Chapter Four: Your Mystery

A/N: I know, I haven't updated in a few months. This chapter was difficult, and I'm still not sure whether I'm happy with it or not. Let me know! Also, should I have some flashbacks to Piper and Chuck's past, or just stick with current events and have them discuss it? Please review, you've all been so awesome :)

Raleigh was a natural with Robbie. Not that Piper was surprised – he seemed like the sort of guy who knew how to deal with kids. Watching Raleigh patiently stack coloured building blocks with her infant son made Piper smile. She raked a hand through her blonde hair. It seemed like whenever a guy like Chuck or Raleigh was playing with Robbie, Piper found an ache in her heart, wishing that she had a stable partner to help her raise her child. But in times like these, they all had to make do with what they had.

"So you and Chuck were…?" Raleigh looked up from the building blocks, hesitating and waiting for Piper to fill in the blanks. He didn't want to make an assumption about her that would turn out to be wrong. He was only just getting to know Piper, and he didn't want to risk mucking up the friendship that they were tentatively developing.

"Dating, yeah." Piper folded her arms. She had been how old when it had started – sixteen, seventeen? It had been a little before she had actually joined the Academy. Chuck had never been a super-sweet boyfriend, but Piper hadn't minded. She'd liked bad boys back then. She hadn't minded his attitude, and when they fought they normally had heated make-up sex…but then there was the time Chuck had forgotten to use a condom.

"But you're not anymore." It wasn't a question.

Piper pressed her lips together, shaking her head. "No. I had just turned eighteen when I found out I was pregnant, and I was terrified. Chuck promised he would be a good father to the kid, that we'd stick it out – but things just…didn't work. Robbie was a few months old when we split up."

"He's an adorable kid," Raleigh remarked. Looking at the young child carefully stacking blocks, there was a lot of Chuck in him – but also a lot of Herc. Even now, the meticulousness of what he was doing, how slowly Robbie stacked the blocks to make sure they didn't fall…it was a lot like Herc's own cautiousness. "So your parents, they never met him?"

"No." Piper nibbled at her lip. "He was only a few months old when they…you know."

Raleigh frowned slightly. Maybe he was wrong, but he could have sworn that when Piper first talked about her parents, she'd said they had died before Robbie was born. Raleigh didn't know many of the pilots, but he knew he'd heard of a Derby before. Only one though, at least that was what he could remember. He thought he would remember if he'd heard about the Derby couple. Some of the things Piper claimed were not really making sense.

"I thought you said they died before."

"What?" Piper looked at him with something like alarm in her voice. She kneeled down beside Robbie, gently prying one of the building blocks from her son's hand. "Look, never mind. I'm putting Robbie down for a nap. I'll see you later maybe?"

"Yeah," Raleigh clambered to his feet. Piper was a mystery, and he shouldn't want to solve her, but he did. "Maybe."

Piper groaned as she was interrupted from her reading by a knock on the door. It was rare for her to have a day off, and she was really hoping that it was Herc, because she wasn't sure she could tolerate anyone else. She walked over and opened the door, hesitating when she saw Chuck there raking back his hair. Since they'd broken up, even though it had been more than a year ago, Piper had never really been sure how to react to Chuck.

"Oh. Chuck."

"I wanted to talk." Chuck folded his arms, raising his eyebrows. "Is that okay?"

"Umm…sure." Piper licked her dry lips, glancing over at Robbie's cot, where he slept soundly. She let Chuck in, closing the door quietly behind him. "If this is about Raleigh again, I swear…"

"It's not," Chuck insisted, regarding her suspiciously. "Unless you want it to be. I came here to talk about us, Piper."

Piper was a bit astonished. Usually Chuck tried to avoid the subject of what they had once been, but it was so difficult to actually think that what they had was done when their relationship had resulted in a child. It hadn't been what either of them had wanted, but Piper wouldn't give Robbie up for anything. She leaned against the wall, watching him with a studious frown.

"There is no 'us'."

"I want there to be," Chuck insisted, surprising Piper completely, "Look. I know that I was a shit boyfriend and I'm a shit father to Robbie. But I want a second chance. Do you think that we can do that?"

It was so tempting. Although Piper no longer had the kind of feelings for Chuck that she'd possessed as a teenager, some part of her craved an actual family. She had lost hers, dysfunctional as it had been. Robbie deserved to have two parents in his life. Couldn't they be together for his sake? Couldn't they learn to love again? But that was the problem – she wasn't sure that Chuck could.

"Do you love me?" Piper asked, feeling like a fool.

Chuck sighed heavily. "Why do you have to ask that?"

"Do you?" Piper persisted. She had to know the truth. If Chuck did care about her, maybe she could consider giving them another chance. Otherwise…well, what did she want? It seemed like everything she did, it was for something else. She wanted to be with Chuck for Robbie. She wanted to save the world in her own way.

"No," Chuck admitted. "I care about you…but we aren't what we used to be. But do you think that matters?"

"Yes!" Piper exploded, before lowering her voice to ensure she didn't wake Robbie. "I'm sorry, Chuck. It didn't work before, and it isn't going to work now. I have no problem with you seeing Robbie, none at all. But we're never going to be a couple."

Raleigh convinced himself that he wasn't snooping. Everyone in the PPDC had access to the personal dossiers that were on site, although they were usually only monitored by medical and psychological staff. Scrolling under the 'D' section, he saw that Piper hadn't been lying – there were three other Derbys on the list aside from her. Two of them – Derby, James and Derby, Isabel – were part of the science division and engineering section, respectively. Derby, Asher was the only Ranger listed there.

Bracing himself, Raleigh hovered the mouse over Piper's name. He tried to tell himself that he was just curious. He just wanted to clear up what Piper was saying about her parents, because she seemed to dodge his questions. Despite feeling intrusive, Raleigh clicked on the link to Piper's dossier.

Name: Piper Derby

Assigned Team: Tech Division, ID T-PDER_679.05-E

Date of Active Service: December 21, 2022

Current Service Status: Active, based Hong Kong Shatterdome

Biography:

Born July 2, 2004, Melbourne Australia. Parents James and Isabel. Twin brother Asher. Son Robert Hansen, born June 13, 2023. Derby was at the Academy at age seventeen along with Asher. Isabel was a Jaeger engineer; James was part of the science division. Parents divorced due to complications in their relationship and both Derby twins were sent to live with family friend Herc Hansen [see Herc Hansen dossier] in 2019.

James Derby suffered psychological trauma from Sydney attack leading to PTSD; was retired from the Jaeger Program in 2022. Isabel Derby sent to work at Tokyo Shatterdome. Derby siblings have not been in contact with their parents since 2022.

Asher promoted to Ranger of Vulcan Specter on December 21, 2022 after deaths of previous pilots. Derby was meant to be co-pilot, however was discovered to be pregnant at the time [father of child: Charles Hansen] and was reassigned to technical activity. Asher's co-pilot was then Simon Kerr [born 1998].

Asher and Kerr valiantly defended Australian coastline, but were both killed in Auckland deployment, August 14 2023. Vulcan Specter remained relatively intact and replacement pilots were chosen – both replacements K.I.A January 2, 2025 during Mutavore's breach of the Wall. Derby transferred from Sydney Shatterdome to Hong Kong Shatterdome in October 2024.

Notes:

PPDC medical staff suggest that Derby's condition has been stable since the birth of her son. She is to be monitored closely for any signs of weariness.

PPDC psychological staff suggest Derby experiences feelings of guilt over the death of brother Asher. Tension exists between Derby and the father of her child, Charles Hansen. The two are to be monitored for any signs of inability to work together.

Raleigh raked a hand through his hair, rereading the dossier several times to make sure that he had been right. Piper had lied to him. Her parents weren't dead at all, which is why her story regarding their demise was flawed. It had been Asher – the man he had heard mentioned – her twin brother, who had died. Piper could have been a Ranger herself…if she hadn't fallen pregnant with Robbie.

Raleigh sucked in his breath. He doubted he would ever have gotten this kind of information from Piper herself, but that was what the website was for. The PPDC wasn't about keeping things private. Raleigh's own dossier was up there. Other Rangers needed to know what they were dealing with. He felt guilty about it, but hoped that maybe he would be able to understand Piper better because of what he'd found out.

He knew that Piper would be beyond pissed if she found out that he had looked. Although, she should be aware that her dossier was on the site, just like everyone else's. It didn't make sense why Piper had lied about her parents, unless it was to save her the pain of talking about her brother. But why couldn't she? Raleigh had lost Yancy, he could definitely sympathize with her. Raking his hands through his hair, Raleigh conceded that Piper Derby was a much more complicated woman than he'd first thought.