This is a birthday gift for the fabulous and wonderful ruslanan, who provided the idea and let me run with it. It will go up on ff.net and a03 eventually, but there's another story I need to get up there first, so in the meantime, here you go. Happy Birthday!
Mikey didn’t talk about it much, but sometimes, coming out of the drift was hard.
Floating through fields of blue, memories glittering like stars in the dark. Warmth, and love, and shared moments carving out the landscape of their unison. Huddled beneath a water tower on a rainy night, taking refuge from the storm, snickering as they shared the gyoza that had been meant to be a treat for four, and never breathing a word to the others. Another bubble of memory, this time of muscles straining as two brothers grappled over the fate of a square-jawed action figure. Then, falling through an alien ship, the monster closing in, one brother pulling another to salvation, one brother leaving another behind. Visions in the endless drifting tide, this one of tears, and a skinned knee, and a bandaid covered in smiling characters. One brother caring for another, doing everything he could to bring a smile to the other’s face.
In the drift, everything made sense. There was an order imposed on the normal chaos of his thoughts. It wasn’t that it changed him -- he was still Mikey. But in the drift, it felt like he was more.
Ordinarily, the exaltation of the kaiju kill kept him buoyant, adrenaline fuelling his mood and keeping the post-drift crash from affecting him. But today…
Wincing as the harness snapped out of his rivets, Mikey glanced over at Leo. “Is it me, or did it seem like that kaiju wasn’t really trying?”
Leo released the clamps on his boots and straightened to regard Mikey in disbelief. “Seriously? That thing had our head in its mouth at one point, and you’re upset it wasn’t trying to kill us hard enough?”
“I wouldn’t use the word upset,” Mikey admitted, releasing his own boots. “But it wasn’t as much fun as it usually is.”
“Mikey, sometimes you have serious issues.”
Leo exchanged a glance with Mikey, who shook his head. “No, not that we noticed,” Leo answered. “We were kind of busy trying not to get eaten, though.”
“Probably just a sensor glitch, then. I’ll recalibrate them in the morning.”
Mikey busied himself with unhooking his cables for a few minutes, but when he looked up, Leo was staring at him. Mikey flinched, wondering how much of his mood he’d let slip during the uncoupling.
“Hey,” Leo said. “You wanna get some ice cream or something?”
He wanted to say yes. Like, a lot. And not just because Leo was one of the few people on base who’d managed to crack the security locks on the freezer where Murakami kept the good stuff. But when he was feeling like this, being close to Leo was almost worse; it reminded him just how far apart they actually were. So instead, he just smiled brightly and waved a carefree hand. “Nah. Think I’m gonna take advantage of the dark and go for a walk on the beach. Rain check, okay?”
Leo looked skeptical, but eventually agreed, leaving Mikey to escape into the night.
Leaving the Shatterdome was generally out of the question, but after Takahashi had learned the hard way that Mikey had difficulties when he was cooped up in one place too long (and in his own defense, Mikey had volunteered to get the feathers out of ventilation system afterward), Takahashi had granted permission for short trips outside, provided they did it at night and in places not populated by humans.
And so it was that Mikey found himself ambling down the beach, wearing pants (however reluctantly) and a hoodie beneath his flight jacket, the hood pulled up to obscure his face on the off-chance that he ran into any late-night beachcombers.
He slowed as he reached the pier, following the sloping sands to where the piles had been exposed by low tide. It smelled pretty funky most of the time, but sometimes he found some cool stuff washed up from the depths of the bay. He especially liked the pieces of glass that had been worn smooth by the waves, their jagged edges turned into something harmless and beautiful by the ceaseless work of the ocean. There was something really zen about that thought. Maybe, if he found enough of them, he could get Donnie to help him turn them into a mobile or something.
He froze as a soft sound reached him. Something sloshed in the shadows beneath the pier. “Hello?” he said quietly, squinting into the dark. “Is someone there?”
A low, growling rumble drifted from the depths. As Mikey watched, the shadows seemed to shift, to boil, and two points of light flared to life in the heart of the darkness.
Mikey staggered back, his heart in his throat, as the growling intensified, and the creature stalked out of the night, its blue eyes as luminous as the heart of a flame.
“Kaiju…” he breathed.
With a bellow like the crash of thunder, the creature lunged. Mikey threw himself out of its path, hitting the ground rolling, and as he came to his feet, he had a long piece of driftwood in his hands. Swords may not have been his thing back in the day, but you didn’t drift with a dude like Leo for years and not pick up a thing or two.
As the kaiju swung its head toward Mikey, he struck. His foot drove into the kaiju’s jaw, and as the massive head recoiled, his makeshift weapon connected with the creature’s eye.
He was expecting to piss it off. But as Mikey struck, the kaiju screamed in pain and retreated, curling itself around a pillar and burying its head beneath one scaly leg.
“Wait, what?” Mikey said, looking from his stick to the kaiju and back again. “Hey…”
Carefully, he took a hesitant step toward the kaiju. But instead of striking out at him, it just whimpered and attempted to climb further beneath itself. Mikey’s brow furrowed as he crept closer, able to take in more of the thing as his eyes adjusted to the dark. The lines of its body looked almost crocodylian, like the kaiju they’d just fought--
Mikey’s gasp echoed beneath the pier. “That was your mom!” This kaiju was just a baby. No wonder mama kaiju had seemed distracted. His heart sank as he looked at the shaking creature wrapped around the pillar. “You poor thing,” he said gently. “You didn’t ask to be born a horrible senseless monster of carnage and destruction.” Well, it wasn’t doing much destroying now. Tossing his stick aside, Mikey picked up a crab that was valiantly waving its claws at him, and held it out to the baby kaiju. “Come on, little dude. It’s okay. Check out what I’ve got for you.”
Blazing eyes emerged from beneath the scaled forelimb to regard the angry crustacean in Mikey’s hand. In an instant, a tongue like a luminescent flower lashed out to grab the crab and reel it in. The hard shell crunched beneath razor jaws, and the kaiju shifted to look at Mikey. A low croon resonated deep in its throat.
“There you go, see? You’re not so bad when the Kraang aren’t behind the wheel.” He held out a hand. “Come on. I’m sorry I kicked you. And hit you with a stick. It’s okay.”
The kaiju keened again and unwound from the pillar, splashing through the water to where Mikey stood. It butted his head against him, knocking him back into the water. Smiling, Mikey scratched at the base of the row of sharp spikes that crowned the kaiju’s head. “There you go. Hey, you’re kind of leathery.”
“There are times when I lose control. When I awaken, I am horrified by what I have done. A monster like me deserves to be chained.”
“Or maybe you just think you’re a monster cause everyone treats you that way.”
Placing a hand beneath the massive jaw, Mikey tilted the kaiju’s head until he could see those gleaming eyes. “What do you think of the name ‘Leatherhead Junior’?”
The kaiju regarded him for a moment before rearing back its head and letting loose a powerful sneeze.
Mikey wiped the glowing snot and flakes of crab shell from his face, and grinned. “I knew you’d like it! Come on. The sun’ll be up soon, and it’ll be way harder to get you home during the day shift.”
It has been brought to our attention that the cow carcass delivered to the receiving dock that was to provide meals for the next week has gone missing. The person or persons who are responsible for the removal of the frozen bovine are strongly encouraged to return it at their earliest convenience, unless they enjoy eating dry cereal and reconstituted eggs with every meal.
The person or persons responsible for putting holes in the Marshal’s personal jeep are advised that the activities that resulted in said holes had best cease immediately. The repairs will be costly, and will be coming out of the salaries of the person or persons responsible. I know how much you won’t enjoy that. I sign your paychecks.
To the person or persons responsible for depositing the garbage bags full of refuse in the Shatterdome garbage collection: I will hunt you down. And when I find you, you will be cleaning out the latrines with a toothbrush until this war is over.
Mikey should have known it couldn’t last. Junior was growing fast, and Takahashi was up to a memo a day, now. And with a very needy kaiju attempting to climb into bed with him at night and nearly crushing him in the process, he was more than a little sleep deprived. But he never thought it’d be ice-cream that gave him away. And yet, when Leo had asked him if he wanted that rain check on the ice cream, the words “nah, I gotta feed Junior” were out of his mouth before his brain had even finished forming them.
For a long moment, there was complete silence between them, Leo staring at him with impossibly wide eyes. Then, Leo was off and running, Mikey in close pursuit as they tore through the Shatterdome halls toward the officers’ quarters.
“Leo, wait,” Mikey pleaded, still not able to get close enough to his brother to grab him. Okay, maybe Splinter was right. Maybe Mikey had been shirking his laps lately. He’d never had this much trouble outrunning his brothers back in the sewer days. But running rooftops and shredding the sewer pipes was so much more fun than running circles around boring grey halls. “Leo, you can’t just burst in on him. He’s very sensitive!”
Too late. Mikey’s door was open. Thankfully, Leo stopped in the doorway to stare, his jaw practically on the floor. Mikey pounded up behind him and peered over his shoulder.
Junior, good boy that he was, had decided to hide under the bed. But given that Junior was now the size of the original Leatherhead, the bed was up somewhere near the ceiling.
“Welp,” Mikey said. “You tried, buddy. That’s the main thing.”
“Mikey,” Leo squeaked at a pitch Mikey hadn’t heard since Leo’s voice broke. “You can’t just bring home a kaiju!”
“But Leo!” Mikey pushed past him and went to Junior, who tried to burrow his head beneath Mikey’s arm, knocking him down in the process. Mikey struggled back to his feet, placing both hands on the kaiju’s head. Glowing spit dripped to pool around his feet as Junior drooled in anxiety. “He’s just a baby, and we killed his mom. I had to bring him home!”
“The cow? Takahashi’s jeep?”
“In hindsight, maybe letting him play cars with actual cars was a bad idea.”
Leo closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Mikey, this thing--”
“Junior,” Mikey corrected emphatically. “His name is Leatherhead Junior.”
Leo opened his eyes again, and Mikey didn’t stay anything this time. Just stared at his brother, blue eyes meeting blue, as his hand gently stroked Junior’s head. And slowly, as they stared at each other, Mikey felt a thread of something -- something blue and ethereal and unbreakable -- stir deep within him and span the distance between brothers.
Leo blinked, and they sighed in unison.
Making that noise of weary frustration that only Leo was capable of making, he closed the door and leaned against it. “Okay, but he can’t stay here. Once it gets dark, we smuggle him back out, and then figure out what the hell we do with a giant monster of mass destruction.”
“Baby giant monster,” Mikey corrected, darting forward to throw his arms around Leo’s waist. “You are the best brother ever!”
Mikey could feel Leo’s groan beneath his cheek. “I am so gonna get court martialed.”
It took a flank of beef, an empty dumpster, and Leo’s painful attempts at flirting with the guard stationed at the gate, but a few hours later, they were back on the beach where Mikey had found Junior. Mikey sat on the sand, Junior’s massive head in his lap (it had taken some disagreement about whether or not Junior was a lap kaiju before they had finally compromised on the arrangement). Mikey leaned his head against Junior’s, wincing as the glowing tongue scraped along his cheek.
“Are you sure he’s not trying to eat you?” Leo asked quietly.
“Nah,” Mikey said. “I mean, he put my head in his mouth a couple of times since I brought him home, but I convinced him it was a bad idea eventually.”
Soft footsteps in the sand drew closer, and Leo dropped down next to him. “Mikey, he has to go.”
“I know,” Mikey said, nuzzling the giant, scaly head. “But he’s just a baby, Leo. What if another Shatterdome finds him? What if another Jaeger--”
He broke off, the words choking him, and he held Junior tighter. The kaiju crooned low in his throat, and the massive spiked tail curved to wrap around the brothers. On his other side, Mikey felt Leo’s hand come to rest against his shoulder.
“I know, Mikey. I do. But he’s still a kaiju. He was created to kill us.”
“That’s what they said about us in the lab, and you know that’s where he’ll go if they find him!” Mikey snapped, and instantly regretted it. He felt Leo go cold and still, and even though neither of them had moved, he could feel a distance growing between them. He let go of Junior with one hand, reaching up to grab Leo’s hand where it still rested on his shoulder. “Forget I said that,” he said, and there was pleading in his voice. “That was dumb. Leo, come back.” With heart and mind both, he reached for the bright spark that he had come to know in the drift as Leo, and wrapped everything he was around it, bringing it back home.
In answer, Leo shifted closer, resting his chin on Mikey’s shoulder. “This war… I don’t think it leaves anyone innocent.”
“I know,” Mikey said, absently tracing a finger over one of Junior’s protruding fangs. “I just--”
Sirens shattered the night. Junior let out a howl, recoiling from the sound. Both brothers snapped to attention, turning toward the Shatterdome as it blazed with light. As they watched, the massive floodlights swept out toward the bay.
“Kaiju signature? Now?” Leo’s fists clenched. “Of all the rotten, lousy timing--”
Mikey shoved desperately at Junior’s head. “You gotta go, buddy. Now. Raph and Casey are on duty, and if they find you…” his voice broke. Closing his eyes, he rested his head on Junior’s, trying to ignore the tongue that wrapped around his wrist, seeking comfort. “You gotta go. One of your big bros is gonna come through the breach to try to kill us, and nobody’s gonna stop if they think you’re the backup. Go, buddy. Go.”
Drawing a deep, shaking breath, Mikey desperately wished that Junior could understand. That he could see why Mikey was trying so hard to push him away. That he could see why they’d had to kill his mom in the first place.
As he stood there, encircled by the trembling kaiju, something deep within his mind stirred, reaching out across an impossible divide. And for a moment, just a moment, something connected.
Junior screamed, rearing back, and only Leo’s hand locking on his shell and yanking him out of the way saved Mikey from being flattened by the lashing tail as Junior dived toward the ocean.
“Junior!” Mikey called, but Leo’s firm hand held him back.
“Let him go, Mikey,” he said.
Not that there was much choice. Mikey stood next to his brother, wet sand seeping between his toes, as Junior’s spiked ridge disappeared beneath the waves.
Leo, being Leo, had already opened a channel to the Shatterdome, and Mikey could hear Donnie updating him over the comms. Mikey wrapped his arms around himself, chilled despite his flight jacket, as Goongala’s massive bulk splashed into the bay.
“Signature is on approach,” Donnie said. “You guys better get back here. It’s coming fast and we may need the backup if-- wait! There’s another signal! I thought I fixed that glitch.”
Mikey exchanged a horrified look with Leo.
“Second signature is on a fast intercept with the first-- this isn’t possible. It looks like… there’s another kaiju. And it’s taking on the big one.”
“Donnie.” Leo’s hand tightened on Mikey’s shoulder. “What’s happening?”
“I-- I don’t believe it.” Donnie’s voice held a note of wonder. “We’ve never seen anything like this. Both kaiju signatures… terminated.”
“Aw man!” Raph broke in over the channel. “We don’t even get to hit anything?”
“Weak, dude.” Casey added. “We got all dressed up for nothing.”
Leo closed the channel. Mikey stared down at the water lapping at his feet, watching the stars reflecting in the dark waves. The warm, heavy weight of Leo’s arm wrapped around his shoulders.
Mikey went out as much as he could over the next few weeks. The noise and the laughter in the Shatterdome were a comfort in some ways, but sometimes, even though he really meant it, the laughter exhausted him, and he needed to get out by himself for a bit. Just to think.
He sat on the darkened beach, watching the waves carry bits of flotsam in and out on the tide. A long stick of driftwood washed up next to him, and he plucked it out of the water, staring at it for a moment with a faint smile before he flung it out as far as he could, listening for the splash as it struck and vanished beneath the surface.
“Hey.”
Leo’s voice was soft, barely audible above the surf. But these days, it didn’t need to be more.
“Hey, Leo.”
Mikey could feel the warmth radiating from his brother as Leo moved to stand next to his shoulder. Maybe he had been out here too long. He hadn’t realized he was so cold.
“Watcha doing?” Leo asked.
“Having a think,” Mikey said, and dug at the sand with his toe.
“Wanna have a think inside? It’s movie night. Raph and Casey are about to get into a fight over whether we’re watching a horror movie or a romantic comedy.”
Mikey blinked, and glanced up at Leo. “Who wants what?”
“Come find out. It might surprise you.” Smiling, Leo held out his hand.
He only hesitated a moment before reaching out and letting Leo haul him to his feet. As he stood, a wave slightly larger than the others washed around their ankles, and Mikey felt something brush against his foot. Reaching down, Mikey pulled the same driftwood he’d just thrown back out of the water.
Only this time, there were long scratches in the wood. Deep in one of them was a faint glow, as though from luminous saliva.
“Mikey?” Leo asked. “You okay?”
“Yeah,” Mikey said. Smiling, he turned and hurled the wood back out across the water. “Yeah, I think I am.”
“Come on.” Leo slung his arm around Mikey’s shoulders. “If you keep quiet about it, I’ll steal you some ice cream.”
“Aaand maybe this time tell your favourite brother the code to Murakami’s freezer?”
“Don’t push your luck, little bro.”
Grinning, Mikey continued to egg Leo on as they headed back down the beach toward home, pausing only once to pick the same chewed piece of driftwood out of the water and fling it back into the depths of the star-studded ocean.
