And so the next chapter is up! A LOT of dialogue in this one, I think it pretty much is dialogue. Not as much action as I thought, but i promise there will be more next time. So that's about it.

Diehard: Glad you liked the chapter. Happy New Year to you too! Thanks for the review, I'm glad to hear you're still enjoying my story.

Me loves jelly: nawww, thanks, your review made me feel good. Yes, you caught me with the Harry Potter influence there. Sometimes the events in this story are so similar I just can't help it. Enjoy!

Blue: Yea, that chapter title was just an on-the-spot decision, a bit like this one really. I'm glad you thought it suited. Don't worry about your torture idea. Whisper came up with the pit, so you're on even terms. Update your story soon!

delphigirl: Yeah I agree. Thanks for the review and I hope I updated soon enough for you.

Amethyst: I'm glad you like the Aerrow/Piper in this. I haven't had much experience so I hope I'm doing it ok. I'm sure Aerrow will be fine.. eventually. Enjoy the chapter!

Whisper: Well, you'll be happy to know that I'm back to my old antics... yes, cliffhangers. There's a nice one just for you at the end of this chapter. What a great person am I?? not.

Thanks so much to all of my reviewers!!! Love you guys!

Previously:

Aerrow rolled his eyes, "You have nothing to be sorry for, Piper. It's not your fault I'm a noble git like my father."

He wiped away her tears with a still shaking hand. She reached up and held it tightly. Aerrow could hear Finn making retching noises behind their back.

Piper smiled, ignoring Finn, and said, "You need some rest. You're shaking, and you've got a fever. Go to bed. I'll take care of things here."

He let go of her hand reluctantly and went to bed without complaining.

Chapter 7: And So it Begins

"Ohhh man! Have a look at this, Junko!"

"Finn, we really shouldn't be in here."

The voices were loud, but slightly fuzzy, and Aerrow faintly recognised them as they drew him from his deep slumber.

"Come on, stop being such a spoil sport."

"But Piper said not to!"

Aerrow groaned and turned over. He recognised the voices now, as Finn and Junko's, but he was still not awake enough to realise that they were coming from inside his room.

"Should we wake him?" asked Finn.

"No. Piper said to let him sleep."

"Yeah, but Piper's not here now, is she?"

This startled Aerrow. His heart skipped a beat when Finn mentioned that Piper wasn't on the Condor. That wasn't right. Piper was always on the Condor, and even if she left, she would always tell Aerrow where she was going.

"Don't you think he has the right to know where they've gone?" Finn pressed.

"Well, yeah. But-"

"And since he is our Sky Knight, he should have a say in this?"

"Yes, but-"

"So we should wake him up!"

"NO, Finn!" Junko's voice was loud and harsh, and Aerrow couldn't help but wonder how stupid the two were to think that he wouldn't wake up to their voices, when he had trained himself to wake at the slightest noise. "Piper and Starling said to let him sleep," Junko continued.

"Yes, but that was right before they went on their oh-so-secret mission which they wouldn't tell us about at all!"

"Sorry, what?" Aerrow opened his eyes and sat up all in one motion. Mission? What mission? How come he didn't know about this?

"Aerrow! You're awake!" Finn said in such a fake voice that Aerrow assumed that Finn did not want him to be awake at all.

Aerrow dismissed the fakeness of Finn's voice, instead focussing on the details of the conversation he had overheard. Piper wasn't here. Neither was Starling. They were out on a secret mission that they had conveniently forgotten to tell anyone else about. And they had left while Aerrow was sleeping, which definitely meant something fishy was going on.

"Where's Piper?" he demanded.

Finn put his hands up in surrender. "Woah, dude. Take a chill pill."

"Finn," Aerrow growled, "where are they?"

At that moment Stork poked his head through the doorway, obviously about to tell Finn and Junko to get out of there. When he saw that Aerrow was awake, he rolled his eyes.

Oblivious to Stork's arrival, Finn answered Aerrow's question. "We don't know, do we? All Piper told us was to let you sleep-"

"Failed." Stork stated from the doorway, causing Finn to turn around in surprise then glare at him.

Ignoring the interruption, Finn continued. "Make sure you didn't find out about them going-"

"Also failed."

"Shut up, Stork. And if you, by any chance, found out about this-"

"Succeeded."

"-then, at all costs, we have to make sure that you do not go after them."

"About to fail," said Stork, noting that Aerrow was out of bed and getting changed into his uniform.

"Ah. Um, Aerrow? You-" started Finn.

"So let me get this straight-"

"WILL PEOPLE STOP INTERRUPTING ME AND LET ME TALK FOR ONCE!"

"Nup. Sorry Finn. So, let me get this straight," said Aerrow, who was now gathering his energy blade (note: one arm is still in a sling), "Piper and Starling have gone somewhere unknown on an unknown mission without telling anyone about it."

"Correct," came Stork's voice from the door.

Aerrow sighed. "Stork, I'm talking to myself, you don't have to answer."

"Right."

"They failed to tell me, the Sky Knight of this squadron, what they were planning. They left while I was asleep. They then told you guys not to wake me up and to keep this a secret from me."

"Which failed."

"Thank you, Stork. And they also said that in the event that I found out about this, you guys would have to prevent me from leaving to follow them."

"Yeah," came Finn's voice, "about that. Sorry about this, Aerrow, but we're going to have to-"

"So am I right in saying," Finn let out an exclamation at being interrupted again, "that Piper and Starling do not want me on this mission?"

"Um, yeah." Stork was rolling his eyes again, "I would have thought that was obvious."

"Oh, I know," came Junko's excited voice for the first time in ages, "they're preparing a surprise party for you! That has to be it! All this secrecy, it makes so much sense now!"

"Uh, Junko?" Finn replied, "Aerrow's birthday was ages ago, and we're near a Terra inhabited by Cyclonis and an ultimately Atmos-Destroying weapon. For once, I don't think it's the right time for a party."

"I don't believe it," Stork muttered. "Finn- no party? Definitely mind worms."

"DAMMIT!" The shout came from Junko, surprisingly.

"Junko, what's up?" Finn asked.

"I just ruined the surprise!"

"I thought we'd just figured out that there was no surprise party going on here."

"Oh, right. Forgot about that."

"I'm going after them." This came from Aerrow, who was striding purposefully towards the door with energy blade in hand.

…

Five minutes later, Aerrow was successfully tied to a chair on the bridge, Junko standing guard over him with his arms crossed and a few fresh bruises appearing on his arms. Stork was where he liked to be; at the controls, muttering his surprise that they actually did something right for once. Finn was standing by the door, twirling Aerrow's energy blade around in his hand ("Man, I've always wanted to do this!").

Aerrow was frustrated. Firstly because Piper and Starling hadn't let him in on this mission, and secondly because he had failed to escape and go after them. He was now tied up, unable to move at all. He wished that Junko would just untie him, so that he could let out some of his frustration by pacing up and down the bridge. At least then he could use up some of his built up energy.

The radio crackled: someone was trying to talk to them.

Aerrow growled, "Untie me, Junko. Now."

Junko hurried to do as he was told. He didn't want to get on Aerrow's bad side when he was angry.

As soon as the ropes slid off him, Aerrow stood and made his way over to the radio.

"Piper? Starling? You there?"

Piper's voice came through, "Aerrow? What are you doing up?"

"Where are you, Piper?"

"Did Finn wake you up?" Finn scoffed in the background.

"Why don't I know about this mission?"

"Urgh. They told you, didn't they?"

"What are you doing?"

"Oh, for Christ's sake!" This was Starling, interrupting, "Will you two cut it out? Look, we're fine, and we're coming back now. We'll answer your questions when we get back, ok?"

"Fine, but-"

"Aerrow, go back to-" the transmission cut out suddenly.

"Go back to what?" Finn asked.

"I dunno, the radio cut out," Aerrow answered. "You don't think something's wrong, do you?"

"Nah, probably just bad reception. Don't worry about it."

Nevertheless, Aerrow was tense. He paced up and down the bridge while the others went back to their jobs, unworried. Finally he heard the sound of a skimmer entering the hangar. He pretty much ran to the door, and was met with the pale face of Starling.

"Starling, what happened? Where's Piper?" Aerrow asked, when he noticed that Piper's heliscooter was nowhere in sight.

"We were ambushed. There were so many of them, all we could do was get out of there. I thought she was following me but when I turned around she wasn't there. There was no one in sight."

Yep, so not as long as some of the other ones, but I'm not going to promise that the next one will be longer cause I haven't started writing it and if I made it longer then that would mean it would take me longer to update.

So, your choice... longer chapter or longer update... i'm not picky.

Pretty please with a cherry on top review! Just press that button down there...

Grazie!