On the day that Hermann brought Newt to his apartment, neither man was fortunate enough to have slept well that night. Being a sensible man, despite his reserved social inclinations. Hermann had the foresight of renting an apartment with two bedrooms, even if there was little chance of guests using the extra bedroom.
While Hermann tossed and turned as his nightmares tormented him, Newt was the opposite. Instead becoming paralyzed, as shadowy figures loomed over him, while he was unable to do anything about it.
Fed up with his nightmares preventing him from having a peaceful sleep, Hermann gave up trying and left his bedroom. Turning on the lights in the kitchen, a sliver of light came through the gap under Newt's door, giving him the courage to move his muscles and escape the shadows his sleepy mind had conceived.
Noticing Newt rubbing his eyes as he plodded towards the kitchen, Hermann asked him if he was the reason why Newt was now roaming through the apartment.
"Did I wake you?"
"Nope. The Precursors took care of that." Newt replied, sounding much too chipper for a man who had endured so much suffering.
"They haven't left your mind?"
"Not completely. The thought of them is still lingering in my psyche." Newt said with a smile.
"I don't see what you have to smile about." Hermann responded, wondering what Newt had to be so happy about.
"I'm smiling, because they had nothing to do with it. It was my own brain and nothing else." Newt took charge of his nightmares with pride. Pleased that he was free of the Precursor's influence, even if it had left his brain with mental scars.
"I wish I could say the same."
"You only drifted with them once Hermann, maybe it is only your brain." Newt remarked. His understanding of fear giving him a hunch that it was Hermann's terror that caused his recurring nightmares. Or that the Precursors learned their lesson from his dying brain and stopped messing with his friend. Newt liked the sound of that, even if it was wishful thinking.
"You may be right." Hermann confessed. Accepting Newt's assessment.
"Of course, I'm right." Newt replied with cockiness, that Hermann was pleased to know had come from him and not the Precursors.
—
Shortly before Newt's interrogation, the Precursors had made good on their promise and sent another wave of Kaijus to devastate the Earth. What they hadn't counted on was the live capture of one their smaller, hybrid drones. Resulting in the PPDC's brightest scientists developing a neurotoxin from experiments conducted on it, that would eradicate the Precursors with a domino effect.
Reaching out to the world's leading space agencies for the use of their rockets. The PPDC now had access to a reliable mode of transportation. Capable of sending the Gipsy Avenger and the rest of the Jaegers, through a portal in the Earth's atmosphere leading to the Precursor home world; the Anteverse. Armed with several chemical dispersing bombs, the Jaegers would bring about swift retribution to the race who had plagued mankind with their numerous invasion attempts.
As the weeks went by to get the Jaegers into functional condition. The monotony of living in Hermann's apartment with little to do was beginning to get Newt, who complained about Hermann's stock of nutritious, but bland breakfast food.
"Don't you get tired of eating the same food every day, Hermann? Oatmeal is only slightly better than prison food."
"I don't agree with that, but I really should change my grocery list." Hermann answered with a sheepish smile. A smile Newt might have returned, had he not been feeling resentful.
While spending time with his friend had been good for him, it had also given him much time to reflect on their friendship in the past few years, leading to some unpleasant conclusions.
"That's not the only thing you should have done." Newt muttered under his breath something Hermann knew wasn't about food, but about something neither of them wanted to acknowledge.
"I didn't quite catch that. If there's something you want to say, you should speak up." Hermann spoke loudly, to make it clear that if Newt had something to say, he should do so now. Two could play at that game.
"How many times did we miss each other, Hermann? A missed phone call here, an urgent meeting, there? While you had nightmares…" Newt paused, getting choked up because of what he had to say next. "They were in my head… any time they wanted."
"I'm sorry I wasn't there when you needed me, Newton." Hermann patted Newt on the shoulder to console his closest friend, until a phone call interrupted him.
"Gottlieb, how's Newt? Is he feeling any better?" Jake Pentecost asked, checking up on his colleagues to see how they were faring.
"If he is, he's not showing it." Hermann said, loud enough for Newt to hear, who turned his head with embarrassment.
"That's not cool. But we're going to need you to come in. Check the numbers before the final launch, that kind of stuff." Jake explained in his own words, the nature of Hermann's assignment.
"I'll be right there."
"See you in a bit."
Ending the call, Hermann got ready to leave and put on his shoes and jacket. While Newt gave Hermann, his sarcastic good wishes. "Have fun saving the world…"
"You're coming too." Hermann went up to Newt and grabbed him by the arm, gently leading him towards the door.
"Why do I have to be there?"
"To witness history in the making!" Hermann announced with a grin.
—
Once they had arrived at the command centre, Hermann confirmed that the calculations for launching the rocket through the Mesosphere was correct and the launch was good to go.
After a successful launch into the portal, Jake, Amara and the rest of their team kept the command centre posted with updates about the mission and any resistance met as the corralled of the Precursors into one area for minimal chance of the gas missing any Precursors, hive mind or not. Eventually, every Precursor had succumbed to the neurotoxin. Signalling the end of the war with the Precursors.
"This is Ranger Pentecost, reporting. The Precursors are down. I repeat, the Precursors are down!" Jake called the command centre, relishing the moment of reporting that they had defeated the enemy.
After Jake's report had come in loud and clear, the command centre erupted with cheers and applause, overjoyed that the Precursors had been vanquished after so many years.
"They finally put an end to them…" Hermann marvelled at the young Ranger's remarkable accomplishment. Newt, who was not feeling as euphoric as everyone in the room, turned to Hermann expressed his concerns for the future.
"What are we gonna do now?"
"We'll figure something out." Hermann assured him. His use of the word 'we' giving reassurance to Newt, that he would not be taking the next path in his life alone. The kindness of Hermann's words, making Newt give his friend an awkward hug in return.
And that's the end of the story. A GLaDOS approved method of killing the Precursors and the hug Newt never got to return in Uprising. Thanks for reading my fic!