Chuck couldn't believe it. He couldn't fucking believe it. Here he was with Raleigh freaking Beckett in the conn-pod of the Gipsy Danger. The Gipsy Danger! He had been dreaming of this day for years. The first and only time he had been in the conn-pod of a jaeger was when he had snuck into Yellow Banshee last year. His father had been furious, but he had gotten out of it when the marshal and his uncle started laughing. His father had told him to never do it again or he would get his arse kicked for it.
So he was more than happily surprised when Raleigh asked him if he wanted to try out the no-suit drift simulation harness. Of course he readily agreed to it. He just wasn't expecting company.
"Now, you won't be hooked up to the drift but you can at least get a feel for the harness. And be more prepared for the real thing than any of those other academy flunks," Raleigh explained, flashing a knowing grin that Chuck returned with enthusiasm. He would be prepared for it, and prove his old man wrong.
"Got it," he replied heartily.
"Hey! There you are, Kid. I figured you would be up here," a voice cried out, breaking their conversation. They both jumped, turning guiltily to the source. Said person paused, mouth agape and hand in the air matter-of-factly from when he was going to berate his co-pilot. Blue eyes scanned critically over the scene before him: an older man with an unknown teenager in a jaeger conn-pod, alone, the older strapping the younger into a harness without a drivesuit.
Yancy's lips quirked into an amused, smug smirk. Raleigh's cheeks burned bright red and he jumped back and away from Chuck.
"Well, what do we have here?"
"It's nothing, Yance. I found him in Gipsy's bay, upset, and I figured I'd cheer him up. He's a big fan of the program. Even bigger fan of us," the younger blond whispered conspiratorially (loudly) to the older. Now it was Chuck's turn to blush. The smug grin only widened.
"Oh really? Do your parental units know you're up here with him?" Yancy asked him, jabbing his thumb at Raleigh. Chuck smiled weakly and shook his head.
"He's pissed at his dad. Guy told him to stay out of our way, thinking he was some kind of groupie," the younger pilot supplied eagerly. Chuck flushed deeper. But Yancy's expression soured in response.
"Let the kid talk, Rals," he admonished, lightly punching the other's shoulder at his wounded expression. A small smile was received in response. A flare of jealousy blossomed in Chuck's chest, but he shook the feeling off.
"My old man is just an uptight prick," he quickly explained, ready to push the current topic of conversation aside. Yancy, though, didn't seem to be interested in doing that. He kept his tongue however and smiled brightly, devilishly at the two of them.
"Marshal is gonna kill you, Kid," he chuckled pulling his brother into a head lock. Raleigh choked, trying to wrestle his head out of the grip.
"You're not gonna tell him, are you? The kid just wanted to see what it was like!" He whined. His head was still grasped firmly the elder's elbow, but he managed to complain all the same.
"If I know were to find you, what makes you think he doesn't? And no, I did not tell him. But he was looking for you. Apparently there is a kid out on the loose and his father is searching for him. I think you found him first, though," he finished, tossing the squirming younger man onto the floor. Grumbling and red faced, Raleigh picked himself up and glared at his smirking brother.
"So, I know you two were trying to explain, but I think we should all start from the beginning. Don't you?"
Chuck, who had watched the playful banter between the brothers and realized that being half tied into the harness was enough to prevent escape, paused in his attempts to bolt and glanced up to the two pilots. He smiled sheepishly at them, angry that he was stuck and couldn't get away and didn't have a relationship like that with anyone and, God dammit, why couldn't his dad be like that with him? Some of the turmoil must have shown on his face because the two were silently watching him as he struggled to free himself again. He quickly became frustrated with his predicament and settled for staring glumly at the floor as he waited for the inevitable lecture.
"Here. The release is on this strap," Yancy murmured, tugging on a synch so he had to catch himself before he toppled to the floor. Not that he managed that. He was a little surprised at how fast the straps released him so he found himself in a heap on the floor instead. Above him, he heard Raleigh cough- trying (and failing) to hide a chuckle. He ignored it in favor of crossing his arms and glaring at the infernal mechanics around him.
"Ignore him," Yancy ordered, followed by a yelp. "He did the exact same thing the first time we did a no-suit simulation. Except he wasn't able to untangle himself without help and fell on his face."
He couldn't help himself: Chuck watched as his imagination supplied a younger version of the eccentric pilot falling on his face and he chuckled. Laughed. Outright giggled. It only got worse when the offended blond harrumphed and flopped onto the floor next to him in mock indignation. He could see it for what it was because of the small smile tugging at the corners of the scowl and the twinkling blue eyes. On his other side, his brother laughed with him.
"In my defense: I was sleep deprived and mentally scarred from the drift. There is some weird stuff in that thing you call a brain," he replied, jabbing an accusing finger at his brother. The other blond just laughed harder, clutching his stomach and holding onto Chuck's shoulder. In short order, they were a bundle of limbs and laughter, clutching onto each other as they tried to stay upright and keep breathing.
"In all seriousness though," Yancy began, wiping his eyes and shaking himself. "Why are you two up here all alone?" Raleigh only shrugged in response, mirrored timidly by Chuck.
"Told ya: Kid wanted to see the inside of a jaeger. He wants to be a pilot someday so I figured I'd let him see what it's like being in the harness. Weren't being creepy or anything," he finished, looking like he had swallowed something particularly bitter.
"I didn't figure you would be. I was just wondering, Rals." The younger blond nodded. Chuck sat back a bit, watching the way they communicated, but didn't really speak. He had seen it before between pilots. Those who had drifted, especially after years of training and fighting, often displayed symptoms of elevated ESP. He wondered if the two of them knew that they had only said about a third of what they thought they said aloud. His father and uncle had mentioned it being difficult to keep themselves to themselves and making sure they actually said all of what they wanted.
But something was different between these brothers. Chuck had witnessed drifting hangovers in other pilots, but what the Becketts had was stronger. Like what they had when the drift was still new. Still raw. Ghost drifting is what it was called. And no one had had it since they upgraded the drift systems to be more compatible with the human neural system. He felt a little jealous.
"Well what do you think? Being in a jaeger what you thought it would be?" Yancy turned towards him, his voice slow, like he was making sure what he wanted to say actually came out. His envy forgotten, Chuck nodded furiously, launching into all the different aspects of this particular jaeger compared to others of the Mark III generation. Occasionally he allowed the two pilots to ask him questions or correct him. It was fascinating to learn that the synapse system had to be downgraded to be compatible with the two pilots. Normally it was upgraded. And to find out that the crest for the Gipsy was actually taken from their grandfather's army ranger unit was just awesome.
"Damn, Kid. You really know your stuff," Yancy praised, clapping him on the shoulder approvingly. Raleigh leaned back on his hands, a smug smirk playing across his lips. "Shut it," he snapped in response, making the younger blond and Chuck grin wider.
"Is it true that they originally thought you two weren't drift compatible?" He asked after what seemed like some sort of silent battle of wills between the two blonds.
"Yes."
"No."
They glared at each other. Silently daring the other to contradict or explain. Finally they settled on a unified "Sort of."
Chuck blinked.
"They said it was unlikely. But not impossible," Raleigh exaggerated.
"What they said was: we were drift compatible with each other. But not with a jaeger," Yancy sighed, clarifying their botched answer.
Chuck blinked again, his brows knitting together in confusion. "How's that-?"
"Possible?" Raleigh finished.
"They didn't think that our neural systems would be compatible with any jaeger synapse system. Turns out it was just new ones," Yancy continued. Chuck stared at the floor in concentration. If he hadn't been used to his father and uncle starting and finishing each other's sentences and half speaking- half answering he was sure to have a headache from the two. Seriously, they were pretty hard to follow. Like twins or something.
"Hey, man. Enough about us. You seem to know everything- more than we do. Why don't you tell us about yourself?" Yancy prompted, nudging him with his knee. He too was leaned back on his hands, reflecting the relaxed position perfectly. Chuck groaned, crossing his arms and glowering at the floor.
"There's nothing to tell."
"Aw come on now! There has to be something. You didn't just pop out of thin air," Raleigh joked. "Did you?" He asked with such sudden solemnity it made Chuck laugh.
"No, you idiot. I didn't. I had a mom once!" He scoffed, lifting his nose in haughty incredulity. He decided to ignore their expressions, knowing they were smug. However, when the teen opened his eyes, he noticed that their faces were sullen, haunted.
"Had?" Raleigh asked, sitting up to wrap his arms around his knees. Chuck grimaced. He knew that their parents had died a long time ago, but he supposed it hurt them more than it hurt him.
"What happened?" Yancy asked cautiously. His expression was more guarded, but it still looked pained. They hadn't meant to upset him, he could see that, but Chuck didn't feel like telling them. Though, he supposed that maybe they deserved to know. They had been nice to him, made him feel better and Raleigh had showed him into the conn-pod to cheer him up. These guys weren't so bad. They were great. Maybe they would get it? Maybe they would understand why?
"My old man left the Australian military to join the Jaeger program after the fourth kaiju hit Shanghai and they had launched the program. I was pretty small so I don't remember a time before the war. I stayed back with my mum in Brisbane- before Scissure attacked Australia. I went on a field trip to a nearby national park or something- I don't remember, I was only six or so. That's when the sirens started. They couldn't stop it and the nearest jaeger was too far out to be of any use. By the time they did arrive, Sydney had already launched the nuke. He should have gone for her, but dad saved me instead," he finished, whispering into the silence around him. He was sitting up, arms around himself and head sunk low to his chest as he glowered at the floor. "He should have saved her instead," he finished.
Neither Beckett spoke for a while, thinking over what had happened. It was true that they had similar lives, but their parents hadn't died because of a nuke to kill a monster. It was just horrible to hear it, to know that it was a shitty situation and that the kid wished that he had been the one to die instead.
"For what it's worth. I'm glad to have met you."
Chuck looked up at Raleigh as he spoke. He really hadn't meant to start crying or express any sort of emotion. He supposed that his face was priceless because both brothers started laughing before Yancy pulled him into his arms. He wasn't sure why, but it felt good to hear that.
"You have it rough buddy. But, I bet if you asked your dad, he wishes- more than anything- that he had been able to save you both. Don't you think your dad would want his whole family? Why don't you give him a chance and ask? Huh?"
"Yeah, I guess," he agreed, sniffing as he roughly scrubbed his cheeks. "What is with you two and making me cry today. Jerks," he muttered. He laughed when they both cried out in indignation.
"Hey, I got an idea!" Raleigh chirped up suddenly. "Why don't you just hang with us for the rest of he the day. Give you both some time to cool off."
"Yeah. Rals here mentioned your dad not being there. Why don't you stay with us?" Yance mentioned, oblivious to the fact that Raleigh had never said that tidbit to his brother. At least not where Chuck could hear. Chuck didn't mention it though. Instead he nodded vigorously, genuinely happy and surprised to be asked such a thing by the two of the greatest pilots currently driving jaegers.
"Great. Say, how old are you anyway?" Yancy asked, slightly suspicious.
"I just turned fourteen. Why?" Chuck retorted defensively, crossing his arm and scowling at the older man. He simply chuckled and ruffled his brown hair. To which he cried out and swatted the hand away.
"Come on, Kiddo. You're with us," Raleigh said proudly, jabbing himself in the chest and strutting out the door.
"Yeah, just as soon as the two of you clean up your mess," Yancy called after him, amused at the way they both paused and cringed. Their sheepish smiles didn't change his mind though.
A/N: For the record, I have no basis for Australia vernacular. So I f their slang is wrong, I apologize. I know for a fact a lot of it is wrong or is stupid. I just remember watching Mik when I was a kid. Brownie points to anyone who knows who that was!
