You people really like my story! I can't believe it!! Thank you so much!!! This is the first story I've ever written. Thanks again, guys. ^______^  This chappy's kinda long, but it's one of the best ones here besides the last. Humor, romance, action… it's got it all. Enjoy!

~4~

   Raven snapped out of that trance, and Nightfalcon was smiling.

"Would you please let go of my hand? You're kinda cutting off my circulation."

"Oh! I'm sorry…" He let go and put his hand in his pocket, and blushed.

"Let's go see how the people in the control room liked our little match." Nightfalcon said, and started running back to the base. Raven ran after her. She was speedy. But he wasn't about to give up yet. He ran up to her and looked at her. Boy, she was really kicking it into high gear. And… he couldn't believe it… she beat him to the base. He was so stunned that he ran into the door. She helped him up, giggling, and she asked if he was ok.

"Yeah… I'll be… fine…" He winced. She led him to the control room. It was completely silent as they walked in.

"Uh, could someone please get and ice-pack?" She looked around, and some kid with red hair ran to get an ice pack. She sat Raven down in a chair, and everybody looked at her.

"What? He ran into the door…" She looked at him again. "Poor guy…"

"What… a… spectacular… RACE!" Van finally spoke. His eyes were like a little boys when his father told him they were going fishing the next day. It looked like he had seen a giant papaya… Either way, he walked over to Raven and Nightfalcon and looked at them like they were going to turn into something beautiful… like butterflies or something. Then he said, "You two will be the special forces. If we can get you to work together, you'll be an unstoppable team! Even I know when to admit defeat. You two are WAY better than I'll EVER be!" Nightfalcon was smiling, and Raven was just looking at Van. It seemed he had recovered. Then, the kid returned with and ice pack. He saw he was too late, so he just put it in the fridge. Raven stood up. He looked Van square in the eyes, and said, "We'd be happy to lead the Special Forces. Wouldn't we, Nightfalcon?" She was astonished that Raven spoke for himself and her. She couldn't say anything, but she nodded.

"Great! Then I'll get you new outfits to lead the Special Forces. Thank you so much for doing this. We'll be unbeatable!!" And then he laughed. Quite maniacally, actually. Raven raised an eyebrow, and Nightfalcon just stood there with both her eyebrows raised in a worried yet unserious look.
"Uh, Van? Why are you laughing?" she asked, and the look on her face got more screwed up. Raven was holding his face in his hand and shaking his head.

"Oh, um, sorry… got a little out of control, there…" He stopped and blushed. Then everybody else started to laugh at him. He flushed deeper red, and ran out of the room. The audience stopped laughing, and Nightfalcon chased him down.

"Van, we weren't laughing at you. Now go get those suits, ok? I'll come if you want…

"… us to." She turned around and Raven was walking down the hall, smirking. " I'll come too. I want to see where all the uniforms are." He was pretty good at covering up his emotions. But Nightfalcon was good at sensing them. She smiled, and offered Van a hand-up from where he fell when she tackled him. He took it, and she helped hoist him up. Raven had stopped about 3 yards behind them, and crossed his arms. Van started walking down the hall, Nightfalcon and Raven trailing behind. Raven stepped up to Nightfalcon's side, and she paid him no mind.

"Hey, Nightfalcon…" She looked at him this time.

"Hm?"

"… Uh… I was wondering… if maybe…" He put his hand behind his head and scratched his neck. "… maybe you'd come out tonight and… um…" He was blushing deeply, and Nightfalcon was grinning ear to ear. "Willyougooutwithmetonightplease?" It all just came out in a long string of words. She looked away, smiling and blushing, and replied.

"If Van doesn't have us out on the front lines or anything, I'd be happy to, Raven."  He was blushing so bad she thought his face was going to explode from all the pressure. But he was also smiling. 'YES!' he thought. She scooted toward him a bit more, and he didn't move away. He just kept walking with his head down, and Van looked back at exactly that moment. Apparently he hadn't heard the whole ordeal that just went on, and he said, "Hey, Raven, looks like you got a not-so-secret admirer." He was grinning. Then Raven walked up to him and said, "Looks like your observation isn't all that great." Van's brow furrowed. "What's that supposed to mean?" he growled. "Well, it's supposed to mean that you didn't hear what I just asked her." Van's eyes got wide and disbelieving.

"Nightfalcon, is that… t-true?" Van looked a little either disgusted or jealous, she couldn't tell. "Is what true, Van?" She looked like 'hey, what did I do?' and waited for an answer.

"Are you going to… to… GO OUT with Raven?!?" He screamed at her, and this made Raven a little angry. "Come on, Van, it's her choice. Aren't we going to get those suits?" Raven asked. He kept walking, and Van soon regained his leadership of the small line. Raven and Nightfalcon walked side-by-side, and in perfect pace with each other. They weren't even trying to. They just… did.

   When they finally got to the closet, Van turned on the light and stepped through a line of uniforms. It took him a minute to come back, but when he did, he was carrying twin Night-Blue suits. They had the Guardian Force logo embroidered in silver on the left arm, and a couple complicated buckles and zippers. He handed one each to Raven and Nightfalcon, silently, and walked back down the hall. That was unusual for him. Usually he couldn't stop talking. But he was silent. Raven and Nightfalcon went back to their respective quarters, and tried on the suits. A perfect fit for both. After they tried on the Special Guardian Force - or SGF for short - suits, they dressed in normal clothes. Nightfalcon put on some Flare jeans and her own special shirt, which was pretty much a tube-top with a belt attached to it.Raven just wore his good old suit with the metallic shoulder pads.  They met at he front gate, and left their organoids there. Yes, Nightfalcon had an organoid, too. He was green with gold eyes. Trance. Raven and Nightfalcon hopped into the Thunderhawk, and they took off. They were going mach 1.5 until they had to stop short. In the middle of the sky was a Whale King. A red one. At the same time, Raven and Nightfalcon both muttered one word; "Hiltz."   And Hiltz it was. Inside the Whale King stood a tall man with red hair, a Red organoid named Ambient, and… a white wolf with metal patches all over its body. An old friend of Nightfalcon's. Raven narrowed his eyes. Riece was in the Whale King, also. And Specular.

"Let me pilot the Thunderhawk for a minute, will you?" Raven spoke with fury in his cool, calm voice.

"Sure…" Nightfalcon replied, not really aware that she had answered. Raven got up, and moved to the front of the cockpit. Nightfalcon was staring at the Whale King, and didn't move to let Raven pilot. He tapped her on the shoulder, and she jumped.

"Oh, uh… you wanted to pilot?" she asked. Raven nodded. Nightfalcon unbuckled her seatbelt and got up. Raven sat down and put on the seatbelt. "It'll take me a minute, but I need to get used to the Zoid first." Nightfalcon nodded, and asked what he was going to do. He told her to stay down. She obeyed, afraid of what the Once-Evil pilot had up his sleeve. Nightfalcon kneeled, and crawled up to the front, right next to Raven. He looked at her, and yelled "Hey! What're you doing?!  I don't want you to get hurt!" Then he blushed. She touched his arm, and said in a very gentle voice, "I'll never get hurt when you're around. I trust you, Raven." She smiled up at him, and he looked at her with a very odd look on his face.

"You… trust… me?" He pointed a finger at himself. She nodded. "Wow… nobody's ever trusted… me… before…" He smiled, and she could tell he was proud. "Okay, Thunderhawk, please, let me pilot you." The Thunderhawk roared a piercing screech, like a mechanical eagle, and the control panel sprung to life, just like Nightfalcon was the pilot.

"There you go, Raven, he likes you." Nightfalcon was smiling at him. He smiled back. "There's two," he said. He looked a bit forlorn.

"Give them time. They only know you as an enemy. Show them the side of you that I see. They'll learn quickly that you're really a good person." She told him. He nodded and said, "Alright, let's see how this baby handles…" He pushed forward on the levers, and the Thunderhawk soared straight at the Whale King. Nightfalcon grabbed his arm.

"What're you doing??? We're gonna crash!!" Her eyes were wide with fear. Raven's face was set. He soared straight at the Whale King, and didn't even blink. "Raven! NO! Please don't crash my Thunderhawk!! Please don't crash US!!" She was screaming. He told her to calm down. He knew what he was doing. He pulled up at the last possible moment, and Nightfalcon let out her breath and stopped shaking. He put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "Don't be scared. You told me you trusted me." She looked at him, and he had a very uncharacteristically gentle smile on his face. Her stomach fluttered. He was so gorgeous! She smiled sweetly at him, and he turned back to piloting. He landed very stealthily on the roof, and opened the cockpit's canopy. He stood up, and stepped out onto the outer part of the cockpit. He held out a hand to help Nightfalcon out.

"You coming?"