Rachel wasn't aware of how long she'd been knocked out, but when she awoke she felt better than she had in ages. Sleeping in a proper bed, no matter how small and springy it was, did her some good after spending days sleeping in abandoned buildings that were littered around Hong Kong.
Pushing herself into a sitting position she extended her arms and stretched. A yawn followed shortly after and before she knew it she was swinging her legs over the foot of her bed. Moving to the bathroom door she wiggled the door knob and was relieved to find it unlocked, however even then she was mindful of what Raleigh had said the other day, and opened the door slowly. The mirror was fogged and the titled floor was wet indicating that the shower had recently been used.
Shuffling on the other side of the opposing door caught her attention and she looked up to find the door opening. Raleigh was dressed in a pair of plain grey cargo pants and that was it. Before Rachel could stop herself she found her eyes glue to the white scars that littered his left side. They were shockingly similar to the design of the Conn-Pod gear they had to wear.
"They're burns from when I originally piloted Gypsy back to shore. The suit short circuited." He explained.
Rachel, feeling ashamed for being caught staring, dropped her gaze and moved to turn on the water in the sink. Splashing her face a couple of times she allowed herself a moment to become more aware of the world around her. The other pilot was standing off behind her and she moved so that he could have his turn at the sink. As he started to bush his teeth the younger girl looked around the bathroom. It was nice in Rachel's eyes. A working toilet, shower, and sink were royalties to her, but it seemed like Raleigh hated it. Maybe it was too pristine for him.
Once the man had finished brushing his teeth he moved to walk out but stopped right before.
"I saved you some hot water and the towels are in that cabinet right there under the sink. Afraid all you have to wash with is men's shampoo, but I'll see what I can do to get you something better." Then, before Rachel could thank him, he closed his door and was gone.
A moment passed. Then two. Finally Rachel moved and locked the door so that she wouldn't be interrupted. Turning on the shower she adjusted the temperature before stripping from her clothes and stepping under the spray. A low, pleasant hum emitted from her as she allowed the water to rid her of lingering dirt and sweat. She reached for the shampoo and examined the bottle, it definitely smelled like a guy's shampoo but the girl chose to ignore that as she squirted some of the clear gel into her hand.
After a few more moments of rinsing her hair and body Rachel shut off the water and pulled back the curtain. The heat from the water was fading quickly and the girl snatched a towel from under the sink to cover herself. She unlocked the door leading to Raleigh's room before she exited the bathroom into her respective room. However she didn't make it far before something dawned on her.
I don't have any clean clothes...
A curse left her mouth and she looked around the empty room, hoping that clothes would just appear. Chewing on her lip she sat down on her bed and tried to think of her next move. Then a slip of paper on the ground caught her eye. It was right in front of her door and had nice cursive writing on it. Trotting over the the paper Rachel noticed the mail flap that was part of her door. That must have been how it got in. Unfolding the paper she read:
Dear Rachel,
I was informed that no one had taken the time to deliver you some clothes. There is a box outside your door containing three pairs of clothing, an alarm clock, and a watch. I'll see you in the Mess Hall.
-Mako Mori.
Rachel carefully folded the paper back up before she flipped open the mail slot and took a wary look around the hall. It looked to be deserted so the young pilot quickly unfasten the lock on her door and scooped the box up with one arm. Shutting her door she re-locked it and dumped the contents of the box on her bed.
There were three plain shirts (blue, green, and orange), a pair of cargo pants, some sweats, and blue jeans which were followed by a fresh pair of black combat boots. Socks, underwear, and a few pairs of training bras fell out as well. Rachel quickly stowed the garments away to her chest of drawers and set up her alarm clock. Then she picked out her clothes for the day: the blue tee and her cargo pants.
After she dressed and hooked on her wristwatch she brushed her teeth, combed out her hair, applied some of Raleigh's deodorant (since she didn't have her own), and laced up her shoes before stepping out of her room. Pushing her key into one of her many pockets she made her way through the halls to the Mess area. Before she entered she could hear the chattering of people and plates clattering together. A glance at her watch told her it was only just turning six.
"I don't think I've ever been this awake at such an hour." She mumbled to herself.
"You'll get used to it." Someone behind her said. The blonde girl swiveled her gaze around to find Herc approaching with Max at his heels.
"Good morning Mr. Hansen." Rachel greeted him politely. The older shook his head as they descended the stairs together.
"Just call me Herc. Everyone else does and Mr. Hansen makes me feel old." He informed her. The girl wanted to point out that he was indeed an old man, but she held her tongue in respect. Even though he was old enough to be her father he held an energy to him that defied his age.
"Sure thing." She told him as she followed him around.
He grabbed a plate and handed her one before beginning to fill it up with steaming food. Rachel looked over the meals with glazed eyes. She didn't know what to eat, or if she would be able to stomach it at all. When her and Nick had been living on the streets they either stole their food or lived off the land. None of it was processed and most of what they got went to her brother, who needed it more than she had at the time. She recalled the times that she'd given him potions of her meal after he'd finished his off because of his noisy stomach. At the time she would joke around saying that there was a beast in his stomach complaining.
Herc seemed to noticed her stillness and nudged her with his elbow, effectively breaking her from her thoughts. She let her eyes come back into focus as she turned to the elder.
"You ok there, girly?" He asked, his tone laced with worry. The youngster nodded her head, though Herc knew better than to believe it.
"Just don't know what to eat." She tried to bush off his worried gaze as she put some pancakes on her plate. They were made from batter and shouldn't upset her stomach too much. Grabbing an apple as well she trotted off to avoid any questions that Herc might have.
The girl noticed her brother chatting away with the male Russian pilot, Aleksis. Said Russian seemed to explaining something to her brother because he was using his hands and making wild gestures the the blonde didn't understand. The man's wife was sitting beside him, hiding a smile behind her hand as she watched her husband unsuccessfully try to convey something.
Smiling herself Rachel took a seat at an unoccupied table that was far enough from the others where she wouldn't be disturbed, but she'd be able to keep an eye on most of the Mess. The female O'Neil was more observant than most and she preferred it that way. It was what kept the siblings safe and (for the most part) out of danger. Picking up one of her pancakes she tore it into bits and slowly ate it. Mechanics and technicians were scurrying from here to there, picking up bits of food before rushing to their posts. It seemed the only few that really bothered to sit down and enjoy their meals were the pilots.
For awhile Rachel stayed alone, slowly eating her pancakes and nibbling on her apple as she watched how people interacted with each other. Chuck had shown up some time later after his father and joined him at the table, feeding his dog some left over burnt bacon. The dog seemed to enjoy the food despite it being slightly overcooked. Mako and Raleigh showed up side by side talking to each other about the improvements on Gypsy, though it seemed Mako was more spirited about it than her male counterpart. That made Rachel smile into her apple.
Around six forty five the mess was starting to empty. The Russian couple excused themselves as they left to head back to their room and Rachel watched as Nick scurried off to go bother some female mechanic. The sister had half a mind to stop him, but instead of being a flirt he was asking her about the different parts of a Jaeger and how the operated. The mechanic, clearly wanted to prove her knowledge of the machines, lead him off as they discussed the 'basics of a Jaeger'.
She was so busy watching the pair leave that she failed to noticed Mako leave as well. Raleigh stirred her from her thoughts as he took a seat directly across from her.
"You're not much of a social person are you?" He asked her, snagging a piece of her pancakes. She glared at him playfully as she shielded what was left of her cold breakfast.
"I'm merely an observant person." She countered as she took another bite from her almost finished apple. The man before her smiled as he chewed thoughtfully on his piece of stolen food.
"I've wanted to ask you this since I saw you, but why do you have blue in your hair?" He gestured at a lock of colored hair that was closest to her face. Rachel picked at the strand and twirled it in her hand, thinking back fondly on the memory.
"Me and my brother were passing through a part of Hong Kong when we noticed a forgotten hair dying kit on the side of the street. It still had everything in it, and we were so tired of waking up to the same thing everyday, so when we got back to our shelter for the night I opened it up and did our hair. He wanted it to be as dark as possible while I wanted a more lighter tone. The next morning when we walked out onto the street we got some attention for once in our lives. The kids with the blue hair and green eyes." Rachel let the strand drop from her fingers.
"What do you mean by 'shelter for the night'?" Rachel cursed mentally as he asked that question. She shouldn't have said that.
"Nothing." She quickly answered.
"Don't you have any parents, Rachel? I place to live other than here?" His questions strummed something inside her that made her want to snap at him. To tell him that it wasn't any part of his god damn business. Had it been any other person she probably would have, but she held it back.
"If my parents are still alive I wouldn't know. Me and Nick never knew them. We arrived in Hong Kong a few years ago when we stowed away on an American cruise boat." Her voice was void of any emotion as she spat out information. Her eyes, which were much like an open book, were cast downward so that the other pilot wouldn't be able to see her disgust. "What about you?" She asked, hoping to take the spotlight off of her.
Raleigh's shoulders tensed as the inquiry left her mouth. He suddenly found a piece of dirt on the table very interesting and he started to knock it around.
"No I don't have any family left. My dad might be somewhere out there, but I haven't seen him since before he left me and Yancy behind. Before coming out of retirement I was working on the wall and they paid for my living. Now the Shatterdome is my home." He looked around the mess, taking in the forms of people he'd seen day in and day out. "Pentecost came to me after the Wall in Sydney was destroyed. Told me I could die there or die in a Jaegar... So I made my choice and he flew me here to Hong Kong." As he re-accounted his story Rachel thought about the Wall of Life that was being built on every coastline.
"How does the Government think those walls will really work? They witnessed one of those monsters tear it down within hours. And still they choose to just sit back and continue funding something they know will not work." Rachel chewed her bottom lip with fervor.
"Men in suits are idiots." Raleigh's statement made Rachel let out a laugh.
"True." She agreed, nodding her head.
"What is all this laughter about?" Herc asked as he approached. He was followed by his son who looked like he'd rather punch the American pilot's lights out than sit next to him. Thankfully he didn't have to. Herc took a seat next to Raleigh which left the other Hansen to sit next to her.
"Talking about politics being idiots." Rachel told him, fighting her smile down.
"Oh tell me about it. Damn Government needs to get their heads outta their asses and do something about the Jaeger Program. We have four more months before they cut off our funding completely." Herc's voice went from carefree to a little strained, something that didn't slip past the young girl.
"Do we have a plan to destroy the Breach before then?" The girl pushed away her uneaten food and Chuck took it to feed to his dog.
"I know Stacker has been working long hours with Tendo and the boys down in K-Science Lab. I think they are forming a plan, but none of us have heard anything concrete as of yet." Herc said, his voice gruff as he thought about something. "Whatever it is... we need to act before we lose everything." His words seemed to sink into all of them because a tense silence fill the air around them.
The four of them broke silence by talking about features around the Shatterdome and the privileges they had.
"We used to be able to leave the Shatterdome, as long as one team stayed behind, but now with the Kaiju appearing more often we can't even do that." Chuck complained as he played with his dog.
"It was nice being able to leave and stretch our legs, but it is understandable why they want to keep us so close." Herc was about to add something to that statement but was cut short by the appearance of the Marshall. All of them sat a little straighter as the man cleared his throat.
"I need the two of you to come with me." He gave a crisp look to the two Australians before he turned on his heel and started to walk away. Herc and Chuck were up and following him before Rachel could even bat and eye.
"Odd." Raleigh mumbled as they vanished up the stairs. "Pentecost normally never comes to retrieve someone personally."
"He did for you." Rachel stated as she picked up her now empty plate. Becket nodded his head and a brief smile touched his features.
"That was a little different. I doubt anyone other than him would have been able to drag me back into the Jaeger Program. He knew it to. When he showed up to get me it almost seemed like he'd rehearsed what he was going to tell me. Everything I threw at him was shot down so quickly... bet that man wrote down a response to every scenario that could have played out that day." The male pilot followed Rachel as she stood up and dropped her plate into the cleaning bin.
"A good thing if you ask me. Seems like the world can use all the experienced pilots it has left." She followed Raleigh up the stairs and through the halls.
The girl wasn't sure what all there was to do in the Shatterdome except train, rest, and chat with other people. Training wasn't her first option and sleeping was out of the question so it by default that she'd stick to the other pilot for awhile. At least until her over excited brother showed up to spill useless information on her.
"Do you play chess?" Raleigh's question made Rachel furrow her brows downward.
"No I do not. I know how to play checkers. Why?" The girl noticed that they'd made it back to the room hallway. The male opened his door and beckoned for her to enter, which after a moment she did.
His room was neat and messy all at the same time. Clothes were hung up in the closet and the floor was clean, but the walls were cluttered with pieces of paper and pictures. Some of them had color while other's were black and white. A poster of two men standing side by side was hung near a mirror. Raleigh was easy to spot and the man beside him was so much like him it was scary. That must have been Yancy Becket, the older brother. The T.V. cameras didn't do either of the two any justice.
"Mako bought me this chess set after I settled in. There isn't much to do here and with limited funding the program can't afford to keep us entertained, but we can buy our own things as long as we keep them in our room." The male pulled out a chess board and in it were small pieces. "Thankfully it also has a set of checker pieces. Maybe later I'll teach you chess." He told her as he laid the game out across his desk.
Rachel kicked off her shoes, pulled up a chair, and sat opposite of him before helping him set up the board.
"Got any questions for me? Thinking maybe we can kill some time with a question game." He offered as he made the first move. Rachel hummed and moved her piece quickly.
"Do your scars ever bother you?" She asked as she watched him move again. Seeing an opening she jumped his piece and flicked it off the board.
"Well physically they used to be a bitch. Every time I would lift my arm and stretch my shoulder they would hurt, but now it only hurts if I spend too much time in the suit. Pentecost had some doctors give me some kind of ointment for it. After getting out of the suit, if they hurt, I apply some of it and it soothes the pain. They said it had something to do with the nerves in my skin." He took another move, making sure to keep out of Rachel's range. "When Yancy was ripped from the Conn-Pod I had to solo pilot the Jaeger back to shore, but when I did that the suit overloaded and shorted. I told you how it burned my skin, but the electricity messed with my nerves."
"And what about mental?" She asked as she scanned the board for an optimal move.
"Well there is some pain still attached to the memory. I don't think it will ever completely go away, but now that I've drifted with Mako I feel that I can move on. Yance wouldn't want me to kill myself by working on some stupid wall, he'd want me to continue fighting. Mako knows everything I've felt because of the drift. She knows the pain I went through, and she is helping me repair some of the damage done. Other than that the only other thing is that some chicks don't dig scars. Ruined my game for awhile." He let the corners of his mouth tug to a half smirk and Rachel shook her head.
"Some chicks dig scars." The girl moved her piece.
"Are you one of those chicks?" The question made Rachel want to hide her face. How did she not see that question coming. "No lying either." The girl could hear the smile in his tone which spared her having to look at him again.
"Yeah, I might like a few scars." She admitted as she watched the male move his piece.
"A few scars? Care to clarify?" He asked her as he kicked off his own shoes, finally allowing himself to get comfortable.
"Well I mean if you get your scar by doing something valiant or exciting then it has a good story behind it. A sort of meaning to it. However if you got drunk and fell down a flight of stairs and got some scars then that just shows how much of an idiot you are." She explained lightly as she jumped another one of his pieces. "You're not good at this game are you?" She questioned with a satisfied smile.
"Chess is more my playing field." He confessed as he tried to calculate a better move. "Do you have an scars?"
"I do." She admitted with a nod.
"Oh? Where and how did you get it?" Raleigh moved his piece, jumping two of her's in the process.
"Well you already know that me and my brother lived on the streets for awhile. There are these things called turf wars. Two gang fighting over a piece of 'territory' that was in the part of Hong Kong where me and my brother were. One night there is a fight that broke out the in middle of the street. It wasn't any of our business so we continued on, but one of the gang members pushed a woman and child into a busy street. Nick stopped the traffic so they wouldn't get hurt and he turned around and smarted off to the guy. He didn't like that too much. Next thing I know there are four of them jumping on my brother. Me being me I jumped in to protect him. We were winning too, until that same bastard broke his beer bottle and cut my back open. They ran off and I got carried to the hospital by the woman and her husband." She recalled the story slowly. Her eyes were glazed as she thought about how cold that night had been. "Now I have this white line running down the right side of my back. It never gave me problems, just discolored patch of skin."
The male shook his head and bit down on his lip. However Rachel kicked him from under the desk and told him not to worry about her past. He didn't seem like he wanted to drop it so easily, but he did anyways. They made a few more moves and talked some more. Their exchanging of questions gave them great insight into the other's life and how they acted. Soon the game was completely forgotten as they locked into pointless conversation.
"No way! You used to be a chubby!" Rachel's voice was in total disbelief as Raleigh nodded his head.
"Yep. When I was smaller I didn't really get out much, I was too into video games and gadgets." He confessed. "My brother was really athletic though. He was always trying to get me to play football or baseball. Those were his favorite games and after awhile of pestering me so much I gave in and played a few games. It was fun so I kept doing it and soon I moved from being this really chubby porker to a full blown athlete like him." He told her offhandedly.
The continued like that for most of the day. Apparently Raleigh liked bonfires, had a pet turtle named Fredrick at one point, and despised cigarettes. Rachel agreed with him on the last one. The smoke clung to everything and it was so hard to kill the habit once you formed it. The girl explained how she liked to sit on benches and watch people interact with each other.
"It is just so insightful, ya know. People walk on the streets talking to one another but not at the same time. Most of the time they talk to hear themselves or to blow off another person and they don't even seem to realize that they are doing it. On the other hand there are people that hardly talk because they have so much to say they are scared of chasing people off, so they hold back. I don't understand why people can't just say what they think and move on." Rachel was putting the pieces back into the board as Raleigh laced up his shoes.
"Maybe they are scared that if they say what they think the other person won't understand and run off." He captured her eyes in a gaze and she understood what he meant. Agreeing with him she handed him the board for him to put up as she laced up her own shoes.
It was dinnertime now and the two of them were starving.
"Who knew talking could make someone so hungry." She said with a half smile curled on her lips. Becket just laughed as he descended the stairs before her.
The Wei boys were playing a game of basketball in one corner of the Mess while the Russian pilots were sitting not to far away digging into their food. Sasha seemed to be speaking to her husband, but clearly he wasn't paying attention because she smacked him playfully over the back of his head to gain his interest. Rachel smiled as she watched the interaction. People always though that the Jaeger pilots were a strict group all the time, but clearly they were all family here.
Mako joined her and Raleigh as they picked up their plates and piled it with food. Of course because he was a guy Raleigh had to have a little bit of everything and it contrasted with Mako who carefully balanced her food choices. Rachel took a scoop of pasta and a piece of garlic bread. Snatching a cold water bottle as well she made her way over towards her table in the back. To her surprise Mako and Raleigh followed her and sat across from her.
"So what have you been up to all day Mako?" The male tried to kick up some conversation as he spooned a miniature mountain of noodles into his mouth.
"The Marshall wanted me to go over some figures in our budget today. We've been over looking quite a sum of money we had left, and now that we've found it we can use it to improve Cherno Alpha's armor." She stated fairly as she took ate a spoon full of noodles. "What about you? How has your day been?" Once the male had successfully swallowed his food he answered.
"Enlightening." Mako gave him a confused look so Rachel decided to cut in.
"We played a game of checkers today and while doing that we exchanged questions to pass the time." Mako nodded her head in understand.
"Did he tell you about how he once own a turtle named Fredrick?" Mako asked with a smile. Rachel nodded her head and smiled. "I saw it once in our drift, it was so cute." She commented before eating another spoonful of noodles.
"It was an awesome turtle." Raleigh told her before going back to eating his food.
Shaking her head Rachel picked and ate at her own food slowly. Mako took note of it, but said nothing about it. The girl was too insightful for her own age and knew instantly why the newest recruit was doing so. Even though she was making friends Rachel was no where near comfortable in the Shatterdome, and she wouldn't be for quite awhile. The change in environment was too much too fast. Thankfully Rachel stopped her picking when her brother showed up and plopped down next to her.
"Hello everyone." He greeted happily. He hugged his sister quickly before shoveling into his food. "This is so good." He said with a mouthful of food.
"Eat your food then talk." Rachel told him, poking at one of his sides. Nick jerked away from her playfully, but did as he was told.
"So how was your day?" He asked her.
"Enlightening." She quoted Raleigh, which in turn made him smile. "How was your day with the engineering girl?" Nick's ears turned a bright pink at her question and he busied himself with eating so he wouldn't have to answer. "Oooooh. It went like that." Rachel teased him, drawing out her words.
"Oh shut up." He gripped at her. "She is nice."
"I didn't say she wasn't. I just asked how your day with her was." Rachel reminded him as she bit into her garlic bread. After a moment of silence Nick cleared his throat.
"It was nice. She let me step into Blue Tundra today. The Conn-Pod is a beauty Rachel and I think you'll love it. It is almost the same color as your hair." He told her, motioning towards the dyed part. "Seems like that Jaeger was almost made for us." His comment stirred something in Rachel, but she didn't allow it to show.
Recently she'd been thinking the same thing. What had compelled them to sneak into a Government facility? Why had they been the only two standing under Blue Tundra when Stacker found them? On top of that they were drift compatible! All the different variable lined up almost too perfectly and it bothered the younger sibling in a way. Still she said nothing because of the words the Marshall had shared with her. Soldiers fight because they can and have the will to protect. Rachel certainly did want to protect people.
Dinner went on and the four of them chatted away the time. Mako and Nick seemed to be stuck on the topic of whether Oreo cookies were better than Chocolate Chip cookies when Rachel nudged Raleigh under the table with her foot.
"Hmm?" He hummed as he tore his gaze away from the argument.
"How did we even get to this topic?" She asked him with a bit of laughter in her voice.
"I don't even know." He said slowly as he returned to the argument.
"I'm telling you that Chocolate Chip is more traditional than the Oreo. I'm not saying it isn't good, but there is just something so homey to a Chocolate Chip that beats the hell out of an Oreo. Right, Rachel?" Nick asked her sister, who in turn threw her hands up in a 'don't involve me' manner. Nick let out a frustrated sigh. "You're no help."
"Well I'm tired and going to bed. You two can keep going, but either way if you were to give me an Oreo or a Chocolate Chip I would devour both just as fast. A cookie is a frickin' cookie." Rachel stated as she threw her plate in a cleaning bin. "Goodnight." She told them as she started up the stairs.
She was just at the top when she felt a presence behind her. Turning her head she acknowledged Raleigh. The man was clearly getting annoyed with the pointless argument and wanted to get away just as much as the female he was walking beside. Together they made their way to the rooms in silence. It wasn't uncomfortable or awkward since they'd been talking most of the day. The silence was good and relaxing. The only words they exchanged was a 'good-night' before they vanished into their respective rooms.
Rachel got ready for bed but when she laid down she felt a sort of uneasy settle over her. What was wrong with her now? She turned a few times trying to get comfy but it didn't work. The girl then kicked off her covers thinking maybe she was too hot, but her cold limbs told otherwise and she covered herself again. Finally after a half hour of tossing and turning she was able to drift into sleep, but the uneasy feeling did not leave her.
What is going on?
So here is the second chapter to 'Blue Tundra', the next chapter will have a fight between the Jaegers and Kaiju. Since this is a FanFiction things will go a lot differently because Gypsy will be Deployed as well as Blue Tundra... so yeah. Not sure how I'm going to fiddle things exactly, but I'll figure it out.
If you have any ideas or questions please send them in a Review. I love those Reviews because it gives me ideas and I can mold the story to satisfy more people.