Stunt

Stunt
(Lucky Break: Two)
5 May 2018
Sydney, Australia
-May 5, 2018-
Lucky stands perfectly still as Herc and Scott got into the Conn-pod, both of them using the link instead of yelling out loud.
Scott, you can't bring girls into our quarters! You know I made that fuckin' rule so that Chuck doesn't see your Jaeger Fly sheilas come in or leave. He's got enough shite to worry about as it is! Herc snarled in reply to something that Lucky couldn't hear in their separate link.
I'll do as I damned well please, Herc, and you can't keep me from doin' it! Scott spat maliciously, a dark emotion slamming through the link he shared with the younger brother.
Not in our quarters we share with a [teenage] boy who doesn't know the difference between a one-night stand and a fuckin' girlfriend, Scott. You quit that nasty habit or I'm requestin' separate rooms for the rest of our run in Lucky. Herc growls, images of Chuck asking Herc why Scott had so many girlfriends flaring through the entire bond. Lucky rumbled in irritation and warning. Neither Hansen heeded it, as he suspected, and Lucky sighed as he asserted himself over his pilots.
STOP IT. 
Both of them reach up, cradling their helmet-encased heads, causing his arms to head for his Conn-pod. 
I would appreciate it if my pilots quit arguin' for more than five seconds! Scott, it's wrong and you bloody well know it. Herc, Chuck's not six anymore; he knows the difference and hates it. Pilot me proper if you don't mind an' stuff it while you're at it! He hisses as the resentment that he's been holding back for a while comes bubbling forth like a tsunami of emotion. 
Both pilots rock back in the link, stunned at his anger. 
I'm so tired of hearin' you argue. I just want an warm bond, a place I can bask in like the other Jaegers but it ain't possible with ya. So can ya get along for the event?
Yeah. Sorry we've been ratbags to ya, Lucky. Herc apologized instantly while Scott took his time.
Sorry Lucky. I'll try not ta argue with Herc. You said somethin' about other Jaegers?!
He met some more in Dr. Gottlieb's tablet apparently and they're all older than he is by at least, what, six months?
Romeo's the second youngest since he woke up in September of last year. We're a tight-knit group. Lucky admits with a shoulder shrug that his pilots copy to keep the techs from getting suspicious. They may fight enough to drive Lucky to distraction but they're as equally protective of him as he is of them.
"Quit foolin' around in your Jaeger and get goin' to that event!" barks Orenstein over the speakers.
"Sorry LOCCENT." Herc apologizes with a warm tone, "It's been a while since we stepped foot in him okay?"
"Him?" The Chief laughs. "You crazy pilots."
"Just roll with it, LOCCENT. 'M not gonna change my mind now." Herc snorts as they made their way to the event site with large steps.
"Sure thing, Hansens," comes the reply. 
They walk for a while until they see the balloons and the stage, stopping right next to it in an abandoned city park.
""And here they are now, the Hansen brothers in Lucky Seven, one of the first Aussie Jaegers to be made. She's a beaut, isn't she kids?""
Male. What is it with humans and naming 'inanimate' objects female? Lucky grumbles to himself as Scott and Herc sit down with his frame.
""Oh. I'm told that the Hansens prefer to call Lucky here a boy. Little odd but who are we to question our heroes, hmm? Rangers Hansen, can you hear me? Give a little wave for yes or a shake of the Connecting pod if no."" 
Lucky waves his right servo even as his partners do the same in time with him.
"We can talk through Lucky's speakers if you need us to, sir."
Herc laughs as he flicks on the speakers normally received for the Kaiju warning horn. "Built in for this sort of thing." 
He spots the event coordinator turning bright red at the collar and cheeks. Romeo had called it blushing. Humans did it a lot apparently when they were flustered or embarrassed.
""Alright then, children, ask your questions.""
"How many Kaiju have you brought down?" The child's dressed sharply and speaks with no trace of any accent.
"Three so far, with one assist for Horizon Brave." Scott answers proudly. "Lucky's a sturdy Jaeger." The younger Hansen takes Lucky's spiked knuckles and raps them against his chassis with a loud clanging noise.
"Can you lift us up?" The little girl looks so hopeful and they weren't quite sure how to address that one. "Daddy said I could."
"Uhhh, I don't know." Herc switches the speakers off momentarily and taps the LOCCENT button in the gauntlet. "Are we allowed to pick sprogs up?"
""Do what you have to; we need that funding for Vulcan Specter's repairs,"" comes the official reply from Marshal Nyugen. 
Herc glances at Scott and Scott rolls his eyes. 
""That's a yes, Ranger Hansen.""
Herc flicks the speakers back on and says with a small grin on his face, "So that's a yes from the Shatterdome, sprogs. If you would little sheila." Herc lowers Lucky's servo. 
The little girl scrambles up along with at least three others. 
They only raised it enough so that the kids could see above the platform.
"Wow! This is fantastic!"
"Awesome!"
"Whoo! Can we go higher?" 
Herc sighs and lifts them a fraction higher, not wanting to risk any serious injuries. 
"Higher!"
"Sheila, that's as far as I'm willin' ta go so you don't get hurt if ya fall. I got a sprog of my own, y'know," Herc chides lightly.
"Really?" All of the kids perks up at that. 
Lucky wants to slap his servo against his Conn-Pod with a groan.
"Yeah, mine's a bit older than you lot but he's grown up around Jaegers pretty much his whole life." Herc grins as the link flashes with memories of Chuck in the tub with a bubble mohawk and several other moments that could be considered embarrassing. "Now, lemme tell you about the time he fell asleep in Lucky's Conn-pod ...."
The event was a roaring success and the Hansens were actually being civil to one another for once, sharing stories about raising Chuck between Shatterdomes. 
.
Lucky slips into Dad's tablet and brushes the notification button. 
The blip-blink's loud in the room; the scratch of chalk against the board stops as Lucky's old man checks his device.
Hello.
Please specify which Jaeger you are, Dad types, his slender fingers gentle on the glass.
You better sit down. 
Dad eases into a chair and sighs at the relief it brings his leg. 
Lucky Seven. 
Hermann coughs as he does a double-take at the tablet. 
I woke up a couple of months ago. Romeo said to get into contact with you but we've been busy. Sorry if I sprang it on ya.
You sound different from the rest.
Well yeah. My pilots are Aussies, course I sound different. Lucky hums as flexes his coding. Ya want me to look into that flower delivery? The one that Coyote said got ya flustered?
That is none of his business but yes, I would like for all of you to look into it. Dad hesitated before typing it in with a pensive frown pulling at his lips.
Can do, Dad. I'll tell the others if ya like? he offers lightly.
If you don't mind. Dad's expression softens minutely and Lucky's core warms in his frame.
Can ... Can we meet? In my Bay. Herc said he'd distract Scott long enough to get a talk in, he blurts before he can take it back, his code nearly red from the amount of heat coming off of him. Now he realizes why humans blushed; it's to keep them from combusting internally. I'm sorry, I don't mean ta take up your--
When? The reassuring smile that tugs at the man's lips has him sighing in relief.
Now? Both of 'em are celebratin' the event success in the mess hall, he asks hesitantly. 
Dad only nods before collecting the cane laying on the desk and typing a quick reply.
I shall be in your Bay in twenty minutes. Would you mind waiting and perhaps get a chair?
I can do that, types Dad, chuckling dryly. 
Lucky's processor takes the phrase and then he's laughing too. He zips into his huge Jaeger frame, checking to see if LOCCENT is cleared of human vital signs before stealing a tech's chair from the table near his Bay to set in front of it. He flexes his gauntlets and checks his welds before he hears a cleared throat. "G'day. Umm ... Ya didn't see any of that, did ya?"
"I did."
"Can't be helped." He shrugs as he lowers his frame to look Dad in the face. "What do ya wanna know?"
"All of you are so considerate. What I would like to know is how you are settling, Lucky." Dad shakes his head with a wry smile on his lips.
"My pilots argue constantly but one of 'em is at least decent. The others are a big help. Chuck's ... I like Chuck. The memories Herc has are kinda cute and my partner's torn between acknowledging that maturity or ignoring it while thinking Chuck's a six-year-old. It's goin' about as well as I expect it to for bein' awake when I probably shouldn't be."
"You are resilient if nothing else. I do believe all of you are courageous to continue as you are." Dad stated warmly, the smile doing wonders for his face.
"Listen, we figured out where we're backed up at; some place in the US Appalachian Mountains in an underground facility. Coyote said something about a weight-Oh. You were worried about us." Lucky curls his massive servo around their Dad and cradles him near his Conn-pod as gently as possible. "Thank you."
"Please put me down." Dad's voice is laced with fully-fledged relaxation so Lucky held on for a few precious seconds longer. "Lucky..."
"It's not often we get ta show how we really feel about ya, Dad. I'll take what I can get an' pass it on ta the others," he counters softly as he releases their old man. "Love ya."
He smiles. "I love you as well." The sweet smile that brightens Dad's face warms Lucky right to his core.
Category:Ficlet
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Category:Lucky Break
Category:Hermann
Category:Hermann (ficlet)
Category:Lucky
Category:Lucky (ficlet)
Category:Herc
Category:Herc (ficlet)
Category:Scott
Category:Scott (ficlet)
Category:PPDC's the bee's knees
Category:Maybe
Category:Hansen brothers are Rangers
Category:Team Horizon Brave (mention)
Category:Kelly
Category:Kelly (ficlet)
Category:Orenstein
Category:Orenstein (ficlet)
Category:Sydney Shatterdome (setting)
Category:Battle Scar Soldiers