Chuck D scraps

Scraps centering on Chuck Darling. Please see also "Kirra scraps" for pre-PPDC Chuck, "Dearling (ship)" for scraps about her and Pietr Vos, "Indiana Darling" for stories following her and Jackson Jones, and "Passing in the Night" for those about her and Vanessa Novoa-Tamahori.
==Divergences==
The collection of 'Kirra is a Hansen!AUs' come in a few different flavours:
Herc is Kirra's dad, Kirra's mom goes missing, Herc leaves Kirra with Jammy to try and get a better job, Jammy and Kirra go missing, there's the debacle with Angela, the baby is born Victor Charles Hansen in honour of Herc's missing baby girl but Scott, still smarting over the debacle with Angela, takes to calling the kid 'Charlie' to spite them and the name sticks. 
Sometimes Kirra's the product of a fling between her Mom and Scott (Mrs Darling doesn't move from the homestead in that one so her crew, already family-like, help raise Kirra. I'm not sure how that one pans out). 
In the rare 'verse where Chuck and Chuck Drift and /Ducky gets bounced, Kirra gets Striker and PR markets Herc and her as a father-daughter team or an uncle-niece team (depending what Scott did to get himself kicked out. If it's not illegal, then Kirra's story is trying to get out of his shadow (it /was to redeem him which worked for exactly 15 seconds at which point Kirra turned the 'you are dirt' vibe up to eleven and the person who came up with the idea slunk from the room in shame)). Kirra never looks anything much like any XY contributor; PR makes sure the public is well aware of what Mrs Darling looks like so people can easily go, "Kirra doesn't look much like her dad because she takes after her mum". Still, Kirra's told to get a dusting of freckles tattooed across her nose and shoulders. 
===Father - Daugher===
In the AU where the Chuck-Chuck Drift fries Chuckles instead of Kirra, would Pietr be her Drift partner until the end or would he still get replaced with Herc? 
While Wash's dad /was white, I don't think she and Herc look enough (if at all) alike such that PR could pass them off as a father-daughter team. 
They can always claim she takes after her mother. But then they have to deal with the PR fallout from Herc apparently having a daughter out of wedlock.
It might not be wedlock, though. Wash's parents /were married (if only by common law) and then they died. PR might 'tweak' the police report to say Dad and Child were brought by police to Wirriri's house. Not a whole lot of money, so Herc joins the military, crashes with Scott and Jammy raises Child Siqi why are you putting so much detail into this? Scott dates Angela, Scott's an ass, Herc's an ass, Angela's parents demand a marriage. Herc came back for Child #1 but she and Jammy'd disappeared off the face of the earth (as Jammy was wont to do). Tada!
Although we do have a Hansen for whom that's not entirely unexpected... Uncle-Niece team? (Can't think about mentioning Scott claiming Wash as 'his Chuck' and telling Herc at every opportunity that 'his Chuck' is better than Herc's (cue Wash, "appreciate the sentiment," *steps out from under arm* "but, uh, no thanks.")
==Secret Princess Story==
(Also uploaded as "Dream a Dream of Family" in "Sydney Shatterdome Scraps" 17:57, August 15, 2015‎)
Jamie's got an inkling as to the Vanessa-Wash connection, too; this's JAMIE, after all. He probably started digging into Wash's background the first time he caught Jackson making eyes. He's probably noticed the resemblance and is working on a dossier. Even if the crime beat and PPDC Legal aren't terribly related to the world of supermodels, again, JAMIE. Reporters and press people need to be good at recognizing and remembering faces. All he'd need is a good look at Wash and to stroll past one of Vanessa's magazine covers or posters and he'd probably start making some vague connections. And it'd be a /hell of a story if it turned out they were related, ay?
It's the Australian lunch hour; Logan's nowhere to be found, Andrea, Juliet, 'n some techs are chatting away, Jackson has a storm cloud over his head 'cause...
Yup, there she is, back to the wall on the other side of the room. 
So Jamie goes and sits down beside her. 
Jackson scowls and storms off. 
Chuck snorts. 
"Took 'im long enough," Jamie chuckles. 
"You want something?" she asks, not unkindly. 
"You got any family?" 
"'s in the personnel file, ay?" 
"'s rude to snoop without permission, ay?" 
Chuck scoffs. 
"Anyone not listed?" 
"What's this about?"
"You ever wished you had long-lost family? Like, famous long-lost—"
She looks away, line of her shoulders a mite tighter. "Did, once." 
"And...?" 
"What?" 
"You found 'em?" 
"Stopped caring." 
"For better or worse?" 
"You gotta point, Walker?" 
"Jest curious." 
Huffs. "Curious about where my hairbrush's got to." Chuck gets to her feet. "Best regards." 
This takes place after the Mark-III party, near the end of 2017. Jamie had put it all together but before springing wanted to make sure it would be well received and by the time he'd decided what to do, Chuck was gone. 
(Jamie has her hair brush. Someone /else got Vanessa DNA and he got a hold of the scanned sequence for comparison to Chuck's. Lord only knows what it cost him. He submitted a blind DNA test which proved somewhat inconclusive.)
There is not yet a named character who got a sample of Vanessa's DNA--either by stealing a toothbrush or a hairbrush or a kleenex or something and had it tested--then posted the sequence in some deep, dark corner of the internet.
== My Hand in Yours ==
(An AU where Jamie calls Vanessa she may have a long lost niece)
Wash's eyes crack open. 
""Good morning, sleepy head,"" greets a kind voice. 
Wash doesn't quite know how to turn her head. 
A dark blob swims into view. 
""A bird told me we might be related and--""
A hand in hers, squeezing. 
""--I'm inclined to agree.""
Wash's eyes hurt. 
""Even if it turns out we're not, well, we'll both be in physio together.""
Wash exhales, twitches her fingers closer to the hand, lets her eyes slide shut.
===Other Facts===
* Kirra doesn't relapse in this one, and once she's fit to travel, Vanessa takes her with her everywhere she goes (sometimes Kirra feels like an accessory or a pet, but she finds she doesn't mind terribly). 
* I don't know if she meets Pietr in this version. Kirra still returns to Lightcap every month or so for checkups, but I feel Lightcap wouldn't plead with Vanessa to get Kirra's brain back (even temporarily)
==Plushie==
(Cut from "Plushie")
"Hey, Rapunzel."
Chuck weaves some purple around her fingers, the nickname's inspiration draped loosely around her neck and out of yarn's way.
==Double Date==
(Cut from what is now "Safe")
[Sergio and Kirra argue about Drifting, Kirra storms off and run into Pietr who hugs her]
Bile catches, Pietr cradles your head and holds you gently; the acid fire screams, clawing at your insides, he frees you after a moment and touches his forehead to yours (doesn't seem to mind you won't look at him) searching, imploring and you really really want to believe him (but the last time you believed someone about anything Drift-related you had to reteach yourself how to talk) and smog's filled your throat.. Evidently finds what he was looking for, presses a kiss to your forehead and there's an internal poof; you shove him away, scrub at your hairline and what the fuck you're full of wispy pink clouds and fairy floss. 
“Let’s get this over with already." 
Well you can certainly /taste fairy floss, even if that means your mouth's dry for no reason.
==TBD==
(Post-"Go, Team DriftSci! storyline; an early ficlet in the storyline that will be Kirra shedding her drive to wallow)
Caitlin slams the drawer shut. "Damn pneumatic pipes!" Elbows the panel. "Have to drag these all the way to Mail myself." Glowers. "Thanks, engineering!"
Chuck watches her leave, feeling oddly indignant. 
.
As they come to the end of the Archie, the curator's assistant says, "And that's that." 
Chuck acknowdges, studying the label on a box. "What--" Tucks a non existent stray lock behind her ear. "What's--which's your favourite?"
"The Viking stuff--" Gestures. "--back there." Smiles. "You've asked twice."
"Oh." Wipes her hands on her rain trousers. "Right." Manages to make eye contact with the assistant's shoulder. "The pottery with Freya and her cats, ay?" 
The assistant kinda preens. "That's the one!" 
"We've gone through this a couple times." 
"A couple, yea--but it's okay! I don't mind--captive audience, and it means I know you won't get bored." Grins. 
Chuck almost laughs, focuses on the box, tucks back her hair. 
"Is there anything else?" 
Chuck says--shakes her head. Adjusts her sleeves, tries not to mumble, "I should get going." 
"I'll walk you to the ferry?" 
Warmth blooms in Chuck's chest; she nods around the lump in her throat. 
The assistant gestures, 'lead the way'. 
Chuck nods, tucking her hair, scuttles--heads for the door. 
"You liking Anchorage any more?" 
Chuck says--shrugs. 
"Holy /smokes, an opinion without a snarl!" Bumps her shoulder. "Must be in a good mood--or are you finally starting not to mind this backwater?" 
Chuck rolls her eyes--shrugs--"Well--" Wraps herself more tightly in her jacket. "It's still a dump, and there're no redeeming qualities /whatsoever. 
"Can't argue with that," says the assistant, voice coloured with a laugh. "I'll see you next week?" 
"Y--" Chuck nods, checks the wind break over her jacket's zipper. 
"See if I can't find more about cats for you." 
"Th--" Chuck nods, eyes on the assistant's elbow and then makes a brief moment of eye contact and as best a smile as she can. 
The ferry sounds, 'all aboard!'. 
"Take care!" 
"Y--" Chuck nods, busying herself with her lanyard, dragging herself around to the door and up the stairs, tiny and empty and crushing on the inside, shoulders aching--? Chuck straightens--no reason to be hunched like a scared child--sits down in an empty row by the window--
The assistant waves. 
A spark of something light in the dark. 
Chuck kinda waves back. 
The assistant beams, waves anew, and the ferry pulls away. 
The cold returns so quickly and so crushingly Chuck can't breathe for how her ribs have constricted; she feels so, so adrift and anonymous that she doubts anyone would notice if she disappeared. 
She stays in her seat until they arrive, though, but waits at the pier, looking out onto the Shatterdome, and really, really not wanting to return--
That's not right. 
She wants to go back, be warm, eat in the canteen where it's warm and bright and /alive so why-- 
The lab. 
She doesn't want to go back to the empty lab and spend another evening wasting away the night until bedtime alone on her computer. 
So what ....
She swallows. 
So what's she supposed to do, then? 
Her insignificance threatens to overwhelm. 
She takes a shuddering breath. 
Is this the rest of her life? Cloistered away in an out-of-the-way lab and rarely leaving, hiding from everyone and everything behind servers, resenting and snapping at anyone who reaches out, so isolated she might as well be--
She's sixteen; the group of girls sharing her locker bay laugh and chat and go everywhere together, look at her likes she's worse than dirt when she acknowledges them ....
She's lonely. 
She's lonely and she /yearns for someone--anyone--
Company. 
She's so overwhelmed the world tilts and she sits down quickly on a bench. 
She doesn't even know where to start.
==Reassess==
"You a Navoa?" 
"Gangalida." 
"Sydney?"
"I'm not welcome there." 
"Even though you're related to someone who was there first?" 
Wash's eyes go calculating. "I always figured it's because I nearly fucked up their golden boy but that's a good a reason as any."
(2021; if Wash and Chau hadn't met before now)
==Torch==
]
Footsteps pad down the hall past Lightcap’s door. 
A thump. 
Footsteps pad up the hall. 
A knock on Lightcap’s door. 
“Morning, Lab Monkey Number One.” Lightcap spins around in her spin-y chair. “What’re you after?”
“Soldering iron?" 
"I believe I saw it last on the holodeck.”
Chuck nods. “Thanks.” Pushes off the doorframe. 
Lightcap returns to her monitor. 
Footsteps pad up the hall. 
Lightcap sits in silent standoff with an uncooperative sim. 
A soft curse. 
Footsteps pad down the hall. 
“It’s outta fuel,” Chuck reports tightly. “I’m going to refill the tank." 
Lightcap halts her spin (and yanks her leg) and smiles. “Thank you!” 
Chuck grunts and shtumps away.
==Dossier==
===Dossier: Wash===
1 January 2024
Document Type: Pan Pacific Defense Corps Personnel Dossier Summary
Date: 1 January 2024
Subject: V-CDAR_533.48-G
Name: Charlotte Kirra Darling
Assigned Team: Rangers, ID V-CDAR_533.48-G
Date of Active Service: 2021 (as handler); 2018 (as J-Tech Officer); 1 January 2016 (as Cadet)
Current Service Status: Active, based Lima Shatterdome (temporary assignment)
Biography:
Born 16 April 1996, Mount Isa, QLD, Australia. Australian citizen. Parents xxx and xxx. Only child.
Graduated Jaeger Academy in December 2015. Shortlisted for assignment as a /Horizon Brave pilot or Spare Ranger for /Crimson Typhoon. Extensive neural scarring suffered in early 2018 disqualifies her from further consideration as an active-duty Ranger. Assigned as J-Tech Officer under the command of Doctor Caitlin Lightcap in the Drift Science Laboratory at the Anchorage Shatterdome in 2018. 
Reassigned as handler to Ranger Pietr Vos in 2021.
Command Assessment:
Darling is resentful and openly hostile to all Rangers except Vos. It is doubtful her service will extend past Vos' retirement as her loyalty now seems to be to the man rather than the Corps.
== Aisle ==
Inspiration: OTPprompt
.
::Window or aisle?:: asks Chuck.
::Window,:: answers Pietr.
::But you're going to sleep the whole way!::
::On you or on the wall. Your choice.:: Pietr shrugs.
::Fine.:: Chuck swaps their tickets. ::Window for you.::
Pietr grins. ::Battle?:: Flips out his mobile.
Chuck rolls her eyes, pulls out hers.
== Turbulence ==
Inspired by an OTPprompt
.
Chuck jerks awake, grabs Pietr's—
Her fingers lock around the empty armrest of the empty window seat. 
She stares into the empty space.
From her other side, Caitlin softly says her name.
Chuck swallows, croaks, "He—That—" Bouncing gesture. "—always woke him up, confused—" Breaks off with a sniffle.
Caitlin puts an arm around her shoulder and pulls her close.
==Bright Light==
(Possibly pasta; 04 January 2025, an airplane somewhere over the Pacific Ocean)
Chuck shifts in her seat, blinks grit from her eyes, tries going back to her book--
A blazing, bright light behind her eyes--swallowing her brain--scorched toast-- 
She reaches for—"Hel—!"
Category:Ficlet
Category:Scraps
Category:Chuck D
Category:Caitlin
Category:Pietr
Category:Pietr (ficlet)
Category:Pokemon (reference)
Category:Pietr sleeping in vehicles
Category:Caitlin (ficlet)
Category:Vanessa
Category:Vanessa (ficlet)
Category:UAs
Category:Ficlets with images
Category:Chuck D (ficlet)
Category:Kirra's mum
Category:Kirra's mum (ficlet)
Category:Tilda
Category:Tilda (ficlet)
Category:Daisy
Category:Daisy (ficlet)
Category:Tale of Two Chucks