind. It had lain at the bottom of that box for – what? emYears? /em– and it still looked as good as new, save for the slightly worn corners./p
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;" Yancy's hair was still a little shaggy, the way it was before he regularly got it cut. Chuck was wearing a red bull-cap, donning his own messy ginger locks. The two of them looked cheerful, happy./p
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;" The red-toned date on the corner of the picture said "12/20/19 12:57 PM". If his calculations and memory were correct – and they usually were – that would have been when they were at Manila after the three Jaeger drop. Gipsy Danger had rode alongside Horizon Brave and Lucky Seven – the first team, with Herc and his brother, Scott – and had stayed in the Philippines for a few days before leaving for their respective 'Domes./p
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;" They'd met before. Chuck was a kid before; barely sixteen. Herc was Chuck's hero. Yancy was Chuck's hero./p
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"em Raleigh/em was Chuck's hero./p
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;" And he never gave the boy the time of day./p
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;" Raleigh left the boxes and action figures where they lay. Those could wait for later. He stood up and pinned the picture onto Chuck's corkboard, smack dab in the middle. A sad smile replaced the sullen look on his face./p
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;" Hopefully, Yancy would do better than him up there./p