A/n: ~I'm not even gonna give you any excuse for why I was so late posting this :] Just remember that we do all have lives outside FF so wholehearted promises can't always be made. Aw, but don't fret! I made this a doozy to read and if my energy is still on high by tonight, I'll post today's challenge fic. up as well so you can have two to read, and so I can finish my challenge :) Crossing fingers! Haha, anyways I hope you enjoy this one! It was fun to write~ Dedications are expressed for all of you who have enjoyed my work. Thanks again!

Attention

July 10, 2010

by: Her Head in the Clouds

"Tch no way, man. Don't even consider it! I already tried it. It doesn't work." Finn said dejectedly.

"Uh, on the contrary, Finn, I'm pretty sure I can handle a 'do-it-yourself' assembly package better than you. You're…well, uhm, pretty sad when it comes to building tools like that."

A rare occasion; Stork has braved the world outside his precious air vessel and agreed to join his fellow team members inside the little diner for a nice afternoon lunch.

"Oh man, Stork," Junko said heartedly. "Heh, that was mean." He covered a large hand over his mouth as he snickered. Stork threw a chilling glance his way and the wallop twisted his bar stool to the left where he focused his attention on Finn, and the lesser portion of food on the boy's plate in comparison to his own.

"Ahh, I'm not gonna defend that," Aerrow chuckled in his seat on the sharpshooter's left. "You are pretty bad when it comes to putting together a kit, Finn." Finn gave the red head an appalled look.

"Ah! Aerrow? What happened? Where's my buddy? You know, the one who's supposed to be on my side?" he said jokingly outraged. Aerrow gave Finn a quick smile before busying himself with the plate of fries he was sharing with Piper.

"Oh don't you even–!" Finn said in a threatened tone of voice. Finn took a fry off his own plate and chucked it into Aerrow's face. Not predicting it in the moment, Aerrow jerked up and laughed after the initial shock wore off.

"Hey!" he said before reaching a strong arm over to put his best friend in a head lock. "You're gonna get it, now!"

"Guys! Aerrow, stop!" Piper exclaimed with wide eyes. But despite the distress written on her face, she had a smile in her eyes. "You're gonna cause a scene!" Although they were all without their armour for the afternoon, it wasn't hard to pinpoint their group as the famed and 'responsbile' kid Storm Hawks.

"Sorry, Piper!" Aerrow said with a cheeky grin. "I can't hear you over all this boy's crying!" He went on to nuzzle the sharpshooter's head of blonde hair. Finn laughed out loud.

"I'm not crying! But you're messing up my hair, man! Get off me, Aerrow!" Finn complained before yelping when Radarr jumped on his head to add extra weight. "Ah! Radarr! My face! It's gonna hit the counter if you don't –!"

Nobody heard the loud thump his head made when it connected with the tabletop as the three friends, excluding Radarr's triumphant screech and Stork's snickering, laughed hysterically in his situation. A man sitting some ways from Piper's stool chuckled as he watched. The waitress walked up the aisle past them with a tray of soup balancing on her hand and a grin on her face.

"Mind bringing it down, hun? You are in public." she said teasingly over her shoulder. Piper was first to break out of the giggles and gave the older woman an apologetic smile.

"Sorry." she said on her friends' behalf. When Aerrow let up on his grip around Finn's neck, the sharpshooter popped his head up and turned his head in the direction of the waitress' walk.

"Hey miss, is it alright if I can get some ice for my face, please?" he called down to her. Piper rolled her eyes.

"You don't need ice for that, Finn. You're perfectly fine!" she said in a scolding manner. She always felt irritated when Finn made it his mission to baby himself. At his age, he didn't need it, and since she did it nearly everyday for him, she didn't like when he went around bugging other people for his needs.

"Yes I do!" he argued. He brought a hand up to his forehead and gave her a look of pain. "It's throbbing, it feels hot, and I'm pretty sure it's red."

Aerrow made a tsk tsk sound with his mouth and shook his head to the ceiling. Sometimes Finn was too much; but it was still funny.

"Well, come here then." Piper went to take her glass of soda off hte counter and leaned back out around Aerrow to press it to Finn's head. He leaned into it.

"Aw," Junko said with an adoring look on his face. Stork smiled too, while Radarr cooed atop Finn's head and rubbed his scalp in a friendly, helpful gesture. "You're such a mom, Piper." Piper scoffed but grinned.

"I've got to be when I live with such babies" she said with a small smirk. Finn instantly pulled his head away from her outstretched cooling remedy. He, along with Aerrow, turned up to give her a bashed look.

"Hey!" they said simultaneously. Piper laughed and shrugged her shoulders, giving them the most innocent gaze she could. Finn seeing this mock expression, spun in his chair and hopped off.

"Psh, I'm not staying here to be insulted!" he said with an annoyed tone in voice; but anyone could see by looking at him that he was still smiling and amused by her comment. With a sweep of his hair, he turned and started to walk away.

"I'm going to the washroom," he announced as he left them.

"Care to be insulted in there, then? I think I'll go too." Aerrow replied with a chuckle. With a small smile Piper's way, he swiftly twisted in his bar stool and hopped off before briskly walking over with Finn to the end of the diner's hall where the restrooms were located.

When they were gone Junko instantly went into random conversation with Stork while Piper, who occasionally jumped with her own opinions, continued to eat from her plate. Radarr spun in circles in Aerrow's seat beside her. If he was trying to make himself dizzy enough to fall over, he was succeeding.

Three minutes later…

Aerrow stood outside the entrance of the men's restroom and had a perplexing, almost alarmed look on his face. Finn had come up behind him to find him standing frozen and blocking the doorway.

"Dude, what's up? You're blocking the way," the sharpshooter questioned him.

Aerrow, despite the humble intentions and acceptable nature of the situation, couldn't think for the love of him why it shook him in such a way. They hadn't been gone that long. Okay, so maybe he and Finn took some extra seconds to talk with each other in front of the mirror as they washed their hands and inspected their faces; but that wouldn't take so much time that Piper would've found a new partner to chat up beside her.

Having seen what Aerrow was seeing, Finn grinned and though Aerrow couldn't see it, he gave the Sky Knight an eye-roll and smirk of his face. Giving the tall boy a firm push, both proceeded to walk back over to the bar stools. Aerrow stopped just before Junko, while Finn put an arm around the frightened and paranoid merb. Stork shook under his touch.

"Oh! New friend, eh?" Finn said so suggestively that it made Aerrow's insides squirm in a way he didn't think ever could. Stork lifted two fingers to pry Finn's hold around his shoulders and then he turned up to reply.

"Yeah. He came over about the time we started talking about crystal infusions in the heli-scooter. I say it's better to just keep using the fuel crystals for safety."

"And I think that if she tried to convert an engine crystal from our skimmers for the heli-scooter's tank, then it would be so much better in efficiency," Junko stated happily as he pointed a finger to himself. Stork rolled his eyes.

"Anyways, she started taking out some diagram she'd made for both crystals on the scooter… you know, tests and whatever. Then he noticed and started talking about how they would be both good if converted together and she went on to agree and blah blah blah… I lost them after 'parallel resonant frequency'." Stork finished with the mock hand gesture. Finn chuckled.

"Look at Piper go." The Sky Knight nodded and raised an eyebrow.

All the boys continued to stare her way as she, oblivious and blissfully ignorant to their gazes, dove energetically into the topic of her desires with the young man beside her. With a large smile on her face she spoke wide-eyed and happily to the boy leaning up on the counter beside her. Looking around a year or two their age, he, equally excited on talking about the subject of crystallogy, was handsome and fresh-faced; with a swirling mop of light brown hair and bangs hanging over his friendly, warm gaze of grey eyes. A pair of blue crystal-scope goggles sat atop his head. With his tall frame, he looked down to her with an attractively soft grin as he listened to her opinions. Then in a wholehearted reply, he laughed and nodded his head and continued commenting on the issue.

"Whew, thank goodness," Finn said, finally breaking up the easy silence that drifted through him and boys from watching her. "I didn't think we'd ever find anyone… beside Cyclonis… who'd like crystals as much as Piper." With a fake wipe of his forehead for sweat, he grinned. The memory of his forehead throbbing already long gone. "Now she can't bug us so much about them if she has him to call."

Something in Aerrow twisted. And while he could see Junko's head nodding in agreement to Finn's comment (as did the other boys, but Aerrow couldn't see them behind him), he felt a little left out.

Aerrow knew just as well as anyone on the Condor that nothing came second to Piper's initial interest and love for crystals. Well of course, he couldn't rule out himself or his team mates; that was an exception. But crystals were right up there, alongside Sky Fu, and being a Storm Hawk – and to his discouragement, no one else shared the same love for it the way she did, especially him. She was pretty much alone on that topic and despite his desire to be more knowledgeable in the field to help her better, and dare say find more levels of compatibility between them, he just couldn't understand all the concepts the way she did. He wondered if even Junko, Stork or Radarr knew better than he did. Finn wasn't even a possibility, with the way he complained all the time about the complex rocks.

So when he sees this smooth and cool guy come right in, without so much of an introduction but with ten times more insight into crystals than the Sky Knight, Aerrow felt a bit defeated and disappointed. He's not gonna lie – of course, he's jealous. She's been his best friend since for as long as he can remember. He feels like he lets her down when she doesn't have anyone to share the joys, problems and questions that come with such a hard job because even though he doesn't understand what she says half the time, he's content and interested enough to listen. He at least wanted to be her closet friend on the topic; now he's at a long-shot when it looks like this new guy has all the tools she needs or feels like she's missing in her Sky Knight.

"Hey! If you want," the boy starts to ask her as Aerrow tunes back into their conversation. He tilted his head and tried to get a better look at him, thinking he might see something different, or something not to like about this guy from a different angle. Radarr chirped behind him.

"I can take you over to this really great store nearby where the owner is…!"

The boy, probably hearing the creature's sounds, lifted his head up to find the rest of the Storm Hawks looking at him with mindful looks. He snickered.

"Uh, Piper, your body guards are eyeing me," he teased and grinned sheepishly.

"Hm?" she gave him a perplexed look before turning around in her bar stool to see them. Flitting a glance over all of them, not really looking at their faces, she chuckled and turned her head back around to face him again.

"Sorry. They're probably afraid of another possible alpha male entering the pack." she joked and laughed. He does the same. "But seriously, they're great guys." With that, she turned back around and waved hand in their direction.

"Meet Junko our strongman, Aerrow our Sky Knight, Radarr our co-pilot, Stork our helsman and Finn our sharpshooter." she said proudly addressing her friends' names. The boy smiled, genuinely happy to meet them.

"Hey guys," he started off a bit timid by their well-known ad powerful potential. "You're awesome."

Finn shot him the classic 'chicka-cha' gesture while Junko waved humbly and Radarr and Stork smiled submissively. Piper's new friend continued to talk to her as he gave of her male buddies a small glance-over.

"So as I was saying, Piper, if you wanna check it out, we could always head over wheneve… wh…?"

He stopped mid-sentence and didn't even bother to pick it up again when he came to his senses.

The Sky Knight was sending him unbelievably chilling energy and the young man couldn't for the life of him feel a welcoming aura from Aerrow. The red head was obviously pinning him down with an intimidating gaze and while Aerrow looked completely different on the outside, he could feel it. Underneath the simple head tilt and tiny questioning look he held, there was a huge irritation building that he could plainly see.

A shiver and immediate feel of surrendering washed over the grey-eyed youth. He bit his lip and with a fleeting look to Piper, he gave her a sheepish smile. Piper, under her calculating gaze, noted this change in behaviour in him. She tilted her own head and concern swam through her orange irises.

"You okay? You look a little…?" she started slowly. What just happened? It felt like their strong connection was suddenly just severed.

Seeing her caring expression, he shook his head and tried again. He was sure everyone was staring at him curiously by now but he had to push it all away for her. With a light cough he opened his mouth.

"Uh, yeah… What was I saying?"

Piper smiled. "About a shop nearby? You wanted to take me…?" She wouldn't deny it; this boy was incredibly cute.

The young man blinked and grinned suddenly being reminded.

"Y-Yeah! The store – well, it's pretty great. They have all these new shipments in from as far as Terra Sloppa and…" He died in speech again when he gave Aerrow a cautious quick glance and found that the red head was still eyeing him bitterly. It was so bad; even for a boy of his age and maturity, that Sky Knight could really send some strong emotional discharge! In his brain, the boy was ticking up a reasonable explanation. Only drawing up on a conclusion that maybe the commanding officer just didn't trust him taking his first officer for a seemingly appropriate outing, he couldn't put Piper under this stress if she found out or when Aerrow would tell her about it. This boy didn't know how they functioned and lived as a team on the Condor; what rules they set out for themselves, what was approved or not. He wasn't sure what Aerrow laid out with his team mates, and he sure as heck wouldn't disrupt any peace that already comfortingly settled around them. So he did what he thought best, and that was stop before he got in too far.

With a slight grumble in his throat, the young man ran a hand slowly through his hair, and sighed softly. He looked down and gave Piper the most apologetic smile he could muster.

"You know what Piper? How …how about we do this some other time?" he said hesitantly. He hated the words that were coming out of his mouth, especially when he saw the excitement start to die away from her eyes.

"Wh… why?" she asked softly. Embarrassment was suddenly rising up from her stomach and into her throat; a heat was rising on her cheeks and neck. She wasn't blind to what was coming. The boy stood up and out of his lean on the counter and went to bring the hand in his hair to the back of his neck.

"W-well, I just remembered that I have to do something important for my professor before I head back to my lab and well, it… I-I'm pretty sure that you guys have to get going soon. For your missions, you know?" he said disappointingly before moving his feet to walk around her. Piper followed his movement by turning in her bar stool.

"Well, we're actually having a day off today. That's why we're here having lunch… but, if you have to go…" she said slowly. She didn't dare look at her friends. How much more uncomfortable could it get when you have your whole team watching you get rejected? Though Finn had it done to himself multiple of times in comparison to her, she wasn't prepared for it.

"Yeah, I-I do… so well…" he stumbled around his words as he walked past Aerrow. The red head in question just raised an eyebrow. What just happened? A minute ago, the boy was excited to talk with Piper about crystals, and now it was almost like he was scared to be around her. What changed?

"Piper, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to get your hopes up sky high. Believe me, I love crystals," he said over his shoulder as he gave her a happy grin. But seeing her hurt and somewhat annoyed expression, he dropped it instantly. "…so we'll do it for sure when we meet again but I forgot I'm in a rush so… I'm just gonna go and get my food ordered. See you around."

And with a small wave, he turned fully around and headed to the cashier, the whole way feeling the penetrating gazes of the male Storm Hawks on his back. He'd never felt more guilty and embarrassed in front of a squadron before, and he'd met a lot of them in his time as a crystal specialist.

Piper stared longingly at his back until the three seconds took the energy out of her and she sighed. When she returned her attention back to the boys, seeing their gazes made her shift in her seat.

"And I thought we really got along just now…" she said in an indifferent tone. Aerrow eyed her solemnly.

"Aw, it's ok Piper," Junko said comfortingly. He knew a budding friendship when he saw it – too bad the guy didn't realise how happy Piper had been about it. "Don't feel bad."

"Yeah, the guy's a loser anyway. If he can't even put aside time for you in his busy schedule then he isn't really much, is he?" Finn suggested with airiness in his voice. He was still a bit intimidated by the guy's looks and the way Piper was instantly smitten with him. He was sure the boy did that with a lot of girls; how come he couldn't do that? All he ever brought Piper was something to laugh at… that, or irritation.

Radarr crooned softly and scampered over to Piper's shoulder and patted her head before turning his head in the boy's direction and growling viciously. Stork was the only one who chose to remain silent. And Aerrow, Aerrow was just stunned.

The energy was just sucked out of him. How could…? What…? And Piper, she…? It just didn't make any sense. He was positive, to his discontent, that the two of them would've jumped out of the diner and spent several hours talking about crystals in the streets and stores that the young man suggested. There was pure excitement and a good, chummy relationship creating between them, anyone could've seen it. And yet, he shut off the attitude and left her falling.

'What is his problem?' Aerrow thought annoyed. Piper didn't deserve that, not after the way she openly gave him her attention and interest for the past six minutes. So Aerrow turned in his stand to give the boy a shooting glance, complete with the raised eyebrow and tight mouth. He wanted to see what look this young man would give him when he was the only one looking at him.

The Sky Knight watched patiently as the boy talked with the cashier behind the counter for some seconds before handing the older woman his money for his meal. Then he bounced on his steps uncomfortably, tapping his fingers over the tabletop, and flitting his gaze back to Piper.

Aerrow kept his face precise and irritated. The boy looked genuinely sad and guilty for what he did. So why? Why did he even bring up the invite with Piper then shoot it down immediately after like a little mishap? He could've been late for some minutes just taking her out; all guys did it. Maybe he was just one of those regular schmucks, the type who liked to plan things and not really hold any true meaning behind them.

And then, when he thought his conclusions were true, Aerrow saw it, the look that made his entire perception change; and it wasn't what he'd expected.

Eyeing him, with a clear grey-eyed gaze, the boy was shooting Aerrow the most fearful glance a guy like him could give under his cool demeanour, then he looked away. Aerrow felt both his eyebrows rise up behnd his bangs.

'So it's my fault…' he smartly thought. Though Aerrow had his ignorant moments and his boyish charm did sometimes get the better of him, the red head was still acute in his pinpoint of other people's behaviour. He didn't have to be a genius like that boy or Piper to know that said boy was sending him an intimidated stare. Again intimidated, not intimidating. He thought back to how he initially eyed the boy when he arrived to find him talking with Piper and realised, with a guilty confession, that maybe he'd been too entranced in his irritation to realise that it was probably written all over his face.

'You do have an intimidating look when you choose to use it, you know Aerrow,' Piper once said.

'Enough to scare people?' He smirked.

She grinned.

With a small sigh, quickly noted by Finn, the Sky Knight rubbed the back of his neck. Guilt was pumping him like a water valve.

"C'mon guys," Piper said happily with an obvious mask of glee as she got off her stool. "Let's get outta here. You can still go shopping but… but I don't feel like going anymore." They all gave her a pitying look as she walked. "I think I'll just head back to the Condor and start re-painting the heli-scooter's dashboard," she laughed lightly. "I always forget to do it and it's starting to get all messy-looking."

Walking past the boys was like a funeral march for her confidence. It was incredibly awkward. They sensed her distress, but being a girl, the boys didn't know how to properly handle it.

"You sure you don't want me to do it later, Piper? Because I c –" She interrupted Junko and shook her head before turning her head around to smile at him.

"No, don't worry Junko. I want to do it. I'll see you all later," she said and with a wave, she continued on her walk out of the diner.

Aerrow noticed her passing the young boy and how they gave each other uncomfortable stares. It held for some seconds before the boy shot a gaze back to the red head and quickly fell back down to the cash register. Piper simply assumed it was another rejection and dropped her gaze to the floor before she left through the glass doors. The Sky Knight bit his lip and scrunched his eyebrows together.

Oops…

The radio played at a reasonable level of loud music some ways away from Piper as she squeezed the nozzle of the aerosol tank in her hand. A strong puff of macaroni-and-cheese yellow whizzed out beneath her breathing mask and onto the bodywork of her vehicle.

It had been about thirty minutes since she had awkwardly left the rest of her Storm Hawk team mates in the diner and proceeded the ways to the ship's hangar. The moment she arrived, she diligently distracted herself with the job of her desire and turned on the radio to drown out her own uncomfortable thoughts. She needed nothing more than this hard task to pull her away from all of what had just happened.

As she listened to the sound of the nozzle's noisy sprrrsssshhh and the faint lyrics of a familiar band on the radio behind her, the sound of someone knocking on the side of the Condor's steel hangar wall caught her attention instead. Piper rolled her eyes and bit her lip beneath the mask. She really didn't need to, nor wanted to talk with anyone at the moment. Tensing her body, she pretended not to hear whoever it was asking for her attention until they spoke. If it was someone other than the boys, then maybe she'd turn around and ask them what they needed from her.

"Piper?" said a deep voice. She stopped squeezing the nozzle. Other than the radio still playing its song, the only other thing she heard was the loud thumping in her heart. She gulped a rise of embarrassment back down her throat, then she turned around slowly and over her shoulder, she saw him.

"What are you doing here?" she asked him calmly although her insides were experiencing an emotional tempest. It wasn't that she liked liked this boy; remember, she'd only just met him. But his character, their instant connection, and everything they'd gone through in their first meeting was enough to put her on edge if she ever saw him again. She didn't think she would.

"Uhm… if you're not doing anything after you finish that up, do you… still wanna go and check out that store with me?" he said with a smile. His hands were at his sides, opening and closing in nervousness. It wasn't that she scared him, but he had heard about how much of a hothead she was as a Storm Hawk and fighter in papers and from other people. He wasn't dumb enough not to prepare himself for it.

Piper raised an eyebrow and turned to stand, putting down the tank in the process and walked over to where he stood on the ramp. As she walked, she pulled down her mask so that he could see the annoyed look her made with her lips. She glared at him.

"Oh, so you're not to busy anymore with your professor, then?" she said sarcastically. The young boy chuckled softly and jumped her vicious attitude with his own happy disposition.

"No," he said grinning and shaking his head. His brown hair flew into his eyes. "As it turns out, my professor is busy for the afternoon and he told me that I could leave."

Hearing this new information, Piper's anger quickly transformed into forgiveness. Despite her best to remain cool in situations like this, she found herself grinning softly.

"We're picking up on our experiment tomorrow, but until then, it's me and you and a whole bunch of crystals to talk about for the next couple of hours!" He stopped when he realised what he had said and coughed. "I mean, if you still want to."

Piper dropped her grin into a warm smile and with an eager nod, she ran over the radio. After shutting it off and turning out the lights, she followed him down the ramp and into the sunlight of the day.

"I have so many theories I've been dying to talk with someone about. Wait until you hear them!" she said happily and laughed. He smiled and laughed along with her.

"So, did your professor tell you what he's busy with this afternoon? An experiment perhaps?" she wondered curiously. He just shrugged.

"He didn't tell me. But if it is an experiment, I'm gonna be real mad that he wouldn't let me do it with him."

To this, they both laughed again and the conversation sky-rocketed from there.

Time skip…

"Are you sure this tome is appropriate for the area of my studies, young Sky Knight? It's looks a little… outdated." the older man said inquisitively as he fingered the dark purple book in his hands. Aerrow smiled and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Of course," he said replied. "My navigator is our crystal specialist too, and she assures me that despite the old info it carries, it is one of the best books she refers to when she tinkers."

"Hot dog!" The elder laughed as he turned his head to give the red head an appreciative nod. "Well, I've heard nothing but good things of the Storm Hawks and if you're first officer is anything like the intelligent girl you pride yourself to have, then I will consider this book in my collection."

Aerrow smiled as the professor turned around in his step to the vendor beneath the tent to hand him his money for the book. Then, the Sky Knight turned his body around to survey the streets of the marketplace through his green eyes, not looking at anyone in particular.

"You know, she might want to meet a pupil of mine one of these days. He's exceptionally smart for his age about this subject on crystals. They might have a lot to talk about, " he pondered with a fond smile remembering his student. "But alas, since I cancelled our meet for a lab today to accept your abrupt invitation, that which I do not resent for one minute (Aerrow grinned), I doubt you will get to meet him and arrange for their meet."

Then Aerrow blinked and saw her. Although he couldn't hear her in the midst of the hustle and bustle of the streets, he could see her lips moving enthusiastically as she walked alongside the equally happy young man who was looking at all things around them like she was. The older man snickered beside Aerrow, unaware of the people the Sky Knight was watching across the venue.

"He is probably off doing something more interesting by now ...that, or engaging in someone else's company worth more of his time, no doubt."

Then Piper, who had turned her head at the right time, spotted Aerrow standing beneath the tent and gave him an enormous grin, coupled with an equally warming wave. The sun was shining down on her so brightly; Aerrow watched the excited energy flickering like a fire in her orange eyes.

"Yeah, I bet he is."

And with that, he returned a smile to her and waved back.

~And you thought I'd make her end up with no-name boy? Psh, no way. Even if it almost seemed like it in this story, AxP is my ultimate ship, and it will remain that way. Our Sky Knight just needed to learn to share her better. :) Oh Aerrow. I'm glad with the way he is happy to clean up his mess. Lol, well until the next fic :) Thanks for reading.

Much love, Abby~