Anchors

Raleigh woke up to the sound of the intercom's annoyingly insistent beeping, grumbling half-formed thoughts of the dreams that were slipping away from him as he opened his eyes. Reaching over, he slammed his hand down on the intercom button.

"You do realize it's four in the morning, Tendo."

"Raleigh," came the unexpected voice on the other end, "it's me."

"Mako?" he said blearily, blinking himself towards wakefulness. "Is something wrong?"

"No, don't worry. I just… need your help with something. I'm in the science lab."

"Okay," Raleigh said, pushing himself to his feet and fighting back a groan. "I'll be right there."

The line went dead, and the former Jaeger pilot quickly got dressed and headed out into the hallway. An eerie silence filled the empty corridors of the Hong Kong Shatterdome, now almost completely done with its shutdown. Only a few members of the Jaeger Program had stayed behind to see it through; the rest had taken their generous severance packages—paid for out of the remainder of the Pan Pacific Defense Corps' eight-month funding—and either gone into early retirement or moved on to help the rebuilding efforts in Hong Kong and other cities.

The cafeteria was almost totally deserted, with a few engineers pulling an all-nighter huddled over a table reviewing data. One of them looked up and called out in greeting as Raleigh grabbed a small bottle of coffee from the fridge, and Raleigh nodded in return.

The hangar came next, and it was only in the absence of the Jaegers that the former pilot could truly appreciate just how massive the space was. Raleigh heard a sharp sound and thought for a moment that the triplets were playing another round of basketball, but a quick look revealed nothing more than a rusty wrench that had fallen off a ledge and hit the ground.

Pushing those thoughts out of his mind and sparing only a short glance up at the vacant LOCCENT room as he moved through the hangar, Raleigh made his way to the science lab. The two doctors were nowhere to be seen, and the door to the lab had been left slightly ajar. Raleigh entered the room, seeing Mako adjusting the settings of the machine designed to create a Drift. It didn't take Raleigh long to figure out what his co-pilot wanted to do, but he waited until Mako was done before making himself known.

"You want to see him again, don't you?"

She said nothing at first, taking up a head-piece and holding it out to Raleigh.

"Please."

Raleigh smiled, his expression split between affection and sympathy.

"You don't have to ask me for something like this," he replied, taking the head-piece and putting it on. "I get it."

Mako nodded, before putting on a head-piece of her own and picking up the switch that would activate the machine. Taking a calming breath, she started the count-down.

"Three… two… one."

There was a lurching feeling in the back of Raleigh's brain, and then suddenly a heartbeat of pure silence was followed by the chaotic rush of memories as the pilots joined minds once again.

But this time, Mako wasn't interested in letting them fly by. She reached out and grabbed the first one she saw, her subconscious leading the way.

She didn't know how many pushups she'd done at this point. All Mako knew was that her arms had never been in this much pain before.

She also knew that it didn't matter. She knew that she couldn't let herself hit the floor until her instructor allowed it.

"Time! Those of you who still can, get up."

Mako pushed herself to her feet, snapping to attention in front of her instructor, Ranger Hercules Hansen. Marshal Pentecost had brought Hansen in as a special training advisor to oversee the Ranger Aptitude Trials, and Mako was starting to see why the Marshal held Hansen in such high esteem.

"Two," Hansen said, sounding like he couldn't figure out whether to be proud of himself or disappointed in his students. "Well, that should make this next bit shorter, at least."

Mako looked over and saw a young man her age looking back at her, with a short but unruly head of blonde hair and sharp blue eyes. He gave her a cutting smile; Mako did not return it.

"Eyes to the front," Hansen called out, and the two remaining students turned to look at him. It was then that Mako realized how much the young man and Ranger Hansen looked like each other—perhaps they were related?

"This next test is simple," Hansen said, his eyes betraying no emotion. "Move away from the other candidates first." They did so, and he continued. "The two of you have one minute. Whoever gets the other to tap out first is the winner. If both of you fail, you get another round of pushups."

Mako and the other student stared in confusion, first at their instructor and then at each other. Hansen's only response was to crouch down and pet the bulldog sitting by his feet, who growled happily.

"The clock's ticking," Hansen said a few moments later, not even bothering to look up. "Do you want to be a Ranger or not?"

Mako turned and readied herself for her opponent's first attack, sidestepping a punch rather than risking a block with her arms. She used her leg to sweep the young man's legs out from under him, sending him falling to the ground on his knees.

But he wasn't going to give up so easily, and lunged forward, grabbing Mako's legs and sending her down to the ground as well. A swift kick was enough to break the hold, and a following arm bar came instinctively. She was careful not to pull hard enough to dislocate the joint, and the sound of her opponent's free hand tapping on the mat came mercifully a few seconds later—just as Hansen called for time again.

"Well done, Miss Mori," Hansen said as Mako finally collapsed onto the floor, exhausted. "Chuck, you've got some work to do yet."

Mako closed her eyes and breathed, trying to ignore the burn in her muscles as the adrenaline faded away. The feeling of oddly warm breath on her face roused her again, though, and she opened her eyes to see Hansen's bulldog looking at her with something like concern.

"Don't mind Max," Hansen's voice said through her fatigue. "He has a soft spot for girls."

Mako smiled tiredly as she sat up, scratching Max behind his ear and getting a contented look from the dog in return. She pushed herself the rest of the way to her feet and turned towards the door, surprised to see the Marshal standing there in his uniform.

He looked at her and smiled, nodding once before Hansen came over to speak to him.

Pentecost eventually denied Mako's request for a promotion to the rank of Ranger, but she had seen the approval in his eyes on that day— and it had said much more than a new rank ever could.

The combat room shattered into a white void tinged with blue phantoms, and a few heartbeats later Raleigh was standing in Marshal Pentecost's office.

"How is the restoration going?"

"Right on schedule, Marshal. She should be ready for field duty by the end of the month."

"Excellent. Just in time, I think. Do you need to oversee the final steps personally?"

"No, sir," Mako said. "Is there something else you want me to do instead?"

"Yes, Miss Mori," Pentecost said, pushing a thick folder of documents across his desk towards her. "There is. Once Gipsy is ready for duty, she'll need pilots. That is the file on Raleigh Becket. You might have heard of him. I need you to study his records and draw up a list of potential co-pilots. As soon as you're done, I'm going to go talk to Mister Becket personally."

"Yes, sir," Mako said, taking the file and opening it up to the first page. Oddly, there was no picture of Raleigh's face. His last recorded tour had been with his brother, Yancy Becket, more than five years ago.

"Do you think he'll be fit for duty, Marshal?"

Pentecost sat in thought for a few moments, before giving the smallest of nods.

"In body, yes. His mind is what I'm worried about. But all that takes is time, and a little convincing."

Mako paused, unsure how to ask the question she'd tried to find a moment for time after time.

"The answer is no," Pentecost spoke firmly into her thoughts, before his voice took on a paternal tone that she only heard when they were alone. "And you know why, Mako."

"But—"

"Mako, listen to me."

The Marshal's voice quiet, but still arresting all the same. As soon as he was sure he had his daughter's attention, Pentecost continued.

"I know you've read the reports and the research, and I know you've talked to some of the other pilots. But you can't know what it feels like to Drift with someone until you've done it. And all it takes is one time to establish a connection.

"And don't give me that look," he said, interrupting Mako before she could speak. "I don't doubt you could be ready, given enough time. It's the other possibility I'm worried about."

Mako said nothing. They'd only just recently returned from a visit to the grave of Tamsin Sevier, the co-pilot who had been with the Marshal in Tokyo. She'd seen the pain on his face, and knew he would do whatever he had to in order to keep her from experiencing that silence in her mind firsthand.

Mako was pulled out of her thoughts by the sight of Pentecost wiping his nose with a handkerchief, the white cloth coming away blotched with red. Her heart clenched, but she kept her face as even as she could.

"Can I get you anything, sir?"

Pentecost shook his head, the moment broken.

"I'm fine, Miss Mori," he said calmly, pulling out the metal tin that housed his medicine and popping the top open. "You may go."

Mako closed the file folder again and gave a half-bow, turning and leaving the room without another word.

She waited until she was back in her room with the door locked behind her before shuddering with a repressed sob.

The white void swallowed up the memory again. In the silence of the Drift, Raleigh could feel Mako's frustration seething just beneath the surface of her thoughts. This wasn't what she'd come here for, clearly. But he kept his distance, letting his co-pilot work through it on her own.

Suddenly Mako's anger yielded to determination, and there was another flash of light.

"How are you feeling, Mako?"

"Fine, Mister Pentecost," she answered, her expression turning troubled as she saw the look on her rescuer's face. It was the first time since he'd saved her a few weeks earlier that Mako had seen him look upset by something.

"Are you okay?"

Pentecost sighed, his resolve cracking slightly as he shook his head.

"No," he admitted. "My co-pilot, the one who was with me when I saved you—she's sick. The doctors are ordering her out of active service."

Mako could still remember how ill her mother had looked when they'd brought her to Tokyo for medical treatment, and her face clouded further.

"I'm very sorry," she said, her head bowed. "Will they be able to help her?"

"I hope so," Pentecost answered, "but that's a question with no easy answers."

Their eyes locked, and Mako recognized in an instant the same look she had seen her father give her on the way to Tokyo. Pentecost thought his friend was going to die.

Silence settled between them for a long minute, until Pentecost broke it with a question.

"Would you like to come stay with me, Mako?"

It caught her off guard, and Mako blinked.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that I believe no child should have to grow up without parents," Pentecost answered, his voice at once gentle and filled with conviction. "I believe you deserve a chance to discover what life has in store for you, and I think I owe it to you—and to Tamsin—to make sure that you get that chance. It's your choice to make, but I wanted you to know it was there."

Mako looked up at Pentecost, stunned. It was something she'd wanted, but hadn't dared to ask for, and this man who owed her nothing at all had offered to give it to her.

"I think… I think I would like that very much, Mister Pentecost. Thank you."

He smiled, taking a few steps forward and putting a hand on the top of Mako's head. It was warm and comforting, and it felt like home.

"Don't worry," he said, and she could hear the smile in his voice even as she closed her eyes. "I'll always be here for you."

The memory faded away again, and this time Mako pulled herself completely out of the Drift. Raleigh followed suit, saying nothing as he removed his head-piece and laid it down on a nearby bench. Mako did the same and turned to face Raleigh, her expression unreadable.

"Thank you," she said at last, keeping the emotion in her voice to a small tremble.

Raleigh smiled, putting a hand on her shoulder.

"Any time."

Mako stepped forward and gave him a gentle embrace. He returned it, just as gently.

"I'm here," he said quietly, a whisper of Japanese that reminded Mako once again of coming home. "I'm right here."

She gave a single word of Japanese in reply, and Raleigh's smile widened.

…

…

A/N: Man, that one took a while to get right. I hope you enjoyed it! I may have deviated slightly from what we see of Mako as a child in the "Tales From Year Zero" prequel, but I don't think it was too much if I did. Can't remember off the top of my head.

Anyway! I hope I did the wonderful characters of this film justice, and thanks for reading!

p.s. As to the word Mako says to Raleigh, I'll leave what it might be completely up to you.