Three days late (as usual) with a prompt (also as usual) and because I live to be ultra predictable I couldn't pick between these two so dealer's choice! Guardian for gen Raleigh and Yancy OR come back for chaleigh. <3
Because you are WONDERFUL and always give me the best prompts, you get... *insert drumroll*... BOTH. Mwahah!
The Becket Brothers come first. The chaleigh is second. Enjoy!
SOLACE
"No. No. NO. NO!"
Yancy Becket lurched up out of sleep and damn near fell outof bed. As usual these days, though, his little brother was there to catch him,a strong arm stopping the fall and pulling him up against a body still warmfrom sleep.
How the kid had jumped down from the top bunk out of a solidslumber in time to catch him was a mystery Yancy had long since stoppedpondering. These days, he was merely grateful for the kid's quick reflexes.
"You against Knifehead or me against Slattern?"
He felt the first stirrings of a grin and didn't fight asRaleigh scruffed a hand through his sweaty hair, then reordered it withsoothing strokes. "You in the Breach. The Throat closed with you still onthe other side. Or in it. That part's kinda murky. Just... you were gone. And Iknew it all the way through me."
Nodding, Rals scooted back against the wall, hauling Yancyback with him until they sprawled comfortably together. It used to bother Yancythat Raleigh had taken over the Brother Protecting services, but afterKnifehead, he'd had no choice but to relinquish his duties. He'd been in nostate to do anything for himself, what with having only barely survived. Andonly that because Raleigh had piloted Gipsy solo for damn near an hour,sloshing around in the ocean to find his body and practically drilling holes inhis own brain in the process.
Recovery from losing an arm, almost losing a leg, and Godonly knew how much brain damage and internal injury had been even more brutal.
So Raleigh just... took over. Became the Big Brotherovernight, supportive and encouraging and protective. And, unfortunately, tookall the responsibility on himself.
"That's a shitty feeling."
He winced, despite the kid's soothing strokes through hishair and up and down his remaining arm. Raleigh had, for all of half an hourafter obliterating Knifehead, thought Yancy was dead. The Drift between themhad been severed so abruptly that--
"Don't, Yance." Those strong arms hugged him tightfor a moment before returning to soothing gestures. "Just... I know howyou felt. In the dream. It's a shitty feeling." A heavy sigh. "I'mglad you woke up."
This time, the stirring became an actual grin, albeit a wryone. "I'm glad you saved me atrip to the floor."
To his surprise -- and relief -- the kid snorted andscruffed his hair again. "I did promise I'd always keep you safe, didn't I?"
Of course he had. Still trapped in his shattered, bloodydrivesuit and half out of his mind -- still convinced somewhere inside wherethe Drift had been severed that Yancy was dead -- and crying so hard he washyperventilating, Raleigh Becket had sworn on their mother's grave that hewould do everything in his power to keep Yancy safe for the rest of theirlives. And Yancy, in so much pain that he no longer felt real and wasn't ahundred percent positive he hadn't died, had wanted to argue but couldn't.
Because he was broken. He'd never be whole again.
And Rals had always been the survivor of the family. Hadalways been at Yancy's back, be it in a bar fight or in a jaeger. The kidhadn't cared about school or about his reputation or even about money. He had cared about keeping them together,keeping them both alive.
So, swallowing hard, he nodded and let his little brothersoothe away the lingering dregs of the nightmare. Let the solid warmth of thekid remind him that everything was okay. Raleigh hadn't died in the Breach anymore than Yancy had died fighting Knifehead.
They were both all right.
They were together.
And Raleigh always, always had his back.
Relieved, comforted, and oh, so grateful, Yancy let himselfdrift back off to sleep. This time, there weren't any nightmares.
END
BABY COME BACK
Chuck knew from the moment it started that it wouldn't endwell. And he'd be the one to fuck it all up.
He didn't like to brag, but he'd been fucking-A right.
His short, tumultuous, and steamy as fuck relationship withthat wanker, Raleigh Becket, started on a Tuesday and ended on a Saturday. Inless than a month, they'd gone from not being able to keep their hands off eachother to not being able to stand the sight of each other.
Well. Not entirely true. It was Raleigh who hadn't been ableto stand the sight of Chuck. Not so much the other way around. More's the pity.
So off the pretty but stubborn bloke had gone, mucking aboutthe world alone, tired of the shatterdome and the PPDC and the responsibilityand... Chuck.
And after six months of missing the rotten sod miserably,Chuck could finally admit that it really was all his own fault. For all thatRaleigh was a stubborn bastard, it had been Chuck pushing him away, Chuck'srefusal to admit it was anything more than a life-affirming fling, Chuck'scomplete and total emotional constipation that had ruined everything.
God knew the poor bloke had tried. Candlelit dinners. Romanticsummer nights on the 'dome's roof, talking about the stars. Slow and dedicatedlovemaking after their initial fuck frenzy had melted into something more... comfortable.
Something more lasting.
Okay, so Chuck freaked out. It was goddamn understandable,and he'd swear that in any court in the world. He'd fucked plenty of folk, buthe'd never had either the time or the inclination for... a... relationship. The very word made himsneer and itch to punch something.
And the life-affirming sex combined with all the stupidromantic gestures, no matter how well meant, started to feel like a goddamn relationship.
Which he knew wouldn't end well.
Which he knew he'd fuck up.
Sighing, he flung himself back on his bed, covering his eyeswith his forearm. Yet another night without easy sleep, and he no longer hadthe piss and vinegar to deny how much he missed the wanker. He'd never meant tohurt the bloke. Just... push him away. Keep him at arm's length until he couldsort himself out.
But he had hurtthe bloke. And Raleigh had left.
And Chuck missed him like breathing.
And he was too goddamn knackered to deny any of it.
Not for the first time, he reached for his PPDC-issue phoneand flipped through the contacts, stopping on Raleigh's name. Had he changedhis number? Chuck hadn't dared to ring him up, first because he was too pissedoff at that uppity bastard running off on him, then because he was afraid thestubborn bloke wouldn't answer.
His thumb hovered over the name, his jaw tightening as aflash of Raleigh's slow, satisfied smile came and went behind his eyes. Therotten sod looked like a goddamn wet dream after sex, stretching catlike in alazy, rolling flex, all that lean muscle gleaming with a sheen of sweat, blueeyes dark and half-lidded.
Jesus, he missed that look.
Wanted to run his fingers over that sheened muscle.
Missed the low, purring timber of the gorgeous bastard'svoice telling him he was fantastic, he was amazing, he wanted to go again assoon as either of them could get it up.
His thumb twitched, and he panicked as it accidentallytouched the screen. Jesus, how the fuck did he stop--
"Hello?"
He didn't have to put the phone to his ear. Nothing on earthor the other side of the Breach could make him do so. He'd just... ring off andact like it never happened.
"Chuck? What's wrong? Are you alright?"
Fuck. If he rang off now, the wanker would think he hatedhim. Or was in some sort of trouble.
Gritting his teeth, he lifted the stupid, over-sensitivephone to his face. "Ral--"
His throat convulsed, surprising him and cutting him offentirely. He... couldn't. He just fucking couldn't.
"Chuck? Jesus, are you hurt?"
Goddammit, he would not burst into goddamn tears on thegoddamn phone with his goddamn ex-... what? Ex-fucktoy? Ex-lover?
Ex-boyfriend?
"Chuck!"
Swallowing the clench down with a wince of actual pain, hetried again. "Raleigh."
His voice sounded as if he'd gargled withgravel, strained and rough.
"I'm here. What's wrong?"
He didn't want to say it.
He fucking had tosay it.
Swallowing again, lonely and miserable and sick with it, heclosed his eyes and said it.
"Come back."
Silence. His throat clenched again, his eyes burning nomatter how hard he squeezed them shut.
"Please, love. Come back."
He waited, tense and awful and hating every second of thisfucking torture. Then, the bastard sighed.
"Okay."
His entire body stilled. When he spoke, he wasn't sure theword could be heard.
"Okay?"
Another sigh. "I miss you."
His eyes burned again, his throat tight all over again."Jesus, Raleigh, please come home because I fucking miss you like air, andI don't wanna breath if it's not you."
"Chuck."
This time, it was Raleigh who sounded rough and strained,and the need to grab the bloke and never let go left Chuck feeling almost sickwith want.
"I'm hanging up so I can get on the next flightthere."
The last thing he wanted was to lose the tenuous contact betweenthem. What if Raleigh changed his mind? What if the bloke started rememberinghow big a fucking wanker Chuck was if given enough time to think about it?
Jesus, what if the next flight fucking crashed?
But if he didn't ring off, Raleigh couldn't get here, so Chucknodded, then realized the poor sod couldn't see him and forced himself tovocalize just a bit more.
"Right then. Be careful?"
A huff that might have been a chuckle under othercircumstances. "I'd rather be fast."
Closing his eyes, he felt the urge to snort and quashed it."I'd rather you actually get here, yeah?"
Sounding more like himself, the pretty bastard managed anactual chuckle. "Damn, Chuck. When did you go and turn into aromantic?"
Relief -- at the more normal tone, at the hint of the snarkybanter they'd so enjoyed, at the real amusement sweeping away the awful roughnessin the bloke's voice -- swept through him, leaving him lightheaded. And weakenough to blurt the terrible, forbidden truth.
"When I realized I love you."
Oh.
Shit.
They hadn't... there wasn't... he'd never... they'd never--
A sharp intake of breath stopped his whirling thoughts cold."I'm hanging up. I'll be there before lunch, come hell or highwater."
...It was... okay? That he'd said the dreaded word?
"Chuck?"
Still unsure, he hmmed an affirmative rather than risk anymore blurts.
"I love you, too. I'll be home soon. Bye."
And the bloke was gone.
But he'd be here soon, and... glory be... the beautifulbastard loved him. Was that why he'd left? Because he'd fallen in love whilstChuck still had his head up his arse? Because he didn't think Chuck would orcould love him back?
Did any of that matter anymore?
Staring at the phone in his hand, he let himself spin out for amoment. Raleigh. Coming home. Had he just been waiting for Chuck to call?
Why the fuck hadn't Chuck fucking called sooner?
And then it struck him. Raleigh was coming home. Raleighloved him.
A huge, stupid smile pulled itself all over his face, and hehurled himself out of bed and into the shower. He hadn't shaved regularly inweeks, and he looked ragged as hell. Long hours in the kwoon had him cut ashell, but he'd lost overall weight because he hadn't been eating well.
But none of that mattered. A shower and a shave would fixthe worst of it, and maybe visible proof of how much Chuck had missed thewanker would do the bloke some good.
He wanted to do the bloke some good. To make up for beingsuch a goddamn idiot for so long.
He'd start by arranging the most romantic dinner thegorgeous sod had ever been to. Then, he'dmeet the bastard on the helipad with a hug fit to knock them both down. And maybe flowers.
Then, face to face, he'd apologize. And tell him again.
I'm sorry.
I love you.
Come back.
Stay.
Grinning for the first time in months despite being fullyawake at ass o'clock in the morning yet again, Chuck Hansen went about doingshit right this time.
He didn't intend to need another chance.
END
