Missing Pieces
What happens between Mako and Raleigh's first drift and when they're fighting strong together later on… Missing pieces from the story in between.
A bit of writing I had to get down of the last few days. Might just be this, might become more, we'll see. Thanks for reading.
[1] First Drift, Aftermath
Raleigh stumbled, vision darkening, deadened fingers fumbling at the release straps, he could feel her falling… The remnants of the drift, the power of that memory overwhelming their senses… He shook his head to try to clear it, to try to separate from the connection…
There it was! – he slammed on the release button and fell forward to his knees, climbing awkwardly to his feet, vision slowly returning as he managed to cross the distance between them before falling again, just in time to catch her as she tumbled from the harness.
They slid to the floor. "It's okay, Mako, It's okay…" he manages as he slowly returns to himself… The connection, the drift, fading back, her mind, her memories replaced with the sound of his thoughts, and his thoughts alone: a jumbled mix of guilt – his fault, he'd tried to hold it back but the thoughts of his brother had inevitably tumbled back; frustration – the connection was strong! If only she'd had time to adjust before he... And some anger – why hadn't he been told about her past, why hadn't they done a dry run in the lab, a pilot drift, why straight to Gypsy?
Mako stirred, and he glanced down, catching the humiliation mixed with anger playing across her features as she opened her eyes… on meeting his she pulled away sharply, pushing up to her knees and unsteadily climbing to her feet. Without a second glance she turned and made her way towards the rear hatch, where anxious technicians were already pushing their way inside to start repairs after the hard restart.
They parted as she walked through.
Raleigh pushed on the catches of his helmet, watching her go. The connection had been strong. Surprisingly so. He'd never been dragged that hard into a memory, and her – managing to pilot Gypsy while trapped within it?
Scary strong.
He released the helmet, and pulled it off, passing it to a waiting tech.
"Well that was interesting," he muttered to himself, lifting his arms as two techs undid the spinal attachments and helped him out of his suit.
He realized he couldn't wait to try again.