Here we continue our side story. For those only interested in the Main plot, don't worry. The next chapter will see how things are going back in Japan and will also bring Lieutenant Itami into the picture.

They Fought, We Operated. Part 3

Rabbit Run

For the next several days, Parna stayed in the shadows, still a little bit afraid of the men who had so completely destroyed the Imperial Army. She kept to the edges of the great encampment, awestruck and a bit intimidated by the pace and scale of construction beyond. Parna also stayed away from the enclosure where thousands of Imperial soldiers were kept under guard.

The one place where she felt the most secure was out behind the buildings with the red and white symbols drawn on them. She had surmised that this was a place where healers worked. It was also the place where she felt safest. Every day she watched the bespectacled little human come and feed and tend the little animals in their cages.

"Sorry, I'm late." Parna heard him tell the little animals. "I got stopped by Major Burns. Boy! Is he rough! I thought he just hated people, but he hates us too!"

That confused and worried Parna a bit. Was this gentle human not considered a 'person' among his own kind?

"Well, here you go." He said opening their cages in turn and giving each of the animals some of the vegetables on the tray he carried as he checked their fur and gently petted them. "Now you're eating as good as we do. Boy am I sorry for that!"

At that time, the thunderous sounds of blasting shook the air as the engineers demolished more of the old defensive works. It was a sound that frightened Parna as much as it did the animals. She took comfort in the soothing tones of the small human's voice as he calmed the little creatures.

"It's alright. It's just part of the war." He told them. "You know, if you were American animals, you'd be safe a long way from here. Or maybe not," he considered. "I'm an American animal and I'm here."

As she watched, she envied the little creatures even if she did occasionally snatch a stray morsel from their cages after dark when no one was around. It had been over three years since anyone had spoken to her with that tone of kindness and unconditional care and devotion. She tensed just a little as a much taller human, wearing a hat adorned with what Parna recognized as fishing lures, although fancier and more colorful than the simple hand-tied ones she knew, approached.

"So Radar? How's the menagerie doing?"

"Oh! Just fine sir. A little shaken up what with all the explosions and such but they're alright now." The small human looked up at the other one. "Uh? Is something wrong sir?"

The taller man just smiled. "No, Radar. Everything is going fine. Well, except for all the casualties but that's what happens when young men decide to play soldier. No, your work has been outstanding, Radar. You may not be a doctor, but a lot of men owe you their lives because of how well you help keep things going. We'd never have been able to get set up so fast if it weren't for you. No, Colonel Potter is happy, I'm happy. The only one with any complaints is Major Burns and he's such an anal retentive that both Colonel Potter and myself were treated to a memo on the proper and uniform usage of mess tray compartments." The taller man groaned as the source of his annoyance came into view.

"Colonel Blake! How long are we going to put up with Corporal O'Reilly's vermin?"

"Frank, I'm way overdue for my first cup of coffee this morning, so can you just tell me who shoved a pole up your butt so I can assign someone to have it removed?"

"This little zoo is completely against regulations Henry. It's also a health hazard."

"That's not true sir! I always keep their cages clean!"

"Well, one of your little rats bit me!" The weasel-faced human complained.

"They're not rats! They're Guinea Pigs!"

"Easy Radar," the tall man said. "Frank, what was your finger doing in his cage anyway?"

"I was checking to see what O'Reilly was feeding these little beggars. O'Reilly's been sneaking food from the mess tent out to his little 'friends'."

"It was garbage, sir! They were going to throw it out!"

"Relax Radar. Frank, I'm warning you. It's gonna get put in your file that you don't work and play well with others."

"Shoddy discipline Henry. An enlisted man needs to know his place!"

Burns glared at Radar.

From her vantage point hidden behind a cluster of discarded crates, Parna flinched at the tone many abusive masters used to berate their slaves.

"I'll be sure to pass that along to Colonel Potter the next time he's cleaning his Good Conduct Medal," Blake replied. This seemed to make the other man shrink nervously. Parna having no way of knowing that a Good Conduct medal was an award that only an enlisted man could be given.

The small human turned back to his animals and then paused. His eyes were filled with curiosity as he held up a very fine black hair. "Colonel? Take a look at this."

"Okay, I can see it's a black hair."

"Thing is that it's too fine for human hair and black hairs don't grow on white rabbits, sir."

He seemed to study it more closely. "But it feels and looks like a rabbit hair. But how did it get here?"

He quirked his head. As if sensing something. If he had been one of her people, she could just picture his ears springing up, 'twanged' by something, some flaw around him. "I think somebody is watching us."

"Are you sure?"

The taller man asked.

"Positive sir."

"Can't be."

The weasel-faced man objected. "If someone were hiding back here, I'm sure the sentries would have spotted them by now."

"Your faith in the sentries is duly noted Frank but I'll put my trust in Radar's instincts. I'd better go get some MPs."

"Could you maybe not sir? I don't think whoever it is, wants to hurt anyone. They didn't even hurt my animals. I'll bet whoever it is, they're probably hungry and pretty scared. I don't wanna scare them any more than they already are, sirs."

"This isn't like a stray dog, Radar. The only folks that have been hanging around here that aren't dressed like us have been people who probably wouldn't mind killing us!"

"But those guys are mostly humans, right? Whoever this is, I'm sure they aren't one of them."

"I hope you're right Radar."

"Me too, sir."

Parna froze, controlling every breath, still afraid to get caught.

And then it happened…

"There's the little beggar! Sabotage! Sabotage!" Frank lunged at the cornered Bunny Girl, tackling her amid a pile of crates and other discarded material. Parna twisted in his grip, quickly turning the tables on the Major.

Realizing he was physically very overmatched, Frank Burns, being Frank Burns, did what his instincts told him to do. He screamed for help in his highest, shrillest voice he could manage.

"Help! Help! Somebody! Help!"

It took only a few seconds for a crowd of people to rush out of the mess to see what was happening. Parna eyed them all fearfully, knowing she couldn't get away and too afraid to let go of Burns.

Trapper John put up his hands to the crowd. "Everybody stay calm. Keep your distance. Let's try not to make any sudden moves folks."

"I don't think she cares that much about the rest of us." Spearchucker Jones commented. "Looks like most of her attention is on Frank."

"But what did I do?" Burns squeaked in fear.

"You mean aside from tackling her, Frank?" Henry rolled his eyes.

Hawkeye slapped himself and gestured. "Frank! It's obvious! It's that lucky rabbit's foot you carry! She wants her brother's foot back!"

Parna paid no heed to the other humans. She was frozen with fear Then she heard that gentle voice speaking to her.

"Easy now. It's alright. I promise no one is gonna hurt you. Okay?" Radar spoke in a calm soothing tone.

"What in Sam Hill is going on out here?" Colonel Potter demanded, coming up on the scene after hurrying from his office.

"It's okay Colonel. It's okay." Radar repeated, more for Parna than for the Colonel's benefit. Radar reached out to gently touch the Warrior Bunny on the shoulder. "Boy, that's soft." He observed in that calm, soothing tone. "I promise nothing bad is going to happen, okay?"

"O'Reilly!" Burns pleaded, "Don't let her hurt me!"

"Just don't make any sudden moves, Frank," Henry told him. "Don't panic."

"Who's panicking?"

"You are, Frank!"

""Henry? What the devil is going on?" Potter repeated.

"Frank found a stowaway, sir. And like every woman he's ever met, he doesn't know what to do with her or how to get rid of her."

"It's okay," Hawkeye spoke calmly, adding his voice to Radar's, who began to gently rub circles on Parna's back to calm her. "No one is going to hurt you, especially not Major Quiver there. Right, Frank?"

"Right!" Burns let out a nervous laugh. "I'd never hurt anyone! Honest!"

"Wouldn't believe that." Radar muttered under his breath but continued to sooth the Warrior Bunny. "No one is gonna hurt nobody. I promise you that. Major Burns just likes to bark a lot. But you gotta try not to let it get to you. He's not so bad. He even tries to help people sometimes. And I promise just about everyone around here is pretty good people. I'm not gonna let anybody hurt you, and we're all gonna try and help you but you gotta let go of Major Burns." Radar gently told her. "Come on, let us help you, okay? I think Major Burns is plenty scared and real sorry for what he done. Right Major?"

"Uh huh… Very, so very, very, very, very scared and very, very, very sorry." Burns looked to both Radar and Parna with a pleading look in his terror-stricken eyes.

Parna released her grip, she felt her fear subside as the small human, as Radar, her mind corrected, guided her off the terrified Major Burns.

"It's okay. You're safe here. No one is gonna hurt you or nothing. There are lots of people who want to help you, including me. So? Do you got a name?"

"Parna." She said in a small voice. "My name is Parna."

"Parna? That's a pretty name. I'm Walter."

A few minutes later, Parna was in the infirmary, being given a careful examination by Captain Hunnicutt and Major Houlihan. The entire time, Radar staying within close proximity. Hawkeye stepping over to brief Colonel Potter.

"Alright Hawkeye, I've convinced Burns not to press charges. What General Hazama and I want to find out is how the hell she got that close, right past the sentries."

"Hazama already knows?" Pierce asked, a little dismayed. He knew and trusted Colonel Potter's judgment but was uncomfortable with line officers.

"It's called the chain of command." Potter reminded him. "I had to file a report as soon as I got back to my office. Luckily, Hazama's so busy, he's letting us handle this in-house. Now tell me what you've got."

"What we've got is a traumatized and scared girl with black fur and a little powder puff tail that wants to start carrying a fuzzy little corporal for security. Did you notice the ear?"

"Yeah?"

"I think it may have been self-inflicted."

"My God." Potter shook his head in dismay at the idea."Well, Henry is calling Naval Intelligence. Apparently, they have a little more information about her people."

"How does the Navy know?" After all, it wasn't like they were dealing with mermaids or anywhere near an ocean for that matter.

"Apparently there are a few being detained at Yokosuka. They've got a basic medical rundown and some history from interviewing the ones there."

"Well at least somebody knows something."

"I hate to bring this up, Hawkeye, but we're gonna need our company clerk back at some point."

"Yeah but he's the only one who seems able to keep her calmed down. She starts shaking when he gets too far away. And I don't think Radar's of a mind to leave her anyway."

"Alright. I'll have Klinger fill in for him. Just make sure he takes care of himself."

"Right. While we're at it, it might be a good idea to get Sid Freedman over here."

"I'll make the call."

To Be Continued...

A/N: Again, the next chapter will bring us back to the main story and Itami makes his entrance.