Note: Hi everyone, sorry this took me a million years to get published. I recently moved across the country, hit the holidays, and have been job hunting, so things have been a little crazy. I'm not totally happy with this chapter, but I figure it's best to at least get something out there even if I have to go back and change it later. I am working on the next 1-2 chapters after this, but I have about 4 later ones written and ready to go, so I am doing my best to get it all done. Thanks for all the nice messages and comments!
The day after the press conference, Raleigh and Mako slept in, getting out of bed only when their hunger insisted on it. They had slept in Raleigh's room again, curled up together and enjoying the strange sort of intimacy offered by the action. They showered and dressed in their respective rooms, then headed to the mess hall for what they realized was lunch, rather than breakfast.
The hall was filled with people when they entered, and try as they might to keep a low profile, a round of applause began as more and more people noticed them walking to the front of the room for plates. They both tried to smile at everyone, despite wanting only to eat and be left alone, and it seemed to satisfy those around them. The clapping slowed to a stop by the time they had fetched trays and begun ladling food onto their plates, though people kept coming up to them and shaking their hands or trying to engage them in conversation. At least four different women had managed to edge their way in between Mako and Raleigh in order to ask if he'd like to sit with them, but he refused them as politely as he could.
Mako rolled her eyes as the last one stalked back to her table, looking annoyed at his rejection. Raleigh sighed heavily, clearly already fed up with the attention, and surveyed the room, looking for a table that wasn't already filled. A waving hand on the right side of the room caught his attention, and he smiled in relief as he saw Tendo Choi, sitting with Herc Hansen and waving them over to take the open seats at their table. Raleigh nudged Mako and she followed him, placing her tray beside his and sitting down beside him, smiling at Tendo.
"Raleigh, Mako. How are you?" Tendo asked good-naturedly. "Enjoying all the attention, I see!"
He grinned, knowing full well that they both hated it. Raleigh shrugged, picking up his fork at the same time that Mako lifted hers.
"Could be worse, I suppose," he said, grinning back at Tendo.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Mako lifting her glass to take a drink at the same time as he lifted his.
Tendo grinned at them, noticing their synchronicity. "The Hangover continues, I see," he said, eyeing their hands which were moving in unison to put the cups back down.
Raleigh let out a soft laugh. "Yeah, I guess so."
Amelia appeared suddenly behind Herc, looking irate and holding a rolled-up magazine in her hand.
"We have a problem," she said to him, but it was loud enough that Mako could hear her.
Herc looked around in surprise, but stood up and walked a few steps away from the table, bending his head close to Amelia's as she unrolled the magazine and shoved it into his hands, smacking the cover with her hand and gesturing in Mako and Raleigh's direction. Mako looked up at Raleigh, a feeling of unease taking hold in her stomach. He shrugged and looked back at Herc, who had opened the magazine and was reading an article, his face growing angrier by the second. Raleigh's stomach dropped then; Herc had always been even-tempered, and Raleigh wasn't sure he wanted to know what it was that was making him this angry. Herc looked up then and caught Raleigh's eye, and he took a deep breath and headed back to the table, Amelia on his heels.
Amelia made a grab for the magazine, her eyes flicking to Mako and back to Herc again. "Herc, give that back to me. There's no reason to-"
"They're going to find out eventually, Amelia," Herc cut in.
He held out the magazine for Mako to take, looking furious. "This was published this morning. It's a local gossip tabloid, and the writer was here at the press conference. Apparently, she didn't find it all that interesting that you saved the goddamn world, and decided to write this piece of garbage to take you down a peg."
Mako took the magazine, feeling a sense of dread now, and set it down on the table between her and Raleigh. The cover featured a grainy photo of the two of them, which they realized must have been taken from far away as they had walked down the hall the day before. They were facing each other and smiling, their foreheads pressed together; Mako recognized it from shortly after their conversation about Naomi as they walked down the hall towards their quarters following their meeting. She felt the blood drain from her face and covered her mouth with her hand as she read the headline.
Ranger Academy Student Flirts Her Way into the Pilot Seat
She felt sick to her stomach. She didn't want to know what the article said, but she opened the magazine to the page that Amelia had dog-eared and began to read. It wasn't good. She felt hysteria rising in her chest as she read snippets, all of them alluding to the accusation that Mako had gotten her place in the Jaeger by sleeping with Raleigh. Despite the fact that it didn't even make sense, the entire article sounded almost convincing. The piece included an accusation of favoritism on Pentecost's part, implying that other, better Rangers had been passed over because she was his daughter. The words made Mako tremble with pent-up emotion; her breathing quickened and she tried to get herself under control as she read on.
One has to wonder why, with such an important task at hand, the most skilled and experienced candidates were not chosen for the job. Marshal Pentecost was surely a good leader in his day, but he seemed to have lost sight of the big picture when it came to his adopted daughter, Mako Mori. Reports from sources close to Miss Mori suggest that she and Ranger Becket shared a close relationship from the time he arrived at the Shatterdome, and that it was he who requested her as his partner. Readers, I don't know about you, but I think people should be hired based on skill, not on who they're getting "close to".
Mako made a strangled sort of sound in her throat as she read those words, humiliation rising in her as she realized that other people would not only read this, but might actually believe that she had slept with Raleigh, and that she had done it to get a place in the Jaeger. Though the accusations wildly false, there were photos included in the article showing them together, adding fuel to the fire. She had trouble believing that the article wouldn't be taken seriously with that sort of "evidence"
She made it to the end of the article before tears started swimming in her eyes. She closed them, trying desperately not to cry, and took a shaky breath. She opened them once again and looked to the top of the page for the writer's name, guessing what she would find there.
Naomi Sokolov
She could feel Raleigh's rage, both from his trembling body beside her and the white-hot anger in his head. She pressed her lips together, looking back up at Herc and Amelia, who both looked furious, and to Tendo, who looked shocked. She couldn't stand to be here any longer; the magazine would make the rounds within the Shatterdome, and everyone would know its contents by dinner time, if they didn't already. She pushed her chair roughly out from the table and stood up, leaving her full plate on the table and turning away. Raleigh grabbed her hand but she whipped it out of his grasp.
"Don't."
Her voice was low, rough, and furious. She didn't think she'd ever had that tone before, and Raleigh dropped his hand away, looking at her pleadingly. She knew it wasn't his fault; Naomi had written this article, not him, but her brain just couldn't separate him from her right now. She turned from him and walked swiftly out of the mess hall, not sure where she was going, but certain that she couldn't stay there. She took the last few steps at a run, hurtling out of the doorway and down the hall, trying desperately not to cry.
. . . . . . . .
Raleigh's stomach dropped at Mako's tone, but he didn't follow her. He could feel that she needed to get away from the eyes around her, and he had to deal with this for her. Naomi had been his problem, and now she had become Mako's; he had been rude to Naomi and she had lashed out, Mako getting caught in the crossfire. Raleigh looked back at Herc and Amelia, his gaze hard.
"Who the fuck let this get published? I am going to kill someone at that magazine." He ground his teeth, cycling through a hundred different scenarios in which he dismantled that goddamned magazine piece by piece.
"Raleigh, relax." Herc's voice was firm, leaving no room for discussion.
Raleigh stared at him, his eyes livid.
"Don't look at me like that, Raleigh," Herc went on. "Amelia is handling this. Naomi has already been blacklisted from anything and any stories at the Shatterdome or involving the Defense Corps. in the future, and Amelia has reached out to the editor of the magazine to discuss retraction. They will be publishing an apology in their next issue, and I understand that Sokolov is in some hot water at work."
That mollified Raleigh's temper slightly, but not by much. "The editor still approved the story," he said through gritted teeth. "Naomi may have written it, but she's not the only one at fault."
Amelia nodded stiffly at him. "I'm meeting with him this evening. We'll see what he has to say, then go from there. Based on my conversation with him earlier, she used her previous…relationship with you as 'proof' that she knew what was going on with you, and they believed she was being truthful. Obviously, they know now that it was fabricated. Please just hang tight, Becket. I'm going to get this sorted out. "
Raleigh ground his teeth, but he knew that charging into the magazine offices wasn't the smart move right now, so he forced himself to calm down.
"Fine," he said finally. "I'll let you handle it. But if Mako is upset after that, I'm going over there to have a few choice words with that editor."
. . . . . . . .
Herc didn't say anything, just gave Raleigh a sort of grimace before getting heavily to his feet and walking away with Amelia, their heads bent together in serious discussion.
"So…" Tendo said slowly. "You wanna talk about what's going on here? I've never seen you actually care about what the press had to say about anyone. I realize you guys are copilots, but even so..."
Raleigh did his best to wipe the glare off his face as he looked at Tendo, who gave a small, knowing smile. Raleigh sighed and dropped his gaze back to the table, trying to organize his thoughts so he could voice them in a way that Tendo could actually understand.
"I guess it's the Drift Hangover..." he said quietly so only Tendo could hear him. "But it's never been this…intense before..."
Tendo cocked his head to the side, waiting for Raleigh to elaborate. As the Chief officer of the J-Tech Crew, he had been the one in charge of monitoring the Drift and securing the Neural Handshake for all Rangers, so he was probably the best person to confide in about this particular issue.
"I just…My brother and I always had a sort of connection after the drift; we'd always want to spend a lot of time together and always had a good sense of what the other was thinking or feeling. But Mako and I are still in each other's heads. Like…I can hear what she's thinking at times and she can hear me, even after the Handshake has been broken. And we just…keep wanting to be close to each other. Is that normal?"
Tendo considered him for a moment. "You mean like…physically close?"
Raleigh sighed and shrugged. "Yeah. I haven't wanted anyone anywhere near me since Yancy died. But with her…" he broke off, feeling awkward but Tendo simply smiled at him for a minute before going on.
"So…" Tendo continued tentatively. "What's the deal with you two? Are you experiencing any other Hangover symptoms? You seem a lot closer than I would expect, having only piloted together a couple of times and knowing each other for such a short amount of time beforehand."
Raleigh shrugged and averted his eyes. "I don't really know. I feel a lot of things I haven't felt before, and I don't know how to tell which feelings are real and which are from the Drift."
"You mean like…romantic feelings?"
Raleigh felt himself blushing, not wanting to admit it, but he shrugged again. This was Tendo, after all, and Raleigh knew he wouldn't laugh.
"I'm not really sure. I think so. I liked her when we first met, but that doesn't really explain why everything feels so intense. Like...I want to be with her all the time, and I've never really wanted to be around anyone that much. We just met a few days ago, and it's like we've known each other forever…" he broke off awkwardly.
Tendo looked like he was thinking very carefully about something, and Raleigh raised his eyebrows. "What?"
"Well…" Tendo began, trying to collect his thoughts. "There aren't a lot of documented cases of co-pilots becoming romantic with each other, given how many pairs are related to each other, but I wouldn't say that it's abnormal. As for the intensity, that's fairly common. Once you've been inside someone's head, you basically know everything about how they feel, to an extent. So instead of…I don't know, dating for a while and getting to know and like each other that way, you did it all at once in the Drift. Does that make sense?"
Raleigh nodded, feeling a little more at ease, and Tendo smiled.
"It's nice seeing you actually interested in someone. I think she's good for you. And you're good for her."
Raleigh looked away. "I'm not sure how good I am for her now, after what Naomi did. I wouldn't blame Mako if she didn't want to be around me."
Tendo snorted. "Trust me, nobody is going to believe that article. And even if they did, what would it matter? Even if she did get chosen for the program because she slept with you-"
"We didn't sleep together," Raleigh interjected angrily. "And even if we had, I had no authority to choose my co-pilot, anyway."
"I know that," Tendo said patiently. "But even if it were true, what difference would it have made? The mission worked. You two succeeded where everyone else failed. Nobody is going to say that someone else should have been chosen after that, because she was clearly the right person for the job. If you ask me, Naomi's article is going to backfire on her, and hard. You two are heroes, and I think if you end up wanting to be together, you'll just end up being the love story everyone wants to read about."
Tendo grinned, and Raleigh rolled his eyes but had to admit that Tendo had a point. Raleigh had been so full of rage at the article that he hadn't really stopped to think about it; but it would reflect poorly on Naomi for making such accusations about one of the crew who had closed the Breach and ended the war. He almost smiled at the thought. He sighed, letting his rage slowly fizzle out bit by bit.
"You make a good point. Do you know when this meeting when the editor is happening? I'd really like to have a word with him and set the record straight myself."
Tendo looked like he didn't believe that for a second, but said, "Not that I would ever tell you such information, but if I were to guess, I might say that he'll be meeting Amelia in her office at 7 p.m. Hypothetically, of course."
He winked at Raleigh, then stood up. "Go find Mako. She may be upset now, but she'll feel better if you're there with her."
He took his tray and headed off to the return area, leaving Raleigh to consider everything they had discussed.
. . . . . . . .
He found her in the training room some time later, going to town on one of the punching bags that hung from the ceiling in the far corner of the room. Her hits were becoming sloppy, and he knew she had been at it long enough that she was starting to tire, likely not thinking straight anymore. He walked over to her, dragging his feet a bit so she would hear him coming and not be startled. He could feel her rage; it had dulled a bit due to the strenuous exercise, but it was still there, along with an undercurrent of sadness and shame. He felt like his heart was tearing, the pain from seeing her so upset was so great.
He walked up to her, and she stopped punching the bag to turn towards him. Her eyes were puffy, and he could tell that she had succumbed to her desire to cry alone for a while. She looked up at him, her expression unreadable, her breath coming in quick pants from the exertion of hitting the bag.
"Mako," he said, his voice quiet. "I'm so sorry. This is all my fault. If I hadn't upset Naomi yesterday she never would have dragged you into this. I never would have thought she would do anything like that to you. I...I'm so sorry."
His voice cracked at the end, and he tried to clear his throat before continuing.
"Amelia has already laid down the law with the magazine. Naomi is blacklisted from anything involving the Defense Corps. from now on, and Amelia is meeting with the magazine editor this evening to discuss the retraction and apology that they're going to publish tomorrow. I know it won't take back what she wrote, but they'll make it clear that it wasn't true…"
He broke off, wishing she would speak. She looked away from him, picking at her fingernails.
"Have a lot of people read it already?" she asked softly, sounding like she wasn't sure she wanted the answer.
"Amelia said that their circulation isn't very high for the print version of the magazine and that most of their readers use their website to read articles. Since she called the magazine shortly after the story went up, it was removed from their website before many people could read it there."
"I guess that's something…" Mako sighed, still not looking at him.
She folded her arms across her chest, looking equal parts fierce and vulnerable. He wanted to wrap her in his arms and show her that he could protect her. But given that this was partially his fault, that wasn't really true.
"It's not your fault," she said, talking to her shoes. "She would have done it anyway because you didn't want to take her back. Even if you were nicer to her, she would have written something horrible about you."
"Better something horrible about me than about you," Raleigh said, matching her quiet tone. "I never had much of a reputation to lose. Her saying those things about you, and about the Marshal favoring you, were unforgivable. I was going to go over to the magazine and kick the shit out of the editor for publishing it, but Amelia asked me not to do anything until she spoke with him."
A reluctant smile slid up her face at that declaration, because she knew he meant every word of it. She looked at him then, wiping at her eyes with her sleeve.
"Do you think I could come and help?"
Raleigh smiled and hesitantly placed a hand on her face, rubbing his thumb along her cheekbone, brushing away the last of the tears.
"I think so," he said, smiling down at her. "We both know you're a better fighter than me, anyway."
She leaned her face into his hand, closing her eyes and enjoying the contact despite still being upset at the situation.
"Those were really horrible things to say," she said quietly, and she felt Raleigh tense.
"Yes, they were." His voice was harsh. "I wouldn't have thought her capable of saying such awful things about someone she's never even spoken to…but I guess I was wrong. She was angrier with me than I thought, and she took it out on you. She knew I wouldn't care if she wrote horrible things about me, so she focused on you in order to get to me. I'm really sorry for dragging you into this, Mako."
"You can't control her behavior," she said quietly. "I just…I just hope people are smart enough not to believe it. I'm not sure…"
"I know," he said quietly. "Those close to you will know it's not true, and that's what matters."
Mako let out a small, humorless laugh. "There aren't any people close to me," she said. "Aside from Herc, I guess. And now, you."
She blushed as though embarrassed by the admission, and Raleigh smiled.
"I guess it's the same for me. Good thing we have each other now." He paused, still stroking her cheek. "Do you want to keep hitting the bag? Or…I dunno. Go to the lounge and watch a movie, or something?"
Mako considered, then nodded slowly. "We can go watch a movie. I think I've done enough punching for now."
Raleigh smiled and turned towards the door, hesitating for a moment as he made to put an arm around her shoulders. Would she want him to keep his distance until the article gossip died down? She smiled sadly at him, but wrapped her arms around him in a hug, burying her face in his shirt. He gave her a gentle squeeze, surprised at how relieved he was that she still wanted to touch him. He rubbed her back and pressed his face into her hair as he felt her slowly relaxing into his arms, closing her eyes and listening to his heartbeat. They stood there for several minutes, feeling the negative feelings slowly fade away as they held each other. Eventually, Mako stood up straight, running a hand through her hair to straighten it out.
"Let's go. I can't remember the last time I watched a movie." Mako cocked her head to the side, thinking. "I can't even remember the last time I was in the lounge."
Raleigh laughed. "The lounge is right by your room, though. You never wanted to sit on a couch instead of your desk chair or hang out with the other Rangers?"
Mako shrugged, tugging his arm around her shoulders and heading for the door. "I guess I just always preferred to be by myself until I met you."
. . . . . . . .
A few minutes later, they walked into the large, open room that served as the lounge for this wing; it was basically a common room where people could congregate and socialize and use the television. Mako and Raleigh were the only Rangers with rooms in this particular hall now, so the room was empty apart from themselves. On the left side of the room, there were a couple of couches and chairs arranged around a large tv that was mounted on the wall, a DVD player on the cabinet beneath it, and a small coffee table in the middle. The other half of the room was made into a sort of kitchen; a small fridge, a set of cabinets with a white countertop that held a microwave and a toaster oven, along with a few snacks that someone must have left behind at some point. Raleigh walked over to the kitchen side of the room while Mako headed towards the tv, opening the drawer of the cabinet and pulling out some of the plastic cases that held movies. She wondered if any of them would play; people tended not to treat the common areas with much care, and she didn't expect much.
"Hey! There's popcorn!" Raleigh's voice sounded delighted as he called across the room to her. "Do you want some?"
Mako shrugged. "Okay."
It suddenly occurred to her that she had left her entire lunch behind when she ran out of the mess hall, and decided that something to eat would be a good idea. She looked through the stack of DVD cases she had pulled out, looking at the cover photos to see if anything looked worth watching. There were a few monster movies which she put back in the drawer, thinking that she'd had her fill of monsters for a while. She heard the popping sound from the microwave as she continued sifting through their options, eventually narrowing it down to three choices. A moment later, Raleigh came over carrying a large plastic bowl in one hand and two glass Coca-Cola bottles in his other hand.
"There was some Coke in the fridge!" he said, sounding delighted. "I haven't had any of this since before…before I went to the wall…"
He broke off and got that far away look that he got when he thought about his brother, but quickly shook his head like a dog shaking out wet fur. Mako smiled sadly up at him as she stood up, holding the movie choices.
"Did you find any good movies?" he asked, setting everything down on the coffee table in front of the couch.
Mako held up the three options for him to look at. "I don't know what these are about. But they look like they are probably funny movies instead of horror movies. I think I've had enough monsters for a while. What do you think?"
Raleigh grinned and pointed at the one in the middle. "Let's try that one. It if sucks, we can pick another."
Mako popped the DVD in the player and turned everything on, grabbing the remote and hitting "Play" as she sat down on the couch next to Raleigh, grabbing some popcorn from the bowl and tossing it into her mouth. He was sitting stiffly, still not sure if she wanted to be close to him, so she scooted over to sit right next to him, her leg right up against his. He hesitantly put his arm over her shoulders and she relaxed into him, sliding her arm over his stomach so she was cuddled up against him, taking advantage of his warmth. He reached forward and grabbed one of the Coke bottles, unscrewing the bottle and taking a sip.
He shuddered slightly as he swallowed and Mako looked up at him curiously.
"I haven't had anything to drink besides water and crappy beer for a long time," he said sheepishly. "I forgot how sweet this stuff is. Want a taste?" He dangled the bottle in front of her face in a teasing sort of way.
She hesitated but took the bottle and tipped it back, taking a small sip. He was right; it was incredibly sweet. She generally only drank water, so the amount of sugar was startling. It wasn't bad with the salty popcorn, though, she decided. She handed him the coke bottle and grabbed a few more pieces of popcorn, eating some and holding the last piece between her fingers.
"Want some popcorn?" she teased, holding the single piece up near his face.
She yelped as she suddenly felt his mouth on her hand, nibbling the popcorn and then sucking on her fingers. She heard him laugh at her indignation and wrinkled her nose at him as she felt his teeth grazing along her skin before he pulled away from her, grinning down at her.
"I just wanted a little taste…" he said, grinning.
He took her hand in his and held it up, kissing the fingers gently. "I hope I didn't bite you too hard…"
She felt a strange fluttering feeling in her stomach at the feel of his lips on her skin, even if he was just teasing. She placed her arm back over his stomach, using him as a pillow as they watched the movie. She was feeling calmer now, relaxed by his presence and being away from anyone who would be watching them to try and judge whether the article was true. They watched the movie quietly, laughing occasionally but not talking until it was nearly over.
"You know," Raleigh said quietly. "I was talking to Tendo after you left the mess hall. He thinks that the article is going to backfire on Naomi, and that nobody would believe what she wrote. And that even if they did, it wouldn't matter because you saved the world and nobody would care even if we had slept together. He thinks that if we…" he grew warm at this point, but pressed on, "If we decide to…become a couple, that people would think it was a great love story and forget all about the article anyway."
He said the last bit very fast, feeling a bit embarrassed. Mako was still, and he wondered whether he should have kept quiet about it.
"I guess…" Mako began, taking a deep breath. "I guess he's probably right. Maybe I overreacted-"
"No," Raleigh cut in. "You didn't overreact. At all. I'm still furious about it, and I have every intention of giving the editor a piece of my mind when he comes here to meet Amelia later. But I think Tendo is probably right in that nobody will believe her accusation, and even if they did, it wouldn't matter in the end anyway."
He stroked her hair and added quickly, "Of course, it matters to me because I don't want anyone to think badly of you for any reason. But I think it's going to end up being worse for Naomi than for you."
Mako nodded into his chest, thinking it over. "You're probably right…can I come with you to see the editor?"
Raleigh cracked a smile and rubbed his nose against her hair. "Absolutely. But only if you'll let me watch if you decide to kick his ass."
Mako rolled her eyes and poked him in the side, smiling when he giggled.
. . . . . . . .
They stayed in the lounge until dinner; now that there were no missions to run or work to be done, there was nowhere that they really needed to be. For today, at least. They watched another movie, had some more popcorn, and snuggled together on the couch, happy to be away from prying eyes. Raleigh felt Mako's anxiety rising slowly as the time for dinner came nearer; they had spent the day distracting themselves from the potential problems that would be caused by Naomi's article, but the prospect of going into the crowded mess hall was not a pleasant one. Mako was sure that the magazine article would have made the rounds by now, and she wasn't looking forward to people looking at her like she was some sort of floozy.
She sighed as she put the movies away, turning of the tv and dvd player while Raleigh washed out the popcorn bowl and put the glass bottles in the recycling bin. Raleigh had said that not a lot of people bought the physical magazine, so it was unlikely that the story had spread too far, but she knew as well as anyone how quickly gossip traveled around a Shatterdome. She looked up at Raleigh as he joined her, ready to head down to dinner.
"You okay?" he asked, looking unsure. "We can go eat in the kitchen if you want."
Mako shrugged. "I'm not sure. I guess I'll see how many people stare at me on the way to the mess…"
She said the words slowly, and Raleigh could have sworn he heard a growl coming from her stomach.
"Yeah," he said, slinging his arm back around her shoulders. "Let's go. If we're lucky it might even be something edible tonight…though that chef did say we could stop by the kitchen anytime…"
Mako rolled her eyes, knowing that Raleigh had every intention of going to the kitchens directly for dinner if they ever had unsatisfactory food in the mess hall.
"What?" Raleigh said. "It's easier to make good food for a couple of people than for a whole mess hall. No reason they can't whip us up something if we ask. What was the point of saving the world if we have to eat crappy food for the rest of our lives?"
He looked at her, doing his best to look scandalized, and she giggled as they walked out of the lounge and headed toward the mess hall.
They encountered very few people in the halls, which surprised them both; then again, now that the war was over and none of them really had a job to do, Raleigh supposed more people were venturing out to explore the city and get a taste of fresh air without the risk of Kaiju attack. Mako walked by his side, her arm brushing against his from time to time but never moving to hold his hand; he knew she wanted to as much as he did, but he knew she didn't want to lend any credence to Naomi's accusations and he respected her choice. There would be time for cuddling later, a thought which cheered him up considerably.
He saw a small smile creeping up her face at his thought, and he grinned in spite of himself as they came up to the mess hall doors. Mako peeked inside from the safety of the hallway, but appeared to decide there were not too many unfriendly glances coming their way, because she straightened her spine and walked in confidently, Raleigh on her heels. They felt the glances of the crowd that was already here for dinner, but nobody spoke to them as they filled their plates and water glasses. Mako sighed as she finished filling her cup, half wishing to make a run for it, but she steadied herself as she turned away from the serving area to look for an empty table.
She saw people whispering to each other as they watched her, but she didn't think any of them looked particularly malicious. She supposed she couldn't expect there to be no speculation at all; after all, nepotism was a serious charge; but she hoped that it wouldn't cross into rampant gossip territory. She held her head up and walked to a table toward the back of the room, Raleigh close behind her, and took a seat. He took the one next to her and grinned shyly as they both sat down, pulled their plates closer, and picked up their forks in one tandem movement. Mako shook her head but smiled in spite of herself as they began to eat in a comfortable, companionable silence.
. . . . . . . .
They hovered out of sight in the hallway, figuring they would give Amelia some time with the editor before they barged into the meeting. Raleigh saw Herc heading into the office, and he was fairly certain that Herc knew perfectly well that He and Mako were waiting down the hall. Herc's eyes flitted down in their direction, and he cleared his throat significantly before walking in the office, and Raleigh grinned down at Mako, taking her hand and guiding her down toward the office to wait outside it.
They couldn't hear exactly what was being said, but there were raised voices coming from each of the three people in the meeting for several minutes. Herc's voice boomed out, silencing any protests that had been coming from the editor's mouth. Things were quiet after that, and Raleigh assumed that they were having a more productive discussion at a normal volume. After several more minutes, the office door opened and Herc came out, looking utterly unsurprised to see them standing there.
"Well, he's agreed to our terms," Herc said without preamble. "Amelia insisted on a full retraction and apology to be published tomorrow, and Naomi's Shatterdome press corps. credentials have been stripped from her, effective immediately."
He paused, looking between Mako and Raleigh. "Is there anything you'd like to add? He's still in the office if you'd like to have a word with him."
He narrowed his eyes at Raleigh and added "A word, Becket. Not a fight. He's already in hot water at the magazine; apparently, the publisher is on leave and the editor was filling in for him temporarily. The publisher was copied on the email that Amelia sent to complain about the article, and he is on his way back to deal with the situation. I don't envy the editor at this point. The amount of negative feedback that the magazine has received - both on their website and on social media- is rather astounding. I'll be very surprised if either this guy or the journalist have jobs once this is done."
Raleigh and Mako looked at each other and shrugged.
"I guess I don't really have anything to add," Mako said quietly, looking up at Raleigh, who looked back at Herc.
"Maybe you could tell him that Naomi wrote that article because she asked me to take her back the day before, and I refused."
Herc looked at him, surprised. "Take her back?"
"Yeah," Raleigh said darkly, rolling his eyes. "We dated briefly back when I started out as a pilot. But then I found out she was seeing my brother behind my back. Or maybe she was seeing me behind his back. Either way, it didn't end well."
He said it lightly, as if it was the least important fact in the world, and Herc raised his eyebrows.
"Well," Herc said slowly, "that does shed some light on the situation. Would you like to speak to him, or just let us handle it?"
Raleigh looked down at Mako. "I guess if his boss is going to handle it, there's not much I need to say."
Herc nodded slowly, glancing quickly between Raleigh and Mako as though trying to size them up.
"Okay, then," he said finally. "I'll let him know. We'll probably meet with the publisher at some point as well; no doubt he's scrambling for a way to come out ahead with this clusterfuck of a situation."
He shook his head darkly and Mako smiled, happy to see him irritated if it meant the crushing sadness over Chuck was being held at bay even temporarily. Herc nodded at the pair of them and then headed back into the office, closing the door behind him with a snap. Raleigh looked down at Mako then, eyebrows slightly raised.
"Are you sure you don't want to go smack him around a few times? I will do my best to hold Herc back so you have time to get a few punches in."
He grinned wickedly at her and she giggled, shaking her head and holding out her hand, taking his and leading him away from the office and towards the wing that held their quarters. It had been a pretty terrible day, but she supposed that tomorrow would be a fresh start with him by her side.
. . . . . . . .