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The Knifehead incident is one of the worst things the Beckets go through together; losing Mom was tough, Dad leaving was tougher, and nothing hurt more than telling Jazmine they had to go and do what they could when the Pan Pacific Defense Corps came calling. They went through rigorous trainings, Raleigh broke three ribs and Yancy broke six; there were teeth knocked out, concussions on top of concussions, and so much blood loss that they began wondering how much of the stuff in their veins was really even theirs. But Knifehead...Knifehead was something else altogether. They’d taken down four Kaiju already, and this one seemed like another easy kill; they were going to save a boatload of people in the same swoop, and despite Marshal Pentecost warning them against it, they saw nothing wrong with saving more innocent lives.
Then Raleigh was burned, and Yancy was ripped from the Jaeger. The connection broke, was ripped from them, and Raleigh assumed the worst. He piloted Gipsy back to shore alone, a feat that was supposed to be impossible - that was the whole reason the PPDC went looking into copilots in the first place. But he does it, and he stumbles out of her shattered hull, whispering his brother’s name, choking on the silence, drowning in the void left behind. Sharing a mindspace with another person...you forget how to exist without them. The loss of Yancy is sharp, acute, and overwhelming; the void overtakes him, and he passes out, the last thing he hears is an old man yelling for help.
Several weeks pass before he wakes from the coma, or so the team in the medbay informs him. You’ve been in and out of consciousness for almost thirty-five days, now, Ranger. We thought it best to keep you under until your pain was more manageable. He’s fully awake by the time they’re done examining him, and the silence in his head is overwhelming once more. Desperate to stop the sadness and panic before they begin, he reaches for the control to his sedatives, and clicks it several times, praying for the fog the drugs should provide. Just as his eyes are about to flutter shut, his door opens, and he hears an extraordinarily familiar voice call out, “How you doin’, kid?”
When he wakes, he remembers the words, feels the ache in his chest deepen; the drugs had nearly convinced him Yancy was there in the room with him, nearly convinced him he wasn’t alone. The pain hits him all at once, and the silence in his head seems to echo, interrupted only by the loop of Yancy screaming “RALEIGH, LISTEN TO ME --.” Raleigh opens his eyes with the sole intention of seeking out the control to his drugs yet again, and instead his wrist is caught in a firm grip. “Whoa, there, kiddo, I might start to think you don’t want to talk to me.”
His eyes trail up the arm gripping him nearly hard enough to leave a bruise, and he’s almost certain he has to be dead; there’s no way Yancy could have survived being ripped out of the jaeger like that, and yet...here he is. Bandaged, bruised, entirely worse for wear, but smiling despite the deep split in his lip and the stitches around his left eye. “Yance? How did you…?”
“Survive?” Yancy lets out a breath and runs a hand through what little of his hair sticks out from under the bandages that are wrapped around his skull. “I’m not altogether sure, Rals. One second, I’m in the jaeger with you, next thing I know I’m being flung to fucking Timbuktu. Thought for sure I was a goner, and when I felt the drift collapse...I thought I’d lost you, Raleigh.” His hand loosens from Raleigh’s wrist, and grips his hand instead, their fingers twisting together. “Then it’s like I fucking blinked, and suddenly I’m in medbay and Tendo is sitting at my bedside, telling me you’re in a goddamn coma. I’ve never been more relieved in my life, kid, not even when we found out that Jazmine made it out of southern California before Clawhook.”
A comfortable silence falls between them for a moment, as they both think back to their baby sister, who was probably somewhere in fucking Africa working as a medic like she’d always dreamt. Raleigh squeezes Yancy’s hand tentatively, almost as if to reassure himself that his brother is well and truly there. After a few more moments of silence, he speaks. “When the connection broke...I thought the same thing. Thought you were gone. I have no fucking idea how I got Gipsy back to shore alone; hell, if I’m being honest, part of me thinks she got me back. Anyway, I was so sure you were dead. S’why I flooded my system with sedatives when you came in before. I didn’t want to feel the emptiness in my head, didn’t want to acknowledge that you were gone.” He falls silent again, before laughing, amazed he’s still capable of such a sound after the trauma his psyche has been through. “This must be the goddamn mushiest shit we’ve ever said to each other.”
“Aw, I love you too, baby brother,” Yance said lightly, ruffling Raleigh’s hair. “But you know, there’s still that time you came back from training totally hammered after your class finally found out about the booze ring.”
“Hey! We agreed we’d never talk about that.”
“Yeah, maybe you agreed.”
They fall silent again, and Yancy drops Raleigh’s hand in favor of laying his head on the edge of the bed, breathing deep relief-filled breaths. Raleigh’s hand finds its way to the bit of exposed hair on Yancy’s head, and starts stroking gentle circles into his scalp. Yancy lets out a sound he would ordinarily be embarrassed by, but given the circumstances, he doesn’t really give a shit what anyone thinks. A few minutes pass before Yancy looks up at Raleigh, and Raleigh gives him a nod, and a look that says you’re such a fucking idiot. Yancy grins, Raleigh scoots over, and after some careful maneuvering around all their combined injuries, Yancy is is curled against his younger brother, his head tucked up under Raleigh’s chin, and his arms secured around his middle.
“Y’know, Yance, someday somebody’s gonna get the wrong idea here,” Raleigh mumbles, contrarily pulling his brother closer. He and Yancy have been close ever since their dad ran out on them, but after their first drift, they’ve felt a sort of magnetic pull to being flush against each other. There were no hidden connotations to it, despite what anyone on the outside said, thought, or interpreted - it was a simple, animalistic need to feel close to someone, and in their case, it was to feel close to the other half of their whole. That’s what jager copilots were, at their very core, after all. There was a lot to be said about the fact that the conn-pod went into the head of the jaeger; Raleigh was sure it was because they were two souls occupying one space, becoming one being. It wasn’t uncommon for the neural connection to spark a desire for physical closeness between pilots, but it also wasn’t uncommon for copilots to be married couples, or at least couples that were more intimately involved than two siblings would be.
Yancy huffs out a laugh that sends a rush of warm air against Raleigh’s neck; “Tendo already made fun of me today, you know. Said he knew the reason I couldn’t wait for you to wake up was so I could crawl into bed with you. He had a good laugh about it too; probably was more relief laughter than anything else though. You know how he gets. Refuses to cry and all that.”
“Yeah, Tendo’s always gonna be Tendo. But, hey, you didn’t think to correct him? One day he’s gonna tell one of those science geeks he’s always talking about, or worse - Stacker.” Raleigh notes as he presses a gentle kiss to his brother’s bandages.
“Nah, Tendo’s harmless, and he’s my second-best friend regardless. If anyone has a problem with the rumor they can go fuck themselves, it’s not like it’d even be that big a deal considering how often we save the fucking world,” Yancy replies, his voice suddenly thick with sleep and contentment. Raleigh can tell he’s about to pass out, and he can’t begrudge him. The roaring silence that has filled his head since Yancy was ripped from Gipsy has finally faded; this, here, the two of them together is how it’s always supposed to be.
“Yeah,” Raleigh agrees, his own eyes sliding shut.
A few months later, the money for the program starts dwindling; the United Nations has decided jaegers just aren’t worth it anymore, especially with their top team out of commission due to injuries, and the second top team threatened by a bad drift in the weeks prior; instead of continued funding to the jaeger program, work on the coastal walls begins. The Icebox is one of the first of the shatterdomes to be shut down, since its main jaeger was Gipsy Danger, and that leaves Raleigh and Yancy effectively homeless. They’re not overly worried about the situation; if Pentecost doesn’t find something for them to do, they’ve already decided to follow the wall, chase shifts, and just find a way to stay alive and stick together. On their last night at the Icebox, they’ve packed up all of their personal belongings, and Yancy even goes so far as to clean up all the things that will be left behind.
He all but dismantles his bed, stripping it of the sheets and folding them carefully and precisely, leaving them in the corner for collection by whomever the PPDC has commissioned for teardown. Raleigh raises an eyebrow at his brother, but doesn’t make a comment; he scoots over, and rolls onto his right side, leaving a spot for Yancy to climb into bed with him. They wiggle around for a few minutes, finding a comfortable position, and once they do, Raleigh drapes his arm across his brother’s stomach, buries his face in his hair, and closes his eyes. Yancy mumbles something about their plans, reiterates to Raleigh that “Whatever happens, we’re sticking together, Rals.”
Both of them drift to sleep, so the knock on their door goes unheard. The screech of the hinges as it swings open, however, is not unheard, and they both open their eyes in bleary confusion. The lights are out in their room, but blazing in the hall, so the figure in their doorway is awkwardly illuminated, and it takes more than a few blinks to adjust enough so they can see his face. Yancy recognizes him first, and relaxes back onto the pillow. “Herc, what brings you to this -- what did you call it? Wasteland?”
Raleigh relaxes as well when he hears Yancy speak; Hercules Hansen, a fellow pilot, and someone they’ve done a drop with, no less. Though still sleep-addled, he wonders vaguely if Herc is there with some sort of job for them, perhaps on behalf of Pentecost, who couldn’t be bothered to stick around after Gipsy’s fall, and instead left behind a restoration crew to try and get her battle ready again. Figuring Yancy will do most of the talking since he’s the one directly in Hansen’s eyeline, Raleigh just nuzzles his head against Yancy’s neck and closes his eyes again, his arm instinctively tightening its grip as well.
Hansen, for his part, keeps most of his reaction to the sight out of his face, at least as far as Yancy can tell in the dim light. His voice, however, betrays a bit of his befuddlement. “Good to see you boys again,” he says loudly, as if he’s hoping reaffirming the fact that he’s standing their will have them separate. “I was really pleased to hear you both survived the Knifehead attack. Pentecost was too, whether he said as much or not.”
Yancy grins, and thanks Herc. “Yeah, we’re pretty stoked about it too, man. You here to recruit us for something? That why you brought up Pentecost and tacked on that he’s glad we’re still kickin?” He allows a heavy handed tone of humor color his voice, so Herc won’t think there are any bad feelings; if there’s one thing being such good friends with Tendo had instilled in him, it was that Marshal Stacker Pentecost was busier than the Pope on Christmas, and that was on a lazy day for the Marshal.
It finally becomes clear to Herc that the Beckets see nothing wrong with the picture they’re painting, so he figures ‘Fuck it, whatever they may or may not get up to is their business’ and leans against the doorjam. “Yeah, sommat like that. The Marshal hopes you’ll come with me to Sydney, sit out the wait for Gipsy there. He’s got a guy on the inside, says Sydney will be one of the last ‘domes to be shut down.”
Yancy digs his elbow back into Raleigh’s side - gently, as his ribs are still healing - and says, “Whattaya say, Rals? You feel like gettin’ a tan?”
Raleigh, still half asleep, nods his assent into Yancy’s shoulders, burrowing deeper under the covers. Yancy bites back a grin, and fashions a smirk onto his face instead. “Sure thing, boss. When do you need us to be ready? It’s just that this one back here is a bit of sleepyhead, might take a while for me to drag him out of bed.”
Yancy’s suspicions about Hansen’s reaction to the two of them spooning are confirmed when, even in the strange backlighting effects going on, he sees his face flush. “Takeoff’s in two hours. I have a few more people to collect here. Meet on the helipad in an hour and forty five minutes. Any later and we may just leave you behind.” With that, he turns and exits, closing the door loudly behind him.
Yancy rolls over to face Raleigh, who responds by pressing closer to his brother, his face somewhere against Yancy’s chest. “Come on, baby bro, it’s time to get going. We may still be pilots yet.”
Raleigh mumbles a sort of whine, and Yancy just grins, setting their alarm clock to go off in an hour, giving himself plenty of time to coerce Raleigh out of bed after that. For now, he just wraps an arm over his brother’s shoulder, tucks the underside of his chin atop Raleigh’s head, and closes his eyes. He knows they’re going to get a lot of awkward eye-contact avoidance from Hansen come boarding, but at the same time, he thinks it’s probably the funniest fucking thing in the world.
As it happens, Sydney’s shatterdome stays open for business for quite some time. Gipsy has been deemed too grand an effort to restore for the time being, and remains in Oblivion Bay. Raleigh and Yancy, in an effort to do something useful, lend themselves to the K-Science division at the Sydney shatterdome. The first guy they work with is a little bit of a hard-ass, and mostly focuses on ways to keep the Sydney based jagers running for as little cost as possible. Yancy and Raleigh aren’t too much of a help, and mostly shadow the guy, hoping to learn a few things just in case their next scientist they’re paired with is in the same line of work; it turns out all their education is for naught, as the next guy they meet is more interested in learning about the Kaiju.
He’s a squirrely guy, all frenetic movement and near-yelling, but Tendo assures them he’s one of the best in his field. “The best!” the guy chimes in every time. Raleigh and Yancy are careful not to call him “one of” anything ever again, if only to save themselves the misery of listening to him prattle on for hours about how nobody has envisioned any of the things he has, nor has anyone amassed as much information as he. They quickly learn that he’s been traveling from shatterdome to shatterdome, chasing down rangers and interviewing them on behavioral patterns of the kaiju, as well as obtaining rare images of kaiju from close distances in order to attempt to understand the species. One day, he rolls up his sleeves, and Raleigh stares, a mixture of awe, incredulity, and humility crossing his face.
“What is that, Yamarashi?” he finally asks, gesturing at the guy’s bared forearm that is nearly entirely covered by a singular tattoo.
Dr. Newton Geiszler looks up, and grins. “Oh, this little kaiju? Yeah, you got a good eye.”
Raleigh grins; Yancy’s gonna shit when he finds out. “My brother and I took him down in 2017.”
Newt’s face lights up; it seems this tidbit has somehow escaped him, and Raleigh can practically see the gears in his head turning as he tries to figure out what questions he can ask about the kaiju. “You know he was one of the biggest category twos ever? He was two thousand five hundred tons of awesome.” Raleigh gives him a look - Yamarashi nearly turned into a Knifehead situation; the jaeger that was deployed as front line was unable to penetrate the hull of the beast, and Gipsy had to come in at the last second, barely getting the upper hand. “Or...awful. You know, whatever you wanna call it,” Newt levels.
Raleigh waves a hand, as if to say he’s not offended; much like a lot of the rangers who get a thrill out of killing kaiju - and that was definitely Raleigh Becket in a nutshell prior to Knifehead - there are thousands of K-Scientists who are not only fascinated by the kaiju species, but in fact, seem to revere them. He supposes it’s like when people have differing views of music. Sometimes someone really loves something and the rest of the world thinks they’re nuts. Although, as he tunes back into what Dr. Geiszler is saying, he begins to think maybe the guy really is nuts.
Just as Newt begins to wax poetic on the bone structure of Yamarashi versus the other category two kaiju that have been documented, Yancy comes in and spots the tattoo. “Dude! That’s fuckin’ Yamarashi, isn’t it?” He rushes forward and grabs Newt’s arm, turning it gently as he looks over every detail of the tattoo. “This is so badass, man.”
“Thank you! I was just explaining to your brother that based on the images we’ve got of Onibaba and the ones of Yamarashi, compared to the first-hand accounts I got about Onibaba, Yamarashi is clearly the largest category two kaiju to ever occur.” Newt begins pacing, waving his arms about erratically, and Yancy stifles a laugh as he and Raleigh make eye contact. “There’s a scientist I’ve been corresponding with whose forte is numbers, like think super intense algorithms that can predict drift activity - that’s what he’s working on right now - and he’s certain the next kaiju we see is going to be a category four, seeing as Knifehead was a category three, and he’s the most recent one taken down by jaegers. See, there’s so much about the kaiju species that we just don’t understand, but Doctor Gottlieb and I have so many theories, and if I could just get my hands --”
At that precise moment, they’re spared by Hercules Hansen entering to introduce the three of them to his son, Chuck. The kid looks like he can’t be older than nineteen, and Raleigh has to admire him on some level - to be preparing to actually go out in a kaiju versus simply training at that age is beyond intense, and probably terrifying. He and Yancy smile, and offer their hands to be shaken, but Chuck just nods and then walks past them, toward where Tendo is briefing Marshal Pentecost on the new test results they’ve gotten from Herc and Chuck’s drift test.
Neither Raleigh nor Yancy are particularly bothered; they were beyond arrogant in their early days too, and they were nowhere near as young as this kid is. Herc attempts to apologize - “He’s always been such a little shit,” - but Yancy just waves him away. After realizing the time, and Yancy letting out one hell of a yawn, the two excuse themselves from Newt’s presence, leaving him with the promise that they will tell him as much as they can remember about Yamarashi in the morning. He forces them to shake on it, and when they do, he grins at them so brilliantly it’s almost feral.
They walk down the hall, dodging around the people milling toward the K-Science wing after hearing Chuck Hansen is in there, and Raleigh barks out a laugh at a girl reapplying her lipstick before continuing down the hall. The laugh earns him a glare, and Yancy apologizes on his inconsiderate baby brother’s behalf; Raleigh just kicks open the door to their room, his shoulders still quaking with laughter. “What the ever loving fuck is so funny, kid?” Yancy asks as they change into their sleep clothes.
Raleigh finally stops laughing long enough to answer, and sits down on the edge of his bed. “Seriously, Yance? You didn’t pick up on it?”
“...That the girl seriously wanted to get laid? No, I picked up on that pretty quickly; she did the same thing before coming to say hello to me when we first got here.”
“I...ew. Not what I was talking about, but thanks for that disturbing image.”
“What, a pretty girl in lipstick?” Yancy asks innocently.
“No, you, asshole,” Raleigh bites out, throwing his dirty shirt at his brother’s head. “You flirting. It’s probably akin to watching a dog walk on its hind legs.”
“Oh, what, and you’re just a regular Casanova, is that it?” Yancy jibes back.
“No, but when I grin I don’t look like I’m thinking of the forty seven ways I can kill someone with my bare hands.” He shakes his head and laughs again, remembering what started them on this. “Anyway, no, I was talking about Hansen.”
“What about him?”
“Well, one, he’s young as shit, and has dedicated his entire life to the academy. If that weren’t enough, the way he walks is - dude’s a virgin.”
Yancy trips as he attempts to stick his leg into his pants. “Seriously, Rals? Are you the virgin whisperer now? God, you sleep with TWO virgins, suddenly you’re an expert.”
“With guys? You bet your sweet ass I am. But that’s beside the point. Hansen’s queer as a three dollar bill.” Raleigh gives this revelation time to fully wash over his brother, sticks his hands behind himself and props up on his elbows, a shit eating grin fully forming across his face.
“You’re kidding. No. No fucking way. I didn’t even get a tiny blip on the gaydar. How did you -- “
“I dunno man, but I could definitely feel it in the kid. Maybe it was the way his ears turned pink after he took one look at me, or the way his dick was half hard in his shorts after I grinned at him?” Yancy’s face pales, and Raleigh laughs so loud it literally echoes.
“God, and you got on me about disturbing imagery? Please tell me you’re not going to fuck him, Rals, for the love of god, please.” Yancy walks toward Raleigh and stops in front of him, grabbing his arms and pulling him up. Once Raleigh sits up, Yance grabs his brother’s face in his hands; “I’m so serious, kid, if you fuck Hansen, one, do it in his goddamn bunk, and two, don’t fucking tell me about it. I really, really do not want to hear it. You already got me bad enough that time you and Tendo convinced me you were screwing.”
Raleigh laughs and pulls his head out of Yancy’s hands. “I promise, bro, but hey, at least you know now, if it feels like Hansen won’t stop staring at you, he’s probably thinking about sucking your cock.”
Yancy lightly slaps Raleigh on the side of his head, groaning, “You’re such an asshooooooooooooooooooooole.”
Instead of answering, Raleigh just clambers into the bed, automatically scooting up against the wall, this time facing it, offering Yancy the position as big spoon as his penance. He smiles to himself when Yancy immediately takes him up on the offer, and knows his brother isn’t really upset at the conversation, but rather, is having war flashbacks to the Tendo situation.
As seems to be par the course for the Becket brothers, they’re woken the next morning by frantic knocking and their door bursting open, followed by the loud screech that is Newton Geiszler’s voice, calling out, “OK, Beckets, I’m ready to hear all about Yamar--” He stops short upon seeing the two of them entangled both in the sheets and each other; it doesn’t help matters that neither of them wears a shirt to bed, or that Yancy’s hand is twisted in Raleigh’s hair. Raleigh cracks his eyes open just in time to see Newt turn a spectacular shade of red as he splutters, “I’ll just...I’ll wait for you in the science bay. Sorry, I totally didn’t mean to interrupt.”
By the time Yancy’s eyes are opened, Newt is gone and Raleigh is laughing. “Shut up, Rals, I was sleeping.”
“Aw, Yance, you missed all the fun. Now Geiszler thinks we’re fucking too!”
“Cool, we’re one step closer to having the whole world think it, my life is nearly complete,” Yancy replies sarcastically, rolling over to face the door, and pulling Raleigh’s arm across his middle. “Now shut the fuck up and let me sleep, it’s barely six goddamn AM.”
With only two months of funding left, Marshal Pentecost moves the last of the jaegers and their pilots to Hong Kong, where the UN has “graciously” granted him access to one last shatterdome. Raleigh and Yancy fly out with Dr. Geiszler; the Hansens are set to leave two days later, since they have to make sure everything is in order with Striker. Officially, Striker Eureka has been decommissioned by Australian parliament; Raleigh finds himself looking out the window as they fly toward China, and is startled to see a kaiju making its way toward the mainland. Yancy, Newt, and even the random crew members aboard their chopper flock to the windows, crack open one of the doors, and watch the beast rip through the ocean. Newt guesses it’s one of the fastest kaiju on record, and Yancy voices the hope everyone else is thinking - that perhaps the Hansens are so bullheaded that they’ll ignore their orders and suit up in Striker for the defense of their homeland one last time.
They’re out of sight of the mainland before they get to find out though, and it’s not until they land in Hong Kong that they’re informed that Striker Eureka did indeed take down the category IV, codename Mutavore. Screens throughout the Hong Kong base are displaying the interviews and press releases, many of which show Australian citizens begging the Hansens not to go; Chuck barks out, “Orders are orders,” and that’s that. Tendo tells them that the father-son duo will be in Hong Kong first thing in the morning, after Striker has had enough time to cool in order to be safely loaded into her hangar. Raleigh and Yancy still haven’t been told the plan, or what they’re doing in Hong Kong, but Raleigh thinks they’re goddamn lucky they’re going to have Striker Eureka as part of the crew.
Before they’re even able to change their clothes and claim their bunks, Marshal Pentecost has summoned the Beckets to his office to finally fill them in on the plan. They’re going to attack the breach with a thermonuclear warhead so large that it could obliterate nearly the entire continental United States. Yancy opens his mouth to ask what they’re supposed to do with no jaeger when a small Japanese woman enters and says, “It’s ready, Marshal.” The Marshal nods, and bids the Beckets follow the woman, who introduces herself as Mako Mori. Bemused, they do as they’re told; she enters a keycode into a panel on the wall, and they find themselves in the jaeger hold of the shatterdome. With the swift grace of a fox, Mako weaves in and out of the people; Raleigh and Yancy struggle to keep up, and bump into so many people they’re certain they’ll have burgeoning bruises before they even get to wherever Mako is leading them.
She’s finally stopped, and waits for Yancy and Raleigh to catch up; they reach her, and Raleigh is about to ask what they’re doing when he notices his brother has gone still, his breath coming out as a choked gasp. Following Yancy’s eyeline, Raleigh slowly looks up and feels something akin to the immeasurable love a parent feels for their child fill him. He’s looking up at the newly restored Gipsy Danger. His hand finds Yancy’s and their fingers twist together; Yancy whispers, almost inaudibly, “Look at her. Gipsy Danger.” Mako stands to the side, observing with a mixture of reservation and elation at their reactions; she knows the brothers Becket weren’t told the Marshal had ordered Gipsy restored, and it had been her own personal pet project, finding the equipment to restore her to better than new. She had been admittedly nervous to show her final work to Raleigh and Yancy, but after seeing the reverent looks upon their faces, Mako couldn’t help but feel overwhelmed with pride.
After letting them have a few moments to take it all in, Mako gently places her hand on Raleigh’s shoulder; he starts a little at the sensation, nearly forgetting that he and Yancy aren’t alone with their girl. Assuming Mako wishes to address them both, he squeezes Yancy’s hand, nodding toward Miss Mori. They turn - their hands are still linked, as if to ground each other in order to remember that this is real and Gipsy is back - and wait for whatever Mako has to say. “I hope you are pleased with how she has turned out, Rangers Becket. The Marshal entrusted me with the restoration of Gipsy, in the hopes that the two of you would pilot her for us in Operation Pitfall. She’s better than new now; she has a double core nuclear reactor. She’s one of a kind now.”
Raleigh grins at Mako before squeezing Yancy’s hand again. “She always was,” they say in unison, turning back toward her. Raleigh tears his eyes away to look back at Mako; “Whatever you need us to do, Miss Mori, just let us know.” Mako nods, and takes her leave; Raleigh turns to look at his brother and knocks their shoulders together. “What d’you say, Yance? Wanna climb up the side of our girl, see if she remembers us?” Yancy knocks Raleigh’s shoulder in response, and smiles so wide it’s a wonder his face isn’t literally torn in two. “You read my mind, baby brother. Race you to the top!” Raleigh laughs loudly as Yancy rips his hand away and makes for the hidden stairs on the right side of Gipsy. Not one to back down from a challenge, Raleigh runs to her other side, and starts climbing. Just as they always did, they reach the conn pod at the same time, and climb in through the opening in the back, where a crew of about twenty workers are checking and rechecking the communications wiring.
A few of the workers look up, startled, but nobody says anything; everyone - no matter where in the world they’re from - knows Gipsy Danger belongs to the Becket brothers at her very core. Raleigh and Yancy slowly walk through the pod, running their hands over any surface they can, marveling at how new she looks and how right she still feels to them. Eventually, they find themselves alone with her, and they perch themselves under her eyes, legs stretched out side-by-side and pressed up against one another, hands behind them propping them up. They sit for hours, just sharing the silence and feeling the joy bleed through both of them; eventually, they’re lying on their backs, looking up at her high ceiling, eyes tracking the cords and wiring. A few more hours pass, and they’ve dozed off, their bodies naturally coming together; Raleigh’s head is on Yancy’s chest, tucked perfectly under his brother’s chin, a leg hitched across both of Yancy’s.
Curious as to where they’ve disappeared to, Mako quietly enters the conn pod, assuming this could be the only place they’d wander off to, and is slightly startled to see them so brazenly entwined. For a moment, she doesn’t know what to think, but she sees the serenity on their faces and decides it doesn’t matter to her or anyone else what brings these two men comfort; their faces reflect deep and abiding love, and moreover, a sense of peace that is incredibly uncommon in the world they’re currently living in. She smiles to herself, and exits quickly before returning with a blanket, which she gently drapes over their sleeping figures. Still smiling, she leaves once more, and closes the conn pod behind her.
In the wake of losing funding, Pentecost has had to make some tough calls regarding the staffing of the shatterdome; one of these calls is the decision to limit the K-Science division to a two man team - Dr. Newton Geiszler, and Dr. Hermann Gottlieb. Yancy and Raleigh are exceedingly familiar with Newt - who still flushes a deep shade of red if Yancy and Raleigh so much as nudge each other in his presence - and find it extremely hilarious to watch him bicker with Gottlieb, who insists on being called Doctor. Naturally, Newt insists on calling him Hermann. Dr. Gottlieb, as it happens, is the foremost mind not only in mathematics, but in the realm of probability; he has finally developed the algorithm that Newt had told them about back in Sydney, when he and Hermann had only corresponded via email and snail mail, and is now able to predict drift activity almost down to the hour. With this intel in mind, the planning for Operation Pitfall is heavily underway, and Raleigh and Yancy find themselves bored most days.
More often than not, they’re not particularly needed in the planning, as most of it goes down behind closed doors with Pentecost, Herc, Sasha and Aleksis Kaidonovsky, the two scientists, and Mako. This leaves an overwhelming amount of free time, and not very much to do in the shatterdome; on alternating days, they challenge each other in the Kwoon, and occasionally challenge one of the Wei triplets. It becomes so routine that they’ve set up an actual competition, complete with betting pool - run by Tendo, of course. In the end, the “championship” round is down to Raleigh and Yancy, each of them having beaten the triplets in matches of three.
Raleigh wins the match by the skin of his teeth, and Yancy finds himself laughing at the bright, free happiness on his little brother’s face. They’ve always been equally matched, as is par the course for copilots, but whenever Raleigh had insisted on them sparring til a winner was announced, Yancy had always come out on top. Tendo is collecting the cash he earned in the bets - he knew better than to bet on anyone other than a Becket, and had gone out on a limb calling Raleigh as his champion - and hands half of the stack to Raleigh. “Here’s your cut, kid. Now hit the showers, you two are a damn stinky mess.”
Yancy and Raleigh oblige, and leave the Kwoon with matching grins, arms casually thrown around each other. They shower off quickly, and Raleigh is preening so much that Yancy can’t hold back anymore. “Kid, you know I let you win, right?”
Raleigh freezes, and turns slowly toward his brother. “Bullshit.”
“When have you ever beaten me before, Rals? You really think I can’t still take you?”
“I know you can’t,” Raleigh sneers. “You’re getting old, brother.”
Yancy takes it as a challenge, and whips his towel off from around his waist to wrap it around Raleigh’s neck. “Prove it then, big guy. You and me, right now, first one pinned for three full seconds is the loser.”
Raleigh removes his own towel and snaps it at Yancy’s ass, laughing as he does so. “You seriously want to challenge me to a wrestling match, naked, in these very public showers? And here I thought you were the one trying to fuck the pretty little Striker tech. Whatever will she think when she hears about this?”
Yancy snorts, and twists Raleigh so he’s held in a chokehold. “She’ll never hear a word of it, darling dear, because you sure as hell aren’t going to--”
He stops talking, realizing the door has opened and closed, and they aren’t alone anymore. Chuck Hansen has walked in from his own training session in the Kwoon, and is standing completely frozen in front of them, staring. For a brief moment, Yancy and Raleigh are equally frozen, before Raleigh digs an elbow back into Yancy’s side and shoves him away. Chuck ducks his head, ears tinged pink, and rounds the corner to the showers without saying a word. Raleigh turns to Yancy and mouths, “Told you he’s gay.” Yancy can’t even pretend Raleigh’s wrong at this point; Chuck had a full-blown erection at the sight of the two of them pressed together in the buff. He chokes down a laugh and they hurriedly dress before rushing out of the showers.
Later that night, Yancy teases Raleigh about that morning. “So, what do you think turned baby Hansen on so much, Rals? Was it the way you were pinned against me, or do you think all it took was the sight of your cock?”
Raleigh’s laughter turns to a groan as he contemplates the idea that the sight of his body alone could do that to Chuck, and Yancy falls off the bed he’s laughing so hard. “Man, you are so fucking gone on this kid, you know that right, Raleigh? Just, please, for the love of God, if you fuck him, do it after we save the world? I can’t go into the drift and watch that.”
Raleigh kicks Yancy as he tries to climb back in bed, something between a grin and a grimace on his face. “Oh, and that time I had to drift with you only to see you and Tendo fucking that chick at the same time wasn’t bad? Hell, I should go fuck the Wei triplets all together right now as payback, now I think on it.”
Yancy pales, and clambers up and on top of Raleigh. “Don’t you dare. Don’t you even fucking joke, kid, I swear to god, you’ll have to find a new copilot. I apologized for weeks about the Tendo and Alison thing.”
Raleigh laughs, and puts his hands on Yancy’s chest to push him off. “It would serve you right, but even I’m not that cruel.”
There’s a knock at their door, but whoever it is seems to be impatient, and simply enters before getting the go-ahead; because the day can’t possibly become weirder, it’s Chuck. He flushes red at the sight of Yancy straddling Raleigh, and looks at the floor when he finds it too distracting to look at the two of them. “There’s movement in the breach. We’re not sure, but Pentecost thinks this might be it, might be our chance. I was told to tell you guys to suit up so...suit up.” He practically runs from the room when he’s done talking, doesn’t even stay to make sure they’re doing as they’re told.
Yancy slides off Raleigh easily, and sticks out his hand. “Whattaya say, kiddo? Should we go save the goddamn world so you can fuck baby boy Hansen into the mattress tonight?”
Operation Pitfall is a complete success, with the only casualties being the last wave of kaiju that attempted to wreak havoc on the earth. There’s a huge celebration in the shatterdome, and the Russians have managed to import some top shelf champagne, vodka, bourbon, and even a few good brews. The party is in full swing by the time the pilots enter as one large group, having just been cleared from the medbay. Cheers erupt throughout and the echoing effect is nearly deafening; not a single person in the room lacks a brilliant grin - not even Stacker Pentecost. Each pilot is handed their own bottle of champagne, and on the count of three they pop them all open at once, downing them in one go. Pentecost shakes his head almost fondly, and Mako shrugs at him, as if to say, “If not now, when?”
Someone has gotten their hands on an iPod, and Tendo has rigged the LOCCENT to broadcast music throughout the entire ‘dome; in the blink of an eye, everyone is dancing, drinking, eating, and having a good time. Yancy and Raleigh weave their way through the crowd, accepting pats on the back and congratulations; their hands are gripping each other tightly. They did it; they survived, together. Yancy can’t stop smiling, and Raleigh can’t stop laughing, and after a few beers, they find themselves sitting on a couch by the makeshift bar, Raleigh’s legs curled up over Yancy’s, his head tucked on the shoulder of the arm that’s wrapped around him. Mostly, they sit in silence, but every so often Raleigh will comment on someone’s ridiculous dance moves, or Yancy will keep saying “We did it, baby brother, we’re still together, and we’re still alive, and we saved the world.”
Three hours into the bash, Raleigh spots Chuck talking to Mako in the corner, and Yancy sees where he’s staring. With a nudge, he eases out from under Raleigh, whispering, “Go get him, kid.” Raleigh grins, all easy confidence thanks to the booze warming his system, and heads toward the pair. Mako excuses herself to go get a drink, and Raleigh waits for Chuck to say something. When he finally does, it’s not at all what Raleigh expected.
“So, you and your brother about to get out of here, yeah? Some celebratory fucking or something?”
There’s no judgement in the way Chuck says it, but there is quite a lot of what Raleigh imagines to be jealousy. His eyes go wide, and he snorts before collapsing in all out giggles. “You…we…I…,” is all he’s able to get out, and Chuck is staring at him like he’s insane. At that exact moment, Yancy comes strolling up to save Raleigh from himself after watching the whole disaster unfold.
“Everything okay over here?” he asks, kicking Raleigh where he sits, still laughing.
Chuck shrugs and Raleigh manages to choke out, “He thinks…we...you…”
Realization dawns on Yancy, and he laughs loud and deep. “Are you fucking kidding me right now? You really…? Oh, this is good. Let me guess, Tendo?”
The look on Chuck’s face has now become a mask of confusion, and mild fear. “What the hell are you two on?”
Yancy composes himself enough to shout over the music, “Raleigh and I are so not fucking!” Just as he does so, the music has gone silent, as Stacker is about to give some speech or something, standing at the front of the room. Every head in the shatterdome turns slowly toward Yancy, who is now turning an odd shade of pink while Raleigh continues howling with laughter on the floor. “Wait, did all of you think we were? God, we just like to cuddle sometimes, okay? I have trouble sleeping alone, for fucks’ sake!”
There’s a beat of silence, and suddenly laughter erupts from one side of the room, while Tendo’s voice is heard on the other. “All right, everyone, that’s the end of the pool, pay up.” Yancy wants to be surprised that his best friend had a betting pool about whether he and his brother were fucking, but at the same time, he knows his best friend too well. He turns back toward Chuck and Raleigh, and shakes his head.
“For the love of god, would you two please, please, just go find a fucking room and get it over with? If I have to deal with Raleigh pining over you for one more minute, Hansen, I might fucking lose it.”
Raleigh is on his feet, finally having stopped laughing, and he turns to Chuck, a shy grin on his face. “Let’s get out of here, yeah?” He grabs Chuck’s hand and drags him out of the hangar, and Yancy just shakes his head again and watches them go. Mako walks up to Yancy, a serene smile on her face.
“Admittedly, Yancy, you two did not give much reason to think otherwise about your relationship,” she says softly, her eyes alight with mirth.
Yancy rubs his hands over his eyes, and barks out a laugh. “Yeah, but we thought it was funny, we never thought anyone really thought we were together. Ah, well. Looks like Tendo made some good money, anyway.” He quickly downs his beer, sets the bottle down, and extends his hand to Mako. “Shall we dance, Miss Mori?”
She allows him to lead her to the dancefloor and by the time the music starts back up, everyone’s stopped giving Yancy odd looks. Tendo sneaks by and slips a wad of cash into Yancy’s pocket when Mako isn’t paying attention and Yancy winks at his best friend; this was probably the best betting pool they’d ever conducted, and certainly the best long-con they’d ever pulled. He wasn’t quite sure how they were ever going to top it.