Drift Compatible
Chapter 3
It was 4:34 am when the alert rang out. Paige gasped as she bolted upright in bed, eyes immediately darting to the screen lighting up her room blaring the signal of an impending breech. She checked her tablet with Ralph's countdown on it. He had been right. She hurried to get dressed and ready and then ran to get her son. Ralph had already been awake for the last hour, waiting to see if his prediction was right.
"You know the drill. Get to the bunker," Paige ordered as she grabbed her key card and tablet.
Then she hugged him tightly and kissed his brow, whispering an 'I love you' before she left.
Ralph left shortly after her, but not to the bunker. He soon found Walter and the rest of them walking toward Red Scorpion. Sylvester and Walter were already analyzing the data on the Kaiju - code named Crusher.
"It looks top heavy," Walter said.
"But that tail will be a big problem; it's armored and spiked and most likely prehensile. That'll do a number on us," Toby pointed out.
"It looks like half its mass is in the tail; if you manage to cut it off, it'll put it off balance, making it easier to overpower," Walter continued.
"Or, we could just cut off its head or smash its skull," Happy countered.
"No," Ralph argued as he caught up to them.
"Ralph, what are you doing here?" Walter asked. "You should be headed to the bunker."
"But it's a category 4. It has three legs in a tripod formation, which means it should still be able to counter balance if you cut off the tail. Go for the legs, the most forward one, that way it will have to use its tail for balance rather than attack," Ralph suggested.
The group paused for a moment as they seemed to come to realize the simplistic brilliance of Ralph's advice.
"Great job, kid, now go to the bunker before you're caught out here," Happy urged.
"Sylvester, go with him," Walter suggested.
"Gladly," Sylvester replied.
Ralph huffed but obeyed and had Sylvester follow him to the bunker.
Once Walter saw Happy and Toby off, he headed toward the command center to oversee how Paige handled them and to intervene if necessary.
Meanwhile, Toby and Happy dressed into the bodysuits they wore under their Jaeger armor. Happy caught Toby staring several times. It had become the norm now.
"I don't care if I have to say it a million times, you look hotter than hell in Jaeger armor," Toby admitted with an almost lazy looking grin.
"You say that every time; it shouldn't be that special," Happy replied nonchalantly.
"Oh, but it is. My super girlfriend and I saving the world, killing one Kaiju at a time? It doesn't get any better than this."
"Yeah, whatever," she muttered as she tried and failed not to smirk. "Just don't use our sex life as your drifting memories this time, alright? We're here to kill, and we can't afford to get distracted."
"But they're some of my favorite memories," he defended even though he knew she was right.
"Yeah, and if we do our jobs, then maybe we can make more memories when we get back."
"True," Toby relented with a wistful sigh. "That's one of my favorite parts."
"Come on, let's get armored up and kick some ass," Happy prompted.
"You're the boss," Toby agreed as he followed her to the prep room.
After their armor was bolted into place, they grabbed their helmets and headed toward the control head of their Jaeger. They fist bumped before they each took their respective sides and then were further positioned and fastened into the control head.
"Marshal Gallo on deck," Paige announced as Gallo came up to the microphone.
"As I'm sure you've heard, we have a category 4 Kaiju, code named Crusher. Jabari Gamba is to engage past miracle mile. Red Scorpion will assist while Alpha Omega guards miracle mile," Gallo addressed all three Jaeger teams.
Paige, Ashaki, and Egidio, the lead J-techs, took over, coordinating their attacks.
"Ashaki, Crusher has a blind spot from 5-7 o'clock. See if you can make something happen," Paige suggested as she pointed to the holographic image of the Kaiju.
"Got it," Ashaki answered before translating to Jabari Gamba's pilots in Swahili.
"Red Scorpion," Paige addressed as they got closer to the Kaiju. "This Kaiju is built like a tank. All my scans show the armor plating is at least three feet thick, but it should be vulnerable between the armor plates and the undersides of the limbs."
"We can see that. Now let us do our jobs," Happy droned.
"Just trying to help by doing mine," Paige defended calmly before turning the com off and glancing towards Walter, who was standing just a few feet from her.
"Is Ranger Quinn always this pleasant?" she questioned.
"That's as pleasant as she gets."
"Fantastic," she grumbled as she turned back to study the Kaiju's scans, looking for any other weaknesses.
Suddenly, Jabari Gamba engaged the Kaiju by taking a flying leap and utilizing a spear to stab it in the back. As it made contact, a weaponized spearhead exploded like a grenade within the Kaiju's body cavity. The Kaiju bucked like a bronco, whipping its tail around and lashing at the Jaeger as Jabari Gamba jumped back. When the spear was pulled away, a new head replaced the one used from within the staff.
"I want one," Happy said as she stared at the staff longingly.
Then she mentally prodded Toby to use the missiles in his arm. He locked on target with the face of the beast before they began charging at it. The tactic had the desired effect: the missiles didn't do much harm because of the armor plating, but it caused the beast to rear up and expose that tripod arrangement of legs, putting its tail down to keep itself upright.
"Toby," Happy prompted as she put Red Scorpion to its knees to slide under the kaiju.
"Got it," he answered as he wrapped his side of Red Scorpion's arm around the leg while Happy changed her arm to a chainsaw formation and used it to saw off the leg.
Paige watched in astonishment as she realized what they were going to do. "Guys, get out from under it right now. It's too heavy; it's going to crush you."
Happy ignored the warning as she remained focused on cutting the blasted thing off. The leg, however, was more dense than she had anticipated. "Not good," she muttered under her breath.
"Ashaki, get Gamba to keep that Kaiju up and distracted," Paige ordered as she looked at Red Scorpion's power levels, hoping they had enough to finish the task.
Then, using what little controls she had over the Jaeger, sent all other available power to make sure the Jaeger's armor plating was as tight and strong as possible. Ashaki ordered Jabari Gamba to get at the beast's throat to keep it up and to keep it from crushing Red Scorpion. The plating the Kaiju had on its chest wouldn't really allow it to do much damage, but it would help Red Scorpion finish quicker if it didn't have to worry about the beast's attack.
Jabari Gamba used its spear as a brace under the beast's skull but had to contend with the arms trying to swat and claw them away.
"How much longer, Chief? Gamba can't keep that position for too much longer. It's taking too many hits," Ashaki warned Paige.
"Happy, how long till that leg is off?" Paige asked.
"One more minute!" Happy answered before her saw got stuck in the bone. "Shit," she cursed as she yanked it out and began using it as a cleaver, simply hacking at it till it finally broke. "Got it!"
Her exclamation was quickly cut off as the beast purposefully laid itself on top of them in an effort to crush them.
"Scorpion?" Paige called out, bringing up their vital signs and drifting signal to make sure they were still alive.
"Trying to stay alive," Toby gritted out as he held his arm out in a shielding motion to keep the beast from crushing them both.
"Gamba, do whatever it takes to get them out of there!" Paige ordered before looking at Gallo. "Marshal, Alpha Omega needs to intervene," she formally requested as her hand hovered over Alpha Omega's intercom button.
Walter inhaled sharply as he too waited for Gallo's response. The memory of the last time he and his sister were in the Bean Neigh and the disaster that followed resurfaced in his mind. Would Gallo still hold back? Walter readied himself to intervene on Toby and Happy's behalf. Gallo would not hold out on them again, not if he could help it.
He took two steps forward, the harsh words on the tip of his tongue, a burning rage in his chest, ready to do a thorough lashing if need be.
"Permission granted," Gallo allowed without even looking in Walter's direction.
Paige slammed that button and ordered Alpha Omega to come to Red Scorpion's rescue as fast as it could. Then she gave the controls back to Edigio, so he could give them clearer instructions in their native tongue.
Walter blew out a breath of relief while he took a few steps back. Then he watched in astonishment as Paige orchestrated the attack like a well-seasoned composer leading a large orchestra.
His relief was short-lived, however, as the battle suddenly went from bad to worse. Before Alpha could even make it to Scorpion, an explosion erupted from under the Kaiju.
"Red Scorpion, are you alright?" Paige inquired urgently.
"Well, we're not dead yet," Happy replied shortly before yet another explosion.
Gamba stabbed the Kaiju in the rear and another spearhead exploded, causing the rear end to rise and one of Red Scorpion's feet to be exposed. Gamba grabbed it and yanked them out from underneath the Kaiju.
Red Scorpion quickly got to their feet, just in time to see the Kaiju turn around and face them, the spikes on the tail firing at them like missiles. Toby quickly put his arm up again to shield Red Scorpion's face, but a few spikes still embedded themselves in the arm.
"God damn," he grumbled as Happy used her side of Red Scorpion's hand to pull the spikes out.
"Let's return the favor," she said, handing Toby one of the spikes.
Paige's voice sounded over the intercom, "Gil, tell Alpha to get that thing on its back so Scorpion and Gamba can gut it and slit its throat with their plasma lasers, or whatever it takes to finish it off."
Happy looked to Toby in surprise. "I like the way she thinks," she admitted
Then she turned the intercom off instead of giving a status report. They gave Alpha a boost to get the Kaiju on its back, grabbing the arms where they protruded from the body and wrestling it backwards. Gamba used its spear to wedge underneath it, and Scorpion used the Kaiju's own spikes and stabbed the Kaiju on each side of the head before attempting to twist its head off.
With their combined effort, they managed to get the Kaiju off balance and on its side. Gamba stabbed it in the exposed middle of where the leg had been ripped off, then used the exploding spear heads over and over, steadily blasting it from the inside out.
Meanwhile, an impatient Happy aimed her plasma cannon up to the Kaiju's eye and blasted away part of its face.
"I'll get to that brain even if I have to go through the eye socket," Happy seethed as she continued to unload plasma charge after plasma charge until her clip was empty.
But by that point, it had started to bleed out, and Happy, using Red Scorpion's hand, was able reach in, grab the brain, crush it, and then pull it out in a twisting motion.
Paige sat back once all her scans showed the Kaiju was dead and breathed a sigh of relief. It was over.
"Well that was brutal," she commented as she began to log all the data and send messages to the bays to receive the Jaegers and get ready to administer repairs.
Marshal Gallo made it a point to congratulate Paige on being as resourceful and quick thinking as she had been.
"Thank you, Marshal," Paige graciously accepted before Gallo also thanked and congratulated the other J-techs.
"That was... really remarkable," Walter offered as he stepped toward Paige, trying to compliment her.
"And you," Gallo directed at Walter.
"Yes?" Walter replied.
Gallo took one step closer to Walter so that their conversation would stay between them, despite Paige sitting up straighter and straining her ears. "If you ever think of challenging my authority on this bridge again, I will have you scrubbing toilets with toothbrushes. Even though you didn't today, it doesn't mean you weren't ready to. The purpose I serve here is to be a fixed point of authority, and if you can't respect that, I'll have you and your team decommissioned and sent back stateside. Is that clear?"
Walter didn't respond but held a challenging gaze until Gallo leaned in and lifted his hand to arrogantly touch the tip of his ear.
At this point, Paige had peered over her shoulder to lock eyes with Walter, giving him a pleading look.
Walter caught her eyes and relented.
"Yes sir," Walter respectfully, if not begrudgingly, answered.
"Good," Gallo replied before walking away. "Now, I'm going to go back to sleep for a few more hours," he told his second in command as he made his way back to his quarters.
"Doesn't sound like a bad idea," Walter said to Paige as she finished up her work and began to put her monitors to sleep.
"Yeah, but you don't have a teenager that will want to go over every little detail of the fight and get every schematic and go over a thousand and one other ways it could have been handled," Paige remarked wryly as she fought off a yawn.
Dawn was about to break and the skyline was getting lighter and lighter.
"Well I would, I mean, my team and I would love to keep Ralph with us. Give you a chance to get some sleep. You definitely earned it," Walter offered.
Paige mulled it over for a moment. It wouldn't be such a bad idea, they were proving to be a really good influence on him already, and surely they had proven themselves trustworthy. "It doesn't sound like a bad idea, but I still want to see him out of the bunker first."
"We can go together. Sylvester is with him, and I'm sure he'll be happy to hear we had a successful mission," Walter said as he motioned for her to join him.
"Just let me finish up here. It'll only take a moment," she assured him as she finished powering her station down and gave a few parting words to the other J-techs.
Then she left with Walter to head down to the bunker. They watched as it was unloaded and waited patiently for Ralph and Sylvester to appear among those filing out.
Sylvester caught sight of Walter and Paige standing by a wall, obviously waiting for them but deep within their own conversation. He couldn't help the grin that spread on his face as he watched them. Walter's posture and expression while he talked to Paige indicated an attempt to be suave, even though he was probably just coming off as ridiculous. Nevertheless, it was encouraging to at least see him trying to impress a woman. It was something he hadn't seen Walter do in a long time.
Paige looked up and scanned the crowd of faces, first finding Ralph and smiling, visibly relaxing as she blew out a sigh of relief. He was safe and sound, and he looked happy too as he walked with Sylvester, who looked quite relieved to see them too.
"So?" Ralph asked the group.
"We got him. Happy pulled his brains right out of his skull," Walter beamed.
"Cool!" Ralph cheered as Sylvester looked like he was going to be sick, and Paige turned to give Walter a disapproving scowl.
"So hey, your mom said she was pretty tired, so how about you hang out with us while she catches up on her sleep? She really pulled out all the stops today," Walter offered, causing Paige to grin and blush slightly.
"Okay," Ralph agreed readily.
"Well, you guys have fun, and stay safe," Paige cautioned, squeezing her son's hand before turning and heading to her quarters.
"So, Ralph, someone told me you were trying to train to be a drift compatible pilot," Walter hinted as they made their way back to Team Scorpion's area, which they had begun to refer to as 'Main'.
"Yeah, but my mom would never go for it. I have to be seventeen to even try out with her permission. By then there may not be much to even try out for. At the rate that the Jaeger program is going, it may not survive that long. We may not survive that long."
"Just because you can't try out, doesn't mean you can't train, right? At least with the Kwoon part," Walter baited.
"Sure, but with who? If I asked anyone, it would get back to Mom in a heartbeat, and she would probably shut it down. The one person I feel comfortable enough asking would kill me on our first lesson without even trying."
"And who's that?" Sylvester inquired curiously.
"Elaheh," Ralph answered wistfully. "She's in the Junior Jaeger-Pilot program. She's the fiercest fighter I've ever seen, and she scares me," he admitted. "But it won't do any good; Mom would still find out one way or another."
"How do you feel about the 'what she doesn't know won't kill her' theory?" Walter asserted mischievously, running his hands together.
He caught Sylvester's worried glance from the corner of his eye, but he could see Ralph seriously considering it.
"Who would teach me?" Ralph asked.
"I know a couple of Jaeger pilots who would love to take you under their wing."
Ralph grinned and continued to walk with Walter and Sylvester back to their area.
"So where is Toby and Happy? I thought they would be back by now," Ralph asked.
"Uh, they have, certain… rituals they like to perform after each drift," Sylvester tried to politely explain while blushing furiously.
Ralph looked from Sylvester to Walter who was trying to hide his own blush as he busied himself with some papers.
"I've heard some pilots will have residual drifting sensations, and they keep within the same space to enrich the bond," Ralph voiced, still not completely understanding why his friends would have that reaction.
"Look, they may be a while. How about we get some breakfast? It's still early," Sylvester suggested, quickly trying to change the subject.
.
Toby watched Happy closely as they were helped out of their armored gear by the technicians. She was already dictating in what order she wanted repairs done, the upgrades she wanted, how all of it should be done, and what kind of materials it needed to be done with. He was still heady from the effects of the neural bridge and knew she must be too, but she was better at hiding it.
Once they were clear, they wordlessly headed back to their private quarters. She in an all-business fashion, eyes straight ahead with quick, sharp steps; he following closely behind her, eyes on her body as he barely paid attention to anything else.
As soon as the door shut behind them in their room, Happy began stripping her clothes while walking towards the bathroom. Toby helped her remove the specialized suit, hands purposefully grazing her skin as he slid the zippers open. After she was completely bare, he quickly shed his own suit.
"I guess we survived another one," Happy's hoarse voice sounded over the hiss of the water as she turned on the shower.
Toby pressed behind her, sweeping her hair to the side to kiss her neck. "Of course we did," he murmured against her flesh. "There's not a monster in this whole fucking world we can't handle when we're together."
Despite the overconfidence, they both knew they risked their lives every time they went out there. Risked losing each other. The neural bond only fueled what was already present between them: each a desperate need for the other.
Happy turned to face him, finally revealing what she had kept closed up while they had still been around other people. Her walls were down, a burning fire in her eyes, and the metaphorical floodgates opened. She pulled Toby down to kiss her fiercely, their lips tangling. Quickly he lifted her, her legs wrappingaround his waist, the head of his manhood pinned between them as he walked them into to the shower. Immediately he pressed her against the sealed, polished concrete wall as steam surrounded them.
When he entered her, his ears devoured her keen of pleasure and relief as she tilted her head back against the wall. Toby took the invitation to lavish attention to her neck and chest, licking up the column of her neck to kiss her again. They both reveled in the knowledge that they almost didn't get to do this again today if things had gone differently.
"My back's cold, doc," Happy murmured when she broke away for air.
Toby grunted and snaked his hands down to cup her rear, holding her higher and closer against him as he switched their positions. Happy sighed in contentment as she leaned back into the spray of hot water, holding onto Toby's shoulders as she continued to ride him. Toby closed his eyes as he focused on kissing her chest, occasionally getting mouthfuls of water as he did so, but the taste of her skin was just too delicious.
His legs began to grow weary, and since the floor of the shower was also made of concrete, the thought of having sex on it wasn't the most appealing thought, so they ended their shower in favor of finishing on the bed.
They walked over to the bed, Toby laying a few towels down so as to not get the bedding wet before he gently pushed Happy down onto the bed. He laid down next to her, pillowing one of his arms under her head as the other softly caressed down her side, his feather light touch igniting her desires further.
"Toby, I need," Happy began to ask before Toby moved them into position, as if still in the drift and able to read her mind.
He got on his knees while rolling Happy on her back, her wet hair laid out around her as he lifted her hips into his lap and began to pound into her. They were both still slick from the water, so he had to really grasp her hips as he drove into her, their skin slapping loudly. He watched as the rest of her body took and reacted to the impacts of their love making.
Happy grabbed her own breasts, pinching her nipples and gently rolling them between her thumb and forefinger, not only for her own gratification, but also for the pure, unadulterated hunger that it caused in Toby's eyes. He gripped her hips just a bit harder, almost on the threshold of pain, and continued his onslaught before falling forward and taking a now pert nipple into his mouth, planting his forearms on either side of her.
Happy moaned and slid her hands up and down his sides before reaching down to his lower back and raking her nails all the way up to his shoulder blades, eliciting a loud groan from his throat.
"I love it when you do that," Toby growled in her ear.
He leaned up to place his head next to hers before biting her earlobe and moaning helplessly as she did it again. "I'm gonna need a good back scratch if you keep that up," he warned as he nuzzled the juncture of her neck and shoulder, playfully biting down as he felt himself come close to finishing. "What do you need?" he asked, knowing she was close but not as close as he was.
"The pinch," Happy answered desperately.
He sat back up on his knees, still thrusting into her as he reached down between them, finding her clit and doing as she requested. He grinned rakishly as Happy's face morphed in tortured bliss and her hips began to jerk uncontrollably while she clawed at the sheets. Unable to hold back any longer, Toby fell forward once again, bracing himself above her as a few more quick, powerful thrusts brought him his own release.
They laid next to each other during their recovery, savoring the blissful after waves coursing through their veins. Toby made a small trail of kisses all over Happy's neck, shoulder, and cheek as he reached up to stroke her soft but still slightly damp hair.
"I love you," he whispered.
"I love you too," she answered softly as he smiled.
Then, remembering his request from before, she reached around his shoulders to soothe his back with light scratches.
"Oh yeah," he sighed, eyes closing in pleasure as he relaxed in her embrace. "Left shoulder blade, left shoulder blade."
Happy giggled and hummed as she followed his directions.
As Walter walked back into Main with Ralph and Sylvester some time later, they found Happy and Toby already situated as if they had been there the whole time. Toby was reading two books at once while Happy worked on something that involved an acetylene torch, her large leather apron and welding mask fastened carefully in place.
"Guys, can we have a group meeting?" Walter called out as they all gathered together. "It seems our friend Ralph wants to be a drift compatible Jaeger Pilot," he began. "And in order to begin the tryout process, he needs to learn Kwoon technique."
"I thought Paige wasn't comfortable with him being a pilot," Happy pointed out.
"But he's practically a consenting adult; he could become a father back stateside, so what's the harm in at least teaching him good self-defense?" Walter reasoned.
"So I suppose you're implying we use the classic 'what she doesn't know won't kill her'. Interesting," Toby noted as he saw through the guise.
"Come on, guys, he needs us," Walter insisted as Ralph tried his best pleading puppy dog impression.
"And if Paige catches us?" Sylvester inquired.
"If she catches us teaching him the Kwoon techniques, we can play it off as simple self-defense. I'm sure he's seen his fair share of them, right?" Walter said, looking to Ralph.
"Actually, most people leave me alone and ignore me," Ralph corrected quietly.
"But still, you need to know how to protect yourself, and the rest of it. Any good engineer or J-tech should know this stuff, right?" Walter continued.
"I'm in," Happy spoke up first.
"Oh hell yeah, I'm in," Toby added.
Everyone then turned to look at a nervous looking Sylvester, who had still yet to say anything.
"If it will really help Ralph in the long run, then I'm in," he hesitantly answered.
Walter smiled. "Great. Let's get to work."
Author's notes- thank you so much to Alaburn for being the best beta ever and thank all of you for your patience, so sorry this took forever to update but I haven't given up on this yet. not by a long shot.