Authors Note: If you are reading this and you haven't read the prequel Love Conquers All then you might not really know what is going on. I would strongly recommend reading that story first; otherwise you might not understand some things.

Parings: AerrowXPiper, and FinnXOC. (Finn might be ooc)

Disclaimer: I do not own Storm Hawks, but I do own Jay and anything associated with her.

BOOM!

Piper woke with a start to an exceptionally loud thunder clap. "Wow" she said to herself, "I knew Terra Thundaris was famous for its storms, but this is ridiculous!" It was the third consecutive night of the raging storm and, frankly, Piper was sick of black skies and flashing lightning. "At least I'm warm and dry." She swung her legs over the side of the loft like bed and landed lightly on the floor below. "I have Jay to thank for that."

In her mind, Piper pictured her spirited blonde friend. At 14, Jay was exactly as Piper had thought she would look. Jay was tall and slender with an hour-glass figure that fit her perfectly. Her long limbs allowed her to be both strong and agile.

Memories of Jay flashed through Pipers mind. On in particular stood out. She remembered the day that she had tried to convince Jay to wear her hair down to Sky Fu practice. The look in her royal blue eyes had been hilarious. Jay had agreed but 10 seconds into practice she was scrambling for a hair band.

Flashback:

"It just gets in the way!" Jay had complained pulling her hair up and securing it tightly with a hair band.

"But look at all the guys checking you out!" Piper retaliated.

"Whatever. I don't need them," she said and stalked off to stretch.

End Flashback

Piper quietly crept past Jay's door and down the stairs to the second floor hallway. As she was walking past Aerrows door it suddenly opened, causing her to jump.

"Jeez Aerrow! Don't scare my like that!" she whispered.

"Sorry Piper. I was just coming to see if you were awake."

"Well here I am. The storm is keeping me up."

"Me too. Hey, do you want to go get some hot chocolate or something?"

"Sure, that sounds nice." She smiled up at him as the door to the room that Finn and Junko were sharing opened.

"Did I just hear hot chocolate?" Junko whispered loudly as he stepped into the hall. Finn poked a sleepy had out behind him.

"What's this about cho… woah Piper! I've never seen you in pajamas before!"

"Shhhh! Finn! Do you want to wake up the whole house?… that now only being Jay and Stork." Aerrow scolded. He glanced at Piper and noticed her blush as she looked down at her gray sweats and dark orange tank top. "You look great." He said putting an arm around Piper's shoulders. She blushed a shade deeper.

"Eew! Gross! Get a room!" Finn said in a loud whisper turning away.

Piper was about to retaliate when she suddenly put a finger to her lips. The others looked at her and she pointed at Storks door. They fallowed her gaze and saw the door begin to inch open. They stayed dead silent as Stork slipped through the doorway. He had his back turned to them and was acting jittery.

"Stork… what are you doing?"

Stork jumped and turned to face his friends. In one hand he held a wrench and in the other a screwdriver. "Oh… well… you see… I was… uh…"

"You were about to go take apart Jay's Slipstream SE skimmer weren't you." Finn accused.

"No!... o.k. maybe." Stork turned and tossed the tools back into his room. "What are you guys doing up at such an hour?" he said softly.

"Were going to get hot coco!" Junko whispered heading towards the stairs. "Mmmm… and maybe a snack…" He disappeared down the stairwell.

"I'd better go make sure he leaves some food for me" Finn whispered taking off after the wallop.

"And I guess I had better go make sure they leave some food for the rest of us." Stork mumbled, stalking down the stairs.

Piper turned to Aerrow, whose arm was still around her shoulders. "Shall we?" she asked in a low voice.

"What about Jay? Shouldn't we wake her up? I mean it is her house."

"Nah. She can get really grumpy when woken up, trust me. Been there, done that." Piper rolled her eyes. "Besides, I'm sure she won't mind." They walked down the stairs together. They passed the game room and the library before reaching the kitchen where they met up with their friends.

"Just in time!" Junko said, "Now if I could only find the mugs… and the kettle." He rummaged through the cupboards.

"I found the chocolate!" Finn shouted hold up a giant chocolate bar.

"Uh… Finn?" Aerrow held up a tin of hot coco mix.

"Oh. I knew that, I…" Finn trailed off and stared out the window expectantly. The rain lashed against it as the room fell silent. Stork looked from Finn, out into the dark night, and back to Finn.

"What do you see?" Piper whispered peering over the sharpshooters shoulders.

"I could swear that I saw someone outside. Wait for the next flash."

It came suddenly and only lasted a second, but that was all that Aerrow needed.

"I didn't see anything." Piper said straining her eyes against the darkness.

"But I did." Aerrow was already at the back door. "I'm going to check it out."

"I'm going too" Piper said appearing by his side.

"We can't leave you two alone anymore so I'm going also." Finn said.

"Count me in!" Junko called grabbing the chocolate bar from Finn.

"Hey!"

"Ummm…." Stork nervously played with his fingers, "I think I'll just stay hear and…um… guard the skimmers. Good luck!" He dashed off towards the garage.

"Merbs" Finn said rolling his eyes.

"Are cool!" Stork's voice echoed through the house.

"Are you coming or not?" Piper had her hand on the open door. Aerrow and Junko had already dashed out into the pouring night.

"Yah, I'm coming." They ran out after their friends.

"This is where I saw someone." Aerrow said pointing at the muddy ground, water streaming down his face. Sure enough there were a set of smeared, muddy footprints.

"But which way did they go?" Piper shivered wrapping her arms around herself. Her tank top offered no protection from the rain and she was soaked. 'At least we were smart enough to grab our boots.' She thought as she rapidly rubbed her hands up and down her arms in a vain attempt to warm herself.

Noticing Pipers shiver Aerrow pulled his Sky Knight Academy sweatshirt off and handed it her. "Here, put this on."

"But what about you?" She asked before accepting the sweatshirt and putting it on.

"I'm not cold and I'm wet already so I'm fine. I think they went this way." He said pointing down a faint path and starting to fallow it.

They fallowed the trail for about half a mile before reaching a wall of leaves. Aerrow put a finger up to his lips, signaling for complete silence. After a nod of understanding from his team, he quality parted the leaves and slipped through. The others fallowed close behind. A flash of lightning illuminated the clearing before them

The Storm Hawks gasped.

There, on her hands and knees, was Jay. Her black gym shorts and aqua tank top were soaked and clinging to her skin. Her hair hung limp over her shoulders which were shaking with sobs. Water, mixed with tears, streamed down her face.

"Oh my god! Jay, what's wrong?!" Piper rushed to her friend's side and put an arm around her shoulders. Aerrow, Finn and Junko fallowed, kneeling around the two girls. Jay shook her head from side to side, sobbing harder.

"Come on Jay! You need to tell us what's wrong! We want to help!" Junko pleaded. Jay just shook her head again. She was now crying so hard that her arms were shaking with the effort of holding her up. She collapsed.

Luckily, Piper had noticed her friend's stability failing and had managed to catch her. She sat back, hauling Jay with her.

Finn was dieing inside. This girl who had helped them so much, that had been so strong and down to earth, couldn't even support herself anymore. He moved over next to Piper and took Jay in his own arms. Piper released her friend and Finn drew Jay to him. He held her trembling figure as she wept into his chest. They must have sat there for five minuets before Junko spoke up.

"Oh my." The three other Storm Hawks looked at Junko. He was pointing to a shadowy part of the clearing.

The next flash of lightning revealed a shocking sight. Beneath a large tree was a single gravestone. Engraved on it were the words:

The Silver Falcons

Lost but Not Forgotten

Wes, Tex, Crowe, Mikey, and Sonar

Pipers hand flew to her mouth. "Oh my gosh!" she whispered, tears welling up I her eyes. She turned away and buried her face in Aerrow's shoulder. She felt his arms come around her and that gave her strength. Piper took a few deep breaths, and then turned back to Jay. 'I have to be strong for her' she thought.

'Oh my god!' Finn thought as he stared wide eyed at the tombstone. 'Her whole team… her whole team is dead?!' And we would have never guessed!' He looked down at the sobbing girl in his arms. She was gripping his shirt front and pressing her face into his chest. 'She must be so broken inside.' Finn began to stroke her hair as he tried to picture living without his own team. He found it impossible.

Jay quieted as Finn stroked her hair. Her sobs turned to quick shallow breaths as the cold from her sopping clothes sunk deep into her skin. Jay began to shiver violently in the sharpshooters arms. Junko also noticed the girls violent shaking.

"We really need to get Jay back to the house before Pneumonia sets in."

"Junko's right" Aerrow said standing and pulling Piper to her feet. They looked at Finn who nodded. He stood and pulled Jay up with him.

Jay tried to stand on her own, but her legs were shaking too badly to support her. She felt herself falling.

Finn, feeling the girl about to collapse again, quickly scooped up her legs and held her cradle style. Jay's eyes popped open in surprise as she reached around his neck. Finn smiled down at her as he began to walk back the way they had come. She gave him a small smile before sighing and closing her eyes. Her head fell softly onto his shoulder. He held her trembling figure close and silently vowed:

"I'll help you through this, even if it kills me."

AN: I hoped you liked it! Tell me if you want more chapters! Remember: If you have not read my first story Love Conquers All then you want to do that now. Jay is described both in that story and on my profile.