Welcome back to the next chapter of Hidden Talents. First off I would like to thank you for all the wonderful comments, it really makes my day better, especially that wonderful guest who corrected the Spanish title and I have since updated it (Apologies, I have no idea about Spanish).

Why Spanish? I guess it's the first language I'd associate with the guitar (even though Dex plays the ukulele in that chapter he can play the guitar)

Don't be afraid to call out any in-corrections in the way I have written the titles of the coming chapters as I've only learnt Italian and French.

Ready to find out what Zap's talent is?

Disclaimer: I… do not own the show*le gasp*

Chapter 4: Der Künstler (I think that's how it's written?)

Dex was stumped. Almost half an hour of nonstop searching and he had come up with nothing. The pilot had completely disappeared.

While it was known that Zap disappeared for an hour or two from time to time it was usually done at night, and most of the time he could be reached easily.

But during working hours days away from an important mission? Unheard of.

Dex knew (All too well) that Zap tended to have bad nights, sometimes appearing for work with dark circle under his eyes (Which he would be immediately sent back to his room for rest). But this morning he had been absolutely fine, up bright and early for the day's work.

So where was he?

After checking Zap's usual hideaways; his room, the common room, the kitchen and even the garden area Dex began scouting various sectors of the habitat. He hesitated on using the trackers built into their coms as they were only for an emergency.

Though he sure was tempted now.

He had reached the hanger, quite miffed that Zap had just disappeared and ran a hand through his hair.

"Doesn't he know there's work to do?" he muttered aloud to himself, glaring at the floor before taking a deep breath to compose himself.

"Zap? Are you in here?"

Clink!

Dex whirled around to the sound that had surprisingly answered his question. A small object lay on the floor a few meters from him. Dex looked around himself before heading over to it.

The lead pencil sat harmlessly on the floor, Dex furrowed his brow in confusion and picked it up.

"What the-?" he looked up at the ceiling, squinting his eyes to scan the darkened nook the rafters made. Something moved and to his surprise what came tumbling down next was a small spiral bound book and (with much protest) the pilot himself.

"Ow," Zap groaned, rubbing his head with one hand and propping himself up with the other.

"Zap what are you doing here?"

Zap's eyes widened and his head flicked upwards to meet the confused stare of the leader.

"Ah, hey Dex! Fancy seeing you here," he scrambled to his feet and dusted himself off hurriedly like he hadn't just unceremoniously fallen from the sky.

It was then that Dex noticed the book at his feet, before Zap could stop him he bent down and picked it up off the floor, opening it to a random page.

"Zap what is this?" he asked, staring down at the page. The pilot's eyes landed on the book and immediately doubled in size.

"DON'T LOOK AT THAT!" he shouted, jumping at his own voice before looking back apologetically. "Sorry! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to freak out-" Dex held a hand out to stop the boy's rambling.

"It's okay." Dex glanced down at the page again. "But I didn't know you could draw,"

Zap froze, Dex winced slightly but continued to speak in an effort to calm the boy down. "These are really good Zap, you have some real talent," he handed the book back, which snapped the pilot out of his stupor.

"Uh thanks," he replied awkwardly, taking the book. "But they're not that good," he rubbed the back of his neck. "I sort of do it as a therapy,"

"Oh. I'm sorry for intruding,"

"No don't be, I guess is should have told you. It's actually what I do when I freak out, and disappear."

Zap saw the concern flash across the leader's face and held his hands up again.

"It wasn't that bad this time! I promise I will get back to work," he went to move past but stopped when Dex put a hand on his shoulder and led him over to a crate before sitting down.

"How long have you been drawing?" he asked.

"Uh, what?" Dex patted the spot beside him and smiled.

"Come on, let's talk," Zap hesitated, then took a seat. "So, how long have you been drawing?" Dex asked again.

"Uh, I'm not too sure," the pilot began. "I guess a little before you guys found me."

"Hmm," Dex pondered the information for a moment. "Do you only use lead pencil?"

Zap shot him a strange look before answering. "Mostly, I've used charcoal before but it's easier to erase lead," he looked down at the book in his hands, then back to Dex.

"Uh, would you, like to have a look?" he offered the book to his companion. Dex smiled and let it fall into his hands.

"Of course," he opened the cover and began leafing through the pages carefully. At first there were small things like the kettle, a chair, one of the archive bots. Then there were a series of plants and then some of the insects. Dex marvelled at the detail in a particular sketch of the Arthur Beetle. The images grew more detailed and larger, some containing both insect and pavilion.

What he flipped to next was surprising.

"Is that me?" he asked, pointing to the sketch. Zap's face reddened slightly.

"Uh, yeah. Is it bad?" Dex scanned the image before him; Sketch Dex appeared to be riding on the back of an insect. Though it was only form the waist up the pilot had captured the (rather priceless) thrill seeking expression the leader often wore when landed in one of the many predicaments he often found himself in.

"It's from when we were in Egypt, when your professor friend turned into that big scarab," Zap awkwardly explained. Dex looked up and grinned.

"Can I have this?"

"Wait, really?" Zap did a double take.

"Yeah, it's awesome. You've really captured my personality," he held out the sketchbook. "I'm very impressed you were able to do this from memory,"

"Uh thanks. I'll get it too you later," Zap sheepishly grinned, the compliment warming his face. Dex nodded and continued to flick through. The next few were more sketches of various insects. A surprising shot of Tung in a karate pose raised an eyebrow in amusement.

"How did you get this?" he asked.

"I was sitting in a tree and Tung showed up. I guess I was in a good position where I could see him and he couldn't see me," he shrugged. Dex shook his head and continued flicking. This time it was the engineer as the main focus; Dex noted that extreme detail had gone into this sketch. He took a sideways glance at the pilot.

"This one in particular is really detailed," Zap saw the drawing and went bright red.

"Uh, um well it's from memory, but uh," Dex chuckled as Zap tripped over his words. "She lets me hang out in the lab sometimes so of course I'm gonna notice details like the way her hair falls or the way she bits her lip when-" his expression turned to one of horror and his already blushing face turned beet red. "Uh, I mean-Oh god, um uh" Dex put a reassuring hand on the pilot's shoulder.

"Zap, calm down," he gave him a knowing smile. "Its fine," Zap let out a breath and rubbed his face.

"Sorry," he motioned to keep going. Dex obliged and flipped to the next few pages.

Finally he came upon an unfinished sketch of Habibot. The little bot's expression was detailed and the upper part of his body was shaded, but the rest was still basic shapes containing slight pencil smudges in and around them.

"Oh yeah, that's what I was working on." He glared up at his previous nook in the ceiling. Dex followed his gaze and saw the bot himself sitting on the ledge, giving them both a cheeky wave.

"Uh huh. He pushed you off?" Dex asked. Zap shook his head.

"No, he knocked my pencil off and then my sketchbook," he sent a glare up at the bot, who shrugged and disappeared into the darkness. Dex chuckled and closed the book, handing it back to him.

"Thank you for letting me look at these Zap, it must have been hard to show me. Stuff like this is pretty personal,"

"Uh no worries," he pulled his legs up to his chin. "It was. Sometimes I get a bit overwhelmed, and drawing calms me down I guess. It's hard to describe," he trailed off. "But it was good to get some of this off my chest," Dex smiled softly and wrapped the boy in a hug. When he pulled back he took out the pencil out and handed it to him.

"Finish the drawing and come and find me when you're ready to keep working" he stood and winked.

"See you later Zap," the pilot watched his boss' retreating form before looking back at the pencil in his hand, and smiled.

Habi watched on from above as the pilot re-opened his book and continued to draw, satisfied with his work.

Zap can draw! I tried to capture the awkwardness of having someone go through your sketch book (something I am familiar with). This was sort of hard to write because I really wanted to have that brother/fatherly connection Dex and Zap share, hope this isn't too OOC. I've really got to watch a few episodes so I can write the next chapter.

Were you surprised? R&R