When we lost Chuck's mom, I shut down. Didn't know how to talk to him about it. Didn't know how to talk to anyone. I just went to work. And then the drift meant we didn't have to talk. My brother knew what I was thinking without me saying it. Chuck was too unstable for me to let him see much, but it was still easier, there in the jaeger. To think something, to feel it. We didn't have to say it.
I was alone for a long time. Just me and Chuck, and then just me. And that's all I've got to look forward to. A lifetime of bullshit and paperwork and men in suits who don't understand a damn thing about what we were up against. Then I got here, and met her. And things changed. Life's not worth much without her in it. I'd rather have her than nothing at all.