Chapter Text
Fluorescent lights hummed overhead, a welcome distraction from the normal hurricane of thoughts that swarmed Raleigh’s mind. He looked on interestedly as Chuck turned, finally removing his face from where it was dangerously close to the piece of Kaiju he was currently arm-deep in. The biological work with the Kaiju that Chuck had turned to was something that Raleigh never expected to see. Biology and working with life tended to require far more patience than Chuck could muster, after all.
Although at this point, he could no longer count the number of times the younger Hansen had surprised his expectations on one hand.
After the monumental events of Operation Pitfall and the accompanying days of recovery, Raleigh had expected Chuck to become involved in the planning stages of the new jaegers. Relations between the UN and the PPDC still remained strained enough that actual production on new jaegers was on hold indefinitely. Or so he was told. After all the bullshit surrounding Knifehead and the Wall of Life production, Raleigh decided he would rather shit the amount of construction material he’d handled in his five years than sit in on one of those meetings.
For the personnel still in the Shatterdome, the thought of the kaiju returning was enough to motivate them to at least start planning so that when jaeger production finally began, they would be ready. Mako was heading up the new jaeger project, as Raleigh had expected she would, since her work restoring Gipsy had given her more than enough credibility as a planner and an engineer. She was also the only person capable enough to whip half a ‘Dome into shape enough to create schematics for a jaeger.
Chuck, however, had wandered over to the K-Science Lab one day in his usual military-stiff manner and hadn’t returned from the lab until breakfast the next day.
Which is how on a Wednesday afternoon, Raleigh came to find him working side-by-side with a (thankfully) newly calmed Newt. The normally spazzy nature of the kaiju expert had finally calmed now that the imminent threat of the apocalypse no longer hung over their heads like an ominous cloud. Not to say that the work they were continuing wasn’t still important; Newt regularly preached that the key to saving the kaiju-tainted environment would be found in their biological makeup. And given how right he was about the events leading up to Pitfall, none of the PPDC wanted to doubt him now. Raleigh was willing to let them do whatever they did best if it helped them pick up the pieces of the world.
Chuck gave him a quick look-over through the paned glass of the containment chamber before he delved a hand back into the kaiju remains. Raleigh didn’t envy his work. Being in the other dimension for as long as he had was more interaction than he ever wanted with them; he couldn’t imagine being inside of one, even if it was only a part and not the whole beast.
At a nearby table, Newt flipped through paperwork and charts on Chuck’s findings, idly playing with the coffee cup in front of him. He had gently tipped his chair back, his crossed boots over the tabletop, as he pondered the research. At times, he nodded in agreement with the notes. Raleigh supposed he shouldn’t be surprised; the kid’s intelligence rivaled his arrogance. He wouldn’t stop until he learned absolutely everything he could on the subject. Maybe even as much as Newt knew.
The surprise came as Raleigh decided to leave the silence. A loud sound, like pressure releasing from a water pipe, hissed into the containment chamber. Raleigh turned to see a startling red mist settle over the entirety of the room. Which was a truly alarming color since it was a departure from the normal kaiju blue excretions. Come to think of it, he’d never seen anything other than blue oozing from the strange creatures. Newt leaped to his feet in an instant and yelled at Raleigh in his previously typical, high-pitched manner, ordering him to seal off the lab. The doctor’s normal calm demeanor about dealing with everything kaiju was gone, which told Raleigh that this was something not even the expert had seen before.
Never a good sign. Of course, the one time he visits the K-Science Lab, something goes wrong.
He slammed a fist to the emergency alarm on the side wall and winced as the siren’s whooping cut through both the air and his damn eardrums. Newt hunched over the computer screen taking readings of the room, his brow scrunched in deep thought. Raleigh bounced with impatience. The computer would tell them if it was some kind of biological agent released as a kaiju defense, or something else sinister to be worried about.
The vapor was soon rapidly picked up by the venting in the containment chamber. When he could finally see through to the other end of the room, Newt gave him a nod. “It’s not something transmissible once the dust settles. There’s no telling what’s happened to Chuck since he got a face-full, but when the vent is done doing its job, we should be good to go in.”
Raleigh drew in a sharp breath, the colors and patterns of the other dimension suddenly hitting him like a freight train. After what he’d seen there, he could only imagine what kind of sinister effect the mist would have on Chuck. He strained to see through the remaining red and stared intently at the spot where Chuck had been arm-deep in the mess, and as the vapor finally dissipated, he was met by quite a sight.
Sitting on the ground, hands half-raised in confusion, bright grey eyes brimming with not-quite-spilled-over tears, was a small, freckle-faced, ginger, four-year-old Chuck Hansen.