Kindling

==Kindling==
(Citron Tea: One)
-December 31, 2024; Hong Kong Shatterdome- 
Raleigh meets Stacker's brightest with his normal reserve and she rekindles the fire buried under layer after layer of grief.
She sparks it even further when she tells Stacker, in Japanese, "I imagined him differently." 
"Better or worse?" he replies in the same language and now the fire is lit, swirling and waiting for battle. It cools down during the walk, bracketed by Gipsy's happy calm.
She wants to show Raleigh something and she fidgets along the bond they share; he hasn't felt her this eager in years. 
You really like this one. 
I want you to see what she did. 
Okay, Gips, lemme follow your lead. Raleigh falls into his old role, his cocky pilot façade. That's all the attitude is to him; a veneer few people try to break through. 
"Stay back! Kaiju specimens are extremely rare so look but don't touch, please!"
The squeaky voice has Gipsy growling with a metallic undertone. She doesn't like him. 
"Mr. Becket, this is our research team, Dr. Gottlieb and Dr. Geiszler."
Raleigh looks them over and something niggles at the back of his mind about one of the names. He ignores it in favor of paying attention to the K-Sci team. 
"Aww, nah. Call me Newt." The squeaky doctor comments as he huffs and pulls off his jacket. "Only my mother calls me Doctor. Hermann, these are human beings; why don't you come say hello?" 
Raleigh cocks his head to the side because he knows the parka trying to swallow the other scientist but his memory refuses to cooperate after the exhausting flight.
The pair bicker, the taller of the two in a low voice laced with venom.
Newt (as the man insists) rolls up his sleeve and Raleigh recognizes the stylized Kaiju tattooed on his forearm. 
"Who is that? Yamarashi?" he asks softly, knowing that even though he and Yancy had beheaded the damn thing with a crane cable there had been massive casualties before they'd killed it. He wonders faintly if it's a memorial tattoo. 
"Oh this little Kaiju?! Yeah, you've got a good eye!" 
"My brother an' I took him down in 2017." Something tells Raleigh this guy has no idea what he's talking about in real terms, definitely not the lives the Kaiju had taken. 
"You know he was one of the biggest Category IIIs ever? He was two thousand five hundred tons of awesome."
The statement further lowers Raleigh's opinion of the asshole. He sees Ms. Mori exchange a look with the Marshal that speaks volumes as he swings his baleful gaze towards Dr. Geiszler.
"Or awful," Geiszler backpedals with a shrug.
"Please excuse him, he's a Kaiju groupie. He loves them." Dr. Gottlieb snarls. 
"I don't love them, Hermann, okay?! I study them and, unlike most people, I wanna see one up close someday."
Raleigh watches to see where the Marshal and Ms. Mori were going before he turns to face Dr. Geiszler with the most serious expression he could muster without spitting in the man's face. 
"Trust me, you don't wanna," he practically growls, gripping the little man's shoulder, wanting to shake him for his stupidity. 
That's the Groupie Dad argues with. 
Yeah? I don't envy your Dad, Gips, if he has to work with that utter moron. 
Amen to that, my Ranger, she snorts as they take in the Jaeger Bays with a wash of nostalgia. My siblings!
Yeah? The faint tug of a smile at his lips makes him feel more at home here, where Shaolin's crew used to work. He spots the Bay they'd repaired Gipsy in years ago. We met the Shaolin an' HB I crews here in '18.
Typhoon, Alpha and Striker. Striker was so mad at that Wall-Breaking Kaiju! Zher wanted to stab it to death, but zher's Rangers said no; too much Blue if they let zher do what zhe wanted, Gipsy points out and Raleigh snickers along the link. 
Sounds like zher wanted an outlet for zher's anger, he murmurs mentally as they pass the Typhoon team and Cherno Alpha's as well. Raleigh can feel his Asperger's categorizing everything, taking in every last thing with an eye for detail that would put a hawk to shame. 
Zher wants to know if we cuddle like zhe does. 
Cuddle? 
Gipsy sends a flash of Striker Eureka holding the smaller of zher's pilots close.
We never got the chance. 
I know. 
The feeling of deprivation has him holding her as close as possible via bond. Not your fault; it's never your fault. It's the damn Kaiju that are to blame. 
But I never would have met you if it wasn't for them, Gipsy points out in a quiet voice. 
Raleigh hums in acknowledgement as he listens to the Marshal rattle off the sort of technical information he loves to know. Yeah. I got you outta them.
Ms. Mori smiles behind her clipboard as the Marshal recites info she's probably heard a hundred times before; Raleigh cocks his head to the side because part of him knows this woman from somewhere but he can't connect the dots for the life of him. Gispy pulses comfort and reassurance as he searches his own mind in frustration. 
He learns of the plan and then ... 
"There she is," Ms. Mori announces softly. 
There you are. Raleigh echoes. 
Here I am. Gipsy's heart warms. 
He's barely keeping stopping himself from running straight for his beautiful, blue girl.
Ms. Mori's a miracle worker and she knows it. 
"Look at her. Gipsy Danger. God, she's so beautiful. She looks like new." Raleigh sets his hands on the railing and smiles for the first time that day. 
"Better than new, she has a double core nuclear reactor. She's one of a kind now." 
"She always was." 
Gipsy purrs, says, Now listen to Ms. Mori, my Ranger.
A familiar voice graces his ears with, "How do you like the ride, Becket boy? Solid iron hull, no alloys. Forty acres of muscle span and a new fluid synam system." The same swagger as the last time Raleigh'd seen him, only there's a blinding grin as well. 
"Tendo!" He engulfs his oldest friend into a hug and sighs as Tendo pats him the same as ever. 
"Good to see you, buddy." he knows his voice wobbles a bit but Tendo seems to understand as he slings an arm around Raleigh's shoulders. 
"It's good to see you too, brother. It's just like old times." Raleigh gives Tendo a soft smile that doesn't quite reach his eyes. Tendo presses his forehead to Raleigh's in an apologetic gesture and they stand together for a long moment.
.
"May I show you to your room?" asks Ms. Mori. 
"Layout hasn't changed that much in five years, I don't think," Raleigh grins. 
"Very well; I will see you at 0600 hours." She bows. 
He does too. 
"Good day." Turns on her heel, clicks down the hall. 
"Thank you!" Raleigh calls. 
She doesn't look back. 
But Gipsy's right there and holding him close. 
He nudges her back with a wash of affection. You're back!
You're back! 
Oh, you look amazing, doll! Ms Mori did a damn good job an' if I didn't care what she thought, I might kiss her. It would be plain bad manners an' rude ta boot if I did it without her permission. 
Good choice my Ranger. She might end up flipping you over her shoulder. She's amazing in the Kwoon from what the J-Techs said. 
Think we can sneak in a cuddle? 
Oh, my Ranger, how I wish we could but with so much to do in so little time there's no way to clear the [hangar]. 
Too bad. 
She thinks of all the things attached to hugs. 
Yancy woulda loved to see you again. 
I know. 
A quiet thought. 
Feels kinda like a reminder. 
Don't get cocky. 
.
"Raleigh, come sit with us." Herc Hansen and the man hasn't changed one bit over the years. Yancy envies him a little for that. 
"No, I'm okay. Thank you." he keeps his reply short, trying to sit where the memories won't bother him too much. 
"Oh, come on, there's plenty o' room at our table." 
He decides that Hansen the Younger has an issue with him the second Herc sets the tray in front of Yancy. Switching hands is barely a thought as he takes his first bite. Yancy has to admit that Shatterdome food is nice after so much rationing on the Wall; he keeps his mouth shut on the fact that he's Yancy because Tendo keeps calling him Raleigh. 
"I haven't seen bread in a while." he admits, bracing himself for conversation. He never was fond of being the center of attention. 
"Hong Kong. Beauty of an open port, no rations. Potatoes, beans, sweet peas, decent meatloaf," Herc shrugs as he digs into his food as well. "Can you pass the potatoes?" The guy next to Yancy hands them over as Herc continues, "Raleigh, this is my son Chuck. He's my co-pilot now." 
Yancy knows that Herc noticed his hand movement and he swears that he heard a familiar gasp when he did so. Maybe Hermann was here in this last-ditch effort. Knowing the Doc, it was probably true but Yancy hadn't seen him yet. 
"He's more my co-pilot. Right, dad? So, you're the guy, huh? You're the guy who's gonna run defense for me in that old rust bucket of yours?" Chuck sneered at Yancy and he was so, so very tempted to reach across the table and slap the kid. 
"That's the plan." he murmured as he turned his attention to his tray. Pietr wouldn't appreciate it if Yancy smushed Chuck's head into the pile of potatoes and Yancy reigned in his temper. 
"Good. So, when was the last time you drifted, man?" The smug look wasn't helping anything but Yancy had years of putting up with Jazzy's attitude so he drew on his well of patience. 
"'Bout five years ago." Yancy was blunt and honest, something Raleigh never would've done. Herc gave him an odd look. 
"What have you been doing for five years? Something pretty important I reckon." Chuck stubbornly refused to let go of the topic. 
"I was in construction." he stated flatly, his jaw clenching as he remained polite. 
"Oh, that's great. I mean, that's really useful. You know, we get into a fight you can build our way out of there, hey, Ray?" The cheek of that little-Oh, that kid was pushing in places he didn't even understand were scorched beyond repair. 
"It's Raleigh." He bites out with a stiff posture. 
"Whatever. Look, you're Pentecost's bright idea. My old man, he seems to like you, but it's guys like you who brought down the Jaeger program. To me, you're dead weight." Chuck stands, his body saying more than his face was at the moment. "You slow me down, I'm gonna drop you like a sack of Kaiju shit." He gives Yancy a sarcastic wink followed by, "I'll see around, Rahleigh. Come on, Max." 
The strut out of the hall (there's no way Yancy's calling it anything else) has him shaking his head. 
"I'd give a wide berth with that one. I raised him on me own, he's a smart kid, but I never knew whether to give him a hug or a kick in the ass." Herc sighed as he took a bite of his mashed potato. 
"With respect, sir, I'm pretty sure which one he needs," Yancy snorted dryly as he continued to eat. 
.
"Awkward supper is awkward," mutters Yancy as he's heading back to his room. 
I dunno what Striker's talking about, Gipsy huffs. That kid needs a kick in the ass, not a hug.
You're damn right. 
Like this? Gipsy presents a stunning visual of a martial arts movie. 
Just like that, Yancy replies smugly. And please don't tell me I ever sauntered like that brat.
You never sauntered like that brat. 
You are a cruel friend, Gipsy. Cruel.
Tags: Ficlets in need of language stuff, I know which one he needs (scene), Our best and brightest (scene)
Category:I know which one he needs (scene)
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Category:Citron Tea
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Category:Our best and brightest (scene)
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