Chapter Text
“Hell yeah!”
The Becket brothers hugged each other tightly. Even if they had spent the last few hours inside each other’s heads, they were still coming down from their high and needed contact. They had faced off with Kaiju and survived.
Others had not been that lucky.
Still, it called for a celebration.
The pilots didn’t get to spend much time with each other since they were divided over different bases across the globe and now they were all on leave in Manila for a few days.
Yancy was going to go out, even if his baby brother was harassing him. Raleigh wasn’t old enough to drink and even if he had tried to bribe Yancy, he would let him.
When they all met together at the dining hall deep inside the dome, Yancy shook hands with Hercules Hansen and introduced Raleigh to him.
“So, the famous Becket brothers. I’ve heard a lot about you.” Herc flashed a smile towards the both of them and Yancy didn’t know what to say to that. He had heard a lot about the Hansens as well, but talking about Scott Hansen was off limits, so Stacker Pentecost had told the Beckets.
Yancy had stressed to Raleigh that he shouldn’t shoot his mouth off just like that, but a quick look at his baby brother revealed a wickedness Yancy would regret later.
Oh, he wasn’t going to say anything about Scott Hansen…
“Mr. Hansen?” Raleigh asked as he got Herc’s attention. Herc turned around towards the younger Becket and the grin spreading over Raleigh’s face seemed downright evil to Yancy.
“You know, I think you should go ahead and go out with Yance. He’s always looking out for me and all… and I can’t drink anything anyway so…” He leaned forward towards Herc and quickly whispered something in the man’s ear, making the Australian look up to Yancy.
Yancy glared at Raleigh, but in the mean time he couldn’t hide his blush.
“Yeah, that’d be great.” Herc said, softer than he was supposed to. They were all dressed in ranger gear and neither Herc nor Yancy were going to change out of it to go into town. They didn’t care much about appearance and they were rangers anyhow, everybody would recognise them as such.
In Manila they could still walk around anonymously.
As the three men walked towards the exit, Raleigh lingered a bit behind. The hallway to the sleeping quarters was right beside the exit and Raleigh was about to turn when Herc laid a hand on his shoulder, stopping him.
“Would you mind checking on my son? You’re about the closest he has here to his own age and… it would be good for him to spend a little time with someone else. He has been left alone a lot.”
It was quite obvious that Herc blamed himself for that. Raleigh had always been a good kid and Yancy had tried to raise him right when they had lost their parents. Since both Raleigh and Yancy could relate to the Hansen situation, they looked at each other for a moment over Herc’s shoulder and then Raleigh nodded.
“Sure, no problem.” He said before waving his goodbyes to both men.
“Hey Yance! Have a good time with your hero!” He called out after them as he sprinted through the hallway, hoping that Yancy wouldn’t be on his heels in no time.
Yancy was in fact trying to get away, but he didn’t dare as Herc was still standing close to him.
“Don’t mind Rals, he’s… he can be a real kid at times.” Yancy shrugged, but again he flushed a little red. Herc smiled and patted Yancy’s shoulder a few times, walking past him.
“I know what you mean, don’t worry about it. They always get under your skin… kids, right?” Herc walked on and Yancy had to follow. Although Yancy was only a few years older than Raleigh, he felt responsible for his baby brother.
He didn’t know if it was the same responsibility as being a parent, but he figured it came close.
“You’re together a lot, huh? The two of you?” Herc asked as they walked along side each other, not taking a vehicle to get into the city. A large part of it had been destroyed, but the people were already rebuilding and the pilots figured that they could help in the best manner by supporting the economy.
They were pilots, not rescue workers or construction workers, and they had done their part.
“Yeah, almost all the time, but we like it that way. It’s been just us for years now and we… we manage quite well, ya know.” Yancy nodded as they stopped in front of the first bar they encountered. It seemed small and dark. Herc looked towards Yancy as if asking for permission and Yancy gestured that they could go in.
The bar was larger than they first expected. The lights were dimmed and they slid into one of the side booths in the calmer area of the bar. Quiet music was playing and they both ordered a beer before settling.
Herc downed half a glass in one go and heaved a sigh of relief.
“I missed that, having a good beer with a friend.” He smiled at Yancy, who hesitantly smiled back.
“To friends.” Yancy toasted and they tapped their glasses together, before they both drank again.
“You know, you boys are doing a fantastic job in Anchorage. My son couldn’t shut up about you when you defeated Clawhook. Was the reason he enlisted in the academy.”
“That and his father is one of the best in the world. Come on, Herc, you’re not telling me that he isn’t influenced by you. He’s a Hansen.” Yancy smiled in return as they exchanged compliments.
It got late and they had a few beers before returning back to the dome. They walked side by side. Suddenly Herc stopped and laid a hand on Yancy’s arm, seemingly remembering something.
“What did your brother mean when he said to have a good time with your hero?” He asked Yancy and the older Becket sighed and looked at his feet.
“I kind of hoped that you didn’t hear that. Raleigh can be a brat.” Yancy mumbled with a shrug.
“No worries, not going to tell on ya. You did well, taking care of him. He’s a good kid, Yancy.” Herc patted Yancy’s shoulder for a moment before walking on, trusting that Yancy would follow. Yancy remembered suddenly that Raleigh had said something to Herc before leaving.
He didn’t dare to ask however and they walked to the dome in silence.
Right before the entrance Yancy stopped Herc by touching his arm. The Australian looked at Yancy expectantly.
“What did Raleigh say earlier? Because I swear if he…” Yancy began but Herc smiled and shook his head.
“He told me that we should take our time… that you would eventually… how did he put it, live up to the opportunity or something like that.” Herc smiled slightly and Yancy groaned, he was going to kill Raleigh for this!
“Fuck, I’m sorry about that.” Yancy sighed, but the older Hansen shrugged and walked inside the dome. Yancy followed, cursing himself for letting this chance go by.
They stopped at the Becket’s room and Yancy hesitated going in. What if Raleigh was there? What if he was still with Hansen’s son?
The choice was taken away from him when Herc leaned forward, trapping Yancy between two strong arms as he leaned back against the door.
“Do you want this to be over?” Herc asked and Yancy’s eyes widened a little, he gasped slightly and shook his head.
Herc leaned in and pressed a soft kiss to Yancy’s lips, more gentle than he had expected.
“Okay?” Herc asked in a whisper, close to Yancy’s ear.
“Hell yeah.” Yancy whispered back with a smile before capturing Herc’s lips in a deeper kiss.
He would definitely thank Raleigh tomorrow.