Author's Note: (Warning! There is a spoiler in here for the episode "Gale Force Winds")
Hello everyone! My name is Elle and I'll be your author today! But, all silliness aside, I do hope that you enjoy my very first "Storm Hawks" fic. It stars my most favorite "Storm Hawks" character, Dove! If you have no idea who she is let me fill you in. She is the grandaughter of Wren, the leader of the Rebel Ducks. She made her debut in the third "Storm Hawks" episode, "Gale Force Winds". In it, she was kidnapped by the Cyclonians then rescued by the Storm Hawks. At the end of the episode she was safely returned to her grandfather and the Storm Hawks got the Gale Crystal. However, I found this ending to be a little disappointing, since Dove had made such a grand impression on me. Therefore, I decided to write a fic where Dove actually joined the Storm Hawks and shook things up.
Dove and Wren both have French accents and I tried to incorporate that into their dialogue. Hopefully it won't be too distracting and you will be able to still get the gist of what they are saying even if their speech is slightly tweaked. If you are really having that much trouble try saying their lines out loud. It SHOULD come out as heavily accented English, but if you are still having trouble with certain lines feel free to PM me and I will "translate" for you. Also, if anyone finds my mauling of the lovely French accent to be offensive, I sincerely apologise. It is only my intention to keep the speech genuine, not insult anyone. My Great Grandmama had a very thick French accent and I tried to work from that to make things believable.
This is a romantic comedy starring Dove and Aerrow, though it sort of comes in as a love square. Piper is attracted to Aerrow, Finn is attracted to Dove, and Dove and Aerrow have a lot of sexual tension between them that they refuse to believe is attraction. Aerrow may seem kind of out of character, and for that I'm REALLY sorry. However, it is with my own twisted logic that I have concluded that if Aerrow were to be attracted to someone he wouldn't know how to approach it and would act somewhat unlike himself. That usually happens in real life, so why not in a fic?
Anyway, I'm going to list the warnings, details, and disclaimer and let you get to the actual story now. I'm sorry for the horrendously long Author's Note and any grammar and spelling mishaps, but hopefully you'll enjoy this fic so much you won't even notice!
Pairings: Aerrow and Dove (There may be others.)
Rated T for: Mild sexual humor, mild profanity, mild sexual situations, mild violence (Rating may go up.)
Disclaimer: I do not own "Storm Hawks" or any of it's characters. This is simply a work of fiction based off of "Storm Hawks" and I take no claim at all for the actual franchise or show. "Storm Hawks" is property of Nerd Corps Entertainment and Cartoon Network. Don't miss new episodes of "Storm Hawks" monday nights at seven p.m. on Cartoon Network! (I don't own pimping of the show either, but I don't think the owners will mind.)
"Dove is a Battlefield"
Dove scowled and slammed her grandpapa's helmet/ stove lid onto his balding head. "Don't be cheap" she hissed into his ear. Her accent was much softer than her grandpapa's. The Storm Hawks watched her scold her elder with curiosity, but tried to look nonchalant. They failed miserably, of couse, but they were trying.
Aerrow cleared his throat and tried to be reasonable. "Really, you don't need to give us anything. We're just glad that Dove is safe" he said, looking straight into Dove's eyes as if telepathically begging her to just drop it. She simply huffed and gave her grandpapa the stink eye. It worked and the old man sighed as he gave in.
"Fahn, fahn!" He said in heavily accented english. He dug around for a few seconds in his makeshift armor before pulling out a glowing green crystal. The Storm Hawks leaned toward it for a better look as the man continued to speak. "Zhis eez zhe Gale Crystahl. Eet 'elped uz vehry much een our fahght wit zhe enemeh. 'Opefully eet will be uv uze to you az well".
"Zhat iz it?! Grandpapa, zhese people rezcued me AND defeated our enemiez and all you give zhem iz a crystal?" Dove scolded. "Can't we do more to aid zhem?".
"Well... Zhere iz zomesing..." The man muttered.
"Zhen give it to zhem!" Dove barked. Wren shrugged and motioned for the group to follow him. As they walked past the delapidated home and not-so-secret headquarters of the resistance group a slab of roof slid off the edge of the house and directly implanted itself into the ground where Finn was just about to step. In one swift movement he jumped up and landed in Junko's arms. Sensing the danger having passed, Junko simply deposited Finn back onto the ground uncerimoniously.
"So, I see you guys have a knack for basic engineering..." Piper stated in an attempt to make conversation.
"We make due wit what we 'ave around 'ere. Almost everysing we 'ave iz made from scraps zhat fell off or were dumped from aircraft zhat fly ovehr... We don't exactly get out much..." Dove stated with a pretty blush.
"You sound like Stork's kind of woman" laughed Junko, which earned a dirty look from Finn. The sharpshooter would've elbowed his massive friend but learned the hard way that the only person that felt any pain from it was himself.
The group continued to chat about unimportant things as they approached their destination: A run down shed made from what looked to be airplane wings and carboard. Upon closer inspection one could see that the only thing holding the building together was liberal amounts of adhesive duct tape.
"Well that looks structurally sound..." Finn muttered. Piper elbowed him and effectively shut him up.
"So he's giving us a shed? How're we gonna get that on the ship?" Junko asked, baffled.
"No, you tweet! Eet iz what iz een zhe shed zhat ah am giving you... Eet... uhh... needz a littel work, but eet should be of 'elp to zhe resistaunce" Wren said as he slowly pulled open the doors of the building.
"A little work?!" Finn blurted out in disbelief, earning another of Piper's elbows to his ribcage.
They all looked down at what looked to have once been an air skimmer, reduced to something that looked similar to a mechanical jigsaw puzzle. Radarr was the first to investigate the heap, but one sniff caused the main body of the broken vehicle to topple over onto its side and Radarr to flee in terror.
"But I sought we were going to repair it and uze it to defend our 'ome, Grandpapa!" Dove stated.
"Oh, eet will be repaired and uzed to defend our 'ome, but by zhem!" He replied, pointing at the Storm Hawks.
"I don't think even Stork could fix THAT" Finn said, jumping out of the way of Piper's elbow jab.
"While we appreciate the gift, we really don't have the time our resources to repair and operate another skimmer" Aerrow explained regretfully.
"I'll do it!". Everyone, including Wren, looked at Dove in shock. "What? I can repair it and I'm zure I can figure out 'ow to fly it. It shouldn't be zhat 'ard" she said.
"Dove, I don't think you understand just what it is we do" Aerrow began to say. "We face danger almost on a daily basis. You hardly have any experience, you aren't familiar with us... Having you on the team would just be a liability".
"I azzure you I will be no burden. I AM familiar with danger, I learn quickly, and I WON'T take no for an answer. You may az well juzt load up zhis air skimmer and myzelf onto your ship, or we will wazte a lot of time juzt ztanding here arguing" Dove said with finality.
Aerrow repressed an irritated growl as his team watched the defiant rebel give their leader a run for his money, highly entertained by the turn of events.
"We really don't NEED another member" Aerrow started again.
"Actually, it'd be nice to have another girl on board... No offense, but you guys really lack any femininty" Piper pointed out.
"Yeah, and she's totally proven than she can handle herself. I mean when she hit me with that pan she meant business! Plus, she's totally hot." Finn said with what he thought was a dashing smile directed at Dove.
"She'd be a distraction!" Aerrow huffed.
"No I won't. I will keep to myzelf while I fix zhe skimmer. You won't even know I'm zhere." Dove pitched in.
The group looked at each other and all seemed to silently decide to have an impromtu group discussion. They huddled together and spoke in harsh whispers, occaisionally glancing back at either Dove or the broken skimmer. It was obvious that Aerrow was fighting a loosing battle as his shoulders began to sag and he let out a deep sigh. The group broke apart and Aerrow looked Dove up and down, much to her discomfort.
"Are you really willing to join a group of near strangers and fight to your possible death on a fixer-upper air skimmer far from your home and your grandfather?" Aerrow asked seriously.
"Of courze I am. What good am I doing to zhe Rebel Duckz if I am juzt ztaying 'ere waiting for zhe fight to come to me? No, I will not zit back and wait. Grandpapa iz a capable man who can do all zhat 'imself! I am going with you and making a difference!" Dove explained with pride and determination.
Wren wiped stray tears from his eyes and blew his nose into a dirty rag. "Zhat iz my grandaughter!" he said with joy.
Aerrow huffed and crossed his arms. "Fine, you can join the Storm Hawks-" He began will ill-disguised distaste.
"YES!!! WOOOOOOOOO!!! HOT GIRL ON THE TEAM!!!!" Fin interrupted with whoops of delight.
Aerrow glared at him and spoke over his teammate's jubilation. "Just don't expect any special treatment. You will have to do your fair share of work and help us out whenever we need it" He said sternly.
"I hope she can cook" Junko whispered to himself.
Dove narrowed her eyes at Aerrow as she spoke. "I don't need any pampering. I can take care of myzelf and zhe lot of you no problem!" She barked before storming into her home to pack her things. Piper and Junko followed to assist her, and possibly calm her down, leaving Finn and Aerrow alone with Wren.
The old man suddenly reached up and yanked the two men down by their collars with surprising strength. Wren's demeanor quickly changed from that of an eclectic old coot to a deadly serious battle-hardened grandfather. He glared at them with venom and hissed his words. "Eef ah fand out zhat eizehr uv you... or anyone elze for zhat mattehr... 'as laid even one littel pinkeh finger on my precious Dove..." He paused as he tightened his grip on their collars, "I will 'unt you dawn and keel you".
Finn tried to make light of the situation by jokingly saying "With what? Another toilet?". He was rewarded by a stomp on each foot; One from Aerrow and one from Wren.
"Honestly, Sir, you have nothing to worry about. Dove is nothing but another member of the team" He explained calmly.
"Yeah... A totally hot member of the team" Finn enthusiastically added, earning more bruises to his feet.
Wren shoved the two pilots away and snorted as Aerrow headed toward his air skimmer to prepare the ship for their new arrival, Finn limping away behind him.
Junko emerged from the front of the Rebel Ducks' headquarters loaded down with several overstuffed and ancient-looking suitcases. The load seemed to be heavy even for him and his steps were slow and deliberate. Piper was going on and on about all the fun she and Dove would have and how Aerrow was just grumpy because he was having a bad day. Dove smiled and nodded, but in truth was actually ignoring Piper's chatter in favor of getting lost in her own thoughts. It was a lot to think about. Heading off on an adventure into the unknown with such a diverse group. All the work she'd have to do. How she'd prove to their leader that she was an asset, not a liability.
She frowned when her thoughts turned to Aerrow. He had proven to be an effective leader and a good person, but he was also cocky, arrogant, and stubborn; Even if it was only to her. What did he have against her, anyway? She was determined to show him just what she could do and get a little respect. He seemed to think he knew everything about her and she was going to prove him very very wrong. Once Dove got her way, she'd never be underestimated again.
While her things and the assorted parts of her air skimmer were loaded onto the Condor, Dove said goodbye to her Grandpapa. The old man was reduced to tears and the departure of his beloved grandaughter, but he was proud of her and knew that she would do fine. After repeatedly forcing her to promise to contact him daily and let him know if anyone tried anything funny he let her go and watched her board the Condor.
As the ship flew off he saluted and whispered encouraging words and a prayer for the best.
As Dove walked onto the bridge of the massive battleship she tried not to gawk. She was overwhelmed by the size and structure of the vessel as well as all the gadgets it housed. She shook herself from admiring everything and walked over to the Storm Hawks, who seemed to be having a conversation with someone new who was haunched over the controls to the ship, or at least what Dove guessed to be the controls.
"Stork, we know you don't like new people, but we have a new member" Aerrow said apprehensively.
The person he was talking to, apparently called "Stork", whirled around and let out a yelp. "You did WHAT?!" he wailed. Dove tried not to stare at the huminoid creature that was currently freaking out. From the descriptions that she'd heard from others she gathered that Stork was a Merb.
Wanting to make a good impression, Dove tried to introduce herself. "Ah, allo. My name iz Dove. I am a member of zhe Rebel Duckz, but it zeemz zhat we will be working togezer for a while".
Apparently this was not the right thing to do, as illustrated by Piper's look of horror, Junko's sympathetic smile, Finn shaking his head in defeat, and Aerrow smacking himself on the forehead. Even Radarr looked at her from his place next to Aerrow with an expression of bewilderment.
"YOU'VE DOOMED US ALL!!!!" Stork shouted as he flailed wildly in Dove's general direction. "She's a spy! She's an enemy spy sent to gather intelligence on us, report back to her superiors, and then kill us when we're no longer useful! AND LOOK AT WHAT SHE'S WEARING!!!!! She's a cannibal!!! She's wearing what she's going to cook us in!!! YOU LET AN ENEMY CANNIBAL SPY ONTO OUR SHIP AND NOW WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE!!!" Stork rampaged. He then got up in Aerrow's face and half growled half sobbed "I hope you're happy!".
"I am zorry, but you are miztaken. I am no spy. Nor am I a cannibal. Why would you sink zuch sings?" Dove asked, trying to be polite.
Stork leered at her from a safe distance. "You think you can trick me when it's so obvious? YOU HAVE AN ACCENT!!! That's right! I noticed it... I bet it's not even your REAL accent... I'M ONTO YOU!!!!!" Stork explained with certainty.
The Storm Hawks let out a collective groan as Stork started to elaborate on all the different ways they were going to die at the hands of their newest member. As he explained that the first thing Dove would do would be to pluck out their eyeballs for stew Dove began to laugh. It started out as easily ignorable giggles then grew into louder chuckles until soon she was laughing so hard that tears were streaming from her eyes.
"SEE!?! NOW DO YOU SEE!?! She's laughing because she finds it amusing that we know of her evil plan but it's too late to do anything!" Stork ranted.
Dove took a few deep breaths and calmed herself down before trying to talk. She smiled brightly at Stork and nearly cooed as she spoke. "You are zuch a funny little man. I like you!" She said.
Stork appeared to be fighting off a panic attack as he backed away slowly. "You hear that?! Did you HEAR what she SAID!? That means she's gonna kill me first!!!" Stork said as he continued to retreat. "I WON'T LET YOU GET ME!!!" He shouted and then whispered "I'm watching you..." Before turning around and running away.
There was an awkward silence as everyone stared at the door that Stork had just escaped through. Finn was the first to break the silence when he looked at Dove and said confidently "That means he likes you".
Dove smiled at him, causing Finn to blush brightly while his heart felt as if it would thump it's way right out of his chest. As he fished for something intelligent to say Piper got Dove's attention by offering a tour of the Condor. Both girls waved at Finn, and he dreamily waved at their backs as they walked away.
Aerrow watched the whole thing unfold and frowned. "She is trouble" he said to Radarr. His creature companion simply looked back up an him and made a whimpering noise.
Piper ended the tour at Dove's quarters. The Condor was large enough that each pilot had their own room and still had a few left over. After forcing Finn and Junko to clear out the assorted junk that they'd collected and stored in the largest of the unused rooms the room housed only the bare essentials. There was a cot, a nightstand, a dresser, a full-length mirror, and a storage locker that had a dent in the door and a broken lock. Piper expected Dove to try and be polite to mask disappointment, but was surprised by her new friend's reaction.
"Zhis iz bigger zhan my room at 'ome!" Dove exclaimed as she walked in and looked around. "It iz perfect! I love it!" She cried.
"Uh... Glad you like it, Dove." Piper offered. "Anyway, I'll leave you to unpack. Just come to the bridge when you're done and I'll take you to your workshop."
Dove nodded without looking back at Piper, too busy starting to unpack. Piper watched her for a few seconds before shaking her head and smiling as she left.
As Dove unpacked she hummed a patriotic tune that her grandpapa had taught her at a young age. She began to store her clothes, an array of hand-sewn outfits made from ratty cloth. All of her shoes had at least one hole in them and her undergarments looked like they'd disentigrate if they were washed. The condition of her clothing didn't really bother her, though. It was what she was used to. She then began to unload a few picture frames housing faded photos of her family. She had no jewelry or valuables to hide away and her armor was nothing but recycled cookware. As she added the finishing touch to her bed, a moth-eaten quilt, a knock came to her door. Dove pulled open the door to reveal Finn and Junko, both hiding something behind their backs. She waved them in and watched them as they admired her interior decorating skills.
"Love what you've done to the place..." Finn stated.
"Yeah. It's homey" Junko added.
"Sank you, boyz" Dove said with a smile, "But what can I do for you?".
"WE BROUGHT GIFTS!!!" Finn and Junko sang in unison. They both displayed what they'd been hiding behind their backs to her and tried not to squirm with excitement.
"Oh, 'ow nize! Sank you!" Dove exclaimed, not really paying attention to the gifts they were holding. Finn had a communicator in his palms that was painted hunter green while Junko was gripping a television. It didn't really occur to the duo that Dove really wouldn't be familiar with the technology until she spoke again.
"Zo, what are zhey?" she asked, cocking her head to the side. It took them a while to come up with a proper explination and even more time to give her a crash course in how to operate the gifts, but she was grateful all the same.
"Sank you both very much for your kindnezz", Dove said when they had finished hooking up the tv. She hugged Junko appreciatively but when she went to do the same for Finn she was dissuaded by the over-zealous spreading of his arms and expectant look on his face. Instead, Dove patted Finn on the head, which was enough to still give him a dreamy expression. Junko was forced to drag Finn out when he wouldn't come out of his daze so they could leave.
Dove watched them go around a corner before shutting her door and turning to face herself in the mirror. She sighed at her reflection as she went to work combing her fingers through her hair and straightening out the wrinkles in her clothes. She'd never admit to herself or anyone else that she was primping. Proud warriors did not primp. Nor did the opinion of close-minded group leaders toward their primping matter to proud warriors. At all. EVER.
Dove groaned as she caught herself thinking about Aerrow again. And caring what Aerrow thought of her. In an act of defiance of her thoughts she mussed up her hair and crinkled her clothes before turning and marching out her door and toward the bridge. Her defiance didn't last long, however, as a few seconds later she dashed back in and straightened her appearance out again with a discouraged sigh. Still, she did leave her bangs falling over one eye so that her look wasn't totally perfect.
She took one last glance at her reflection before nodding and heading for the bridge, satisfied that messy bangs would prove that she didn't need anyone's approval.
Aerrow groaned yet again as he listened to Stork continue rambling about how Dove was going to destroy them all. This newest rendition of his story had her tossing them from the deck without any flight gear to save them. He had tried numerous times to convince the Condor pilot that Dove was no threat, but Stork was being as stubborn as he was paranoid. The leader of the Storm Hawks simply rolled his eyes and walked away while Stork carried on with his morbid scenarios. Finn and Junko had long since abandoned him in favor of videogames back in their chambers.
Piper had excused herself to go tinker with more crystals and put him in charge of guiding Dove to her appointed workstation when she decided to show. He knew Piper had done this so that he'd have the opportunity to redeem himself, but Aerrow wasn't about to budge. Dove meant trouble, he was sure of it. Dove needed to know just what her place was and just how much of an inconvinience she'd created. Radarr bounded toward Aerrow from the hallway that lead back to everyone's quarters. He was soon followed by Dove, who kept swiping at some bangs that were hanging over her eyes.
"Allo Stork!" She greeted, starling the pilot so badly that he jumped with the controls in his hands, making the whole ship momentarily jerk. "Oh! I am zorry. I didn't mean to frighten you..." Dove said sheepishly.
"Sure you didn't..." Stork grumbled as he righted the vessel.
Radarr let out a happy chirp and looked from Aerrow to Dove expectantly. Aerrow took the hint and sauntered toward Dove while Radarr darted back and forth between them. "Are you done unpacking?" Aerrow asked.
Dove looked at him oddly for a few seconds. "It iz nize to zee you too" she commented. "Yez, I am done packing. Piper was zupposed to show me where I'm to fix my skimmer?" She ended her statement as a question as her eyes darted around looking for the only other female onboard.
"She had to take care of some things. I'll show you" Aerrow said as he began to walk past her, expecting her to follow.
"Fantastique..." Dove muttered to Radarr, who was enjoying being scratched behind the ears by her. He whimpered when she stopped scratching and began to walk after Aerrow, who had stopped to glare at her impatiently. "I'm coming... Zorry." She muttered.
They walked down the hall in silence, aside from the sounds of their footsteps and the occaisional grunt or squeak from Radarr. Finally letting her irritation get the better of her, Dove decided to speak up.
"Zo... " She tried to think of something to say.
"Tomorrow we'll be running drills. Since you have no real experience with air skimmers I'll take you for a ride on mine and give you a basic tutorial. In your workshop there's a shelf with maintenance and operation manuals for skimmers that should help you. I expect you to use them first if you have any questions before asking any of us." Aerrow stated.
"Ah... I zee. Okay zhen", Dove said uncertainly.
"You won't have too much time to work on your skimmer tonight. Probably just enough to get aquainted with the layout of the shop. You need to get a full night's sleep, since drills are at daybreak." he explained.
"Daybreak?" she asked.
"Yes." Aerrow said as he stopped walking and guestured to a window looking into a darkened room. Dove walked over and tried to peer through the glass and make out the shapes of the shadows inside. "This is your workshop", Aerrow said as he pulled open a door that Dove hadn't noticed. He walked in and flipped the light switch, illuminating the modest garage. There were tools neatly packed away in toolboxes, a few stools and counters, the bookshelf with the manuals, her broken down skimmer, and other things expected to be found in a normal air skimmer repair station.
"If you need anything just page Junko. He hangs around and helps with repairs most of the time. Piper handles crystals and strategies, Stork is also good with repairs but he's almost always flying the ship or inventing something weird. Don't expect too much help from me, Finn, or Radarr. I'm usually working and Finn is usually playing. Anyway, don't be late for tomorrow's drill." Aerrow said before leaving. His companion, Radarr, stuck around for one last scratch behind the ears before leaving her as well.
Dove let out a long sigh before looking around. She stopped to check out the bookshelf for an operations manual but stopped skimming titles when a little red book shoved in the corner caught her eye. She pulled it out and almost instantly shoved it back in when she read the title, "The Karma Sutra", from the book's cover.
"What kind of people are zhese Storm 'Awks?" she asked herself aloud. She quickly picked out a manual that looked promising and left the workshop to head back to her room. After reading the first few chapters she fell asleep with the book laying still open over her face.
"Dove... Dove... DOVE!!!!" shouted a disembodied voice. The person being addressed jolted awake with a start, sending the book that was sheilding her face tumbling to the floor. She groggily rubbed her eyes and yawned before looking at the person who had disturbed her rest. Piper stood there with her hand on her hips, tapping her foot impatiently. "Good morning, Sunshine" she said.
Dove merely waved and covered her mouth as she let out another yawn. "What time iz it?" she asked slowly.
"Time to get dressed and ready for drills! We only have fifteen minutes before we're due out on deck!" Piper stated with a sense of urgency.
"Oh, zhat much time?" Dove asked calmly as she stepped out of bed. She walked past Piper and closed the door before starting to change clothes. Piper tried not to cringe at the sight of Dove's outdated garments, telling herself she'd treat Dove to a shopping spree when they reached the next town. The new member quickly changed and started combing her fingers through her hair.
"Umm.. Dove? Don't you have a comb or brush?" Piper inquired.
"No... I don't really need one. My fingerz work fine," Dove explained.
Piper decided not to say anything out of worry that she'd offend her new friend, so she just nodded and waited while Dove put on her shoulder, knee, and wrist guards. She left her helmet and chestplate in her locker, worried that they'd get in the way. Piper silently added new armor to the shopping list she was making for Dove in her head. Once Dove was finished the two girls headed out onto the deck, where the rest of the group and their skimmers were waiting.
Stork cautiously approached Dove, watching her through the lense of a camcorder. "I'm watching you..." He hissed from behind the camera as he backed away. Radarr had been put in charge of making sure the Condor stayed on autopilot while Stork had appointed himself crime scene videotographer. The rest of the group were to do drills.
"You guys go ahead and do a few laps while I show Dove the basics" Aerrow said. His friends saluted and took off, Finn blowing a kiss back at Dove while he flew off, though she didn't notice it. Aerrow hopped onto the seat of his skimmer and waited while Dove climbed on behind him. "You need to hang onto me" he said when he saw that Dove had opted for gripping the seat cushion for balance. She reluctantly placed her arms on his waist and they both fought back the blushes that spread over their faces from the intimate contact. It only got worse when Aerrow took off and Dove hugged herself against him to keep from falling off, her chest pressing into his back.
After about an hour of running through the basic controls of an air skimmer, Aerrow figured it was a good time to let Dove try her hand at flying. "I guess you're ready to try flying yourself. We'll switch places and I'll see how well you do" Aerrow said. Without warning Dove stood up and started to climb over him, startling the pilot into accidentally shifting the controls and making his skimmer jerk forward. The sudden movement caused Dove to lose her balance and fall forward, her chest landing harshly against the control panel while the tops of her feet got caught on Aerrow's shoulder guards, giving him a great veiw of her backside. She quickly righted herself and cringed from the pain where her front collided with the steering module.
It was at the very moment that Dove started to massage her chest to ease the stinging that Finn happened to look in her direction. Unable to peel his eyes from the sight, he didn't notice when Junko's skimmer flew into his path. He was blissfully aware as his skimmer glanced off the tail end of his friend's vehicle and the front end of his own began to smoke as it plummeted downward. And it didn't even register when he was ejected from his seat and his parachute deployed. It was only when Dove stopped and turned to start yelling back over her shoulder at Aerrow that Finn was able to start thinking again.
"Dude, where's my skimmer?!" He asked himself when he realized that he was currently wafting on the breeze by his parachute. Junko would later try to inform Finn of the story, but Finn would zone out as he remembered just what it was that made him first lose his concentration.
"I SAW THAT!!!! I SAW IT!!! I SAW IT!!! I SAW IT!!!!" Stork shouted as he continued to film Dove from the bridge. He'd gotten Finn's crash on tape and now believed he had hard evidence of Dove's treachery.
Radarr glanced back at the prince of paranoia and rolled his eyes as Stork continued to dance around, the viewfinder of Stork's camcorder never leaving Dove. It baffled the rabbit/dog/thing just why the prospect of being right about death would seem to be the only thing to make Stork happy.
The Merb stopped dancing and focused all his attention back on filming "The enemy" while repeating "I'm watching you, I'm watching you, I'm watching you..." as though it were his personal mantra.
"What the hell were you doing!?!?!?!" Aerrow shouted after Dove had righted herself and began to steer the air skimmer.
"You said we zwitch placez! I waz zwitching placez!!!" She shouted back at him from over her shoulder. She was trying to pay attention to both her driving and the rants of the raving madman behind her with surprizing success.
"I meant we LAND and THEN we SWITCH!!! NOT IN MID-AIR!!! YOU COULD'VE KILLED US!!!" Aerrow ranted.
"Well next time be more zpezific!!!" Dove said as she turned his air skimmer so it wouldn't hit the Condor.
Both of them rode in silence as Dove manuvered the air skimmer with only a little difficulty, inwardly fuming at each other. Aerrow finally decided to offer some help with turning, which Dove was having a little touble with.
"You don't just turn the steering controls, you have to shift your weight in the direction you want to turn" he explained. "Let me show you", he said as he reached around her and grabbed the steering handles. Dove tried to pay attention to what he was saying, but she could feel him breathing on the back of her ear and it was very distracting the way his arms had fenced her in as he steered.
"I sink I've got it now..." Dove said, though her voice wavered slightly. She silently thanked the heavens that she was facing forward and Aerrow couldn't see the blush staining her cheeks. He sat back down and let her take the controls again, trying not to smirk when he noticed the back of Dove's ears turning pink. She began to turn, this time following his instructions and leaning into the turn like he had demonstrated. The turn was executed almost perfectly and Dove let out a delighted laugh.
"You've almost got the hang of this, Dove. How about we land this thing and have some breakfast?" Aerrow suggested. Dove nodded and followed his instructions as he told her how to land. Again, she did a satisfactory job. Aerrow hopped off first and then turned around to help Dove climb off. It was at the moment that their hands touched so he could pull her off that they both sensed the dynamic shift that had taken place between them. They had started the flight butting heads but somewhere up in the sky during their flight they had bonded. Dove knew she could count on Aerrow and he knew he could count on her. They smiled awkwardly at each other, not really knowing what to do next.
Luckily Junko made that decision for them. Junko and Piper had managed to recover most of Finn's air skimmer, the owner of it currently trying to repair it on deck. Junko was just hefting the last component, one of the wings, toward the group when a wire slipped from within the wing and landed beneath the lumbering Wallop's foot. Junko fell forward, losing his grip on the heavy wing and propelling it forward through the air as he fell.
The wing hurtled in Dove and Aerrow's direction, its current path aimed right at Dove's head. In one smooth jerk Aerrow pulled Dove from off his skimmer and out of harm's way, right into his arms. The rogue wing continued to hurtle forward and crash into the skimmer it had come off of.
"AWWWW MAN!!! MY AIR SKIMMER!!!! NOT AGAIN!!!!" Finn wailed as he inspected the damage to his craft. Junko got to his feet and scratched the back of his head sheepishly.
"Uhhh... Sorry" he said.
While most of the attention was being paid to Finn and his skimmer, Stork had his eyes on the prize. "AHA!!!! Just WHAT, pray tell, are you doing?!" He interrogated. He had his camera trained on a wide-eyed Dove, who was currently wrapped up in a rather intimate looking embrace with Aerrow. The two looked at each other in shock before shoving themselves apart as if burned.
"Nosing! I waz doing nosing! Aerrow juzt pulled me from zhe skimmer and caught me!" Dove tried to explain as she flailed her arms and blushed lightly.
"Yeah, it's just like she said, Stork. No big deal!" Aerrow agreed with a slightly higher pitch to his voice.
"A likely story..." Stork muttered.
"It kinda looked like hugging to me" said Junko with a shrug.
"Hugging?... HUGGING?!?!" Stork cried as he shoved the camera into Aerrow's face. "You're fraternizing with the ENEMY!!!! You fool!!! You love struck fool!!!" Stork shouted.
"Now wait a sec-" Aerrow tried to explain, but Dove cut him off.
"Listen 'ere! We are NOT involved! I azzure you zhat he waz zimply zaving me from 'arm. Nosing more!" Dove barked.
"Suuuuuuuuuuuuuure... Keep lying to me. But I'm watching you..." Stork said enigmatically. He continued to chant "I'm watching you" from behind his camera as he slinked backwards back into the ship.
Dove giggled softly when she was sure Stork was back in the ship. "I'll go make breakfast" she said, waving at everyone as she headed for the kitchen.
"YES!!! She can cook!!!" Junko cheered, pumping a fist into the air.
Aerrow excused himself from the deck, leaving the group to frett over Finn's skimmer. He made a quick stop by the bridge to make sure everything was in order and then went to check on Dove in the kitchen.
When Aerrow entered the kitchen he was surprised to see that Dove had changed clothes before starting to cook. She now wore a simple green tank top that looked about a size or two too small and some baggy cargo shorts that fell a little below her knees. On her feet were mis-matched socks the color of mold and black wristbands on both hands. She'd also attempted to wear her hair up by using what looked like a fork and a spoon to wrap her hair around like hair sticks. Unfortunatley several strands fell loose from the bundle of hair and her bangs remained in her eyes.
She was so focused on preparing breakfast that she didn't notice when he sat at the table behind her and watched her work. She had just finished washing the fruit and started to cut it up into bits when Aerrow decided to make his presence known.
"Why is there silverware in your hair?" he asked innocently.
Dove continued her chopping and spoke with her back to him. "To keep my 'air up" she said calmly.
"You use forks to keep your hair up? All this time I thought you were supposed to eat with them" he joked.
"It would be wize of you to notize I am 'olding a knife right now" she warned.
Aerrow ignored her and continued to tease. "Yeah, I can see how well those forks are working for you. Tell me, are all those strands of hair supposed to be falling down?" he asked.
Dove stopped her chopping to rip the spoon and fork from her hair and toss them into the sink. Aerrow smiled as she resumed her cooking, now having to brush her hair back behind her ears every few moments. His fun having ended he picked up a magazine from the table and pretended to read it.
His eyes gazed over the top of the magazine's pages at Dove, studying her. At first glance she looked to be fragile and delicate. She had pale skin and a slender frame and her movements were lazy and graceful. But upon closer inspection Aerrow could make out thin little scars along her arms and legs. Her right shoulder looked to have an old burn scar on it that went down to her elbow.
Dove turned to where Aerrow could stare at her left side as she poured some batter into a frying pan on the stove. As she reached up into the cabinets over the stove her shirt rode up, exposing her flat belly. The was a nasty red scar that began under her left rib and ran diagonally accross her stomach down past the belt of her shorts. She pulled out some powdered sugar from the cabinet and set it on the counter top before turning back to whatever was sizzling in the frying pan.
He then noticed a long white line, most likely a scar from a deep cut, that ran down the side of her neck down past her collarbone and under the collar of her shirt. It was while he was staring at that particular scar, or actually the breasts that that scar possibly ran between, that Dove spoke to him.
"You know, it iz rude to ztare..." she said, still not looking at him.
He flushed as he realized just what he had been looking at but tried to say otherwise. "I wasn't staring! I'm reading" he stated.
"Really? Becauze your magazine iz upzide-down and I truly doubt zhat you are zhat interezted in women'z clozing" she replied.
Aerrow looked in horror at the fashion magazine he held in his hands, one of Piper's clothing catalogs. As Dove had said, the magazine was upside-down. The leader of the Storm Hawks cleared his throat and mumbled something about gift shopping and that he had to go help fix Finn's skimmer. He made a quick escape to the bridge while Dove's laughter echoed after him as he ran.
About half an hour later Dove paged Finn through the communicator that he had given her. She would've preferred to page Piper or Junko, or even Aerrow so she could tease him more, but Finn had conveniently forgotten to program any numbers in other than his own.
"'Ow iz your skimmer?" she asked politely.
"So far so good. When Aerrow got out here he threw himself into working on it. He's like a zombie or something" Finn replied.
"Oh, I zee..." Dove paused as she listened to a male voice in the background on Finn's end, but she couldn't make out what the voice was saying. "Anyway... Breakfazt iz ready and waiting zo if you could let everyone know and zhen all of you come to zhe kitchen..." She didn't get the chance to finish her sentance. Finn was already shouting that breakfast was served before the feed cut out.
Dove looked over the set table for the hundredth time to be sure she hadn't forgotten anything. Everyone had a place set, a napkin, silverware, a glass, and a plate. She dusted off the front of her shirt and waited patiently for everyone to arrive. Junko was the first to get there. He made himself at home and waited impatiently for the others to follow. Finn and Piper were the next to be seated. When Aerrow came in he couldn't even look at Dove, he just sat down quietly and waited.
There was a commotion coming from down the hall for a few seconds before Stork came tumbling in followed by an irritated Radarr. "You didn't have to push!" Stork whined. He narrowed his eyes at Dove and went to sit in the chair farthest from where she was standing. "I'll have you know I've built up an immunity to almost every poison ever made... The others may not make it, but I won't go down so easily" he hissed. Radarr took his seat next to Stork and rolled his eyes.
Dove quickly served up homemade French crepes with fresh fruit for everyone and set the pitchers of milk and orange juice down before taking a seat herself. The group dug in except for Aerrow who was busy glaring at Dove.
"I don't find this very funny, Dove" he growled as he held up his fork for her to see. Wrapped around the prongs were a few strands of dark brown hair that matched Dove's hair color. She gave him an evil smirk and shrugged as she took another bite of her breakfast. Aerrow huffed and got up to switch his fork, (And his knife just in case), for clean ones before sitting back down and begining to eat.
Everyone complimented Dove on her cooking and ate their fill before returning to what they were doing before. Only Radarr stayed behind to help Dove do all the dishes, toweling them dry and putting them away for her. He let out the occaisional purr while Dove hummed a soft song as she scrubbed the dishes.
Once they were finished cleaning Radarr was rewarded for his help with a hearty scratching behind his ears and a kiss on the top of his head. He let out a gracious yip and wagged his hind end a few times before heading off to do whatever task he was appointed.
Dove headed for her workshop and made herself comfortable as she began to read through a repair manual and take some notes. She knew she had a lot of hard work ahead of her, but she was confident that all her effort would be worthwhile.
She eventually got tired of brushing her hair out of her eyes repeatedly as she tried to focus on her reading. She started to look around for something to keep it up with when her eyes landed on the open toolbox next to her skimmer.
Intent on picking out a screwdriver or wrench to wrap her hair around, Dove was surprised to see a fork laying on top of the tools. She plucked it from its resting place and inspected it closely as if it were booby-trapped. Tangled up in the prongs were a few red-orange hairs as well some of her own. She gathered that Aerrow must've pocketed the fork with her hair on it instead of throwing it in the sink like she thought, styled his own messy hair with it, and then stashed the latest craze in hair accessories in the toolbox.
She smiled and rolled her eyes before winding her hair up around the fork. "Maybe... Juzt maybe I can get uzed to all zhis..." She mused. Her eyes wandered over the cozy little workshop, stopping to rest on the bookshelf. The bright red spine of the "Karma Sutra" caught her eye and she grimaced. "Zhen again, maybe not" she muttered.
Author's Note:
And there you have it! The first chapter of my fic. Reviews are highly appreciated as well as constructive criticism. Please do not flame unless it's a nice flame, which I doubt actually exists. Thank you for reading my story and I sincerly hope you enjoyed it.
ALSO an uber gigantic THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!! to my little brother, Dak. He helped me come up with and smooth out a LOT of the comedic scenes. This one's for you, bro!!!
Until next time,
Elle