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"Chuck! Open the bloody door!"
Herc exhales, frustrated. Chuck knows how to sleep through everything except a few things. One of those things is supposed to be someone pounding on his door. Especially when that someone is his father and co-pilot who needs him to go over their rigs because his stupid son and co-pilot won’t let anyone touch the rigs but him. Herc knocks again but there’s no response.
"Damn it," he grumbles and breaks down, radioing the one person who can get him authorization to enter another pilot’s room.
Stacker Pentecost is not happy being interrupted. Rather, he’s not happy that he’s being interrupted by Herc for something concerning Chuck. More often that not in ends with him in an awkward position between the father and the son. But at least it has to do with Striker Eureka, one of the two things the men love without the preamble of hatred. So he follows Herc to Chuck’s room and bangs on the door.
"Ranger," he says, "this is your Marshall."
That gets Chuck up.
The pilot is half dressed at best when he rips open the door. Neither man can stop the raise of their eyebrows at his state. His shirt is loose around pants that are lower on his hips than they should be. He’s got no boots on and his dogtags are underneath his shirt from where he’s just yanked it on. The two older pilots look at him. If he wasn’t flustered, Herc thinks he would be blushing.
"Sir!" Chuck salutes Stacker who returns the gesture.
"Rough night, Ranger Hansen?" he asks.
"No sir," Chuck replies.
Herc rolls his eyes. Rough is a subjective term but Chuck isn’t exactly known for being gentle. It doesn’t take an idiot to recognize the smell of dried sweat and sex. It’s heavy on Chuck’s skin. Stacker can smell it too and a part of Herc cringes in embarrassment. He shifts his weight as Chuck swallows and looks at a point behind Stacker’s ear. Herc rubs his face with his hand as the three stand there painfully aware that Chuck slept through Herc’s wake up call because the Hansen men are notoriously tired after sex.
"As you were, Ranger—"
Herc frowns as Stacker trails off. He fixes Chuck with a look that could make a Kaiju run. Chuck looks down for the first time and swallows uncomfortably. Stacker exhales through his nose and looks past Chuck and then back at his son who is now looking like he wants to face a Kaiju without a Jaeger before he stays there. Something icy and cold takes root in Herc’s stomach and he wonders if this time he should step in.
"Fifteen minutes in my office," Stacker growls.
"Hai!" a voice squeaks out and that ice thing explodes in his chest.
Stacker turns around strides down the hallway. Herc steps forward and looks at Chuck who manages to scrape enough dignity to square his shoulders and glare back at his father. Herc sighs and cranes his neck. There’s clothing scattered in a line from the door to the bed. One of Chuck’s boots is by the bed, the other is sticking out from the bathroom door and there’s a pair of shiny black ones half underneath the bed. Herc runs a hand across his face again and looks at the bed.
The sheets are pulled over the occupant and there’s a comforter flung half on them. It’s a decent effort to hide them. And if he didn’t recognize the name tag on the shirt that’s flung half over the chair, Herc imagines he wouldn’t know either. But it’s there and there’s no amount of sheet camouflage that’ll make that go away. He looks back at Chuck whose grinding his teeth together, eyes fixed on a point in the wall and his posture is military straight.
"You need to fix those rigs," he says. Chuck gives a jerky nod, "Fifteen minutes in the bay," he says. Chuck nods again and Herc looks at him, "make it twenty. Better let Mori shower first," he adds.
Fifteen minutes later Chuck comes storming in to the bay. Wisely everyone stays out of his way as he grabs his toolbox and goes in to the conn pod. Herc lingers in the doorway as Chuck begins to work. He’s furious, that much is clear, but Herc knows that he wouldn’t do anything to harm Striker. Still he’s slept with Stacker’s little girl and Herc knows he’s not in the running for father of the year but he feels like he has to say something.
"So you and Stacker’s girl," he begins.
"Her name’s Mako," Chuck snarls rounding on him.
Herc can’t help but raise his eyebrows at his son’s vicious correction. Herc’s been reading people’s signals for a very long time and the fury with which his son reacts tells him more than Chuck wants to give away. Like the fact that whatever is between them is more than just the two of them fucking. And thank god for that. Or maybe not thank god. Herc’s confused as to what is good or bad in this situation.
"So you and Mako—" he begins again. Chuck exhales through his nose like a bull, "you’re together?"
Chuck opens his mouth and then shuts it, then opens it again. Finally he swears and turns back to the rigs. Herc closes his eyes and runs a hand over his face as it becomes clear that Chuck may not be refraining from answering just because he’s angry. His son’s emotionally stunted and yes, Herc knows he hasn’t exactly been the driving force in making him a well adjusted adult. He seems to do things rougher and later than most. In the scheme of things being with a childhood sweetheart is kind of wonderfully normal.
If you ignore the whole saving the world, giant alien, death surrounding every decision side of things.
Also the fact that Mako Mori is Stacker Pentecost’s adopted daughter.
Which shouldn’t be an issue but it is. Not just because Stacker Pentecost is both of their bosses, but because there is nothing Stacker wouldn’t do for the girl. There is a reason Mako’s been pushed to a restoration project instead of in a cockpit where she belongs. Stacker protects her with everything in him. She also deserves the best, and God help him, Herc’s not sure of Chuck fits in that definition in Stacker’s eyes.
He falls silent as Chuck turns back to the rigs. The color fades from his face as Chuck works on the task at hand. His ability to laser focus is one of Chuck’s greatest strengths, but Herc wishes that his son didn’t block everything out so easily. He stays there because despite his shortcomings, Herc isn’t going to leave the boy when he’s upset. He wishes he’d thought to grab Max though, he feels like Max would know what to do more than he does.
He doesn’t get Max, he gets Mako instead.
She steps inside the conn pod. Chuck turns around to face her before her toes cross the threshold. Wisely Herc steps out but he can’t help linger there. Mako toys with her fingers as Chuck’s fingers tighten on the wrench. She presses her lips together and Chuck sighs, all the anger that he usually shows seems to go away. He barely recognizes the soft sound of Mako’s laugh. He definitely doesn’t recognize Chuck reaching out with his other hand, one of his fingers running along the tendons on the back of Mako’s.
The realization that his son and Stacker’s girl are in love hits him like a ton of bricks at the same moment Chuck’s lips quirk up in a small, honest smile.
They’re in love. Mako steps closer to his son and he finally makes himself walk away. Stagger, more like it. His mind’s going over the facts. Chuck usually projects peace when he’s in Striker Eureka, it’s where he belongs. He’s happy in the conn pod. He wonders if he would know, if he’d feel the change in Chuck’s head or if Chuck’s just good at projecting white noise. He wonders how long they’ve been together, how long it’s taken them to get to this point. To fit all their pieces together. Mostly he wonders when Stacker’s going to transfer somewhere else and if there’s a way Mako can stay behind.
He staggers to Stacker’s office instead of wherever he meant to go. His friend is sitting behind his desk and besides the glass of whiskey in front of him he looks like he’s just working on paperwork. He slides the other glass on his desk forward without looking up. Herc sits across from him and picks up the glass, taking a long drink.
"They’re being safe," Stacker says without looking up.
"That’s good," Herc says, "Chuck’s fixing the rigs."
"That’s good," Stacker replies.
Herc gets up to grab the bottle from Stacker’s secret drawer, refreshes both their drinks and sits back down, taking the reports Stacker hands him without complaints for once.