It had been the worst battle they'd ever fought.

When the Cyclonians attacked, the Storm Hawks were outnumbered four to one. By the time it was over, the ragtag band of Sky Knights had won, but at an incredible price – three skimmers destroyed, the Condor in need of serious repairs, Piper with a broken arm, Aerrow with a couple of broken ribs, and, worst of all, Junko in a coma.

Stork and Piper had done what they could for the Wallop, but his injuries were pretty extensive – head and chest wounds, a broken leg, and a nasty gash in his arm where he lost a lot of blood. They had stabilized him, but weren't able to bring him around, and after three days, the entire crew was somber and worried.

Aerrow and Piper were standing just inside the medical bay's door at the end of the third day, the concern clear on their faces.

"I still think we should take him back to Atmosia. The Council will be able to help him," said Piper.

"I agree with you," said Aerrow, "but we can't until Stork's done repairing the engines, and he said that'll take at least two more days." He put a reassuring hand on Piper's shoulder. "Don't worry – Radarr, Finn and I are helping as best we can. You should stay here with Junko and keep an eye on…"

He stopped abruptly and they both turned as the medical bay's door unlatched and swung open. Finn stepped through the doorway and paused.

No one had been hit harder by Junko's condition than Finn. When the fighting was first over and the team had collected itself, it was Finn that found Junko unconscious, and had paced restlessly outside during those first few hours when Piper and Stork had worked to keep Junko alive. When they emerged, Finn rushed to his bedside and stayed the night. When Junko hadn't awoken the next day, Finn dove headfirst into repairing the Condor to get her operational again as quickly as possible. He and Stork worked all day, and then Finn would come to the medical bay, exhausted, to spend the night by Junko's side, only to get up at sunrise and do it all again. Aerrow had tried to convince Finn to get some sleep in his own quarters, but Finn was determined to stay by Junko's side.

Three days non-stop, though, had obviously taken its toll on their usually chipper gunner. His hair was limp, he had circles under his eyes, and he seemed barely able to shuffle through the door. Aerrow noticed, however, that when Finn turned his eyes on Junko, there was an undeniable flash in his eyes.

Finn blinked a few times, then realized Piper and Aerrow were standing next to him, looking at him. "Oh, hey, guys," he murmured, then straightened himself up. "Never fear, the night shift is here," and he smiled weakly and gave a thumbs up.

"Finn…" began Piper, but Aerrow again touched her on the shoulder.

"Hey, Finn, we were just heading out," he said, glancing at Piper's reproving look. "There hasn't been any change, but the good news is, he hasn't gotten any worse, right?" He halfheartedly smiled at Finn, only to see a faintly pained expression on his face.

"Yeah," Finn said, softly. "Right." He shuffled over to Junko's bedside, silently.

Aerrow took Piper by the arm and lead her out of the room. As he closed the door behind him, he looked back at Finn, who had placed both hands on the bed and was looking at Junko's quiet, sleeping face. "Call us if you need anything, Finn, ok?" Finn nodded, and Aerrow closed the door.

In the dim light of the medical equipment, Finn watched his best friend's face, and saw his massive chest rising up and down with his slow, deep breaths. He was covered in a thin blanket, tucked under his arms, and the machines whirred steadily around him.

"Hey, dude," Finn began, but he stopped, his eyes getting misty, and he swallowed hard. He cleared his throat, looked behind him, and pulled up the chair sitting there to the side of the bed. He sat down and rested his face in his hands for a few moments, before looking up at Junko again.

"You know, I have to say everyone's starting to get pretty mad at you," he said. "I mean, here you are, lazy ass Wallop, sitting in bed all day, and the rest of us are doing all the work." He snorted a little laugh. "You should see Stork – he's freaking out about the Condor and how much damage she took. And Aerrow's all pissed because his skimmer went down for the count, and he's trying to scrounge up enough parts to build another one. He wanted to take mine apart, but I ever so cleverly booby-trapped it so if he gets anywhere near it he'll get socked with a face full of axel grease!" He smiled to himself. "Piper's doing ok with one arm, but she's got a lot of work to do, too, not the least of which is looking after your broken down butt." He looked at Junko again. "So, you know, you'd think you'd have just a little more consideration for your teammates and get off your ass, you know? I mean, we're doing all this work, and you're not doing anything." Finn started to tear up again. "It's not fair, you know? It's not fair." His hands had turned to fists, and he was unconsciously thumping them on the edge of the bed. "Do you hear me, you stupid Wallop? It's not fair! It's not fair, Junko! IT'S NOT FAIR!"

Finn collapsed in the chair, his head in his arms on the side of the bed, and sobbed for several minutes. Only the soft sounds of the machinery broke the silence in between whispers of, "It's not fair, it's not fair."

Finally, Finn wiped his nose on his sleeve, laid his head back down on his arms on the bed, and turned his face away from Junko. "It's not fair, Junk. You're not allowed to die. You have to get better, you know? You just have to. I can't live without you, buddy." He turned his face towards Junko. "You hear me, you stupid Wallop? I can't live without you. I just can't."

Finn closed his eyes as tears fell silently from them.

"I love you."

A few moments passed, and Finn felt a massive, soft paw tousle his blond hair. He opened his eyes and saw Junko's beautiful eyes looking back into his. Junko's hand moved from the top of Finn's head down to caress his cheek.

Junko opened his mouth, took a deep breath, and said, hoarsely, "I know."