As Max and Starling made their way toward the bridge, an all-too-familiar sound reached their ears. Max rolled his eyes as the sound approached them. Starling joined him in side-stepping a furious Piper chasing a frightened Finn, both chuckling a bit at the blond's predicament. Another mindless day on the Condor.

"Max, someone's here to see you, and she seems... a bit weird... says she knows you really well and HEY, DON'T TOUCH THAT!!!" Stork suddenly began yelling into the intercom. The 2 lovebirds shared a look of concern and raced toward the door. As it "whooshed" open, Max pulled free his kamas.

"Alright, hands where I can see them!" He shouted into the room. He suddenly came to a halt as Starling plowed into the back of him.

"Max, what's wrong?" She came around to follow his stare, and he saw a bubbly, grey-skinned Onyxian female waving happily to them from near a distraught Stork. The Merb stood staring at the newcomer, protectively covering the controls as she danced around the bridge. As they stepped closer, she came up and hugged Max tightly, staring into his eyes as she pulled away and greeted him.

"Max,it'sbeensolong!IthoughtI'dneverseeyouagain!Wereallyneedtostayintouchmore!How'slifebeentoyou?It'sbeengoodtomesofar!Ican'tbelieveyou'reaStormHawknow!" This high-speed ranting continued for several more seconds until Max growled loudly.

"SHUT UP!!!!" He yelled as loud as he could, bringing her to a sudden stop. Her eyes softened a bit.

"There's only one person I know who's this annoying, and that's my dear cousin Saerah!" He continued yelling, but slowly smiled as she squealed in joy.

"Ohhh! You remember me!" She said sweetly, hugging him again.

"Oh, yes... I can assure you; you are not easy to forget..." He said wearily, getting a tired look on his face as the other came to see what was going on.

"Max, what's up? Who's your friend?" Piper suddenly cut in as she came to Stork's side.

"OhmyGod!It'sreallyyou!You'rePiper!I'vereadallaboutyou!Thisisthebestdayofmylife!Ican'tbelieveI'!I'myourbiggestfan!Tellme,?Doesitgetlonely?DoesStarlingspend ?Shedoesn'tseemlikethatkindofgirl!" She resumed her nearly incomprehensible barrage of questions and statements as Piper smiled nervously, blushing a bit and unable to get in a word edgewise.

"SAERAH!!!!" Max suddenly cut in.

"Thank you." He then turned to face Piper, who was as surprised as anyone at Max's treatment of this girl.

"Piper, this is my cousin, Saerah." He squeezed Starling's hand, and shoved her forward a bit. The veteran Sky Knight silently begged him not to by trying to dig her heels into the floor.

"Saerah, this is my mate, Starling." He smiled evilly as the young woman was barraged herself. He knew what Starling would do to him later, but it was totally worth the look on her face.

"Max, help!" She whispered as the girl continued her tirade.

"Okay, Saerah, that's enough for now. Mind telling us why you're here?" He smiled slyly as she lowered her head in sadness, her happy fanaticism cut short by business.

"Well, my parents are... um... they're away... and I kinda need a place to stay for awhile..." She looked a bit sadder than before, but said nothing else.

"Well, I don't know... I'll have to ask my team..." He smiled; he knew they'd never say no to him. Not on something like this. They began giving their 2 cents worth, but Aerrow cut them all short.

"Space'll be a bit tight, but you're welcome here as long as you need... a friend of Max is a friend of ours..." He said heroically. He received a angry glare from his teammates, but he knew he'd made the right call. He couldn't say "no"; it was against his nature.

"Yay!!" She began skipping around, happily singing a song loudly.

"I'm gonna stay with the Storm Hawks, I'm gonna stay with the Storm Hawks, I'm gonna stay with the Storm Hawks..." Max rolled his eyes at the angry glares he received.

"Saerah..."

"I'm gonna stay with the Storm Hawks..."

"Saerah, you really need-"

"I'm gonna stay with the Storm Haw-"

"WILL YOU LISTEN TO ME WHEN I'M TALKING TO YOU!?" She stopped skipping and turned to face Max obediently.

"I expect you to be on your best behavior, young lady..." He said in a condescending, parental tone.

"Awww..." She said sadly, her face drooping a bit as her ears folded back.

"C'mon, I'll take you to your room... then we'll walk around a bit, okay?" The young hybrid squealed again, this time nearly deafening the Hawks as she and Max left the bridge. Starling stared, slack-jawed, at their retreating forms.

"Starling? You okay?" Aerrow waved a hand in front of her face. She jumped a bit, coming back to reality.

"She's related to him!?" She suddenly said. The Hawks all groaned; this was going to be... interesting...

Author's Note: Watch my profile for Saerah's info... and review, please... I want your souls- I mean reviews... heh-heh... (sweatdrops)