Summary: A former Jaeger pilot, Lori Henderson's rage was akin to a hurricane―ready to destroy anything and anyone in its path. No one could save her, not even herself. Yet...Chuck Hansen did. Out of all people to do so, he saved her by holding on. With his own anger, he gave Lori enough hope to rise up and step back into her Jaeger―because if the world was ending, she would die fighting. OC-Insert, Chuck/OC


"It has been said, 'time heals all wounds.' I do not agree. The wounds remain. In time, the mind, protecting its sanity, covers them with scar tissue and the pain lessens. But it is never gone."

Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy


Disclaimer: I don't own Pacific Rim, only any original characters.


The Hurricane
02
: Unconsciousness

"Shit shit shit shit," Lori muttered to herself, her eyes never wavering from the unconscious body in front of her.

For the past two years, she had done everything possible to stay away from the Jaeger program and those associated with it. She wanted to forget, to leave her past where it was – in the past.

Yes, Lori knew that her scars – both physical and mental – would not let her forget all that had happened, but doing what she did right now, hiding out in a shitty bar in Australia, was the closest thing to being able to drown out the pain.

She heard a groan, bringing her out of her upset thoughts. "Fuck, I can't just leave you down here…" She stood up and took an uneasy step towards Chuck. "Hey," she called out, hoping – more like praying – that he would respond.

Sadly, there was none.

"You've got to be kidding me," she groaned. She would have to drag him back inside the bar –

Her phone suddenly rang, causing Lori to jump at her own ringtone. Quickly reading the name on the screen, she answered the call. "...Yeah?"

There was a loud crash somewhere in the background before Lori heard Leonard, her boss. "Don't come back in, Chris just came in for his shift."

Despite being alone, she narrowed her eyes and stared at the back entrance to the bar. "...I know that voice, what really happened?"

She heard various shouts from the background of the call again and this time, those sounds could also be heard, in-person, from the bar from where she stood.

"Chris actually did come in for his shift but...there's a fight happenin' and I don't think it's a good idea to come back in."

Unknowingly, Lori had closed her eyes and massaged the bridge of her nose. "Leonard, you know I can hold my own in a fight."

She heard him laugh before he suddenly shouted out, clearly to the unruly customers, "You break the damn table, you're fucking payin' for it, Bob!" Lori simply stood for a few seconds before her boss returned to the call, his voice revealing how tired he was. "Like I said, just...enjoy the rest of the night. You're young, go have some fun or somethin'. Just...don't get in trouble, okay?"

Lori simply grumbled a quiet yes before she said her goodbyes, and a few seconds later, she found herself staring at Chuck once more.

"...Well, it sure as hell ain't fun but it is something. Let's just hope you're not as much trouble as the tabloids say you are, Chuck."

Taking a deep breath and reassessing her current situation, Lori came to a decision. She would take him to a hospital. She would...drop him off before anyone noticed who she brought had with her. She didn't need her face on the news with some bullshit story about how she knew Chuck. It wouldn't take long for the media to actually realize who she was, as well, if she was caught bringing in the Chuck Hansen. So...she would hand him off to some nurse and book it out of the emergency room as quickly as she could.

Despite the situation, she couldn't help but snort at that thought.

After dialing a phone number to call for a taxi, Lori used all of her strength to hoist Chuck onto her back in the standard fireman's carry. Sure, her arms were screaming in pain from the weight, but she'd manage.

"You seriously need to lose some weight," Lori complained as she glared at the face uncomfortably next to hers.

A few minutes later, she found herself pushing Chuck into the back of the cab as she sat next to him. "Take us to the hospital –"

A hand suddenly grabbed her and she quickly whirled around. "N-No...no hospital…" Lori saw Chuck staring at her with lidded eyes, his voice slurring from what was a mixture of alcohol and probably pain. "Take me...home."

She cocked an eyebrow at him. "Home?" Oh, did she want to strangle him. "Boy, I don't even know where you live!"

"No...hospital…" Suddenly, Chuck's eyes rolled back and he was once again, unconscious.

The taxi driver stayed silent for a few seconds, staring at Chuck. "Isn't he –"

Already knowing what he was going to say, Lori held a hand up as she felt a headache forming. "No, he's not. Just...take me home."

Fifteen minutes later, after smacking Chuck once more and glaring the driver with as much hate as she could muster – because she was having a shitty day and the driver didn't help with his constant looks – Lori found herself sprawled across the floor of her living room, Chuck snoring above her on her couch.

God, all she wanted to do was shower now. She was sweaty, she was tired, and she smelled like cigarettes.

...Yup, she was taking one. Screw the strange man in her house, there was no way he'd wake up with that injury. She already tried everything she knew to wake someone up and he remained unconscious.

He was gone for the night.

Taking one last look at Chuck, she turned around and opened the door to her bathroom. She didn't take long in the shower – her time in the Jaeger program saw to that – and when she walked out, she saw Chuck in the exact same position as earlier.

Feeling slightly sorry for him, Lori grabbed a spare blanket and covered him with it.

Then, placing her hand on the doorknob to her own bedroom, she said her goodbyes to the present and entered the room that held the nightmares that would soon plague her dreams.


Unconsciousness


Lori woke up to sounds of groaning and a loud sound, followed by a groan and a, "what the fuck?"

She had almost forgotten about her unconscious guest in the other room. Quickly pushing the covers off, she stood up and stretched – only for the door to her room open unexpectedly.

"Hey–"

Lori's froze as her eyes locked on Chuck's, her arms still raised. Her shirt rode up, revealing her stomach, and because she was wearing shorts, it revealed her long legs.

Chuck, however, couldn't help but stare, although not for the usual reasons. Instead of his usual ogling of women – a bad habit, he knew that – he stood there, frozen, because of the series of scars he saw. Raised lines raced across her body and for some reason, he couldn't help but think them familiar.

"Uh…I didn't – I'm sorry – I-I just – w-what happened last –"

Blinking, Lori was brought out of her stupor at his incoherent babble. She just grabbed the nearest thing she could see, ignoring his questions, and threw it as hard as she could at his face. "Get out of my room!" A pillow hit him directly on his face and taken aback, he staggered into the living room as Lori slammed her door, closing it in his face. Chuck, who was now more confused than anything, ran his hand through his hair while taking a seat on the couch once more.

Did he…? No, he wasn't that drunk, he'd remember if he slept with her. And besides, the way his jaw hurt, along with the way he couldn't open his right eye, meant that he had gotten into a fight with someone.

Maybe...with her?

No, that didn't make sense – if he had gotten into a fight with her, he wouldn't be in what he presumed her home.

Fuck, just who the hell was she?

It didn't take very long for the strange woman to come out of the room and this time, she was fully clothed and seething in what he could tell was anger.

He quickly stood up from his seat and tried apologizing. "Sorry, I didn't mean to barge in –"

"You should be freaking glad that I didn't leave you in that alleyway," she growled.

His brows raised at her accent – American. "...Alleyway?"

She crossed her arms over her chest as she leaned on her right leg. "Do you even remember what happened to you last night?" she asked with less annoyance in her voice.

Now that he thought about it, her face was familiar – she was the girl at the bar. "Um...you're that bartender, right?" Hopefully. She didn't answer him and walked over to her kitchen, rustling around in the freezer. He slowly moved closer to her, sitting down in the high seat behind the counter in the kitchen. "Did I get into a fight with someone?" Chuck heard a snort before a bag of beans were suddenly thrown to him. He caught them, staring at the frozen vegetables as his mind was blank for a few seconds. The woman stared at the bag, alongside him, as his brain refused to catch onto what she was offering.

"...Shit, do you have a concussion?" The girl asked as she pointed to the bag. "Because –"

Shaking his head as his mind quickly cleared, Chuck placed the peas against his eye before muttering, "No, I'm fine. I just blanked out for a second."

Narrowing her eyes, the American said, "I'm pretty sure that's a sign of one."

"It's fine."

She nonchalantly shrugged her shoulders before pulling out two mug cups. "If you say so – I'm sure you can take care of yourself."

At this point, Chuck was leaning onto his arm on the counter with his hand pressing the frozen peas against his black eye. "I'm Chuck."

"I know." She purses her lips before raising an eyebrow at his face. "Do you really think I don't know who you are? Your face is plastered all over the TV, nowadays."

For once, the Australian felt embarrassed at his newfound fame as a Jaeger pilot. "What's your name?" He figured asking her name was a quick way to change the subject - something he wanted. He didn't mind the fame most of the time – yet, the look he was receiving from the woman across from him made him feel small because it seemed being a Jaeger pilot – something that usually made the girls go wild – didn't faze her at all.

She seemed to think for a second as she poured instant coffee into the cups, and after remaining silent for a few moments, she introduced herself. "Lori." Handing him a cup, she lifted her own mug to her lips as he took the offered coffee.

"No last name?"

"I don't know you," was all she said before motioning to him. "Anyways, you've got to be busy doing whatever the hell it is you do every day, so when you're done with the coffee, feel free to leave."

That was how the morning ended – with Chuck thanking the strange American woman half an hour later outside of her apartment, the swelling in his eye having gone down. And as he walked down the hall, he took one last look at Lori before shaking his head and walking away – something about her was familiar, he just couldn't put his finger on why.


Hurricane - End


A/N: Sorry for the rushed ending and short chapter, but after a month of not updating, I thought, "fuck it," and ended it where it was.

My computer broke! Which made me so sad because I couldn't write for this past month as a result – I was lucky that I had most of this chapter, as short as it may be, written it out. I'm typing this on my phone and I tried to make it longer, but I'm one of those people who can't really...write stories on a small keyboard that you tend to find on phones.

Anyways, thank you guys so much for the follows and favorites. I was not expecting these many people to read it – so once again, thanks. You guys make me so happy! I just hope that this chapter isn't bad.

Well, don't forget to follow or fav., if you haven't already! Also, please leave a review!

Until next time~