A/N: Short-ish chapter, but so important I thought it deserved to be alone. Enjoy!

Chapter Eight: Bonding the Broken

Darkness.

Flashes of visions popped up for moments at a time.

The moments looked happy, the sounds seeming separate yet connected.

"Good move, partner!"

Nick performing his signature loop.

"You're a good friend, Nick."

Blade flying through the air, his paintjob switching from CHoPs to red and back again.

"You know I'll always be there for you, hermano."

Nick spiraling out of the sky, a look of terror on his face.

"I've done this loop in worse before. I'll do it real quick and we'll leave."

Blade hurrying to his friend, looking horrified.

"Nick! Nick, please stay with me. Don't die."

"Blade…"

Fires ranging all around.

"Now you gotta be the one who's there for him, Cuervo."

"NO!"

Sky bolted upright, panting. Sweat ran down her forehead, but she wiped it away. Soon, her breathing became normal again. Just a dream…..just a dream…..just…..a really crazy, nonsensical dream. What was that? Well, she could tell it was Blade and Nick. But why? Why did she see what she saw?

Hearing movement, Sky looked up from her sleeping bag on the floor to see Dusty rolling towards the window of the hanger. "Dusty?" She whispered, standing and joining the racer. "What are you doing up?"

"Wondering the same about Blade." Dusty said, keeping his gaze out the window. Sky followed his look to see Blade standing out on a cliff a short distance from the base, staring out at the forest below. A lightning storm was coming through.

"What's he doing out here?" Sky murmured. "I mean, TV star turned firefighter? How does that make sense?"

"Who knows?" Dusty shook his nose a bit. "But look at us: we're racers becoming firefighters."

"Yeah, but when that gearbox comes in you can go back." Sky noted. "Blade's clearly been here a long time. It's like he left acting and didn't look back."

Dusty noted Sky said "you can go back," not "we can go back." He wasn't sure what to make of it, wondering if maybe Sky just slipped up and didn't notice. But her words from the day they discovered his gearbox busted rang through his head. She wanted to take a break, to encourage Dusty to do the same. Was she ready to get back out on the race course like him? It wasn't looking that way. Dusty tried to shake those thoughts from his head. He and Sky were a team, as always. Surely this Soul Connect thing wouldn't get between them.

The orange and white plane soon settled down to sleep. Sky pretended to do the same, but once she heard Dusty begin to snore softly she quietly crawled over to the door. The hanger doors squeaked a bit as she pushed them open, but Dusty remained asleep and Sky slipped out. She was still barefoot, dressed only in yoga pants and a T-shirt for pajamas, but she ignored it as she walked out towards Blade. She didn't know how he'd react to seeing her, but she didn't care. She wanted to know Blade. Their connection was a real, legit thing, and she couldn't just let their relationship stand as it did now.

Sky slowed as she came closer to Blade, trying to not get too close to his personal space. She came up to stand next to Blade's nose, his eyes flicking over to stare at her.

"Hey Blade." Sky greeted in a soft voice.

"Hey Raven." Blade's voice sounded funny. He clenched his jaw, an action Sky recognized from the number of times she did the same thing to help hold back tears. Sky sat down, crossing her legs and staring out at the forest below. A lightning bolt pierced the air, and thunder grumbled in the clouds. Sky and Blade sat in silence for a moment before she heard the sound of tires on rock, and Blade's nose came closer to her shoulder. Sky bit her lip, scooting a little closer to Blade. But she heard him reverse several inches, shying away from her.

No. That's not how we're doing things. Sky was used to being an up-front, very to-the-point person. She learned from Skipper that you can't keep your feelings bottled up; and sometimes, you had to force someone to talk to get them to admit when something's wrong. She knew this from experience. But this time, she had an urge to be gentle as she stood and came closer to Blade. The AgustaWestland stared at her, his eyes emotionless. Sky sighed softly. "Blade, I want to know what happened to your friend, Nick Loopin' Lopez." She waited for Blade's response, but he only kept staring at her.

So she does know. Blade thought.

"Will you let me look into your memories?" Sky asked.

Blade hesitated only slightly. He nodded, allowing Sky to come up to him and reach her hand out. She, too, only hesitated slightly before placing her hand on Blade's nose. Their Soul Connection activated instantly, and their eyes changed from blue-green and icy blue to snow-white.

Instead of seeing everything from Blade's eyes, Sky found she stood right next to the red and white helicopter as they watched a seen unfold before them. Blade and Nick, in their CHoPs paintjobs, stood with a small army of vehicles and humans who could only be the rest of the cast and crew for the show. Their surroundings didn't look like a typical studio set as Sky expected; in fact, she realized with surprise, they were in the forests of Piston Peak National Park, near the cliffs of the park's namesake landmark.

"Okay, people!" the director called. "Last shot of the day! We don't get this done today we don't get it done at all! Now, chop-chop! This special episode isn't gonna finish itself!"

"You think he knows how many times he's said that?" Blade whispered to his co-star.

"I told ya, he's going senile." Nick snickered.

"I heard that, Lopez!" the director snapped, only making Nick and Blade laugh. The car rolled his eyes, looking quite stressed out. "Just get up there and do your loop a few times so we can get some shots done."

"Sir yes sir!" Nick said, laughing. "Watch and learn, Blade."

"Learn what? How to be a showoff?" Blade smirked.

Nick rolled his eyes with a smirk. "Oh ha-ha, so funny."

"Just go do what you do best." Blade encouraged. "We're all tired and we're waiting on you."

"I'm going, I'm going!" Nick laughed, starting up his rotors and flying up into the air.

Sky looked to the Blade standing beside her, but the helicopter only stared off into space. Sky looked back to CHoPS Blade, the blue-and-white helicopter smiling broadly as he watched his friend take off. They really were close. What could've happened? Why did Blade decide to show me this memory?

Nick flew up higher, positioning himself to be in the same shot as the cliffs for a better angle. But he paused, hovering in the air. The director sighed, speaking into the radio beside him. "What's the holdup, Lopez?"

"Just getting a little windy up here." Nick's voice said over the radio. "You did check the weather forecast for today, right?"

"A little wind has never stopped you before." The director droned. "Just do the loop and we'll be done for the day."

"Yeah, but…." Nick seemed a little nervous. "Well, all right. Just give me a minute to set myself up."

"You sure, partner?" Blade asked, sounding a bit worried.

"Yeah, it'll be fine!" Nick assured. "I've done this loop in worse before. I'll do it real quick and we'll leave."

"Nick, remember the last time you did a loop without checking for the wind?" Blade asked. "That gust blew you right into a tree!"

"Blade, it's fine." The director half-snapped, looking irritated. "He's done the loop before he can do it again."

"Are you a helicopter?" Blade frowned. "Then don't talk like you know how to fly."

"Hey, take it easy, hermano." Nick said. "I got this."

Blade looked a little concerned, but nodded. "Okay. But wait until the winds calm and then do the loop. And only do it once or twice." He ignored the director's groans. "Just do a quick run and we'll go to that café in the lodge to check out the pretty baristas. What do you say?"

"Ha-ha!" Nick laughed. "Now you're talking!"

Sky felt a sense of foreboding, similarly to when she looked into Skipper's memories of Glendal Canal. Don't do it. Please don't do it. She couldn't explain why she prayed like this, even when knowing she couldn't stop what already happened.

Nick hovered in place until the winds calmed, and he began his signature inside loop. Then, quite suddenly, Nick veered off course and began spiraling in the air. Blade's eyes widened. "Nick! Nick, what happened?"

"Cr-crosswind!" Nick called into the radio, struggling in the air. "I can't control—" He couldn't finish as he suddenly slammed his landing skids into the side of the cliff. He dug his landing gear into the rock, desperately trying to stop his fall and get back into the air. But he ended up sliding down the cliff face and his skids hit a large rock. Blade's eyes widened in horror as Nick's rotors hit the rocks, getting sheared off in seconds. The smaller helicopter began tumbling, down the side of the cliff and into the trees.

"NICK!" Blade screamed, starting up his rotors and flying after his friend. Sky blinked, and suddenly found herself at the sight of Nick's crash. The smaller helicopter was thoroughly beaten from his fall, even when he managed to land on his skids. His main rotor blades all snapped in half, his body crumpled without a smooth surface, his green visor cracked badly, and one of his landing skis sheared clean off. He coughed up hydraulic fluid and oil, more of it trickling down his flank from the tree branch stabbed into his side. Blade was there, staring in horror.

"Holy Chrysler….." Blade gasped. "Nick?"

"Bl-Blade….." Nick gasped, like he couldn't get a proper breath. Sky could only guess he popped a lung or something. "I….I can't…..see….."

"Th-that's just your visor, partner." Blade said hurriedly, trying and failing to stay calm. He gently pushed the green visor away from Nick's windshield, revealing his eyes to be a warm amber color. "There. Better?"

Nick cracked a smile. "Yeah…." He coughed again, harshly.

"Nick! Nick, stay with me. Don't die." Blade was borderline hyperventilating now. "Okay…okay…..uh…oh Ford what do I do? Uh….." He looked all around, finally spying one of the smaller helicopters holding a camera in the air. "Hey! Go get help!" The small helicopter nodded, turning and flying off. "Okay, you're okay, partner. W-we'll get you fixed up." Blade still stared at Nick, terror in his eyes.

"Blade….." Nick whimpered a bit. "…..don't…..don't leave…don't leave me…."

"No, no, no, no." Blade gave his friend a gentle nuzzle. "It's okay. I'm not going anywhere. I'm right here. You're going to be fine."

"I should've…..waited…" Nick coughed, his eyes beginning to shut.

"No, don't close your eyes!" Blade gave Nick a small shove, forcing the smaller helicopter to wince a bit in pain. "Don't close your eyes. You'll be fine. I'm right here, nothing's gonna happen to you."

Nick stared at Blade, amber locked onto ice blue. Nick smiled softly. "Thanks….partner…" His eyes fluttered shut.

"No, Nick!" Blade gave the smaller helicopter a shove. "Hey! Keep your eyes open!" But Nick had gone still, no longer breathing. Blade was hyperventilating again, tears running down his nose. "Nick…..no, please…please wake up….NICK!"

Sky broke the connection, panting a bit. She stared at Blade, who had tears in his eyes no matter how hard he tried to keep them back. Sky stared at him, horrified by what she saw.

"I….I didn't…know what to do….." Blade whispered.

Sky finally understood. She looked down, sighing a bit. "Interesting. It would seem I'm attracted to the broken. I guess it's because I'm broken too."

Blade scoffed, looking away from her. "What do you know about being broken?"

Sky gently put her hand back on Blade's nose, rubbing the metal with her thumb. He jerked a bit in surprise, staring up at the raven-haired girl. She sighed through her nose. "I used to think being a psych-man was the worst thing that could ever happen to me. My parents thought so; that's why they abandoned me. But over time, I realized how wonderful it is to have my gifts. If I didn't have them, I wouldn't have met nor understood the family and friends I have now. And I'm so thankful that I have the family I have now, because I hated that feeling of being alone all the time." She moved to stand beside Blade, resting her head against his side. "I'm happy to have found a Soul Connect partner who's broken like me. Because you're not alone, Blade. I'll be there for you if you need to talk to someone or if you just need someone to be there. I'm not going to leave you alone with your pain. You don't deserve that."

Blade didn't respond for a moment. His tears seemed to increase, and he could hear the faint plip of Sky's own tears dripping to the ground. He finally sighed heavily, leaning into the girl's touch. "You can't replace him….he was my best friend….but….I wouldn't…..mind the company…."

Sky smiled, nuzzling her head against the helicopter's side. "Good news: I'm not trying to be Nick. Nobody could ever replace him."

Blade struggled to keep his breathing steady, but he found comfort in Sky's presence. The two only had the one week to get to know each other, and only found they had this connection that day. But somehow, a bond had formed between the two of them. Neither one of them were willing to let that go.

Misery enjoys company. Sky thought. But it's the strong who find comfort.

I won't lose this one. Blade promised himself.

A/N: I know some of you might question why I put Nick's death at Piston Peak. I figured Blade needed some sort of connection with the park to encourage him to go there after certification. A bit more information about that will come!