The medics had banned any LOCCENT personnel and pilots from entering the side of the med bay that contained the as of yet unidentified pilot. A wise decision on their part. The unknown pilot was suffering from various injuries and conditions, and likely wouldn't wake up for a few days.
To make up for banning everyone from visiting the unknown pilot, they assembled a profile on the pilot and ran various tests on him in an attempt to identify him. They came up empty. He didn't exist in any records they'd made or had access to.
They submitted the profile to the Marshal with minimal fuss.
When Stacker Pentecost had received the report on the unknown pilot, he'd sat in his office for half an hour just processing it. After he'd gathered his thoughts and poured himself a cup of coffee, he called in Herc, Mr. Becket, Mako, and Mr. Choi.
He sat at his desk, sipping his coffee while he waited for the three to arrive. It was impossible. But here were the facts. He tapped on a picture of the pilot and zoomed in.
He'd aged, but there was no mistaking it. The pilot was Raleigh Becket who'd died five years ago while his brother lived. His mind struggled to wrap around the idea. All he needed was Yancy's confirmation that this was his dead brother
Mako was the first to arrive, immediately taking up post by his side.
Herc arrived second, his son paused outside before being beckoned inside by Stacker.
"Come in, you'll be briefed after your father anyways." Chuck shuffled inside, falling into parade rest as soon as he was beside his father. He threw a look between his father, Mako and Stacker.
"There's an update on the pilot?" Herc questioned. Mako glanced at Herc before steadying her gaze on him. She hadn't been in LOCCENT when it had gone down. She'd been occupied elbows deep in repairing Gypsy Danger. Stacker had told her all he knew (and could tell her) after the pilot was put in the med bay. There was a kind of hope ignited by hearing about this pilot being pulled from the ocean.
One he didn't want to acknowledge.
Stacker was prevented from answering by Mr. Choi and Mr. Becket entering the room. Their conversation about jaeger upgrades petered out when Mr. Becket took the only other seat in the room. Mr. Choi stood by his elbow.
"There's an update about the pilot. I'm afraid it is better and worse than what we were expecting." Stacker sorted through the files on his desk, delaying the inevitable for just a few half seconds. Then passed Mr. Becket the file on the pilot.
"I just need you to confirm something about the pilot before we move on. Is he Raleigh Becket, Mr. Becket?" Stacker steeled himself. His people were too disciplined to react loudly or violently, but it still would not be pleasant.
"Raleigh Becket? Didn't he die five years ago?" Chuck Hansen dropped his parade rest, and looked between the file, Stacker, and Mr. Becket. Herc's brows were furrowed and his face pinched, the family resemblance jumped out with that one expression.
Mako was the calmest of the lot, she hadn't had much contact with Raleigh Becket before he'd died, but the name was still familiar to her. One she'd heard only mentioned in relation to Mr. Becket and (not often) Gypsy Danger. But she almost dropped her tablet.
Mr. Choi looked like someone had reopened an old wound and started sprinkling salt inside it. He carefully placed his hand on Mr. Becket's shoulder and also looked over the file. Mr. Choi's face jumped from expression to expression, seemingly unable to decide what he was feeling as he read.
On the other hand, Mr. Becket was steely. His face was cold, and his body stiff. He gave nothing away as he read the file.
Slowly Mr. Becket closed the file and put it back on his desk.
"He looks like my brother." He finally said.
"But is he Raleigh Becket?" Stacker pressed.
"He looks like my brother." Mr. Becket paused, "Down to the old scar he got when he jumped off the roof of our shed when we were eight years old. He looks like him. But my brother died five years ago." Mr. Becket looked away. He was done speaking.
"How is that possible?" Herc asked, not expecting an answer.
"There's something odd about this." Mr. Choi grabbed his chin and his eyes gained a faraway quality. Everyone's attention turned to him.
"Mr. Choi?" Mako prompted.
"The pilot appears to be the same age Raleigh would be if he'd lived. He has the same scars that Yance did when he came out of Gypsy Danger. He looks like a clone of Raleigh Becket. The kaiju wanted him. He's suffering brain damage characteristic of piloting a jaeger solo, multiple times. He's been exposed to radiation recently, and intensely. He came out of the breach. There's something we're missing, we need to talk to the pilot." Mr. Choi stopped and turned to Stacker, his gaze sharp.
"You won't get access to him until we're cleared to by the doctors. He's not awake yet." Stacker said.
"But family would be able to." Everyone's eyes turned to Mr. Becket. He stared Stacker down.
"You said he wasn't your brother."
"He isn't. But we need to know. The pilot looks enough like Raleigh for me to claim that he is my brother, especially if you back me up Marshal." Stacker considered Mr. Becket's words. He would need to create a backstory for the pilot. Convince the head doctor, and likely have a blood test done. There were too many coincidences, and not enough answers.
"Okay." Stacker made a note to fabricate a story for the two. Maybe this pilot was Raleigh Becket's long lost twin? Dr. Basa wouldn't believe it, but it'd make her stop and examine the resemblance between the pilot and the deceased Raleigh Becket. He made note to have Mako inform Dr. Basa. She'd taken a liking to Mako.
"There's also the fact that this pilot is suffering brain damage congruent with piloting solo. The kind of brain damage that means he won't be able to step foot inside a jaeger again without having a seizure." Mr. Choi grabbed the file again and flipped to the pages detailing his medical history and passed it onto Herc.
Herc grabbed the file and his eyebrows flew up. "He won't be able to assist with Operation Pitfall anyways. Brain damage or not, he won't be strong enough to pilot a jaeger for a few months. Whatever went on in the breach really messed him up."
Chuck whistled behind him.
"Yeah, no kidding. I wouldn't want to be him when he wakes up."
Mr. Choi leaned an elbow onto Mr. Becket's chair.
"The question now is, what do we do while we wait for him to wake up? We can't just sit here and idly speculate."
Stacker resisted the urge to snort.
"You will do nothing but return to your posts and work as if nothing is wrong. Now get out, I have to brief the Wei Tang clan and the Kaidonovskys."
Briefing the Wei Tang clan and Kaidonovskys was simpler than briefing the other group. Mainly because he didn't pass around the pilots file or allude to him possibly being Raleigh Becket's look alike.
He'd merely stated that the man they'd saved was alive and recovering. That they still didn't have much information on him. And that he'd keep them in the loop if anything major happened.
They'd left the room satisfied. Stacker took a moment to slump against his desk. Then straightened up and began writing the request for a genetic test to be run on the pilot.
A day later, the blood work came through.
It confirmed that the pilot was related to Yancy Becket. After they got the results back they compared it to Raleigh Becket's previous blood work. It was a match. Yancy was silent for a while after the results came in. He didn't want him to be his brother. His brother had died five years ago.
A few hours later, Yancy was granted visiting privileges. The pilot, who might be his brother, hadn't woken up yet. He walked into the room and went straight for the chair by the bed. He sat and analyzed the man in front of him.
Yancy was pissed.
He didn't want this. He'd adjusted to living without his brother. He wanted his brother back, but he was afraid of what he'd gotten by wishing for him back. He was afraid that the man would never wake up, and he'd be sitting on the edge of his seat waiting foolishly for the chance to talk with him again, to joke and laugh.
Yancy settled his chin in his hand and traced the curve of the man's jaw with his eyes.
He didn't want his brother to be ripped away again.
Yancy stood up and left the room without saying a word.
a/n: im posting the chapters to this fic to ao3 first bc its easier to update on mobile there. so head over there if you want to view chap 3 now