Ok so this is my very first fanfiction ever, so I may be rusty, but i hope you all will enjoy it and that it will give you the same joy and excitement as I had whilst watching the movie.

All the best!

"Today we are cancelling the apocalypse!" :)

p.s Also each chapter has been inspired by a specific song that I was listening to on replay whilst writing it :). Thus, how I got my chapter themes and names lol.

Running up that hill

After the closing of the breach and the end of the Kaiju war our heroes part ways to try to heal from their losses as well as build new futures. Mako and Raleigh retreat to the peace of the Alaskan wilderness, Herc establishes his post as PPDC Marshall and Tendo, Hermann and Newt return to their respective families and jobs. However the world, their pasts or the Kaiju are not down with them yet. As the PPDC begins to recruit again for brand new jeagers all of them are called back to service and soon they will be forced to deal with the people and problems they once left behind as well as an old enemy who has risen again.

Give me Love (music by Ed Sheeran)

Water.

There is water everywhere.

Every breath you take fills your lungs with pain but nothing compares to the pain inside your head.

You feel the loss and the terror in your mind as your soul is ripped out from the jeager.

From the neural bridge.

From your life.

You are gasping, grasping, trying to latch onto anything you can hold on to.

A scream yells through your head as you cry out, reach out, clawing at the thin air.

"Yancy!"

Raleigh and Mako jumped. From the futon, cries escaped lips and arms stretched against the darkness. Their breaths were rugged and heavy as they battled to suppress the dreams, thoughts and memories bouncing around in their heads. It was another cold night in the Alaskan cabin.

"You alright?" Raleigh gasps in Japanese

"Hai." Mako pants in reply

"You saw…?"

"Hai."

"Geez. Will it ever end?"

"Doubt it."

They collapsed back onto the futon with defeat. For several minutes they simply laid on their backs staring into the cracks and planks of the cabin roof. It was like this nearly every night. The horrors of each one's past melded together creating a concoction of nightmares. The horrors of their past melded together haunting their dreams, made worse by the fact that it is all shared between them.

"Let's try to get at least a few hours of sleep," Mako finally said.

Raleigh simply nodded in agreement. With one last sigh they turned towards each other, lying on their sides, foreheads touching, hands grasped together between their bodies.

"Thank you for being beside me. It makes it… easier." Raleigh whispered but Mako heard what he didn't say: they were two halves of one whole and by being here together they can win against their nightmares. They can battle the monsters at their door.

"I wouldn't want to be anywhere else in the world," Mako replied. A soft smile played on her lips as she reached up to give him a gentle kiss on his forehead. Raleigh giggled and returned the gesture. Within a few minutes their minds were fused once more as they shared consciousness in each other's arms.

Raleigh began to stir just after the sun, peaking over the mountains outside, released a new day. Mako had already been up for about an hour making breakfast over the small fireplace and "old-time" stove. Rising, Raleigh folded up the futon and placed it in the corner of the cabin room just as Mako handed him his usual cup of coffee. Looking around, the two-room cabin was a modest and simple one. This was the life they had willingly chosen despite the world's governments and leaders giving them exorbitant amounts of money and assets for their services in the Kaiju war and the closing of the breach. They didn't want the fame and fortune that came as a result of saving the world. They had both lived the lives of rockstars before, Raleigh when he and his brother were the world-renowned jeager-pilot brothers and Mako when, as a child, she had been Tokyo's Kaiju sole survivor. This little cabin in the Alaskan wilderness, once a summer retreat for Raleigh and his family back in the day, was all they needed or desired. It was a place of peace and quiet where they could mourn the lives lost while building new futures for themselves with their connection developed from the drift.

Raleigh opened the cabin windows to the cool Alaskan summer air, turned on the radio to the news channel and then proceeded over to Mako to cook alongside her.

"And in world news today the head of the Pan-Pacific Defense Corps, Australian Marshall Hansen has stated at the PPDC world conference that jeager technology, building and pilot training will continue, though at a much reduced scale and cost, to assist various countries with the reconstruction efforts. While most shatterdomes across the pacific coasts have been shut down efforts are now being made…."

"Any plans today?" He asked in Japanese.

"No. I have finished some of my initial planning designs so I just will review them this evening before sending them off to Tendo. You?" She asked in English.

"Nothing much. Probably should call Herc this evening to see how he is doing. He has been hinting at some work he needs some help with but I have no idea what. All in due course I guess," he said with a shrug. He turned to her with a wide smile and immediately she knew he's planning something.

"Since we have free time today why don't we hike down to the lake and go canoeing? We can paddle to the other side and then take a dip as the day gets hotter."

Mako grinned right back at him, then shyly turned away.

"Sounds perfect."

Peace. That was the only word that came to mind as they paddled along slowly across the lake. The water was clearer than crystal reflecting the deep green of the forest around them and the bright blue of the sky above. Mako looked around in wonder. This was only her second time at the lake. Previously it had been pouring with rain causing a heavy mist to settle on the water. But not today. Today the sun was bright and warm, the water was cool beneath her fingers as she cut through it with her paddle. A smile spread across her face, her blue highlights in her hair shining.

"Here is good." Raleigh said, breaking the silence.

"What? But we are almost on the other side."

"Yeah, but this is the best place to stop. It's perfect for a dip." Raleigh grinned as he began stripping down to his swim trunks, causing the canoe to rock back and forth, before diving off the side. Rising out of the water, Raleigh shook his head and let out a laugh. With a squeal, Mako dove off the canoe to join him in refreshing water and for the rest of the afternoon the lake and forest echoed with their joyous laughter.

"Thank you… again… for bringing me here." Mako said as she looked up at the sky as she floated on her back. "It was becoming … too much… insane."

"No problem. I know how it feels," Raleigh replied as he treaded water, recalling the hysteria of the past few months, the intensity of the world pressing on them, eager to grab at a piece of them, to hold them up to the spotlight.

Immediately following the closing of the breach and them being rescued from the Pacific Ocean the world erupted in tremendous celebration. Everyone wanted to shake their hands, pat their banks and sing them praises. Huddled together in the helicopter that picked them up all they had thought of, as they clung to each other in a desperate embrace, was how tired they were, how glad they were that it was over and how happy they were that they could actually begin to LIVE again. But the world, its governments, leaders and people had other ideas. Upon their arrival at the Shatterdome they were stripped down and shoved into the decontamination room to be hosed and scrubbed down for radiation and kaiju blue. That would be their only moment of peace, for the moment they emerged from the showers, even though they were in nothing but their towels, the press and media which had already pushed through the shatterdome gates began to hound and question them. What had happened in that last epic battle? What was the Kaiju world like? Was all of this Marshall Pentecost's plan from the beginning? Will the jaeger program continue or will it be decommission? What do you have to say to the world leaders who doubted you? What will you do now?

Raleigh was pissed. Mako was horrified. They had both been in the spotlight before but this was just outright rude and invasive. Mako had immediately cowered away while Raleigh began berating the journalists to not letting them AT LEAST get dressed before they started interviewing them. Once he had vented his anger Raleigh had put his arm around Mako's shoulder and followed Tendo through a back-way corridor that would lead to their rooms whilst Herc railed at the security for even allowing the journalists in the Shatterdome . Finally, their respective doors, they parted ways to get dressed, in official PPDC uniforms, for the inevitable debriefing and later interviews they knew they could not avoid.

It turned out later that the interviews, late night tv appearances, radio- talk shows, UN conferences and award ceremonies would go on for months straight. Raleigh had never worn his official PPDC uniform so many consecutive times in his life. In the end both he had Mako had to be issued 5 pairs of identical PPDC Ranger officer uniforms which would be washed on a regular basis so that they would be constantly ready. Mako had never owned so many evening dresses in her life. Every other night was a party or black tie ceremony which she was forced to attend whilst showcasing the latest works of the world's most popular fashion designers.

At first, once they got over their initial shock of the media hysteria, Raleigh and Mako actually enjoyed the world attention a little. It was nice to finally be acknowledged for the work and effort they put in and for the world to finally give Pentecost the credit and appreciation, though posthumously, he truly deserved. I was wondrous to finally not be forced to eat the tasteless rationed food, distributed during the war, and actually be allowed to eat five star restaurant courses. It was refreshing to suddenly be able to afford a world class hotel room with real, comfortable beds. Most of all, it made their hearts sing to walk down the street or turn on the tv and see people actually smiling again, rejoicing at their newfound freedom and their ability to truly live not just survive. At, first it was actually …good.

However, once they had got over their immediate joy, they remember all they had suffered, all the people that had been lost and all they wanted to do was retreat to some place of peace and quiet and mourn, without the entire world watching. But the moment they tried to do this they realized that the world and the public was not going to release them from their grasp. Their interviews and talk shows did not end. Governments wanted to constantly debrief them, insisting on questioning them in case they had hidden some crucial detail to their story. At one point Raleigh had even been seized from his hotel room in the middle of the night and taken down to a government building basement where they interrogated him till morning trying to get information out of him about the Anteverse; information which he did not have.

What was the most painful of all was the funerals and memorials they had to attend, completely open to the public for all the world to see their pain and suffering. They had thought that they would at least be allowed to give their respects to the dead privately and in peace and quiet, they deserved at least that much. In the end each funeral was a huge fanfare, parade like almost, of which they were the stars of the show.

First it was the Kaindonovskys in Russian, then the Wei triplets in China. Those at least had been bearable. Then came Chuck's in Australia where, Herc, upon realizing that they were finally lowering the empty coffin of his son he awoke from his stupor and began crying senselessly, reaching out into the deep pit until they finally covered it with dirt. Between the moans and the wails Raleigh and Mako, who had rushed forward to prevent him from jumping in after the coffin, could hear him lamenting and choking,

"My boy, my son, my boy….. my only son".

The press had had a field day.

The day of Pentecost's memorial was no better. While the world had zoned in on Mako waiting for her to break down and cry the tears of a daughter she forced herself to stand tall and not break down whilst Raleigh had gripped her hand, silently supporting her. It was only once they were back in the privacy of their room she broke down slowly and softly, crying and wailing her heart out like she did as a child in Tokyo all those years ago. She cried at the unfairness of the world which had taken the very last of what family she had left and which had left her truly an orphan. She cried at the fact that no one, not one of the government officials who had stood there and praised her Sensei at his funeral, had actually truly believed in him or his idea to close the breach. She cried at the hypocrisy of it all. All through that terrible night Raleigh had held her in his arms, the hotel bed's comforter wrapped around them, as they he rocked her back and forced on the hotel floor in an attempt to sooth her and let her know he was there for her.

From that night on they slept in the same room, comforting each other, chasing away each other's nightmares. Relishing in the drift hangover, the only thing holding their pieces together.

Things continued much the same as it had before. More interrogations, interviews, parades, elegant dinners, award ceremonies…and an ever increasing public interest. Once the pictures of them holding hands at Pentecost's funeral got released to the press and the internet the public went into a frenzy. Everyone wanted to know the details of their relationship. Were they a couple? Where they sleeping together? Was all of this a result of the Drift? And as more pictures of them clutching each other through the months began to emerge their fans across the world became more hysterical. They could no longer leave their hotel room without an eager crowd swarming against them. No longer could they walk silently into a café for a cup of coffee without at least a dozen people asking for autographs and the shop owners asking for them to write a quote on their sign. No longer could they catch the bus without the whole sidewalk of people suddenly deciding they NEEDED to catch the same bus to the same stop as them. The world obsession was approaching insanity. At one point while walking towards a building for a conference a group of teenage girls had rushed forward past the guards and grabbed Raliegh, hoping to get an autograph or a picture but in the rush they all tripped over each other dragging Raleigh down with them. Mako barely had time to clutch his hand and call for a guard before Raleigh could be lost to the crowd. From then on they always travelled with bodyguards and increased the security around them.

So while the world clamored and called for them, Raleigh and Mako eventually were forced confine themselves to their hotel rooms except for official functions. Suddenly all at once they found themselves imprisoned when all they wanted to do was to fly free.

It was at a celebrity dinner gala in New York, 6 months after the closing of the breach, that things finally came to a headway. Mako and Raleigh had hoped that by arriving early they would beat the rush of journalists and photographs only to be caught up and held back at the red carpet by a big name movie star who insisted that he must have a picture with the world's heroes. In the end they spent over an hour smiling for the cameras rather than being inside the building trying to raise funds for the Pacific rim coastal refugees charity they were representing. The whole time through the speeches, the dinner and the conversations Raleigh had to force a smile on his face. He felt like he was chocking both from the mass of people all eager to touch and talk to him and the bow tie around his neck which no matter how much he pulled would not loosen. It was while talking with an Arabian Prince he suddenly realized he could not see nor sense Mako. Quickly excusing himself he began searching for her through the throngs of people. All at once he felt of rush of confused emotions emanating from above . Looking up he caught a glimpse of Mako as she escaped into a secluded room on the second floor. Trying to be discrete as possible he slipped into the room after her, closing the door behind him. She stood there on the balcony hanging over the lawn outside, illuminated by the hanging lamps like a legendary queen in her black and gold corseted gown.

"Fun night huh?"Raleigh said walking up to her. Mako merely nodded.

"I suppose." They stood there for a while, listening to the laughter and chatter from below. Mako shifted, adjusting the dress in an attempt to loosen the suffocating corset.

"What are we doing here Raleigh?" He turned to look at her.

"I mean what are we really doing here? These people are not here to listen to us. They want to shake our hands, take pictures and be able to go back to their homes saying they saw the great heroes of the Kaiju war. They are not here to listen or to help us." Raleigh nodded . He understood her completely not just from what she said but also from the emotions he could sense coming off her as a result of the drift; the drift hangover .It was nice to have that connection again after five years, to be able to read, understand and truly feel a person. To be able to really SEE them. After he and Mako had drifted they found it near impossible to be separated or FEEL separated from each other much like how Raleigh had been with Yancy; not the same but still a strong and true connection.

"I know," he replied, "we both just wanted this monkey show to be over."

"But will it ever truly be over?" This time Raleigh had not the courage to look at her.

"I have witnessed the fame of Jaeger pilots, including yours and your brother's from your memories. This will not end, not for a long time, and honestly I don't think I can take much more of….," tears sprang in her eyes.

"them fawning and drooling over us as they begin to forget all those who fought and were lost. The true heroes," Raleigh finished for her thinking, along with her, of Pentecost, Chuck, the Weis, the Kaidonovskys.

Mako nodded.

"I just want peace. Sometimes I feel like just packing our bags and dragging us out into the wilderness." She said picking at the gold pieces of her dress. As Raleigh turned her words over in his head a childhood memory began to appear. A vision of a cabin, a lake, the bright open sky and green forest flashed before his eyes. Mako turned to him as she too began to see and sense his excitement with his memories. Slowly an idea began to form in their heads.

"Maybe we could…."

"Do you think…"

"We could try…"

"No one would have to know….."

"Only Herc…so he can visit…"

"I'm in it if you are…."

"Of course… we're partners…..co-pilots…."

Slowly grins began to spread across their faces and a plan began to form.

The only person they told where exactly they were going was Herc. They had tracked him down the next day and confessed to him their plans. He only smiled, saying "good for you" ,and they knew that he too wished he could escape from the world, and the future his past has created for him. He was the only one they give their personal cell phone number and the actual cabin address in Alaska to (Mako was amazed to find that a place so "out there" even had an address). That same night they packed the bare minimum of clothing they would need and Herc charted a private jet for them to a remote airport in Alaska. In the tiny, rustic little town nearby they bought a rundown 2014 Toyota (the only car WORTH driving in the world in Mako's opinion), stocked up on supplies and drove up into the hills to the remote cabin, just the two of them, alone.

"It's hard to believe it's been 3 weeks already." Mako wondered out loud. Raleigh chuckled. Looking around Raleigh could hardly believe they had pulled it off. No one had recognized them the few times they had ventured into the small town and a reporter or journalist had yet to turn up at their doorstep.

It was nothing but them, the sky, the water and the peaceful wilderness around them.

"But you are happy…now?" It was more a statement than a question.

"Yes!" Mako cried throwing her head back with a laugh and splashing him with water, "I….we ….are very very happy now." With that they dived in unison, twisting and dancing in the water as they celebrated in the freedom and peace they had fought so hard for.

Yaaaaa! My first chapter EVER! I hope you guys liked it! Please, please, please review so that I can get feedback on how to make improvements (I know that I need to up my editing but don't worry my Beta is working on it).

Also Chapters 2 and 3, which will have major story and character exposition, will be coming soon. So look out for more updates :)

Thank you so much for reading my work! You all are awesome!