SURPRISE! Not only did I not wait a whole year to update, I also posted this chapter three whole days before promised. (Although most of you probably didn't even know that unless you happened to check my profile, which I don't fault you for because it's usually pretty boring. Speaking of which, if you've been following this story then please go vote in the poll! It will help me decide how I'm going to format the rest of it.)

Sam Fraser: I didn't post a couple of the comments you left because they weren't relevant to the story, but all I'll say is I am familiar with the website you suggested and I actually do share your views on the subject.

Enjoy, bugaboos!

-fbw

P.S. Apologies in advance if my lack of insect anatomical knowledge shows. The ants in this movie only have four limbs so I figured I could take some creative liberties as well.

Flik

And if the real bird was out there somewhere, how long would it be before she found them?

Flik shook the thought from his mind as he narrowed the distance between himself and Atta, his faithful beetle friend close behind. He had a princess to revive, and dwelling on the possibility of the giant sparrow swooping down to gobble them both whole at any moment wouldn't help anyone.

The rain was still falling steadily, forcing Flik to dodge drops the size of berries while he ran. Finally he reached Atta, his heart stuttering in his chest at the sight of her up close. She was turned on her side, her eyes closed and her left arm wrapped around her stomach. He crouched down to examine the damage the raindrop had done, gingerly feeling along her body for any broken bones, and breathed a sigh of relief when there were none. Other than the deep purple bruises spotting her chest and arms, the princess appeared mostly unscathed.

"Princess?" Flik whispered, laying his hand on her shoulder and giving it the smallest of shakes. When she didn't respond, he frowned and shook a little harder. "Princess, you've gotta get up for me."

Other than a pained twitch of her eyelids, she showed no indication of hearing him. Flik noticed for the first time the rattle in her breath and moved his hand from Atta's shoulder to her ribs, cringing when he felt a soft crunch beneath his fingers.

"How bad is it?" Dim's voice rumbled from behind him.

Flik shook his head and ran his hands through his antennae. "I'm no Dr. Flora, but I'm thinking at least one broken rib. Other than that she seems okay, it's just she's not waking up," he said, his voice breaking with frustration on the last word. He cupped the back of her head with one hand and took her right hand in the other, leaning closer until their faces were centimeters apart. "Come on Princess. I know it hurts, but she needs us. She needs you."

Nothing. Flik's hope was dwindling, the feeling akin to the panic he experienced while watching the last seed of the ants' offering disappear into the stream. Atta was either unconscious or paralyzed by her pain, and that meant either losing time while he waited for her to wake or leaving her here while he went after Hopper himself. Flik still didn't know the full extent of Hopper's ruthlessness and he didn't want to test it, especially not with Dot caught in the crossfire, but the thought of abandoning Atta in this condition sickened him.

Flik didn't even notice the rest of the circus troupe gathering around them until he felt Tuck and Roll's antennae tickling his shoulders. He raised his head to see the concerned faces of Manny, Gypsy, Rosie, Slim, Francis, and Heimlich: his newfound friends who were, hands down, the best mistake he had ever made. Heimlich was even holding a soggy bundle of leaves from the bird over him and Atta to shield them from the rain. Tears welled in Flik's eyes and he hurried to brush them away, sniffling as a warm hand clamped around his shoulder.

"Hey, no tears allowed here, Flik," Francis muttered. "Crying means defeat and we've been losers for too long. The princess is just taking a little longer to wake up from her beauty sleep, that's all."

Flik couldn't help but crack a smile. Leave it to the masculine ladybug clown to keep the jokes going in a time of crisis.

"Should ve try pouring water on her?" Heimlich tentatively suggested, earning himself a well-deserved smack from Slim. He had apparently forgotten that very substance was the culprit behind Atta's current state.

Flik shook his head and squeezed his eyes shut as he held Atta's limp hand in his own. Please please please Princess, don't be dead. I can't lose both of you tonight.

Atta

"Princess? Princess, you've gotta get up for me."

The voice in her antennae sounded like it came from the end of a long tunnel. She knew she should follow it, but there was just so much pain. Her chest, her limbs, her head. Everything ached, and not just in the physical sense. Her heart hurt too, though her mind scrambled to remember why. Something had happened, something that caused the pain in her body and came before the pain in her heart.

Something had happened.

Somebody had… left?

No. Somebody had taken her.

The lavender blur crashed into Atta's torso and nearly knocked the wind from her lungs. Atta squeezed Dot to her chest and rested her cheek atop her sister's head, relishing the sound of that breathy laughter. Her eyes burned with tears at the feeling of her little sister safe and sound in her arms, away from the monsters who had made the last three months hell for all of them.

And then there was a whistle from above and Dot was yanked from Atta's arms.

"Come on Princess. I know it hurts, but she needs us. She needs you."

She was flying through the tunnel towards the voice calling to her, the last flicker of hope left. Her body struggled to cooperate, begging her to give in and let it sleep the shame away, but she was racing a clock with an unknown number of minutes. Hopper had given the colony only a season to atone for their mistake the first time they disappointed him, and that had been an accident. How much time would he give them now that they had purposefully rebelled?

The next thing Atta knew she was lying on the ground, pinned down by the weight of the water that had plummeted from the sky and split them apart. Dot was mere inches above her, suspended from the hand of the very monster she had just escaped. A tear rolled down Dot's cheek when their eyes met, and Atta felt her heart constrict as a wave of deja vu rolled over it. Only minutes ago Hopper had snatched her from the mouth of the burning sparrow and dangled her like bait before Atta, waiting for her to betray Flik in exchange for her sister.

She had refused at the time, but now Atta would have given up any name if it meant keeping her sister out of the grasshopper's clutches. She knew she had nothing left to bargain. Hopper was angry and humiliated, and he wanted revenge. All she could do now was beg at his feet.

"Hopper, please…" she said, choking on shards of desperation. "Leave — my sister — alone."

The pebble-sized flame of hope in her heart shrunk as the smile on Hopper's face widened.

"If you want her, come and take her," he sneered, echoing the words he used to challenge Flik the first time Dot was at his mercy. With a roar of wings, they were gone.

With a surge of speed, Atta burst through the tunnel and into the firelight.

Flik

One second Manny was asking about to preparing the royal funeral rites and the next Atta was sitting up in a sheen of sweat, hugging her ribs and gasping Dot's name.

"Whoa, whoa!" Flik cried, grabbing the princess by the shoulders in an attempt to steady her. Atta was known by the colony to be a generally anxious ant, but even Flik had never seen her this distressed. Her thin frame trembled in his grasp and her face was a pale lavender color. Most telling were her eyes, which seemed to be frantically searching for something on which to focus.

The circus bugs crowded closer, their faces creasing with worry when her panic didn't lessen. Finally Gypsy reached out to lay a comforting hand on the crown of Atta's head and began to hum, a calming trick Flik had seen her use on Manny once during a panic attack he had before presenting the bird idea to the colony. It worked like magic then, and it seemed to do the same now. Atta's rapid breathing slowly returned to a steady rhythm and her face regained its violet hue. When her darting eyes finally found Flik's, he hated himself for thinking her blue eyes somehow looked even lovelier when they were glassy with tears.

"Hey now, Princess," he chided gently, reaching over to catch a stray one with his thumb. "No tears allowed here."

"Flik," Atta whispered. "He has her."

"I know," Flik replied. He ran his hand along the curl of her antennae, stopping to twiddle the end slowly between his fingers. It was a coping mechanism he had often seen Atta do when she was stressed, and almost immediately her shoulders slumped and her shaking ceased. He flashed her an encouraging grin. "We're going to get her back."

To Flik's surprise, she shook her head and pulled away. The hand that had been stroking her antennae froze in mid-air.

"We have to get her back, Flik," Atta said, her voice breaking on his name. "This is the second time I've failed her."

Flik's forehead furrowed in genuine confusion. He let his hand fall so he could use it to pick hers up. "When was the first time, Atta?"

Atta

Not Princess. Atta.

Something about hearing Flik say her name made her eyes pool with tears. She fought the urge to wipe them away, knowing it would be useless. Besides, it was only fair for him to see her cry after she had banished him in front of the entire colony. Those heartbroken blue eyes had haunted her dreams all night.

Flik gave her hand a squeeze, gently reeling her back to the present. It was like they were the only two bugs in that moment. She took a watery breath.

"Back in the spring," she began. "When Hopper came here the first time… you know, when he broke into the anthill? I was standing with Dot and Mother…"

Mother. Atta gasped, causing Flik and the circus bugs to jump. "Where's my mom?" she cried, whipping her head around. "I was with her right before I went after that grasshopper who had Dot —"

"Your mother's safe, Your Highness," Slim interrupted in a soothing tone. "Along with the rest of the colony. We rounded them up as soon as the rain started and ushered them into the anthill."

"She's a feisty one, the Queen," Rosie chuckled. "Really gave us a hard time when we tried to get her inside. She wouldn't budge until we all promised on our careers that we wouldn't come back without you and Dot."

"Hell of a thing to promise on," Francis muttered.

Even with all the reassurances, it wasn't until Flik squeezed her hand and gave her a comforting smile that Atta felt certain her mother was out of danger. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, wincing at a sharp pain in her ribcage, before continuing.

"Okay. So Hopper and his gang were here, and Dot was terrified that whole time. I could see her shaking next to me, Flik. But all I could think about was myself, how scared I was and… and how much of a fool he made me look in front of the colony. I was humiliated and angry and I didn't see… I didn't even see her run when he snapped."

Flik's thumbs were tracing circles on her palm and her tears were falling freely now, landing in tiny droplets on her thighs. Atta marveled at how something so small and harmless could be made out of the same stuff that had knocked her from the sky a few minutes ago.

"And then all of a sudden she was gone and Hopper had her and he was taking her to Thumper like he was going to… to feed her to it or something, and I knew I needed to stop it but I was so afraid of what he would do to me if I said anything so… so I just stood there and watched it happen and…"

Here Atta curled her free hand into a fist and bit her lip. Her next words were choked with anger.

"Damn it Flik, I can still hear her crying."

She was staring at the ground through the haze of tears, unaware of the circus troupe slowly pressing closer until two of Rosie's hands were on her shoulders. Atta looked up and blinked until their kind faces became clear, then turned her gaze back to Flik.

"I have dreams about that day still," she whispered. "About what might have happened to her if you didn't step in. All it took was three words. He could've killed you, Flik, but Dot's alive now because of you. No thanks to…"

Flik's hand flew to her mouth, the tip of his finger pressing down on her parted lips. "Atta, it's okay," he said. There was that name again. "We were all scared that day."

And then he was leaning forward to fold her into a hug and she was letting him, laughing as she felt the heat of nine other bodies join them. Flik's heart beat strong beneath her cheek and his voice spoke soft in her antennae.

"I failed too, you know. That same day. I should have taken her from him when he told me to, but I was a coward. Maybe he would've killed me, who knows? Maybe it was just a game to him. I still should've tried." He drew back enough to lock eyes with her, and she was struck by the sadness in his.

"And then tonight, I let her down again. She shouldn't have even been in that bird with me, but she and the kids were all I had. I put her in danger because I wanted my idea to work, and Hopper still got her in the end. How's that for letting her down?"

Flik's question ended with a weak laugh, one Atta knew would turn into something else if she didn't intervene. So she mustered up every ounce of humor she had left and muttered, "Well, to be fair, she only left in the first place because I banished you from the colony."

It worked. Flik's downturned mouth twisted into a smirk. "Well, you only banished me because I lied to all of you and went behind your backs," he countered. A chorus of true's echoed from the bugs around them, causing both of them to laugh.

Atta, however, was determined to have the last word. Flik had been hurt again and again by the very ants he had taken a beating for, ants who had scoffed at his ideas and insisted that he bottle his brilliance and get back in line with the rest. Even if none of them ever apologized to him, she wasn't going to miss her chance.

So she reached across the short space between them to take Flik's chin between her fingers, then lowered his head until their eyes were level enough to stroll between on a tightrope. He looked almost afraid of what she was going to say, which gave her even more reason to say it.

"Flik, you only lied to us because we were all so hard on you. Dot was the only one who believed in you from the beginning because she saw the spark. I'm just sorry it took us… it took me so long to see it, too."

Flik's breath caught in his throat, and for the briefest moment Atta thought he was going to lean forward and close the space between them. Before she could brace her fluttering heart for it, Francis's annoyed voice yanked them all back to reality.

"So what I hear you saying is that Flik is great and Dot's the best of all of us, blah blah blah. Can we go get my Blueberry back now? I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm itching to kick some grasshopper ass. Also, the little raisin owes me a card game."

The rest of the circus bugs chorused their agreement. Flik cast a sheepish smile in Atta's direction before wrapping his elbow around Dim's snout and pulling himself to his feet. Atta winced at the grunts of pain that left his mouth in the process. She had almost forgotten how badly he had been injured and now here he was, ready to charge right back into the thick of battle.

My brave, foolish warrior, she thought, accepting the hands he offered to help her to her feet. A groan escaped her as well when she stood, but she quickly dismissed everyone's concern. There were more important matters at hand than a couple of broken ribs. If they survived this night, they would all be spending a long time under Dr. Flora's care.

Once she and Flik were both upright, Rosie asked the question on everyone's minds.

"So Flik, what's the plan?"

Atta glanced at the ant beside her and saw that familiar gleam in his eye, the one that meant the gears in his brain were spinning at full speed and everyone else would have to fly to keep up. Their nine colorful friends huddled before them, awaiting his instructions like an attentive audience. The storm raging around them added an intensity to the moment that sent shivers up and down Atta's spine.

Finally Flik rubbed his hands together and began to speak. As Atta listened, she found herself wondering how they had all managed to blind themselves to such a brilliant light for so long.

Dot

She heard her friends coming before she saw them, even with the rain still shrieking down around them. Dot smiled at the sound of Dim's wings, which were a storm all their own.

Hopper heard it too. His hand clenched harder around her waist. He had flown even higher into the tree, so high that all Dot could see beneath their dangling feet were bare branches criss crossing each other against the darkness. Ever since she was a pupa Dot had dreamed of flying up here, but all she wanted now was to feel dirt under her feet again.

"They're coming for you, Princess," she heard Hopper mutter. "A whole damn calvary for one tiny ant. Who'd have thought?"

Dot's heart swelled so big she could feel it pulsing in her throat. Her damp wings fluttered with fresh hope.

"You don't know my warriors," she whispered.