Raleigh bolted up and ran his hand through his hair. "No, sir. Mako and I were just ... finishing up."

Herc raised his eyebrows briefly before turning to close the door. "Do I need to be concerned?"

"Concerned?" Raleigh asked slightly confused.

"I know its been awhile but I still know what an upset woman looks like." He replied.

"Yes, sir," he said uncomfortably.

Deciding that the young Jaegar pilot didn't necessarily want to discuss what happened, the Marshall decided to change the subject and turned to the issue at hand. "Did you decide on the candidate's list?"

"Yes, sir, I did. I'll have it on your desk first thing tomorrow morning," Raleigh replied.

"Looking forward to seeing it. Once I approve it, be ready to go ASAP," the Marshall said as he turned to leave.

"Yes, sir," Raleigh replied.

Herc turned around and looked at Raleigh.

"Oh, and Raleigh?"

"Sir?"

"I've decided to send some help with you on these interviews. I want someone there who can address the technical side of the issue," the Marshall explained.

"Understood, sir." Raleigh replied slightly deflated as the thought of him and Geiszler spending weeks on end together made him shudder just thinking about it.

A week later the Marshall had approved Raleigh's list of candidates and he was busy packing for his trip. He had narrowed down the candidates to about thirty men and women from around the United States. He and Geiszler would start in New York and work their way to California. The entire trip would take about a month if everything went well.

From those thirty candidates, seven sets of pilots would be chosen to train for combat. The United States government had commissioned four Jaegars to be built in the first wave of the program with more to be added later. The best four sets would pilot the new Jaegars with the remaining three sets as alternates.

Raleigh's thoughts were more on Mako than his task ahead. She had been systematically avoiding him for the entire week. No matter how hard he tried to pull her aside to talk about what happened, she would either be deep in discussion with the Marshall or surrounded by the ground crew responsible for the Jaeger's reconstruction.

His flight left in 30 minutes. If the didn't talk to her now, it would be a month before he would be able to again. He didn't want to leave without knowing that she wasn't upset with him.

He stuffed the last shirt into his military issued duffle and swung open his door determined to see Mako. Duffle in hand, he covered the corridor in two short strides, took a deep breath and rapped on her door, desperately hoping that she would be in her quarters.

"Mako," he said with confidence.

He waited. No answer.

"Mako?" He said with less confidence.

His bravado from before started to fizzle. She wasn't in. He looked up at the digital clock at the end of the hall. 20 minutes before he needed to be on the flight deck. Just as he picked up his duffle to leave, he heard the distinct sound of her door opening. He quickly turned back to see her standing calmly in front of him.

"Mako!" He said with more excitement than he had intended.

"Raleigh," she replied.

"I thought you weren't in. I was ... I mean I just came by to see how you were and to say ... goodbye, for now that is." Raleigh suddenly felt like a teenager in high school asking his crush if she wanted to go to the school dance. His sudden blush completed his humiliation.

Mako gave a small smile. "I am fine. Goodbyes are not necessary, Raleigh."

"Yeah, I know it's only for a month or so but I wanted to make sure we were OK. I mean ... you're not upset are you?" He continued to stammer.

"No, I am not upset. Why would I be upset?" She said.

"Well, because," he said before he was cut off.

"Raleigh! Mako! There you guys are!" Geiszler yelled from the end of the hallway waiving at them. "Come on, we'll be late. We don't want to be late!"

Raleigh looked at Geiszler and then at Mako. It was then that he had noticed the small duffle bag at Mako's feet. It suddenly all made sense. Mako was going with them! He couldn't help the grin that started to form on his face.

He looked at Mako. She looked down and smiled demurely.

They were almost one week into their journey around the country interviewing prospective Jaegar pilots and he, Mako and Geiszler had fallen into a comfortable routine. He and Mako would evaluate each candidate's physical and mental compatibility while Geiszler would evaluate their psychological stability.

They were in Chicago today. They had nine candidates they had to power through in two days. Most of the men and women they evaluated had some kind of relationship already established, siblings or spouses or best friends. It made it easier for the drift when they did. When your drift partner already knew everything about you, it made accepting the differences that much easier.

The last candidate of the day had just finished his interview process. It was now up to Raleigh and Mako to evaluate the nine candidates and eliminate the weakest ones.

"What did you think?" Raleigh said as he started to rub his aching neck. Sitting all day on his butt interviewing people had proved to be more physically challenging than piloting a Jaegar all day.

Mako was silent as she gathered her thoughts. A glance over to her confirmed Raleigh's initial thoughts. She looked as fresh now as she did 10 hours ago when they started.

"He's smart. His cognitive tests are off the charts," Raleigh supplied.

"Yes, that is true, but I am unsure of his attitude," she replied succinctly.

"You sense it too? The anger rolling beneath the surface?" He said.

"It is more than that. It feels like ... he wants to be a pilot for the wrong reasons." Mako said confused.

Raleigh flicked through the candidate's files looking for his psych profile. He scanned the documents that he'd all but memorized already and sighed. "Nope, nothing out of the ordinary here."

Mako shook her head. "Something is not right."

Raleigh was silent.

Mako turned to face him. "You are thinking that his anger can be controlled and used to his advantage."

Raleigh gave her a small smile. "And you are thinking that anger is a Jaegar pilot's worst enemy."

It was Mako's turn to smile. She nodded.

"We are getting to know each other's thoughts really well," Raleigh said still holding his smile.

"It is the Drift," Mako replied demurely.

"Maybe. Or maybe it's because we understand each other better than anyone else," Raleigh said.

His eyes caught hers. "Do you want to talk about it?" He said softly.

Mako blushed. She had been trying to avoid the subject for the better apart of a week already and had childishly hoped that he would simply forget it had happened. She would be shocked to know that their earlier kiss was almost all that Raleigh could think about in the ensuing week.

She shifted her eyes from him to her folded hands in her lap. "Not really," she said honestly.

Raleigh smiled at her sudden honesty. He turned his body to face her but didn't close the distance between them. "Mako, we can't just keep going without addressing what happened. Just tell me how you feel. That's all I'm asking," he said gently.

Mako inhaled deeply before she spoke. "It should not have happened. We were caught up in a moment of weakness."

Raleigh looked like Mako had just punched him in the stomach. He felt ill. She had thought it was a mistake, a lapse of judgement. Maybe he didn't know her as well as he thought. No, he thought again. She had enjoyed and wanted that kiss as much as he did. He had felt it. If they hadn't had been interrupted by the Marshall, who knows how it would have turned out. The electricity he felt between them was real. He felt in when they were sparring and he felt it when they kissed.

"No," he said firmly. "I don't believe that."

Mako looked up at him in silence.

"Why won't you face your feelings, Mako?" He said with exasperation.

"I am," she replied defensively.

"No, you're not. Tell me what this feels like," he said as he reached for her right hand and rubbed his thumb gently back and forth.

Mako was too shocked to reply. All she felt was a jolt of lightening pass through her when he touched her. Her stomach had started to flutter.

"It feels electric doesn't it?" Raleigh asked still holding and caressing her hand. Buoyed by her silence, he went on. "Every time we're next to each other, you feel like there are a million butterflies in your stomach fighting to get out, don't you?"

"It's the Drift," she replied in a whisper still trying to process how he so easily echoed her own thoughts.

Raleigh looked at her. "The Drift allowed us to see each other's greatest pains and worst fears. It allowed us to understand why were are who we are. It doesn't affect how we feel about each other. It doesn't make us like each other. That's something completely different. Don't you see that?"

"Yes. No," Mako replied confused.

Raleigh scooted closer to her. "Look, I can only tell you how I feel. When I walk into a room, the first person I look for is you. When I don't see you, I'm disappointed. When I have a bad day, seeing you makes me think things aren't all that bad. Yeah, it scares the hell out of me. To think that one person can have that much control over me. I'm just as confused as you. But, the difference is that I'm willing to try to see where this might go. The question is, are you?"

Mako looked into his eyes and saw the naked truth. For a brief second, she saw how she looked in his eyes and it was beautiful. She saw herself as damaged and hurt but never beautiful. Was this what it meant to love someone? To see past their flaws and fears? To see them in a way that they couldn't see themselves? She was always the geeky wallflower that no one paid attention to let alone a cocky, hotshot pilot like Raleigh. It was hard for her to grasp that his feelings for her were genuine.

"How do I know this is real?" she whispered.

Raleigh saw the confusion on her face and desperately wanted to tell her it was. But no amount of telling could beat showing. A slow smiled formed on his face as he reached for Mako's face. He gently lifted her face so that her eyes locked with his.

"Drift with me," he said simply.