Title: make my systems glow
Pairing: Astra/Alex
Summary: They say that victor stands on the back of sacrifice. Astra sacrificed and lost more than she had to give.
TW: referenced character death, general apocalypse vibes
I estimate that this'll be three chapters, but it may be more, depending on how things develop.
There is a saying that goes something along the lines of victory stands on the back of sacrifice. It is usually said by those who sacrifice little. Astra has given up a lot of things in her quest to save the world.
She loses her sister to a kaiju.
She gives up everything to save just one day. Even as she pushes past every safety included in her Jaeger, self preservation included, she knows another enemy, as strong or stronger, will rise within the week. She can't stop that. But she can stop this one.
She nearly gives her own life delivering the killing blow by herself, four limbs too many for a single brain in a ruptured suit to move. The sea covers but does not take her.
Instead, she loses years to an experimental regeneration/stasis procedure that brought her back from the brink of death.
She leaves the DEO the moment she's able to move. The new doctors can do nothing but flutter in her path. The gate guards are similarly lax in their lack of conviction that no one is allowed to leave without proper authorization. If she was still seconded to security ... but Astra isn't. (And also: when did you get here? We haven't had civilian tours for over a week. It's almost enough to be amusing. Almost enough for her to turn around and ream out these jokers' instructors because these are the people protecting humanity?)
A year and a bit later, one Alexandra Danvers, an agent of the DEO, who just so happens to be on leave in a city nowhere near the base she is assigned to, finds her in a bar. The girl makes a valiant attempt at subtlety, enduring a full ten minutes of local sports talk at the bar before she makes her approach.
It's wasted effort. Not acting like a groupie - Astra has just run off the last batch, but the type is annoyingly persistent - and recognising her on sight? The recruitment drive she tries to softball is obvious. Even if she doesn't seem to want to, the girl gives the effort her all. Astra is mildly surprised when she doesn't get snatched on her way to bed. She slips a knife (her butterfly, because there's no way she wants to deal with missing half an ear in this healthcare system) under her pillow, just in case her timing was off.
A week afterwards, they just happen to run into each other in another bar, one that is coincidentally located across town from the first. Neither of them bother to bring that fact up. Alexandra attempts to bribe her with cheap spirits. The following Tuesday, it's Astra's time at the park that the government infringes on. Alexandra is allowed to become Alex when she brings bread for the ducks and submits herself to the ensuing lecture. Eventually, Astra gives in and agrees to return, if only to protect the local wildlife.