Chapter Two: Where The Lonely Ones Roam

A/N: Wow, 11 reviews already! Thanks so much guys! I hope you enjoy this chapter. It's not very long but I hope it gives more insight into Piper :) Please let me know what you think!

Piper sat on the floor playing building blocks with Robbie when there was a knock on the door. She pushed herself to her feet, tucking her hair behind her ear. No doubt it was Herc – he loved spending time with Robbie, feeling guilty for how little he saw the child. She opened the door, but her warm smile faded when she noticed Chuck standing with his arms folded over his chest, looking somewhat uncomfortable.

"Oh. It's you."

Chuck tried to peer past Piper. "I want to see him."

"Oh really?" Piper planted her hands on her hips. Chuck had made very little effort to see Robbie since he'd arrived. Not that he usually made much effort. After all, Chuck's life revolved around piloting his Jaeger, not an eighteen-month-old child. "This is a first. Did Herc talk you into it?"

"He's my son too, Piper," Chuck replied tersely. He did see Robbie when he could – but it wasn't often enough for Piper's liking. As much as he hated to admit it even to himself, Robbie had been an accident. He shouldn't even exist, because he changed everything for Chuck. He put barriers between him and Piper, but also meant he had to remain a huge part of Piper's life for Robbie's sake.

Despite the fact that having being a twenty-one-year-old father was an annoyance, Chuck didn't want to be a shit parent. His father hadn't exactly raised him really well, and he was determined not to make the same mistake with his own kid. Besides, when Robbie looked up at him and smiled delightedly, how could Chuck not love him?

Piper sighed heavily and stepped aside, letting Chuck in. It had been months since she'd seen him last, and they hadn't been on great terms since Robbie had been tiny. She shut the door, turning around and watching as Chuck picked Robbie up, kissing him on the cheek. Despite the fact that Chuck didn't see Robbie too often, the little boy still knew that Chuck was his dad.

"How have you been, Robbie, huh?" Chuck grinned, jiggling the toddler in his arms.

"Block!" Robbie replied enthusiastically, holding up a blue plastic building block he'd been playing with.

When Piper saw Chuck with Robbie, she wanted to give it another chance. But the problem was that they'd given it about a million chances by now, and it hadn't worked. She just had to accept the fact that despite Chuck being a part of Robbie's life, they weren't going to work as parents together, just separate entities. Chuck saw Piper watching him and frowned slightly, setting Robbie back down.

"What?"

"It's nothing, Chuck," Piper exhaled deeply, but knew that she had to say it anyway. She was a practical girl, and she saw no logic in holding all these emotions inside her when they would be better off in the open. "Just…I see how much you care about him. I wish you'd spend more time with him. Even Herc sees him more than you do."

Herc. He had always been the proud grandpa. He had grimaced and complained about having a grandchild when he was in his forties, and Piper had been terrified that he would judge her. But he doted upon Robbie, and Piper often wondered if he was trying to make up for his lack of parenting with Chuck – not that she'd ever bring it up.

"Shit, Piper." Chuck raked a hand through his hair. Robbie was too young and too oblivious to note the conversation between his parents, instead focusing his attention on the coloured building blocks. "I'm busy, okay? We got a mission. You know I love Robbie, but there are things more important than my son."

"I get that." Piper had raised Robbie mainly by herself, with some financial support from the Hansens. She hadn't complained because despite having been only eighteen when she'd had Robbie, she'd already had a steady job as a technician at the Shatterdome. She was focused and mature, and Robbie didn't throw any of that off balance. "Look. I think you should go. Thanks for coming to see Robbie."

Raleigh only had a few days until he'd be presented with the candidates to pilot Gipsy Danger with him, but at the moment that was the least of his concerns. Chuck seemed to have developed an immediate animosity towards him, despite Herc's attempts to have the two young Rangers befriend each other. Sighing heavily and shaking thoughts of the Hansens away, Raleigh headed over to what had quickly become his favourite vantage point so that he could take a look at his old Jaeger.

"She's quite something, huh?"

A voice startled Raleigh, and he turned to see Piper leaning against the rail, looking out towards Gipsy Danger like him. She offered him a slightly sad smile and pushed herself away from the ledge, walking over to him.

"What you remembered?"

"Pretty much," Raleigh admitted. His Jaeger was the same, but the people around him had changed. Stacker remained a constant – but then there was Mako, and the Hansens, and Piper…and her kid. "Look, Piper, I don't mean to be rude but I'm just curious. Why wouldn't you have left Robbie in Australia with his family? Why bring him to the Shatterdome?"

Piper shrugged, glancing over at Gipsy Danger. "My family is here really."

"Your parents? His father?" Raleigh persisted, before biting down on his tongue. It wasn't really any of his business, and Piper had every right not to tell him. He was just curious as to why she'd bring her young child to the Hong Kong Shatterdome if there'd been another place for him. A sudden suspicion struck Raleigh and he swallowed hard. "Piper, who is Robbie's father?"

"My parents," Piper said softly, and suddenly a melancholy light entered her eyes and she stared down at the Jaegers in the bay with something like longing. "How much do you know about Aleksis and Sasha Kaidonovsky?"

"The Russian couple?" Raleigh questioned. He'd met the two briefly on the bay floor, but he hadn't really spoken to them in depth. "I've only just met them."

"A husband and wife couple piloting a Jaeger," Piper murmured, and again Raleigh thought he had a suspicion where her parents were. She glanced at Raleigh and raked her hair out of her eyes, which were sad. "My parents were amazing, you know? The Derby couple. They were such an inspiration for me. But they went down in '23, just before I had Robbie."

"Oh." Raleigh wasn't quite sure what to say. He knew what it was like to lose someone, although Piper's situation was a little different. That explained why she didn't have anyone to mind Robbie while she was in Hong Kong. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have…it's not my business."

"It's okay." Piper smiled a little, tilting her head to the side. "Do you think you could tell me a bit about Yancy? I mean, I've heard he was a great pilot."

It was the first time anyone had really openly talked about Yancy. Others tended to skirt around the issue or approach it tentatively, but Piper was so open about it, and Raleigh couldn't help but find that sort of attitude refreshing. He leaned against the rail, watching the clean-up crew washing some of Gipsy Danger's dirtier parts.

"We got along so well, he was just a great older brother and…I miss him, but I know that I can't be afraid of doing what I have to because I lost him last time."

"I think you're really brave," Piper stated, tilting her chin up. "All of you are. There are only four Jaegers left, but you're going to do one hell of a job. I just know it."

"Piper!"

She whirled around to see Chuck standing there with his arms crossed over his chest. He didn't look too impressed.

"Herc wants to speak to you."

Piper offered Raleigh an apologetic smile at their conversation being interrupted, following Chuck down a flight of stairs and down a corridor. When Herc was nowhere in sight, Piper began to grow suspicion. She gripped Chuck's arm and whirled him around.

"Herc didn't want to see me, did he?"

"No." Chuck shrugged his arm out of her grasp, gripping Piper by the shoulders. "Look, why are you hanging around Raleigh? He's a has-been. You've taken a fancy to him, have you?"

Piper scoffed at the thought. "I barely know the guy. Now you're just being stupid."

She knew better than to think it was jealousy. Chuck might have loved her once, but he didn't know. He just didn't like Raleigh, and he didn't like the thought of Piper crushing on him. She wrenched away from him. Chuck didn't own her, they weren't dating. They were the past, and she hadn't yet decided what to make of her future. Right now, she was taking it one step at a time. Chuck put Jaegers first, then Robbie. That was why he wasn't a real dad. For Piper, things were the other way around.