Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

November 17th, 2014

Twenty-two year old Zachery ‘Zeek’ Martin wasn’t expecting anything when he published the paper six months after the San Francisco battle as well as four months after the fight with the MUTO Prime. It was simply something about the theories of the ancient civilization and these prehistoric predators and creatures and cryptids. He was just expected to either be decently known or laughed at.

He was not expecting a knock on his apartment door two months after his publication and he certainly was not expecting Doctor Ishiro Serizawa and his assistant, Doctor Vivienne Graham standing there, clearly for business while he was still dressed in his muscle shirt and pajama pants with his short, dark brown hair a mess.

“Uh...hello? Can I help you two?” Zeek finally asked once he finally got over his shock before silently berating himself. Why did he have to ask like that?

“We would like to talk- if that’s fine, of course.” Vivienne spoke. 

“Sure, as long as you don’t mind my unprofessionalism.” He managed to joke before taking a step to the side and watched as the two walked in. “Go ahead and sit on the table. Do you want any coffee?”

“No thank you.” Ishiro stated as Vivienne shook her head before they sat down at the table. Zeek walked over and sat as well, looking at the two of them.

“So...you both wanted to talk to me?” Zeek shifted in his seat.

“My name is Ishiro Serizawa, I’m the head of MONARCH. This is my assistant, Vivienne Graham and we have a proposition for you.”

“A proposition?”

“We’ve read your paper.” Ishiro stated as Vivienne opened a briefcase that they had on them. “And we’d like to bring you on MONARCH.”

“My paper? But that was all just speculation. There’s just the slimmest chance that what I wrote is true.”

“And it turns out that it is true.” Vivienne stated as she set down a folder on the table. “This proves it.”

Zeek’s brown eyes flickered between the two of them before looking down at the folder before reaching for it and opening it. He took out the first photograph and his eyes widened slightly.

It was clearly a picture of a cave wall with some paintings on it from some ancient civilization but what was in it was something he was not ready to see at all. A large reptilian shape was towering over stick figures that were below it. The larger shape was on two legs with a long tail and what looked like a spiked back.

To the left of the shape was another one that was quadruped. It had a shorter tail and looked like it had a spiked...shell...on its back as well as a nose horn and a crown of horns on top of its head. The two shapes didn’t look like they were battling, it was more like they were standing together.

“What is this?”

“This is a cave painting.” Ishiro answered. “Found on Daikoku Island. It was found a month after the battle at San Francisco. As you can see, whoever drew this frew Gojira and another, though we don’t know what species it is. This isn’t the first time we have seen a Gojira individual appear in cave paintings and the like.”

The next photograph was of tablets that were inscribed and were in more detail than the other one. There was a Gojira individual in front of a red sun and pink clouds. His body was facing the sun but it had its head turned to look back. It was standing in a blue sea and below that, on the yellow sands were bowing people.

“Those tablets were inscribed in Phoenician. It’s the earliest recorded contact between the levant and the far east.” Vivienne explained. “This individual is known to be seen as the Japanese deity Raijin and the Ancient Semitic Sea God Dagon. It fell prey to Jinshin-Mushi- MUTO Prime- and became an incubator with the eggs laid in his body.”

“Okay, so I’m right- what does that have to do with you guys wanting me in the organization? You seem to have everything down.”

“You have more things right in your paper than wrong. Listen, you don’t have to make the decision right now. We’ll let you think about it.” She told Zeek.  “We just want you to know that it was on the table.”

Zeek stared at the two before his eyes drifted down to the photographs and he bit the inside of his cheek. When he wrote and published that paper, he never would have guessed that this would be the result of it. 

His eyes went back up to the two who still sat across from him. He took a deep breath and made up his mind right then and then.

“Yes.”

Chapter Text

January 5th, 2015

The oil rig- or what looked like an oil rig- looked small out in the Bermuda in the ocean with the waves lapping at its four support legs. Zeek wasn’t sure if they were heading there to refuel or what- it’s a strange place to refuel. His grip tightened on the back of the pilot’s seat as he watched the rig get closer and closer before he sent a questioning glance to Vivienne who stood beside him. 

“This is Outpost fifty-four, also known as Castle Bravo.” Vivienne explained. “It's our new outpost that began operations in late December.” 

“Okay...why out in the middle of the ocean?” Zeek asked as they got closer.

“It’s to study Godzilla in its own habitat.”

Zeek’s head swiveled towards her in disbelief. “What?”

“Castle Bravo, this is Raptor-One on direct approach.” the pilot stated into his mic, making Zeek look back out through the front. He felt the osprey swoop around and settle over the helicopter pad on the outpost. He expected them to land as they started to descend but no. The pad must have opened up as they were now in a vertical tunnel with lights around them.

Then, Zeek tunnel ended and they were in...Zeek didn’t know how to describe the inside other than it was larger, larger than almost anything he’d been inside of before. What really got his attention was the female MUTO head that Godzilla had severed from the inside using his breath.

The osprey continued to lower until it finally landed and the pilot powered it down and lowered the ramp in the back.

“We’ll show you around after showing you where you will stay.” Ishiro told him as the older man ushered him out after he got his suitcase and bags.

His quarters were of a decent size with a bed against the wall, dresser beside it, a desk and a monitor against the other wall with a window looking out of the ocean and a connected bathroom. It was sleek and had a rather futuristic design to it.

He sat his bags on the bed and set his suitcase beside it and, after taking a few extra moments to look around, he walked out of the room and into the hallway, where Ishiro and Vivienne stood, waiting for him. He closed the door and glanced at the room number, doing his best to commit it to memory before following the two down the hall.

Zeek wasn’t really paying attention to anything around him, so he didn’t know how long they had walked, going up an elevator and so on, before his eyes caught sight of a wide and tall wall. He paused when he realized that there was writing on it and he began to read.

The top had ‘in memoriam’, which gave him the idea and he scanned through the names.

‘Nick Adams’

‘Shigeru Kayama’

‘Tomoyuki Tanaka’

‘Takashi Shimura’

‘Iiji Serizawa’

‘Akihiko Hirata’

‘Raymond Burr’ 

‘Momoko Kochi’

‘Koji Hashimoto’

‘Keiju Kobayashi’

“Zeek.” He suddenly heard Ishiro call to him, making him blink and look over. He saw the other two had stopped and was waiting on him patiently. He mentally shook his head and quickly scampered over to them, apologizing before they continued on their way.

When they got to the control room, his mouth almost dropped open with all the tech that was already installed in this place. The government must have given them a higher budget as most of the hardwire in here, he was sure, was still simply prototypes.

“That,” Ishiro nodded voer to a white haired man in glasses that sat at a monitor. “Is Doctor Rick Stanton. He has been a part of MONARCH since nineteen-eighty-nine.”

“Officially, I’m the outpost’s Crypto-Sonographer.” Rick stated as he turned his head to look at Zeek. “And you’re they ‘civilizations and monsters coexisting expert’ guy. Nice to have someone else who’s crazy onboard I guess.”

Zeek’s first impressions of Rick: He did not like that guy.

“And this,” Ishiro started to speak again, making Zeek look over and noted a woman standing beside him wearing military fatigue. “Is Colonel Diana Foster. She’s the leader of our MONARCH’s military branch, G-Team.”

“Colonel.” He offered a hand. “Doctor Zachery Martin, but everyone calls me Zeek.”

She shook his offered hand. “Glad to have you onboard, doctor.”

This place, these people, were to be his home now and he couldn’t help but be skeptical about it. Looks like only time will tell, though.

Chapter Text

January 21st, 2015

Zeek was busy sketching in his notebook at his desk- one he entitled Godzilla Notes - Known Information , the monitor having a clear shot of Godzilla after the San Francisco battle when he heard the announcement about a landing Osprey came over the PA. He tilted his head slightly as his eyes flickered to his open doorway. Should he go see who it was or should he stay? 

As he was about to go back and sketch, his question was answered in the form of Vivienne stopping at his doorway, looking over at him.

“Doctor Serizawa wants you to meet him down at the helipad.” She told Zeek, making him look over at her with a raised eyebrow.

“I’m a part of the welcoming committee?”

“He wants you to meet someone. She’s our chief Paleontologist as well as a Director of Bioacoustics Studies.”

Zeek forced himself to hold back a sigh before he set his pencil down and stood up, tugging his sleeves on his button up down and followed the other out of the room and down the hall.

He could already see the osprey on the pad as they walked into that large chamber with the MUTO head. Ishiro was talking to a woman with curly hair and beside her was a...little girl? Why was a little girl here at the base? Was she the woman’s daughter?

He noticed the three heading to them though the girl was running and crashed into Vivienne who picked her up and Zeek blinked in surprise before looking at Ishiro and the woman, both standing in front of him.

“This is Doctor Emma Russell.” Ishiro introduced the woman. “Emma, this is Doctor Zachery Martin.”

“I prefer Zeek.” Zeek offered a hand and she took and shook it with a polite smile.

“It’s nice to meet you.” Emma’s eyes flickered over to the girl and Vivienne. “Honey, come here please.”

Zeek watched as the girl looked over at Emma before she was put down and the little girl walked over to her mother, grabbing her shirt.

“Sweetie, say hi to mommy’s new work friend. His name is Zeek.”

“Hi…” Madison greeted shyly and Zeek knelt down to be more at her level.

“Hey there.” Zeek smiled slightly. He tried to think of something more to say until he got an idea. “Who’s your favorite creature?”

That seemed to get Madison out of her shell a little bit. “Godzilla!”

“Yeah? That’s mine too. I’m actually doing some research on him. Want to help me with it?”

Madison seemed to perk up at that before she looked up at Emma, silently asking her.

“Well....I don’t want her to give you any trouble…”

“She won’t.” Zeek shook his head. “Besides, I offered. I don’t mind watching here with you, Doctor Serizawa and Doctor Graham talk about work and whatnot. I’m sure it’s very boring with a kid her age.”

Emma let out a chuckle at that. “Alright. Maddie, be good to Zeek, alright?”

“I will!” Madison excitedly grabbed onto Zeek’s hand and he led her away from the three.

Zeek had moved his stuff out to a conference room and he was sitting at the large table with Madison sitting beside him. She had a paper in front of her with a pencil and a few coloring pencils scattered about as she drew and colored. The man was writing in his notebook instead of drawing this time around.

Compiling the information that was already known by MONARCH was something of a Godsend to him. He didn’t have to go looking for this information, it was all right here.

“Zee.” Madison chirped, making Zeek look down at her. She was showing her paper proudly and on the said paper was what clearly was supposed to be the outpost and what vaguely resembled Godzilla floating next to it.

“Looking nice.” Zeek chuckled and Madison just grinned and grabbed another piece of paper and began to draw again.

Zeek watched before he went back to his writings.

Chapter Text

March 1st, 2015

“Zeek.”

Zeek rubbed his eyes, blinking as he sat up at his desk in his quarters, covering his mouth as he let out a yawn. He glanced at the time and noted that it was three in the morning; Shit, he fell asleep at his desk- again. He looked and, to his surprise, he saw that it was Ishiro who had woken him up.

“Oh, hey Doctor Serizawa.” He straightened up in his chair. “What are you still doing up?”

“I had some late night duties to tend to. Why are you asleep at your desk?”

“Oh, uh...I was working on some of my notes and I guess I nodded off?” He scratched the back of his head sheepishly. Ishiro sighed and shook his head before glancing at the other’s monitor, which had Dagon’s skeleton on display.

“You should get to bed.”

“Come on, I’m fine. I can do another hour-”

“I will get Doctor Graham.” Ishiro cut the other off. Zeek stared at him as if the other was joking, but Ishiro was as serious as ever. He wanted to snort at the threat but he knew better. He had seen how she was with Ishiro when the man would be up late doing his own work. The one rule with Vivienne he had learned in these last few months was to never not take care of yourself or she will force you to do so.

“You wouldn’t.” 

Ishiro just raised an eyebrow at him. 

“...Ugh, fine.” he grumbled as he stood up from his seat, shutting down his work station and closing the notebook that he had opened on his desk. “Anything else before I listen to your commands?”

“No, just be well rested.” Ishiro stated before he left the room. “Goodnight.”

“Yeah, yeah, night.” Zeek called after him before he walked over and closed the door, letting out a small sigh. He trudged to his bed, not even bothering to change into his sleep clothes and simply fell on the bed and got comfortable. He closed his eyes and he was out like a light a second later.

Chapter Text

March 17th, 2015

Zeek’s first impression of the twins was that they were more wise then what some others gave them credit for, namely Rick. They had introduced themselves to Zeek as Doctor Chen and Doctor Ling. He had gotten along with them well so far though they mostly talked about their work with Mothra’s egg in the Temple of the Moth in China.

He had liked listening to them and what they had to say about Mothra, the legends in the region about her and other aspects. His first and foremost area will always be Godzilla, but that doesn't mean he didn't like to hear about the other creatures.

Currently, he was sitting in the cafeteria with the two, eating and talking about their respective creature interests. He was listening to the twins’ theories about Mothra, although it seemed like they believed them more than just theories. It was a rather pleasant conversation that Zeek was enjoying.

“Have you seen Gojira with your own eyes?” asked Ilene after she took a bite of her food.

“No, Never seen the big guy in person. Have either of you?”

“No.” Ling shook her head. “We’ve been in China for all of what happened in San Francisco and with the MUTO Prime.” She paused for a moment, her eyes flickering down to the red composition notebook in front of him that read ‘Theories On the Titanus Gojira Species; Volume 1’. “What’s that?”

“Oh, uh, I’ve decided to do some...theories while I’m here. The big guy doesn’t show his face much, so this is what I’ve been occupying my time with when Doctor Serizawa and Doctor Graham don't have anything for me to do.”

“Can we see?”

“There’s only...five entries at the moment.” Zeek handed his book to Ling, who opened to the first page where it had theories one and two. The first being a theory on the species’ long lifespan and the second about the potential place of Godzilla’s home- the home being in Hollow Earth.

They turned the page and read the third theory, this one about the MUTO’s EMP and why it worked on Godzilla. The next page was Godzilla’s food and finally, Godzilla’s breath.

Zeek took a sip of his drink as they read all of the theories and, once they were done, closed the book and handed it back.

“You really like to theorize and speculate.” Ilene spoke, causing Zeek to shrug.

His name was being called and he started to stand. “Duty calls. Thank you both for having these conversations with me. I enjoyed them.”

“We enjoyed them as well.” Ling smiled. “Hope we get to talk like this later.”

“I’m sure we will.”

Zeek grinned and walked away, happy to be able to share his thoughts and theories with more people other than Ishiro and Vivienne.

Chapter Text

May 15, 2016

Zeek was at Ishiro’s desk, reading the email that Vivienne had sent back with notes containing the Titan that was cased in ice in Antarctica that was discovered by the Reolus Satellite which was partially thanks to the Titan’s extreme electromagnetic pulse fluctuation. According to Vivienne’s notes, this creature seemed to be bigger in Godzilla and what she could see with the pose, it was in mid-fight.

As he and Ishiro read the last of the email, Zeek furrowed his brow at the footnote she had included.

The Devil Has Three Heads

That’s all it said, which was rather strange. She had never left a footnote like that before. It usually had two or three lines, not one.

“That’s not ominous at all.” Zeek attempted to joke. “Whatever this titan is, it must be freaking her out.”

Ishiro nodded before typing up a reply and sending it to his former assistant before leaning back in his chair with a soft sigh, taking off his glasses.

Zeek took this time to look at the other’s desk. Folders, the older man’s laptop, the usual works. Then, his eyes drifted to the framed pictures on the other’s desk.

The first one was of his parents that was in black and white. The second was of a woman in a kimono, perhaps at a festival. The third was one of Ishiro, the woman and an infant. Another is of the woman and the boy, now a child and then one of the child who was now a teen. There were no more photographs after that.

“Your family?” Zeek nodded to the pictures, making Ishiro glance.

“Yes. My parents and then my late wife. The infant, child and teenager is my son, Ren. I...have no recent pictures of him. The last one was taken...before my wife passed.”

Zeek simply hummed, not going to dig as he understood that Ishiro was a rather private person. The other telling him about his family was more than enough in his eyes.

“I’m pretty sure it's your shift in the control room.” stated Ishiro after a beat of silence, making Zeek groan, his frame slumping. Great, just what he needed, being around Rick.

“Yeah, yeah. I don’t suppose you can give me another assignment?”

Ishiro merely gave the other an amused look and Zeek sulked out of the office, grumbling.

Chapter Text

November 29, 2017

Zeek was trying to sleep in for once.

He was still under the covers when the clock struck nine- he was usually up by six- and he was dozing as his biological clock had gotten him up at his usual time. He had stayed up longer than he should have the might before and he had beaten himself up when he first woke up. He figured that they didn’t need him early, that they got everything handled so he could sleep in.

That was, until Rick came onto the PA system.

“Code Blue, Code Blue. The big G is coming up to say good morning.”

It took a minute for Zeek’s dozing mind to realize what that meant, to remember what Ishiro told him about the different codes.

His eyes snapped open before he quickly got out of bed and changed before heading straight to the control room. When he rushed in, he could see everyone looking at the large window, including Ishiro and Vivienne.

The two glanced at him when he approached them but said nothing and simply looked back at the window. Zeek followed their gaze, looking out at the dark waters.

“Big guy’s closing in. A hundred meters.” Rick stated. “...Ninety meters… He’s maintaining speed. Eighty...seventy...sixty….He’s slowing down...fifty...forty-five...forty…bioacoustics on the speakers.”

There was a sound of an heart beat and a soft growl-like sound.

A blue glow suddenly illuminated the room from the outside, making Zeek squint slightly. The glow dimmed before it flared up again, like a pulse that was in time with his heart beat. 

“Thirty meters...twenty-five...and he stopped.”

Once Zeek’s eyes adjusted to the pulsing glow and his breath was taken away at the sight of the titan in front of them, orangish brown eyes regarding the outpost that he and the others were in, the window that they were all looking out of. Jaws opened, air bubbles escaped, floating upwards and over the speakers there was a soft rumble. Godzilla closed his jaws before he seemed to snort, letting air bubbles escape his nostrils 

Then his whole body began to move again, making a U-turn.

As he was turning, Zeek got a good look at the titan’s dorsal plates. They had grown back, though they didn’t seem to be done growing. He was at least happy that the titan seemed to be at enough strength to venture out, stretching his limbs with a swim.

He watched as the glow slowly faded away and he continued to swim.

“He’s going the way he came.” Rick stated, relief clearly in his voice. “That was...something."

“It was like he was...checking things out.” Zeek spoke up after a moment.

“But why would he?” asked Vivienne. “Why give us a time of day?”

“I’m not sure.” Zeek admitted as he shifts his weight from one foot to the other. “Has he ever approached before?”

“At different stages of building this outpost.” stated Ishiro. “But that was to see what we were doing. Why he did so just now...I do not know.”

Zeek looked out of the window once more, deep in thought.

Chapter Text

June 1, 2018

“This is boring.” huffed Zeek as he stared at the monitor in front of him. Why did he volunteer in a surveillance night job in the first place? Boredom? He didn’t remember. Of course, Ishiro thought it was a great idea when Zeek tried to backtrack, the traitor. He continued to stare at the monitor, shifting in his seat before something was suddenly thrust into his line of sight, making him blink.

He noted that it was a water bottle with the MONARCH logo on the wrapper. He took the offered drink, glancing and saw that it was Vivienne.

“Why are you still awake?” Zeek asked as he unscrew the cap and took a sip of the water.

“Last minute work. How’s everything here?”

Zeek just grumbled for a moment. “I will get Ishiro back for this, the traitor.”

“And how will you do that?”

“Easy, he’s not allowed to read any of my theories for a week.”

Vivienne snorted at that. “Yes, I’m sure that will teach him.”

“Of course, he likes my theories too much.” Zeek joked. The other rolled her eyes at him, shaking her head.

“So full of yourself.”

“That’s blasphemy, Vivienne!”

“I’m sure it is.” She deadpanned. “Have fun with the rest of your shift.”

“You’re just gonna be leaving me to my lonesome?”

“Yes.”

“So cruel. At this rate, you’ll never find yourself a boyfriend!”

“Good.”

“...Oh wait, I forgot. There’s Ishiro-” Zeek felt Vivienne lightly tapped him on the top of the head, making him snicker. “Night.”

“Good night.” And Vivienne had walked off, leaving Zeek by himself. With a sigh, Zeek took another sip of his water and settled in his chair for the rest of his shift.

Chapter Text

May 2019

“Osprey landing. I repeat, osprey landing.” a voice came over to PA, making Zeek perk from his spot at his desk. He quickly got to his feet, grabbing his two notebooks and scampering out of the room and made his way to the large room that held the female MUTO head and made a b-line to the osprey. He could see Sam, Ishiro and Vivienne walking out, followed by a man he didn’t know.

“Welcome back Ishiro, Vivienne, Sam.” Zeek greeted the three.

“Hey Zeek.” Sam waved slightly.

Ishiro glanced at the two notebooks. “You’ve been busy?”

“Yep. been writing out the new data into the facts book. It distracts me.” shrugged the man.

“Zeek.” Vivienne spoke up, causing Zeek to look at her. “We’d like for you to meet Mark Russell.”

Zeek blinked before looking at Mark, his mind catching up to who this man really was, and then held out his hand. “Nice to meet you Mark. I’m Zachery Martin, but you can just call me Zeek, everyone does.”

“Likewise.” Mark gripped his hand and they shook before Zeek pulled away and then Sam decided to open his mouth.

“He’s more or less our Godzilla expert. He has the facts that we have so far gathered up and he has all these theories about him.”

“I’m not really a Godzilla expert.” Zeek shot a look at Sam.

“We need to get to the meeting.” Ishiro stated before anyone else spoke, causing the other three to look at him. They followed him to a meeting room where everyone else was already there, waiting for them. Once they were situated, the meeting began.

“As you know, at approximately oh seven hundred hours, our containment site in China’s  Yunnan Rainforest was raided.” stated Vivienne as the monitor behind her changed to the said rainforest and the exterior of the Temple of the Moth. The specimen, codenamed Mothra, escaped. Only to cocoon itself later under a nearby waterfall.”

The screen changed again for footage of Mothra under the waterfall, noiselessly roaring at the helicopters in front of her. Then, a picture of Emma came up, as well as Madison.

“While Doctor Russell and her daughter, Madison, were taken hostage. This is the man responsible, Jonah Alan.” The said man’s picture came up. “A former British army colonel turned ecoterrorist who is obsessed with restoring the natural order and to fund his operations, he began trafficking in a new and dangerous market. Titan DNA.”

“What the hell is someone gonna do with a giant worm?” asked Martinez.

“Are you kidding me, Martinez?” Rick shot back. “What can’t you do with it? Pharmaceuticals, bioweapons, food...hell, there isn’t a country or a company on the planet that doesn’t wanna get its hands on one of these suckers. Remember, this is just a larva. That’s a baby. After it cocoons, something else is gonna crawl out. Something bigger, meaner…”

“We don’t know that, Rick.” Ilene cut in.

“Oh yeah? Just wait for it, Chen.”

“Our intel indicates that Jonah wants to capture this specimen.” Foster spoke up. “Alive. Which means that he and his mercs won’t be far behind. At Zero five-hundred, we’ll ship out to launch a joint operation--”

“I wouldn’t bother.” Mark stated, cutting her off.

“Excuse me?”

“Sounds like a duck hunt to me.”

“Uh, Mark, why don’t we let Colonel Foster finish--” Sam tried to say but Mark got up.

“A decoy. A diversion. Look, they’ve already got Emma and the ORCA. Why would they want just this one when they’ve got the keys to your entire magic kingdom of horrors back here. I think they want you to go after this Mothra so they can go after a real prize. Something bigger.”

“Right.” Foster took a deep breath.

“Mark,” Ishiro began. “This is not the first specimen they’ve captured. They know what they are doing.”

“That’s not just a specimen. I’ve got an ex-wife and a daughter out there,” Mark looked down at Sam. “In case you forgot.”

“No, no one has forgotten that, Mark.” Sam replied back. “But, uh, need I remind you that you were brought on here to help track the ORCA, and to advice us--”

“I advise you to kill these things. All of them.” Mark pointed at the picture on the screen behind him, at Godzilla rising out at the Bikini Atoll. “Especially him. You wanna make sure these things don’t fall into the wrong hands? You kill them, and the ORCA is useless.”

“Emma wouldn’t have wanted that.” Ilene stated. “Even to save her life.”

“Well, it wouldn’t be the first time Emma put all of this before herself or her family, would it?”

“What do you propose then, Mark?” Zeek spoke up, making Mark look at him. “You have your own pet monster lying around? How about an acidic sludge one? A Transformer parked at your home? Please, tell me how to kill the Titans? The way I see it, the only thing that can kill them is each other. No modern weapons can harm them except for maybe Kong.”

Zeek watched as Mark set his jaw before he turned and stalked out of the room.

“Dude hates Titans.” Barnes observed.

“Yeah, well, you would too if you were him.” Sam told the other.

Chapter Text

May 2019

Zeek sat at his desk, on his monitor, flicking through the countless cave paintings that he had seen a dozen times over. The same cave paintings that held Godzilla with humans, Godzilla with the spiked back, four-legged Titan and Godzilla with Mothra. This is something he usually did when he couldn’t think of anything to write or really do anything. 

He sighed, running a hand through his hair before he noticed a rumbling and then his quarters beginning to shake around him.

“All personnel,” Foster’s voice came over the PA. “report to battle stations. Code Red. All personnel to battle stations. Code Red. This is not a drill.”

Zeek scrambled to his feet and ran straight for the control room, meeting up with Mark just outside it and they gave each other a look before going over to Ilene.

“What’s going on?” Zeek asked her.

“Something’s wrong. He’s never aggressive like this before.” she stated as she walked to Ishiro and Vivienne

“Who’s he?” Mark questioned.

“Who do you think?”

“He’s taking out our observation drones.” Vivienne stated as she gestured towards the large map on a monitor.

“Trajectory?” Ishiro asked Rick.

“Straight at us. Twelve-hundred meters and closing.”

“G-Team. Barnes, Martinez Hendricks, I want you on those CROWS now!” Foster ordered.

“You heard boss lady!” Zeek heard Barnes yell. “Let's move.”

“Doctor Stanton, do you have his bioacoustics?” Ishiro looked over at Rick.

“Acoustics coming up!” Rick’s fingers danced over his keys and such and the acoustics came over the speakers. “Okay, he’s closing. We’re at eight-hundred meters!”

“His movements are erratic. Heart and breathing are elevated.” reported Vivienne as the shields closed over the large window.

“Yeah, he’s definitely not happy about something.” Sam piped up.

“He’s agitated. He’s never been agitated before.” Zeek stated, ignoring whatever Mark and Ilene was saying until another rumble shook the outpost.

“Circling now. Two-hundred meters.” Rick reported.

“All teams in position, weapons hot. Ready to engage on my command.” Foster stated.

“Hold your fire.” Ishiro ordered. “We don’t know if he’s going to attack.”

“Well, he will if you keep those guns trained on him. Now, I want him dead more than anybody, but unless this is a fight that you know that you can win, for God’s sake stand down.” Mark advised. Another rumble shook the outpost, causing the lights to flicker.

“Stand down.” Ishiro told Foster.

“You can’t be serious.” Foster stared at Ishiro.

“I am. Stand down.”

“...Stand down. I say again, safe your weapons and do not engage.”

“Listen.” Ilene spoke up and Zeek noted that the beating of Godzilla’s heart was changing. “His heart rate is slowing down."

There was a faint growl and Mark looked over at Ishiro. “Open the shields.”

“Oh yeah, sure. Let’s bring him in for a beer. You out of your goddamn mind?” Rick cut in as Zeek, Ishiro and Vivienne looked over at Mark.

“Let him know we’re not a threat. Open the shields.”

There was another faint growl as Ishiro looked over to Rick and nodded. “Do it.”

Rick did what he was told and the shields began to open. Godzilla was emitting the blue glow from his reformed dorsal plates but it was different from the last time Zeek had first seen Godzilla in person, face to face. It was still in time with his heartbeat but instead of ten seconds of the glow, it was six and it was flickering, as if in a pattern.

“What’s with the light show?” asked one of the soldiers. 

“It’s an intimidation display.” Vivienne answered. “Like a gorilla pounding on its chest.”

“Consider us very intimidated.” Sam swallowed.

“I don’t think it’s for us.” Ilene stated.

Zeek nodded. “He didn’t give us a display when he came to chuck us out in twenty-seventeen. Something’s agitating him- something he can sense.”

Then, Mark was walking towards the glass slowly, making Zeek look at him.

“What are you doing, dude?” asked Rick and Zeek quickly to shush him, making the other glare at him in return. Mark was almost right up against the glass as Godzilla let out a fate bellowing before the Titan began to swim backwards, the glow fading once more and the water outside stayed dark. Everyone let out a collected sigh of relief before Godzilla suddenly flared up his dorsal plates as he swam past the window and began to swim away, scaring the shit out of everyone.

“Can we maybe close the shield now?” asked Rick.

“Show me his territorial routes.” Mark told Rick as he went to the large monitor.

“What? Why?”

“Because I want to start a boating tour. Just show me.”

“Okay, coming up.” On the screen, the routes are shown.

“Mind telling us what you’re looking for?” asked Foster.

“When an animal leaves its hunting ground, it's usually because it's threatened by something.” Mark explained.

“Run a course projection.” Vivienne ordered.

“We gotta go after him. He’s looking for something out there. It could be the ORCA.” Mark looked at Ishiro who looked at Rick.

“Doctor Stanton, what’s your projection?”

“All paths have him  landing in the same place. Antarctica.”

Zeek felt his heart drop at the word. Antarctica, home of outpost thirty-two. Why did it have to be to the one place he never wanted to set foot in? Ever since he saw the pictures that Vivienne had sent once the outpost was established of the frozen Titan...

“Good then. I mean, let’s go! Let’s go find him and…” Mark trailed off once he took in everyone’s expressions. “Wait, what’s in Antarctica?”

“Barnes, contact the Argo .” Foster told Barnes.

“Yes ma’am.” Barnes went to do just that while Mark looked back at the map.

“Ishiro, Vivienne,” Zeek spoke up, making the both of them look at him. “I’m coming with you.”

“Zeek--” Vivienne began but he quickly cut her off.

“Please...I need to go with you guys. You two always said that I should start going into the field. I want to do so now.”

Neither said anything for a moment, just simply glanced over at the other before nodding and looking back at the other.

“Alright, you may come with us.” Ishiro sighed, making Zeek nod. Was he happy that the two are letting him? Yes. Was he also happy about where his first field mission was? Hell no.

He can only hope that everything goes smoothly and no one dies when they get there.

Chapter Text

May 2019

“The specimen at this site has been kept entirely off-book.” Vivienne was explaining as she, Zeek, Ishiro, Mark, Ilene and a few others were on the Argo and gathered around a table that had a touch screen built in it. “And since its more recent discovery, our data is limited. But it seems to be another apex predator.”

“Emma called it Monster Zero.” Ishiro added.

“It may have been a rival alpha to Godzilla. Battling for dominance over the other titans.”

“Doctor Chen?”

“I’ve been scouring through thousands of years of myths and legends.” Ilene dragged her finger away from her on the touchscreen, making multiple paintings and the like fly into view. “But it’s almost as if people were scared to even write about it.”

“As if it was meant to be forgotten.”

“Sorry, I hate to crash the party.” Rick cut in as he walked over to them. “But I got some bad news.”

“You could just say news.” Barnes huffed. “It’s always bad.”

“We lost Godzilla. He dropped off the scan near Venezuela.”

“Dropped off?” asked Mark as Ishiro bowed his head and took a deep breath.

“I’m telling ya, Doctor Brooks was right. It’s the Hollow Earth. That’s how he moves around so fast, using the underwater tunnels like wormholes Just like, zipping around.”

That was one thing Zeek and Rick could agree on; the existence of it.

“Everyone, look sharp.” ordered Foster. “We’re approaching the base.”

Those who were going went to get dressed in warmer clothes, though Zeek hesitated at first, looking down at the paintings and drawings for a few extra moments. He didn’t know why, but he had a bad feeling in his gut, a bad feeling that something was going to happen; something big and something bad.

With a shake of his head, he went and joined the others, getting suit up and went to an osprey and walking inside it with Mark, Vivienne and a few others. Then, they were airborne with a second osprey.

“If Jonah is looking to extract genetic samples, they’ll be here in the bio labs.” Vivienne pointed at the screen, where the labs were located.

‘All right, two minutes!” Barnes spoke to his teammates in the osprey. “Check your equipment, stand by the door.”

Zeek glanced and saw the team had done just that and when they landed, they poured out with their guns at the ready and they were heading towards the base. Zeek glanced over at the live feed before he walked to the ramp and stood just outside it, looking at the base. He crossed his arms, biting his lip at the quietness of it all.

He almost jumped when the sound of gunfire before Mark was marching passed him. He blinked and watched as the other man went until it clicked. He must have seen his family on the live feed and thus was going all gung-ho to rescue them.

He didn’t know how long it was since Mark ran in there; a few minutes? Ten? He did notice that the gunfire from the live feed had stopped. Then, a sudden, muffled explosion and the ground beneath his feet trembled.

“What the fuck?” he frowned before looking back at the base as another tremble and the power flickered inside it. he could see a group, Jonah’s, running to the osprey that had been there before their two. Then, the rotors began to spin to the right speed and it was starting to lift up off of the ground, up and up until it was hovering high in the air.

Then, he heard yelling and he looked. He could see Mark and the G-Team running as fast as they could away from the base, which had collapsed through the hole below and the pit widened, swallowing some of the G-Team as well. As they jumped clear, an explosion came from within the hole, bellowing out smoke and fire.

Something was happening, something Zeek did not like. More smoke swirled out of the pit as the others stepped out of the osprey, staring as well.

The first thing that rose up was clearly a tail, bits of ice falling off of it and its...quills? Spikes? Flared and did a little rattle before a long neck with a dragon-esque head followed. It shook before a second appeared and then a third. A second tail joined them and Zeek could feel dread fill his being at the sight of the newly revived Monster Zero. The three heads were looking at each other, letting out small growls and rumbles before it began to climb out of the pit, sending Mark and the G-Team running straight for the osprey.

Large, leathery wings came free and onto the ground, followed by the large, clawed feet. Some of the G-Team turned and began to fire up at the large, three-headed titan. It didn’t seem bothered and the left head was leaning down towards the men, even one over with its chin.

Mark, Barnes and a few others got to the chopper and everyone scrambled inside as the rotors began to spin and started to speed up more and more...until yellow sparks came out of the controls and the rotors stopped. Zeek looked through the little circular window with Ishiro and he could see Monster Zero heading straight towards them and he was panicking on the inside.

“This is Raptor one to Argo!” Foster radioed out. “Requesting  immediate urgent extract!”

“Griffin, get us the hell outta here!” Sam shouted.

“Shit...shitshitshit-” Zeek mumbled as he watched the titan come closer until it suddenly stopped, confused and agitated, pulling its necks back and shaking its heads before looking up, probably at Jonah’s osprey and Zeek could see its throats growing yellow from within.

Then, it stopped, dazed for a moment before the middle head shook itself and growled over to the right head, which replied before looking at the left. The left head was still out of it, so the middle bite down on its horns, bringing it back before Monster Zero turned its attention towards them. It began to stalk closer and closer.

The osprey rocked as the titan hit it on all sides, including the top of the cockpit, breaking the glass. Zeek’s heart pounded as he held on to the first thing he could grab, which was Ishiro’s and Vivienne’s arms, who both tugged him to the ground with them. When Zeek looked out of the circular window again once it stopped hitting the chopper, he could see the three heads look around, as if it were sensing something.

A pinging caught Zeek’s attention, making him look at the radar. Something big was heading their way.

Zeek and Mark stood up with Vivienne and Ishiro, eyes never straying from the radar before they saw a blue glow begin to show through the ice in front of them, about almost a football field away.

Glowing dorsal plates broke through the ice, followed by the rest of the scaled body.

A foot came down on the ice, then the other and Godzilla stood tall, his back straightened for a moment before going into his usual hunched stance. He glared at Monster Zero before lifting up a foot and bringing it back down. He inhaled before he thrust his head forward, jaws opening and letting out a roar that made Zeek’s ears ring.

“Everybody, hold on!” Foster ordered as Monster Zero screeched in return and the two began to go towards each other. 

Zeek felt the chopper move as Godzilla took a step and when he took another, his tail must have hit them as they went sliding until they came to an abrupt stop, making Mark slam into the wall and a plate that was holding the wires in the ceiling swung down, trapping the man.

“Everybody clear out!” shouted Foster. “Let's go!”

While everyone was filling out, Zeek got to Mark and started to try and lift it off of him. Unfortunately, due to his physique, the thing hardly budged. 

Vivienne began to help just as the chopper shook, as if something landed outside before he heard Godzilla let out a roar. 

“Are you alright?” asked Vivienne as they managed to get Mark out.

“Got it- go!” Mark told the two. Vivienne jumped out, followed by Zeek and Mark but the latter lost his footing and fell. Zeek quickly helped him to his feet just as the chopper fell through a crevasse.

The two look just as Godzilla just got struck by...lightning that came from Monster Zero’s middle head. Godzilla flinched, letting out a growl before his tail lifted up and slamming back onto the ground. A familiar humming noise sounded, getting louder and louder as the blue glow began to travel up from the dorsal plates on his tail, up his back and to the back of his neck. He positioned himself before letting his nuclear breath fly, but he aimed it too high, at the necks. It’s snake-like necks dodged the breath before sending its own lightning at Godzilla.

The three bolts struck Godzilla in the chest, sending him down, his head turning and destroying the remainder of the base that was still standing. His breath disappeared but Monster Zero kept at it until Godzilla was sent skidding into the pit.

“Come on!” Mark shouted as he began to run once more and Zeek quickly scrambled after him. The two men and Vivienne kept running before she looked up and let out a terrified scream. 

It all happened so fast. She was there and then she wasn’t, just golden jaws lifting up a chunk of ice. 

Mark had to grab Zeek to stop him from rushing past, the younger man’s mind still processing what had actually happened. All Zeek could do was stare, wide-eyed at Ishiro who had fallen to his knees, a devastated look shown clear on his face. Zeek felt his heart constricted. 

One of his closest friends was gone now, taken away by the titan she had built an outpost around. One of his closest friends he couldn’t tease anymore, he couldn’t talk about anything too again.

He wanted to cry, to scream at Monster Zero, to curse at it. He wanted one of his best friends back.

The next few minutes was a flurry of motion. Mark had grabbed his arm, starting to run again as jets flew in, bombarding the large titan with missiles. Mark stopped them and there was an explosion in front of them, sending them flying back into something solid and hard. They crumbled to the ground and Zeek could see the edges of his site darkening as he watched as Monster Zero took flight and then, he knew nothing more.

Chapter Text

May 2019

Zeek groaned as he came to, eyes slowly blinking open. He let his eyes adjust to the brightness of the day before he slowly forced himself to sit up, wincing as pain erupted from his back, and took in his surroundings. The medbay on the Argo with his clothes on the chair next to his bed. He rubbed his head, closing his eyes as he tried to remember what had happened, why was he-

He remembered a terrified scream. 

He remembered the sound of ice being crunched.

He remembered how Ishiro looked as he fell to his knees.

He remembered that goddamn screech.

He slammed a hand over his mouth, his free hand gripping the blanket in his lap as he began to remember more and more. Vivienne...she wasn’t here, not anymore and the full weight of that fact slammed into him.

“Damn it…” he gritted his teeth as he pulled his hand away from his mouth and slammed it on the bed. “Fuck!”

He took deep breaths, giving himself five minutes, now was not the time to mourn and wallow, that will come after everything was said and done. He slid out of the bed, detached what he needed to detach and quickly changed before heading straight to the bridge. As he walked inside, he noted that everyone was tense, seemingly expecting the worse with a beeping noise echoing through the air.

“What’s going on?” he asked, causing everyone to look over at him.

“It’s Emma.” stated Sam. “She just shut down Outpost fifty-six’s containment system.”

“How much time do we have?” asked Ishiro.

“I’m not sure.”

“Is Emma acting on her own or is Jonah forcing her?” Questioned Zeek.

“...the former.” Ishiro answered and Zeek set his jaw before nodding.

“Oh shit” Sam suddenly spoke up.

“What?” Zeek looked at the other.

Sam looked at Zeek, then Ishiro, then Mark. “She’s using the ORCA through the speakers. We don’t have time. Reports coming in that containment have been breached.”

Zeek, Ilene, Mark and Ishiro all looked out of the glass and, as they continued to get closer and closer. Zeek could see black smoke billowing out of the volcano as fireballs were flung outwards and lava began its slow track down the sides. On top of the volcano was really caught Zeek’s attention. The creature was just...perched there, not moving in the slightest except for looking around.

“You got a catchy name for this one?” Mark asked Ilene.

“Local legends call it Rodan, the Fire Demon.”

“That’s comforting.” Mark stated sarcastically before looking at Rodan, who was roaring.

“Uh, guys…?” Sam spoke up, causing everyone to look at him again and he was looking at the map that showed the developed storm. “You remember that tropical storm where we last lost Monster Zero? It’s changing direction and, uh...guess where it’s heading now.”

“That's not possible.” Rick stated. “No storm moves that fast.”

“Unless...it’s not a storm.” Ilene suggested.

“It’s Monster Zero.” Zeek added just as the marker for the titan came up in the middle of the storm.

“Oh man…” swallowed Sam.

“We need time to finish the evacuation.” Ishiro stated.

“Well, you better hurry ‘cause it's closing in fast.” stated Rick.

“Serizawa.” Mark quickly spoke up, causing the said man, Ilene and Zeek to look at him. “It’s no coincidence that the Monster Zero thing is heading here. It’s reacting to Big Bird’s cries. That means it's coming for food, a fight or...something more intimate.”

‘What do you suggest?” questioned Ishiro.

“We lead them on a crash course towards each other.”

Ishiro thought for a moment before nodding over Foster, who got on her headset and began to command the jets that were flying with them. Two of the jets broke formation and sped up, heading straight to Rodan. One jet let two missiles fly towards Rodan. The titan looked at the incoming missiles before they struck his torso. He let out a screech, though it mostly sounded annoyed then pain filled. He spread out his wings, making himself appear bigger. Soon, more jets were adding their missiles to attacking Rodan, all met their mark.

“Oh, I think we got its attention.” stated Mark as Rodan looked over at the Argo.

“Everyone, strap in.” Foster ordered. “All ships, follow our lead.”

Zeek gripped the railing as Rodan continued to look at the Argo, head tilting ever slow slightly. Then, the Argo was turning away and was going back the way it came and Zeek held onto the railing for dear life. 

One glance at the map and Rodan was following. The Argo tilted upwards and they were above the clouds, Rodan following close behind.

“Argo to Gold Squadron, let's lure this turkey from the mainland straight to Monster Zero! ETA two minutes!” Rick radioed out. Zeek looked out of the front windows and he could see the dark storm clouds ahead of them, yellow lightning flashing. Then, the justs pulled ahead before going back to distract Rodan from the Argo.

Then, there was a clap of...something and Zeek figured that it was Rodan going up higher to get away from the jets and taking some out along the way. Zeek gripped the railing more, ignoring what everyone else was saying, even when Ishiro was telling him to sit and strap in.

Then, they were in the storm, dark clouds all around, rain battering the metal and yellow struck all around them. One bolt struck them, causing the Argo to shake and shudder. Zeek quickly dropped down and wrapped an arm around the railing, gritting his teeth.

Then, three sets of glowing red eyes stared at them as Monster Zero flapped its wings two...three times before righting itself upwards and flaring its wings out and it was like this thing was suspended in mid air for a moment.

With a jerk, the Argo was diving down and down before they made it out from the lower layer of the storm and the Argo was quickly made parallel to the ocean.

“Jesus, they're killing each other.” stated Rick.

“Copy, Raptor one.” Foster suddenly responded, making Zeek glance over at her. “What’s your status?”

Foster looked over at Rick. “Lock onto their position and prepare the hangar for an emergency landing.”

“Hanger doors are unresponsive.”

“Manual override?”

“They're stuck!”

Mark suddenly unfastened himself and got up before turning. “All right, which way is the hangar bay?"

“I can show you.” Sam walked over.

“Anybody else?”

“I know the way. I...come on!” Sam motioned him to follow before heading out of the room, Mark following.

“I hope you have a wrench.” Rick called out at them.

Then, there was a beeping and Rick looked over at Ishir. “It’s Admiral Stenz.”

The Admiral’s face came on screen and Ishiro walked over to it. “Admiral.”

“Doctor Serizawa, Colonel Foster. I need you and your forces to immediately disengage and withdraw from a safe distance.”

“Admiral, I don’t understand?” Foster walked over to stand beside Ishiro.

“We have been developing a prototype of a new weapon. An oxygen destroyer. Designed to exterminate all life forms within a two mile radius. With any luck, it will kill these things and this nightmare will finally be over.”

The rest of the conversation was lost to Zeek as those words pounded into his head. He stood up, rubbing his face before looking at Ilene, who was looking back at him and was standing up with him. 

Godzilla appeared a split second later and both he and Monster Zero were thrashing in the water, though it seemed like Godzilla was winning when Mark, Sam and a few others came running in.

“We’re getting outta here. Military launched a weapon. It’s gonna kill them both.” Rick told them.

“Well, that’s not the worst idea.” Mark grunted before going to the table with Ilene, Ishiro, Zeek, Sam and Foster following. They all stared at the trajectory of the weapon as it got closer and closer to the targets as Rick counted down.

The shockwave hit the Argo, causing the ship to tremble, rumble and the screens to flicker. After, everything was...quiet except for the ambience of the Argo as it turned to go back to check things.

Zeek’s heart stopped when he heard the familiar screeching and he slowly looked. Monster Zero was in the air, although one of its heads was missing. Zeek just felt so defeated now. 

“Doctor Stanton.” Ishiro spoke up. “Can you locate Gojira?”

“Yeah, I got something.” Rick replied as he held a headphone up to his ear. “His vitals are fading. Radiation levels plummeting. Come on big guy...fight it…”

After another moment, he pulled away the headphone from his ear, his voice now quiet and solemn. “He’s gone.”

“Looks like you got your wish, Mark.” Ishiro stated as he looked at the said man before he sat down. 

“Where’s Monster Zero heading?” Zeek asked quietly. “Can we put it up on the screen?”

“Sure, Zeeky.” There was no teasing tone in Rick’s voice as he put the live feed up on the large monitor. Monster Zero had just landed on Rodan’s volcano and seemed to be in pain, the two remaining heads screeching. 

“...No…” Zeek braced himself on the table, a tongue poked out from the stump before a membrane like film grew and grew, forming bone, muscle, flesh and then lastly scales. When the third head was fully formed, it spread its wings and let out a loud roar. Then came Rodan who landed on the slope of his former home before bowing to Monster Zero.

And then, reports came flooding in. Titans all over the globe were waking up, freeing themselves from their outposts.

“Oh...oh fuck ."

Chapter Text

May 2019

Zeek was dozing.

He was sitting close to where Mark and Ilene were and he was dozing, although it wasn’t a peaceful doze. Monster Zero’s cackles and roars echoed through his mind, his best friend’s scream and the bright light that took away their one chance at survival. He shifted in his chair, his hearing picking up the quiet voices of the other two but he couldn’t make out what they were saying.

Then, he was forced to be fully awake when the other came walking in, already talking.

“This oxygen destroyer,” Foster was saying. “Why wasn’t Monster Zero affected?”

“I mean, I’m no scientist, but I think it has something to do with his goddamn head growing back.” Barnes replied as Zeek stood up, stretching.

“Well, I’ve never seen anything like it.” Rick stated. “It violates everything we know about the natural order.”

“Unless he’s not a part of the natural order.” Ilene cut in as she swerved her chair towards the others and they all looked over at her, Zeek giving her a questioning look.

“What do you mean?” asked Ishiro.

“I was able to piece this together.” She typed on her keyboard and the larger monitor before her changed to what she was researching. A cave painting depicting Godzilla and Monster Zero with some text opened next to it.

“Well, he looks vaguely familiar.” Sam swallowed.

“It is the tale of a great dragon who fell from the stars. A hydra whose storms swallowed both men and gods alike.”

“What, you mean an alien?” Mark looked at her.

“Yes. He’s not a part of our natural order and he’s not meant to be here.”

“A false king.” Ishiro murmured.

“An invasive species.” added Rick. “That could explain how he’s creating these massive storms and the effect he’s having  on the other titans. It’s almost like he’s reshaping the planet to his own liking.”

“These legends, what did they call him?”

“Ghidorah.” Ilene answered. “The one who is many.”

Zeek ran a hand through his hair, taking a deep breath. Today just keeps getting better and better, he thought before looking at the cave painting again, his mind piecing things together. The two fought years and years ago and-

“Doctor Serizawa,” Griffin spoke up, grabbing everyone’s attention. “We’re approaching Castle Bravo, but there’s something you should see.”

Zeek frowned and walked over with Ishiro and Mark. Destroyers and aircraft carriers surrounded the outpost with helicopters and other ospreys were in the air above it.

Mark glanced at Zeek and Ishiro. “I’m guessing you weren’t expecting these guys.”

Everyone was gathered in the control room, Stenz standing beside the large monitor that was showing the titans and their rampages.

“Moscow, London, Washington, DC, all under attack.” Stenz began to talk once everyone was paying attention to him. “On every continent, the titans are triggering earthquakes, wildfires, tsunamis and disasters we don’t even have names for yet. Now as before, we have been trying to lure the creatures with nuclear materials, but they are not taking the bait this time. Their behavior has become random. Erratic. And with our forces spread desperately thin and these things roaming the globe unimpeded, we are running out of options and time.”

Stenz suddenly looked over at Ilene and Mark, who was whispering to each other. “Excuse me, do you have something to add?”

Ilene turned towards Stenz, hands on her hips. “Yeah, you’re wrong. Their behavior is not random or erratic.”

Mark walked up to Stenz. “If I may, sir.”

“As amazing as this sounds, they’re moving like a pack. They’re hunting. All packs like wolves to killer whales, they respond directly to an alpha.”

“And Ghidorah is their new alpha.” Zeek said, realization coming across his face and Mark nodded before he began once more.

“And all the creatures are just doing his bidding. They’re an extension of him. We stop him, We stop them all.”

“Is there another creature that might stand a chance against him?” Foster asked.

“No.” Ishiro shook his head. “Ghidorah and Gojira’s rivalry was ancient and unique.”

“Right,” Martinez spoke up. “So, we killed our best shot at beating this thing?”

“Yep.” Zeek’s voice was entirely too cheery. “No offense Admiral, G-Team, but our military and probably our government is fucked as seen with this and with twenty-fourteen. The experts tell them not to do a thing, they do it anyway. We told them to let Godzilla handle it but oh no, can’t have that, gotta show everyone who’s boss.”

“Zeek.” Ishiro stated, firmly yet gently.

“...Right, sorry.”

“It’s okay, Zooks.” Barnes patted Zeek on the shoulder.  “We’ve been through some tough several hours. You feel better after getting it all out?”

“...Not particularly.” Zeek mumbled and Barnes just squeezed his shoulder.

“Why don’t you go grab a shower and cool off. You might feel better then.”

“I guess.” Zeek turned and trudged out of the room.

“What are you guys staring at?” asked Zeek as he walked inside to the control room, hair damp and now wearing a clean pair of clothes. He could see everyone staring at the large monitor in awe and he noted that, whatever’s on the screen, it was giving off a bright enough glow that it was bathing almost everyone in its yellowish light.

When no one answered, he walked over and he couldn’t help but stare along with them. Glowing wings flapped to keep its owners afloat in the air.

“Mothra, Queen of the Monsters.” Ilene stated, making Zeek look at her before looking back at the screen.

“You getting this, Stanton?” Zeek heard Mark ask.

“I record everything now.” the white haired man replied. “Everything.”

“It’s like a song.” Ilene observed.

“I bet there’s only one thing that can understand this.”

“Gojira.” Ishiro realized.

“Yeah, I got it. Picking up a reply. Bringing it up.”

Through the speakers, there was a heartbeat beat before the answering, rumbling roar sounded throughout the room. Zeek could help but slump, feeling a sense of relief.

“He’s still alive.” Ilene said, the same thing Zeek was thinking.

“Can you track him?” asked Ishiro.

“No, the signal is too weak.” Rick answered. “But maybe she can.”

Mark turned to look at the others. “How many nukes do you have?”

“Why?” Ishiro slowly took the headphone away from his ear.

“We could help him.”

“Go in, send the nuke to Godzilla and explode it so he soaks the radiation from it up.” Zeek stated, getting to what Mark was saying quickly.

Mark looked over at Zeek and nodded. “It’s the only way. I wish it wasn’t.”

“I wish it wasn’t either, nukes aren't exactly my favorite thing.”

“It’s necessary though. At least now, you’ll probably have new material for your fact book.”

“Well, then.” Zeek looked at the others. “Let’s get Operation Revival G underway.”

He heard Rick let out a snicker and he flipped the older man off, a bit good naturedly.

Chapter Text

May 2019

“We’ll be out of range while you’re down there.” stated Foster on the monitor. “But a squadron will stay behind to keep an eye out for you.”

“Appreciate it.” Mark stated.

“All righty, Bowman,” Commander Crane was talking to a crewman behind Zeek, Mark and Ilene. “Let’s take her down.”

The alarm sounded while Bowman gave the order to dive.

“Good luck.” Sam nodded to the three.

“Thanks Sam.” Mark paused for a moment. “We’ll need it.”

Zeek felt the sub move and tilt and knew that they were going down, diving deeper into the ocean, at the spot where Mothra showed them. He took a deep breath, leaning back against the table next to Ishiro, a little bit nervous about being in a submarine for the first time. He noticed Ilene walking to another monitor and watched as she began to go through the legends about Ghidorah once more. He tried to focus on what she was doing, to distract himself from everything.

“What time is it?” Mark suddenly whispered, making Zeek glance over and noticed that Ishiro was currently stroking the glass of his open pocket watch.

“Time to get a new watch.” Ishiro replied after a moment of silence, closing it and slipping it back into his pocket.

“Andrew’s favorite joke. You never took that watch out of your pocket without him asking that question.” Mark paused, as if gathering his thoughts. “If you told me five years ago, I’d be trying to save the thing that took my son, that would be the only way to save the family I have left…I…”

Ishiro turned towards Mark. “Sometimes, the only way to heal our wounds is to make peace with the demons who created them.”

“You really believe that?”

“Don’t you? Isn’t that why you are here?” Ishiro took his glasses off as he leaned back against the table once more. “There are some things beyond our understanding, Mark. We must accept them and learn from them, because these moments of crisis are also potential moments of faith. A time when we either come together or fall apart.”

Ishiro turned so he was facing the table, putting his glasses back on and putting his hands on the edge of it. “Nature always has a way of balancing itself. The only question is, what part will we play?”

Mark stared at him for a moment. “Did you just make that up?”

“No, I read it in a fortune cookie. A really long fortune cookie.”

“Don’t believe what he says.” Zeek cut in. “He totally has this book he writes these things in.”

Ishiro gave Zeek a half-hearted look while Mark softly snorted. Zeek only looked at Ishiro innocently, everything just melting away from the three of them for a moment.

The moment was gone as the sub shook, making the lights flicker around them. Zeek gripped the edge of the table harder as the sub continued to shudder and rumble around them before he knelt down to grip at whatever he could.

“Status to the ship?” asked Crane. 

“Some sort of vortex, captain.” answered Bowman. “It’s dragging us! Sixteen-hundred feet until impact!”

There was a bigger shudder now. “Eight-hundred feet. Emergency blow! Two-hundred feet! One-hundred! Twenty-five!”

“Brace for impact!” A crewman shouted and Zeek was doing his best to do just that. Then, it was black for God knows how long, the sub jerking as if it was landing on something, until the lights came back on after the sub had stilled, red emergency lights flashing and alarms were blaring. The screens were glitching heavily.

“Status report!” He heard someone state as Zeek stood up with the others.

“Can’t fix our position. GPS is down. But inertial says we’re…” Bowman pressed some keys as he looked down at the monitor, confusion clear on his face. “six-hundred miles from departure.”

“That can’t be." Crane said in disbelief.

“I knew it, man!” Rick said excitedly. “The vortex was a tunnel into the Hollow Earth. It’s a subterranean tunnel system that connects the entire planet- it doesn’t matter. I knew I was right. I told you, Chen!”

“Shut up, Rick.” Ilene snapped.

“One second emergency blow forward.” Crane ordered as he walked to one of the crewmen at the set of controls. The sub began to come to life and move once more. “Doctor?”

Ishiro looked over. “Launch probes.” 

Rick sat at the probe's controls and Zeek, Ishiro, Ilene and Mark all stood beside him, watching his feed as he began to push the probe forward.

“Range, one-thousand meters. Camera good. Holding range. Steady.” Rick mumbled to himself as the probe travelled down a stone pillar before a stone, human face came into view, making Ilene and Rick jump. “Jesus.”

“Pan right.” Mark told him and Rick did what he was told. As Zeek glanced at the other feeds, he could see what looked like an old style ship, a Viking or a pirate ship. 

Then, they were entering what looked like to be a large, long no-ceiling hallway with what Zeek could only guess was magma or liquid radiation at the floor and there were arching, bridge-like structures connecting the two sides and tall towers towered over them.

“Looks Egyptian.” Mark observed. “Or Roman.”

“No, this is something different.” Rick stated. “This is...way older.”

On Rick’s feed, the shape of Godzilla was seen etched on the wall, beside it was ‘Gojira’ in clear Japanese. “Oh my.”

On the other feeds, there were bowing humans etched into the stone on the wall.

“All the legends, the stories, they are true.” Ilene breathed before one depicting Ghidorah appeared on the right’s feed. “They really were the first Gods.”

“If only the earth and stones could speak, the stories they could tell us.” Rick hummed.

“Doctor Stanton,” Ishiro spoke up. “Any sign of Gojira?”

“Yeah, the probe is picking up a radioactive blob-” Rick hit a button and the feed changed to a green and yellow screen before it was moving up and stopped at a large red spot. “Just past this ridge.”

“Set a course.”

Orders were said and they were carried out as quickly as they could. 

“I think we should stop.” stated Rick after they had been going for twenty minutes.

“Why?” Ishiro asked him.

Rick tapped on his screen where the radiation warning symbol was red. “‘Cause I still wanna have kids one day. Preferably without flippers.”

“All stop. Hover the ship.”

The sub stopped and the drones kept going, now entering a closed hallway before two of the three probes were destroyed, Rick’s kept working.

“We got O2, CO2 and methane.” Rick reported. “It looks like there’s some sort of air pocket in there.”

The probe continued before going upward and breaking through the water’s surface, the camera looking around. Liquid radiation was pouring down into this large chamber that seemed to have structures. The camera panned to the right, to a maiya pyramid looking structure with a familiar shape on top of it.

“My God…” Mark whispered.

“Zilla.” Rick whispered right after Mark, making Zeek roll his eyes before the feed cut out and Rick pulled his hands back. “And goodnight, Gracie.”

“Pull up the last frame.” Ishiro told Rick who did so. “There. The source of the radiation.”

“That’s why he returned here.” Ilene stated. “He’s feeding, regenerating.”

“This is his home.” ishiro turned away to look through his little book.

“This is how he survived for so long.” Mark stated. “Always adapting. Evolving. It's incredible.”

“So, dude’s got this covered. Right? He just needs a little nap.” Rick turned to the others.

“No.” Ilene shook her head. “This process could take years.”

“We have to proceed as planned.” Ishiro told them.

“Hang on,” Rick looked at Ishiro. “We’re gonna launch a nuclear torpedo in order to revive a giant monster? Okay, this is not...this is not like we’re just jump-starting a car.”

“We have another complication.” Crane cut in. “Our weapons systems were damaged during the crash. We can’t launch.”

“Can it be repaired?” asked Mark.

“I’m afraid not.”

“Damn it.” Zeek sighed, running a hand through his hair.

“Okay, what if we go inside, set a timer and blow up the warhead manually?” asked Ilene.

“No way.” Rick shook his head. “If the heat doesn’t fry you, the radiation will.”

Zeek stepped away, chewing his bottom lip in thought. This is one situation he never thought he was going to be in. Making a choice of not doing anything or…

He took a deep breath and opened his mouth to volunteer, to be the one to make the sacrifice so no one felt the need to via pressure and expectation.

“I’ll go.”

Zeek’s head snapped around to look at Ishiro, his heart plummeted for the second time since this whole thing started.

“What the hell does that mean?” questioned Mark.

“There must be another way.” Ilene told Ishiro.

“There’s no time for a debate.” Ishiro told her.

“So let me go.” Zeek blurted out. “We’re not- I’m not-”

“I’ll go.” Ishiro stated a second time with a tone that left no argument as he looked at Zeek before he turned to get himself suited, leaving Zeek and the others standing there. 

The next few moments between then and the airlock was a blur for Zeek and when he got into the airlock, Ishiro was already in the dive suit.

“First contact, you’re gonna start losing your long range vision. When you surface, your motor skills are going to start to fade but I put a helioxed mixture in the tank which should keep you stable a little bit longer.” Rick explained. Then he lifted up a hand. “It was an honor, man.”

Ishiro lifted up his own hand and shook Rick’s. Then, Ishiro looked at Ilene who took a step forward and hugged him as tight as she could. It lasted a minute before Ishiro stepped back, looking at the four in front of him. “Thank you.”

He stepped closer to Mark, handing the other his journal. “My notes.”

Mark took the journal. “Are you sure?”

“He fought for us. Died for us. He’s not only proof that coexistence is possible, he is the key to it. Take care of them, Mark.”

Then, Ishiro turned towards Zeek, who was standing quietly. “Zeek, I want you to have something.”

“Ishiro-” Zeek tried to speak up but Ishiro shook his head before lifting up a tied cord and put it over his head, around his neck. Zeek looked down, reaching up a hand to lift the pendent on the cord so he could see what it was.

It was a round wooden one with Godzilla’s stature curled up with its jaws agape. The wood that made up the curled Godzilla was was darker then the rest of it with no paint or anything on the pendent.

“Like Vivienne's, I was going to give it to you on your thirtieth birthday.” Ishiro stated, making Zeek look back at him. Then, he held a hand up, his hand at level with his face and Ishiro mirrored him, their hands clasping onto each other.

“When you see her up there, make sure to tell her I said hi. Also, for God’s sake, make the first move already.” he joked weakly, though tears were filling up in his eyes. 

“I will.”

Zeek didn’t know if he was saying that to both or the first one but either way, he didn’t care. He committed his best friend to memory before they both hugged each other that lasted a moment before breaking it up. Ishiro patted Zeek on the shoulder, giving it a squeeze and walked past him and into the submersible before looking at the four one last time. He gave them a smile before putting his helmet on and he started the engine. The glass slowly came down and he was sealed inside.

Zeek looked over at Ilene once Ishiro was fully submerged and saw Rick had a hand on her shoulder as tears trickled down her face, a hand lifting up to cover her mouth. He moved over to her and, once Rick’s hand slipped from her shoulder, she turned towards Zeek and buried her face into his shoulder as she quietly sobbed.  Only then did Zeek let a few tears escape as he rubbed Ilene’s back soothingly, raising a free hand up to wipe away his tears.

“Come on.” Mark murmured gently. “Let’s head back to the control room.” 

Zeek only nodded and let Ilene go before he glanced at the water. “May you make peace with your own demons on this final voyage, Ishiro.”

He turned and followed the others to the control room, reeling in his emotions and dried the tears in his eyes. 

“Bowman, take us out, fast.” Crane told the other as they all walked into the control room. Crane and Mark looked at the radar that most likely showed Ishiro moving away from them. “He’s clear.”

Then, they were moving fast- or at least, Zeek hoped they were. It was hard to tell in a submarine and He only heard the other’s words to go by. 

They had come back the way they came and got to the tunnel before going through the vortex once more and were rushing to the surface.

Then, the sub rocked from the shockwave, making electronics flicker, making Zeek hold on to the arms of his chair for dear life as it continued to rock and rumble until the shockwave pushed them, making the sub rocket out of the water before slamming back down onto the surface. Then, the alarm began to blare.

“You all right?” He heard Mark ask Ilene, who replied affirmatively.

“You, Zeek?”

“Yeah, just peachy.” Zeek groaned before he, Mark and Ilene got up. He could hear Crane telling Bowman to send out a distress signal to the Argo before leading the three plus Rick up to the hatch and opening it, helping everyone out.

They were instantly soaked as rain pelted them. Mark raised the binoculars he was carrying up to his face and looked around.

“You see anything?” asked Ilene, her voice raised so the other could hear her over the rain. Zeek looked around before seeing...something, water swirling as if someone pulled a plug out of the train of a sink or bathtub and there was a blue glow coming from it.

The first thing that came up was the glowing dorsal plates, surging with newfound power. Godzilla kept rising up and up until he towered over them before the familiar humming sound began and he threw his head back and let his nuclear breath free, the stronger blue and white stream of weaponized radiation cutting through the clouds above. 

Then, he closed his jaws, letting his head fall back into his usual position until his head turned towards them and he began to move closer and brought his head down closer, as if to get a better look at the humans.

“Nobody move!” Mark shouted at everyone and they listened. Zeek watched as Godzilla’s nostrils flared as he took in their scents, his eyes glaring, looking at each and every one of them before those eyes lost the glare and instead, seemed to soften while looking at Mark and Zeek in the eyes. 

Zeek could have also sworn that he could hear his heartbeat was in sync with Godzilla’s and possibly Mark’s.

Then, he was lifting himself up and turned around before diving back down into the water, his tail giving a parting splash to the humans, causing them all to be even more trenched. 

Zeek watched as Godzilla swam, his dorsal plates slowly going under the water’s surface.

“Are you okay?” Ilene asked Mark. 

The man said nothing at first as he stared after Godzilla. “I know how to find them.”

“Let's make him proud and not screw this up.” was the first thing that Mark said as he handed the little book over to Sam, who looked shocked before it turned into sadness. He looked down at the book as Mark walked into the control room, trying to get his voice to work as the others walked up to him, Rick walking in.

“H-how did he, um…” Sam stammered.

“By saving us.” Ilene said quietly as she walked in, Zeek and Sam following.

“Sam, what do we have going on?” Mark asked as Sam and Zeek walked up on either side of him.

“We think Emma activated the ORCA somewhere near Boston.” Sam reported. “That’s why Godzilla and Ghidorah are both heading that way. But we haven’t been able to pinpoint the exact location without the missing piece of the RCA signal.

“I’ve got the missing piece.” He pressed the button that made a signal spring up from its speakers.

“It’s Godzilla, right? I mean, I know we tried.”

“It’s not Godzilla. It’s us.”

“What do you mean “us”?” asked Foster.

“Emma combined the bioacoustics of Godzilla with a human. That’s how she made the signal for the ORCA. The creatures just think it's another apex predator.”

“Well, that makes sense.” Rick cut in. “I mean, we are a bunch of horny murderous carnivores.”

“Yeah, that’s real poetic.” Foster glanced at Mark. “Now what?”

“We track it, we find it and we get my daughter back.” Mark replied.

“What about Moe, Larry and Curly over here?” Rick motioned to the cave painting, particularly towards Ghidorah.

“Godzilla will bring balance.” Ilene answered.

“Oh, I get it. A little Serizawa’s let-’em-fight action. I used to love it when he said that.”

“No.” Mark spoke up, glancing at Rick before looking at Zeek. “This time, we join the fight.”

Chapter Text

May 2019

Zeek stood beside Mark in the Osprey,  watching as Godzilla got closer and closer to land before he paused. In the distance, Zeek could see Ghidorah arching his necks back, the golden glow seen from his three throats as he was about to blast someone or something on the ground in front of it.

Godzilla seemingly took a deep breath, his dorsal plates grew brighter before he unleashed his nuclear breath, hitting Ghidorah in the torso and sending him tumbling back. Godzilla let out one roar, announcing his presence before letting out a second as he resumed walking. Jets soared past him and destroyers sailed beside him.

Godzilla and humans; battling the three headed devil as one. Never would Zeek have thought he would live to see this day. He wished his best friends were here to see this.

“Okay, we’ve zeroed in on the last ping from the ORCA. Fenway Park, dead ahead.” Sam stated over the radio. “We’ll lay cover fire to keep Ghidorah distracted.”

“Copy that.” Barnes acknowledged.

Godzilla made it to land, One foot lifted out of the water, setting down on train drenched ground and the other followed suit.

You better be watching, you two, thought Zeek. This is what we always theorized and it became true.

Zeek watched as the Argo flew in low to barrage Ghidorah with some missiles before banking and the jets behind it did the same. Ghidorah straightened up before looking at Godzilla, who charged. Ghidorah quickly did the same and, when they clashed, it caused a shockwave that made the osprey tremble slightly.

Then, Sam came on the radio again. “Okay guys, you need to find the ORCA, get Madison and get the hell out of there. Whatever Serizawa did to Godzilla worked a little too well. ‘Cause he’s about to explode like an atom bomb.”

“Roger that.” Barnes said as the Osprey drew closer and was lowering towards the park despite the two titans clashing right there. “Prepare for landing.”

Godzilla threw Ghidorah, who skidded a few feet. Ghidorah snarled as he got up and as Godzilla began to walk towards the alien.

The light within the osprey went red as it began to land. There was a roar from Godzilla before the chopper jolted, as if being hit by Ghidorah’s lightning, which it probably did.

The door dropped open and the first two soldiers were vaporized. Zeek tried not to think about it as he rushed out with everyone else into the rain, the ground trembling at each step the two creatures took. They were so close that he could almost see individual scales on Ghidorah’s foot.

He looked up and saw the left head biting onto Godzilla’s shoulder but Godzilla used his tail to smack the other’s legs, pushing him away.

“Madison!” Mark suddenly yelled, voice trying to overpower the rain and the fighting monsters. Then, Godzilla had one of Ghidorah’s heads on the ground, a clawed foot on the long neck, close to the head.

“I got something!” shouted Martinez. “Over here, check this out!”

Zeek and Mark began running, only pausing to duck as a yellow bolt struck too close for comfort. Mark got closer than Zeek, who was a few paces behind when he had to duck.

“I found the ORCA, sir, it looks pretty banged up. No sign of your daughter!”

Above them, Godzilla pushed Ghidorah back but the right head bit into his shoulder, the middle his neck and the left his left arm.

“She’s not here!” Martinez said as they began to move towards the osprey. “We gotta get outta here!”

Before they could get any closer, Ghidorah’s foot stepped on the osprey, making it explode and shrapnel going everywhere. The explosion caused everyone to fall back and Zeek landed on his back, now feeling pain in his left bicep and his right side.

“Zeek!” he heard Mark call out before hands gripped his shoulders. There was a massive tremor, as if something had fallen onto the ground and was being dragged. “Zeek, focus on me!”

Zeek opened his eyes- when had he closed them?- and he saw Mark above him, looking down at his body. Zeek followed the other’s eyes and he could see blood gushing out of his left bicep and right side. When he lifted his shirt up, he was relieved that whatever hit him had only left a gash and, from the feel of it, so did whatever hit his bicep.

“I’m fine.” Zeek assured Mark as he forced himself to stand, Mark helping. Then, he saw Godzilla on the ground and just unleashed his breath, hitting Ghidorah in the chest and forcing him back. The twin tails lifted up and were coming down close to them when the small band of humans noticed a bluish shimmering light before Mothra appeared just as Godzilla closed his mouth.

She let out a high-pitched chattering before spitting out a web and stuck all three heads to the building but the right head got free, roaring at Mothra before attempting to free the other heads. The head paused, obviously seeing Godzilla in the buildings reflection, turned and screeched at Godzilla, biting at him but he continued to charge forward and smashing Ghidorah right through the building.

Mothra let out her own roar as she soared and Godzilla simply titled his head, as if acknowledging Mothra, and looked back at Ghidorah. Then, Ghidorah let out a different sounding roar, causing Zeek to frown before looking up towards Mothra and noticed a flicker of red before Rodan came out of nowhere and slammed into her. The two grappled in the air, letting go only to roar at each other and went back to grappling.

Zeek heard an engine and they all turned just to see a military Humvee driving towards them before skidding to a stop, revealing Emma in the driver seat.

“Get in!”

Zeek didn’t need to be told twice and he quickly scampered into the back with the other following. 

“Emma…” Zeek began, his voice both happy yet angry at the same time. 

“Later!” she told him as the others got in, Barnes and Martinez helping an injured Griffin inside. Then, they were off, driving out of the park and began to drive down the road with a jet smashing into the building next to them.

“Where’s Madison?” asked Mark.

“I don’t know! I thought she was there!”

“Well, she’s not there!”

Emma was jerking the Humvee to swerve away from any explosions despite the protests from Barnes.

“I hope you’re as good at finding her as you are at losing her!” Mark snapped.

“I didn’t lose her, she ran away!” Emma snapped back.

“Well gee, I wonder why!”

“I can’t blame that kid.” Barnes cut in. “If I had these two for my parents, I’d run away from home too.”

Emma slammed on the brakes as she and Mark looked at Barnes. “What did you just say?”

“If I had you two for parents, I’d run away from home too.”

The two looked at one another and they spoke in union. 

“Home.”

Emma began to drive again, the sounds of the battle all around the Humvee. Zeek couldn’t see what the hell was going on and he wished he could. Especially when everything began to lit up brightly, causing him to flinch. 

“The fuck?!” yelped Barnes. No one answered him, they just kept going until they pulled up to a stop and everyone save for Griffin climbed out of the Humvee. Zeek could see the demolished buildings and his heart sank at what that could mean.

He glanced over in the other direction and saw Mothra, wounded with her wings singed, on a tall skyscraper. Below her was a flailing Rodan, in pain and also injured.

Some ways away was Godzilla taking a few steps back. The bright light from earlier had got to have been Ghidorah and wounded Godzilla with whatever he did.

“Maddie!” Mark yelled. “Madison!” 

“Maddie!” Emma screamed.

“Mads!” Zeek followed after Emma and Mark through the rubble. 

“Madison!” Mark yelled again.

“Madison!” Barnes joined in and they all continued to call for her, hoping that she could reply, would call back.

“Emma!” Mark called and he was moving, his ex-wife scrambling after her followed by Zeek. He could see a hand sticking out from a bathtub that had some rubble on it. Barnes, Mark, Emma and Martinez all pushed the rubble off of the tub and Emma immediately started to sob.

Mark picked Madison out of the tub and set her down on the ground with Emma.

“Oh my baby.” cried Emma, smoothing the girl's hair out of her face with a hand. “Is she breathing? Mark, is she breathing?”

Mark put his head close to her head and neck as Emma gripped her daughter’s hand, kissing the back of it.

Then, Modison gasped before she was coughing. Emma placed a hand on Mark’s back before the man helped Madison sit up and he quickly hugged her with Emma joining in.

“Mom...Dad…” cried Madison. “Mom...Mom…”

“We’re here.” Emma said soothingly.

“Gave us all a heart attack.” Zeek moved closer to the three, causing Madison to look over.

“Zee…” Madison sniffled.

The moment was broken as Godzilla roared in the distance, making everyone look at the fight. Ghidorah flew into the air and dug his feet claws into Godzilla before flapping his powerful wings and airlifted Godzilla. The two titans flew higher and higher, above the smoke and devastation, above the storm clouds.

The family, Zeek and the soldiers walked to the Humvee before Godzilla fell through the clouds and crashed into the ground, sending dust clouds every which way, even over them. They could only watch as Ghidorah landed a few feet away from Godzilla, his wings flaring as he screeched.

When Zeek looked over at Godzilla, he could see Mothra climbing on Godzilla, really hitting home how much smaller she was compared to him. Her wings came up and covered Godzilla while glowing brightly. Then, she let out a scream and flew into the air, heading towards Ghidorah, her wings faltering but she never stopped, even when the glow appeared in the necks of Ghidorah. 

Zeek felt his heart squeezed when Ghidorah let his bolts fly, smashing into Mothra. She let out a screech as she was pushed back and back until a bright light overcame her and Zeek covered his eyes. When it died down, Zeek uncovered his eyes and saw blue colored...energy fall down to Godzilla and it was as if he absorbed it, turning red as it entered his body. Again, Zeek felt his heart squeeze when Godzilla lifted his head and roared weakly, as if calling out to Mothra. Then, his head fell back to the ground.

Ghidorah approached Godzilla and the big guy could only roar as red began to show through the cracks of his scales and his dorsal plates.

“Osprey coming in two minutes!” shouted Martinez.

“We gotta work fast!” stated Mark.

“To do what?” asked Emma.

“To fix the ORCA.”

Mark let Madison go, grabbed the ORCA and began to fix it. Zeek looked back and saw Ghidorah’s heads and necks slithering across the ground like snakes before wrapping them around the big guy, lifting him up and beginning to bite into him, causing Godzilla to roar in pain. Red started to show through the golden scales and Zeek instantly knew what was going on.

Ghidorah was sucking the power gifted by Mothra from Godzilla.

Zeek looked over just as Madison pressed the button, turning on the ORCA. Just in time too as the osprey landed on the ground. Barnes and Martinez was the first to head over to it.

Emma was kissing Madison on the forehead when Mark yelled for her before pushing Madison into her father’s arms.. “Okay, take her. Take her. I still have to activate it. I’m right behind you, go!”

Then, she was looking at Zeek, was standing beside her. “Zeek...promise me.”

Zeek looked at her. “What?”

“Promise me that you will help Mark take care of Madison- be that uncle that will always be there for her.” 

His eyes widened as he realized what she was planning on doing. “Emma-”

“Please, promise me. I can’t...I can’t put her in any more danger. The ORCA was supposed to make the world a better place, coexisting with the Titans but...I was so stupid. I caused millions of lives to be lost because of this device. I thought it would only be collateral damage but I realized...just….please. Promise me.”

“I…” he set his jaw. “I promise, Emma.”

She gave him a quick hug before pushing him away and he ran over to the osprey with a heavy heart. He heard the pulsating signal begin as he got on the osprey and looked back at Emma.

She started to run towards the osprey before stopping, looking over to where Ghidorah was probably charging from and then back at Mark and Madison. Then she mouthed three words that caused Zeek to set his jaw again.

‘I love you’

“No…” Madison shook her head, her voice trembling. Then, Emma was turning around and running back to the humvee. “No!”

“Emma!” shouted Mark as he held onto Madison so she wouldn’t run after the older woman.

“MOM!” Madison cried out as she fell to her knees. Mark set down behind her, holding her against him. The osprey lifted up into the air, higher and higher. Zeek could see Ghidorah coming after them first before turning and going after Emma, who was now driving the Humvee.

The osprey was flying over the destroyed city, out towards the ocean. Ghidorah was still in pursuit of Emma before he was airborne and was letting out bolts to try and hit her. Her Humvee disappeared behind some debris and smoke before reappearing, flipped onto its hood.

“MOM!” Madison screamed as Ghidorah landed, stretching his three necks towards the overturned Humvee.

A flicker of red caught his attention and he looked more towards the left and saw Godzilla lifting himself out of the crater. “Guys, look!”

“Oh fuck.” He heard Barnes state behind him.

Godzilla was still wounded but the red energy that was flashing all over him was becoming more and more frequent as he began to stagger after Ghidorah. It took him a moment to get the strength, the confidence back but soon, he was striding with a purpose. The energy stopped flashing and had engulfed his body, glowing through every crack in his scales, every dorsal plate and even his eyes. Around him, buildings began to melt from his higher body temperature.

Zeek noticed that they were in airplane mode now, going higher and higher to gain more elevation, making his ears pop.

Then Godzilla let out a roar, causing Ghidorah to whip around and letting out his own roar. Godzilla took a few more steps before he bowed his body and his dorsal plates were alive with energy, charging up until he threw his upper body up and released what looked like a pulse of energy. If Zeek didn’t know any better, he could have sworn he saw Mothra’s wing’s within the pulse and her cry when he released said pulse.

King Ghidorah let out a pained screech as he landed on his back, both wings now burned and tattered as he used it to shield his main body. Ghidorah tried to crawl backwards as Godzilla approached once more, even trying to attack him with his bolts but it did nothing, Godzilla simply absorbed it.

Once more, Godzilla sent out a pulse. This time, it took out both the left and right heads, leaving the center head alone. The lone head roared at Godzilla.

Godzilla roared as well before lifting up a foot and stomping it onto Ghidorah’s torso, pressing down until the chest cave and Zeek quickly turned his head and closed his eyes. Still, he could see the flash behind them and waited until it was gone for him to open his eyes and look.

There was a mushroom cloud reaching up towards the sky as the sun slowly started to rise. When the cloud cleared away, he could see a crater where Ghidorah and Godzilla once were. Zeek frowned before he noticed something moving under the wreckage. Ghidorah’s head was revealed but it looked half dead now. Godzilla followed and he had Ghidorah’s neck in his mouth, thrashing it about as Ghidorah shrieked. He slammed the head into the ground, dragging it before he got to his feet.

His dorsal plates began to charge their natural blue color before he obliterated the head with his breath. He closed his mouth, a little yellow spark crackled around his mouth.

“Jesus.” Rick winced. “Glad he’s on our side.”

“For now.” Ilene replied.

“Until humans fuck up.” Zeek added.

“Look.” whispered Madison. Zeek could see a titan, Behemoth, walking up from behind Godzilla, the said titan turning to look at it. Then, Scylla approached and then a female MUTO who Zeek didn’t know existed. Methuselah also arrived, stopping next to Behemoth but the mammal and Godzilla paid him no mind.

Rodan flew in and landed down in front of Godzilla, letting out a roar and raised his wings. Godzilla and Rodan stared at one another for a long moment before Rodan bowed. 

Godzilla looked at the others, standing up tall, as if ready to fight against anyone who would dare challenge him.

One by one, the titans began to bow down to Godzilla, acknowledging him as their new and true alpha.

Zeek felt a smaller hand grab his, making him look down. Maddie had reached and gripped his hand and he gave hers a squeeze, now feeling the throbbing and the pain from his two gashes that were most likely still bleeding. He paid no mind to any of that yet as he turned his head back to the scene before him.

Godzilla gave one last look over the titans around him before he threw his head up and roared towards the heavens.

The world has changed and it is up to the humans to try and change with it.

Chapter Text

July 24th 2019

Zeek didn’t go to either of the funerals when they were held two weeks ago.

It wasn’t like he didn’t want to go. He did.  He really did, but with no bodies to truly bury and with how his mental health is right now...he didn’t think he could handle going to the funerals. He knew that if he would have gone...he would have broken down right then and there as soon as he saw the empty caskets.

So, he usually spends his time at his desk, working or in his bed, trying to disappear from the world. He tended to not talk to whoever came to the door except for when it's dinner time and whatever else, although he did talk to his parents to let them know he was fine….even though that would be a little white lie.

A knock on his door interrupted his thoughts, making him look up from his work on his desk and over to the door. “Yeah?”

“It’s me.” came Ilene’s voice. “I brought you lunch. May I come in?”

“Yeah, sure.”

He watched as the door opened and his friend walked inside with a bowl full of his favorite ramen and a mug of green tea. He watched as she placed it on the desk and looked at him and he knew she was taking in his not so great appearance.

Dark under his eyes, more pale than before and it was like he had lost some weight which was probably true. He hadn’t eaten a whole lot, just whenever someone brought him food.

“Thanks.” Zeek attempted to smile as he grabbed the bowl and the fork that laid beside it. “How's the big guy?”

“He’s making sure the other Titans are behaving. Although, we also think he’s looking for a new home.”

“I could imagine it’s not going well for him. Kinda makes me sad that we had to...uh...blow his home up.” He watched Ilene nod as he started to eat his ramen. “How's Maddie?”

“She’s...doing as well as a kid can be with everything she went through.”

“Yeah...true.” he sighed, rubbing the back of his neck once he was finished eating before taking a sip of his green tea.

“How have you been?”

“Oh, you know, same old.” 

He saw her open her mouth at his vagueness before closing it once more and sighed, making him feel a little back as he knew she was worried about him.

“Alright. Call me if you need anything.”

“Will do, half-moth.” Zeek said jokingly, which made the corner of her lips twitch upwards before grabbing the mug and the bowl and leaving the man alone in his quarters once more, making him slump.

Chapter Text

June 12th, 2020

Zeek swore that he’s going to give Mark the silent treatment for a year or more after this- and probably the Chen twins, he can see them helping Mark with this.

They had somehow talked and managed to get him some leave time and had forced him to go despite his many, many protests. This is how he found himself in front of the door of his new home in the MONARCH issued apartment complex in Pensacola, Florida, a large duffle bag hanging off one shoulder and a backpack on his back. He stared at the door before letting out a grumble, inserting his key, turning it and opening the door and stepped inside, taking in everything.

It was decently sized with the kitchen being the first room he walked into. Really, it looked like any other apartment that he had seen before and it was fully furnished. He trudged into the bedroom and set the bag and pack down on the bed before walking back out, rubbing the back of his head. Even now, he didn’t know what exactly to do, he was so lost. He wanted to work, to keep his mind occupied but he can’t exactly do that. The only thing he can do is to keep up with his theories about Godzilla’s species.

He ran a hand through his hair before beginning to put his clothes away in his dresser and closet as well as filling some books he had brought on top of his dresser along with his notebooks.

He went about putting everything else away and found himself in his living room, glancing around before looking at the wall-mounted TV. It had been quite a few years when he had been just a normal citizen and it would be hard to transition back- unless he applied for a job when a position opened in the MONARCH offices stationed in Pensacola.

He slipped out his phone, went into his contacts and pressed Mark’s name before sending him a text, saying that he had just gotten to the apartment before slipping his phone back into his pocket and headed out of the apartment, deciding to walk around and getting familiar with the area around his apartment building.

He let his feet carry him as he took in all the sights and the beach, listening to the laughter of kids and the countless voices that surrounded him.

He eventually found himself at a two-story bar, ordering the least alcoholic drink and stepping onto the balcony, leaning against the railing and sipping his drink, staring out at the waves that were rolling onto the beach. He looked down at the boardwalk, watching as people walked to and fro their destinations as he took another sip of his drink.

His attention was suddenly caught and he looked more towards the left, to watch whoever it was walking down the boardwalk.

The man was a little bit taller than he was, black hair short with the bangs all of towards the left. He was wearing all black from the looks of it, a black pair of pants and a black t-shirt. As the man got closer, he could see two earrings in his left ear and a small amount of facial hair on his upper lip and chin.

Zeek swore that he had seen this man somewhere before, in some picture or something a few years ago, he just couldn’t put his finger on it.

Then, he noticed dark eyes flickering up towards him and he quickly snapped his head up to look at the water once more, trying to make it seem like he wasn’t staring at the man and got lost in thought, trying to figure out who he was. He pushed the heat threatening to pool in his face down from embarrassment and simply sipped at his drink again, forcing himself to not look down at the man, even when the other had fully passed below him and was walking off. 

Zeek gave his head a good shake, trying to get his questions out of his mind. The chances of seeing that man again are slim, so he shouldn’t linger on why he looked familiar...among other things.

He drained his drink, waited a few minutes before he headed off after returning the glass to the bartender and headed straight to his apartment building.

Chapter Text

June 15th, 2020

Zeek almost jolted when the skype on his laptop went off, making him stop what he was writing and look. He was getting a call request from ‘Mad_Titan_Mads’ and he quickly clicked accept and Madison popped on screen, her face lighting up once she saw him. “Zee! How have you been? How’s Florida?”

“Hot. Like, really hot.” grumbled Zeek. “I’m not used to actually living in the heat like this.”

“Give it a year or two.”

“One can only hope.” Zeek chuckled. “How are things on your end?”

“We’ve been good, Dad and I have been going to wherever MONARCH needs him.”

“Hey, maybe they’ll need him here and you’ll be able to visit.”

“I’d love that!” she gave a big smile. “Maybe it’ll be our permanent residence!”

“Maybe.” Zeek gave a small chuckle. “I don’t know if Florida can handle you though.”

“It better be ready to handle me. I miss you.”

“It’s only been a few days.”

“Still, it’s so boring here without you. I miss our talks and shit like that.”

“Language, Mads.” Zeek playfully scolded, making Madison stick her tongue out for a moment, causing him to chuckle for a moment. “Anyways, how’s homeschooling?”

“It’s been going...fine…”

“...Mark is totally failing at it, isn’t he?”

“...Yeah, pretty much. He’s trying his best but…”

“He never got the experience and most likely didn't have time to do the full research.”

“Pretty much.” Madison sighed, Rubbing her bicep slightly.

“...How’s your sleeping been?”

She shrugged. “It’s been...fine...”

“Nightmares? Have you told Mark about it yet?”

“Of course not. I can’t- he has enough on his plate as it is, he doesn’t need me adding to it.”

“He’s your father, it's his job to know these things and help you through it. He knows partially what being around titans is like, what being around Ghidorah is like.”

“Maybe…” she sighed, looking down.

“Madison!” the faint voice of Mark called out. “Dinner!”

“I gotta go, talk to you later.”

“Have a good dinner and tell Mark I said hi.” Zeek smiled before the call got disconnected, making him let out a sigh.

Maybe he should practice what he just stated to Madison…but he had no one, not really. His parents wouldn’t understand…

He closed his eyes, leaning back in his chair and took a deep breath before getting back to what he was working on.

Chapter Text

June 30th, 2020

Zeek was sitting in the outside seating area of a cafe, a cup of tea in front of him with a half-eaten sandwich on a plate next to it. He had his notebook open, his pencil scratching at the paper as he sketched. The page he was working on had three sketches, showing Godzilla’s dorsal plates. The first was his plate back in the San Francisco battle, ‘2014’ under it. The second was his plates after the MUTO Prime battle- well, what he thought they looked like as there was always a blue cloud obstructing his view.  The final was one he was working on and it was his dorsal plate today.

The words on top of the page was ‘Dorsal Plates-Similar to fingernails or antlers?’. Below that, ‘Grows when broken off, unknown how at this time. Time duration for growth seems to be five years’.

He set his pencil down with a small sigh, rolling his shoulders before taking a bite out of his sandwich, chewing and swallowing as he set it back down on the plate again. He felt the ocean breeze sweep over him as he eyed his sketches and words again trying to figure if he should put more on it or not.

“Nice sketches.” a voice suddenly came beside him, making him jerk his head slightly before he looked. It was the man he had seen a few weeks ago, still dressed in black, leaning against the wooden railing beside the table Zeek was sitting at.

“Oh, uh, thanks.” 

“May I…” he gestured to the notebook and it took him a moment to realize what the man was asking him and he simply nodded and handed him his notebook and watched as the other flipped through it. The other’s eyes scanned each page he turned to until he got to the one he was working on again and handed it back to Zeek. “You have a rather good eye. Are all these sketches from memory?”

“Some of them, yeah.”

“You pay a lot of attention to Gojira.”

“Yeah, well, it’s kind of my job.”

“You’re MONARCH?” The man asked and Zeek could have sworn he saw the man frown for a split second. MONARCH had been made public in the wake of the San Francisco battle and Zeek kept forgetting that.

“Since twenty-fourteen. They wanted to recruit me back after the battle with the MUTOs. A few members liked the one paper I published about ancient civilizations living with Titans and Cryptids.” 

“Ah, I remember reading that when it came out.” The man stated casually, causing Zeek to blink for a moment. “Are you going to do another on the subject? Or will you do one of the titans?”

“If I do the titans in the next paper…it's going to surprise some people.”

“How so?”

“Since I’m MONARCH, everyone’s going to think I’d be praising them.”

“Naturally.”

“Particularly Godzilla, but doing that would just bury the elephant in the room.”

“And what is that?”

“We’re gonna fuck up sooner or later. When we do, Godzilla is gonna be pissed and then no one’s gonna be safe. No sense of taking out all but a few and having a potential of the past repeating.” Zeek took a sip of his tea.

“You understand the dangers of the titans then.”

“You’ll always have dangers with any living thing. If we had smarter wasps, they could take us out in no time.” He set his tea down and offered the other a hand. “Before I forget; Zachery Martin, I go by Zeek.”

The man gripped his hand, shaking it. “Ren Serizawa.”

Zeek’s mind almost crashed as soon as he heard the name. Shit, no wonder this guy looked familiar. He meantally shook his head, and made sure his surprise wasn’t seen at all and slipped his hand from Ren’s. “It’s nice to meet you.”

“Likewise.” A sudden notification sound filled the air and Ren took out his phone from his pocket, clicked on a few things and his eyes glanced across the small screen. “Duty calls. Can I see your phone before I go?”

“Uh, sure. For what?” Zeek asked as he slipped his phone out and handed it over after unlocking it.

He watched as Ren’s thumbs danced across the screen for a moment before he handed Zeek’s phone back to him. “I just input my number into your phone. I’d like to hear more about your theories about Gojira.”

Then, the man was walking away, leaving Zeek staring after him, slightly bewildered. He looked down at his phone for a moment before shaking his head and putting it back into his pocket. He lifted up his sandwich and took a bite out of it, mind reeling at what just happened.

He had met his best friend’s son and he didn’t know how to feel about it.

With another shake of his head, he took another bite and got back to his sketch.

Chapter Text

July 6th, 2020

Godzilla was certainly busy. That was the first thought of Zeek when he got on his computer and checked the news. From what he was reading, Godzilla was stopping Scylla from feeding on a lost nuclear warhead off the coast of Savannah, Georgia before she ran off to the tip of South America.

Zeek never once thought about how hungry some of the titans would be after being woken up by Ghidorah, which made him want to face palm at himself. Of course, they would go and try and find some food, why that slipped his mind until now he’ll never know.

The man let out a deep sigh as he leaned in his seat before his eyes flickered over to his phone that was set on his desk. He chewed his bottom lip for a moment before picking it up and staring at it for a long moment, debating.

He wanted to call or text someone but he didn’t know who. He couldn’t contact Madison because of a large time difference between them, likewise with the Chen twins.

So, that really only left one person...but Zeek had no idea if he should contact Ren. Neither had contacted the other since their first meeting and Zeek was hesitant to do it first. What if the other was working? In a meeting? Oh, how he hated not knowing anyone's schedule, he didn’t want to be a nuisance for anybody. 

He let out a groan and, after some hesitation, he grabbed his phone, opened the contact’s and clicked on Ren’s name and then the text message icon. After another moment of hesitation, his thumbs began to move.

Zeek:
‘Hey, its the MONARCH dude from a week or two ago. Still interested in hearing more about my theories?’

He sat his phone back down and took a deep breath, running a hand through his hair. His leg bounced as he waited for a reply- if he ever got one.

Meeting people in a formal work setting is one thing, meeting people in a civilian setting and actually trying to make friendships after so long was another thing entirely. Maybe that was why he was so nervous at the moment even when he knew he really shouldn’t be.

His phone chirped, the screen lighting up with a notification. He picked up his phone, unlocked it and saw that he actually did get a reply back.

R.Serizawa:
‘Same place where we met in 20?’

Zeek:
‘Aren’t you busy?’

R.Serizawa:
‘Not at the moment.’

Zeek:
‘Alright. See you in 20.’

He set his phone down and stood, stretching as he did. He walked over to his closet and threw the door open, and, after a minute of staring, he began to rummage through it. He settled on a plain white shirt before slipping on a shirt sleeved button up and a pair of shorts. He grabbed his phone, stuffed it in his pocket and went to the living room where he slipped on his sneakers, locked his apartment up and headed out.

Zeek sat in the spot he had sat before, close to the wooden railing in the outside seating area of the cafe, his books on the table in front of him. He didn’t buy anything this time as he wasn’t all that hungry at the moment.

Luckily, he didn’t have to wait long as Ren appeared and sat across from him in his all-black attire which Zeek didn’t really understand why the other was wearing all black, but he said nothing about it. 

“So, uh…let’s get started?” Zeek asked, a bit awkwardly. He watched as Ren nodded and he took the first volume and opened it.

“Okay, so, uh…you remember how his breath looked right? When he was fighting the MUTOs?”

“Yes.”

“I have a theory why it looked like that and why it didn’t look like how we saw it a year ago.”

“And that theory is?’

“His breath was weakened, and I think that was because of the MUTO’s EMP.” Zeek showed him the page where he had some things on the topic. “It would be the only reason why the MUTOs had such a defense in the first place. Get rid of your predator’s main attack, they’ll be more vulnerable. Now, don’t ask me how that makes his breath weakened or unusable. Only thing I got is that there’s a spark in the back of his throat and who knows if that’s even true.”

“Well…that would explain some things.”

Zeek nodded. “Yeah, like why he didn’t try when the male joined back into the fight to help the female. Another thing that I don’t know is how long the effects last. Could be thirty minutes, could be a few hours. There’s no way to exactly test it. I doubt Godzilla would let us along with Queen.”

“Queen?” 

“Yeah. It’s what I call the MUTO that’s still alive. She is older than the one from twenty-fourteen and it looks like she has a crown on her back. Look, I suck at naming things, okay?”

Ren just gave a soft snort before he paused. “Why didn’t Gojira kill her?”

“Other than her bowing to him? Probably because she isn’t a threat.”

“Not…a threat? How?”

“She isn’t going to molt or whatever into a new MUTO Prime and she doesn’t have a male. Godzilla almost died from the MUTOs because there were two of them. Before, when he first confronted the female, he was going to win but then the male came, and he started to lose. If it wasn’t for the destruction of the nest to distract the two, we wouldn’t have Godzilla and Earth would have been overrun by them and countless ecosystems could have been destroyed. Our civilizations would just be another for the history books.”

“You really think that?”

“Yeah, and if we decided to use countless atomic bombs on as many as we could…we’d be looking at the annihilation of everything. This is why I believe that we should have some people to not be ahead of anything when they are so quick to pull out the atomic option.”

He could see Ren opening his mouth, pausing before closing it and he was silent for a moment. “What other theories do you have?”

Zeek held back a grin, looked for another theory he thought the other might be interested in and began.

Chapter Text

August 2nd, 2020

A scream died in his throat as Zeek jolted awake, gasping, the echoes of the cackling screech and the sound of a submersible going completely under water still fresh in his ears. His heart pounding within his chest, terror still swirling inside him like a tsunami, crashing repeatedly and making that terror go to new heights. His eyes stung as they watered, threatening to spill over and down his cheeks.

He blindly grouped for his phone, taking it off of the charger and went into his contacts, pressing one he didn't realize he pressed and waited, listening to the phone ring four times. Then, it was answered.

"Zeek?" the sleep-filled voice of Ren filtered through the phone, making Zeek realize just who he had called instead of Mark or Maddie. "Do you know what time it is?"

Zeek had to blink his eyes a few times before looking over at his alarm clock and noticed that it was four in the morning.

"I-I'm sorry. I didn't…I'll just let you sleep. I didn't mean to…" His voice cracked; his breathing still sped up from the nightmare.

"What's wrong?" The other's voice had a concerned tone in it now.

"I…it's nothing."

"It's not nothing. Need me to come over?"

"No- no, Just, forget-"

"Make sure you have your door unlocked. I'll be there soon."

Ren hung up before Zeek could protest more and the man just stared at his phone before he got up from the bed, trudged out of the living room and to his door and unlocked it. Then, he went straight to his room, but he didn't climb back into his bed though. Instead, he sat in the corner of his room, burying his face into his knees, still breathing fast, still had tears in his eyes.

It seemed like an eternity past before he heard the front door open, shut and then locked. Footsteps went straight for his room before he heard Ren enter his room and went straight to him. He felt a hand on one of his arms that was wrapped around his legs, thumb moving in soothing strokes.

"Can you lift your head to look at me?" Ren asked quietly. Zeek wanted to say no, he wanted to stay how he was but he knew that he couldn't try to hide from him and so, He slowly lifted his head up like he asked, the tears finally spilling over and traveled down his cheeks. As soon as he saw Ren, he felt the floodgates open.

"I-it should have been me." Zeek gasped out, making Ren furrowed his eyebrows. "Should have been me….should've been me."

"Zeek, you need to slow your breathing-"

"I should have pushed her out of the way- I should have stopped him and went instead- I should have been the one to die not them-"

"No- Zeek, don't-"

"I should have been eaten- I should have gotten in that damn sub to deliver the bomb to Godzilla- It should've been ME-" Tears flowed down his face down and he was hyperventilating and, if he didn't have his hand gripped onto his arms, they would have been shaking. "I want my best friends back- I want them back- I want Ishiro and Vivienne back!"

He was distantly aware that he was wailing now as he continued his ramblings. "I should have died! I should have died instead of them!"

He was suddenly being uncurled before he was settled on Ren's lap, legs going around the other's hips, his face being buried into Ren's shoulder. Arms were wrapped around him, pressing him against the solid torso. His hands were shaking as they gripped onto the fabric of Ren's shirt.

Then, Zeek just began to wail and cry into the offered shoulder, soaking the fabric.

He didn't know how long they sat there before he exhausted himself and ended up drifting off, the last thing he remembered was Ren standing up with Zeek still in his arms and moving.

Zeek's head throbbed as he slowly woke up with the sun's rays filtering in the room. It felt like he had a hangover but he knew better, he remembered last night. God, he was so embarrassed having Ren see him in that state.

As he became more and more awake, he noticed something oddly warm around his waist and his head was laying on what felt like an arm. He frowned and opened his eyes and the first thing he saw was black. He glanced up and saw the sleeping face of Ren and he became hyper aware then.

His head was being pillowed by the other's arm and Ren's other arm was around him. He had the black shirt in a death grip, which probably answered the question on why the other had slept here instead of leaving or sleeping on the couch.

Then, he felt the other move and he quickly closed his eyes again, pretending to be asleep. Nothing happened in the next few minutes and he could have swore that he could feel Ren studying him. He felt the arm move away from his waist to brush away some of his bangs before he managed to free his other arm and get out of the bed and went out of the room, not bothering to try and wake Zeek up.

Still, Zeek didn't move and only a few minutes after, he heard Ren come back into the room and sat something down on the bedside table before leaving the room once again. He heard the front door open and close and he opened his eyes before rolling onto his back, head turning and spotting a glass of water there. He carefully sat up and grabbed it, taking a few sips before noticing a note that was in Ren's handwriting.

Had to go to work. If you need anything, text me.
For what it's worth, I'm glad it wasn't you.

-Ren

Chapter Text

Chapter Text

Chapter Text

September 14th, 2020

Zeek stared at the words of the email that he had received an hour ago. It was from someone that was on the team of an online magazine that was called Titanus Creatures, asking if he wanted to do a piece in the said magazine. Usually, he'd instantly say yes as he really did want to inform others, but he was hesitant because of what they wanted him to do a piece on. He reread the words once more as he swallowed thickly.

'I've asked some of your colleagues, but they all said no. So, I'll ask you; would you like to do a piece on what your organization called Monster Zero, or Titanus Ghidorah as everyone knows him as now.'

His first instinct was to say no, to follow in Mark's footsteps. He didn't know if he could get the information about Ghidorah, if he could go through the footage from cell phones and cameras, even if he'd mute them.

He didn't know if he was ready to talk about Ghidorah, compile the info and turn it into an article of the magazines or a paper.

He placed his face in his hands, trying to take in a calming breath but it came out shaky. He took one hand away from his face to close the laptop without looking at it before he stood up, stepping away from his desk and chair while grabbing his phone. He sent a quick text before heading out, needing someone to talk to, someone who would listen and give their honest opinion.

He sat at a table in the outside seating area of his usual cafe, a cup of coffee in his hand, fingers tapping against the mug. His leg was bouncing as his anxiety was at an all-time high and it didn't help that he was trying to think of anything, to not let those memories overtake him again, like it had countless times before.

Then, Ren was sitting down across from him with his own mug. "Had to finish a few things before I was able to get here."

"It's fine." the corner of Zeek's lips twitched upwards but that small smile didn't reach his eyes. "I got an email from a person that works at Titanus Creatures Magazine."

"That should be a good thing, but I can see that it isn't. So, what is it?"

"They want me to do a piece."

"About?"

"...Ghidorah."

Zeek could hear Ren sigh before a warmth engulfed his unoccupied hand.

"I…don't know what I should do. I can't even see a muted video of him before feeling like I'd be going into a panic attack."

"Then don't do it. They can handle a year without getting what they want."

"Yeah, but-"

"No buts. You don't owe them anything, least of all forcing you to relive your trauma. So, tell them you aren't ready yet and leave it at that."

"Yeah but…I feel like I'm withholding information from the world, and I don't want to do that." He sighed.

"You aren't. You're waiting until you are in a better mental space to do it." Ren stated, his thumb rubbing soothingly against the back of Zeek's hand. "Trust me, it will be better in the long run."

"I guess."

The warmth of the other's hand slid away. "Now, tell me what your new theories is about."

"How did you know I had new theories?"

"You always have new theories." Ren smirked. "Every time we meet up."

"...Point taken."

Chapter Text

Chapter Text

Chapter Text

March 1st, 2021

His fingers tapped at the keys as his eyes read what he was typing on the laptop screen. Headphones were settled on his head and soft music played, given him much needed concentration. The screen of his phone was on with notes he had taken on display for an easier time to read and write, only pausing to scroll the notes to the next batch.

The work he was doing was a paper for MONARCH, something he bugged Mark about until the other had finally agreed to let him do it. He could only go for so long without doing work before he’d go crazy. Sure, he does theories and the like, but he does like doing some official work. 

He almost jumped when his music got interrupted by a loud message notification. He tugged off his headphones, rubbing his ears before clicking onto Skype and saw that Madison had messaged him, asking if he could he wanted some new data that MONARCH had gathered on Godzilla, and he was quick to respond with a yes.

It was only a few minutes later that he checked his email to find Madison’s freshly scent one, titled ‘G things for G geek’, which made him roll his eyes.

He clicked on it and noted that there were two documents and an audio recording. He decided to forgo the recording for a moment and clicked onto the first of the pair of documents. 

It was about the recent paths that Godzilla had taken around the world, patrolling his home. The only thing that could be noted of interest is his routine disappearances and stops outside of the swirling storm that always surrounded Skull Island. He hardly thought anything of it and went onto the second document.

It was something that primarily had to do with the effects his radiation had on the environments he swims through, which changed little from the last report about it.

The audio recording is what interested the most out of the three in the email. Unless Godzilla had been actively on the move around the Outpost, audio recordings of him were rare and far in between, even recently.

He slipped his headphones back on before clicking and playing the audio.

There was nothing but salt water at first before there was the low, telltale rumble of Godzilla. It was quiet again until Godzilla let out a vocalization that Zeek had never heard before. It was as if he was letting out a mournful moan but at a much lower pitch. He continued with such a vocalization for three minutes before he quieted down and, a minute after, the recording ended.

Zeek replayed it twice more as he tried to think what that sound could mean. If he hadn’t known any better…he would think that Godzilla sounded lonely…but that would be him simply giving characteristics to Godzilla…right? But…if he was lonely, then that would add more to Godzilla’s intelligence…

He shook his head, taking a deep breath and rubbing the bridge of his nose. He turned his attention back to Skype and thanked Madison for the email and files before leaning back in his chair, letting his mind settle before getting back to work, those lonesome and mournful moans replaying quietly in the back of his mind.

Chapter Text

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June 15th, 2021

Zeek sat at his desk, fingers tapping on the keys of his laptop. His fingers paused, reading over what he had typed before starting again, making sure the flow of his email was professional and concise. Sometimes, he wondered why journalists just won't take no for an answer when it comes to them asking him for an interview from the 2019 incidents. It's like it went through one ear and out the other, no matter how he explained why he can't do it.

He took a deep breath, bringing up a hand to rub his face. Every time they ask, he was on the verge of reliving those days, on the verge of curling up somewhere, rocking, mumbling–

He jumped when there was a flash and a rumble of thunder a few moments later and rain started to come down in sheets.

Nevermind the asking, the storm would definitely send him over the edge like the countless ones before it.

He took a deep breath, saved the unfinished email as a draft and closed his laptop, pushed himself away from his desk and stood up. He rubbed the side of his neck and ears before picking up his phone and turned the screen on.

A text from Ren met him with a simple 'omw', sent a few minutes ago. He furrowed his brows at the unprompted text as he was sure he didn't send a text over to Ren today with the other man being busy working as per usual. He knew for sure that he wasn't done working yet, so why–

He flinched as another flash came and the crackle of thunder rolled afterwards. He silently cursed the weather and stood before walking out of the room and into the living room and stared at the front door, waiting. Sure enough, he heard a knock and Zeek walked over and opened it, revealing Ren with his jacket pretty much drenched.

"You didn't have to come here." was the first thing that Zeek blurted out as he let Ren in and closed the door. "Especially with all the work you have right now."

"I had free time." Ren assured him as he tugged off the soaked jacket and placed it on the back of the kitchen chair before looking at Zeek. "Besides, I wanted to come."

Zeek opened his mouth but the flask of lightning and rolling thunder stopped him and he had to fight himself not to flinch.

"Come on." Ren ushered Zeek to the couch before sitting down. Then, he reached up and tugged the other man down and soon, he had them rearranged to his liking.

Zeek found himself leaning against the other man, a black clad arm around his shoulders, being held securely.

Then, Ren had started to hum a tune that Zeek never heard before and he couldn't help but listen and focus on it. It helped a bit and he barely flinched when a clap of thunder echoed outside. All he can do is listen to Ren's humming.

He slowly closed his eyes, taking a deep breath as he did so and allowed Ren to chase the storm away from him.