Sorry about the abrupt ending before. I shall try to make this first chapter make up for it. Listen very carefully, if you haven't read 'Escape from Terra Zartacla' then go to my account and read it, otherwise this one won't make any sense. If you have read it enjoy this next chapter and don't forget to review.

Disclaimer: I don't own Storm Hawks. If you thought I did your intellectual equal is Snipe. You two should get together some time and rub your combined brain cells together to try and invent fire.

Piper's POV

I walked to the cock-pit so that we could celebrate. We had beaten Cyclonis's top three goons to a pulp, I had punched Cyclonis twice and best of all, Aerrow was back. Finn and Junko were walking behind me, laughing about Master Cyclonis's face when my knuckle had connected with her jaw and pulling faces to imitate what Ravess and Snipe had looked like before they had beaten them unconscious. But when we ran into the cock-pit, Aerrow wasn't there, just a very gloomy looking Stork.

"Where's Aerrow?" asked Finn.

"Went to his room. He said that he needed to rest." Stork said, very casually but he wasn't fooling anyone. He wouldn't make eye contact with me. He was as worried as I was.

"Maybe I should get some medi-stuff and go see if he's okay," I said, turning to leave when Stork put a hand on my shoulder.

"Piper," he said, slowly as if that would emphasize his point, turning me away from the door to look at him, eye-to-eye, and "I don't think it's that kind of injury." I turned on Stork, suddenly angry for no apparent reason. I pushed him away from me.

"Then what am I supposed to do. Sit here and wait for him to tell us that nothing is wrong," I screamed. They all flinched and took a step backwards but I didn't care. We had just got back Aerrow. Why was I shouting when this was supposed to be a celebration? Why was I angry? And that's when I realized that I wasn't mad at them. "I need to go talk to him. Stork, where are we heading?"

Stork ran back to the controls, obviously glad to be back amongst the things that he could understand. "We're about an hour away from Terra Sahar. We should be able to hide out there for a bit and re-cooperate."

"Great. I'll see you guys later." I made to walk out of the cock-pit when Finn got in my way. I opened my mouth to tell him to move as loudly as I could but he shook his head.

"Piper, you win. Out of all of us you should probably be the one to see Aerrow. But like, give the dude five minutes. He probably needs to be alone."

"How'd you know?" I retorted. Something screeched behind me. Radarr walked in to the cock-pit with his long ears lying on his back. "What's up, Radarr?" I said sadly. He held up his hand. Five words.

"Oh great," sighed Finn, "That's what today was missing. Charades." I glared at Finn for being insensitive then turned to Radarr. He held up one finger.

"First word." He messed up the fur on top of his head and crouched in a battle stance.

"Chicken." Finn guessed. Stork slapped his hand to his forehead, sighed and said,

"Aerrow." Radarr indicated he was right and then help up two fingers then three fingers.

"Second and third word," said Junko, who was ecstatic when he was told he had got it right. Radarr made a motion over his mouth like he was locking it shut. I knew this one but Finn beat me to it.

"Not talking," he said. Radarr nodded and Finn looked at me, smugly. "Bet you would never have got that." Radarr held up four fingers. "Fourth word," Finn said as if he had just solved the Helix Crystal Inadequacy Conjecture. Radarr held up two fingers. Finn lost his smug look. "Um Radarr we already did the second word." I rolled my eyes.

"Two." I said and Radarr nodded. I would have laughed and rubbed it in the Finn's smug face but Radarr was so upset I didn't want to be the one to add to it. Radarr was looking at the floor, obviously lost in his own misery. I nudged him. "Fifth word?" I asked and he looked up as if to say thanks. He lifted up a finger and pointed to himself.

"Chest," Junko exclaimed.

"Blue?" said Finn. Stork and I shot each other withering looks.

"Me," said Stork, "Aerrow's not talking to me."

"Aww, we feel for you, Stork," said Finn, "He's not talking to us either." I really wasn't sure if he was being serious or not. Could someone be that stupid? Snipe sure but even Finn wasn't that stupid. Was he?

"He's not talking to Radarr," I whispered, "Now, tell me that I shouldn't go talk to him." I made to leave the cock-pit to go talk to find Aerrow but Junko got in my way. That was the third time today someone had tried to stop me leaving and it wasn't getting any easier not to hurt someone.

"What makes you think you should be the one to talk to him?" he asked, offended. I tried to phrase my answer as tactfully as possible.

"What would you talk to him about?" I asked. They all thought about it except for Radarr who was inching towards the controls. It was a comfort thing. Whenever he was upset he wanted to drive. Don't ask me why.

"Food," said Junko and I put a hand on his shoulder, knowingly. "Fine, I can't think of anything." He sat down in a huff.

"Finn ROCK!!!" said Finn, preparing to do an air guitar solo but I caught one of his arms. Stork and I gave him a combined "NO".

"Last time, I checked Aerrow wasn't so fond of your music." Stork reminded him.

"So what would you talk to him about?" asked Finn while pouting. An amazing feat for anyone else but Finn has had a lot of practice.

"The levels of mind-worms and brain slugs on the Condor," he said and I tried hard to keep my poker face.

"Have the levels of mind-slugs and brain worms gone up?" Junko asked fearfully. Stork was about to correct him when I put a hand on his shoulder and shook my head trying to convey the message 'not worth it'. Stork nodded and carried on to answer Junko's question.

"No but I think that might be what's bothering him." Finn faked coughing saying 'doubt it' over and over.

"Junko, why don't you go help Finn with his cough?" I suggested and I'm proud to say I said it with a straight face as well. Finn glared at me but he got the message and suddenly his cough was all better.

"What are you going to talk to him about then, Piper?" Junko asked. I suddenly remembered that I was angry.

"I want to know why he's avoiding me," and with that I left, at last. I heard Finn say "Women," as if that summed it up in one word. I heard Junko walking to the kitchen for a snack that was probably the size of Radarr. Then I heard Stork scream like a little girl as he realized that Radarr was driving the Condor and he hadn't been sterilized. I may have imagined it but I think I heard the pop of a fresh can of disinfectant being opened. I hope, for Radarr's sake that I had imagined it.

Aerrow's POV

I can hear footsteps. I sighed. I knew that this was coming. The guys would be curious. I could hear the questions already. What happened under the stage? How did you remove the crystal? Why are you avoiding Piper? I wasn't comfortable answering any of their questions but as those footsteps get closer, I realize I will gladly take their questions, their teasing even Stork's whole supply of disinfectants spayed all over me and my stuff. Just don't let it be her. Please, I'm not ready. I looked for Radarr. Maybe he could help. Check if it is her. Stall. Anything. Just before Piper barged in, I realized that he was gone and how much trouble I was in.

"Why are you avoiding me?" Piper was calm when she asked but I could feel the electricity in the air. The kind that came before a storm.

"Why didn't you knock?" I asked, forcing myself to look her in the eyes. Hard amber stared back at me.

"Answer the question, Aerrow."

"Answer mine." She rapped her knuckles on the door.

"Happy?"

"Yeah, ecstatic," I should have known that the sarcasm was a bad idea but it kind of slipped out. She looked at me and for the first time, I felt the urge to look away. I could see pain and turmoil in her eyes and knowing that I was causing it made it no easier.

"Why are you avoiding me?" Her eyes were slits in her face like a cat readying to pounce. I tried to avoid anymore similes and gather my thoughts into sentences I could say. It was so hard not to reach out and touch her even briefly, let her know that I cared about her, that it was killing me that I had made her this upset.

"I'm not avoiding you," Her eyes told me she didn't believe me and I knew I wouldn't have either; "I wanted to avoid the guys and just be alone for a bit." Her eyes fell and she seemed to lapse into thought for a moment. She sat down on my bed and I swung my legs around from where I had been lying so that she didn't sit on me. I pulled myself over to her and sat down next to her on the edge of the bed. When she looked up again she seemed happier but the previous steel was still visible.

"Everyone keeps on telling me that."

"What?"

"That you wanted to be alone." I was wondering how much of that was true. Her being in the room made me feel a lot better. I wanted to talk to her about the kiss but as I gathered my thoughts she said "What was it like on Zartacla?"

"Why are you asking?" I was confused. I figured that Piper would be the last one to ask me this.

"Because I'm wondering if that's what's bothering and if you need to talk to me about it." I wondered too. Telling her would make her hurt all the more but I wondered how much she had seen at the initiation. Wait. The initiation. Wasn't she supposed to be on Cyclonia?

"How did you escape from Cyclonia so quickly?" She looked at me, bewildered.

"I was never on Cyclonia. What are you talking about?" I put my head in my hands. They had used me.

"Moss told me that he was coming for you after he had captured me." Her eyes widened but as sick as it was, she deserved to know. "Cyclonis said that she would make you a Cyclonian if I didn't give in. Moss told me before" I paused. She wasn't ready to hear that. But that wasn't true. I just wasn't ready to tell her. "Moss told me that if I escaped you'd be thrown off the Terra." I couldn't look at her.

"I can't believe that you went through that so I would be safe," I looked at her. She was worried and maybe a little bit proud. She put her hands on my shoulders for a second before they slipped to her sides again and all of a sudden, my heart felt like it was running a marathon. Her touch was enough to make me feel warm again but the part of me that was aware of what I had just done to her remained frigid and cold. "What did they do to you?" I looked up at her.

"What do you mean?" When she replied she was very quiet. It was a miracle that I heard her.

"I saw the wounds, Aerrow. The burns, the whip marks, the bruises. I know they took you for a torture session." She looked at me and there was that iron in her eyes but she was also blinking too much for a normal person. She was trying not to cry. I put my arms around her and felt her pulse beat with mine.

"It didn't hurt that much. I found my core." I felt her stiffen.

"How'd you manage to do that?" I smiled. That was the one good memory that I had of that place.

"I remembered you guys." She looked up at me.

"You're amazing you know that." I tried to tell her that she was amazing too but we heard footsteps coming our way. She pulled away and I resisted the urge to pull her back. There was time later for this. Finn walked in, smiling.

"Dude, you are never going to believe this."

*Holds back Piper from Finn* R&R. I don't know how long it'll be before the next chapter though, just a warning. Oh before I forget. An author sent me a PM telling me about their story. I think it is good. Have a look. It's a Twilight Story called The Empty Cullen. If you're an Edward lover but a Bella hater have a look.