I'm planning on doing this story in alternating POVs between Mako and Raleigh, except a few places where I may need to do multiple chapters with one of them because of events.

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Raleigh hears about the Breach on the scratchy radio in the pickup truck on the I-90. He guesses he's lucky the rancher's wife signing paperwork in Seattle was willing to take the risk that he wasn't some sort of deranged serial killer. The fact that he was drenched and just standing in the rain like he didn't have the sense or the will to get himself out of it (he didn't), shivering on the street corner in only his old sweater and a pair of jeans, and the "lost puppy" eyes she said he'd had probably didn't hurt. He guesses he's lucky she's not a serial killer, although he can't be entirely sure, since there's a shotgun resting across the back window and her scarred, brawny hands on the steering wheel remind him she probably isn't the sort of person to be joking around with. Any woman who picks up a random guy off the side of the road has to be pretty damn confident that she's stronger or smarter than he is.

At least the pickup is warm. Raleigh was sure he was going to have to spend the night under a bridge or something. His clothes are still wet, and he's hunched over trying to soak up as much of the heat from the hissing, squealing air vent as he can when the radio stops playing a bad cover of "Don't Stop Believing" and an announcer begins speaking in a stressed, tense voice. He doesn't really bother listening; it's probably more news about the storm, which is now snow that his ride's driver is cursing quite creatively. He blinks and shakes his head when he hears a very familiar name.

"At 5 am, the Pan Pacific Defense Corps issued a statement that they had discovered activity in the monitors surrounding the former Breach Zone." I'm dreaming, right? This is just a really bad reaction to the sleep meds. I really shouldn't have taken them with that much alcohol, that's got to be the problem, right?

He kicks his foot against his leg, but nothing changes. The voice keeps on going. "Marshal McTavish has scheduled a press conference for 10 this morning to address the situation, and we at KLT will be broadcasting it live."

"Hey! Turn that up!" The woman reaches over and adjusts the dial herself. Raleigh thinks the only thing that got louder is the static.

"Until then, we're going to have to speculate, but it has been confirmed from reliable sources that Kaiju War hero Ranger Mako Mori is en route to LA, where her new Jaegers are in construction. It's a safe bet that Mori is being called back from her and Ranger Becket's meeting with Wall deconstruction advocates in Seattle to prepare her Jaegers for deployment. Obviously the Marshal is more concerned than he's let on, if he's preparing his military force." Oh shit. This can't be happening. This is too much like a bad movie to be real. They can't be coming back. We closed it. Chuck and the Marshal died doing it. I…I died closing it. They can't be coming back. He can feel the beginning of a panic attack coming on, the tight close feeling like he's trapped in an escape pod, the suffocating lack of oxygen, the burning of Gipsy self-destructing and the searing light of a world whose sky looked like it was on fire.

"Oh hell." The woman sounds more frustrated than frightened. "Those fuckers are gonna rain hell down again, and everything's gonna get too damn expensive to do anything. Just got the stock built up decent again."

The radio is still talking over her, both of them oblivious to the fact that he's about to scream, throw up, pass out, or all three, right there in the passenger seat. "There's still no word on Mori's former co-pilot, Ranger Raleigh Becket. Becket is also a Kaiju War veteran, but after the final offensive was deemed too badly injured from solo piloting to ever pilot a combat Jaeger again. Becket was not seen with Mori, which has already led to some rumors that Mori is going back into combat and will be assigned a new co-pilot when she reaches LA. After all, it only makes sense to put the only remaining viable Jaeger veteran back in duty." He knows Herc was done after Chuck died. His stomach clenches. Once again, it's his fault. "She's already saved the world once and Marshal McTavish may be hoping she's got it in her to do it again."

"Huh. Another Raleigh." The woman is grinning. "Never heard that name before today, and now there's two of ya." Raleigh laughs and he's sure she knows it was fake. He has to get out of here.

Stupid, to use your real name. Not that he was capable of thinking of that much last night, with as drunk as he was. He did have the presence of mind to take his IDs out of his wallet, but he was so cold and so tired when the truck stopped.

Obviously she hasn't connected the dots yet. But the next thing they'll say is that he's missing and the police are searching for him. Or they'll stop at a gas station and news coverage from when they closed the Breach will be up.

He should be there, with Mako in the helicopter headed to LA. He should be right there at her side, because he's her co-pilot. But co-pilots are there to fight by each other, and he can't do that anymore. The radio announcer was right; if they want Mako back in combat they need to give her a new partner. He rubs his left shoulder and shudders when he can't even feel his hand touching it. The med techs did what they could for him, but solo piloting again destroyed the nerves beyond repair. His right arm isn't all that great either, but the left one is basically dead. Some days are better than others, but in cold weather like this…

He shivers at the thought of going back outside. He may not exactly be enjoying this ride, but he was hoping the ranch might need someone who's good at fixing things. Not that anyone's going to want a mechanic with one good arm. He's not going to be relying on anyone's charity, not because of his pride (he has none left, especially not after that ill-fated press conference someone decided to schedule on the first of March, and then the tactless reporter with her questions about Yance. The only good thing about that was that after he basically had a complete meltdown on national television, Mako was the one in charge of making all the obligatory PR appearances. She's better at that kind of thing). First of all, he's far too likely to be recognized if he goes to any of the homeless shelters or some other place he could stay. People tend to recognize someone who saved the world. And if he's being honest with himself, that's only half the reason, but it's the only one he can justify. Really, he's pretty sure no one should be forced to take care of a washed-up, no longer useful failure.

He knows this isn't a good train of thought and the J-psych therapist he was assigned to after that interview incident would be smacking him in the leg right now and telling him that's not true. Raleigh was surprised how much he actually liked the guy, Samir, he thinks his name was. Kid was nice for a shrink, and he didn't go easy on Raleigh. He hates when people pity him, and Samir didn't ever seem to. He wasn't above a good slap to the leg or Raleigh's good (which is a very relative term) arm if he started going into that downward spiral. Samir tested for the Jaegers himself, just never found anyone compatible enough. So he knows that when pilots go into those places, it's stronger than it is for normal people. It's like chasing the R.A.B.I.T. and you have to do something drastic to get them back. The psych tech before him kept trying to talk Raleigh out of those spells and it never did any good.

He wonders if it's a good sign that he actually noticed he was slipping this time. Last night he couldn't tell until he was too far gone. Maybe the alcohol had something to do with that. He wonders if Samir will miss him; the guy said Raleigh was one of his most memorable patients, but refused to say if that was in a good way or in a "everything after you will be a piece of cake" kind of idea. Maybe the guy will be glad to get rid of him. They hadn't been seeing any improvement in weeks…

He's doing it again. He pinches his leg, hard, and then starts breathing slowly, in and out, focusing on the action like Samir's taught him. He has to stop thinking about this…he has to stop thinking about thinking about stopping it. That's enough to put his brain in a tangle. Maybe he's still a little bit drunk.

"Hey, I gotta make a pit stop here. You need to come in?" The driver is pulling into a gas station, and Raleigh wonders if she really does need the bathroom or if she's finally picked up on him acting like he may throw up.

"No. I'm good." She's given him a good opportunity to walk away before she learns the truth, he can't afford to waste it.

"Okay, suit yourself. Isn't another one between here and the farm, so if you need to pee you're doing it on the side of the road," the woman mutters, and then says something he can't really understand but might have been to the effect that doing that in this weather might freeze off a certain part of his anatomy he'd rather keep.

He waits until she's inside, then opens the truck door. The snow-filled wind instantly numbs his hands and face, and bites right through the wet wool sweater. He almost changes his mind. But then he sees the scrolling news bulletin on the TV over the inside counter, and the shaky phone camera footage of the Kaiju tearing through Hong Kong last time they came, then being annihilated by Gipsy, and then a quick cut to live news footage of Mako stepping off a helo in LA. It's eerily similar to his own memories of Hong Kong.

She's already saved the world once and Marshal McTavish may be hoping she's got it in her to do it again. The world needs Mako Mori back in a Jaeger. If he goes back, she'll refuse to pilot with anyone else, and the only people facing the Kaiju returning will be a group of kids with no combat experience. They may be smart and tough, but they need a leader who's right there with them. They need someone who can understand what it's like to be in the center of a chaotic war spinning out of control and have your Jaeger ripped apart, or to fall out of sync mid-Drift and panic, lost in your partner's worst memories. They can learn all about it in theory, but when it actually happens, in a combat situation, they need someone who knows, firsthand.

The world needs Mako Mori, hero. It doesn't need Raleigh Becket, has-been.