Author's Note: This covers a M/M relationship - if you have a problem with that, don't read it. It's not a canon pairing, but I paired them together, so know that this pairing comes up fairly often during the course of this story. Cheers!

Prompt 10: Secret

Amod fired his Wind Jammer into the cluster of gremwings, breaking them apart and scattering the nasty things in all different directions. He saw Titan roar before biting one of them out of the sky.

"Titan, don't eat that!" Amod yelled. "You don't know where it's been!"

Titan only projected feelings of satisfied deliciousness, much to Amod's chagrin. Not all dragons developed a taste for gremwing, but of course Titan would be one that did. Though they had become much better partners since the Scavenger incident, Amod still felt that sometimes he would never totally understand his dragon.

"Drop and shop, Titan!" Amod said, as his dragon swooped down to the lava pits below them. There was a nice amber crop just waiting to be harvested, and Titan expertly grabbed one of the crystals below. "Got it!" Amod said with excitement.

Amod aimed for a large group of the gremwings that were surrounding his teammate Nora and shot at them, getting the buggers off Nora and Goliath's tail.

"Thanks Amod!" Nora said with a smile, giving her teammate a mock salute.

"Fun time later, kids!" came Zarkan's voice over the vox box. "I'm holed up in sector G-6 and could really use a hand!"

"Well, we shouldn't keep our dear leader waiting," Nora said, veering off their current flight path toward his location. When Zarkan came into view, Amod could see that his dragon Thunder was backed up against a rock wall, surrounded on two sides by gremwings, and on the third by the mutant Nocturna.

"Drop the amber crystals, dragonators, or your precious leader might get…burned," Nocturna said with a cackle as she aimed her plasma cannon directly at Zarkan.

"Don't do it, Amod!" Zarkan cried. "Airlandis needs those crystals!"

Amod couldn't stand it any longer. "Maximize!" he yelled, using his exo-wings to launch off of Titan and barrel into Nocturna. The blue mutant screamed as they both fell off of Nocturna's dragon and plunged toward the lava pit below. Amod didn't let her go as they picked up speed.

"Are you crazy, human? We'll both be killed!" she screeched, clawing at his face. In a last ditch-effort, Nocturna was able to get a taloned foot up against his chest and push Amod away. She unfurled her wings at the last moment and rose into the air on a thermal draft as Amod was unceremoniously flung into the rock wall.

Amod felt something break, and grunted in pain. He saw stars for a few minutes, but his exo-wings kept him from taking a short trip into the spicy dip. Amod was being bombarded by mental images of distress from Titan, who had lost sight of him. "I'm here, buddy," he whispered, the pain growing worse. Amod found Titan hanging around with Thunder and Goliath, guarding their batch of crystals as Zarkan and Nora shot Wind Jammer fire into the cloud of retreating gremwings led by Nocturna.

"Thank the amber there were no Dark Dramen this time," Zarkan said, relief in his voice. He noticed Amod limply flying back to Titan. "Amod, you okay?" he asked.

The truth was, Amod was definitely not okay. He sat down on Titan, who rumbled a greeting, definitely able to see through Amod's façade to the pain beneath.

"I'll be fine," Amod said with a hand wave. He didn't want to trouble Zarkan over it. He'd caused Zarkan enough trouble after the Scavenger incident to last a lifetime. Titan roared again, irritated this time as Amod's vision started to darken.

Suddenly, Zarkan was behind him, arms tightly around Amod to keep him in the saddle. "Let's get you home, Amod. Get us back to Airlandis, Titan!"

The flight home was a blur, Amod nodding in and out of consciousness, Zarkan's urgent voice resounding in his ear from time to time until he finally blacked out completely.

When he awoke, Amod was in the medical bay. He was out of his flight suit and in a bed, sunlight streaming in through his window. Amod rolled over, and everything flashed in pain.

Amod lay in bed for a few minutes, panicky and breathing shallowly. He reached out for Titan, finding great support in his dragon partner's mental solidarity. His breathing slowed gradually as he regained composure.

"Ah, Titan told Thunder you were awake," came Zarkan's voice as his form darkened the doorway.

Amod tried to give his team leader a smile, but could only manage a grimace. "What happened to me?" he asked.

Zarkan sat down by the bed and took Amod's hand. "They had to operate. Your spine had fractured in three places from that tumble with Nocturna. You were lucky we made it here in record time, or else you might not have ever been able to fly again!" Here, Zarkan's voice broke a little bit. "What were you thinking crashing into Nocturna like that? I told you to get the crystals to Airlandis!"

"I couldn't leave you all for her," Amod tried to joke. Though he might never say anything to the other dragonator, Amod had feelings for Zarkan and would be damned if he let Nocturna hurt him.

"Well, you'll get me all you want," Zarkan said. "You're coming to stay with me after they medically clear you to leave. I'm certainly not having you discharged back to your quarters."

"Aye-aye, boss," Amod said with relief, his head sinking back onto the pillow as Zarkan squeezed his hand.

Amod felt just a little weird staying with Zarkan. This was after all the guy he had developed feelings for ages ago, only to put them in a little box and seal them up when he felt the possibility of a relationship didn't have much hope. Amod had decided that working together on Team Two would have to be enough for him.

After a few weeks, they had fallen into a kind of rhythm together. Zarkan had asked to be put on light duty for the duration of Amod's recovery, to which Z'neth had surprisingly agreed. Zarkan had even bargained for Nora to have the chance to train with Team One during the meantime, which she was stoked about.

Every morning, Zarkan would take Amod to breakfast in the Replimat, then down to see Titan and Thunder. Amod could tell that Titan was worried about him, but Zarkan was the one who suggested the daily visits to help calm both their nerves. It proved to be wonderful, and sometimes they would spend hours down in dragon dock simply hanging out with the dragons.

In the afternoon, they would hit up the archives and study, or help Miriam in her lab, or just watch old holofilms together. Zarkan also pushed him, forcing Amod to do physical therapy even when he didn't want to. Amod felt himself getting stronger every day, but almost regretted getting well so soon. He loved spending time with Zarkan.

At the end of a month, the doctors had finally cleared Amod to return to light duty.

"Why don't we try a little flying today," Zarkan suggested as they walked out of the medical bay after Amod's appointment. "I'm sure Titan wants to get back out there as much as you do!"

Amod's face fell a little bit. Of course he wanted to fly with Titan again. But the end of his recuperation period also meant that he would move back to his own quarters. Somehow the thought seemed cold and lonely.

"What's the matter Amod? Not feeling up to it today?" Zarkan asked.

Amod shook his head. "No, that's not it," he answered. They walked the rest of their way to the dragon dock in silence.

Titan nuzzled Amod fondly, almost knocking him over when he found out they were going to be flying today for the first time in a month.

Zarkan helped Amod get his saddle on Titan, before looking straight into his eyes and saying, "I have to know, Amod. Why did you go so crazy when Nocturna had me cornered on our last mission?"

Amod looked down at the golden floor and felt his cheeks flush. "Because it's you, I guess. I've had a…thing for you for a long time, Zarkan," Amod admitted. Somehow, it was freeing to finally get that off of his chest, even if it meant Zarkan would probably distance himself now. "I understand if you want to transfer me to a different team."

When Amod finally looked up, Zarkan was smiling. "Transfer you to a different team? Why would I want to get rid of a great wingman?"

Amod was stunned. "Then you don't mind? About my feelings?"

Zarkan shook his head. "I had a lot of time to think while I sat by you in the hospital, Amod. About how much you mean to me as well, and how I didn't want to lose you. In fact, I hope you don't think I'm being too forward, but I was kind of hoping you would stay with me." A blush spread across Zarkan's face.

Tears stung Amod's eyes as he started crying. Alarm flashed across Zarkan's face as he pulled him into a hug. "It's okay, it's okay. You don't have to if you don't want to," he replied gently.

Amod shook his head vehemently. "No, that's not what I meant!" he cried.

Zarkan's face brightened. "Then you'll move in?"

Amod wrapped his arms around Zarkan's neck and kissed him deeply. "Yes."

It was the best, most wonderful flight Amod ever remembered.