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English
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Published:
2024-06-29
Completed:
2025-11-10
Words:
1,800
Chapters:
17/17
Comments:
24
Kudos:
10
Bookmarks:
1
Hits:
176

No Heroes

Summary:

Leo's a mechanic; he builds the machines. He's not a pilot. He doesn't drive them.

Notes:

fic title from travis beacham, creator of pacific rim: "There are no heroes in a world where heroes can't die."

i honestly don't know if this is going to be romantic or platonic or a secret third thing. guess we'll find out together!

(shoutout to the insanely good jurassic park/pacific rim fic that finally got me to watch this stupid awesome movie. crazy how good that shit is. PLEASE read it.)

Chapter 1: Acts of God

Notes:

this fic has undergone revisions since publication...

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

3:00 AM. No one in Anchorage, Alaska is asleep. Not if they want to live.

J-tech huddles around a screen at the edge of the hangar to watch Paladin Glory beat the shit out of a Cat. III; Genesis. Blurry news footage of shapes in the darkness, ten miles out. Two blue flashes indicate the discharge of a plasma cannon. One shape falls into the sea. The kaiju. Relief ripples through the Shatterdome. 

The crowd starts dispersing before a hand points to the screen, a shout calling attention.

Another flash. Two shapes fall.

Leo stares, disbelieving.

“Oh, God," someone says.

Notes:

expect more soon :)

Chapter 2: The Last Man Standing

Notes:

oh yeah all chapter titles are quotes from the movie. just for fun.

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

The Moretti brothers are presumed dead until they find Paladin seventy miles up the coast. She’s wrecked, but there’s a body inside, a breathing body.

One body.

He doesn’t speak for a week. All but disappears for three. Rumor has it, he in the drift when his brother died. Poor bastard.

The general consensus is that Vincent Moretti will never pilot again. Leo’s inclined to agree. You don’t just come back from that. Paladin Glory’s unsalvageable, anyways. The PPDC won’t waste money rebuilding. 

Leo’s team is reassigned from Paladin to something new: building the final Mark V. Jailbird Vendetta.

Notes:

don't expect anything past this point to be linear :3c

Chapter 3: Sit and Wait

Notes:

we're all just collectively gonna pretend leo isn't afraid of heights. okay? okay.

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

Their knees knock together, 200 feet above the hangar deck and smiling, smiling. Cigarettes are a shitty meal, any other day, but today, he doesn’t mind so much. Company helps.

Vincent blows the smoke out through his nose with a grin. “You’re not as funny as you think you are.”

“You want to laugh.”

“You’re projecting.”

From the catwalk, with no armor plating, Jailbird’s a mess of mechanical parts. He can look through the face and into the conn-pod. He can almost see himself inside.

Vincent notices him staring. “You alright?”

“Yeah, man. I’m good. Just, uh, y’know. Admiring her.”

Notes:

i can never resist them just hanging out and laughing :') count yourselves lucky that i'm not making them kill each other

Chapter 4: Where Would You Rather Die?

Notes:

i do have a playlist for this, but it's basically just a compilation of other pacrim playlists i liked, so i won't, like. "publish" it on tumblr. however if you're interested lmk

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

“No. You— you can’t just come back— you don’t get to ask that of me!”

Vincent shifts on his feet at the center of the combat room. “I know this is a lot…”

“This is not a lot, Vincent. This is very little, very late. You didn’t actually think I’d go along with this, did you?”

“It’s not like I want to be here, either—”

“Then leave! That’s all you know how to do, anyway.”

Barrett interjects. “Need I remind you both that this is the apocalypse. I’m not asking if you will. I’m saying that we need you to.”

Notes:

:)

Chapter 5: Tell Me What You Want

Notes:

hello again

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

Leo stares at the man in front of him. A man nobody's seen in four months.

“What the fuck are you doin’ here?”

“I’d like a job,” says Vincent Moretti, like this is totally normal.

“You have a job.”

“I quit.”

“You quit piloting to work J-tech? Why?”

“Why did you?”

Leo’s face grows hot. He marches away. “I don’t know what you’re talkin’ about.”

Vincent follows. “Really?”

“Ask someone else. I won’t take you.”

“You will.”

“And why's that?”

“Because I know what it’s like.” He stops in front of Leo. “And you want to know more than anything.”

Notes:

even if they aren't gay, they are totally gonna break each other's hearts. probably. we'll see.

Chapter 6: Monsters of Our Own

Chapter Text

One year in LA. One of the worst years of his life.

Leo feels small, stepping into the Anchorage Shatterdome. Scrawny and slouched in ill-fitting technician's gear, head down and praying that no-one will recognize him, even though no-one has any reason to have any idea who he is. 

Anchorage will be kinder. He doesn’t need to be anyone in Anchorage; he just needs to do his job. He can do that. If there’s one thing he can do, it’s that.

His head tech shakes his hand and introduces the machine he’ll help maintain. The first Mark III. Paladin Glory.

Chapter 7: Politics, Poetry, Promises

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

“Third time’s the charm, right?”

“I fuckin’ hate you, man.”

A low, rumbled laugh. “No, you don’t.”

In his ear: “Neural handshake initiated.”

It’s as sickening and soothing as it's always been. Something akin to turning himself inside-out. Painless. Unsettling.

A warm summer morning in Redwood State Park;

The endless bustle of man and machine;

Two identical shit-eating grins in the mirror;

A smattering of blood on pavement;

A pair of cigarettes over the abyss.

Plurality. They open their eyes. Relief and elation, from one of them, from both of them. Leo might cry. Vincent finally understands.

“Neural handshake established!”

Notes:

what's your damage, heather?

Chapter 8: Who the Hell I Am

Chapter Text

The final day of Jailbird’s assembly. Leo sits on the scaffolding’s edge, watches Vincent hang in a harness and finish plating her head. Nuts and bolts.

“Where’d you get technician’s experience?”

Vincent spares him a glance. “My father owned a body shop. Taught me the basics. I studied MechEng at UCSF, 1994. You can imagine how that fell through.”

“Shit. That’s fuckin’ rough.”

“Welcome to the apocalypse, Leo. Everything’s rough.”

“You’re not.”

That’s more earnest than he wants it to be. Vincent looks back at him. Leo clears his throat. 

“I mean… considering. Could’a turned out worse. But you didn’t.”

Chapter 9: Where I've Come From

Chapter Text

“Why did you refuse to drift?”

Leo gives a sideways look to Vincent in the doorway to his room. “Who said I refused to drift?”

“My friends in LA. It’s a bit of a rumor mill down there.”

Agitation. Leo twirls his pen. “Yeah, well, that’s all it is. A rumor.”

“Then, what happened?”

“It’s none of your fuckin’ business, how about that?”

Vincent steps inside, closing the door. “Awfully touchy.”

“I don't owe you my life story."

“I didn’t say you owe it to me. I just asked you to tell it.”

“And I said ‘no’. End of conversation.”

Chapter 10: For One Second

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

The women piloting Jailbird Vendetta are good. They’re really fucking good. Three kills within a year. The night of their third, one of his guys likens them to the Moretti brothers. Leo can hardly stop himself from throttling him.

He quits smoking. The hit of nicotine is canceled out by the hot ache of shame and anger that comes with it, and it’s not like it was doing him any good, anyway. His instinct is to clam up. Protect himself, belatedly. A little too familiar with getting left behind. Forgotten. Fuck.

Why does he always have to get left behind?

Notes:

i definitely have no reason to relate to leo at all. nope. oh look it's carolinda *flees the scene*

Chapter 11: At the End of Our Time

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

Nine months since Paladin. Another team has been lost. Draco Bruiser, deployed from Vladivostok to defend Petropavlovsk. Both pilots, ripped right off the Jaeger’s shoulders. The kaiju, codename: Assassin, made it ten miles inland before Rifle Hideaway managed to rip the fucker in half.

Jaegers that don’t get totaled are still suffering. They’re coming back worse and worse. Anchorage’s own Mexico Devil took on a Category-IV and returned missing an arm and a chunk of her reactor.

The PPDC’s panicking, scrambling for a safety net. No official news yet, but the word around the rim is three words: Anti-Kaiju Wall.

Notes:

this is plot relevant but i also just wanted to show off my jaeger names.

each mentioned has one specific pilot in mind, and the kaiju also has a "character" inspo (not sure if he actually counts as a character or just, like, a leather jacket with a gun). i feel like they're not that hard to guess. there are basically 10 characters in this game.

Chapter 12: Looking in the Wrong Direction

Chapter Text

Leo throws open the door. “Moretti!”

Everyone in J-tech quarters freezes when he barks the name. Vincent, all the way in the back, slowly stands. Leo fights to maintain his composure. “...Yes, boss?”

“With me. Now.”

All eyes are on him as he makes his way across the room and into the hall. Leo slams the door shut. Then, he bends down and grabs the bottle of bourbon from the floor. 

“You drink?”

“I…?”

He waves the bottle with a smile. “You’re not in trouble. I just don’t want them to know that you’re my favorite.”

“Oh. Then, um. Yes.”

Chapter 13: Things Have Changed

Notes:

call me scott cawthon the way i Lore

Chapter Text

“Sort of childish, isn’t it?”

“Childish is more your style, Leo. I’d call this… desperate.”

“Locking us in a room together? Seems pretty juvenile to me, man.”

“I didn’t know you knew words like ‘juvenile’.”

Leo flushes with anger. “What is your fucking problem with me?!”

Vincent blinks. “What?”

“Five years. You don’t even bother to call! Then you come back and you shit-talk me to my face?”

“Leo, I’m not— I’m not shit-talking you, I’m just joking. And I wouldn’t have come back at all if I weren’t needed.”

Shame. “You are such a fucking asshole, you know that?”

Chapter 14: Fight the Hurricane

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

“Jailbird Vendetta: defend the Miracle Mile.”

“Roger,” they say.

I’m not ready for this.

Just follow my lead.

Left foot. Right foot.

With how gigantic the Pacific is, you’d expect to have more prep time. Blackrock arrives in under an hour.

Remember, minimal bloodshed.

Vincent’s usual style is clean and efficient. Leo’s is dirty, erratic. Jailbird’s a healthy balance. A shifted paradigm.

Thank God for brass knuckles.

Blackrock’s small, agile. He jumps. Jailbird swings. Contact. He’s quick to recover, lunging again for her midsection. She catches him by the jaw.

It’s different than I imagined.

Better or worse?

Definitely better.

Notes:

i gave jailbird the specs of Striker Eureka from the movie. for funsies

Chapter 15: Reset the Clock

Notes:

thank you jailbreaxis for letting me know that someone actually gives a crap about these stupid idiots :)

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

Klaxons blare. The new pilots, Hearn and Calmhede, launch into the bay. Leo can’t say he’s not worried about them, considering the way the tide’s been turning lately. Brand new Rangers. Against a Cat. IV. Barrett better be sure about them.

The ‘Dome holds its breath. Dim lights flash over the sea. 

It’s an hour before the kaiju goes down. Jailbird comes back remarkably unharmed, just some missing armor-plating and scratched paint.

When they start fixing her up, Vincent looks ill. At lights-out, he disappears. Leo doesn’t follow, sure he’ll come back

Maybe he should have expected to be wrong.

Notes:

i originally came up with linda's maiden name for a different fic, but that one won't see the light of day for a veerrry long time, so this works too.

Chapter 16: A Man in My Position

Notes:

i know i keep changing the number of chapters. ignore it pls.

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

“Really? The fucking Prison Wall?”

“It was not a prison wall, Leo.”

He flicks a bottlecap at Vincent, who catches it with a hard look. “Take it from someone who’s seen the inside of a prison wall: it's the same view.”

He gets a frown at that. “At least I was doing something useful.”

“Please. Anybody with eyes knew it wouldn’t work.”

“Maybe. But it’s like you said: we don’t get paid to have political opinions.”

“It’s not a political opinion to know you’re wasting your time.”

“Am I wasting my time now?” He challenges.

“God. I fucking hope not.”

Notes:

vincent moretti: always government sympathetic.

also: i thought it'd be a cheeky little reference if the anti-kaiju wall were deemed the "prison wall" by the general populous, since it obviously wouldn't work and would cut off 90% of pan-pacific travel and commerce. trapping humanity inside, but doing nothing to keep kaiju out.

also also: lmk what you're still unclear on. i've got the last chapter locked and loaded, so your window to get answers is quickly closing.

Chapter 17: Anyone Can Fall

Notes:

(original chapter published july 13, 2024.)

i didn't like the old final chapter and i'm in a pacrim mood so. i rewrote it as a double-drabble. sorry ^^

secret third thing, it is!

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

Linda Hearn's teenage son sent him a letter last week. Leo doesn't know how the kid found him. How doesn't matter.

The pressure at the bottom of the ocean is oppressive, and their reactor is dangerously close to meltdown. He can sense Vincent beginning to lose his nerve. Mexico Devil just detonated. They're alone with the Breach.

Barrett barks orders from LOCCENT. Neither of them listen.

He thinks he'll miss Hong Kong.

Leo reaches through the drift to steady Vincent. Urges them forward. The Breach shines below, brighter than the sun, brighter than the bomb. They share a breath.

>> OXYGEN LEVELS: 9% <<

Get in the escape pod.

Fuck, no.

Gary Moretti screams over screeching metal.

Please.

Jailbird Vendetta looms over Anchorage like a cathedral.

You're not leaving me again.

Alex. That was the boy's name.

There's something Vincent can't say. He doesn't need to. Leo knows.

—Jaeger, and you need to carry her with it—

They drag Triggerclaw along, and step into the abyss. The Breach swallows Jailbird as though she belongs.

Hearn deserves to be here. Not him.

"Close all coolant valves."

The other side is brilliant. An unreal vision.

>> REACTOR STABILITY: 2% <<

I'm sorry.

I forgive you.

Detonation.

Notes:

turns out they killed each other after all...