#the RELIEF i feel about finshing this my god

[tides-and-moon]

anima: the eidolon of life 🦋🌿

[patroklosandachilles]

Three-Piloted Jaeger

Pairing: Pipeynabeth Rating: Teen Word Count:  2218 Summary: Jaegers are piloted by only two people, so what happens when three people are drift compatible?    A/N: For @kitshunette as part of the @feastoffortuna2017! I hope you enjoy it! You can find it on ao3 here. 

It seemed like it had been ages since the first kaiju attack. In reality, it had only been about roughly ten years. It was hard to keep track of time when you were a jaeger pilot. The task was exciting, yet monotonous at the same time. You went out, fought kaijus, and came back to base. Rinse, and repeat. The hype had died down, and kaiju pilots were no longer invited onto talk shows, or anywhere, really. They had to be ready for a kaiju attack at any moment, but they actually spent most of their time waiting around, especially if you hadn’t found someone you were drift compatible with yet.

Waiting around is what mostly occurred on the east coast base off of New York, and it was precisely this waiting around that had lead Annabeth to Piper in the first place. Piper was in her bunk reading, with the door open when Annabeth walked by. Annabeth recognized the cover, and knocked on Piper’s door. Of course she had seen Piper around. They had even said brief “hellos” to each other in the hallways, so this wasn’t completely strange, yet Piper found herself startled at the knock, and then nervous when she saw who was responsible for it.  

Piper’s nerves may have had something to do with the slight crush she found herself developing on Annabeth. She really couldn’t help it, though. Annabeth was one of, if not the best in combat practice. Because of this she really had a toned physique that left Piper swooning. The feelings were mutual. The only reason Annabeth had bothered knocking in the first place was because she was very into Piper. One of her co-pilots had accused her of stalking Piper when she merely wanted to see what table she sat at during lunch so that she knew which direction to occasionally shift her focus to. Piper was definitely hot, but it was not only her looks that drew Annabeth to her. It was her way with words, and the way she could pretty much word things to get exactly what she wanted.  

“Hey, Annabeth. What are you doing here?” Piper asked, trying to play it smooth even though she knew that Annabeth had seen her jump.  

“I was in the area. I recognized the book. Thought I’d ask how you’re liking it so far.”  

“Oh. It’s good, but it could use more lesbians.”  

Annabeth froze. Did she actually have a chance with Piper? Was this Piper’s way of suggesting that there should be something between them? Was she simply projecting? She couldn’t tell.  

“Every book could use more lesbians, let’s be honest,” Annabeth replied with a smile.  

“True. Would you like to come in?”  Piper asked.  

“Of course.”  

They became fast friends. Perhaps a bit more than friends, although neither of them had said anything about it. There were lingering touches that weren’t mentioned, and lots of flirting. They had realized they were drift compatible the first time they’d stepped into a jaeger together. Finally the two of them could do what they came here to do. The problem was that their combat suffered a bit during their little game, because part of their focus was on ignoring the other’s feeling. Neither one of them wanted to be the first to admit their feelings to the other for fear of rejection, despite the fact that they had been in each other’s brains. No one could tell you why they kept up that act for so long.  

One day, after a particularly intense round of combat practice, Annabeth came to Piper’s bunk. She had finally cracked, and decided that why the fuck shouldn’t she tell Piper that she liked her? Piper would say yes. She’d been inside her brain, after all.  

“I like you. A lot. And I think you like me too, so would you just come over here and kiss me?”  

Piper obliged.  

Their combat strengthened once they became a couple. They could sense each other’s moves and follow through with ones that only served to strengthen the original. They were a good couple both on and off the battlefield, and after a few months, they were recognized as the best pilots on base.  

That all changed when Reyna, a transfer from the west coast, entered the base. Both of them took one look at her and they were already smitten. Her skills in combat, and over all authoritative, yet compassionate personality didn’t help.  

Despite this, she was still picked on by the asshole pilots who thought that new transfers needed to survive some sort of hazing. During lunch her Reyna’s tray was frequently knocked out of her hands. She was constantly being tripped in the hallway, and everyone decided to gang up on her during combat practice.  

It was safe to say that Reyna was not having an easy transition, and both Annabeth and Piper longed to help.  

One day at lunch, Reyna’s tray was knocked out of her hands, like usual, and Piper was right there to help her pick it up. It had taken Piper a bit to figure out her lunch schedule, but once she did, she and Annabeth switched around their schedule so that they could be there at least to help her out during lunch. The captain wasn’t happy about the schedule change, but he couldn’t say no to his best pilots.  

“Thank you for your help,” Reyna said with a grateful smile as Piper helped her salvage what was left of her lunch.  

“Anytime. Would you like to sit with me and my girlfriend Annabeth? We’d be happy to have you.”  

“Absoultely.”  

Reyna fit right in with Piper and Annabeth, and the three of them could flirt like there was no tomorrow. Reyna still hadn’t found someone she was drift compatible with, so she spent most of her time training or in her bunk and when Piper and Annabeth weren’t fighting, they spent their free time with Reyna. Both of them had developed quite the crush on Reyna.

“I think it’s time we addressed the kaiju in the room,” Annabeth stated one night after witnessing Reyna defeat her in combat training, a feat most could not manage even in the best of shape.

“Are you upset that Reyna beat you in combat training?” Piper asked with a small sigh. She knew how competitive her girlfriend was.  

“No…actually I kinda loved it when she beat me. I was upset at first, of course. You know I hate losing. But Piper have you seen Reyna? She’s hot as hell.”  

Piper frowned. “Are you dumping me for her?”  

“God no. I was thinking…maybe we could see if both of us were drift compatible with her?”  

It didn’t take Piper long to catch on to the hidden meaning in Annabeth’s words. “Oh,” she replied.  

“Is that a ‘yes Annabeth I’d love to see if we’re drift compatible with Reyna’ or a ‘no Annabeth that’s weird as fuck and I don’t want to have any part in it’ oh?”  

“It’s a ‘I think Reyna is hot too and if you want to see if we’re drift compatible, I’m down’ oh.”  

So it was settled. The only problem was that only two people operated a jaeger. Plus they didn’t even know if Reyna would be on board with it.  

Piper suggested since Annabeth was the first one to bring up the topic, that she be the one who ask Reyna, and face the possible rejection.

“Hey, Reyna, I heard you haven’t found anyone you’re drift compatible with.”  

“How’d you hear about that?”  

“Everyone around here gossips. It hadn’t even been a day and everyone knew that Piper and I were dating.”  

Reyna looked a bit jealous. She told herself it was only because of the relationship, not the people involved.

“It’s true, I haven’t found anyone I’m drift compatible with,” Reyna said with a sigh, trying to hide her jealousy.  

“Well I can hopefully help with that. Want to see if we’re drift compatible?”  

Reyna visibly perked up at the offer. “But you and Piper…?”  

“She was actually wondering if you’d want to see if you were drift compatible with her as well.”  

“But there are only two pilots?” Reyna was starting to get a little confused. Did this offer have some vauge hidden meaning she was supposed to pick up on?

“Yes, well, we’ll try it one at a time of course,” Annabeth replied, like it was obvious. It was clear that Reyna had not caught onto the meaning behind the offer, but she could work on that.  

“Oh. Well, yes. The answer is yes. For both of you.”  

As it turned out, Reyna was compatible with both Annabeth and Piper. It was a relief to them all, and Reyna finally felt she was part of something like she had been on the west coast. She also stopped getting picked on for good. People had lightened up once she’d started hanging out with Annabeth and Piper, but there was still the occasional problem in combat practice since they hadn’t had that together. However, now they did, and even though Reyna had been kicking ass in her combat training alone, with Piper and Annabeth by her side, she was unstoppable.  

There was still a slight problem when they had to fight kaijus, though. They had an alternating system between all of them that dictated who fought with who each time, but it was a bit tedious. Not to mention the fact that whoever wasn’t fighting felt left out while the other two went out and fought.

Annabeth had been working on the plans for a three-pilot jaeger so that they would be able to fight kaijus together, and defeat them more effectively, but she had yet to propose that plan to the captain. She still hadn’t asked Reyna to be both her and Piper’s girlfriend yet, and didn’t want to bother the captian if that fell through.  

This is why as soon as she’d finshed a rough outline of what a three-pilot jaeger would look like, she decided to get Piper and Reyna together with her and finally ask the question. It was right after combat practice, as most things of this nature tended to be, in Annabeth’s bunk.  

“So I bet you’re wondering why you’re here, Reyna,” Annabeth started.  

“Not really. I mean, we always hang out after combat practice?” Reyna answered, sounding a bit confused.  

“We need to ask you something,” Piper said, not realizing how ominous it sounded.  

“Okay…” Reyna trailed off.  

“We want to ask you to be our girlfriend. You can say no, of course, but we both really like you,” Annabeth said after she gave Piper a pointed look for almost scaring Reyna away.  

“A lot,” Piper added to try and make up for her earlier mishap.

“Wow, I, uh, I don’t know what to say. You both really like me? And you’re okay with me…joining you?” Reyna said, unsure of how else to phrase her thoughts.  

“Yes,” Piper and Annabeth said in unison.  

“Well…yes. I…I really like both of you a lot too. I’d love to be your girlfriend.”  

Reyna kissed both Annabeth and Piper with a smile and realized she couldn’t feel more at home.

Annabeth had finished her plans for a three pilot jaeger and was finally ready to bring them to the captain. She knocked on the captain’s office door and waited patiently outside to pitch her plans.  

The captain opened the door, greeted Annabeth, an allowed her to come in.  

“What is it you need Chase?”  

“Sir, I have plans for a three-pilot jaeger I’d like you to take a look at.”  

“A three-pilot jaeger? And just how will that work?”  

“Well, you see. We’ve been splitting the cerebellum in half along with the left hemisphere and right hemisphere of the cerebrum. For a three-pilot jaeger, one person would have the cerebellum, since it’s smaller, and you’d spilt the cerebrum between the remaining two as we’ve always done. It’ll be more effective against the stronger kaijus we’ve been coming across, I believe. McLean, Ramírez-Arellano, and I are willing to be the guinea pigs, so to speak.”  

“I see…”  

There was an awkward silence while the captain looked through the plans and Annabeth shifted nerovously. Finally, the captain had made his decision.  

“We will get to work on this three-person jaeger immediately, Chase, thank you for designing it and bringing it to me. I believe you’re right; it will be more effective against the stronger kaijus.”  

Annabeth could barely contain her excitement. As soon as she was dismissed she rushed to tell her girlfriends. Both of them were immensely proud of her, and showed it through extreme affection.  

Once the jaeger was completed, Annabeth, Piper, and Reyna piloted it with extreme success. Not only did Annabeth’s design work flawlessly, but they kicked kaiju ass. It was a category four, and you would’ve thought it was a category two from the way they effortlessly took it down.  

Needless to say everyone was impressed. The whole world was impressed. Suddenly, the life of jaeger pilot didn’t seem so boring anymore. Especially not when you have two amazing girlfriends to fight kaijus, and make out with after combat practice.