A/N: Thank you all again many times over for the great reviews! We now switch to the POV of the Gage twins (collectively) for some Jaeger Academy Personnel Drama!

Canon Note: This chapter deals with The Naomi Incident from Pacific Rim: Tales From Year Zero. My fanon also assumes that more Mark II Jaegers (seven in total) were built than the ones that have been named by the canon so far.

Chapter Nine: The Bro Code and Other Bullshit

The Jaeger Academy, Class 2016-B, Term 3...

December 2016...

Gossip on Kodiak Island spread like a plague of smallpox. In December, with the weather getting worse, people were stuck indoors with not a lot to do but huddle around heaters and swap scuttlebutt. Being California boys, Bruce and Trevin Gage were cursing whoever had the idea to build a Shatterdome in Anchorage before the one in L.A. And they were no better than anyone else when it came to resisting the rumor mill. The Jaeger Academy's format didn't help; everyone knew the next batch of pilot assignments would be made at the end of the year, and the betting was frenzied.

Class 2016-B was down to three pairs: the Becket brothers, the Hassan sisters, and the cheerleaders. (Said cheerleaders still tended to huff when they were referred to that way, though not as much as when they were called Team LaLa.)

The Becket boys (aka Team Testosterone for the growing crowd treating it as Battle of the Sexes), were way out in front on almost every category that could be graded. The first of the Mark IIIs was reportedly intended for the US, and there was serious money being wagered that she would be piloted by Raleigh and Yancy.

Superstitiously, the engineering and construction crews wouldn't let the prospective pilots into the assembly building until Marshall Pentecost had made his final assignment decision. They compared it to meeting the bride before the wedding.

Nerds were weird that way, but then again, so were pilots. Barely two years and fifteen mechs into the Jaeger Program, and already it was considered very unlucky to take a Jaeger into real combat without making it dance at least once. Pentecost and some of the other hardasses had declared that any Rangers who did it would land a demerit.

Demerits were preferable to bad mojo - everyone did it. The compilation of those dances set to Maroon 5's specially re-recorded "Moves Like Jaeger" was the pride of the Shatterdomes for everyone who didn't have a stick up their butt. Even Cherno Alpha was in it.

Marshall Pentecost had blistered the ears of his successors for making Coyote Tango do the robot. When they arrived at Anchorage for their most recent round of testing, Bruce and Trevin had high-fived Gunnar and Vic Tunari, and then run like hell. Rangers looked out for each other, but there were limits: getting between Pentecost and his target was a bad, bad idea.

The first big "scandal" (or at least "ooh LaLa" moment - pun intended) of Class 2016-B was when Stephanie Lanphier was caught doing the walk of shame from Kennedy LaRue's room.

Most of the veterans weren't that titillated; it happened all the time. The class itself, however, was all a-twitter. Ah, newbies.

"I drift-tested with Kennedy, she said she didn't swing that way!" one girl exclaimed in the mess hall.

"Well, she does now. Or maybe just in Stephanie's case after six weeks of full drifts," said another.

"That's why they call it Driftsex. Or Driftcest." Bruce and Trevin had just been on the periphery of the conversation up until then, but now they glared at the back of Antwan Ferrier's head. "Well, it does make you wonder - "

Tendo Choi saw the twins and said sharply, "Hey! Do. Not. Go. There."

"Oh, sorry."

The first of 2016-B's eliminated full-drifters, the cousins from Ireland, exchanged awkward looks, then the girl leaned forward. Bruce and Trevin held their breaths, but decided to let her say her piece. "The drift is weird, okay? You think things you never wanted to think, and the more you try not to think of something, the more you do, and you can't control it. You can't. If you try - pffft. There goes the handshake. Everyone who's ever done it says the exact same thing. Whether anybody ever acts on it... I have no idea, but for god's sake, full-scale piloting against kaiju, that kind of pressure? I'm not asking and I'm not judging, and neither should anybody else."

"Thanks, babe," Bruce called, making her blush when she realized they were listening.

"First rule of Fight Club is you do not talk about Fight Club," Tendo intoned. "First rule of the Corps, whether you're a Ranger or a candidate or tech or janitor - you do not Go There."

Christian Warner, one of the siblings eliminated by the second cut, was nodding vigorously. "To gossip is human. To Go There is just wrong. That's where we all draw the line and protect our own."

"Christian, you are such a ham," sighed his sister.

"But I'm right."

"Well, yeah." She grinned at Bruce and Trevin, then waved as a diminutive figure came through the mess hall doors. "Hey, Little Lea! Where you been?"

The class baby looked shell-shocked. "What's wrong?" Tendo demanded. He held up a hand to stop all the others from bombarding the shy girl with questions, and pulled her aside. Bruce and Trevin and the other onlookers all pretended to chat like they weren't watching. Whatever she whispered made Tendo's eyes bug out. "What?!"

She repeated it, and he looked frantically around, then caught Bruce and Trevin's eyes and jerked his head at them. They followed the pair out the mess hall door. "What's up?" asked Trevin.

"Yancy and Raleigh got into a fight!" she breathed.

They stared at her and Tendo in confusion. "What?"

That was crazy. The Becket boys were rowdy and competitive (not unlike Bruce and Trevin themselves), but they'd been tight from day one even before drifting. "You sure?" asked Bruce.

"Yancy has a black eye."

Raleigh hit Yancy?! No way. Little bro adored Yance; you only had to be around them twenty minutes to figure that out.

"Couldn't just be somebody slipped up in the Kwoon?" Trevin suggested.

But Lea shook her head. Class baby or not, the girl was smart; Engineering was practically begging her to transfer permanently. If she'd seen the evidence and thought it wasn't just an accident... she probably was right.

She confirmed it. "I think they were off base, but they just got pulled into Marshall Pentecost's office. They're both - " she gestured, up and down. "And they're mad at each other!"

Poor kid was completely freaked. She was the subject of some gossip in her own right; people wondered if she'd been such a shy little thing before Trespasser turned her into a ward of the state. She certainly wasn't the only California kid with major PTSD. But she wouldn't have the first clue how to deal with Ranger civil war.

Bruce and Trevin looked at each other. "Okay. Nothing really to be done until Marshall gets done with them. You take it easy, all right? We'll see what we can do."

Instead of going back to the mess hall and facing her classmates' questions, she headed off for the barracks, probably to cry. "She has a major crush on Yancy," Tendo murmured once she'd gone.

"I know we don't have an age minimum, but she is hella young for this," Bruce sighed.

"Oh, she's stronger than she looks in every way," Tendo said firmly. "But yeah, she is young, not that it ever stopped the kaiju. So," he clapped his hands and leaned towards them. "Raleigh and Yance - what the hell do we do? How bad is it?"

"That's what we gotta find out first. With us, Mr. Choi. We're recruiting you to the internal peacekeeping force, effective immediately."

"Yes, sirs, at your service!" They marched off down the hall.

So began the second big scandal of Class 2016-B, not nearly as funny as the first.

It was about a girl. Of course, it was about a girl. Bruce and Trevin were betting dollars to donuts that it was either a girl or something that had gone down when their mom died. Tendo feared that one of them had freaked out about something weird in the drift, since their afternoon sim run had gone awry, but the twins doubted it.

"Without actually Going There, I can tell you that if there's gonna be that kind of meltdown, it usually happens at the beginning. They've been increasing their score with almost every sim. Whatever weirdness gets imagined, they've worked out how to deal. This was about a fact, not a fantasy."

Tendo recognized that they were speaking from experience and didn't question it. He was already establishing an impressive network of "guys who know a guy who knows a guy" and traced the story back to the bar, and they found a talkative patron. It didn't take long to work it out: some Jaeger Fly had put the moves on them, and Raleigh had liked what he saw, but either deliberately or just stupidly, Yancy had ended up doing the follow-up with her.

"Aw, hell," Trevin face-palmed. "Did little bro really think she was into him for him and not the job title? He's a cute one; I thought he'd have more experience with girls than that."

"With girls, maybe," Tendo mused. "But when it comes to Yancy, he's got some blinders. And to be fair, Yance doesn't lord it over him half as much as a lot of guys would. Buuut... I dunno. Yancy's the one who keeps proclaiming it taboo to date intra-class - probably to put Lea off. Now he pounces on the first off-base girl that Rals has his eye on, and Rals doesn't know until they drift?" He wrinkled his nose. "Something smells, my friends."

"Smells like the bro code getting a little burnt. Yep." Bruce checked the time and then pulled up the class rosters. "Thank god, they're still on the roll. How long've they been in with Pentecost?"

"Hour and a half, give or take." Tendo raised his eyebrows. "You think we're okay?"

The twins slowly nodded. "He's a stickler. Most of the Marshalls are, but especially him. I think if he was going to scrub 'em for misconduct, he'd have done it by now. If they're still talking, I think he's just chewing them out, giving them warnings. But... if they're really on the outs with each other, that could be what kills us."

"Literally, since they're the most promising set of pilots we've got at the moment, and the first of the Mark IIIs is about to be assigned," Tendo fumed. "All because of some stupid chick who's hot for mechs!"

"Hey, be fair; I don't think she gave Raleigh a promise ring. There're male Flies too. We're the ones who're supposed to be above it." Trevin leaned against the wall next to him.

By now, half the population of the Academy was finding reasons to wander the halls and try to catch the action. One of the fightmasters walked by and smirked at Bruce, Trevin, and Tendo. "Don't worry, they're not being scratched. They just left his office."

"Shewwww," Tendo blew his breath out and slid down the wall. "Okay, now what?"

They tracked their targets down. Yancy was hiding in quarters, but all witnesses reported that he was indeed sporting one hell of a shiner. Raleigh had wandered outside. "At least they seem to be talking to each other," said Chloe Warner hopefully. "Can I do anything?"

Tendo patted her cheek. "Don't take this the wrong way, Doll, but I really think this is a moment for the Y-chromosomes." She swatted him, but smiled ruefully, conceding the point. "And for delicate handling."

"That is mutually exclusive," Chloe informed him, but headed off to her own room.

"Ugh, as much as I hate to say it, Trev and I better talk to Raleigh," said Bruce. "Of course, the Alaskan kid decides to stew outdoors after midnight in December."

"You sure? I'm older than them, but I actually get along with little bro a little better."

Trevin nodded. "You can still explain the bro code to Yancy just fine, if it needs explaining, but I think little bro needs some mentoring from his experienced Ranger elders."

"I think I get you. Wow." Tendo shook his head and chuckled. "Of all the things I expected from the PPDC, I didn't figure on starring in a Lifetime Original Movie."

"I know, right?" They all laughed. "Hey, needs must," said Bruce. "Like you said before, we're at war. It's the same reason we let those Psych Analysts blather about our feelings and triggers - it's the only way we can run the damn Jaegers. Best kept secret in the Corps: Machismo's the first thing you sacrifice."

And off they went. Goddamn, it was cold outside. The things Bruce and Trevin did for their comrades. They found Becket Minor on a low wall near the airstrip, not shivering nearly as hard as a normal human being from a normal climate should have been. Still, nobody was likely to see them in the pitch dark, and in the clear sky, the Northern Lights were putting on a show.

Their footsteps on the frozen ground were loud, but Raleigh didn't yell at them to leave him alone. Promising sign. "First time we saw them was when we came up here two years ago," Trevin told him, gesturing to the lights.

Raleigh shrugged. "I don't notice them that much anymore. Sure, they're pretty." He looked down and muttered, "Gonna chew me out?"

"Nah, that's the C.O.'s job." They sat down on either side of him. "We just don't want to lose a good team two weeks shy of graduation. For king and country, we're playing the Ya-Ya Brotherhood, which no manly men should ever do. Honor our sacrifice, son."

Raleigh laughed out loud and would've fallen backwards off the wall if they hadn't caught him. Then he hissed, "Fuck," and doubled forward. They pretended not to notice until he pulled it together. "Not ever getting into it with him didn't seem like a tall order until now."

"Is that Pentecost's thing now? Christ, that's unrealistic. We go at it! You don't have to never disagree to be drift compatible," Bruce told him.

"After being Rangers?" Raleigh asked curiously. "I mean... really pissed off, not just disagreeing?"

Bruce turned the flashlight on his phone and held it up to his face. "See this?" He tapped the long scar on his chin, then pointed past Raleigh. "He did that." Raleigh's jaw dropped. "Last year."

"And he will never let me forget it," Trevin sighed. "Yes, that is the work of my evil hand - which I sort of forgot was holding the chest plate of my armor at the time." And now they could laugh at Raleigh's appalled expression. "Without getting too into the gory details, you and your brother are gonna get into it. The pressure only gets worse, the Jaeger Flies get more aggressive, and the paparazzi starts stalking you the second you're assigned to a mech."

Raleigh made a face. "If you're trying to 'save the team,' why do you sound like you're trying to talk me out of it?"

They shook their heads. "It's fair warning, kid, just like everything else. Sending people in unprepared gets them killed, and Rangers getting killed would mean a lot more people die."

The kid cringed. What was he, the second-youngest of this class? Eighteenth birthday was coming up; Yancy had been pushing for a party until this mess. Jesus. Why were the brass putting kids still dealing with high school hormones into life-and-death battles?!

It didn't stop the kaiju, Tendo had said of Little Lea. Yeah, that was the reason the Academy didn't even have a minimum age. It was a fair point, but that didn't mean anybody had to like it.

They reexamined their goals for this conversation, and took a different tack. "But to give you a good reason to fix this, here's a rabbit we chase sometimes. We've both had some great days. Valedictorian and salutatorian in high school, one-two. Getting into West Point, graduating one-two again, making Army Rangers, coming home from Iraq together, we're the military brat version of disgusting overachievers." Raleigh grinned. In the faint light, he looked younger than ever.

"We have a lot of good shared memories. But the best one, bar none..." They pointed in unison down the hill towards the valley that housed the proving grounds. The Assembly Building was an almost invisible darker silhouette, hulking at the far end of the grounds. "The first time we walked in him. He's ours. You'll get to train in Brawler shortly. That's exciting. It's like learning to drive the first time, or learning to fly a Blackhawk, in our case. But they don't think with you, don't feel with you. When you're in your own Jaeger? You're a god on Earth. We move and he moves. He feels and we feel. You'd go to war with a volcano."

The kid was completely awestruck. It was fun sometimes, telling stories about what it was like to pilot, seeing kids get all starry-eyed, but none of their public statements had ever been so candid. They understood the need for recruiting; they were army brats, after all. But this wasn't about recruiting. It was about hanging onto one of the few people who fit the criteria, and who might have what it took to beat back the devil.

"I get it," Raleigh whispered. "Marshall said lives depend on the bond. Between the pilots."

"He's right. Jaegers don't move without it. They sure as hell can't fight. When you look at what we're fighting, you get why it's so important. But it's not just we give and the world takes. That's what we're trying to tell you. You get something back that most people can't even imagine."

Bruce leaned past him to prod his twin. "And not just the Jaeger. Before that, me and my brother were never in the same company - it's not allowed. It's dangerous, bad morale in the army, two siblings in combat. We knew our jobs, but lemme tell you, it's shit, both of us being deployed in combat zones and not knowing where the other one is, knowing there's no way to find out for weeks."

That got to him. "Really does put it in perspective."

"Your brother's gonna piss you off again, kid, it's a fact of life. You'll piss him off. We're all still human. From now on, if that happens, deal with it the way the brass allows: in the Kwoon. Go at it. You don't need to draw blood to make your point, and you'd be surprised how much sparring works stuff out." Bruce winked. "And that way you don't have to explain to the man in charge how you hit him in the chest plate with your face."

"Oh, hell, our C.O. wasn't that bad about last year; it was the PR guys who were ready to fry us. Imagine trying to spin that!" Trevin groaned, and Raleigh started laughing again. They exchanged a grin, and decided they'd gotten their point across. "Now, maybe you Eskimos can sit out here all night, but I can't feel my ass or my feet anymore. We're going in."

Laughing harder, Raleigh got to his feet with him. "You California guys are such pansies."

"Watch it, Pipsqueak, we're Jaeger pilots, and we outnumber you!"

"Not for long! Marshall said we're a heartbeat away!"

"We." Bull's eye. It would be okay.

Yancy might have been the one with the black eye, but he knew after Tendo left that he was the one who needed to do the most groveling.

Damn it, I didn't mean to do anything! Half of him argued. He never mentioned her, I didn't know he was that interested!

Bullshit, his other side retorted. You didn't even like that girl. You went out with her because Raleigh did, and you wanted to put him in his place, show him who's boss.

He'd always had his inner angel and inner devil arguing on his shoulder like a cartoon. Until six weeks ago, he'd never imagined that Raleigh did too. Maybe Yancy Becket wasn't as weird a specimen of humanity as he sometimes thought himself.

Or maybe he was. If there was a single word that encompassed everything about becoming a Ranger, a word that had been used more than any other: Weird. Definitely weird.

By now, he should have been asleep. It was hard enough to get through these long days without enough sleep. But... he had to fix this. Maybe his brother would notice a concession that he waited up.

By one a.m., he was pacing to keep himself awake. Tendo had said someone else was talking to Raleigh, but... maybe Raleigh just wasn't having it. Maybe after weeks of drifting, he'd finally seen to the heart of his big brother and realized what kind of man Yancy was.

You're a dirtbag, Yancy Becket. You screwed over your sister because you like your brother better when you were supposed to love them both equally. Now you've screwed over your brother just for kicks. And possibly screwed the whole world over in the process.

He caught a look at himself in the mirror and scowled. That black eye was going to be embarrassing as hell starting tomorrow. His ice pack had melted. He took it down to the bathroom and tossed it into the sink.

What the hell am I going to do?

Coming back into their room, he froze. Raleigh was standing there. Still scuffed up, knuckles bruised, though not half as marked up as Yancy. He'd certainly landed a good punch.

Maybe I deserved it.

They stared at each other, and Yancy noticed absently that Raleigh had an ice pack too. He must've just picked it up from the infirmary; it was steaming. But it wasn't on his bruises. He was holding it out.

Something inside Yancy cracked, and he rushed to speak before Raleigh did. He had to say this before Raleigh did. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry, Rals." Forgive me, please, don't hate me. You're the only one who didn't, and I screwed you, I'm sorry.

Raleigh just said, "Me too," and shook the pack at him. Yancy took it. "Can we fix it?" He didn't mean Yancy's face.

"I want to. It was... I was stupid. Marshall's right. Putting... everything at risk. It's not just about you and me... getting along. We can do it. We can be Rangers." We can save the world.

"The Gages talked to me." Yancy was surprised; he'd assumed it would be Cady or Antwan or one of the other guys from their class. Shit, that's embarrassing. Not only does Marshall know, the full-blown Rangers do.

But Raleigh had a funny, faraway look in his eyes like he got reading World War II memoirs. "They say it's worth it. All the weird drift stuff, the press, the danger. I believe 'em."

"That's good enough for me." Yancy put the ice pack down and started to reach for Raleigh, but caught himself. Maybe Raleigh still wouldn't want to be touched. It wasn't like a drift flashback - but Raleigh sensed it, and closed the rest of the distance between them, wrapping his arms around him.

They didn't hug quite as hard as that first day (they were both too sore after brawling and then sitting too long) but... it was a little like that. Coming back to Earth. Knowing they'd be okay.

"You're up past your bedtime, old man," Rals muttered.

Yancy snorted. "You're underage for six more days, brat. I can still send you to bed 'till then." They let each other go at the same time. "Are we good?"

Raleigh nodded, calm and resolved. "We're good."

Aw, hell, is he getting taller?!

Even before Yancy Becket appeared at morning classes with a black eye, word was all around the Academy about the Beckets' brawl. Caitlin Lightcap found herself stomping around the monitoring room and ranting like a teenager. "Shit, shit, shit, that is ALL we need!"

Stacker Pentecost remained cool and collected through her tantrum. "They apologized and assured me it won't happen again – and if it does, they're finished. But I want you to keep a close eye on the stability of their handshake today. Not to say that you don't do that every day, but you know what to look for."

Caitlin sighed. "Yes, I know. Goddamn it. We're so close. I haven't been so excited about a team since the triplets – and not because I've got money on it."

"I wouldn't know about that," Pentecost replied. No, of course, he'd never admit to even knowing that there was a bracket for who would land a Jaeger first.

Caitlin actually didn't have money on it. That was a scandal she didn't need, although she was having far too much fun listening to the chatter about the Battle of the Sexes and the Battle of the Siblings. The panic among the gamblers when the cheerleaders hooked up was priceless. (Caitlin had seen it coming, but then again, being able to recognize the signs of romantic interest in brain chemistry gave her an unfair advantage. Another reason not to actually bet.)

She watched the pair like a hawk when they arrived for their sim session, and there was a marked increase in the number of tactical analysts on the monitors today. It took a lot of self-restraint not to pull the Beckets aside and add her own voice to the undoubtedly-endless stream of advice/admonishment.

Boys, boys, please, please, don't blow this! Do you have any idea how hard it is to find drift compatible candidates, let alone ones who can meet all the other qualifications? Do you realize how many lives could be riding on this?! Will it help if I beg? No Jaeger Fly is worth this!

Word had even gotten around of the girl's name: Naomi Sokolov. She'd been a regular at the bar, though thank any god in existence, she was starting college somewhere in the Lower Forty-Eight and hadn't been back in weeks.

Thank God, you stupid girl. You won't be missed, and I hope you grow up a little. These men aren't toys for you to play with, they're our protectors.

Yancy had a nasty black eye that everyone pretended not to stare at. Both of the Beckets had bruised and scuffed hands, still more evidence of just how violently they'd fought. They were at least talking to each other, and while tense, they were composed as the simulator was set.

Caitlin found herself chewing her nails, and couldn't even find it funny that the Hassan sisters, Kennedy LaRue, and Stephanie Lanphier showed up to watch the sim in real time. She couldn't resist turning the mikes on in the screening room. "Did you guys talk to them?" Stephanie asked the sisters.

"Not last night, just a little this morning before drills," said Devi. Like a prayer, she said slowly, "I think they're all right. Tendo was talking to Yancy for a long time, and the Gages were outside with Raleigh too."

Kennedy perked up. "The Gages came by the mess hall earlier looking for Yancy! Tendo said he'd gone already – you know how he is when it's early – but he gave them a thumbs-up!"

"This was so stupid," growled Susanti. "If it's true – if it's really just a fight over a girl – I will hit Yancy's other eye and both of Raleigh's!"

"Suze!"

Devi snorted. "The younger ones, they can be so violent."

"Shut up!" But all the girls were laughing.

"We're ready, Doc," murmured her assistant, and she quickly turned the feed off and put her attention back on the sim pod.

"Ready, gentlemen?"

"Ready," the Beckets chorused, just like any other day.

Caitlin crossed her fingers as the tech started the pons. "Initiating neural handshake in five…four…three…"

In the sim pod, Raleigh and Yancy looked at each other and smiled. Caitlin's heart leapt. All the monitors lit up, the feeds sprang to life with the drift as the brothers' minds blended. One of them hissed, and a feed stuttered – but then it was there, strong and solid. "Neural handshake complete."

They were at one hundred percent. Caitlin wanted to jump up and down as the sim instructor gave them the scenario: defending Sydney against Virtual Scissure's attack in 2014. The candidates would have every known kaiju's statistics memorized by now, but the details of a drop pre-Jaeger Program would be invented by the tacticians.

It was a hard sim, not that any of them were easy. The tacticians had left in some of the godawful blunders by the Australian military, so the virtual Jaeger and its pilots were having to navigate those fiascoes amid fighting the kaiju. But they were doing well. Then the blast from the first nuke nearly knocked the Jaeger off its feet, and the techs yelped as Yancy got the edge of his harness right on his swollen cheekbone.

"Oooww, that had to hurt," muttered someone.

The sim could leave candidates a little beat up, but that was part of the point – it wasn't a fraction of what a kaiju would throw at them. (Or another ill-timed nuke.) But those bruising motions could cause a worse complication: it could trigger a rabbit.

An alarm on the right side of the pons warned them Yancy was drifting off. "Right hemisphere, you're going out of alignment!"

"Yance? Yancy!" Raleigh bellowed. "Hey! You're drifting – dammit – BRUCE WAYNE IS IRON MAN!"

Yancy blinked, and the lines on his monitor stopped sliding off at an angle. "Wha'?!"

"REFOCUS!"

"Right," Yancy muttered, and his readings lurched back into alignment.

Caitlin looked at her colleagues, all of whom had watched hundreds of simulations with dozens of candidates by now. Sergio had slipped into the room and was watching against the back wall. "Well, there's one I've never heard before."

"It worked," someone pointed out. The Beckets managed to head Scissure off on his return to the city and drove him back into the islands. That would be a booster for their score.

They were coming up on four hours, and the radiation from the first nuke was starting to interfere with their systems when they finally brought Scissure down, sweat-drenched and panting, but "alive" along with their Jaeger. Caitlin grinned and looked at feed of the screening room: the four women were on their feet, pumping their fists in the air. If she turned on the speakers, they were probably whooping it up.

The score calculation wasn't a personal best… but it was damn good.

Stacker Pentecost came in while the Beckets were still getting out of their drivesuits. "Well?" he asked Caitlin.

"See for yourself, sir." He examined the reports of the solid handshake and combat performance. "As Miss Hassan was overheard to say this morning, I think we're all right."

But she spoke too soon; as the Beckets reappeared entering the screening room, they were arguing. Oh FUCK! She toggled the speakers.

" – Look, I was the one who got physical first."

"I grabbed you!"

"Grabbing my arm isn't the same as me slugging you in the eye, Yance. I've got the money. I should pay it."

"Yeah, but I started the whole thing. You saw that clear enough…" Yancy frowned to himself, still processing all he'd seen and heard in today's drift. "What did you say about Iron Man?!"

Their four fellow candidates, who'd been watching the exchange with wide eyes, finally dared to chime in. "He said Bruce Wayne is Iron Man," said Kennedy.

At Yancy's baffled look, Raleigh shrugged. "I just needed to get your attention so you'd quit drifting, and didn't want to say 'pink elephant."

There was a burst of guffaws from the instructors' room, hastily stifled. Caitlin snickered behind her hand. Even Stacker Pentecost looked dangerously close to smiling. Stephanie folded her arms and glowered at the younger Becket. "Don't knock the pink elephant. Now what are you two bitching about?"

Both boys went scarlet. Resigned, Yancy sighed, "As everyone in the building knows, we caused some damage. We need to pay for it."

"Aww," someone cooed.

"I would have ordered them to do it in any case," Stacker muttered. You are such a buzzkill, thought Caitlin.

"And you can't even agree on that?" demanded Suze. "Pfaw! Men!"

"Great, they're ganging up on us," Raleigh muttered, but he was starting to grin. He looked at his brother. "Fifty-fifty?"

"Fine, kiddo. Let's go down there after dinner." Yancy made to ruffle his hair, getting a growl, and the younger Becket scampered off. Yancy smirked to himself.

But something in his attitude apparently triggered another rabbit for his classmates. The four women looked at each other, then jumped into his path. "Ah-ah!" Devi planted her hand on his chest. "What are you up to, Mr. Becket?"

Yancy apparently thought he could engage the women as his co-conspirators. He was wrong. "Nothing, really. We've cleared it up, I just need to get down to the bar and pay before mess."

"ARRRGH!" Kennedy grabbed the sides of her head and roared, though the other three all vocally expressed their disapproval. She was just the loudest. "You – are – an – IDIOT!" Yancy reared back as she lunged forward to bellow at him, "Is that not how this whole pathetic mess got started!? GOD! You going behind his back just because you're Mr. Big Brother?"

"No, no, it's not like that - "

"It is exactly like that!" Susanti snapped. "Will you listen to a younger sibling?" Yancy froze. "This is not okay! You've made an agreement. Now you go back on it because older brother knows best?! Maybe that was fine when you were kids, but you're not anymore – you're Rangers! BOTH of you! Right when you celebrate Christmas, we find out who gets the next Jaeger! If your partner can't trust you, it will NOT be you!"

Dead silence in all three rooms. Caitlin wondered if even Pentecost was holding his breath. She certainly was.

"I…" Yancy wilted. "I didn't think of it like that."

Now Stephanie came to stand in front of him and poke him in the collarbone. "Start. You've got three younger siblings in this room, Becket." She gestured to herself, Kennedy, and Susanti. "I have a big sister, Kennedy has a big brother. Why do you think we're here together and not with them? And why are Devi and Suze here together? It's not just about trust. It's about respect. If you don't respect him, he will not trust you."

"And if you need an elder sibling's word," Devi casually raised her hand, leaning against the wall. "I've always tried to take care of my little sister. Always. I love her no less, and once, yes, I could tell her what to do. But not here." She pointed towards the sim pod. "In there, we're equals, or we fail."

Yancy looked down, defeated. "You're right. Yeah, you're right. I'm a dumbass."

"You guys are far and away the best team: we all know it," said Stephanie, softening a little. "The whole world's in this together; we need you to succeed. Say it, Yance."

"I'll keep my word. We'll go pay after mess, fifty-fifty."

"Good boy." Yancy was a head taller than Devi, but she had six years on him. At that moment, it showed. "Now, go ice your face and let us have a turn saving Sydney. And we need to plan Raleigh's birthday party."

He smiled more easily (if sheepishly). "Thanks, guys."

The women grinned at each other as the door closed behind him. "Booyah!" hissed Kennedy, pumping her fist. Her fellows laughed and high-fived.

Caitlin looked at Stacker, who was stroking his chin thoughtfully. "What do you think, sir?" asked Sergio.

"I think… score one for Team Estrogen." With a bland smile and polite nod to the techs, the Marshall departed, as if oblivious to all the jaws that dropped.

"Did he just…"

"He did!"

Caitlin looked at her husband and shook her head. "Stacker Pentecost weighing in on Battle of the Sexes. Now I've seen everything."

To be continued...

Coming Soon: Raleigh Becket turns eighteen - party in the Anchorage Shatterdome! But will Marshall Pentecost insist on halting the festivities? And... Hercules Hansen is in the house! The Beckets would not meet him for several years... but he would never forget his first impression of them in Chapter Ten: Up and Coming!

Please don't forget to review!

Original Character Guide

Devi and Susanti Hassan - First-generation daughters of Indonesian immigrants to Australia, ages 26 and 24. One of four teams (including the Beckets) to survive the second cut.

Brian Patrick and Janet McDonald - First cousins, Irish nationals, mid-20s. Their parents were NATO aid workers who went to San Francisco after K-Day. Brian's father and Janet's mother both died of exposure to Kaiju Blue toxin, leading the cousins to enlist in the PPDC. One of four teams (including the Beckets) to survive the second cut, but failed to make the third cut.

Cady Spencer - mid-20s, Filipino-American from Portland, Oregon. His mother's family is from Manila, and she lost all contact with them after Hundun attacked in 2014. Failed the second cut, but stayed with PPDC for officer training.

Lea Franklin - age 17, lived in San Jose, California. Sole survivor of K-Day out of her family because she was traveling abroad with a school group. Has intense social anxiety due to PTSD, but trained for military service to avenge her family. Failed the second cut, but stayed with PPDC for officer training.

Christian and Chloe Warner - African-Americans from Atlanta, Georgia, ages 25 and 23, half-siblings from a blended family. Failed the second cut, but stayed with PPDC for officer training.

Antwan Ferrier - Jamaican national, age 38, was a cruise ship steward in Cabo San Lucas when Kaiceph attacked. Failed the second cut, but stayed with PPDC for officer training.

Familiar Faces

Kennedy LaRue and Stephanie Lanphier - childhood friends from Seattle, age 18, high school athletes and cheerleaders who opted to try the Jaeger Academy after their college plans were derailed by the war. (If you don't know more than that, well, wait and see!) One of four teams (along with the Beckets) to survive the second cut. The relationship that develops between them in this story is my own fanon.

Dr. Caitlin Lightcap - age 30ish, from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, inventor of the pons neural bridge and co-pilot of Brawler Yukon, the first Jaeger, until its destruction. Afterwards, she retired as a Ranger to supervise pons training and drift sync testing for Rangers and candidates at the Jaeger Academy.

Sergio D'onofrio - age 30ish, test pilot and then co-pilot of Brawler Yukon, the first Jaeger, until its destruction, and moved on to a training position at the Jaeger Academy. (He was a Lieutenant in Pacific Rim: Tales From Year Zero - I'm assuming he got promoted. He and Caitlin Lightcap fell in love in the process of testing Brawler and the pons, and Stacker Pentecost referred to them as "the D'onofrios" a year later, so I'm assuming they are now married.)

Vic and Gunnar Tunari - brothers, successor pilots of Coyote Tango according to the canon. According to this story fanon, they are Americans of Bolivian ancestry, late 20s, sons of a US Marine who lived for several years in Okinawa, hence their being assigned to a Japanese Jaeger. They graduated Class 2016-A of the Jaeger Academy directly before the current class.