Last night the Marshal visited him and informed him of his talk with the pilot. He had to sit and take in for a while.

This was more than he'd bargained for. This man was possibly his brother from another dimension. Or a man insane and convinced that he was Raleigh Becket.

He didn't really sleep that night and when the 3am shift rolled around he joined the other j-techs in working on Cherno Alpha. They sent him looks, but let him through to work. It wasn't uncommon for Yancy to work on a job this late, or early really.

It became a habit of his after losing his brother. Before he lost his brother, he'd never really thought about being a mechanic or really a j-tech. He and his brother always kind of thought they'd be pilots until the end. Death or retirement.

Honestly, after the war ended Yancy had plans of going to college and getting a degree in education. He hoped to teach maybe some language or art. Comic books had been an interest of his since he was small. He'd wanted to be a superhero from one of the comic books, but he's lived that life. Now he wants to settle down, live a quieter life. There's no point in being a superhero when his brother isn't there beside him.

So teaching it was. Maybe he could inspire the next generation, fill them with hope and the drive to improve the world.

Yancy was brought from his thoughts when someone tapped on his shoulder. He turned around and saw the Kaidonovskys behind him. He grabbed a rag and started wiping down his hands, waiting for them to start talking.

"Becket, you seem more… affected recently." Yancy's eye darted between the two of them before settling on Sasha.

"The pilot, who came out of the breach… is a lot more personally connected than we'd previously thought." He said. Aleksis glanced around before gesturing for them to walk with him. They didn't really speak until they got back to the Kaidonovsky's room.

Jaeger pilots tended to gravitate towards each other. They were becoming rarer and rarer with each passing day, so it was no surprise that the Kaidonovskys had picked him up after he lost his brother. He may not be a Jaeger pilot anymore, but he was still one of them.

The connections between pilots had become more important as the teams had been whittled down. As of yet, Striker Eureka's pilots had yet to reach out. Yancy suspected the Kaidonovskys were planning their next move. They were like that.

Yancy sat on a desk chair, propping his head on his arm. The other two settled in their bed not far away.

"Personally connected, Becket?" Aleksis asked. Yancy scrubbed his face and leaned forward.

"I guess the Marshal didn't give you everything he gave me. The pilot that came out of the breach looks a lot like my brother and is an exact genetic match."

"What are you saying?" Sasha said.

"Based on what the Marshal has gathered from talking to the pilot and the tests he's had done, the pilot is likely my brother from another dimension."

"Fucking hell."

"Yeah."

"What are you going to do?"

"I'm not sure. It's unfair that I get the chance to see my brother again but he's not my brother. I'm going to meet with him later today, he's woken up."

"Do you want us to come with you?" Aleksis asked. Yancy briefly considered it before shaking his head.

"No, I'll be fine. But if you see the Wei Tang clan before I do, feel free to let them into the loop." Sasha and Aleksis smiled and he knew they'd be waiting not far outside of med bay.

"Onto lighter topics, how is your jaeger coming along?" Sasha asked. Yancy scrubbed the back of his head and sighed.

"She's not mine anymore. But Mako and I have made quite a few adjustments to her." Like the chainsword. That would've been nice to have back in the day.

"Just because she's different doesn't mean she's not the same." Aleksis kept eye contact with him before breaking it. Yancy's eyes darted between the two before groaning.

"No stop that. I don't want any sage life advice administered through GD." Yancy said.

"So you admit it is "sage life advice"?" Sasha leaned forward with a grin.

"It's certainly advice. Not sure I want it."

"Regardless of whether or not you want it, you're getting it, Becket."

Yancy let out a little scream. The Kaidonovkys laughter mixed in.

Raleigh had been awake for the past few hours, most of it filled by nurses running tests and checking his range of movement.

They were unsure what exactly the long term consequences of piloting solo would be until they'd gotten him more on his feet. Figuratively for now, for now he was strapped to a wheelchair when going anywhere that wasn't his bed.

And he was totally fine with that. It was nice to have proper healthcare after spending so long on the wall without any. He wasn't exactly sure he'd be able to get up and walk anymore than five steps anyways. Extended bouts of movement gave him intense headaches and made his joints feel like they were turning into jello.

Not that he'd had many chances to experience that. The nurses only had him walk a few steps to ensure that he still could walk and that his movement wasn't totally stunted by the damage soloing did.

So while walking did make him feel like shit, rolling himself around in his wheelchair didn't. He'd probably feel the burn in his forearms tomorrow, but he'd enjoy this little bit of freedom while it lasted. A nurse was sure to catch onto the fact that he was annoying the other patients with his squeaky wheels soon enough.

He was on his third lap around the med bay when someone cleared their throat behind him. He froze, stopping the wheels with a little burn.

"Alright doc, I can explain." Raleigh executed a three point turn, that he'd practiced extensively, and turned around to face them. The sheepish smile slipped off his face. The light little mood had been in for the past hour popped.

"...Oh."

His brother was standing in front of him with an unsure expression on his face. Raleigh felt the same if he was being honest. This was uncharted territory. But the only way to make a map was to venture on.

"Hi."

"Hi…"

"Right. I'm just going to jump into it. Uh, you cool with me calling you Yance? Or do you want me to call you something else?" Raleigh stumbled out. His hands fluttering between the horrible hospital wheelchair wheels and his own lap.

"Yance… Yance is fine. Raleigh, right?"

"Yeah. C'mon, let's take this back to my room. Don't want a nurse to interrupt us with her nagging. I've been doing a few laps around the med bay, they won't appreciate that."

Raleigh struggled to keep his grip consistent as he turned his chair again. Yancy was only a few steps behind.

Raleigh wanted to break the silence but he didn't know what to say. Or rather what he should say. He could crack a joke or be serious and start out with the heavy stuff or he could talk about the weather he hasn't seen. So he chose none of that. Silence it was.

Raleigh typed in the code for his door and it slid open. He was thankful that these doors were automatic as opposed to the handled ones in the dorms and barracks. They wouldn't be too hard to handle in a wheelchair but he wanted to avoid that for as long as possible.

He hesitated inside his room before pulling up across from the two chairs against the wall, his back to the bed. Yancy sat in one.

A few moments were spent in silence before Raleigh broke them.

"I'm sorry." His voice felt broken and unused even though he'd spoken not long ago.

"What?" Yancy's brows furrowed.

"I'm sorry for a lot of things. Mainly the me that was yours leaving you. I'm not him and I will never be him. I've made choices he didn't have the chance to make, mistakes he'd never even thought possible. I'm sorry for coming into your life after he'd left. I'm sorry for being here." Raleigh kept eye contact with Yancy.

This kind of vulnerability wouldn't have been possible with anyone other than his brother and Mako. This man wasn't his brother, but it was easy to pretend for a moment that he was. That he was just apologizing for leaving when he should've stayed. And it feels right to say these things.

"Don't apologize for being here. You may not be the brother I grew up with, and you can say the same for me. But neither of them would want us to feel like we shouldn't exist." The hand on Yancy's thigh clenched.

"You're right. I just felt like I should say that. This is a really weird situation for me." Raleigh laughed.

"Mm. Yeah." Yancy let out a soft laugh. Raleigh smiled at him.

Raleigh leaned back in his chair. Maybe things would be better than he expected.

A/N:

oof, sorry for disappearing for two months. i promise if I ever abandon my works I'll let people know. but I have no intention of abandoning this one. it's one of my favs, the kind of fic I want to read. also if u see any typos, please point them out to me, i wrote most of this chapter on my phone. so um thank you for your support and comments!

on another note, what do you think of an abo au of pacific rim, except its heavily gutted and all the sex/non-con-y aspects are erased and its family/pack orientated. there wouldn't be any romantic relationships, just an everybody lives family au. i'm really craving family fluff rn if u cant tell.

I'm also working on an among us oneshot thats pretty family orientated as well, a big tough nb crewmate adopts a newbie impostor. its at about 8.5k rn, about 3/4 finished, anyone interested?

double update!