Am I Liam Hansen? Or Adrian Myles?
//Set in the Pacific Rim verse, this is the reason why Adrian and Chuck Hansen look so much alike.
This is spawned from some of the conversations that I've had with neverreallythoughtaboutthefuture about our muses. XD I had a lot of fun writing this.
The Sydney shatterdome was buzzing with the news of the newest recruits of the Jaeger Academy graduating in two weeks. At the top of the class were Chuck Hansen and Adrian Myles, and the two boys were not happy about it. Those boys have been absolute rivals ever since they started the Jaeger Academy, and it didn’t help any that they looked exactly alike.
The two were equally matched in everything from brains to brawn, there wasn’t very many things that one was better at than the other. You could almost say that they were like brothers…
Stacker Pentecost went and knocked on the door to Hercules Hansen’s quarters, “Herc, come with me for a moment, there is something you need to see.”
Herc stood and followed the Marshall into the labs of the Jaeger Academy, where on two screens there was a set of DNA.
“Herc, you know that we do blood draws for many different reasons. I brought you here to see if you could tell the difference between these two sets of DNA.” Herc looked at Stacker confused but then shrugged and looked at the two strands. “I don’t see anything different.” he said.
“These are from two separate cadets. One, is your son. The other… is Adrian Myles.” Herc’s eyes widened and he looked at the Marshall.
“But that’s impossible.”
“Herc, you had a set of twins, did you ever think that the one you thought you lost could have lived?” Stacker asked.
“No. We were given a stillborn, the doctor’s gave us a stillborn, our Liam was dead.” Herc was in a state of shock.
“I made a couple calls, and since the clinic where where Chuck was born has been closed for some time, it wasn’t easy. But there was a doctor there that helped deliver a child the exact same day as your twins were born. The babe was a stillborn, apparently the father of the child talked this doctor into switching the babes. You had two, they had none, so they gave you the stillborn and took one of your twins. Adrian is your son.”
Herc found the nearest chair and sat down. “My son… but… everything he went through… that could have been avoided? He could have lived a happier life, he wouldn’t have had to deal with the loss of his entire family… dear God.”
Stacker went and placed his hand on Herc’s shoulder. “This is a lot to take in, I know. We have no pressing issues today, take the rest of the day off and think on it. Because you’re going to have to tell Chuck as well. I will handle Adrian.”
Herc shook his head, “No. I’ll tell him. He’s my boy, I should be the one to tell him.”
Stacker nodded, “Alright, whatever you think is best, Herc.” The Marshall removed his hand from Herc’s shoulder and walked out of the room, leaving Hercules alone with his thoughts.
Chuck stretched his arms above his head and listened to the familiar pop and crack of his joints. He didn’t have anything to do that day so he thought that he would go down to the kwoon to get some training in. When he got to the door though he heard something interesting, some of the other cadets talking about someone.
“The only reason he got as far as he did is because his daddy is best friends with the Marshall.” When he heard that sentence his eyes widened…. they were talking about him.
“Yeah, I know. Myles is definitely the best cadet, there’s no way that Hansen would have gotten as far as he did without his father behind him pulling the strings.” Chuck slumped against the wall, now he was wondering… was he really as good as he thought he was? Or was his father really moving the obstacles ahead of him so he could make it to the top?
Adrian didn’t have anyone, he had gotten into the Academy completely on his own, worked his way up all by himself… Chuck had grew up in the cockpit of a Jaeger, the son of Herc Hansen, one of the best Rangers to live…
Chuck let his head drop so his eyes stared at the ground, he turned to walk away from the Kwoon when he heard another voice join the conversation. “Hey, what’re you guys bullshitting about now?” Great, and there was Myles himself for sure he would join in on the insults.
“You guys think that Chuck Hansen had his Dad pulling the strings to get up to where he is?” Chuck heard Adrian ask. And when Adrian heard the affirmative, he said something that would surprise Chuck even to this day.
“Are you guys fucking stupid or what? There’s no way that Hansen had his dad pulling the strings. Sure Mr. Hansen wants his son to end up a good Jaeger pilot but he wouldn’t make things easy for him. If anything he would want it harder for him. Chuck Hansen will be a great pilot one day, and if any of you think you’d do a better job than him you’re fucking insane. He and I are the top cadets for a reason so all of you can fuck off and leave him alone.”
Chuck’s jaw was practically on the floor. He would have never had guessed that Adrian Myles would be the one to defend him. But he was. He listened a little bit more and no one said anything, the next thing he heard was footsteps walking to the other side of the kwoon to leave, but then there was a presence next to him and he saw Adrian.
“You heard me, didn’t you.” He said as a statement. Chuck nodded, “Yeah, I did. Why the bloody hell did you defend me like that?”
“Because if I am to have a rival in this, I want it to be someone I’m evenly matched with, not someone who’s old man is controlling the reins.” Adrian held out his hand and Chuck looked at him, smiled and shook his hand. “Well put.” he remarked.
Herc walked through the halls of the Shatterdome with weighted feet, he had no idea how he was going to explain this to the boy, but he figured he should tell the one that this would affect the most, and that was Adrian. He made his way to Adrian’s room and he was surprised beyond belief that the door was open and inside sat both of his sons laughing and talking to each other.
“Are you boys actually getting along?” he asked to announce his presence. Both of them looked up with smiles on their faces, “Yes sir.” they responded at the same time. Well time to kill two birds with one stone. He went and shut the door, grabbed a chair and sat down in front of the boys. “There’s something I need to discuss with you both.”
The boys turned to look at the oldest Hansen. Herc knew that there was no turning back now, and it was now or never. He took a deep breath and began.
“You both know, when Chuck was born, he wasn’t the only one. We were expecting a set of twins but unfortunately one of our boys died shortly after birth… or so we thought. It was recently brought to my attention that my son didn’t die, he was switched. There had been another family there, one whose son had been a stillborn. The father talked the doctor into switching the babes giving one of our twins to the parents. How they talked the doctor into it I have no clue, but it happened. So my other son is still alive.” He looked at Adrian.
Adrian just stared at Herc, “It’s me.” he said quietly. Herc nodded, “Yeah, you’re my son, Adrian.”
Chuck was just staring, silent, with his mouth open in surprise. He finally spoke and broke the tense silence. “No wonder we didn’t get along.”
That made Adrian look at him with confusion and then laugh slightly. “Yeah, kind of explains that now. And why we look alike, and sound alike, and have the same birthdays….. I feel kind of stupid that I didn’t put two and two together before.” Adrian remarked.
“You going to be okay, Adrian?” Herc asked.
Adrian took a deep breath and shrugged. “I don’t know really, I’m just kind of in a state of shock. I don’t know what to think.”
“I’m not looking for you to start calling me Dad or anything like that, but I thought that you should know the truth.” Herc replied.
Adrian nodded. “Thank you, sir.”
Herc turned to Chuck, “Let’s leave him alone for a bit so he can process.” Chuck nodded and the two Hansens walked out of the door.
When they were down the hall, Hercules spoke up. “So, what do you think about all of this?” he asked.
Chuck was quiet for a few seconds and then spoke. “I’m just glad I’m not the only one that has to deal with your bullshit anymore, old man.” Herc hit Chuck upside the head but he did it with a smile on his face.
