Year 2030, Post Kaiju War: 8 Weeks
Decommissioned Hong Kong Shatterdome

He was alive.

Chuck was fucking alive.

Raleigh was going through the stack of photos again when the announcement was made on the intercom. Someone had found a jaeger escape pod and had only just reached the shores of Hong Kong. They had been trying to find a way into the Shatterdome but had been turned away every time. Apparently there had been trouble with look a likes before and the guards were having none of it.

Should have known Chuck would get through anyway. That man was a walking hurricane and not even a jaeger blowing up could stop him. It amused Raleigh to believe that he could take a kaiju out without the use of a jaeger to help him.

The minute that Herc and Persy had recognized him, the guy had been rushed straight to the infirmary where he was checked out. Only to be released a few hours later with a clean bill of health. He was brought to the debriefing room immediately after that to tell everyone what had happened. Raleigh was among the ones to sit in, but he couldn't find any words to express himself.

"My comms were busted when I woke up. Hell, I don't even remember Stacker ejecting me. When I realized I couldn't call for help and that no one was looking for me, I used the flare gun to try and get somebody's attention. I was out there for almost two whole days before that boat managed to fish me out. Can't tell you how hard it was to get me out of the damned suit," he grumbled, clutching his water bottle tightly. He had been taken care of on the ship, but that didn't mean it was the lap of luxury by any stretch.

"We are just glad you are alive," Mako murmured, taking a hand of the man next to her. They smiled softly at each other. It was gentle and Raleigh almost snorted from amusement. About time.

"Yeah, well me too. I know I said I would do it, but I can't tell you how terrified I was. And I'm man enough to say it."

"Being afraid to give your life to give your team mate time to destroy the breach isn't something to be ashamed about," Raleigh admonished softly. He didn't look at the man when he said it, he simply played with the grain of the wood table. His rough fingers scratching over the smooth polish of its surface. No one said anything for a long time.

"Well, now that it's all over and we have nothing to worry about, I guess its time to ask. Since you have been shut up in that room of yours for the past three weeks, Raleigh, and we haven't had the chance to really get it out of you: what is wrong with you?" Persy asked bluntly. Herc smacked his brother in the shoulder, the few others in the room scowling at him as well. He paid no mind and kept watching the former pilot.

"What are you talking about, Persy?" Mako asked quietly, her expression fierce as she stared the older man down.

"You know exactly what I mean. Ever since he came back he has been different. You don't remember things you should and you act like someone else entirely," he continued, turning to Raleigh. "You're not the man who we met in Manila six years ago and you're not the man who helped raise Mako. So what the hell is wrong with you?" It remained silent for a while as Raleigh refused to meet anyone's eye.

"When Yancy died," he began slowly. He paused, thinking over his answer. He had been trying to tell them, tell anyone, for years about what was going on. But the explanations and the excuses never came out. This would be the first time he gave voice to the nightmare in his head, the shards of identity that weren't his.

"When my brother died, we we're still connected. Something you all knew. But, what you don't know is that I felt it. I felt him die. Felt his pain and fear. I still feel it. Since the very beginning, Yancy and I had always shared a unique bond when we drifted. We never really stopped drifting. We were always in each other's head. Hell, since that first time, I don't remember there ever being a second where we weren't connected. It was enthralling, exhilarating. Like two people who were the same, but not. It always confused others- even pilots- but we understood it.

"When that kaiju breached the hull, we had a chance to cut the link, to be separate people when it all came crashing down and was over. We chose not to. We chose to be whole when we died. Which I guess I did. The person I am now is not the person I used to be. You say I'm broken; I say I'm different.

"Before Yancy was ripped out of the conn-pod, he did something. Changed something. When I woke up after I got back to shore, there was something different inside my head."

"Yeah, no shit," Chuck snorted derisively. Raleigh scowled at the man.

"You have no idea what it's like," he snarled from deep within his chest. A growl that left him quaking with rage. "Yancy fucking died when we were still one person sharing two bodies. The half of us that died with him wasn't just him. There were pieces of me that died with him, pieces of him that still reside in my head! I'm not alone in here, I haven't been since the first time I connected with Yancy." Raleigh was standing now, his body trembling; Chuck was quaking, even if he was trying to hide it.

"You don't get what it's like to have yourself broken and shattered, pieces of your mind and soul ripped away while the ghosted, demented parts of your brother are shoved in there even if they don't fucking fit. You don't fucking know what it's like to wake up one day and realize that you're loosing your memories! That holes are appearing that you know were full just a few hours ago while other ones are stuffed so full of fragmented information and images of a life you didn't experience. You don't know what it's like to know your brother is fucking dead but still have parts of him in there that disagree with it every single damn second until all you know is pain and agony because your so damned confused."

"Raleigh, I-"

"Fuck you, Chuck!" He roared. He shoved the stacks of paper in the center of the table towards the other man and stalked out, fuming. He couldn't deal with this. He had to be by himself. For the first time in years, Raleigh was afraid and the remaining parts of Yancy were screaming out in agony with him.

It was silent when he entered the bay. It wasn't as though he was expecting anyone to be in there. They had decided to build the Gipsy replica in a bay closer to the other fake jaegers. But it was still weird for there to be nothing in there. It was closed off, dark and still. Only one light shined in there: an electric lantern sat on the floor beside the person who had brought it. Raleigh was there, shuffling slowly through piles of pictures and letters and posters. They were scattered all around him as he sat cross legged in the center of the bay. Chuck missed the giant foot of the jaeger that belonged there with him.

He figured he could have said something, anything to make the silence more bearable, but he wasn't sure what the right words were. The guy was right; Chuck had no clue what it was like to be ripped apart like he had been and stuffed back into a single entity afterward. He had drifted with his father and with Stacker, and while drifting with the Marshal was much different, Chuck knew what a severed link was like. They had separated first, and he couldn't imagine what it would be like if they hadn't. Chuck liked being himself, he liked being connected with his uncle and his father the way he was. He couldn't- didn't want to- imagine what it was like to by a demented fragment of yourself walking around with pieces of another person inside you.

Instead of saying anything, he walked over to the man on the floor. He was better at keeping his steps quiet, but not as good as Raleigh apparently. Said man looked up with red rimmed eyes and pale skin. His hands were shaking and he looked like he had aged about ten years.

With nothing to say, Chuck kneeled down and looked at the man next to him. His slumped posture straightened, his spine cracked, his eyes hardened. His lips had tightened into a hard line and his jaw set. It was obvious he was preparing for a fight.

"I'm sorry. I knew you were fucked up after he died. I guess I just thought you would get better, go back to the way you were," he whispered. His voice was hoarse, loud in the oppressive emptiness of the bay. He was taller than Raleigh at the moment, but he knew the man still had some height over him. He found himself more intimidated by this ragged version of the self-assured and almost regale man he had met a few short months ago.

"Why didn't you open it?"

Chuck started, blinking rapidly as he opened and shut his mouth for an answer to a question he didn't understand. His unceremonious reply ended up coming out something akin to "Huh?"

"Your birthday present," the blond clarified, holding up the crumpled, blue box. Chuck felt like he had deflated. Earlier he would have been prepared to rip him a new one, explain to him in great detail just why he was prick and hadn't opened the present. But now... Chuck just didn't know what to say.

He huffed, flopping himself to sit down on the floor beside him. Gently taking the box, he turned it in his hands as he examined it, thinking of how to say what he had kept bottled up for so long.

"You left. You got it for me to open when I got there. But you were gone when I arrived in Alaska. And when you came back, you weren't you. You were vacant, gone. I went to your room after you left to see how you were doing, but all I found was this fucking box. I decided I wasn't going to open it until you came back and watched. And when you did come back, you didn't even fucking remember me."

"I did. Sorta. It's hard to explain," Raleigh replied, turning back to the photographs in his hands. One in particular stood atop them all: a kid of about fourteen with his head turned to the side and curiosity etched into his soft features behind a cracked glass. "Turns out that having so many photos is detrimental to my memory. Especially when everything is out of context. But you were there. I just had to unbury the memories from all the useless crap. It took a while and I wish I had figured it out before we went down there, but I remember." His voice was soft, ragged with emotion. Chuck was reminded strongly of the time when he had been in that bed and was fighting to apologize. When he was asking for help. Maybe he had been asking for more than a shoulder to cry on, but solid ground to rest on.

"Will you open it now?" He asked. His eyes were soft as he returned to Chuck's face, their blue hue again the brilliant shine from before Knifehead. Chuck smiled lightly, nodding in assent.

"It's stupid. I actually don't remember what we put in that," he chuckled thickly, blinking water back.

"Jerk. Guess you'll have to wait and see." They laughed quietly at that, dreading what they would find in there. Chuck's hands trembled as he slowly tore the paper off and broke the tape from the seams. It surprised him just how hard it had been not to open it all those years ago because, now that he was actually doing it, he couldn't seem to move fast enough.

When the box was opened, green bubble wrap met their eyes and a few small boxes toppled out. They each smiled at the idea of it being shock absorbent. Raleigh offered a small pocket knife for him to use as he opened it.

Chuck laughed when the packaging fell away. A digital camera and four memory cards sat in front of him. All the times he had burned images into his brain, knowing that he was never going to find a camera like Raleigh's or even a disposable one and he had one with him the whole time.

"I guess it really is never too late to start my own collection," he muttered. Raleigh laughed. A true, bright and happy laughter that filled the bay and lifted the oppressive sorrow. Chuck was happy to join in. He imagined that inside that blond head, Yancy was there with them. Shaking his head as he tried to look commanding but was really laughing just as hard.

The first picture Chuck took with his camera was of Raleigh and himself, laughing and teary eyed as they became anew.

A/N: So this is the last chapter. I hope you guys liked the story. It's been fun. Thanks to all those who reviewed and followed. It means a lot.

PS: In my opinion (which I know doesn't amount to much) I think that, by letting Chuck die with him, Pentecost broke his promise to Herc at the end of the movie. I know he never outright says he promises to bring the guy back, but seriously? The two were supposedly good friends. Besides, what sort of person would you have to be if you cared so much about a last hurrah and saving the world that you wouldn't shove your much younger drift partner into an escape pod before you blew yourself and two (well he thought it was two) kaiju up? It's just wrong and I believe that he was a much better person than that. And after writing this fic, I just couldn't stand not bringing him back from the dead! I know, I'm a total sucker for happy endings. :)