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Raleigh was an omega. Chuck had known since he was fifteen, and even then it wasn’t much of a shock. Raleigh’s status had been well known by the general public since the Beckets’ very first press conference. Some reporters had made a big deal about it, but Yancy, ever the good alpha, had smiled and politely told them that if anyone thought Raleigh wasn’t fit for the job simply because of his biological state, then the good doctors would’ve made it known long before allowing Raleigh to train to be a Jaeger pilot.
And in reality, Yancy probably had been right. Raleigh and Yancy fought and brought down kaiju after kaiju. But then reports came out that Yancy died in a fight against Knifehead. The media latched on to the fact that Raleigh piloted solo, and reporters hounded the PPDC to get an interview with him.
It was this tragic, awe-inspiring feat, but then Raleigh disappeared from the PPDC, and Chuck’s brief hero worship vanished. It was hard to worship someone who would just tuck tail and run away. Traditional ideals took its place, and Chuck sneered at the thought of an omega ever really being able to be anything less than a coward. Raleigh abandoned his Jaeger and his duty to the people, and that couldn’t be justified.
---
Chuck scrunched his forehead in confusion, but Herc was faster at using his senses, and he ordered Chuck to stay put. Chuck listened and watched as Herc spoke to Raleigh as if they were old friends. Chuck squinted his eyes. He preferred not rummaging through his father’s memories during the drift, but Chuck knew Herc and Raleigh had once worked together. There was an air of familiarity that bordered toward inappropriate when Herc placed a hand on Raleigh’s shoulder. Possibly a gesture a friendship, or a claim being made once again. But then Herc patted Mako’s shoulder in exactly the same manner, and Chuck shook his head. Clearly the alpha instincts were screwing up his common sense, and Chuck clenched his fists to rein himself in.
---
Chuck decided to watch Raleigh and Mako’s first drift from LOCCENT. He didn’t hold out much hope for it, and even expected them to stumble a little. Even if Mako and Raleigh were truly drift compatible, it wouldn’t make up for the fact that Becket was a hack.
Chuck wasn’t the least bit surprised when the copilots fell out of alignment, but then he legitimately wanted to beat the shit out of someone when Danger’s weapons started powering up. That lack of control would fuck up the entire plan to destroy the Breach, and Chuck refused to have a team like that supposedly watching his back.
When Raleigh punched him, Chuck took it as an invitation, and even when he realized Raleigh was causing the most damage, he refused to give up. He’d spent too much time doing his best to be a Jaeger pilot, too much time protecting people, too much time giving up his childhood and youth, and there was Raleigh, falling out of alignment and dragging Mako down with him, and they were supposed to be Chuck’s backup.
Chuck didn’t notice it then, or even when he was in LOCCENT taking orders from Stacker when the double event happened, but after Raleigh and Mako arrived back from taking down Leatherback and Otachi, he finally figured out what was going on. Chuck always felt a little anxious during a kaiju fight, but this time he had felt like his nerves were strung tight. Stupid Raleigh had gone into heat, and instead of going into isolation, he went and drifted with Mako and piloted a Jaeger.
Except for a slight blush to the top of Mako’s cheeks—which could easily just be caused by the adrenaline rush of taking down two kaiju—she seemed perfectly fine. She was a beta, but still, heat pheromones tended to affect people in the same way to a certain extent.
When Stacker appeared, no doubt fully aware of Raleigh’s situation, Mako and Raleigh trailed after him. Some of the technicians watched Raleigh curiously. It wasn’t strange to see an omega starting to show signs of a heat, but it was worrisome when that omega was a Jaeger pilot. Even if Raleigh had been off suppressants for the last five years, the medical staff would’ve put him right back on meds as soon as Stacker brought him to the Hong Kong Shatterdome.
---
Chuck didn’t see Mako and Raleigh for the rest of the day. It wasn’t until dinner time the next day that he saw Mako walking down the halls with a tray of food. Chuck paused, and then quickly trailed after her. When he caught up, he glanced down at the tray. It had double portions of everything, and before Chuck could stop himself, he opened his mouth. “What, are you taking care of Becket?”
Mako turned her head sharply. “I am taking care of his health. He needs food and water.”
Chuck raised his eyebrows. “And probably sex.”
Mako pursed her lips. “His suppressants have relieved the worst of the heat, even if they didn’t completely prevent it.”
“Yeah,” Chuck drawled, “and I’m sure he isn’t begging you to fuck him up the ass.”
Mako walked up the few stairs leading to Raleigh’s room. “And even if he didn’t,” Mako continued as if she hadn’t even heard Chuck, “Raleigh respects his friends and sexual partners and would demand the same respect given to him.”
Chuck had the decency to feel chastised, hunching his shoulders. Even he knew better than to go around mocking an omega. However, he didn’t break eye contact with Mako. It wasn’t until they heard a bang coming from inside Raleigh’s room that they looked away.
Mako readjusted the tray and opened the door. Raleigh was groaning on the floor, probably naked underneath the blanket he was fighting against. As soon as Raleigh seemed to catch on that he wasn’t alone, he sat up, grinning brightly. “Mako!”
Mako rushed in, setting the tray of food on a nearby desk. “Raleigh,” she chided. “What happened?” She grasped his arms and hauled him back up onto the bed.
Chuck had never seen an omega in heat, but he had heard stories about them. Most of them talked about omegas acting like they were drunk, but if anything, Raleigh seemed like he was as high as a kite. Chuck watched just outside the door, crossing his arms over his chest. Raleigh hadn’t asked Chuck to help him through his heat, and Chuck wouldn’t risk that fine line of crossing into the bedroom.
As Mako scooted Raleigh back up the bed, she attempted to maintain Raleigh’s modesty, but the blanket kept sliding off of him. Raleigh didn’t seem to care if anyone saw him naked, and he smiled and pressed his forehead against hers. “I was hungry,” he said, like that explained anything.
Mako let out a soft noise of sympathy. She gently pressed a kiss against his forehead. “I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I told you it would take me a few minutes.”
Raleigh nodded, but his face didn’t show any signs of comprehension. Mako pressed a hand against Raleigh’s chest, slowly getting him to lay back down on his bed. When he seemed reasonably subdued, Mako stood up and went to grab the tray of food. However, without the hand holding him down, Raleigh sat up again. He watched Mako for a moment before glancing over at the door. He tilted his head, eyes squinting for a moment. “Chuck?”
Chuck raised his eyebrows while Mako let out a gasp, but when she glanced over, Chuck was still in the same position when she first opened the door. Her shoulders sagged in relief, but she quickly walked over to Chuck.
Chuck let out a scoff. All Raleigh had done was say his name, but whatever. Mako didn’t apologize for her moment of panic, and she didn’t thank him for not entering an omega’s bedroom, but she nodded at him before shutting the door. Chuck nodded back. They’d known each other since they were thirteen, and while they didn’t always get along best, they at least had come to an understanding over the years. There were certain things you could do, and there were certain things that you couldn’t. An alpha walking into an omega’s space without prior consent was a thing that certainly couldn’t be done.
---
When Chuck walked into the lab, he expected to see blackboards filled with mathematical equations and kaiju guts flung all over the place, but he didn’t expect to see Newt glaring at his computer. Chuck risked a glance at Hermann, who seemed equally frustrated.
“What’s the matter?”
Newt groaned. “Do you know how many omega pharmaceutical companies shut down in the last several years or at least shutdown production of ‘nonessential’ items?”
Chuck shook his head.
“Forty-three. Nearly half a hundred pharmaceutical companies shut down since the kaiju attacked. And that means hundreds of patents getting taken with them.” Newt shook his head, jerking up to look at Chuck. “Too many people weren’t getting their heats because of stress and lack of resources and adequate diets, so nobody was buying their meds. And so now those who do get heats have to deal with the few options that are still out there. And now we have a Jaeger pilot whose body doesn’t react well to the suppressants that we do try to give him.”
Chuck let out a huff of air. “So what are you going to do?”
Newt fiddled around with a stylus. “His old meds were Swedish, and we have notes on the chemical compound for it, but either the ones we created weren’t good enough, or Raleigh’s body’s chemistry has changed since then, which is probably a lot more likely.”
On the other side of the room, Hermann frowned. He was halfheartedly going over his numbers, which was unusual since there were few things that made Hermann happier than math. “We’re going to hope the next kaiju attack doesn’t happen while Raleigh is testing out different medications,” he sighed.
“Or! Or we can try to find the patent holder of Raleigh’s previous meds and see how people’s bodily chemistry altered as they got older. I’m sure they’ve done tests for it.” Newt groaned as he opened up various documents on his computer. “There’s got to be some studies about it.”
“Well that’s great and all,” Chuck muttered, “but can’t you just find a generic version and call it a day?”
Newt started laughing, but Chuck could already tell it was one of those ‘oh you poor soul who knows nothing’ laughs. Chuck rolled his eyes and waited for a fucking answer.
“Generic and brand name are never the same. There’s nothing wrong with generic per se. All these suppressants have been designed to create the same outcome, but they’ve usually got different chemical formulas,” Newt insisted. “All those suppressants that omegas use have different chemicals in them. One suppressant might work on one omega, but won’t work on another the same way. You can’t just swap one medication out for another and expect it to work just fine.”
When Hermann and Newt started arguing, Chuck stalked out and nearly ran into his dad. Herc nodded at the door to the lab. “They still researching about Raleigh’s meds?”
Chuck nodded.
“They find an actual solution?”
“Nope.”
The two of them walked down the hallway in silence. Max padded along happily, despite his owners’ complete sense of dread. Herc’s arm was in a sling, and Raleigh was incapacitated for the next two to three days. If a kaiju decided to appear at this very second, they’d be shit out of luck.
---
When the kaiju appeared two days later, Chuck wasn’t sure if he should suit up or not. There really wouldn’t be much point.
But then Stacker, Mako, and Raleigh walked into the Jaeger hangar, fully suited up and ready to go. Raleigh was calm during Stacker’s speech, though his face looked flushed. His skin was probably overly warm and he smelled a little sickly sweet, but he didn’t show any other signs of his heat.
---
The medical wing was too clean and too disinfected for Chuck’s taste. He’d been in isolation for nearly a month, and while he was finally free from isolation, his own private room in the medical wing wasn’t that different.
Chuck only had his thoughts for company most days, considering the fact that not a lot of people were visiting him. One had to wonder about that. That he didn’t have any real friends. Sure, he had plenty of acquaintances. Plenty of people from the Hong Kong Shatterdome visited him at least once. The nurses took the time to display cards on the table, and Chuck got boxes of fan mail each day, but it wasn’t really the same. Chuck would consider Mako and Tendo his friends, but eh. Tendo had his own family to take care of, and Mako stayed near Stacker’s bedside most days.
Clearly everyone appreciated the efforts made by the four Jaeger pilots, but everyone was all too busy to see him, either getting on with their lives now that the Breach was closed, or taking care of new Shatterdome business. Herc visited him for meals if he could spare the time, but with Stacker still recovering, Herc was the acting-Marshal and his time was always limited.
Chuck was an alpha, but it wasn’t like that ever meant much for interpersonal relationships. Stacker was an omega and he had people trailing all around him and worshiping the ground he walked on. Then again, Stacker was a legend, but the point still stood.
Stacker was in medical wing too, but on stabilizers. Sometimes Chuck bugged the medical personnel about him, but they didn’t offer too much information, but from what Chuck could gleam, they weren’t entirely sure about him.
Chuck wasn’t sure how he felt about that. He hoped Stacker wasn’t in a lot of pain, but it sounded like he was having a pretty wretched recovery. Hopefully Stacker was getting plenty of drugs.
Chuck wasn’t even sure how he felt about his own recovery. These were things Chuck had never completely taken into consideration. Back when Chuck first started piloting, he sometimes wondered what it would be like after they closed the Breach, but his dad had always been so vocal about not getting ahead of oneself that Chuck didn’t dwell too much on dreams. They were silly things anyways. It was never a for sure thing that they would destroy the Breach, so Chuck stayed focused, kept his eyes on the prize and all that bullshit.
But now Chuck wasn’t sure how he was supposed to make friends, how he was supposed to just go on with his life. Everyone in the Shatterdome seemed to be all about pairing up, getting married, and making babies. Chuck wasn’t sure how he was supposed to go about that, or if he even wanted to.
He could have sex if that was what he wanted. It wasn’t too hard to find a person who was willing to throw themselves at him. But those were all one night stands. People didn’t expect him to call them back. Chuck had built up a persona and a bunch of walls, and it wasn’t like he was going to just start tearing them down now.
---
When the medical wing was quiet at night and he knew the nurses and doctors wouldn’t be checking up on him, sometimes Chuck slipped a hand underneath the covers to jerk off and help take off the edge. The first time he tried it, he was on way too many drugs, or at least that was what he blamed his impotence on. He’d spent ten minutes trying to get himself hard before realizing he wasn’t even in the mood. The same thing happened the next few nights, and eventually Chuck gave up on it. His inability to get hard only made himself mad, and that in turn made him get even more upset about his predicament.
There were certain things alphas were expected to at least be able to do, and this biological function was supposed to be one of them. It made Chuck angry and frustrated. He didn’t mention his situation to anyone. In his mind, it was better they didn’t know. There were many things Chuck was willing to lie about, and this seemed like yet another thing. He’d work on it after he got out of the hospital. His sex drive would probably return to normal soon enough.
And anyways, his sex life already wasn’t that normal.
Chuck had never even knotted someone before. He wasn’t even sure he could do it. He’d masturbated and knew it was possible to knot, but he’d never been balls deep in someone and felt his knot start trying to swell up. His previous partners assumed Chuck didn’t knot up on purpose, and he let them believe whatever they wanted: amazing amounts of control, refusal to get bonded and lose his focus, lack of desire. Regardless, he had faith that one day it would probably happen. He just had to find someone he had some feelings for, which sounded just as difficult as it probably was in reality.
---
When Raleigh and Mako were given clearance by medical, they were sent on every possible victory tour Herc could send them to. The Shatterdome wasn’t any less quiet with them gone. Chuck would’ve liked going with them, but it was fine. Apparently the doctors and his dad took things like ‘radiation sickness’ seriously.
However, Chuck didn’t mind too much being on bed rest instead of being forced to play nice with all the interviewers. Mako and Raleigh did that well enough on their own. On camera Mako was all tact, and Raleigh was all charm, and together they were entirely adorable. It was precious and it really did give the remaining PPDC a good public image. Chuck would’ve never have been able to pull that off. He could’ve tried, but it wasn’t something he was all that interested in.
When not being stuffed with antibiotics or dealing with blood transfusions, Chuck watched whatever movies he felt like, and then when he was tired of that, watched all of Mako and Raleigh’s interviews.
People really liked asking about Mako and Raleigh’s relationship. She was a beta and he was an omega, but it wasn’t like that mattered too much.
For Mako and Raleigh, piloting a Jaeger had been their primary objective, not romance. Whenever the two of them denied accusations of dating each other, people wanted to know if there were any people in Mako or Raleigh’s lives. When both of them acknowledged that neither one of them were in a romantic relationship, the chatter started back up again. It wasn’t everyone who teased the pair about a possible blossoming romance, but it was enough.
---
Chuck felt like he had lived his whole life in an action film. In order to counter that, it meant he watched a lot of movies while stuck in bed. Disney movies, horror movies, futuristic dystopias, rom coms, whatever. He liked watching movies about fast cars sometimes. And then other times he watched movies that were based on books written in the 1800s about omegas, betas, and alphas from different social classes falling in love but then dealing with an endless number of obstacles. It really just depended on his mood.
He probably should’ve watched less historical romance movies. He didn’t even like them that much. If someone went through his Netflix account and asked him to explain why he had so many of those movies in his queue, he wouldn’t be able to explain. It just…they felt right.
---
Months passed before Raleigh and Mako finally came back to Hong Kong, and by that time Chuck was allowed to wander around the Shatterdome again. His condition had improved, and despite being forced to go to biweekly checkups, he was mostly fine.
Chuck was put on light duty, since apparently prolonged bed rest weakened the muscles. Most of his exercise was done during rehabilitation and physical training. He was fine rebuilding his strength, and it was nice not being stuck in med wing.
When Mako and Raleigh came back, Mako took over her duties again overseeing the construction of two new Jaegers. Sometimes Raleigh acted as her personal assistant, but Mako was capable of managing her duties by herself, so more often than not, Raleigh ended up wandering around the Shatterdome.
It meant that in the middle of Chuck’s physical therapy, Raleigh might stop by. The first couple of times it happened, Chuck glared and considered yelling at him to go away, but then he didn’t. It was boring by himself, and even with Raleigh standing off to the side and watching like this was his own private form of entertainment, Chuck would take what he could get.
During the first couple of sessions, Raleigh stood quietly while Chuck exercised his limbs, then helped Chuck back to his room. Eventually Raleigh started giving Chuck pointers. Apparently he listened attentively to what the physical therapist said, and when Chuck fucked up without realizing it, Raleigh noticed it.
Chuck couldn’t even be mad about it all, not with Raleigh being all helpful and shit.
It made him feel a tiny bit guilty about his past behavior. He didn’t feel bad about talking so much shit to Mako and Raleigh. It had never been an alpha versus betas and omegas thing. Ignoring all the stereotypes and whatnot, how he was supposed to put his trust in a rookie and a person who hadn’t piloted or trained in a military setting in five years? That sort of shit was risky.
But he did feel bad about putting them all in awkward situations, so he tried to make amends. He felt shitty. He wasn’t even sure why he even followed Mako that day to Raleigh’s room that day.
But if his punishment for all the shitty things he had done prior to closing the Breach was going to be allowing Raleigh to sit in during the sessions, it wasn’t too horrible.
---
For the most part, Chuck accepted Raleigh’s help. He was nothing if not a perfectionist, and he didn’t want to take shortcuts. It wasn’t until a particularly draining session that he snapped.
Chuck had fallen several times, and five minutes before the end of the session, he fell an eighth time. He threw the metal bars that were designed to help him walk and slowly build up his leg muscles. His physical therapist didn’t run away, but she backed off when Chuck started ranting and flinging insults at everyone. The assistants tried helping him back up, but Chuck yelled again, throwing his arms out, hoping they got the message that today’s session was over.
Eventually his physical therapist sighed, told him to make sure to go to his meetings with the psychologist, and then Chuck was sitting by himself on the floor while Raleigh stared from the side of the room.
Chuck had heard some of Raleigh’s motivational speeches, but only on accident when he accidentally eavesdropped on conversations between Raleigh and Mako. Raleigh didn’t give those speeches to just anybody, and especially not him.
Chuck glanced at Raleigh, angry and exhausted. Tomorrow he would come in and try his best and hope he didn’t fuck up the second day in a row, but today he seemed to have reached his limit of bullshit he could handle. Facing down a kaiju felt a lot easier than trying to make his limbs work for him again.
“Why are you even here?” Chuck squinted his eyes. “Is it out of some not-quite-survivor’s-guilt because Stacker and I were willing to blow up our Jaeger for you and Mako?” He let out a breath of air, slowly standing back up. “What? You just feel the need to pay back some kindness?”
Raleigh tilted his face. Chuck was good at reading people, but Raleigh’s face was always closed off. For being so expressive in front of the cameras, Raleigh sure did manage to be emotionless when it came to Chuck. He shrugged a shoulder. “A little,” Raleigh sighed.
Chuck nodded, let it sink in. He had guessed, but he hadn’t wanted to call Raleigh out on it just yet. “Figures,” Chuck muttered. He held out a hand. “Then put your guilt to good use and help me back to my room. Please.”
Raleigh grabbed the crutches leaning against the wall, and passed them to Chuck. He gave Chuck the briefest smile, then led the way back to Chuck’s room. Twice Chuck had to stop and use Raleigh as a support.
By the time they got to his room, Chuck was drained, both mentally and physically, and he dismissed Raleigh with nothing more than a grunt. He didn’t have the energy to slam the door, but he did his best.
As soon as Chuck was in his bed, he stripped out of his clothes. They were tight and constricting. After he tugged them off, he flipped over onto his stomach. His bedding probably was due for a cleaning, but it smelled like home and comfort.
He ran a hand over his side, wondering if he should try to sleep or try to jerk off. So far both had been pretty difficult to do for the last couple of months. He remembered hearing some study that showed that loneliness caused depression, and he blinked his eyes shut.
After the kaiju appeared, making friends felt sort of pointless. When the Breach first opened, he’d have new friends for a year, and then they’d go missing during a kaiju attack, and then there’d be funerals and memorials. New friends equaled possible funerals he’d have to attend. It was bullshit, and to try and preserve his sanity, he stopped opening himself up to new experiences.
He just didn’t realize how hard it would be to become sociable and friendly after years of never needing to be. He’d have to figure it out eventually now.
He sort of liked his friendship with Raleigh though, even if it was born out of guilt. He liked having Mako nearby again. He liked having everyone alive and not under the constant threat of kaiju.
Raleigh probably didn’t hate Chuck for the temper tantrum. If Raleigh did, he wouldn’t have helped Chuck all the way back to his room. Despite Chuck’s setbacks, the whole lot of them deserved a lot more respect than he had shown.
It just was really fucking difficult worrying about stepping on other people’s feelings when he could barely walk.
Chuck turned onto his back and ran a hand over his stomach. At least his sex drive had sort of come back. He slid a hand over his clothes, stroking his cock up. After he got off all the meds, it was easier to at least get hard.
He’d been researching as well. He found out issues with knotting could be psychological. He’d found tips on the internet about how to get over it. All he had to do now was get calm, work himself into some fantasy. Sometimes it took a long time, but the payoff was worth it.
As he shoved his sweatpants down, Chuck wondered if he should play out a scenario or just think of a person. He worked a hand over his dick. He thought of pink lips. Tried sifting through memories of people. His paused when he ended up thinking about Raleigh. He had a lot of good physical attributes. Good legs, nice ass, strong arms. Didn’t mean much that Chuck was jerking off to him, just was a way to help him come. Chuck started moving his hand faster as he imagined Raleigh’s mouth around his cock. Chuck’s knot started to swell, and he wrapped his other hand around the base of it. He groaned, shifting around as he tried to hold off. He kept thinking of Raleigh’s lips moving up and down. He wondered if Raleigh could deep throat it. Would he be able to keep Chuck’s knot in his mouth?
Chuck let out a groan, coming all over his hand as he did. He could feel rope after rope going, and while he tried to enjoy it, he realized his bedding was definitely going to need to be washed after this. If not, his room was going to be like some goddamn den, alpha scent all over here like he was in the middle of a rut.
---
In order to get the whole friendships going, Chuck made small attempts at civility at first. He tried being polite, but he couldn’t help having a short temper. He demanded excellence, and people who acted like idiots got on his nerves.
The first couple of weeks were hell.
Eventually he figured out when to rein in his rudeness, keeping his sarcasm in check, acknowledging people in the hallway, interacting without immediately pointing out people’s flaws.
When he went outside of the Shatterdome, he bought little things back for people. Sometimes he brought back pastries and shared them with whoever was there. Another time he flung a new sweater at Raleigh, tired of the old ones.
His silence seemed to inspire more fear in some people, which wasn’t actually all that bad. Now that his default wasn’t at one setting of exasperation with humankind, people attempted to get on his good side. People always had, but now there was a lot more camaraderie. He ignored people if they got on his nerves. He told them off when they wouldn’t leave him the fuck alone. But it was alright.
After a year, things were going pretty well. If Raleigh wasn’t there to help him to train, plenty of other people were willing to. Raleigh mostly trained with Mako, but the two of them didn’t mind letting Chuck join.
They’d always been ready to help him, but Chuck had the feeling they were afraid of him biting their head off for overstepping boundaries.
---
During that time, Raleigh had several or so heats. The PPDC had eventually contacted members of the pharmaceutical company of Raleigh’s first suppressants, and while they had been helpful on narrowing down which suppressants Raleigh should try, it was all a lot of trial and error.
The first suppressant Raleigh went on seemed promising, until of course the people around him noticed how much Raleigh kept scratching his arms. Nobody could see a visible physical reaction, but when he sighed and said he needed to go lie down, he was taken to the medical wing. He was taken off those suppressants the next day.
On another occasion when Raleigh tried out a different suppressant, which had seemed even more promising, Chuck and Mako had been walking with him, until of course Raleigh’s scent changed rapidly and he collapsed to the ground. Mako and Chuck had to carry him to medical wing, both of them ignoring the way Raleigh squirmed. Those meds didn’t work, and later on Raleigh was transported to his bedroom so he could be in isolation for his heat.
Some meds made him break out in hives. Others gave him headaches. For the suppressants that caused less severe symptoms, the doctors insisted Raleigh continue using them at least for a couple of cycles, just to see if his body’s chemistry might adapt to them.
When Raleigh complained about the suppressants, Chuck wondered if there would be a point when Raleigh finally cracked and shoved his pills down the drain without telling anyone except Mako. But Raleigh had checkups weekly, so it would be easy to catch on if he wasn’t taking them.
Chuck certainly didn’t think Raleigh would ditch the meds and just have heats every month like some omegas. Raleigh was a Jaeger pilot, he couldn’t afford to be out every month for a few days. But after all this bullshit, Chuck wouldn’t put it past him.
---
Chuck and Raleigh were sitting together eating lunch when Tendo plopped down across from them.
“Hey, man,” Tendo nodded at Raleigh. “No weird side effects lately?”
Raleigh shook his head, staring at his food. “Not in four days.”
“Hey!” Tendo patted Raleigh’s shoulder. “Good then. Finally found a medication that works. Proud of you for sticking to it.”
“Thanks,” Raleigh replied quietly. Chuck watched while Raleigh took a gulp of juice. Raleigh caught him watching, but Chuck didn’t lower his gaze, though Raleigh quickly did. It wasn’t exactly suspicious, except for the fact that it was entirely suspicious.
---
“You were lying, weren’t you?”
Chuck had been practicing in the kwoon room alone, and as soon as Raleigh entered, Chuck took his opportunity to spring the question. Tendo was a beta and paired on top of that, and he might not have noticed, but Raleigh was smelling like a lot less medications recently.
Raleigh stumbled forward, but he quickly composed himself. “Lying about what?”
“Lying about finding a medication that works.” Chuck rolled his eyes. “You haven’t found one, have you? You don’t even smell like meds. You smell like—” Chuck stopped. He really, really didn’t want to finish that sentence. It wasn’t bad manners to categorize every single alpha, beta, and omega’s scents, but it was sort of weird to bring it up in conversation. Way too forward to tell someone that you’ve been actively differentiating their scents.
Raleigh opened his mouth and closed it. A small smirk appeared on his face. “You smell me?”
“That’s what you got out of that entire speech?” Chuck scoffed. “You’ve been off suppressants for a few days. You’re going to have a heat soon.” He shook his head.
“Then I get a heat, so what? Newt and his team and the doctors are clever enough. They’ll figure out a better prescription afterward for the next heat.”
“And if you don’t like the suppressants for your next heat, what then? You’re going to go off them again?”
A blush started working its way over Raleigh’s body. “Maybe.” He clenched his jaw. “You don’t know what they’re like. They suck. I’ve gotten every single little side effect possible. Have you ever had to deal with that?”
Chuck looked away. Alpha ruts weren’t that bad. They were manageable, and Chuck’s were mild at best. He hadn’t even had one since he was seventeen because his injections worked fine. “No, but you’re not going to deal with your meds if you don’t face them head on.”
“It’s fine. I’ll deal.”
Chuck’s eyes widened. “Mako knows, doesn’t she?”
Raleigh shrugged. “Yeah.”
Chuck shook his head. “She knows and approves even though a new Breach could be reopened at any given time,” Chuck grumbled. He let out a sigh. Typical Mako and Raleigh behavior. Well not really typical Mako behavior, but Chuck was going to blame it on the drift between the two of them. If they ghost drifted, she would be able to feel all Raleigh’s pain. She probably fully supported Raleigh shoving his meds down the sink. “So what’s your plan?”
Raleigh had been staring off to the side of Chuck’s head for a few moments, but he quickly readjusted his attention. “Yeah, plan,” Chuck repeated. “You just going to hide out in your room again while Mako brings you food?” Chuck didn’t add that last time Raleigh had at least some meds reducing some of the heat.
“I’ll just find an alpha.”
Chuck made a face. When the concept of drifting came around, people started laughing about suitable heat mates being drift compatible. It had some truth to it. An alpha had to know exactly how to care for their omega during a heat, and an omega had to know how to handle an alpha during a rut. People usually didn’t want just anybody in that intimate of a situation. And right now Chuck couldn’t imagine Raleigh settling on just anyone. “There are about ten unpaired alphas in this entire Shatterdome because apparently the cancellation of an apocalypse meant everyone should go get paired up. Unless you and Mako went about interviewing people outside of the Shatterdome, that’s some slim pickings.”
“Yep,” Raleigh nodded. “That’s why I’m asking you.”
“Asking me…?” Chuck frowned, confused for a moment before he realized what Raleigh was getting at. He let out a laugh. “My old man—the current marshal, might I remind you—is going to kick your ass for going off your suppressants without telling your doctor. You’re going to be in a lot of fucking trouble.” He scrubbed a hand over his face. “So yeah, I’ll help out.”
---
It was probably a little suspicious when Chuck grabbed a bunch of food that would last a few days. Which was why Raleigh didn’t grab a nice stash of food until later.
When Chuck entered Raleigh’s room later that night, he thought it might sort of feel different considering the circumstances, but it felt exactly the same as all the other times he stopped by Raleigh’s room to talk about something. He’d waited until closer to midnight before going to Raleigh’s, worried about what might happen if he was caught sneaking around.
Raleigh didn’t smell like he was going through heat just yet. The scent was faint, but it would be stronger later. Chuck belatedly wished they’d decided to do this in his bedroom just because his own scent was already all there, but it would be torture smelling Raleigh on everything once the heat was over.
They settled down on the bed and watched shows on Chuck’s laptop—which he had brought in case someone stopped him and asked what he was doing. Chuck paid attention to the movie, then somehow fell asleep on the cramped bed. It barely fit two people, but Chuck didn’t need a lot of space or comfort before he knocked out.
When he woke up at 4 am, it was to Raleigh shuffling closer next to him. Raleigh’s scent was still a little weak, meaning the both of them should just go back to sleep. While Chuck was barely half awake, Raleigh stared at him expectantly. Chuck grumbled a little as he moved around, but he lifted a hand. He wasn’t sure if it was fact or myth that touch helped trigger a heat, but he rubbed the back of Raleigh’s neck. He pulled Raleigh closer to him, then ran a hand through Raleigh’s hair. Raleigh let out a laugh, but Chuck didn’t see what was so funny. The two of them could’ve been asleep instead of getting cuddly. As he fell back asleep, he hoped Raleigh’s heat didn’t hit too soon.
When Chuck did wake up in the morning, Raleigh’s heat had started. Raleigh was awake, and for a moment Chuck wondered if Raleigh had fallen asleep at all. Raleigh hadn’t slept with a shirt on, making Chuck wish he had made that same decision. Chuck grabbed Raleigh by the arms and pulled him close enough so he could kiss him.
Kissing Raleigh was good, slow and a little rough, and any concern that Chuck had about helping Raleigh out during his heat slowly disappeared.
Chuck got them both to take off their clothes before the heat made them too far gone for anything, and it was then that he realized all the skin on skin contact was pretty great. Touching was one of those things taught to be very beneficial during heats and ruts, and he could see why.
When they were both unclothed and back in the bed, Chuck didn’t mean to suddenly get ridiculously romantic. He didn’t mean for it to be lovemaking during a heat, but he cupped Raleigh’s face and did those slow sweet kisses. He slid his hands over Raleigh’s body and ran his hands through Raleigh’s hair and worked Raleigh open even though he was so slicked up that at that point that Chuck could’ve just slid his dick inside him.
All while Chuck was doing that, Raleigh was high off of dopamine and serotonin release from all the touching and tactile behavior, begging Chuck to fuck him already please.
Raleigh was wrung out by the time Chuck finally started fucking him. Raleigh had shown him the box of condoms he had the night before, and Chuck reached for the box and slipped one on. Chuck was clean and Raleigh was clean, but it seemed like a safe bet pregnancy wise. Chuck just hoped they didn’t run out of condoms before the heat was over. There was always birth control, but he really didn’t want the doctors thinking they had been dumb and hadn’t gotten any sort of protection at all.
Chuck pushed his cock in slowly. He went slow, grinded his body against Raleigh’s. Raleigh kept letting out these moans, and so Chuck kept doing the same thing for awhile before going a little rougher. He pulled his cock out until only the tip was still in Raleigh, then slowly pushed back in. When he built up a rhythm, he went a little faster.
Raleigh gripped him tight. Chuck hadn’t thought about it before this point, but he wondered what exactly Raleigh had been doing about heats in Alaska. Raleigh was on suppressants when he worked at the Icebox, and he reported that he hadn’t been getting any heats before he was at the Hong Kong Shatterdome. Lack of proper food and nutrients did that to an omega. But there had to have been a time when Raleigh did have heats and did get an alpha to help him through it. Raleigh was good looking. Plenty of alphas would volunteer their time.
Chuck was still fucking Raleigh when he decided to ask him. “Has anyone done this with you before? Anyone knot you before?”
Raleigh was definitely high off of endorphins, so there was little chance he would even comprehend Chuck’s question, but he sort of squirmed and nodded his head. “Yancy.”
Chuck didn’t want to lose his focus, but Raleigh suddenly was looking so vulnerable and worried that Chuck just nodded his head and kissed him.
“After our mom died, our dad split. We sent our sister to our grandparents but…” Raleigh paused and let out a groan because Chuck was still fucking him, but he pushed on. “Tricky getting my meds.”
Chuck nodded because he remembered the Beckets’ back stories in magazines. How Yancy and Raleigh were on their own for a little while before Raleigh was old enough to join the Jaeger program with his brother. “So he fucked you to help you through your heat.” Raleigh nodded. Chuck continued in the same rhythm. “That was sweet of him.”
“Yeah,” Raleigh groaned.
Secretly Chuck thought it was really hot. He might’ve jacked off to the thought of the Becket brothers fucking back when he first saw them piloting a Jaeger. But he wasn’t going to say that now because the Beckets’ circumstances weren’t necessarily the same as his fantasies.
Maybe Yancy and Raleigh had really been in love. Maybe they were bonded before Yancy died. It would explain why the two of them were so freakishly close. And why they apparently got into fights when one flirted with jaeger flies.
Or maybe they were just two teenagers broke as fuck and Yancy didn’t want to trust his kid brother with some creepy alpha. First heats were rough. Omegas could go into isolation during heats, but it was safer just finding a partner for first heats. And the Beckets certainly wouldn’t be the first siblings to help each other out during such a dangerous time. It was fairly common for family members to do that sort of thing if there were no other options.
He’d tell Raleigh this stuff later. He would probably blurt it out when they were finally knotted together.
Chuck took Raleigh’s cock in his hand and gave it a few strokes. He’d jerk Raleigh off for as long as he needed to, but that wasn’t necessary. Raleigh’s entire body had been one tight coil as soon as the heat had started, and now that he was being jerked off, he was coming hard.
Chuck started to feel his knot swell up, and the way Raleigh moved, he could probably feel it too. Chuck kept moving fast, only faltering when he started coming. When his knot was finally as large as it was going to go, Chuck carefully maneuvered them so he was lying on his back. It would’ve been easier if they’d been in this position from the beginning considering how small the bed was, but it was nice.
---
Even after that first time, each knotting was still tricky. When Raleigh was on his stomach, they end up spooned against each other for a while.
On the third day during one of the times they were knotted, Raleigh asked Chuck what he smelled like.
Chuck let out a groan, wishing he could run away. “I don’t know. Flowers,” Chuck shrugged.
“Flowers?” Raleigh laughed. “Well I guess that’s nice.”
Chuck didn’t get ruts that often, maybe once a year, but he’d always been on injections to suppress them. During Raleigh’s heat, Chuck wondered what it would be like with a partner.
---
During Raleigh’s heat, Chuck expected someone would barge in. He wasn’t sure why considering omegas and alphas were left alone during heats and ruts, but he thought it might happen.
When the two of them finally left Raleigh’s room, there wasn’t anyone nearby. Raleigh was the one who figured they might as well report to the marshal, but he dragged his feet about it for awhile. Chuck wasn’t too excited either. It wasn’t going to be fun, and it was probably going to be pretty embarrassing, but they had gone in isolation for three days without giving any prior notice, and his dad probably had already created an entire lecture. Whether or not Herc was going to say any of it was the question.
In the hallway people either ignored them or shot them knowing looks. Tendo happened to pass by. He grinned at Raleigh immediately, and then sent a nod toward Chuck. Tendo started laughing, and he was still laughing even as he turned the corner.
Herc was in his office when Raleigh and Chuck got there. Mako was there as well. She didn’t smile at the two of them, but Chuck could tell she was pleased. She looked pretty self-satisfied with herself.
Herc stared at them, and then surprisingly sent a glare Mako’s way. “All of you are in trouble. You could’ve at least said something before barricading yourselves in a room.”
Chuck shrugged a shoulder. “Didn’t seem like an issue.” Chuck was lying, and from the look in his dad’s eyes, he knew his dad could tell.
“Really, Chuck? Two teams being out of commission didn’t seem like an issue?”
“Sorry,” Raleigh cut in. “Mako and I should’ve known better. But you’ve seen how well my suppressants work.” He fidgeted for a moment, alternating balancing his weight on different feet. “I should’ve found a non-Jaeger pilot to help me through my heat, so at least only one team was out of commission.”
“Seriously?” Chuck glared at Raleigh. “That wasn’t what you were saying a few hours ago.” He wasn’t jealous of the idea of others helping Raleigh through a heat. Not at fucking all.
Raleigh glanced at Chuck but then focused his attention on the floor.
“Great. This is exactly how I wanted this to go,” Herc groaned. Chuck stopped staring at Raleigh long enough to turn his attention back to his dad. “Are you two bonded?”
“No,” Chuck spat.
“No sir,” Raleigh said quietly.
Herc ran a hand through his hair. “Okay.” He said a few more things that Chuck tuned out. He already knew what the proper future protocol was.
Mako managed to be dismissed before the boring things about procedure were said, so there was nobody to watch when Raleigh and Chuck were alone in the hallway.
Chuck glared at Raleigh, shoving a hand against Raleigh’s chest. “Why the fuck did you ask me to help you through your heat?”
“I don’t know.” Raleigh gave a noncommittal shrug. “Because you’re my friend,” Raleigh sighed. “Usually you’re my friend.”
Chuck froze. “I’m always your friend,” he said slowly. He stared at Raleigh. Maybe he was harsh or sarcastic, but for the last several months he had always been Raleigh’s friend. “And Mako told me you wouldn’t pick just anyone to help you through a heat.”
Raleigh tilted his head. “When did Mako say that?”
“Back before we closed the Breach.” Chuck’s lips quirked upward. “I think you like me, Raleigh.”
“I think you’re jealous,” Raleigh smiled.
“Well maybe I am a little fucking jealous.” Chuck crossed his hands over his chest. “You’re the one who propositioned me, and now you’re all remorseful about it.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Raleigh nodded, ignoring Chuck’s anger and steering him away from the marshal’s office. “Well maybe I just didn’t feel like telling your dad anything.”
“He sees everything in the drift anyways!”
“That’s different.” Raleigh leaned over so he could kiss Chuck. Chuck was tempted to lean away, but he didn’t. He blamed it on the residual effects of Raleigh’s heat.
The two of them paused when they heard a door open. Herc walked out of his office, slowing down when he saw Chuck and Raleigh. He squinted at them. “You two aren’t bonded?”
“No,” Chuck replied.
Raleigh shook his head. “Nope.”
---
The second time Chuck helped Raleigh through a heat, they were.
---
Eventually the medical staff and research team did get in direct contact with the creator of the patent owner of Raleigh’s first meds. The founder of the company had been old and content in living in relative obscurity in the middle of fucking nowhere. However, when he was approached by the PPDC team, he was quite happy to share the work of his company. He had plenty of research on clients using suppressants and how their body chemistry changed over time.
With the Breach closed, more omegas were experiencing their heats again. There still weren’t enough resources—like food—but the world was rebuilding. Still, Raleigh hadn’t been on meds for five years, mostly because there was no reason for him to even need them when he hadn’t been getting heats up in Alaska after Yancy died.
Most of the time the new suppressants worked well for Raleigh, but sometimes during the normal time when Raleigh should be having a heat, he got a little breathless, not quite begging to get fucked, but close to it. Chuck didn’t complain about it at all.