Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

A noise. A vibration. Something new. It broke past the wall of bitter cold caging them in, pressing against them in all ways, trapping them in a waking-death. Being frozen was never enough, though. Not enough to kill them or silence their minds. Their collective awareness couldn’t stretch beyond the ice, but for so long, that hadn't mattered.  

Amidst the whirring, a spot of warmth appeared. A tiny, utterly ignorable point of heat. But it was the first they’d sensed in far too long, and that simple fact made it important. Made it noticeable. 

How long since they had felt warmth? How long since anything had stood out in their minds as apart from the indifferent cold? 

The little warmth, as bright as the sun in that moment, remained motionless as the whirring continued. A point in the dark, in the empty numbness—it reminded them of the flash of starlight from when they traveled through the endless reaches of unforgiving space. It drew them in just as a true star would. When it finally pulled away, slowly sliding down the ice’s surface before leaving entirely, they strained to follow it. 

They couldn’t. Not yet.

• • •

It all went wrong rather quickly. Emma was surprised Monarch hadn’t shown up yet by the time the bombs had been placed and they’d retreated to safety. The explosion went off as planned and she stood at the ready to wake Monster Zero. It had seemed, for one shining moment, that everything would go as they’d hoped. 

Only, Monster Zero reared up out of the billowing smoke before she had activated the ORCA. Its three heads shook themselves free of ice as its wings and tails stretched out for the first time in decades at least. Likely longer. 

She realized, standing there with her mouth hanging open in surprise and awe, that she would need a different signal since waking Monster Zero up was no longer necessary. As Emma focused on her task, fingers shaking in the biting cold, she absently felt Maddie take a little step forward. 

The Osprey was warming up. Jonah’s men were muttering to each other and shifting around. Some moved back and forth to prepare for takeoff. Even Jonah had shifted apart from the group, a look of triumph on his face. 

So why did all three heads snap in their direction the moment her daughter moved, when there was so much else they could’ve been drawn to? Emma didn’t have time to try and think up an answer, because Monster Zero was moving a mere second after the question occurred to her. Toward them. 

Blood roared in Emma’s ears, nearly blocking out the shouting, as time seemed to slow down. Golden lightning arced through the air, and something exploded in a shower of sparks behind her. Snow and ice from the storm mixed with Monster Zero’s ground-shattering steps. Its tails slammed around, sending wreckage flying. 

Emma’s breath caught. Replace the icy ground with concrete and the snow with fire, and it was like she was in San Francisco all over again, coming to the heart-destroying conclusion that her son was gone. 

Paralyzed as the past played over the present, the ORCA fell with a loud, concerning crack to the ground, its speakers silent. Jonah was yelling off to her right, but all she could hear was Mark calling Andrew’s name over and over and over. 

The ground quaked beneath her and she couldn’t tell if it was real or not, if it was Godzilla or Monster Zero bearing down on them. 

Her mind said she was watching Andrew die. Her eyes protested, insisting one of the heads—the one on her far right, the Monster’s far left—was leaning down over her daughter. 

White encroached on Emma’s vision, and it wasn’t from the worsening storm. Light flashed—yellow, not blue. The middle head pushed the other away with a harsh, scolding sound, and then it opened its maw and closed it over Maddie. 

Emma didn’t see anything after that, as she lost all feeling in her knees, and her head went buzzy and light, and sound grew muffled. Something screamed-cried-died in the back of her mind but the numbness ignored it right up to the moment her eyes rolled back and she knew no more. 

Chapter Text

Being in a Titan’s mouth was the most disgusting thing Maddie’d ever had happen to her. As much as she seriously didn’t want to be sitting in the bottom, up against the gums, standing while Monster Zero was flying wasn’t an option unless she felt like holding onto something. Which, no. Absolutely not. 

The smell was making her gag every few minutes. It was old and rotten, warm and fetid, and a thousand times worse than when she’d stuck her nose right in a bottle of fish oil vitamins and took a deep breath. Worse than the time she’d helped her dad clean out the full grease trap under a sink in a community kitchen. Worse than the time the pipes at school burst, the ones connected to the toilets. 

She’d gotten over her initial terror remarkably fast, for two reasons. 

One, Monster Zero hadn’t swallowed her. In fact, the tongue in this particular mouth was pulled backward, blocking the throat entirely. 

Two, the smell was really just that bad. Maddie could barely think of anything beyond it, including her possibly-imminent death. Who had the time to be worrying about that when she couldn’t even breathe through her mouth? It was so potent it felt like she could taste it, and the one thing, the only thing, worse than smelling it was tasting it. 

Actually, a third reason had just occurred to her. They’d been flying for a really long time now, according to her watch. Over an hour, probably closer to an hour and a half because she hadn’t thought to check until a solid chunk of time had passed and she still hadn’t been eaten. 

If they were flying this long, then Monster Zero probably had someplace in mind. And she wasn’t much of a snack after a long journey. It’d be like eating one M&M. Half of one, or maybe a third since there were three heads. There was no way they’d taken her—singled her out, really—just to fly away and kill her later. Probably. 

Also, the head had been weirdly careful. Both the first one when he’d nudged her and this one when he’d… eaten her. But not. What did you even call it when a Titan scooped you up in his mouth and just held you there? Why would they be careful like this, gentle even, if they didn’t intend to keep her alive? Did this count as a fourth reason?

Maddie couldn’t help but wonder if it was actually good if it turned out they didn’t want her dead. In movies and stuff, people were always saying death was a mercy compared to some things. Usually that meant interrogation or torture, but neither of those really applied in her situation. 

So, feeling more disgruntled than afraid, Maddie was left with nothing to do but sit there and try to ignore the little pool of saliva she hadn’t been able to avoid, periodically choking on Monster Zero’s morning breath, and wonder why on earth he’d taken her. 

She was in the same predicament at least another hour later when the thud of landing jarred her out of the light daze she’d allowed herself to slip into. Not a doze, though. Like hell she’d fall asleep and risk tipping over and getting more spit on her than she already had. 

In the long pause after landing when nothing seemed to happen, Maddie was just about ready to start kicking at Monster Zero’s gums while shouting to be let out when the head moved. 

The teeth caging her in opened after a moment and just like that, she was tumbling onto sand. Maddie took deep breaths of fresh air, which had never smelled better, ever, in her life, than it did right then. Even though it was dark out, wherever they were, it was plenty warm. She shed her jacket immediately without hesitation, since most of the saliva she’d sat in had been soaked up by it. 

Sitting there in the sand, entirely dressed for below-zero temperatures, Maddie leaned back and looked up at Monster Zero’s three heads. All were watching her. 

Great. 

Lacking any other course of action, Maddie raised her hand in a simple wave and said, “Hi.” 

Monster Zero’s left head zoomed down toward her, and probably the only reason she didn’t shriek in surprise was because his mouth stayed closed. He pulled to a stop directly above her, hovering in place. 

She stared up at him, frozen. He didn’t move, and it was then she realized his eyes weren’t quite focused on her. More like they had zeroed in—ha, puns—on her still-uplifted hand. 

Out of curiosity, she slowly stretched her arm out and pulled it back. His eyes tracked it, infinitesimally so, considering her size and his nearness.

Holding her breath, Maddie remembered Mothra’s willingness to lean her face against Maddie’s outstretched palm and pushed herself to her feet. The other two heads didn’t move much other than a simple swaying motion. The one right in front of her stayed motionless as she wobbled a little from sitting so tensely for so long. 

The warm night had leached most of the remaining chill of Antarctica from her, and she absently wished she had a t-shirt to exchange her heavy sweater with. 

Maddie took a single step, bringing her almost uncomfortably close to Monster Zero’s left head. He huffed through his nose at her, and his breath didn’t smell bad at all like this. She lifted her hand and forced herself not to hesitate to lay it on the end of his snout. 

She was close enough to see the way his pupils sort of blew wide, and then her hand was vibrating from the force of what could only be called a purr. 

“Okay,” she said breathlessly, a little bit without her brain’s permission. “Okay, you like that. You—like being pet? Is—did you take me so I could pet you?” 

Predictably, the head didn’t answer, but his golden eyes did go half-lidded when she bothered to actually move her hand around. His scales were smooth, almost silky, but were still really cold. Maddie frowned and lifted her other hand to place it beside the first.

“Why aren’t you warming up?” she asked, rubbing his snout as if the warmth of her hands could really make a difference. 

As the purring continued, he went cross-eyed and his neck went a bit limp. He pushed against her, surprisingly careful, and—as strange as it sounded, applied to a creature like this—he nuzzled against her palms. A low chirp erupted from his throat. 

Maddie laughed. “You kinda remind me of this old cat our neighbor had. He was always looking for attention.” She shrugged and, because at least giving them names would make it easier in her head, said, “I can see you as a Kevin. You’ve got that…” Pulling a hand back, she gestured at the whole of him. “Kevin vibe.” 

The other two heads ducked a little closer. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t imagine giving them simple human names. She waited to see if one or the other would insist on having their own turn, but they kept their distance. Didn’t stop staring, though. Maddie wished she knew what was going on in their heads. 

• • •

This is embarrassing, Ni announced as he and Ichi watched the newly dubbed Kevin practically fall apart in front of the small human. 

Starlight’s so warm, Kevin replied dreamily. Love little Starlight. 

Yes, yes, Ichi said, we know. Can we put it back now please? He straightened his neck between the other two and looked behind them at the dark waves of the ocean. I can’t be the only one to have sensed our dear old friend back there. It would be unwise to linger where we could be so easily found. 

Ni hummed. We let you find the warmth, let’s be done with it. 

An uncommonly fierce dark glare was quickly shot over Kevin’s shoulder at his brothers before he sank back down to nudge the human with his snout. Don’t pretend like you didn’t want to find it too. You’re just jealous. And his mental tone was so smug that both Ni and Ichi went rigid with indignation. Kevin continued, Starlight likes me best, see? 

He thumped his chin down in the sand and whined, the brat, while making big pleading eyes at the human. Starlight laughed, a sound somehow just as warm as her hands, and fearlessly stepped right up to Kevin’s snout to lean her whole body against him. 

Ichi narrowed his eyes, all thoughts of leaving before the Titan King could find them vanishing from his head. He cast a narrow-eyed glance at Ni, who returned it heatedly. As if a signal went off, they both darted downward at the same time. 

Kevin laughed out loud, a rumbly sort of trill, as they briefly bumped heads in their rush, and Starlight’s scent betrayed how she was startled at the sudden movement. All three of them froze, waiting for the inevitable stink of fear to taint the flower-sweet smell of her contentment. 

It didn’t come. 

She watched them carefully, but didn’t seem to be anticipating injury or death. They really had only startled her, instead of scaring her off. That was… different. Nice, even. 

Ichi and Ni slowly laid their heads in the sand beside Kevin, careful not to make Starlight fear for her life. She watched them, her hands resting motionlessly on Kevin’s snout. 

Very slowly, she said, “You’re not… disproving my theory. That you took me so I could pet you.” 

Ichi huffed out a breath and tried to mimic his brother’s teary, begging eyes. He didn’t think he succeeded, but Starlight laughed nonetheless, gave Kevin a little pat, and walked over to him instead. 

Kevin wailed mournfully over their shared mind-space. Ichi intended to gloat, but all capacity for intelligent thought vanished when Starlight set her warm palms against his chilled scales. His response ended up being a choked gurgle. 

Ni flapped the wing on his side of their body and trilled. 

Starlight shook her head. “Where’s the Greek myth story about how Persephone overcame the two-hands, three-heads dilemma with Cerberus, huh? I don’t see anyone else having this problem.” She looked between the three heads. “You guys just have to be patient, I suppose.”

This is—this is a distraction, and it’s all your fault, Kevin, Ni decided, as if he wasn’t doing as Starlight said and waiting his turn. No one brought up his usage of the name Starlight had given his brother. 

Ichi’s the one who picked her up! 

Mmm, Ichi responded, sounding dazed. You probably would’ve swallowed her or something, I couldn’t let you take her. I was protecting her from you.

Would not have, Kevin said, sulking.

He got two identical snorts in response. 

“This is nice,” Starlight said after a little while, all of them listening quietly to the peaceful slide of waves rushing up the sand only to fall back, just to swirl up and back all over again. She smelled content and relaxed, and was just so warm that they found themselves mirroring her. 

For once, they moved their body as one, instead of with fighting and compromise and frustration. They plopped down on the shore, mostly in the still sun-heated water. The ends of their tails drifted lazily farther out, weightless in the ocean.

With a final pat against Ichi’s snout, Starlight moved over to Ni. They were all nearly ready to drift into sleep, their first in an age without being frozen to their bones.  

“You’re all cold,” she said softly, clearly more to herself than anything. “We’ve been here for a while now, how aren’t any of you warmed up yet?”

Theirs was a chill, they knew, that could not be easily chased away. And it only had a little to do with how long they’d spent trapped within layers upon layers of ice. 

Why does it feel so good? Ni whined, as if he was bravely shouldering some great hardship, having Starlight’s warmth all to himself. 

Ichi came to a conclusion. We’re not used to it. It feels… more intense as a result. 

Not used to what? Kevin asked. 

Touch, Ni answered at the same moment Ichi said, Kindness. 

Their shared mind-space went silent for a long moment, where each only heard the sounds of the ocean waves, the nightlife in the surrounding land, and Starlight’s rhythmic heartbeat and calm in-out breathing.

Oh, Kevin finally said, quiet and meek. Oh. 

Chapter Text

Godzilla cut through the water as fast as he could, tracking his three-headed enemy with ease. He’d been expecting a fight, and a brutal one at that, upon his arrival to his foe’s former prison. Instead, he’d found the humans who were always watching him in a panic, having beaten him there by only a few minutes. 

Monster Zero, as they called him, had taken a child. She was assumed dead, but they held onto the tenuous threads of hope. Kidnapping was out of character for his age-old foe, but Ghidorah had surprised him before. 

It was hard not to imagine the worst, but to imagine the best would only result in disappointment. Godzilla didn’t know if it was too late to save the child, but come hell or high water, he would try. 

• • • 

Maddie had been sure this day couldn’t get much stranger, all things considered. And yet, there she stood, watching the three-headed Titan from her mom’s doomsday plans essentially create a nest. He’d started by tearing into the ground and building up a mound of fresh, soft dirt. Then, he’d dumped mouthful after mouthful of long grass on top until she could barely see the dirt beneath. 

Now, each of the three heads was nudging the edges, shaping it to their liking. Meanwhile, Maddie had finally shed her boots, thick socks, and snow-pants. While not hot, wherever Monster Zero had taken her was too warm for so many layers. 

She turned and looked back out over the dark ocean. The horizon line was lost in the inky black of night, and it felt like she was standing on the edge of the world, the sand bright under the moon. No matter where she stood, there was nothing to see in any direction. 

Maddie sighed. What were you even supposed to do when a Titan spirited you away like this? She didn’t have a phone—Jonah hadn’t wanted her to have any way to potentially communicate with Monarch—though she couldn’t even be sure one would work out here to begin with. 

There was no way Monarch wouldn’t get involved once they figured everything out. Hopefully they could track Monster Zero or something and find her that way. She winced at the thought of what his reaction might be. 

Before he’d taken her, he had sure seemed hellbent on destruction. 

A wing suddenly swung into her field of vision, and she tipped her head back to watch Monster Zero’s heads chitter between themselves before Kevin swooped down to start nudging her. 

“To the nest?” she asked, focusing on keeping one step ahead of his snout, so he didn’t knock her over. 

His head bobbed and a thin, forked tongue snuck out from between his lips and wiggled. 

Maddie laughed and scooped up her dropped coat as she passed it. Monster Zero didn’t follow her. The dirt avalanched a little beneath her feet, but she’d scrambled up less stable inclines than this. 

The nest was large, to her. Not to him, though. Maddie watched Monster Zero watch her as she sat down and spread out her coat beside her. Once she was mostly settled, all three heads seemed to nod in satisfaction. The middle one warbled loudly at her, and then the Titan turned and sort of staggered into the ocean. 

Maddie watched in amusement as he flapped around in the deep water, apparently taking a bath. He moved a lot like she’d seen birds do, in birdbaths. She imagined he would’ve puffed up his feathers if he’d had any. 

When he was done, he returned to the beach, spread his wings up as high as they went—which was really really high—and Maddie yelped in shock when the sky exploded above him. Bright golden lightning, from both himself and the heavens, raced up and down his scales as he screeched. 

Well. That was one way to dry off, she supposed. 

Her mom had been planning to release a bunch of Titans, but looking at this one right here, Maddie didn’t think many more would’ve been needed to raze the earth. This guy could do that himself just fine. 

She let out a shaky breath as the light show finished. If everything had gone the way her mom had wanted, there was no telling how many people would’ve already died from Monster Zero. 

It was a difficult thought to reconcile with the puppy-dog eyes Kevin had given her not an hour earlier, begging to be pet. 

Monster Zero headed toward the nest after a final shake, and she made a conscious effort to relax. He hadn’t shown any threatening behavior to her yet, and there was nothing else she could do but trust it would stay that way. 

She lay down without prompting, keeping the inside of her coat between her head and the admittedly soft grass. It wasn’t uncomfortable being there, not by any means. At least the worst of the saliva had dried and stopped smelling so bad. 

Curious to see what Monster Zero would do, Maddie leaned up a little on one elbow and watched as he settled himself curled around the dirt mound, his heads coming to lay on top around her. His whole body made a great big spiral around the nest. 

Satisfied she wouldn’t be squished in her sleep, Maddie got comfy and called out, “Good night!” 

There was a brief pause before Kevin chirped at her, the other two following his lead a moment later with trills of their own. 

Tired after her long day, Maddie fell asleep only moments after she closed her eyes. 

• • •

I’ll never forgive you if you start crying, Ni hissed at Kevin, who did indeed look to be on the verge of tears. 

No one’s ever said good night to us before, Kevin wailed. And why are you being mean to me, Ichi’s no better! 

Ichi, who was a tad misty-eyed, snorted and tilted his face away. 

And she’s sleeping! Kevin continued. You don’t sleep around someone you don’t trust, which means Starlight trusts us! He threw his head up and back, flopping awkwardly over a wing. 

Ni didn’t answer right away, too busy staring over at Starlight, though he scowled when he noticed the look Ichi was sending him. Oh, it’s not like she’s any more vulnerable now than when she’s awake. 

True, Ichi said. But still. 

Hey, Kevin said, still hanging upside down over their back. 

We should discuss what comes next. Tomorrow, I mean, Ni said. We can’t very well take her with us. 

Ichi sucked in a slow breath, looking alarmingly like he was considering just that. 

Ichi! 

Hey, guys, Kevin said. 

No, no, you’re right. Ichi shook his head. I suppose it would be best to leave her close to a human settlement and let her find her way from there. 

Sounds simple enough. And then we can… Ni circled his head around in an expansive gesture. 

Hey, I really think— 

Both Ichi and Ni finally snapped, What is it, Kevin? 

Well, it’s just… Godzilla? 

They looked up, following their upside-down brother’s gaze to the ocean. Sure enough, standing in the shallows, the slightest bit of what might’ve been blue flames leaking from the corners of his bared teeth, was Godzilla. 

Ah, Ichi said. Ni just sighed feelingly. There went their nice nap. 

• • • 

Their fight was largely contained and didn’t last long. An unspoken agreement to keep from disturbing the sleeping human seemed to pass between the two Titans as they tussled across the beach. 

Tempting though it was to fly away, Ichi, Ni, and Kevin were of a mind not to leave Starlight alone with Godzilla, who seemed determined to put himself between them and her. It wasn’t often they acted as one, as the collective Ghidorah, but when they did, they excelled. 

Ni was in the middle of strangling Godzilla, who had his jaw locked around Kevin, with Ichi latched onto his side when it happened. 

• • •

“Hey!” Maddie screamed as loud as she could. Both Titans froze, four heads turning her way to take in her squared shoulders and fists propped on her hips. Kevin immediately withered under the force of her glare. 

She stood knee-deep in the warm water wearing clothes made for Antarctica, having spent the past several hours going from said freezing wasteland to the inside of a Titan’s smelly mouth to petting the three individual heads of the very same Titan. No way, no how was she going to let a brawl between them ruin the rest of her night. Having been woken from the middle of a good dream, Madison Russell was absolutely categorically not in the mood.

“Let. Go,” she said through clenched teeth. All four jaws fell open to release whatever bits of flesh they held, even Kevin’s, who had nothing in it. 

She rubbed the grit from her eyes and sighed. Later, much later, she would laugh a little bit hysterically over her tired, sleep-slow self yelling at Titans like they were naughty dogs, but she wasn’t awake enough just then to appreciate the situation. 

“Smack each other around, fine, whatever. But do it quietly, please.” Maddie squinted at them. “What’s your problem, anyway? Or is this just how Titans greet each other?”

Obviously, she wasn’t going to get an answer from either of them, so she turned to wade back to shore, determined to get some more sleep before inevitably having to Deal With Things in the morning. 

• • • 

They stood beside each other and watched the human walk off. Godzilla was eyeing them, all three could just feel it. 

“What?” Ichi growled defensively. “You listened to her, too!” 

“I didn’t say anything.” 

“Oh, go jump in the sun, you oversized lizard.” 

“We haven’t even done anything,” Kevin muttered sullenly. 

Godzilla snorted and shifted away from them, scanning their surroundings. “You don’t count kidnapping a child as having done something?” 

“She’s fine, isn’t she?” Ni asked. “Was our time frozen not enough a punishment for our last wrongdoings?” 

“You want to start fresh?” Godzilla sounded surprised and disbelieving, and honestly, none of them could blame him for that, given their track record. 

“Well…” 

“Because I’m sure the child won’t want anything to do with someone trying to destroy her home.” 

Kevin made a dying sort of noise at that, and Ichi hissed, “Manipulator.” 

Godzilla just looked pleased with himself. Looking over at the nest, Ghidorah’s three heads saw that Starlight was already sleeping again. 

“If you give me no reason to come after you,” Godzilla said, almost gently, “then I won’t. Never thought I’d see the day something might mean more to you than your love of destruction, but if you’ve made a friend…” 

Ni snarled. “She’s not—” 

To all of their surprise, Kevin rammed himself against Ni and said, without a trace of hesitation, “So long as we harm no one, you’ll leave us be?” 

Godzilla waited a moment, perhaps to see if either Ni or Ichi would counter the beginnings of their brother’s promise. Both only stared in slight surprise at the undisputed weakest of them. “Yes,” he finally said. “Accidents happen,” and he sounded both rueful and guilty over the unintentional ruin a simple misplaced step of his could and had caused, “but as long as you play nice, there need be no animosity between us.” 

Kevin nodded. 

“We won’t bow to you,” Ichi said. 

A rumbling laugh rose up out of Godzilla’s chest as he carefully stomped from the deep water to the beach. Their hackles raised, but none of them made any true move to stop him. 

“The day you bow to me,” Godzilla threw back, “is the day I’ll know you’ve gone mad.” 

With an obviously practiced move only resulting in a light thump instead of a small earthquake, Godzilla fell to all fours to lean closer to Starlight. He didn’t speak while he was so close, and Ghidorah fidgeted despite themself. Only the knowledge that he, and perhaps the Queen, would be the last of any Titan to willingly harm a human kept them from attacking.

Tail lashing, Godzilla managed to stand without waking Starlight, and returned to the ocean. “She’s unafraid,” he said, repeating what they all knew. “Brave Pup, for dealing with you.” He gave them an unimpressed look at the snarls he received in response. Baring his teeth as he waded deeper, he growled back, “You have one chance, Ghidorah, and the humans would sooner take her than I would if you mess up. Her family is worried.” 

And with that last comment hanging between them, he sank into the sea and vanished into the darkness. 

Chapter Text

Mark dragged his hands over his face. It’d been a long night, a long day—hell, a long however-long-it’d-been-since-Monarch-first-showed-up-at-his-cabin. They had thought they’d caught a break when they arrived at Antarctica to find Jonah and his people stranded and unable to resist, as they were beginning to suffer from exposure to the bitter temperatures. 

But then they received a double-whammy of ultimate bad news. Emma was working with Jonah not only willingly, but most of their plan was her idea. And if that wasn’t bad enough, even Jonah had looked pitying when Mark demanded to know where Maddie was. 

Not that it stopped the man from making a snide comment. Somewhere between Monster Zero’s mouth and digestive track, I imagine—no one blamed Mark for punching the eco-terrorist, much less made any effort to hold him back. He suspected they’d all momentarily looked the other way so he could get a second and third shot in. 

Now his ex-wife, her doomsday buddy, and their merry band of mercenaries were being held in makeshift cells deep in the bowels of the stateside Monarch base they’d borrowed, being questioned rigorously. 

Rick was inside, leading the charge on trying to figure out where Monster Zero—Ghidorah—was. Godzilla had dropped off the map after he left Antarctica, so most everyone assumed the King was still tracking his archenemy. There’d been no news of any Titan sightings or massive battles, so they were still in the dark on that front. 

With nothing else for him to do, Mark was sitting on the edge of the roof, staring blankly into the distance. He’d been joined a while ago by Ilene and Vivienne. They sat in silence, one of them on either side of him, and he tried not to dwell on the worst-case scenario. 

No one had any confirmation that Ghidorah actually ate Maddie. He picked her up in his mouth and took off. She could still be alive. 

It was a weak hope, but it was all he had. 

He’d already lost one child. The numbness spearing his heart wasn’t new, but it was fresh. It felt like the slim chance of Maddie’s survival was the only thing keeping him from spiraling back into that dark place inside of himself, where he’d fallen after the realization that Andrew was gone had hit him. 

Mark had survived the first time because, even though he hadn’t done too great a job at showing it, he’d still had his little girl to live for. 

Closing his eyes for a moment, he took a deep breath. His mind was stuck in a catch-22, because thinking about Maddie seemed to be the only thing keeping him sane, but it was also causing him a deep, heartbreaking pain. 

And he was back to square one, like after Andrew had died. Blaming himself for not doing more, even as he blamed the Titan all tied up in the situation. If he’d made more of an effort to reach out to his daughter after the divorce, if he’d kept in contact better, if he’d actually visited during those long years—would he still be sitting there, wondering if he was now a childless father?

The door to the roof clicked open, and footsteps approached. A moment later, Sam dropped down heavily next to Vivienne. “No luck with the ORCA,” he said. “When Emma dropped it, it must’ve landed just right so it screwed up everything internally. Not a scratch on it, but it’s busted.” 

“What about the questioning?” Ilene asked. “Have we learned anything?” 

Sam sighed. “Yeah. They were gonna release different Titans one by one so they could enact some population control on the human race. Rodan was next.” 

All three of them turned to face Sam with varying expressions of disbelief and horror. 

He merely nodded, looking exceptionally tired. 

Vivienne reached out and lightly touched his arm after a few moments of appalled silence passed. “How’s…” 

“Serizawa’s taking it pretty hard,” Sam told her. “I can’t blame him. It feels like, like—”

“A betrayal,” Mark finished. They’d known Emma as well as he ever had, just differently. She’d hit every last one of them were it hurt by breaking their trust and revealing herself to be a traitor, a liar, and no better than Jonah himself. People had died when Jonah’s crew stormed both bases, and he’d practically been invited to Outpost 61 by Emma. 

And if their scheme had gotten Maddie killed… 

They lapsed back into silence, Mark returning to his despairing thoughts and empty staring out over the land surrounding the base. 

Only a few minutes must have passed when they heard a screech from behind them. Mark whipped around with the others and felt his stomach drop at the sight of Ghidorah swooping through the sky in their direction. 

He knew the tracking equipment here wasn’t quite on par with Castle Bravo’s setup—this wasn’t meant to be a Titan-seeking facility, after all—but how had no one noticed that? 

Mark wanted to shake his fist and rage and curse at Ghidorah, but what good would it have done? A dark thought of what if he’s acquired a taste for Russell, and that’s what brought him here? ran through his head. He barely even noticed the others heading for the door. 

Ghidorah looked to be preparing to land, and it was only now, as he descended, that Mark noticed movement on top of the middle head. He squinted. It looked like someone waving. The moment the thought processed properly in his head, Mark released a gasp like it’d been punched out of him. 

Maddie was on Ghidorah’s head, right between his sloping horns. Her arm was in the air, waving back and forth wildly. 

Ilene had turned at the noise he made, only to follow his gaze. He heard her gasp too as she gripped his arm tightly. “Mark,” she whispered. “She…” 

“Maddie,” he croaked. His body jerked forward, as if electrocuted, before his brain caught up and he broke into a run, Ilene at his heels. “Maddie!” 

“Dad!” she yelled, and it was faint but there, she was there and she looked fine, against all odds. She’d been last seen disappearing into a Titan’s mouth—this Titan’s mouth—and now there she was, standing on top of his head as the great beast landed and carefully slinked closer to the roof. It looked as if she was riding him into battle, like he was a dragon and she was the princess who refused to let anyone dare to try and save her when she was more than capable of saving herself. 

Mark vaguely heard Sam and Vivienne returning with Serizawa and Rick, heard them gasping in shocked surprise, asking all sorts of questions starting with what and how. He ignored them to step up on the raised ledge running around the perimeter of the roof, wholeheartedly focused on his daughter. 

The middle head gracefully leaned forward once he was close enough, and with the same lack of urgency and dramatics as one might exit a car or step off an elevator, Maddie hopped down off Ghidorah and right into Mark’s arms. 

Not even a dozen crowbars would’ve been enough to get him to let go of her in that moment. Ghidorah himself wouldn’t have been enough. He stumbled back, tripping over himself, until he was suddenly sitting on the roof, practically wrapped around his daughter. 

A very distant, disconnected part of him knew he was babbling relieved nonsense into Maddie’s hair, but hell if that part was strong enough to do something about it. He felt like he was experiencing a hard restart. 

Maddie’s voice finally filtered into his head, and she was all reassurances that she was fine, honest, please stop crying, I’m right here, I swear it wasn’t that bad, there’s not a scratch on me, c’mon Dad, you need to breathe. 

It was right about then that Mark went from going through a hard restart to entering a forced shutdown. Everything went buzzy and bright and he knew no more. 

• • • 

Maddie sat beside the couch they’d set her dad on, who was still unresponsive. A quick checkover confirmed he wasn’t ill or anything, so it was likely the stress of the past few days had finally caught up to him. Which, on the one hand, was a good thing, because that was something easily slept off. On the other hand, it made Maddie feel really bad about basically sending her dad into shock. 

Luckily, she didn’t have time to dwell on her guilt for long, not with Dr. Serizawa and the others grilling her on what happened. All they’d told her was her mom and everyone else had been apprehended and were being held somewhere else in the base. 

Dr. Serizawa looked like someone was giving him the cure for cancer, all intense and hunched over his notebook, frantically writing as she talked, as if she wouldn’t ever speak another word about it after this so he had to get it all down now. Rather than try and coax him into relaxing, Maddie just tried to explain slowly. 

Aunt Viv leaned forward. See, she was the real brains of the operation, because she was just holding her phone out to record the conversation. “And his body language, his vocalizations… none of it ever seemed threatening to you?” 

Maddie shook her head, remembered the recording, and said, “No. He was actually really sweet. Once I was pretty sure he wasn’t gonna eat me or anything, I didn’t feel like I was in danger. He kept trying to feed me raw fish this morning, though. I could’ve done without that. Anyway, they—bickered, I guess?—but even that didn’t seem hostile. They were honestly just interested in me petting them, which Kevin started.”

“Kevin,” Dr. Stanton, who was standing behind Dr. Serizawa’s chair with his arms folded, repeated. She could hear a world of unspoken words in his tone, so she quickly stuck her tongue out in his direction before clarifying. 

“Yeah, just. I knew a cat, once. Oh, yeah, Monst—I mean, Ghidorah—can purr, by the way. Like, real actual purring.” 

“Fascinating,” Dr. Serizawa said, his scribbles intensifying. 

“Eventually, he made a nest. Big mound of dirt, lots of grass on top. He just slept curled around it, though. After he had a bath.” 

Dr. Stanton snorted. 

“And you?” Aunt Viv asked without paying him any attention. 

“I guess the nest was for me. It wasn’t too bad.” She hmphed. “But I didn’t get much sleep on the first try, because Godzilla showed up and the two of them woke me up.” 

Over the sounds of shock, Dr. Chen spoke up for the first time since they’d all sat down. “They fought?”

Maddie shrugged. “If you could even call it that. Look, I don’t care whether or not you believe me, but I swear they were actually trying to be quiet. Made for a pretty silly-looking fight, but even though they did wake me up, a battle between Titans should’ve been way louder than that.” 

“They’re even more aware of us than we imagined,” Dr. Serizawa said. “This is proof.” 

“If Ghidorah and Godzilla are supposed to be, what?—enemies to the death or something, like in those legends,” Dr. Stanton said, nodding at Dr. Chen, “then why didn’t they duke it out?” 

All four adults turned to Maddie. She breathed out a strangled laugh and answered, “Because I told them not to.” 

• • • 

Mark supposed he should’ve felt something when he was handed the revised custody papers hastily drawn up and willingly signed by Emma. But whatever happiness or triumph that might’ve been there was overshadowed by the squeezing sensation in his chest. It wasn’t quite regret or sadness, and his anger was a separate burn, so he couldn’t quite put a name to the bittersweet feeling. 

“They’ll be tried,” Sam told him. He looked like he needed a nap, but then, who was Mark to judge? He’d actually had one and he knew he looked no better. “The details are still being worked out, but last I heard, Jonah’s already got a list of crimes they can attach to this one, and the mercenaries they’ve identified so far are no better. Trying to bring about the end of the world… it’ll get them special treatment, and not in a good way. For them.” 

“And Emma?” 

Sam looked down at the powered off tablet in his hands. “She confessed, Mark. It was all her idea. Jonah might have the big guns, but in this, they’ll call her the ringleader.” He nodded over at the papers crinkling in Mark’s iron grip. “There won’t be any question of whether she’ll have rights to Madison, if she’s ever released. Even though Madison’s fine now, she was still almost eaten by a Titan, and that’s how it’ll be presented, I think.” 

“Ghidorah just wanting someone to pet him won’t get her off the hook?” Mark asked, only partially serious. 

With a little chuckle, Sam answered, “No, thank goodness. Uh, do… do you want updates on the proceedings?” He winced. “No one would blame you for wanting nothing else to do with the situation, but I thought I’d ask.” 

Mark thought about it for a minute, Sam waiting patiently while he worked it out in his head. He sighed. “I’d appreciate it if any updates came from you. I think… I think I need to see this through to the end, if only so I can answer any questions, if Maddie ever wants to know. But coming from a stranger just…” 

“Makes sense to me,” Sam said, saving Mark from having to try and find the right words. “We’re all in the same boat, in a way.” 

After finishing up the conversation, Mark headed off to figure out where his daughter disappeared off to. It wasn’t too hard to find her, but that was mostly because the giant, shiny golden Titan made for a pretty good beacon. 

He kept his distance and watched as she did exactly what she’d told them all about: pet Ghidorah. One of the heads—not Kevin, if he understood correctly—eyed him from where it was resting on the ground, but made no attempt to move. 

Maddie’s voice carried across the wind to him, just enough for him to hear her say, “You’re all still cold. That makes no sense. You’re not even just cool, it actually feels like you just pulled your faces out of a freezer or something. Does it really take you this long to warm up?” 

The middle head grumbled in response. Notably, none of them pulled away from her. 

Mark used to worry about having to say no if his kids ever wandered home from the park with a stray dog in tow. This felt a bit different. Before, it would’ve been a matter of withstanding the puppy-dog eyes. Would he have to try and figure out a way to refuse the Titan without getting himself burnt to a crisp? 

• • •

I feel warmer, Kevin said sleepily. 

Hm. You’re just imagining things, Ni responded. 

Kevin merely hummed in response, radiating contentedness. 

We still haven’t figured out what we should do next, Ichi said. 

Stay with Starlight, Kevin said with the same tone as one might use to say “duh.” 

Ichi sighed. I don’t think we can. And he couldn’t help it if he sounded sad about that.

Exactly, thank you, Ni added. How would we even go about that, hm? 

We ask Godzilla for advice. 

No, both of Kevin’s brothers emphatically said at once. 

Mm. Yep, we’ll ask Godzilla what he thinks we should do, Kevin said as if they hadn’t spoken, so we can stay with Starlight. Our Starlight. 

He’s developing a backbone, Ichi whispered to Ni. 

Ni would’ve cursed viciously in response, but a tiny human palm pressed against his snout and made him swallow whatever words had brewing on the tip of his tongue. He looked at Starlight’s smile and thought maybe Kevin wasn’t imagining anything at all. 

When Ni glanced at his brothers, he found a suspiciously hopeful shine in Ichi’s eyes—he’d gotten soft terrifyingly quickly—and the slightest of smug curls lifting the corner of Kevin’s mouth. 

Fine, he huffed. I suppose we can stay with Starlight. 

Kevin let out a happy noise and gently pushed his snout against the human child’s hand. They could finally follow the warmth.