Prompt: Before the final mission, Chuck apologizes to Mako for calling her a bitch and for everything that led up to the breaking of their friendship. (I platonically ship them. So hard.) and possibly, for shits and giggles, Mako forgives him with a kiss that Raleigh happens to walk in on.
There is not a lot in the world that can surprise Mako Mori.
She is usually not surprised and when she is she hides it exceptionally well. So when she opens her door to see Chuck Hansen standing there, hands jammed into his pockets and cheeks colored like a naughty schoolboy, its enough of a surprise to make her lips part and her eyes widen. Problem is, Chuck knows how good her emotional control is and the shock on her face makes him wince.
"What are--"
"I'm sorry," the pilot blurts out and then swears colorfully, "I mean I'm sorry for being an ass to you back there. I know how hard first drifts are," he shakes his head, "I'm sorry for all the other shit too."
Mako swallows. She hasn't been waiting for this precisely, but when the words leave his mouth some tightly wound part of her seems to relax. The problem with her and Chuck is that they are the same coin. He is brash where she is quiet. She is precise where he is strong. He attracts attention where she blends into the shadows. she is dark and cool, he is bright and hot.
They are drift compatible.
Neither has mentioned it in years. There is a lot she and Chuck don't talk about. Like her shutting down when he went off and became a pilot. Or the fact that she could control the face she showed to the world but not the seeds of jealousy that pulsed inside every time she watched Striker Eureka on the television. Or how every snide remark he made about other mediocre pilots or ones who couldn't cut and didn't belong in a Jaeger seemed to be directed at her.
"I am as well," she says finally.
"Thing is, I didn't mean to leave you behind," he says clumsily, "but my dad--"
she covers his hand with her own, silencing him. Herc chose his son and when Chuck had tired to talk to her about it the words got stuck in her throat and she had just congratulated him coldly and wished him the best. She had seen the hurt in his eyes but tears were in hers and she had run before either of them could properly speak. She ran and he let her.
"You haven't," she tells him, "we'll finish this together."
He nods at the sureness in her voice. She doesn't say what she really means which is that they'll probably die together. But that's the code of the Jaeger pilots. In it together until the very end. They wont be in the same Jaeger, but they'll be together in their own way. His hand turns and lifts hers, bringing it to his lips as he places a kiss on the burn across her knuckles.
"you're a hell of a pilot," he says.
"that's because I stay inside my Jaeger," she tells him.
his laugh is loud and pure, but its the sound of Mako joining in that sends Raleigh to his cracked door. He looks at the two of them, surprised to see Chuck holding her hand and her letting him. They look close. They look relaxed and Mako doesn't look relaxed with anyone. His eyes widen as he sees her tug him inside her room, closing the door behind him.
Raleigh turns from the peep hole feeling like a total perv. Mako is free to have whoever she wants over into her room. He's felt what she feels for Chuck. The effect he has on her. Raleigh goes to the bathroom and splashes cold water on his face. When he raises his head he sees the cut above his eyebrow and the shadows under his eyes. He shakes his head at his reflection.
He has no right to feel jealous.
Chance are they're going to be dead in a few hours. And even if he's never really cared about the future, Mako deserves to have one. With whomever she wishes. She doesn't have to feel the same things he does, in a way he knows he should be glad his thoughts haven't influenced her at all. Certainly not the same way she's influenced him. Then again he's a relic, he's a dying breed of old pilot. Mako and Chuck are a good fit. If they survive this Raleigh tells himself he'll be happy for them and move on. The fact that his fingers are gripping the sink hard enough to make the metal creak tells a different story but Raleigh isn't ready to hear that one yet.
"Your timing sucks, Becket," he mutters to himself as he goes to get dressed.
