[Author's Note: I will be referring to the jaeger known as "G*psy Danger" in the Pacific Rim film instead as Lady Danger in this story, as that G-word is a derogatory slur against Romani people.]

Ibira was speaking with a small group of Striker Eureka's engineers in the jaeger bay when Raleigh Becket and Mako Mori had dramatically failed their first trial run that morning. The fiasco had resulted in a screaming, panicked wave of people fleeing the Shatterdome's central wing. Ibira found herself terrified and scarcely remembering to breathe, but she could not bring herself to run away. Instead, she hid behind a large metal column, watching in horror through the large LOCCENT windows as a few far-away figures remained behind in the Command Center to shut down Lady Danger as the palm cannons of the walking nuclear bomb began to power up. Though she could not make out their faces, she was sure Chuck and Herc Hansen were among them.

With a racing pulse, Ibira had nearly collapsed to the floor in relief when the blaring alarms and warning messages to evacuate had ceased, leaving behind an eerie silence. Power to the entire Shatterdome cut off for approximately one minute, and the room was illuminated only by emergency exit signs and low-level backup lights. As the overhead lights loudly clicked back on, she realized she had never seen the engineering bay so empty. Despite the hair on her arms standing on end, she began to walk forward towards the stairs that would lead her up the Command Center. With a gasp and a sudden sinking feeling in her stomach, Ibira recognized the full consequences of the power shutdown. Casting one final glance towards the windows that overlooked Lady Danger, she turned and broke into a run.

[Author's Note: The following scene is meant to follow a deleted scene of the Pacific Rim film, at the time 2:17 in the video linked below. I have included it here for context for those who have not seen it. If you haven't, I highly recommend it, it's one of my favorite scenes and I really wish they had kept it in the movie. Link: vimeo[DOT COM]/79695037 - the FF website doesn't seem to allow links to be added so I had to write it weird like that!]

Heaving a heavy sign, Ibira called out, "Come in."
Slowly opening the door to the lower level laboratory, Chuck stepped into an unexpected scene. He had knocked several times before getting a response, and as he took in the scene before him he began to understand why. Shattered glass was scattered around the floor of the large room in various places. Although Ibira was leaning back in a desk chair facing the room, her head was hung back, her closed eyes facing the ceiling as a glass bottle hung loosely in her right hand.

"I didn't see you at dinner," Chuck began slowly, raising his eyebrows as he looked around. "Brought you some food."
Sighing again, Ibira said with sadness and relief in her groggy voice, "Food sounds nice right now."
Raising her head to look at him, her soft smile quickly dropped into a concerned grimace as she saw his face.
"I thought you were okay," she confessed, quickly standing up and leaving the bottle of beer on the desk as she approached him.
With the slight scowl that was almost always present on his otherwise handsome face, Chuck said, "I'm fine."

Ibira studied his face for another moment before gently taking the tray of food he carried and placing it on a table beside them.
"What happened?" she pressed cautiously. Looking at the fresh cuts across his nose and cheekbone, she knew well enough that they were not from an accident.
"A little disagreement" Chuck replied curtly, clenching his jaw.
"And whose fist disagreed with your face?" Ibira demanded, growing impatient.
"Becket apparently didn't appreciate me pointing out the fact that he and Mori nearly blew this place apart," Chuck answered defensively.
Letting out a short, breathy laugh, Ibira raked one hand back through her dark curls and said, "Well, looks like we both got fucked over today."
Glancing around at the disorganized laboratory, he waited for a response.

Following his eyes with an exhausted look in her own, Ibira explained, "The power shutdown protocol disrupted the serum synthesis. I uh…I lost nearly half of the batch and spent all day getting it running again."
This was a vast understatement of her day, as Ibira thought back to the hours she had been running around the maze of tables covered with her chemistry equipment, frantically adjusting dials and meters and simultaneously editing her monitoring software to compensate for the increased output that was now needed to make up for all the serum that had been ruined by the shutdown. Now, she was utterly exhausted.

When Chuck said nothing, Ibira nervously added, "I should've gotten here sooner. But when everything happened, I just stood there. I-I saw you in the control room, and I-" she cut herself off with a frown, realizing too late that she was sharing much more than she had intended. She scolded herself, thinking bitterly that she would not have drank a beer if she knew Chuck would be paying her a visit. Swallowing, she finished, "The worst is done now, though. I increased the production rate and the batch should be recovered by tomorrow night."

Clenching his fist, Chuck still said nothing and refused to look at her. Now, Ibira furrowed her eyebrows at him.
"This will still work," she assured him. "I know this morning was a complete mess, but the serum is still your best move-"
"A deal's a deal," he finally clipped back. "I knew Becket was a fuck up when I shook on it with you."
"Then what's wrong?" she finally snapped, raising her voice at him as she held her hands out incredulously. "Why are you so angry with me? You're giving me fucking whiplash, Chuck."
"I just can't believe those two are what we're left with!" he replied, slamming his hands down on the table. Steeling his nerves, he turned to her and added, "Why didn't you compete to be Becket's co-pilot?"

Viscerally surprised by his words, Ibira stepped back, her eyebrows shooting up and her mouth hanging open slightly. Quickly composing herself, she crossed her arms and shot back, "Why the hell would I do that?"
Straightening up, Chuck exhaled slowly and walked towards her.
"You trained to be a pilot," he said in a low, accusatory voice.
"I don't owe you an explanation," Ibira nearly whispered, her voice now venomous as they stared dangerously at each other.
"You don't think that would've been helpful to know?" he insisted, cocking his head to the side.
"It doesn't matter!" she shouted.
"But back in Pentecost's office, you could have said something."
"That has nothing to do with the serum," she dug in. "It doesn't change anything."

Taking another step towards her, Chuck insisted, "You've actually piloted a Mark 3 before. That's more than Mako can say. You know Jaegers, and you know Kaijus. You're probably the smartest person I've ever met! You being out there in Lady Danger seems like a better bet than-"
"No," she stopped him, holding her hands up in front of her. "No, this serum is all I can do, Chuck."
As Ibira stared into his eyes, a hopefulness behind the anger in them, she felt her throat tightening and blinked a few times to dispel the tears that threatened to build up. She could not imagine the last time he had asked someone for help, and turning him down hurt more than she had ever expected.

Speaking again in a softer voice now, Ibira added, "I'm sorry, Chuck. I can't help you any other way."
"You could try," Chuck accused.
Furrowing her brow at him, she gave him an understanding look that only made him angrier. Huffing, he turned around and started towards the door.
"Chuck!" she called out. "Do you seriously think I haven't considered it? You've seen the numbers on Raleigh and Mako's drift compatibility! There's no chance our drift would be as strong."
Clenching his jaw, he stopped in his tracks. He knew she was right, much to his chagrin.

"You just have to trust them out there," she encouraged him quietly. At the softness in her tone, Chuck faced her again. He considered hurling more insults at his fellow pilots and everyone else in the massive Shatterdome, but all he could think about was that somehow, the woman standing across the room from him had become the only person he trusted in that moment.

"Besides," Ibira continued, leaning back against one of the metal computer desks and crossing her arms, "I have no desire whatsoever to be a ranger anymore."
His shoulders fell slightly at her words, confirming her suspicion that he thought, or maybe even hoped, that she secretly missed piloting. As both of their tempers faded, Chuck felt his breath catching in his throat at the profound sadness on her face as her gaze fell to the floor. He slowly walked over to her and leaned back on the desk beside her. Saying nothing, he let the side of his arm press up along hers. She didn't move away.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Chuck said after a long silence. He grimaced, thinking back to all the presumptuous things he had said to her about being an out of touch scientist.
Making a sound that was something between a chuckle and a grunt, Ibira shook her head.
"You've made it very clear to the world how you feel about mediocre jaeger pilots," Ibira answered bluntly. "Didn't seem like a good idea."
"32 drops and 31 kills is not what I would consider a mediocre simulator score," Chuck rebutted.
"Oh, I'm so glad I have your approval," she spat back sarcastically, huffing as she realized he must have actually read through her records.

"I just don't get-"
"I quit, okay?" Ibira nearly shouted, dropping her head as she ran her fingers back through her hair with an exasperated sigh. Turning her face away from him as she felt her cheeks burning, she repeated, "I quit. I left the program, just like Becket. And you haven't shut about how much you hate him for that. So excuse me for not telling you my entire life story to convince you to do what we both know is right."
Chuck frowned, surprised at how much her words stung both his ego and something even deeper in his chest.

Refusing to relent, he looked at her and pointed out, "You said it yourself. You get to know everything about my piloting. Every move I've made, every kill…every mistake. It's all out there for everyone to see."
"And you love it," she replied, raising her eyebrows defiantly. "You love the whole world knowing how amazing you are."
"God damn it, Ibira," he groaned, throwing his hands up in defeat. "I want to know about you!"
Any fight she had left in her immediately dissipated from her body. They both stayed very still, listening to each other breathing for what felt like a long time.

"You wouldn't want to talk about it, either," she reasoned quietly, her words almost a whisper. "Not if your co-pilot died."
Chuck did nothing but furrow his eyebrows, turning his deep green eyes just enough to meet hers.
"What?" she prodded. "That wasn't in my private files that you dug up?"

He at least had the good sense to look ashamed. Ibira shook her head slightly and walked over to a refrigerator in the corner of the room. Pulling out two bottles, she held one up towards him in a silent question. Standing, he met her halfway and gently took the bottle from her outstretched hand. Each twisting off the metal cap on their beer, they tapped the glass necks against each other, the clink echoing in the lab around them.

"To the Apocalypse," Ibira declared their toast.
"Cheers," Chuck added, a soft smile pulling at the corner of his mouth as they drank.