ALRIGHT first off, sorry I took so long on this chapter D: I've suuuper busy with life and surgery and school, but I finally was able to write the next chapter. I feel kinda rusty, and Im sorry if this isn't up to the usual quality. ): Anyway, thank you to all who've been patient with me, and SUPER SPECIAL thanks to all who reviewed the last chapter. Anywho, and as always: read, review, enjoy :)

The jaegers got home late, their arms laden with groceries. The welcome party wasn't as warm as they had expected, as they were ushered into the dome by a cold-faced security team the second they showed up at the front gate.

"Coyote and Tacit had permission to visit the store. You were instructed to go home on the bus," the leather chair creaked as Marshal Pentecost leaned forward at his desk. The jaegers before him cringed beneath his icy gaze, much to his hidden amusement. It was still hard to believe that the teenagers quailing before him used to be giant metal death machines.

"We d-didn't think you'd mind, I mean, you sent us to the store before, sir." Crimson piped up. The Marshal noted that he was often used as the voice of the group, especially when it came to talking them out of trouble.

"I wouldn't have minded if you checked in with someone first, specifically Tendo or one of your pilots. That was your responsibility, and you failed. No one knew where you were."

"But….we thought Ronin would tell you," Crimson cringed back into Gipsy, who had her eyes bashfully glued to the floor.

"I will deal with Tacit Ronin later. As of right now, your free time privileges are revoked for two weeks. "

"BUT WHY?!" Striker broke his silence, pushing aside Crimson to confront Pentecost. "We were only gone for an hour! It's not a big deal!"

"It is when you forgot that you aren't normal children. You are jaegers and when you disappear for an hour the entire shatterdome goes on alert. This is for your own safety, and I expect you to abide by the rules made by someone far more experienced than you," Pentecost growled, sending Striker's anger flying off his face. "Now, two weeks revoked privileges. For all of you."

"Awww, what's that supposed to mean?" Gipsy threw up her hands beseechingly.

"It means we're grounded," Striker grumbled in reply. "Trust me, Herc does it to me all the time."

"But…never been grounded before, " Cherno whispered in horror, images of disappointed parents flashing before his eyes.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the hatch door. It swung open, revealing Raleigh leaning against the doorframe. "Sorry to interrupt, but I'm here for Gipsy."

Sighing, Pentecost stood up. "I guess it's time, then. Jaegers dismissed. Gipsy, suit up."

"Wh-what?' Her golden eyes widened in confusion. "What's going on?'

"Geizler and Gottlieb have constructed a new lesson for you jaegers," he replied. "We're going to try reconnecting you with your original bodies. Gipsy Danger, you're first up."

"Howsit' feel?"

"It feels a bit…clunky." Gipsy waddled down the catwalk, unaccustomed to the heavy boots and rough fabric of the drive suit. "I feel like a robot again." She eyed Raleigh, silently envying his ability to strut in the heavy outfit. He made it look so natural, like it didn't weight anything at all.

"You'll get used to it, like a second skin, " he replied, smiling softly.

"Go Gipsy! Looking good!"

"You can do it, tovarich!"

"Don't embarrass yourself too much, bucket head!" Gipsy turned around to wave nervously at her three friends, who stood on the balcony connected to the control tower, cheering her on. Just the thought of messing up in front of everyone was making her sweat. She tried to take deep breaths as she entered the conn pod behind her adopted big brother.

"Are you alright?' A crewman gave her a worried expression as she helped her get strapped in. "You look kinda pale."

"I'm fine, I'm fine." She tried her best to smile in front of the Gipsy Danger crew; men and women who supported her and her pilots for years, yet she never met in person until now. She wondered if any of them were disappointed in her human form…

"Take a breath, Gip'. It'll be alright." Raleigh spoke soothingly to her, already done hooking up. "All we're doing is testing if you can drift. Also, your old body hasn't been working properly after you were created, and the scientists want to see if you can find out why."

"So…basically…I'm drifting with myself?"

"That's one way to put it,' Tendo's cheerful voice crackled into her ear. "None of the drift equipment has been working in the jaegers. The pilots can't connect with each other, like there's a wall…or something's missing."

Something pinged in the back of Gipsy's head. Me, I'm what's missing…they want to put me back into the equation and I don't know how I feel about that.

The crew had left, the hatch was sealed and the conn pod was ready for action.

"Initiating neural handshake in three…" Tendo announced.

"Don't worry, Gip, just follow me. You'll be fine." Raleigh gave her a thumbs up.

"Two…"

"Alright, " she took a deep breath. "I'm ready, I'm gonna kick the drift in its drift face!"

"One…"

Everything seemed to stop, including her core. Then with a rush her mind was pulled into the drift and tossed into a sea of memories and emotions that weren't hers.

She was nothing and everything, plunging into darkness. Don't chase the rabbit, don't chase the rabbit, don't chase the rabbit. She could feel his worry, his anxiety as he reached out to her. Their fingers intertwined and for a second she was safe, they were one.

"Neural handshake successful….no wait…it's happening again!"

"Pull the plug!"

"Gip' I can't hang on-!"

She couldn't open her eyes. Why couldn't she open her eyes? His grip was strong, but she still slipped away. Then suddenly Raleigh wasn't there anymore. She could feel every spark of the wires, every shift of the gears and the old power now returned. It was like slipping into an old dress. Gipsy Danger had reconnected with her old body.

Slowly, Gipsy opened her eyes. She wasn't in the hanger anymore. No, where was she? A grey beach, storm clouds overhead. Was it snowing? She should have felt cold but she didn't. What was this? Her vision crackled. Old drift residue, dream fuel for when she still had her original body.

A man sat before her, blooded smeared across his broken drive suit. Once bright eyes stared out across the ocean with a dead numbness. It seemed he didn't even notice she was there.

"Who…who are you?" Her voice shattered the silence.

His face contorted in confusion as he shifted to look at her, and in that second, Gipsy realized who he was.

"Yanc-?!"

Gipsy snapped awake with a startled gasp, fingers gripping the sanitized white sheets in fear. Without hesitation she was pulled into a warm embrace, her cheek pressing up against soft yarn that smelled like old spices.

"You're okay, you're okay," Raleigh murmured in relief as he hugged her. Mako stood beside him, running her fingers through Gipsy's hair soothingly. Her expression changed as she affixed Newt and Hermann, who were hovering over the end of the medical bed with worried expressions. "What happened out there?!"

"We don't know," Newt stuttered. "But we're really, really sorry! EXTREMELY sorry!"

"It looked like Gipsy Danger was about to chase the RABIT, " Hermann tapped his cane on the floor of the medical room. "But then…her brain flat lined…total and complete shutdown! It was like she wasn't even in her body anymore! Maybe if we could run more tests…"

"No more tests," Raleigh growled. "She could have died. Your lessons are over."

Hermann opened his mouth, but Newt grabbed his shoulder. "Of- of course, we understand! I mean, we wanna find about their teen!jaeger brains as much as the next guy, but we don't wanna hurt them in the process, yah know…?"

"Yes, yes," Hermann nodded. "We shall cease experiments immediately."

"No…" Gipsy whimpered quietly. Everyone paused to look at her.

"Hey, Gips, how you feeling?" Raleigh pulled back.

"Like a unicorn vomited all over my face," she groaned, clutching her head. "But…please don't stop the tests yet…I want to try again…please, one more time. "

"Gipsy, your brain shut down, you disappeared," Make replied quietly. "When that happens to humans in the drift, they die…"

"But, I didn't die! I reconnected with the machine…m-my old body. I wasn't able to do much except get lost in some drift residue…but…I think there's something in there."

"What do you mean?" Raleigh asked.

"I…." she gripped his arm, shoulders shaking. "I found someone."

"Gips', it's okay. Who did you find?"

She looked up at him, golden eyes full of tears. "I think I found Yancy."

TO BE CONTINUED