I do not own the Storm Hawks. Read please.

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I expected tears, I expected laughter. I expected an awkward silence and I expected incessant chatter. I expected hugs and I expected flinching. I did not, however, expect Grei to see Stork, yell his name, and tackle him. And I really did not expect Stork to be okay with that.

"Storkstorkstorkstorkstork!!!"

"Don't kill him Grei! That's Torch's job!!"

"Stork!"

"Hey Torch! Did you shrink?" Torch fires a shot at Stork's head, who ducks and is swept into a bear hug by Bobby, Grei bouncing around his heels.

"Hi Bobby! You're big."

"Gee, I didn't think you would notice!"

Grei smiles at him. "Did you miss us?"

"Nope, not at all!" says Stork, grinning. He started laughing the moment Greison first called his name, and I realize that this is the first time I've ever heard him laugh. I mean really truly laugh, just because he's happy; not that nervous chuckle we usually get.

"Liar!!" Torch yells, zipping around wildly.

When they've all calmed down some Stork turns back to us. "Well, because none of you are shooting at each other I find it safe to assume that you've met." That sounds more like Stork. I think all the yelling kind of freaked Piper out.

"We have, but I'm not sure you actually know our names."

Bobby thinks on this for a moment while Grei chases Torch around his legs. "I think I've gathered most of them from talking to you, but I don't think these idiots have." He gestures towards Torch and Grei, the former of which stops to glare at him.

"I am not an idiot!"

"Oh yes you are Torch!" Greison laughs, lunging at him and missing by a mile. "And you're right, I have no idea!"

Stork smiles. "Then I believe introductions are in order. Aerrow, if you would."

"This is Junko, Finn, and Piper. I'm Aerrow." I say, pointing out each of us in turn. Radarr pops up over my shoulder. "And this is Radarr." That gets Grei's attention.

"Hello Radarr. What are you?" she addresses him directly. Surprised, he chatters at her at an alarming rate. I expect confusion, but instead she nods. "Yeah, I have no idea what I am either. Torch is an accident and Bobby is a freak of nature." This earns her two smacks upside the head from the boys. More chattering. "Stork is a Merb and I just told you I have don't know what else I am."

Piper holds up her hands. "Wait, you actually understand him?"

"Um, yeah. Can't you?"

Stork looks at her. "Told you so." She sticks her tongue out at him.

Junko and Torch have been eyeing each other warily from their respective sides of Bobby. He makes a good wall. At Greison's words Junko looks at them both oddly. "What does she mean by that?"

Torch lights on the ground. This is the first time any of us see him standing, and he only just comes up to my knee.

"My parents were scientists and something in their lab exploded when I was in it. When they realized that I wasn't going to grow anymore or lose the wings they dumped me on Terra Scilar hoping something would eat me." he smiles. "But Grei and Bobby found me before anything did!"

"What about you?" Finn asks. Bobby stares down at him.

"I'm blue. What do you think?"

"Oh, um, yeah, heh, right."

Greison, Torch, and Piper all laugh at Finn's mistake. I've been wondering something during all this, but they all seem so darn happy I'm not sure if I should bring it up; it would make everything so awkward. Radarr stares me down, boring into my thoughts until I have to ask, just like back on the Condor when we found out about Grei.

"How did you meet Stork?"

They all stop laughing. Torch sets down on Bobby's shoulder and Grei turns to Stork, concern in her eyes. Everyone watches him for some sort of sign. He opens his mouth to speak, and closes it again, thinking. A foghorn sounds, starling us all.

"That's the warning for the skimmers' all-race," Bobby notes, relief tinting his words, "you better get over there before you're disqualified."

As we walk towards the starting line Piper confronts me. "Why did you have to go and ask that?! He would have told us in his own time! Haven't you noticed how un-Storkish he's been acting?!"

She's so cute when she's angry. I'd tell her that just because it flusters her so much, but she does have a point. I've never seen Stork so relaxed, especially outside of the Condor. Usually he's jumping all over the place at any danger, real or imagined. Heading back through the tent encampment he gets some of his jitters back. Its a few minutes before I figure out why. Grei wasn't the only one to notice him.

"Hey look! Isn't that Stork?"

"The Magic Merb Mechanic?"

"Yeah! With the Storm Hawks!"

"But I thought that was just a rumor?!"

"Apparently not!"

"It's the Fourth Freak!"

"The Freaks of Wrath are whole again!"

The whispers ripple through the tents and crowds in our wake. This is too weird. Freaks of Wrath? Right on time, Greison pops up between me and Piper.

"Because someone is going to call us it eventually, you might as well know that around here we're known as the Freaks of Wrath. I'm not exactly sure who started it, but we don't generally mind. It's really not that far off-mark." She starts to turn away but remembers something. "And before I forget, if people start to get mad at you for hanging around us, it's perfectly alright to stare them down. It's more a sport for us than anything else." She does a back flip and runs to catch up with Torch.

Sitting on my skimmer, Radarr in his side carriage, I glace back at my team on the sidelines. They stand side by side with Stork in the middle, bridging the gap. Somehow they all seem to fit together. Bringing my eyes to the front again my earlier question resurfaces in my mind. I'll have time for that later, right now, I race.

"On your marks!"

The skimmers' engines rumble in anticipation. The crowd goes quiet.

"Get set!"

The heat rises as I watch the track in front of me.

"Go!"

Dust swirls and any other concepts are driven from my head by the thought of winning.

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In case you didn't get it last chapter I'm tired of waiting on y'all so I'm just going to start posting whenever. Review this anyway!