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10.
The morning after they close the Breach, Raleigh wakes, stretches, and realizes that he slept the entire night. No nightmares of Knifehead and Yancy. No waking in a cold sweat. No pacing the halls of the Shatterdome with only his ghosts for company.
Just hours of peaceful sleep with no interruptions.
For a while, he just lays there in his bunk and stares at the ceiling, giving himself some time to absorb that.
9.
Stacker and Chuck survive the mission.
In another world, they both die. But in this one, they surface in burnt and battered escape pods and are rushed to the medical wing of the Shatterdome.
Everyone waits.
Two weeks later, Stacker wakes and Mako is at his bedside. Raleigh is there, too, in the background, and bears silent witness to what happens.
They bury Stacker the following Tuesday with full honors and dignitaries from every Pan Pacific country in attendance.
Chuck remains in a coma.
8.
Herc becomes a permanent fixture in the medical wing.
They set up an office for him in the corner of Chuck's room because he refuses to leave. No one asks him to.
Mess delivers all of his meals, Tendo comes in twice a day for briefings, and Raleigh and Mako take turns taking care of Max. Even though Herc's the Marshal now, the entire Shatterdome goes to Tendo with any concerns, complaints, or questions.
And when Herc passes out, Raleigh sits in a chair and watches over them both.
7.
Ten weeks after they bury Stacker, Chuck wakes up.
He's confused because he should be dead. It takes the doctor and Herc twenty minutes to get him calmed down and another thirty to convince him that this is real and he's alive.
It takes him another hour to realize that his left leg is gone from the knee down.
He throws everyone out of his hospital room.
6.
For three days, the entire Shatterdome avoids the medical wing. No one wants to be the one to set off Chuck's wrath.
But Raleigh has faced down kaiju, felt his brother die in his head, and nuked another world.
Chuck Hansen's temper tantrums are child's play.
The look on Chuck's face when Raleigh tells him to stop being a whiny little bitch and grow up, well, it's going to stay with Raleigh to his dying day.
5.
No one is more shocked than Raleigh when Chuck refuses to start physical therapy without Raleigh by his side. He just sits there in silence and blinks a few times when they tell him.
Herc rubs his jaw, looks everywhere but at Raleigh, and says he can't rightly say he's surprised.
When Raleigh asks, Herc refuses to elaborate.
4.
A year of therapy and Chuck is finally able to walk on his own.
He hates the prosthetic. Raleigh hates it along with him.
But what he hates more are the nights when Chuck breaks down and cries on Raleigh's shoulder until he's too exhausted to shed another tear. But those nights are worth it the first time Raleigh sees Chuck and Herc actually talking.
When Chuck reaches up to swipe a hand across his face and Herc pulls him into a tight hug, Raleigh turns and walks away without making a sound.
There are some things that don't need a witness.
3.
They retire to Sydney: Chuck and Raleigh and Herc and Max.
Herc buys a small house and a couple of goats. Raleigh and Chuck buy a bigger house with a huge backyard for Max.
Chuck just grins when Raleigh bitches about having to mow the grass. Sometimes, Raleigh bitches just to see that grin.
It took a long time for it to be comfortable on Chuck's face.
Mako moves to England. She flies back every year for K-V Day.
Chuck's smile is as big as Raleigh's each time they pick her up at the airport.
2.
Sixteen months later, Newt and Hermann surprise them all.
Chuck is speechless as he stares at the fully articulated metal prosthetic they place on the table in front of him.
Left to their own devices (and finally working in harmony), they've taken the Drift technology to places no one ever dreamed. And the result of that is gleaming titanium and muscle strands and a handful of small implants and magnets.
Raleigh covers his mouth with one hand and grips Chuck's wrist tight with the other as Newt talks in circles and Hermann tries to explain.
And when Chuck reaches out to slide his fingers over the device, his fingers tremble and he tells them it looks like something out of a comic book. They all laugh, and Newt teasingly calls Chuck the Winter Soldier.
Chuck, to everyone's surprise, understands the reference.
Two months later, he stands in front of a priest beside Raleigh. When he walks, his limp is barely noticeable.
1.
Five years to the day after the Breach closes, Raleigh answers the phone.
His yell of glee wakes Chuck and sets Max to barking. And when he tells Chuck that their application has been approved, Chuck's glare fades as his mouth drops open. They dress in a flurry and almost forget their wallets and phones as they dash out of the house.
On the drive, Chuck calls Herc and congratulates him. Raleigh can hear Herc's laugh through the phone.
He meets them at the center.
Two hours later, with all their I's dotted and their T's crossed, they're ready to go home. Liam and Micah Becket-Hansen, ages three and five respectively, hold tight to their new dads and stare at their new grandpa with wide eyes.
Their first stop is the beach.
As their sons scamper across the sand chasing Herc, their delighted shouts ringing across the water, Raleigh catches Chuck's hand and tugs him close. When he brings their joined hands up to kiss the gold band on Chuck's finger, Chuck says I love you.
It's not the first time he's said it, and it won't be the last, but it's the one that Raleigh will always remember.