AN: Alright, so this one started out with a simple idea that has suddenly sprang into a little more than simple. Eh, that's pretty much normal for any story I attempt to write. So, hold on tight because this is probably going to be a bumpy ride. It might also help to read Mask first just to get a basic idea…Also, slash…eventually. I don't think I manage to write a story that doesn't have slash. And there's also the fact that I don't get to see any episodes anymore because it only seems to come on when I'm already at work or not willing to get up, so some details are starting to get a little fuzzy. Forgive any mistakes I make because I have all of one episode on tape to really draw from. And now that I've rattled on long enough…enjoy!

xxxx

I dove straight for the ground as explosions rocked the air around me. Sometimes being the diversion really sucked ass. This was definitely one of those times as I circled the sky above a furious Paine. The maniac was doing everything he could to blow me out of the sky while I was just hoping Axel and the others arrived sometime soon. My job, as usual, was to get there first and keep Paine busy. Sometimes I felt like that was all I ever did. Run and be the bait and then let Axel take all the credit for fighting Paine. Me bitter? Not at all. I'm not really. I'm not a bitter person, though I think I would have every right in the world to be bitter. But it's not in my nature. Though lying and pretending to be something I'm not isn't really in my nature either. That's purely a self-defense reaction to interaction with others. But those thoughts never crossed my mind during a battle. The soldier in me was always attentive and alert for any trouble.

I was in a steep dive straight toward the ground when there was an explosion too close to me. The heat from it made my skin prickle with sweat and I thought maybe an eyebrow had been singed off. Then another explosion rocked me hard enough to knock me out, but luckily it was only for a few seconds. When I came to I was plummeting straight for the ground. I let out an unmanly shriek of terror as I just barely pulled myself up in time to just barely skim the ground.

"Hawk, are you okay?" Axel asked via the helmet comms.

"Never better," I replied, managing to keep the tremor out of my voice.

I turned and zoomed between two buildings to give myself a moment to recover. That had been a really close call, too close. My heart was hammering out a hardcore drum beat in my chest and for just a moment I couldn't catch my breath. I flew in circles for a few seconds letting my heartbeat slow down while listening to the shouts of my teammates in my helmet. It reminded me too much of my time spent in the military, of the close call I'd had one time when I blacked out during a jetpack training session. I had barely woken up in time to pull out of that freefall too and I think sadly enough that it had been Bogie's desperate shouts that had really brought me back. I say sadly because of what our friendship turned into, what he turned it into by stabbing me in the back.

I came out of my circle and headed back into the battle and knew from listening that King and Lioness were dealing with Flesh while Axel and Shark were taking on Paine. And then I saw Spydah preparing to jump Shark from behind. My Shark, though he wasn't technically mine yet. Because of that I would do whatever it took to protect him. Acting more on instinct than anything else I went straight for Spydah as the villain pounced. I heard Shark gasp and look over, but my friend wouldn't have had time to dodge the evil maniac if I hadn't acted first. I grabbed Spydah by two of his mechanical arms and shot up into the air.

"Are you crazy?" Spydah screamed.

"Crazy's all in the eyes of the beholder," I retorted.

I climbed a little higher and then turned and dove at a rooftop. Spydah shouted and made a desperate grab for something to hold onto, but I let him go too soon. Spydah slammed into the roof with teeth jarring force and I swooped in for a flying kick. Spydah recovered quicker than I anticipated and grabbed my foot with his mechanical arms. I gave a startled yelp as I was swung to the ground with enough force to knock the breath out of me. Laying flat on my back I tried to get my breath back, but I wasn't quick enough and the next thing I knew Spydah pounced. The villain used his mechanical limbs to pin my arms and legs down, piercing through my suit to do so.

"Time to pluck this bird's feathers," Spydah cackled, leaning down over me.

I struggled fiercely, but couldn't pull my suit free. All I could do was stare up at Spydah with wide eyes as the man yanked off my helmet, cutting off my communication with my teammates. There was something in Spydah's eyes that was truly creepy, something I didn't even want to begin to identify. It made me want to throw up.

"If it were up to me we'd have a little fun, but I think Paine would want me to make sure you're out of the way," Spydah told me in a low voice that let me know exactly what kind of fun the maniac was thinking about.

"Sick bastard," I hissed.

Spydah smirked, eyes flashing with cold malice as he moved to kneel over my prone form. I struggled to get away, but there was nothing I could do as his hands wrapped around my throat and began to squeeze. It was a soft threat at first, just enough pressure to promise more. My eyes grew wider as I realized what was happening, but all I could do was squirm as those hands tightened slowly. The cold fingers made my skin prickle as icy fear spread through my body. Then the grip was too tight and I couldn't breathe. I twisted my upper body, pulling on my trapped limbs, but Spydah simply settled down on my chest, restricting my breathing even more. I clawed at the hands, digging my nails in as much as I could, but Spydah simply hissed and clenched my neck tighter.

"Say goodnight little birdie," Spydah sneered.

I struggled to draw a breath in, lungs burning from the lack of oxygen. Dark spots danced in my vision and everything went silent except for the thundering of my heart in my ears as if it was loud enough for the world to hear. My struggles became weaker and weaker and the black spots began to fill my vision.

And then suddenly I was free and could breathe again. I drew in great gulps of air, coughing and choking, hands at my tender throat. All I could do for several long moments was just breathe. It was almost painful, my throat sore from the pressure that had been forced on it. Slowly I was able to come back to myself and managed to get myself into a kneeling position. Once my head stopped swimming I looked up to see what had happened and was surprised to see a figure I knew all too well fighting with Spydah. It was my brother, my twin brother Sam to be more precise. The one I could have sworn hated me and had already tried to take my life himself. To say I was shocked would be an understatement.

My brother tangled with Spydah for several minutes as I tried to get my bearings back. Then Sam grabbed two mechanical arms and fired up his jetpack, which was sleeker than mine, and shot off the rooftop. Spydah gave a squeal of surprise as he was once more in the air. The two disappeared over the side of the building and I scrambled up to follow, though I was still breathing hard. I fired up my Jetwing and blasted after them, watching as Sam dropped Spydah right on top of Paine. The two criminals shouted at each other, struggling to untangle themselves and get back up.

I heard the telltale thump-thump of a helicopter as it swooped in with a ladder swinging in the wind. Flesh clambered on first as it passed him by with Spydah right after him. Paine shot Axel a hate filled look and then climbed on the ladder as well. They all held on tight as the copter lifted up and rose higher into the air.

"Until next time Manning!" Paine shouted.

And with that the villains were gone. Sam buzzed by me with a whoop of excitement. I was anything but excited. His presence couldn't be a good thing.

We began to check on one another as I joined the group. landing beside Shark with an unsteady thump. Instantly Shark's sharp blue eyes were on me, taking in the sight of my torn up suit and the bruises already beginning to form around my tender neck. His eyes widened and he turned to face me fully, concern lighting his face. Normally I liked being the center of his attention, but I wasn't exactly eager to talk about my near death experience. I was more interested in what my brother wanted.

"Hawk man, you okay?"

Shark's question seemed to instantly gain the attention of the other three who turned their attention to me. I nodded slowly, unable to back it up with my usual act of boisterous arrogance. I didn't feel very arrogant or boisterous. Breathing hurt bad enough, I couldn't even imagine what talking would feel like. I was only half paying attention to them anyway. My eyes were on the figure headed toward us in a lazy downward spiral.

"What happened?' Axel questioned.

I shook my head and motioned to my throat. Before my friends could ask me anything else Sam landed a few feet from us. "He bit off more than he could chew with Spydah. Would have gotten he life choked out of him if I hadn't saved his ass."

Despite my downtrodden spirit, my metaphorical feathers were ruffled by that. I knew Sam worded it just like that to piss me off. Everything he did was to either piss me off or hurt me. To him I'm the evil twin who doesn't deserve to live. To me he's a complete stranger, someone I thought I knew, but turned out I didn't know him at all.

For the first time in several years I was once more looking into familiar green eyes. He had let his hair get a little longer than mine, but at least it was back to it's natural color. The last time I had seen him it had been an appalling purple color. Mom had not been impressed. I was happy with my red hair, I never felt the need to change it, but after Sam caught me making out with another boy he hadn't wanted to look anything like me.

"Dude, you never told us you had a twin. Why didn't he come to the Christmas party?" Shark asked.

I could feel myself pale more than I already was. God things were getting complicated quick. I opened my mouth to say something, but stopped. It would still hurt too much to talk. And how was I supposed to explain to my friends that I had hired actors to play my parents because my real ones disowned me? Let alone have to explain why they disowned me. Judging by the small smirk my twin shot me he had figured that out and knew exactly what he was doing.

"I think he's still recovering from his tangle with Spydah," my twin said. "I'm Sam, the older twin."

"Well, Sam, seems we owe you thanks for helping," Axel said with a big smile.

"I don't need thanks for saving my bro. He'd do the same for me," Sam replied, shooting a smile that probably looked genuine to everyone else, but I could read it perfectly. He was mocking me without words.

I was completely flabbergasted. I didn't understand what was going on. I wondered if I stepped into the twilight zone or something

"How about you join us for dinner? We'd all love to hear some of Hawk's dirty secrets," Lioness said, shooting me a teasing smile.

I knew I paled even further and gulped as my twin's sharp eyes shifted to me. The others probably just saw brotherly teasing, but I felt the malice in that stare. We had always been able to kind of feel each other's emotions and we didn't necessarily read each other's minds, but there was always this definite connection when we were close. I knew Sam was up to something, but what?

"I'd be honored. But first I think I'm going to take my lil' bro to the hospital, y'know, get his throat looked at," Sam said. Obviously he was going to play the caring brother card in front of my friends.

I wanted to argue. I didn't want to be alone with Sam, but I didn't want my friends to wonder why I was afraid to be alone with my own twin. Instead I did the first thing that popped to mind. I grabbed Shark and pulled him along. Shark gave a surprised squeak, but went along with it, which I was extremely grateful for. I knew my calm, collected surfer bud would just go along with it. And I could sense my brother was furious about the interloper tagging along, but I knew Sam wouldn't try anything with someone else around. For a little while I would be safe from whatever Sam was planning.

xxxx

On the surface I thought Sam seemed like a nice guy. He was polite and thoughtful and definitely didn't seem to have the same ego as Hawk. He was interested in me and kept me deep in conversation while the doctor was checking out Hawk's throat and other minor bumps and bruises. By the time Hawk reappeared I knew Sam's favorite band, that he enjoyed water sports as much as aerial ones, and that Hawk had always been a ham for attention.

But under all that and despite the pleasant, nice guy attitude, I felt something was off. There was something about Sam that just wasn't quite right. I couldn't quite put my finger on it, but Sam almost seemed too nice. Maybe it was just because it was a big leap from Hawk's usual attitude, which could be trying at times, but there was so much about him that I loved. But no that wasn't what my instincts were telling me. They were telling me it was something more than just Sam being a little different from Hawk. And it was the slightly fearful look Hawk gave Sam that made up my mind. There was more to Sam than there appeared to be and for some reason or another Hawk was scared of him. That was when I decided I needed to keep a close eye on this new guy. For Hawk's sake.

xxxx

I took a careful swallow of my soup and glanced around the table. All my friends were completely absorbed in everything Sam was saying. No one was even paying a bit of attention to me, unless it was to laugh and poke fun at me for the embarrassing stories my brother was telling. Gotta love siblings for that. But it wasn't that he was doing it, it was that I knew he was doing it to be malicious. It kinda hurt that my friends were ignoring me in favor of his brother and were just going along with everything he said. It didn't help that I still couldn't talk and Sam seemed to be taking advantage of that fact, establishing himself as a good brother and a great friend without me being able to dispute it. Not that I wanted to, not really, I wanted to believe something in my brother had changed.

"You should have seen mom's face when she saw the mess. Zach was completely covered in flour and I was half covered in it and happily stirring out "pancake mix" as if we hadn't done anything wrong," Sam said, grinning as laughter spread around the table. "Man, the servants never let us back in the kitchen after that one."

"Servants?" King repeated, shooting me a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah, we had to have staff to take care of the mundane things around the mansion," Sam said.

I frowned deeply. I never planned on telling my friends about my family's fortune, the one I had been officially cut off from. It hurt too much to talk about They already thought I was an arrogant ass, I didn't want them to think I was a spoiled brat too. I didn't want them to know the truth, didn't want them to know the real Zach Hawkes.

"You're a rich boy?" Lioness asked, sounding annoyed that the fact had never come up.

"No," I denied quickly, coughing as he sore throat protested. Which was true. I wasn't a rich boy because my parents disowned me.

Sam smiled at me, but his eyes were filled with malice. "Don't be modest, Zach. Your friends deserve to know the truth."

I paled and shifted my eyes to my soup. What ever game Sam was playing I didn't like it. Just how much of the truth was my brother planning on sharing? And how the hell did Sam find me in the first place? We hadn't talked since that fateful night and I stopped trying to contact our parents after many ignored and unreturned phone calls. My older brother was the only one I ever spoke to and I knew Drew would never have told Sam where I was.

"Yeah Hawk, what else have you been hiding?" King asked.

I was thankful that for the moment I had an out. I pointed to my throat and shook my head. King grunted with annoyance but didn't push. Sam shot me an innocent smile, but I knew better. He was trying to back me into a corner. It was obvious Sam was trying to get me to reveal things I didn't want to, but what was the point. Why was Sam there? To ruin my life again or for something more?

"Where are you staying, Sam?" Shark asked. I had to struggle not to glare at my friend.

"I'm going to find a hotel," Sam replied as if it was obvious.

"Nah, you're Hawk's family. You can stay here," Axel said.

"I don't want to be an inconvenience…"

"No inconvenience. We can fix a pallet in Hawk's room for you."

Axel must have been completely oblivious to the heated glare I shot him. The last thing I wanted was my brother anywhere near my friends. I knew if given the choice they would pick him over me. I couldn't blame them of course, I had established myself as an asshole with only a few moments of the real me shinning through.

"Nah, I doubt Hawk-man wants to share his room with his bro. We can put the pallet in my room," Shark spoke up.

I wanted to kiss him. I didn't know how Shark knew, but my bud came through for me. I finished my soup and stood to take my bowl to the sink when Sam spoke up.

"How about you show me around, bro? I'd love to see what you've been doing with yourself."

I tried not to let my panic show on my face. Surely Sam wouldn't be stupid enough to try anything there with the potential for one of my friends to catch him. As long as we were at the Aquatics Center I was pretty sure I would stay safe. Besides, maybe I was just imagining all the maliciousness and he really had turned over a new leaf. I was willing to accept that possibility, more than willing actually. But my instincts were telling me otherwise. Sam was there to cause trouble.

"Dude, I think Hawk here needs to catch up on his beauty sleep. Why don't I show you around?" Shark spoke up again, once more saving my ass. I shot my friend a grateful look. I really wanted to kiss him. Instead I left kitchen and headed for my room. Shark was right I really did need to catch up on my sleep. I was hoping that when I woke up in the morning it would have all been a nightmare.