Disclaimer(s):  blah blah, Shiro and Izumi [ and her Zoid ] are my original creations.  Steal them and die an early death – so leave them alone!  The other junk [ and I mean that in the most respectful way ] in here is credited to the creators of New Century Zoids.  [ I really miss that show.  Yes, I found out it is back on CN, but… I'm not home from school yet.. during the time that it's on, so boo hoo.  x_x ]

Taking A Time Out

                When Shiro decided to return to the base, it was already well past midnight, and by the time she arrived, only the guards assigned with night patrol were awake, and even they were almost too drowsy to open the hanger for her Genosaurer.  She couldn't blame them for being so exhausted all the time.  The Backdraft military base was located in an inconvenient crevice along the inner facets of a wintry range of mountains.  Here, nearly every day of the year was a cold winter wonderland.  Since the organization wiped out its major competitors (or enemies) more than six years ago, security and paranoia have receded, but abandoning such cleverly hidden bases would have been a waste of money. 

                The Lapin Blanc marched into the hanger, ignoring the heady thud of the metal door closing behind it as it walked to an empty area marked off by white lines on the metallic floor.  There was a number there, and under it, the letters "W.R.".  The Zoid stepped within the lines and opened its cockpit, allowing Shiro to hop from her seat.  The hanger was silent and dark, so until Shiro could find the switch box she relied on a blue flashlight she always had around her wrist by a black string.  It was a crude replacement for the blinding lamps hanging overhead, like those of a warehouse.  Tasteless. 

                She turned 360 degrees to scan the area, shining her flashlight at surrounding Zoids before spotting a flight of stairs and a door at the very top.  She began making her way there, stretching with her free hand.  No one else was around.  There were no pilots, no mechanics – not even Stigma?

                "Shiro…"

                The door at the top of the stairway was open, and Stoller stood in the doorway, his form outlined by the dim lights of the hallway behind him, "You're back rather late…"

                "Or early, depending on how you wanna look at things."

                "Don't be a smart ass, lieutenant."
                Shiro was at the base of the stairs and slowly making her way toward him, "Don't be such a stiff!  You should've gone to bed because lack of sleep makes you such a grumpy person, Stigma."

                In any other case or situation, calling a superior by his or her first name without permission would be extremely disrespectful, but Shiro understood the captain, and she knew he wouldn't mind it.  In fact, he seemed to enjoy the intimacy of a person's first name – when she used it, anyway.

                As Stigma turned to face her, a tackling embrace overtook him.  Of course, he was strong enough to stay on his feet, but it caught him off guard, Shiro's arms sliding around his neck, the taste of her lips.  Well, he never could stay angry with her.  Without hesitation, Stigma's arms wrapped themselves around the lieutenant, and he held her close even when she had pulled her lips from his to rest her head over his left shoulder.

                "Shi…"

                "Quiet, Stigma…"

                Shiro lifted her head so her mouth was about even with his left ear, "Don't say my name too much.  You might wear it out."
                "Never.  You're my white rabbit…"

                The woman smiled underneath her spectacles, and Stigma reached down to remove them for her, "Let's get you to bed, Shiro…"
                "Yes, captain."

                It's everywhere… 

You can't possibly escape it.

                At 7:00 am, a summon was broadcasted throughout the base by intercom, a summon for the White Rabbit, for Shiro, the pilot of le Lapin Blanc. 

At 7:30 am, another message was sent because the pilot had not reported to the commander's office as she was asked to do.

                At 8:00 am, Captain Stigma Stoller was reported missing from his quarters and was nowhere to be found.  He lay in the White Rabbit's den, asleep beneath the bed sheets, on his side with one arm resting under his head.  When he opened his eyes at 8:10 am, Shiro was no longer with him, and when he rolled over to check the clock on Shiro's nightstand, he noticed that the uniform he'd been wearing the night before was folded and placed neatly on a chair beside the nightstand.

                "Huh, well thank you, white rabbit…"

                Stoller sat up off the bed, forgetting the check the time entirely now as he rubbed his head, ignoring the sudden chill.  The sun was shining outside and he knew that by the thin rays of sunlight trickling in through the closed blinds beside the bed, but in these mountains, it was always cold.  He reached over to open the blinds, wincing as the sunlight hit his eyes.  He took a moment to adjust before leaning forward with an elbow over his left knee, his deep blue eyes following the hovering Whale Kings depart from the base, swimming through the sky in every direction.  It was the same routine, every single day…  Nobody could stop the Backdraft from picking on and victimizing Zoid pilots outside the organization.  The only reason he continued putting up with everything was because of Shiro.  If it weren't for her, he wouldn't even have considered returning to the Backdraft.  Damn him and his weak state of mind!

                "You're still in bed?"

                Stoller looked up and saw Shiro walking in, closing the door behind her, "And you're not even dressed.  How long have you been awake anyway?"

                "Not very…"

                "Right."

                Shiro went to the chair and unfolded Stoller's uniform, bringing it to him.  Holding it by the collar in one hand, her right reached down to grab the bed sheets, which she then tossed aside, causing the captain to jump slightly, frantically grasping for the sheets to conceal himself.  Shiro laughed, "What are you doing?  It's not like I haven't already seen all there is to see about you, captain!"

                "Could you not be so loud about it…?"
                He had his head lowered because he knew he was blushing.

                "Calm down, Stigma.  These walls are sound-proof, remember?"
                Shiro offered a sly grin, "If you really did care about how much others could hear…" She leaned in toward him until the tip of her nose was against his, "Then why do you allow us to continue meeting after hours?  Think of last night, for example…"

                "Alright, alright…!"

                Stoller tossed his legs over the side of the bed and stood as Shiro draped the white, button-up shirt of his uniform over his shoulder, "Here, captain, let's get you ready for school."

                "I can… dress myself, lieutenant."
                "Really!"

                "Yes, really…"

                … the White Rabbit versus the Black Dragon. 

                One day, it will come down to that.  

                The team of Stealth Vipers was desperately slithering from the battlefield, and even at top speeds, the limbless Zoids found that the black dragon had no trouble chasing them down.  The dragon Zoid trampled over one of the four slower Vipers, crushing it underneath its razor sharp claws as it continued toward the remaining three.

"Izumi, what are you doing?!"
Jamie was screaming from the control room of the Hovercraft, "Izumi, stop!  You'll kill somebody

and we'll be disqualified!"

                Izumi refused to respond as she continued on, also ignoring the Viper Team's leader while he shouted his message to both the Blitz Team and the Judge, "We forfeit, just get this lunatic off our tail!  She's trying to kill us!!  Stop, damn it!  You just won!!"

                "Cowards don't deserve to walk away without at least a few scars…"

                As the Dreigon roared and prepared to activate its thrusters, it was dragged to a stop by the Liger Zero whose teeth were clamped down over the Dreigon's tail, holding the larger Zoid in place, allowing the Shadow Fox and Gunsniper to take it from the sides, using their combined weight to force the dragon into a crouch and then onto its side. 

                "What are you guys doing?!"

                "This is the second time you've totally lost it today!  What's wrong with you?!"

                "Lay off, Brad!"

                The Dreigon continued to struggle against the three Zoids restraining it.  Finally, the Shadow Fox darted forward and caught the Dreigon's head between its teeth, tightening its mouth over the head and cockpit while Izumi remained inside.  She was glaring at the monitors and warning windows appearing before her, the monitor directly in front of her flashing red, telling her that her Zoid system was slowly about to freeze, cutting off the oxygen to her cockpit.

                "Damn you… damn you all…"

                "How are we going to get the Dreigon back into our possession now?"

                "Yes, I hear that the Black Dragon has become an new member of the Blitz Team…" 

                "We've never been able to defeat that team in combat, not even when fighting by our terms and with a Black Judge monitoring." 

                "What do you think? White Rabbit?"

                Shiro glanced up at the seven screens flickering around her as she sat on a stool in the center of the dark room, illuminated a single fluorescent light somewhere above.

                "I think…" Shiro smirked behind her frameless spectacles, "The Black Dragon will soon find herself desperately alone.  It's the way she was designed to be.  It's how we were all programmed to be…  We're destined to be alone should we ever attempt to survive in a world outside of the organization's.  She'll be back when the world turns her away."

                "I suppose you would know, Rabbit."

                "Of course."

                Shiro lifted her head, smiling still as she recalled the same exact incident, "I was still young then.  I didn't know what was best for me, so I escaped thinking I could…"
                "Be one of the outsiders?  I think not."

                "We hope that you now know better, Rabbit."
                She nodded slightly, bowing her head in submission to the seven windows, and the ambiguous faces on each one, "I understand perfectly now…"

                This can't be… our destiny.