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“Why are you here?” Kaeya sighed, lifting his collar to cover his nose even more.
“Good to see you too, Kaeya.” Varka grinned, stark amongst the snow.
“Come on, walk,” Kaeya gestured for him to follow with his head, walking away from his workplace. “What do you want?”
“This is how the former co-pilot of Favonius Cavalry’s living his days, huh?” Varka whistled. “Building a useless wall.”
“Okay, Grandmaster.” Kaeya huffed.
“Where are we going?”
“What do you want from me?”
‘I’ll tell you when we’re out of this damn snow.” Varka replied.
“Suit yourself.”
Kaeya stopped outside a building, shoving the door open with his shoulder and walking up several flights of stairs until he stopped before a door. He inserted a key into the lock and twisted to open the door. He held the door open for Varka, then tapped the snow off his boots on a mat before he toed them off.
“I’m home.” Kaeya called, and Varka looked surprised, as though he hadn’t expected someone else to be living here.
“You’re late,” A blond man peeked his head from one of the rooms, eyebrows furrowed. “And you have a guest…”
“Albedo, this is…”
“Grandmaster Varka, I know. My aunt Alice works for you.” Albedo nodded, approaching to hold a hand out for Varka to shake.
“Alice, yeah! Well, more like I work with her than she works for me.” Varka shook his hand.
“This is Albedo, my partner.” Kaeya introduced.
“Why are you here?” Albedo narrowed his eyes at Varka.
“Asking the same questions…” Varka sighed. “You two… really meant for each other. I’ll cut to the chase, Captain Kaeya… I need you to come back.”
“You’re joking.” Kaeya’s eye widened, the other hidden behind a black eyepatch.
“I wouldn’t joke about something like this.” Varka shook his head.
“Sit down at the table and talk like normal people instead of standing around by the door.” Albedo sighed, giving Kaeya a little push in the direction of the kitchen.
“I need you to come back and pilot Cavalry,” Varka continued once they were sat down. “It’s a matter of urgency. We’re seeing increased amounts of Kaiju’s, and the Jaeger’s we have aren’t going to cut it. We need Favonius Cavalry.”
“Who’s been piloting her this whole time? Why can’t they continue?”
“No one,” Varka answered Kaeya’s question. “No one could handle her. Everyone we sent out did fine with Drifting with Diluc, but Cavalry overwhelmed them. She’s still very advanced, despite being an older model and no one can grasp it. We didn’t have time to train anyone up, especially when we only have one pilot who knows what the hell he’s doing.”
“And what happened to that pilot?” Albedo asked.
“Diluc had to pilot another Jaeger. The Phoenix. He’s in it with Jean, but we’re stretched too thin now, we need him back in Cavalry. We need to have Jean go back to piloting Dandelion Knight with Lisa,” Varka sighed. “If I could get into a Jaeger myself, I would in an instant. But I’m old now, and I can’t seem to drift with anyone since Crepus…”
“I get the jist,” Kaeya said quietly. “You know Diluc won’t want to pilot with me though. What if we can’t even Drift?”
“For the wellbeing of humanity, I’m going to have to ask you to figure it out. Besides, I have a good feeling about this.”
“This is asking a lot. You don’t know this’ll work even if I come back. I didn’t leave because I wanted to, I’d happily co-pilot with Diluc again, Grandmaster but…” Kaeya cut himself off, digging his nails into the palm of his hand.
“Come back, Kaeya. We’ll figure something out. Worst comes to worst, we’ll find you someone else to pilot with even if teaching them takes time,” Varka urged. “Maybe Albedo could…”
“I haven’t been in a real Jaeger ever.” Albedo shook his head.
“Alice’s told me about you, I know you finished your training. You’re smart, you’ll pick it up. Besides, hopefully it won’t need to come down to that anyways.” Varka shrugged.
“Can you give me some time… to think about it?” Kaeya asked.
“Of course, Kaeya,” Varka smiled warmly. “I have to go back to Mondstadt, but just reach out when you’ve made a decision, even if it’s a no.”
There was silence for some time after he left, Albedo disappearing back into the kitchen to leave Kaeya alone with his thoughts. Eventually, the darker-haired man flopped against the counter in the kitchen, observing Albedo stir something in a pot and huffing.
“Penny for your thoughts?” Albedo quirked an eyebrow.
“I want to know yours.” Kaeya replied.
“My thoughts? On Varka’s offer?”
“On… everything. On his offer for me, on returning to Mondstadt, on… you potentially piloting with me if everything doesn’t work out with Diluc, which honestly I… Archons, I don’t know.” Kaeya sighed, scratching just under his eyepatch. Albedo slapped his hand away from it, giving him a scolding look.
“You know you shouldn’t scratch it,” Albedo warned. “What happened? Before?”
“What didn’t?” Kaeya sighed. “I… Diluc and I piloted Cavalry together, but she’s old… nuclear. So she took some time to master and I don’t think they even make those anymore, so they wouldn’t be in any of the sims. The point is, we piloted her together and we had done for years. There was a mission before I left to subdue a Cat 3 Kaiju. Two of them, matter of fact, across the city from each other. Of course, we couldn’t subdue both at the same time so they dispatched Varka and Crepus in Boreas.”
“Crepus as in…”
“As in my adoptive father, yeah,” Kaeya twisted the rings on his fingers absent-mindedly. “They dealt with one and we dealt with the other. But then…”
“Jaegers, please be aware we are getting heat signatures from the Rift. More Kaiju are emerging.” A voice carried over the radio.
“Already?” Kaeya complained. “They just barfed out two Cat 3’s, and they’ve still got more?”
“Don’t word it like that, Kaeya. Gross,” Diluc pulled a face. “Come on, we’ll deal with this one and then we can get the new one.”
“Woah, woah, command, these don’t look like Cat 3’s.” Varka’s voice broke through their shared comms.
“They’re Cat 4’s, Boreas. Both of them.”
“What?” Kaeya and Diluc exchanged a look. Their Jaeger suddenly flew into a building, sending them both jolting in their wiring. They got to their feet and focussed on the approaching Kaiju. It seemed to load something up and fire, but they dodged.
“Command, we need backup.” Crepus requested.
“Dad, dad? What’s happening?” Diluc called, panicked.
“Focus on your battle, son. Kaeya, don’t you dare let Diluc leave until that thing in front of you is dead.” Crepus ordered and Kaeya hung his head.
“Yes, sir.” Kaeya whispered, knowing his voice would be carried across the comms.
“He made you promise that?” Albedo looked unimpressed. “Smart thing to say to a kid. No offense.”
“No, it’s… only realised how shitty it was years after,” Kaeya shrugged. “Diluc did try to go back to Boreas, I convinced him to stay and fight. He swore… he swore he’d never forgive me if we found them dead and when we finally went to them Varka was half dead and Crepus… already gone.”
“I thought you got your injuries in that battle?” Albedo furrowed his brows.
“Yeah, I was barely standing at the end but Diluc wanted to see Boreas so I kept moving. After we confirmed their status…” Kaeya let out a bone-heavy sigh. “I must’ve passed out. Woke up to burns on half my body and a missing eye. I think it must have been dangling out during the end of the battle and I was feeling too much adrenaline to notice much.”
“Kaeya…”
‘I left as soon as I was lucid enough… came here.” Kaeya finished.
“I remember,” Albedo nodded. “Stupid of you to travel so far in such a state.”
“It was either risk that, or stay and greet Diluc’s wrath. I wasn’t too fond of the second option.”
“Did you see him before you left? Maybe in the heat of the moment during the battle, he said things he didn’t mean to. It’s been known to happen.” Albedo mused.
“He came to see me in the med bay, shouted a bunch, insulted me, told me he never wanted to see me again and that he was disowning me,” Kaeya huffed. “So I asked the Grandmaster if he knew a good lawyer to change my name back to Alberich.”
“You weren’t even eighteen back then.” Albedo frowned.
“A few months short,” Kaeya shrugged. “Besides, they considered me an adult anyways. The process was quick and I was an Alberich by the time I left Mondstadt.”
“Mondstadt again, hm?” Albedo turned the stove off and leaned back against the counter, arms crossed over his chest.
“Your thoughts? We got off track.”
“I think… you’ve been wasting your potential building this wall here when you and I both know it’s not going to do anything when a Kaiju attacks,” Albedo began. “I like to think I’ve known you long enough, Kaeya, I think you miss being in a Jaeger.”
“Diluc’s never going to want to pilot with me.” Kaeya mumbled, resting his chin in the palm of his hand.
“Your Grandmaster seems to think you can figure it out. Besides…” Albedo hesitated for a second. “I’ll pilot with you if he doesn’t.”
“You’re serious?” Kaeya lifted his gaze, his eye wide. “Albedo, you’ve never…”
“Varka said it himself. I’ve done the sims, I’ll pick it up,” Albedo softened. “It’ll work out, even if it’s not with him.”
“You’re too good to me!” Kaeya declared.
“I am as good as you deserve.” Albedo replied firmly.
“Kaeya, didn’t expect a call so soon.”
“Already back in Mond, Grandmaster?”
”Yeah, we had an emergency.”
“Everything okay?”
“We handled it. We might just owe the Liyue Shatterdome a favour for lending us the help of Vigilant Yaksha.”
“That’s a Jaeger I’d kill to see in action.”
“I’ll tell you, it’s the thing of dreams. So, what’s up? I know you didn’t call to talk about Liyue’s Jaegers.”
“I… I’ll come back. With Albedo.”
“As your co-pilot?”
“You wanted Diluc and I to pilot Cavalry together, so I’ll give it a shot. But Albedo said he was willing to pilot with me if it doesn’t work out. He can do it.”
“I had no doubt he could. Alice sings his praises. And yours for that matter.”
“She exaggerated.”
“I’ll get you tickets on the next flight over and email you. Get packed.”
“Yes, sir.”
“And Kaeya? Thank you.”
They got helicoptered from Mondstadt’s airport to the Shatterdome and the second Kaeya stepped off the plane, him and Albedo were nearly tackled by a small girl with blonde hair.
“Klee!” Jean’s familiar voice called and Kaeya pulled back to take a good look at Klee’s face. It had been some time since he last saw her when her and Alice came to visit them in Snezhnaya.
“Big brothers!” Klee cheered.
“Hello Klee.” Albedo smiled, smoothing a hand over her hair while Kaeya kissed her forehead.
“Klee! Don’t run off like that! You know you’re not supposed to do that!” Jean came to a stop before them, huffing for breath.
“No harm done, Jean,” Kaeya waved it off, standing with Klee in his arms. “Besides, look at her! She just missed us, didn’t you sweetheart?”
“Yeah!”
“You need to stop enabling her.” Jean gave him an unimpressed look.
“Never going to happen.” Kaeya smirked.
“It’s good to see you, Kaeya,” Jean softened, tugging him into a short but tight hug. “It’s been too long.”
“It has been,” Kaeya nodded. Jean kept in contact with him after he left, so did Lisa, but being active pilots, they never got the chance to take enough time off to come and visit him in Snezhnaya, so they stuck to phone calls and the occasional video call whenever possible. “This is Albedo, you know who he is.”
“Nice to finally meet you in person, Albedo.” Jean offered him her hand and he shook it.
“You too, Captain Jean.”
“Ah, no need for that,” Jean waved it off. “We’re not on duty.”
“Oh hello darlings!” Someone hugged Kaeya and Albedo from behind and the blue-haired man tensed before he realised it was just Alice.
“Mommy!”
“Hello my sweet angel.” Alice patted her head before she let go of Albedo and Kaeya to stand in front of them.
“Aunt Alice, it’s good to see you.” Albedo greeted.
“Varka’s waiting for you both.” She winked.
“Already, huh?” Kaeya frowned.
“It’ll be alright, my love,” Alice cupped his face, the side with the eye present, carefully, giving him a meaningful look. “You can do it.”
“She’s right,” Jean added. “I’ve been Diluc’s co-pilot for years now, and… without saying too much and violating his privacy… I’ve seen enough of his memories to know that it’s going to be fine, Kaeya.”
“Let’s hope.”
Diluc looked painfully similar to Crepus, was what Kaeya thought when he first laid eyes on his brother (could he even call him that anymore? Did he have the right?) in years. His hair was longer, tied back the same way Crepus tied his, but his eyes were more tired than Kaeya remembered, eyebags heavy beneath them and a score of new scars littering his arms and peeking out from beneath his shirt.
“Diluc…” Kaeya whispered, his words going unheard by all except a concerned Albedo who nudged their shoulders together gently.
“Captain Kaeya!” Varka boomed when he noticed them and Diluc’s head shot to their direction, his eyes widening. The expression that came over his face was not one of anger but one of… concern and guilt? Kaeya must be seeing things.
“Grandmaster.”
“And Albedo! Good to see you both again. Journey go alright?” He patted them both on the shoulder.
“Well no flights were delayed because of Kaiju attacks so pretty well I’d say.” Kaeya replied, scanning the surrounding room.
“Place look the same as you remember?” Varka smiled fondly, watching Kaeya re-familiarise himself with the control room.
“As far as I can tell.”
“Klee was looking for you earlier, did she…?”
“She greeted us. And Aunt Alice, and Captain Jean,” Albedo affirmed. “A warm welcome, to be sure.”
“Good!” Varka nodded firmly. “As much as I’d like to get you in a Jaeger, Kaeya, you need to be checked over in medical first then we’ll do a sim with –”
“With Albedo,” Kaeya cut him off, sending him a pleading look. “Let me do the sim with ‘Bedo.”
“Albedo will need to be checked in medical too if that’s the case.” Varka turned a questioning look onto Albedo.
“I don’t mind.” Albedo shook his head. He noticed Diluc tensed up out of the corner of his eye, fingers balled into the palms of his hand and his jaw clenched. This was the brother Kaeya was convinced hated him? Their past certainly looked to be that way, but Albedo would eat his own foot if that was the case still.
“Alright then, off to Barbara. She’s in the labs, you know where that is?” Varka dismissed them.
“Vaguely.” Kaeya shrugged.
“Follow the directions on the walls.”
“I can take them,” A smooth voice interrupted and the pair turned to see Lisa entering the room, dressed in her signature purple. “Hi Kaeya sweetie.”
“Lisa,” Kaeya’s face relaxed. “Good to see you.”
“Mhm, you too,” She hugged him, kissing his cheek before doing the same to Albedo. “And the famous Albedo, finally we meet in person.”
“It’s good to meet you, Captain Lisa.” Albedo inclined his head.
“Diluc, have you met Albedo?” Lisa raised her voice and Kaeya visibly tensed.
“No.” Diluc said though gritted teeth.
“Shame, he’s a real charmer you know?” Lisa sighed. “Kaeya can vouch, can’t he?”
“The labs, Captain?” Albedo asked, insistent.
“Of course, come with me.”
Once they were outside the control room, Kaeya grabbed her arm with a serious expression.
“Don’t do that with Diluc, he looked mad.”
“Kaeya, sweetie, I know when he is and isn’t mad and that wasn’t mad.” Lisa soothed.
“I think he might be jealous of me.” Albedo said mildly.
“Of you?” Kaeya gave him a disbelieving look. “Albedo…”
“No no, he’s right,” Lisa giggled. “Imagine your brother comes back after years away and he’s got someone with him who he prefers to do things with.”
“You’re being ridiculous.”
When Kaeya and Albedo got cleared for the sim, they found themselves in the room with several people watching. No one there was anyone strange or unfamiliar, something he was sure was the work of Varka to make them both more comfortable, but it also meant he saw that flash of red hair out of the corner of his eye before he succumbed to the Drift.
Kaeya should have known it wouldn’t be easy Drifting for the first time in years, and for the first time with someone besides his brother. He scrambled to keep hold of all his memories, especially the particularly darker ones that Albedo knew about but had never seen in that way before. He found himself chasing the rabbit when it came to his brother’s memories, something he wasn’t supposed to do… something he’d trained himself out of but slipped back into as though he was a child.
The Drift ended and Albedo pulled his helmet off, cupping his face with cold hands and a concerned gaze in his eyes.
“I’m fine,” Kaeya mumbled as Albedo examined his eyes, tilting his face left and right. “‘Bedo, let me… let me up.”
“Kaeya –”
“I’ll come back.” Kaeya promised as he stumbled to his feet, leaving his helmet where it was and practically running out of the room as quick as he could. He found himself wandering all-too-familiar halls that he hadn’t walked in years, but that seemed so nostalgic to him. He could practically see himself and Diluc walking them side-by-side, himself chattering and Diluc listening with his hands clasped behind his back. A younger version of himself who was happier and still had both of his eyes.
Somehow, he made it to the hanger bay where all of the Jaegers stood. He stopped dead in his tracks when his eyes landed on Cavalry Captain, and the breath was practically knocked out from his throat.
“Gorgeous, isn’t she?”
Kaeya startled so bad he knocked his elbow into the railing behind him and swore loudly. “Diluc?” He said, shocked.
“I wanted to… you looked spooked after the Drift,” Diluc said hesitantly as he approached Kaeya to lean on the railing beside him. “Okay?”
“I…” Kaeya blinked in surprise, still clutching his elbow as it throbbed in pain. “I haven’t Drifted in years so it was just… an adjustment.”
“Thought Albedo was your partner.” Diluc snarked, an undertone of bitterness to his voice and Kaeya thought Albedo might be right, but why the hell would Diluc be jealous? This was all too confusing.
“In life sure, but we’ve never piloted together. I haven’t been in a Jaeger in years,” Kaeya shrugged. “It’s why… I thought about saying no when Grandmaster Varka asked me to come back.”
“We needed you, I… we needed Cavalry.” Diluc said stiltedly.
“You can pilot Cavalry,” Kaeya said lightly. “You just need a co-pilot and I’m the only person who can pilot a nuclear Jaeger… well, besides Albedo.”
“You met him in…”
“Snezhnaya,” Kaeya answered, feeling quite surprised at how calm this conversation had been going. “He’s Alice’s nephew.”
“You’ve been in Snezhnaya?” Diluc asked sharply. “That’s…”
“Working on the wall.”
“Not piloting?”
“I couldn’t get in another Jaeger, I…” Kaeya cut himself off before he said something he knew he would regret. “I couldn’t. Diluc if – if you want to keep piloting Dandelion Knight with Jean, it’s fine. If you don’t want to pilot Cavalry, I understand, I… it’s why I asked Albedo to do the sim with me. I get it.”
“No, Kaeya, you – you don’t. I don’t want to pilot with Lisa, I…” Diluc made a frustrated sound, curling his fingers around the railings so tightly, his knuckles went white. “I was hasty… back then…”
“Hasty…” Kaeya repeated, almost numb. “Diluc, you said you never wanted to see me again, I –”
“I was stupid, and angry and – I just lost my father, I wasn’t thinking. I just…” Diluc hung his head. “When you left, I wanted to take it all back. I can barely remember that week of the fight and recovering afterwards, I just remember feeling so angry you didn’t let me come back and that I lived and Father didn’t.”
“You think I wasn’t grieving too?” Kaeya asked, almost desperate, his voice achingly hoarse. “I… I think about it all the time, about the request he made me. To not let you come back. I wish he never asked me to do that, I wish… I wish –”
“Kaeya…”
“I am sorry… if by following your father’s orders, I hurt you. It hurt me too,” Kaeya’s voice broke. “I woke up alone in that hospital bed with no feeling in my right arm, burns all down my body and a missing eye. God, Diluc… I – it killed me to leave this place, to leave the only home I knew and everyone I knew…”
“Kaeya, I’m sorry. I know my apology probably means jack shit in comparison to everything you’ve gone through, and I know it’s my fault. You shouldn’t have had to leave, and I’m sorry I made you feel like you have to. It’s… I regretted what I said to you as soon as it happened but my stupid fucking pride was all I had on my mind and I…” Diluc exhaled sharply. “When you left, all I could think was how I’d lost my father, and now I’d lost my brother too and it was my fucking fault.”
“Diluc… it’s not…”
“If you even try and say it’s not my fault, I’ll… I’ll get Varka to assign you dish duty.” Diluc threatened.
“What?” Kaeya gave him a baffled look.
“It’s not your fault,” Diluc said fiercely. “My fault, and I’ll spend however long it takes making it up to you.”
“God, Diluc, I… I don’t even have it in my to be mad anymore,” Kaeya slumped. “The years took my anger from me, I don’t… it’s too exhausting to feel that way all the time.”
“That doesn’t mean it’s okay.”
“I – no, but…”
“No buts.” Diluc shook his head.
“I didn’t miss how stubborn you were.” Kaeya grumbled.
“Shut up,” Diluc said gruffly, before he hesitated for a second. “Can I… Can I hug you?”
“Oh,” Kaeya seemed surprised before he nodded. “I… sure. Yeah.”
Diluc wasted no time in wrapping his arms around his brother. He’d always been bigger than Kaeya, but the realisation that he was still bigger than him even all these years later was somewhat comforting… to know that even if so much between them had changed, some things still remained the same. He cupped the back of Kaeya’s head, tender and gentle as the darker-haired boy clutched at Diluc’s head tightly, fingers wound around the fabric of his sweater.
“Want to try that Drift again?”
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah, I got a good feeling about it this time.”