Note: Well, here we go, folks, chapter two in underway and poor Stork is about to lose the rest of his already-diminished sanity. Poor little Merb. Well, time to play Torture the Merb!

I don't own Storm Hawks, but I own my character Candice. That's it. Boom chaka laka boom.

Chapter Two: Sunbeams

A piercing shriek rang throughout the Condor, high pitched and very loud. Radarr squeaked and held his ears shut. The rest of the crew winced. All except Stork, who just twitched his earring-laden ear a bit at the sound.

"It sounds like Candice is awake." He noted dryly.

"Who?" Finn asked stupidly.

"The girl, you idiot." Stork replied.

"Where am I?!?!?!?" A shrieking, feminine voice called out.

"Stork, you'd better go take care of her. She might be a bit less, um..." Aerrow started,

"Violently loud?" Stork offered,

"Yes... Violently loud, if another Merb was there." Aerrow finished with a wince. Stork nodded and handed the wheel over to Piper.

Stork opened the door to see Candice's bright golden eyes frantically flicking back and forth, as she whimpered at her unfamiliar surroundings.

"Um, hello?"

"Where am I?" She immediately demanded fearfully.

"You're aboard the airship Condor. I'm Stork, the carrier pilot."

"What am I doing here?" She asked.

"We found you outside our ship as we landed to refuel. You were passed out in the field. I brought you in here. I wasn't about to just leave you out there to die." Stork explained.

"Oh... Um. Thank you... ?" She said. "I'm Candice--"

"I know, your tag, um... Fell out of your pocket when I pulled you in here. I put it back." Stork lied through his teeth.

"Oh. Ok. Is this your room? It's rather nice." Candice said, looking at the sparse decor of the room.

"Well, yes, as a matter of fact. Piper's room is too small, Junko's room is too... cluttered with useless junk, and there's no way I'm trusting either Aerrow or Finn. They're teenage boys, and you know how that can be." Stork joked, twirling his finger around his ear in the universal sign for insanity.

"I understand. I have two boys of my own. They're young, but they're certainly a handful." Candice got a distant, sad look on her face.

"Oh, really? What are their... are you alright?"

"They were a handful, alright..."

"Candice?"

"Oh! I'm sorry, I must have zoned out."

"What did you mean by 'were' a handful?" Stork asked, a bit confused.

"I... It was nothing. Really." She snapped, causing Stork to blink and jerk back as if he'd been slapped.

"Well, if you're feeling up to it, you can come on out and grab a bite to eat. Provided Junko hasn't stuffed it all down his throat already." Stork said, holding out his green hand to her.

Candice looked away, a sad look on her face. She got up by herself and walked past Stork, who then put his hand back down and followed her, noticing that she walked with a heavy limp on her left leg. He attempted to keep her steady, but was met with her tearing her arm out of his grip and giving a noise halfway between a growl and a sob.

"I-I'm sorry, I was just trying to help--" Stork was forced to jump back as she collapsed, sobbing, in his arms. "Oh! Um... there...there?" He said awkwardly, patting her on the back.

End of Chapter. Yes it was short. The next one will be longer. I promise. But I HAD to leave this one with a good cliffhanger and this seemed like the perfect place to drop it off.