When all of your flaws and all of my flaws / Are laid out one by one / A wonderful part of the mess that we made / We pick ourselves undone / All of your flaws and all of my flaws / They lie there hand in hand / Ones we've inherited, ones that we learned / They pass from man to man


There's always the mistake of thinking someone's perfect. Unbroken. Without a smeared past.

But you know it's a bigger mistake when you think that he or she is perfect despite having known everything about them. Every single strand of thought, every memory – bits and pieces of it, and every stashed away parts of your soul. Secrets that no one else can know. All revealed during that white-blue process. Some willing, some unwilling.

But we have to let go.

They said that Drift was silence.

They didn't tell us that this silence will follow us and haunt us to the end of the world.


Beca. Beca.

I shot upright in my sheets, shivering all over. My eyes darted down to my hands and found them clenched, knotting the white, sweat-soaked sheets together.

They'd managed to unlock our bunker but it was too late. Furniture were overturned, papers were shredded to pieces and our clothes strewn all over. Right there in the darkest corner of the room, she was all huddled up. Shaking. Non-stop shaking and whimpering.

She was begging: please, please. Stop.

I wanted to rush over; I wanted to brush away those sticky red curls from her forehead and dry those misty eyes. I nearly did. But Aubrey held me back as the rest of the officers swarmed in and carried her away. She didn't fight back, her head lopped to the side with eyes dazed. Her lips were moving but the words that tumbled out could hardly be heard.

Beca. Beca. Where are you, Beca?

I threw my legs over the edge of the bed and jumped over to the door, clamping down on the knob, only to jerk my hand back in pain. Static. The air inside and outside the bunker had dropped a few degrees. Dr Gottlieb was right.

The Kaiju blood was poisoning our ecosystem. They're speeding things up.

I pulled at the edge of my tank-top and wrapped it around the metal knob, turning it and pounded onto the hallway. No one's in sight; everyone's asleep except Chloe.

Chloe.

Beca, please.

I paused at the edge of the concrete pillar and tilted my head around. The officer guarding the room was slumped against the back of the chair, his head lopsided and leaning towards his right shoulder, drool streamed down his chin. Perfect. Lifting and wrapping the back of my left knee around the pillar, I prepared myself for the James Bond-style stealth when someone cupped my mouth from behind.

For a few seconds, I couldn't comprehend what's going on, only vaguely aware that I wasn't alone. Towering over me stood two dark figures, both had scarves wrapped around their faces.

A blonde and a brunette.

"Shh. Don't make a sound." The blonde demanded. Aubrey?

"What are you doing here?"

"Doing the same thing as you."

We froze at the echo of someone's yawn down the hallway. I turned and saw that the guard has already woken up, though he still looked sluggish with hazed eyes. Frustrated, I turned back and tried to step on her foot for stopping me earlier only to have my own head knocked back.

"Stop it. Look, I'm going to distract the guard. Once I give the signal-" she snapped her fingers, "both of you will come over."

"What-"

"Just trust me." I bit my lower lip and nodded. What other choice did I have?

Stacie pulled me further back into the shadows whilst Aubrey boldly stepped into the light. We watched as the guard tensed up at her sight, his baton withdrawn. We heard Aubrey mutter a few words, all intelligible and then a heavy thud.

He's back asleep.

"Basic hypnotism did the trick," she smirked, bending over to retrieve the bunch of keys from his belt loop. The lock unclicked and Stacie pushed against the door softly, letting out a gasp when her eyes met with what's left of my co-pilot.

Beca.


"You promised me you'll take care of her! Look at her! She doesn't deserve to be locked up in the brig! She needed medical help!" I slammed my fist against the table, too upset to even look straight at the man standing in front of me. "Herc, you promised."

I heard him sigh and approach me in small, deliberate steps.

"She wasn't like that when we sent her in. And FYI, it's not a brig, Beca. It's just an isolation cell. Chloe needs to be placed in a controlled setting to get her mind back in place."

"That place is just a hole in the wall with a tiny, gated square as a window! You didn't even give her a damned light and you'd expect her to recover in the dark?"

"Bec-"

"No, don't Beca me! If you don't know how to take care of her, I'm going to." With that, I wheeled around and started storming towards the glass doors, ignoring every stare. Even Aubrey took a step back to let me through, our eyes not meeting.

"She's not fit to pilot a Jaeger with you in that state, Beca!" I paused, my right foot inches off the ground. "As your Marshal, I'm grounding both of y-"

Aubrey bursted right out, "-Marshal, sir! You can't do that! Dajnty is still recovering-"

"My word stands for itself." I could feel my nostrils flare and heat climbing up my neck.

"Good. Then I'll have more time to take better care of her."


It's been a month since Aubrey and co defeated the Slut. Back in Europe, the Spaniards and the Portuguese were also celebrating their victories over the three Kaijus – all of whom were reported to be normal and non-Gypsy like. This had set the K-Science team back a little, rendering their earlier predictions all wrong.

Dr Gottlieb was back on his large blackboard, mad scribbling formulas in white chalk whilst Fat Amy and Dr Geiszler cut up more Kaiju. Every damaged organ dug out was met with a curse. The lab had never been dirtier and even Dr Gottlieb didn't utter a complaint against it.

"How could the Precursors have Gypsy's parts?" Jesse asked, his legs dangling in the air as he sat at the edge of Dr Geiszler's table, munching on an apple. "That nuclear explosion clearly destroyed all of it."

Dr Geiszler simply threw him a dark look whilst Dr Gottlieb paused his writing. The chalk came to a halt with a spine-rising screech against the blackboard.

"Clearly destroyed all of it? Well, clearly we were wrong, boy." He hopped off the ladder and limped over to the younger man. "Clearly we were wrong."

"Actually, Hermann; I don't think we were wrong. What I'm thinking is-"

"-Oh, now you're thinking, aren't you?" Fat Amy rolled her eyes in annoyance as her lab partner dropped the bits of guts and strolled over to the older scientist, his arms crossed with his tattoos exposed under the rolled sleeves. Both men held each other in their eyes, unflinching and full of challenge.

"What I'm thinking is, you and I have both drifted with a Kaiju – and by extension, we drifted with the entire colony and the Precursors."

"Hive mentality." Fat Amy mouthed, casting Chloe and I an FYI glance.

"But the Precursors are dead, aren't they?" Dr Gottlieb was obviously intrigued – a very tiny hint of smile tugged at the corners of his lips, although his reluctance to give in early was still holding up.

"Oh, you'd think they just all live down there under that crack, won't you Hermann? Think!" The bespectacled scientist snapped, his hands flailed about. "You have seen things too during the drift right? What Gypsy had destroyed was merely their Kaiju factory, not their world. The Breach was a portal."

Dr Gottlieb suddenly lit up, as though he'd hit eureka. He quickly scrambled up the ladder, mad scribbling on the blackboard again. All of us pooled around the bottom of the ladder, craning our necks just to see what the man's writing.

"Hermann? Hermann." Dr Geiszler chided. "Don't just stay up there, tell me what you think!"

"Probably the same thing as you, Newton!"

"Good, then we're all on the same page. Finally!" The science rockstar grinned and headed back to his table, picking up the scalpel from where he last left it – stuck in the skull of a Kaiju nearby.

Dr Gottlieb dotted the last punctuation and climbed back down the ladder. He dusted his hands before peering at our curious, expectant faces, sighing slightly. He raised his hands and beckoned us closer, his voice a new low although his facial tics still gave away his excitement with the new discovery.

"The Breach was a portal," he began, looking straight into each of our eyes. "When we destroyed and collapsed that connection, the Precursors were forced to open a new one. Being galaxy colonists, I'd bet they probably already prepared a second opening just in case. And they did."

"Down at the Milwaukee Dee-"

"No, the entire Puerto Rico Trench. Which now explained the 9.0 earthquake that hit the Caribbean right before the Kaiju appeared again. K-Day 2. You see, after every interaction with us, the Precursors would gather information and adapt their weapons accordingly. Which was why Leatherback was able to generate electrical pulses that crippled all of our devices and caused that blackout."

Adaptation. Evolution. The aliens weren't that different from us after all.

Fat Amy cleared her throat. "Hey, but you guys did drift with them."

"We most certainly did."

"It's a two-way, isn't it?" Clink! We all spun around to see Dr Geiszler frozen in place, his scalpel lying on the wet, Kaiju liquid-filled floor.

"Oh my God, Hermann! We did that."

Did what?

Color was draining off the older scientist's face fast as he stumbled back a little, his crane struggling to hold his shifted weight. Fat Amy simply just shook her head at Dr Geiszler who's now holding up the comms phone and yelling for Marshal Herc.


The three of us were chased out of the lab – now off limits to all except those with authority. Jesse mumbled something about having to rush his assignment and raced off in the other direction, leaving Chloe and I in his dust.

I watched him speed off, freezing when a hand slowly and gently slid into my own. I peered down at our joined hands – her fingers wrapping tightly around mine, and tugging slightly. When I looked back up, I was surprised to see her clouded grey eyes gone. In their place, a clear cerulean pair shone brightly in the dim hallway.

She's back.

Without warning she lunged forward, pulling me towards her by the shoulders. Closer, closer. That was when I realized it was possible to melt. Not literally, but you could feel your entire world just collapse and simply dissolve away in that single moment.

When she finally pulled away to allow a viable air path between us, her lips still ghosting over mine, she smiled. The first since we got her out from the brig.

You're back.

She nodded.

I'm glad too.


2nd month after the last attack.

Alarms were blaring again and red lights flashed intermittently in every hallway.

Chloe and I stayed back in our own bunker under the sheets, refusing to join Stacie and CR who had now raced down to LOCCENT for new updates. Another Category 5 attack, this time near Mexico. The Posens were sent to help Taco Defense.

Our hands clenched, fingers tangled as we listened for another round of blaring. It never came. Silence, followed by loud cheers that filled the hallway and overhead PA system.

Fat Amy could be heard joyously screaming "New brain, new brain!" in the background.


Both Bumper and Donald had recovered enough to resume combat practice. The stocky brunette once confided that the left side of his ribs still hurt when he laughed too hard, but they could only learn to manage the pain. Pain Management – another round of lectures with the Marshal himself.

The redhead was now allowed back to training, but we're still both grounded.

Even Qwerty Echo had been sent to help Alaska at the miracle mile, fighting off a Category 5 along with Icarus Brave. Benji told us before our nth physical that fighting a Kaiju was better than sex. We didn't know if we'd believe the virgin of the group.

But Chloe nodded along anyway, her smile lighting up her entire face (and entire room).

It's really good to have you back.


"Initiating Neural Handshake."

We could see Marshal Herc and Tendo looming overhead in LOCCENT through the polished glass. The latter shooting us a grin before flashing a thumbs-up. I closed my eyes and allowed my head to empty out. Clear, clear it all.

Don't.

What?

"Ai! You're out of phase. Get back into alignment now!"

I pried my eyes open, forcing them with all my might just in time to see the blinding blue glow vanish, leaving behind a crew of panting, panic-stricken men frozen in their positions in LOCCENT and the hangar. Each pair of eyes contained such frustration and-

"I want both of you in LOCCENT, now!"

Anger.


Hipster Overload, Qwerty Echo and Lemon Playlist were sent on the same mission again.

Phase one of Operation Mend was rendered successful.

No Kaiju signature or appearance this time.


A new wave of recruitment for new rangers has begun. At first, all Jesse said was that they're making more giant machines to counter the increasing Kaiju attacks and to prepare against future hybrids. Then he became more secretive and his lower back soaked with sweat whenever he saw Chloe and I along the hallways.

Then he said nothing more to us. Nothing that was related to J-Tech. All the conversations' left with were words of concern and friendly banter. Even Fat Amy was puzzled.


Knock knock.

A slight movement in my arms woke me up and I opened my eyes to see her looking back at me with a slight pout on her lips.

Knock knock.

Marshal Herc stood tall in the doorway, his face a mere silhouette with the hallway lights shining brightly against the dark depth from our bunker. Dr Lightcap, Jesse and Tendo stood behind him, all wearing solemn and upset faces.

Faces. Or were they mere masks?

The man cleared his throat, taking a step forward but Chloe held her ground. I tried to pull her back a little but she refused to budge. I could feel her exasperation with the man bubbling underneath her skin, in every breath she expelled. Her chin jutted high the way Aubrey usually held hers, a strange determination present in her eyes.

He didn't falter either.

"You're both off the program." Silence. "Despite the initial high compatibility rate, you both have proved to me not once, but on several occasions that you aren't capable of operating and controlling a Jaeger. Chloe – you have emotional issues that you'd need to fix and Beca, you almost caused everyone's lives."

My eyes slowly roamed towards Tendo's and Jesse's; both men looked back at me with deep sadness and reluctance. I tried to curl my lips upwards, albeit a little bit, just to tell them it's okay.

Maybe it's really not ours to fight.

"You have one hour to pack your things and then you'll have to leave the facility." Silence. Marshal exhaled heavily, disappointment written all over his face. He took one last glance-over at us before turning around swiftly and disappearing down the hallway with Tendo in tow.

"Please come in, Dr Lightcap," Chloe whispered, taking a step backwards and into my arms, allowing space for the blonde and Jesse to enter our bunker.

Once inside, we closed the door and sat down on our bed as we waited for her to say her piece. The petite woman shook her head sadly, her eyes downcast as she tapped her fingers against the clipboard.

"I'm sorry." It was our turn to shake our heads.

"Don't be silly, Dr. It's okay."

"Chloe, I know that you-" The redhead held up her hand, cutting off the blonde. Heavy silence fell upon us again as Chloe nudged me to get the packing started. And so we began putting things into our duffels whilst the other two looked on, their eyes following our every move.


In less than an hour, we're both packed and ready by the chopper. The weather was exactly the same as the day when I first arrived. Only more gloomy.

Fat Amy cried and Benji wept. Lilly lunged forward to give us a bear hug that led to a huge group hug when Stacie and CR decided there should be one. Everyone was present except Aubrey.

Typical Aubrey.

"Send my regards to your sister, won't you?" I smirked, lifting my fist to meet Luke's. He grinned and leaned forward to plant a kiss on my forehead before mussing my hair.

"See you around, kiddo."

We took one last glance at the Shatterdome that we've come to call home, and the people whom we've come to call our family.

Family.

"Let's go back to your place," she whispered, leaning into my side as the door closed behind us.


There's a hole in my soul / I can't fill it I can't fill it / There's a hole in my soul / Can you fill it? Can you fill it?


There were two more attacks following our exit from the program. Chloe had refused to watch the both times it happened, opting to stay back in the kitchen to help my mom with dinner.

Back in the den, a proud Aubrey Posen was talking to a reporter onscreen. Her perfect pearly whites sparkled as she smiled again and again for the cameras, describing how her team has made yet another marvelous defense. I shook my head and left my dad with the TV alone, strolling to join the redhead and Mom in the kitchen.

"They won again, didn't they?" Mom asked, flinging a freshly peeled potato into a pot filled with boiling water.

I nodded silently, snaking and wrapping my arms around Chloe's slim waist. I heard her sigh as she leaned into my embrace, my chin sticking into her shoulder. Both of us moaned softly with contentment, making Mom chuckle.

"Okay, you two. Stop touching each other and help get me some spices from the grocery store."

"Now?"

"Yes, now."


"Beca," Dad knocked on our opened door, his voice soft and gentle, "can I come in?"

I darted my eyes down at the half-completed jigsaw puzzle that Chloe and I were making after the heavy dinner and nodded my head. He tiptoed over like a cat, turning back to check the doorway every now and then, causing my eyebrows to arch with curiosity. Chloe scooted closer to me, giving the older Mitchell some space as he sat down with us.

His eyes were continually fixed on the empty doorway, his ears perked for any sound of movement. "Listen, you can't tell Rhea about this."

Mom?

He sighed, running his fingers through his balding head. "Your- Jessica called today."

Oh.

"She wanted to mee-"

"No. Please leave my room now. Please, Dad." He tried to hug me but I pulled back further. Chloe simply stared at the two of us, looking confused. "Please."

He sighed and pushed himself up on his palms, his eyes never left mine as he slowly made his way out of my room, leaving the same way as he did coming in. Chloe rose the moment he disappeared from the doorway and walked over to close the door. Once locked, she wheeled around and stared me down.

What the hell was that?

Nothing.

Who's Jessica?

No one.

Beca.

"I'm sleepy," I motioned at the light switch near the door as I clambered into bed, ignoring the jigsaw puzzle pieces on the floor. Shifting and moving around, I made sure my back was facing her when the lights went out. The side of the mattress dipped a little and before I knew it, her arms were wrapped tightly around me; her breaths flushed against my ear.

"I don't want to talk about it." I mumbled, my lips buried under the quilt. I felt her nodding against my back, her breathing evening out as she drifted off to sleep.

I'm sorry.


"Hey short stuff, how are you!"

It's been a while since I last heard from her. We chatted a little about our own lives – me finding a job as a jingle writer for advertisements while she's getting some hot action with Dr Geiszler. I motioned at Chloe who's seated nearby that I'd need some ear wash after the call.

She laughed.

"Is that Chloe?"

"Yeah."

"Tell her I miss her. Anyway, I have some good news and some bad news. Which one do you want to hear first?"

I frowned, bracing my ear for more lewd details of her adventures on that lab table. "Uh, bad?"

She sighed, "Okay. Hermann did some calculations and he predicted that the attacks will increase; no more singular attacks. What we're gonna see are double events arriving on our shores."

"Isn't that already a norm?"

"No. The norm now has reverted to the earlier days of singularity. The first few attacks were anomalies, according to his statistics, but now we'll be expecting a double for every time they appear on our radar."

Hmm.

"Beca? You ready for the good news?"

"I guess. Please don't tell me it's about you and Newt. My ears can't take it anymore." I quipped, rolling my eyes at the lustful sniggers that followed.

"Okay, okay. Good news is, Marshal hasn't found any substitute for Ai yet. Jesse has made each Jaeger unique to your personalities and without you and Chloe, that Jaeger wouldn't work!"

"It doesn't matter, Amy. We're off the program anyway. You know that."

"Well, when a man's desperate, you'll never know what's to come." I parted my lips to scoff at her words when Chloe bounced over with a kiss on my cheek. She winked and gestured that she'd be out for some shopping.

"Meeting my friends!" She mouthed. I nodded and waved goodbye, watching her leave before returning my attention to my best friend who's waiting patiently at the other end of the line.

"Jessica called."

A few seconds of silence, followed by some sort of weird choking noise. I spoke into the receiver again, desperate for her to talk some sense into me. Ever since the time I'd found out the truth, Fat Amy's been the only person whom I trusted enough to let in.

Trusted enough.

Oh no.

"Are you sure?" Ugh, finally.

"She wanted to meet me, Amy. What should I do? She- I-" I paused when I heard someone mumbling in the background. The mumbling became further distorted and muffled – Fat Amy's probably covering the phone and I strained my ear to listen, pushing the receiving harder against my ear.

Kaiju. New category. Greenland?

"Beca!" Oh, thank God. "Look, I got to go. Emergency! Grab your parents and Chloe and head to the nearest bunker immediately. A Category 6 is headed your way!"

"What? What about Jessica? Should-"

"Beca are you not listening to me?! Screw that bitch! Go to the nearest shelter, now!" And the line went dead.

Outside, people were running amok. Sirens blaring. Kids were screaming and sobbing. This scene was like deja vu. It happened before, hadn't it?

Beca!

Chloe.


Chloe, where the heck are you?

"Beca, watch out!" I slammed down on the brakes and turned the wheel roughly, causing the truck to swerve violently to the left, scantly missing a dog who's wandered onto the roads by itself.

Mom and Dad were seated behind me and all buckled up; she with her rosary beads, mumbling prayers non-stop whilst he gripped on tightly to the window, his face ghostly white. The roads were in a mess. Traffic rules were forsaken as people drove everywhere to find a safe place.

Safe place. What a joke. Funny how everyone knew that but refused to acknowledge it.

Beca! I'm on Vern Avenue!

I'm coming. Stay where you are.

I swerved again to avoid the trees as the truck leaped onto the rough, sandy path – a shortcut my Dad yelled out from the back. He reached over and turned the radio on, adjusting the dial till it reached the PPDC station.

"All citizens are to evacuate their homes immediately. Head to the nearest shelter and remain there till further notice."

Mom's prayers just got louder and louder.

"I can't meet her." I yelled over the roar of the engine. "I just can't!"

Mom stopped praying.

"Who are you meeting?"

"She's not meeting anyone, she's not!" Dad tried to cover my words, pushing the rosary back into her hands pleadingly but she ignored him.

"I'm not going to meet Jessica, Mom. I'm not. You're my real mom and that's that."

"Beca-"

"I love you, Mom. I do." Both of them fell silent at my words; the only sounds that now filled the truck were the roar of its engine and the incessant blaring of the klaxons around us.


"Attention please. People at Vern Avenue and Vern park - please evacuate immediately. This is your last warning. Kaiju Erago en route. I repeat, the monster is coming your direction."

Damned.

The accelerator pedal was already flooring but the truck wasn't moving any faster. I threw a quick glance into the rear-view mirror and saw Dad looking right back at me.

"Dad, you sure this is the shortest way?"

"Yes, one more left turn and you're right on Vern Avenue. Beca, you gotta be quick."

Mom started slapping the front seat suddenly, her index finger jabbing at the glass window. "There she is! There she is! Beca, on your right!"

I stomped on the brakes and pulled at the wheel forcing the truck to make a sharp 180 degrees point turn. A panic-stricken Chloe quickly clambered onboard next to me and I slammed down on the accelerator even before her door was fully closed.

"Hang on, guys!"

Too late.

Everyone shuddered as the monster standing before us roared, its voice high-pitched and almost heart-stopping. In the rear view mirror, I could spot Mom's eyes rolling to the back of her head, her body going limp as she slumped against Dad who sat as still as a stone statue. To my right, Chloe's having difficulty breathing.

Chloe?

I reached over, my right hand grabbing onto hers tightly as we watched the monster stomp towards our truck.

Do- do- do you think it's seen us?

Forcing my shivering left hand to open the glove compartment, I found her inhalers and quickly pushed them into her hands. Down the road, the monster roared again, its arms – all four of them trashing about in the air as it made its way forward. Its body was enormous, probably taller and bigger than the metal-plated one they fought earlier. Were those wings on its back?

Beca?

I turned to see two blue eyes staring wildly at me. I didn't know if it's seen us. I couldn't tell, I- Shoots, it was looking over. Did I just make eye contact with the Kai-

Sounds of wind being whipped hard shot past over our truck.

Choppers overhead. Choppers overhead! I craned my neck to peer out the window and sure enough, there were choppers - huge choppers carrying four Jaegers towards us. I jerked when my phone suddenly blared out ringing.

Fat Amy.

"Beca! Are you alright? Where are you!"

"I'm at Vern Avenue, and I just managed to pick Chloe up when that monster turned up on the same street!"

"What! Get out of there!" The call went muffled again with indistinct voices going on in the background. Sounded like people arguing. It took a full half minute before Fat Amy returned sounding rather out of breath, "Becs. I've just told them you guys are stuck at Vern. Listen, three of them are gonna distract the Jaeger and Aubrey and Luke will try to get you out of there. Just- Just- Hang on!"

"We're hanging on, Amy! We're hanging on."

Please save us.