It didn't matter to James if the Jaeger program would ever be reinstated or not.
At least right now, in this moment in time, as his mind was trying to work through what had happened in the last twenty-four hours.
Currently it looked like they would continue. The United Nations had been shown that their bloody arse Wall hadn't been able to protect anyone. It would be torn down, materials recycled, the cities rebuilt. There was talk about an early warning system.
There was a lot of talk.
Politicians were suddenly back on top of the food chain. There were elections to win, voters to pamper. Millions had lost their lives, millions more their homes, whole cities were nothing but rubble, but the political circus was right there.
Not that anyone at the Hong Kong Shatterdome cared all that much at the moment. Not that any of the survivors did.
There was a lot to think about. New lives, new chances, old dreams and new. People had a future to ponder. Others had their dead to bury, their homes to rebuild.
Research scientists like Newton Geiszler were rallying to pursue Kaiju studies. Organ harvesters and black market dealers like Hannibal Chau had shown that the Kaiju remains were valuable. Not just for remedies; to find a way to fight them. Reverse engineering was a rumored topic.
Know thy enemy.
The world was safe for now, but the Breach had shown that something was out there and it might be able to return. No one knew if the other dimension was closed for good, if the alien creatures had died, or if they might come back some time in the future.
They had already been to Earth once before, eradicating the dinosaurs. Who knew what might happen in a hundred years; or a thousand?
James Bond didn't care right now.
He also didn't care about the celebrations.
He and Q had been to a few parties, showing up for a drink or two, talking to the techs and engineers. Q had talked shop for two hours until James had pulled him away with an exasperated expression.
They had seen Mako and Raleigh, both surrounded by people, all of them celebrating with them. Tendo had dragged them to a few more well-wishers and fans.
Newt had been there. And even Hermann, though he had probably been blackmailed into it by Geiszler. He was making a face at some of the going-ons, but it seemed more for show. He was more relaxed than Bond had ever seen before. Newt made up for the silence of his colleague with a never-ending waterfall of words. He seemed to be running on adrenaline alone, though that would end sooner or later.
Both K-scientists looked a bit paler than usual and the bloodshot eye hadn't healed yet. Bond had gotten the brief version of what they had done, what risks they had taken to insure that the mission would be a success, and the Double-Oh agreed with Q that they were the bigger heroes.
When Q started to falter, lines of pain etching into his narrow face, James easily slid over to where he was talking to Newt.
He didn't need words.
He didn't need touch.
The nudge was felt and heard despite it.
Q gave him a little smile and from the way Newt watched them, from the tiny smile around his lips, he realized what was going on.
At Bond's glance he tapped a finger against his temple. "Been there. Still there."
"Still?" James inquired, frowning.
"Hey, I'm the first to Drift with an alien brain. Some side-effects were to be expected."
"What about Dr. Gottlieb?"
"Yeah, well, he's there. Kinda. It's weird." Newt grinned, looking more excited than scared. "But I'm in his head, too, so maybe he'll loosen up. One can only hope."
x X XX x
They left the party not much later.
It had been exhausting. Q looked ready to keel over. He kept rubbing over the bandaged arm and squeezing his eyes shut.
But it had also been worth it.
Bond carded his fingers into the long, dark strands, kissing his partner with emotions he hadn't felt in a long time. Maybe even for the first time.
I love you.
He had survived.
I love you.
They had survived.
I love you.
And he wanted nothing more than to live, to enjoy this new chance, this second chance he had been given, like the whole world had been granted another chance.
When they separated, the dark eyes of the younger man were bright, alive, filled with something that almost had Bond withdraw.
He felt something like a nudge in his brain. There was no better word for it. It was Q, his presence, his mind entangled with Bond's.
It felt calming. It was what he needed. James had never been so tactile with any of his past lovers before.
"I know," the younger man only said.
From the Drift. From the Ghosts. He knew of the emotions, of the confession.
One not given lightly.
He had only ever loved one person and she had died.
"We made it," Q added. "We're here."
Q wasn't dead. It wasn't a curse and never had been.
Bond's eyes were automatically drawn to the very bright, very red line. It would probably leave a faint scar, he thought, distantly. Like the electrical burns.
The doctor was pleased with the development. The skin was soft, the arm remained flexible, just like every finger. Q was allowed to remove the sling if he felt he didn't need it and light physical therapy had been started right away to keep the flexibility as high as it was.
Officially Q was still the quartermaster of the Vancouver Shatterdome, but as an active pilot he would need to resign that position soon. Bond had felt a small trickle of guilt at that.
"I want to be here," Q told him, all calm and serious demeanor. "At your side. As long as you are a pilot, I won't be anywhere else. Or are you looking at M's chair?"
Bond laughed at that. He felt the Ghosts between them, clear as words.
No, he wouldn't look into taking over. He wasn't Marshall material. Mallory, on the other hand, would do a great job.
Q would remain Q in his head. Even with a new quartermaster on the horizon for Vancouver. He would be the perfect mix of engineer and co-pilot. He would be his perfect match. He was the only one he would ever Drift with.
"You'd make a great Marshall," Q told him, looking very serious.
James cupped the youthful face, feeling a little stubble on the normally clean-shaven features.
"I'm a pilot."
"You could train new ones."
"I'm not good at grading papers."
"You're good at everything you do, James," Q replied, leaning close, catching his lips. "If you set your mind to it," he added between nips.
"Oh, am I?"
He wrapped his arms around the slender waist, holding the other ranger close.
"I can attest to that."
Bond drowned the next words in a kiss.
The near-end of the world had cleansed him. It had burned away the past and it had left the future a blank slate.
x X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X XX x
He met Raleigh, like so often before, in the middle of the night in the mess hall.
It had been forty-eight hours since the closure of the Breach. Forty-eight hours since the world could breathe again. Forty-eight hours since their lives had stopped, their old lives, and everyone was tethering on the edge to something new. Or maybe something different.
A few night-birds, or early-birds, were still there, but they left the Jaeger pilots alone. For all the celebrations and the hero status they had acquired, the personnel of the Shatterdome understood the need for privacy; especially away from the parties.
Becket looked like he couldn't sleep and he was currently playing with a tablet. He was dressed in a too large sweater, sweat pants, and running shoes, and his hair was standing up in every direction. He appeared pale, there were the shadows of bruises, and his eyes were roaming over whatever was on the tablet without really reading it.
Bond got himself a bottled water and slid into the seat across from Raleigh's table.
"Making a habit of it, I see," the Double-Oh remarked.
It got him a shrug. The dark circles under his eyes were tell-tale.
"Bad dreams?" Bond hazarded a guess.
He had his own. Q had his own. They had fought monsters, had nearly died, had stopped the Apocalypse, saved the world. Nightmares were to be expected.
"The same as before. Now with a twist."
Ah yes, he knew that, too.
"We made it back. The Breach is closed. No more Kaijus."
"At least for a while," the other pilot conceded.
Bond shrugged. No one wanted to declare this a complete win, a peace to last, because all of them had seen the horror, the death, and Raleigh had actually been there.
He waited.
Finally, "I'm not sure what I saw," Raleigh murmured. "It was all strange and not human and… weird. Like a million Kaiju just waiting to be born, in this wasteland, and a yellow planet, and clouds of blue and pink and colors I can't even name."
He drew a shuddering breath.
"I was looking at them and I can't even say what they were. Alien. Just alien. They were looking back, but they couldn't see me. Only Gipsy. And then it was gone and I thought I had dreamed it. I still do."
Bond had been given the report by Herc. He hadn't really been surprised that he was on the list of Need To Know. No idea how he had made it there, though. Raleigh had been the only one to ever set eyes on those who had sent the Kaiju and nothing on this planet could really come close to the Anteverse, at it had been dubbed.
"And then I was back in the water, our water, out planet, and Mako was there, yelling at me not to die. And I didn't. And I could feel it all, like a million dreams crashing down on me."
He raked his fingers through his hair. His eyes were closed, his body tense.
"I knew it was over and I thought… I thought we were the only ones left. That Striker had blown. And then I knew she had."
"Chuck's alive," James said calmly.
"You saved him."
"Stacker saved him. He was in the Drift and he made the choice. Aside from you, he was the only one capable of doing this on his own."
Raleigh gave a broken laugh. "This is so messed up," he groaned, slumping back.
Bond looked around. They were by now alone. Whoever had been there had apparently decided to give them some room.
"I've been asked a million questions about my time on the other side. This Anteverse. Another dimension. Fuck, it's crazy to even think about it! And I keep thinking about those things. How much did they know about us? They don't actually care, right? Newton said so. They conquer. They just come in and grab what planet they want, wipe out the natives. Make it theirs."
James nodded slowly. "Seems like it."
"So we blew them up. I'm kinda… happy, you know. It seems cold, but I was so damn pleased and happy when everything was over, when the Breach was torn to pieces, even though I knew it meant I had killed… maybe a whole world."
"Kill or be killed. That's war, Raleigh."
"And we've lived with it for twenty years."
Bond sipped at his water. Raleigh had already been able to understand it when he was a little boy, when the Breach opened. He had been five. James himself had been a teenager.
"I went to see him," Raleigh suddenly said. "Chuck. Herc was there. He looked so relieved and happy."
"You're allowed to feel that, too."
It got him a sharp look. Bond smirked.
"I might be old, but I'm not stupid," he told Raleigh. "I think there's a betting pool there somewhere."
Raleigh groaned. "We're not…" he tried, then broke off.
He looked tired, close to exhausted.
"Maybe not, but you want to be."
The blood-shot eyes narrowed and the pale face looked a little thinner.
Bond's smirk widened, then he grabbed his bottle and got up. "Get some sleep. The moment Chuck's off the pain meds, he'll be a handful again."
Raleigh's reply was a muttered curse. James chuckled and prowled through the corridors some more, checking up on the state of the Shatterdome, then he finally returned to his quarters.
Q was fast asleep in their bed, the tablet haphazardly balanced at the edge of the mattress, and he saved it from crashing. Bond's expression grew fond as he slipped into bed with his partner and Q rolled closer, still asleep, with a soft huff.
Then he closed his eyes and let sleep take him, too.
x X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X XX x
Chuck Hansen was in a reasonably good condition after surgery and was healing. Q had pointed out how Raleigh seemed to hover around the other man more often than not. He was his most frequent visitor, staying for hours, watching TV with him, talking about things, or just silently reading a book as Chuck slept.
Chuck's wariness had made way to slow acceptance, and when Herc told them that his son was actually looking forward to Raleigh's visits, it was a done deal.
It wasn't hard to see that what had been left of the rivalry had taken a new path. Equally intense, most likely a lot more pleasurable
If Chuck was cleared for pilot duties he would have to look into a new co-pilot. Maybe even Raleigh.
If Raleigh was willing to try.
Mako was a steadfast presence at his side, knew him through the Drifts they had shared, and maybe Chuck would upset that balance. Or not. Who knew what the future held?
But he upset Raleigh on a regular basis anyway and that seemed like a hobby Chuck pursued with a passion.
Testing boundaries.
He had yet to actually break the other pilot.
x X XX x
Currently Mako Mori was a very busy woman, running the mechanic and engineering side of the Shatterdome in a brisk and efficient matter.
It was a coping method.
Bond had called it a such and Q hadn't disagreed.
She had lost her teacher, a man who had adopted her, had raised her, who she had looked up to. Pentecost had shaped her into the formidable woman she was today, the woman who had piloted Gipsy Danger with Raleigh and who had won with him.
It would take time to heal, to settle in and hurt and scar and finally end with acceptance.
So work it was.
And she had her work cut out for her.
From what Q had found out – which translated into: he had hacked a little – they were looking into pulling older Jaegers out of Oblivion Bay for restoration. It was a good plan since the construction of new models would take time.
The PPDC had agreed to open the other Shatterdomes again one by one.
Just in case.
The public stood fully behind that idea because everyone at the Pacific Rim had suffered from the attacks and everyone in the world had suffered with them. The whole planet's resources had been put into its defense and no country, no city, had come away unscathed.
It would take a while, but things were happening.
And maybe one of those Jaegers was for Raleigh and whoever would be his co-pilot.
"Chuck an Raleigh. That Drift would truly be an experience," Q remarked.
Bond smirked at him. "Better than ours?"
"Just as intense," had been the very calm, very open answer. "With maybe some difficulty synchronizing the neural bridge. I'm saying 'maybe' because Chuck might have finally learned to stop being a dominant asshole and accept that being equals means being stronger. But as I said before, they are compatible in my opinion."
James laughed. Oh, he just loved his partner's very straight-forwarded analysis.
Mallory was still in charge of Vancouver and Q and Bond might be stationed there in the future again. Right now they would remain in Hong Kong, ready to react should something unforeseen happen. Sydney was next on the list to be reopened, then Tokyo.
Humanity had almost failed at protecting their planet once.
The Jaegers would make sure it wouldn't happen again.
x X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X XX x
It had been a long day again, filled with too many interviews, too many reports to write and debriefings to attend, too much time wasted that could have been spent more productively. He still felt the drain of his bruises, the way his body demanded rest, demanded that he take it easy.
The sun was low, the warm golden rays spilling into their apartment. Both men had moved from single quarters used by the pilots into what had been the home of the families of officers, scientists and civilians working in the Shatterdome. The larger places had been empty for a long time and Herc had gone about reassigning them.
Bond and Q had gotten such a place a week after their release from the infirmary.
James sat with his back against the window, shadows stretching out in front of him. He looked tired. Even without the Ghosts, Q knew what kind of condition the other man was in. He knew what he had to do.
Wordlessly taking the bottle from the exhausted man, Q coaxed his partner to lay down with him on the bed. His injured arm was out of the sling and Q could move it, though he had to be careful. The pain was moderate, the flexibility was good, and while he had to keep the bandages, it wasn't a handicap.
Still no words were lost as the long, lean form slid against him. Q propped himself up with the pillows and Bond simply wrapped an arm around the other man's waist, head resting against his stomach.
They didn't need words. Looking into the intensely blue eyes, open and unguarded, reflecting all Q needed to know, was enough. He carded his fingers into the blond hair. Applying a soothing caress he stroked over the tense neck, then up the scalp again, down once more.
He could tell the moment Bond fell into sleep. Muscles relaxed a little more, his breathing evened out. The arm was heavy on Q's middle, but he didn't mind.
x X XX x
For a while he simply watched Bond sleep. It was such a rare opportunity to see the man completely without shields. The face was relaxed and a shadow of a beard growth showed. The sharp angles had softened, the dark blond lashes contrasting the rather pale complexion.
Tired. Bond had been absolutely tired. He needed this and he needed to sleep. Q didn't care that they were both fully dressed. He was comfortable in these clothes and he had wisely already kicked off his shoes.
After a while he picked up his tablet and paged through it, finding the last chapter he had been reading. With the warm weight of Bond against his side he started to read again.
x X XX x
In the end Q slid down to lay on the mattress, on his side, James buried against him. The arm over his waist was still limp, the man deeply asleep. His hand rested gently on Bond's back, feeling every breath.
No one disturbed them.
The sun sank behind the horizon, the long shadows flowing together and becoming night. Q had abandoned his reading and was gazing out the window, watching the stars come out. Bond snored softly against his chest.
Closing his eyes, Q let himself flow with the relaxed mind, smiling a little. He rested his chin lightly against the tousled hair.
He slipped off into a doze, letting their minds Drift together. It was what they were, what they had become.
Together, balanced, one. In need of the other but still very much independent and strong.
He would never give this up. Never willingly. He would fight to his last breath against whatever might take this man away from him. Or whoever.
Something echoed through him, an instinctual reaction from Bond's side of the connection.
Q smiled more and finally succumbed to sleep.
tbc...