I cleaned my room, got my office back, so I'm inspired! I'm taking up a thought from a review and continue leaving that last chapter on the cliffhanger. Thanks Lana!

Worry, Worry

Aerrow

What was I supposed to do? I mean… what else was there to do? We were playing a waiting game. This was our mission—this was the task at hand. Kai and Finn were going to be down there for… how long? I assumed Finn would've already given up, but no? I thought so little of the boy… Maybe it was time to give him a bit of credit.

I sighed quietly and hit my head against my desk. I was safe in my room. I didn't have to listen to anything but the sound of Radarr quietly sleeping on my pillow. No business, no stress, no nothing. So… why was I still so worried?

The stress of losing a teammate who'd only been on board for a few days was honestly killing me. I had chewed my nails down to the point where they were bleeding, my scalp was on fire from scratching, and the skin on my neck was raw from rubbing it. The muscles in my legs had even given out at one point from fidgeting. When my fingernails begged me to stop, I moved onto bothering Radarr.

"You sure you're too tired to do anything?"

The creature growled at me.

I spun the chair back around, rested my head on the desk, and continued hitting my head repetitively against the surface.

When a knocking noise entered the room—one I hadn't caused myself—I looked up. "What?" I asked.

"Aerrow… you've been in here for hours. Kai's been gone only a day, you haven't had breakfast, and Junko's getting worried!" You could always tell when Piper was worried—she would whine rather than demand.

I resumed hitting my head.

"Aerrow, stop it," she demanded, barging in. "You'll get a concussion and Stork doesn't want to land. I… don't think he'll want to fix a concussion either. Do you want to get him started on the mindworm fiasco again?"

I let my head rest against the table. "No…," I whined.

"So, what's really wrong, then?"

"I'm exhausted," I lied.

She grumbled to herself.

"I just don't feel like getting up today… or leaving my room. I don't want to be awake."

She sat down roughly on my bed, waking up Radarr. "You're worried about Kai?" She grabbed the creature and threw him on her lap, inconsiderately raking her fingers through his fur.

I looked toward the noise. "…No? Okay maybe a little. It's just… She's new! How would you feel if a new team member was sent off without time to train on a strenuous mission? You know how hard it was being down there, and we had training! She doesn't? What… what if something goes wrong? What if someone finds out who she is… What if Finn spills and puts her in danger?! They could damn well kill her…"

"Just… her? What about Finn?"

I cut myself off. What about Finn? Was he not important to me? Why only worry about the untrained teammate when I sent a lazy, inconsiderate, disobedient team member to protect her?

I hit my head against the table. "Why. Did. I. Send. Him?! I should've gone with her. I should've gone with her! I should've sent someone else, anyone else! Stork? Junko! Junko and Chroma crystals just don't agree… But she probably would have been better off than she is with him!"

"Ya damn right," she muttered to herself. At that point, Radarr had enough of her angered 'petting' and jumped off, cursing in his furry language as he let himself out of the room. "Look, Kai… I bet you Kai can handle herself. If she can't, she wouldn't have been able to survive on our team anyway."

I shook my head, looking up toward Piper. "At least I could protect her… She's with Finn… and I'm… here…"

Piper gave a half-hearted smile. "Look, if it bothers you that much, the least I can do is tell you someone's radioed for you. It's about Kai."

I shot up from the chair, unsure if it was a good call, or the ones you hope you never got at two A.M., or any other time for that matter. Rushing out of the room, I hung a left, then a right, powering my way through the Condor toward the radio. I picked up the receiver and shouted an anxious response.

"Wow, you kept me waiting!" the girl on the other end laughed. Her voice was too low to be Kai's, but too high to be any older than Kai. I shook my head, forcing the unnecessary thoughts from my mind.

"Who is this? What's wrong? Is Kai all right?"

She paused. "Still getting used to that name… Zee—Kai's fine. Some higher-up Talons showed up in the middle of the night. No one was entirely prepared for it. They're going to be drilling the students for the week… That's all I know about that, really."

I sighed before pressing the button on the receiver. "She's fine… Thank you so much."

"Listen, Aerrow… I heard something about the Dark Ace showing up. Look, if he shows up, she's in trouble. They're sending the worst student to work with him… She's at the top of that list!"

My eyes widened. Why had I wished for him to show up! Why?! "Damn it, damn it, damn it!" I slammed my fist down on the table.

"Whoa, take it easy…," she laughed.

Apparently I had neglected to let go of the button. "Sorry…" I looked around the room, thinking of what to do. "Can we trust you?" I asked. Chances are if she knew Kai, she was safe. However, I couldn't take many chances. We had no room to breathe and if anything went wrong… I didn't even want to think of that.

"Yeah… Aerrow, you have no worries. Only reason I joined this lame academy… It was the only way I could get close to being in any type of squadron. I flunked the Sky Knight academy, and I wasn't even good enough to be a Talon. This is the only excitement I've seen in a year… I'm cooped up in the kitchen all day or stuck cleaning the bathrooms. Promise me one thing…"

"Anything."

"Get me out of here and we have a deal."

"If I can't…?"

"I'll be the fifth suicide this year. The only difference with this suicide is I won't be mopping up the blood."

I let out a held breath. Another weight was suddenly added to my shoulders—yet another life I was responsible for. "Then I guess I don't have a choice. You should go before you get caught. It's nice to know I can trust you, uh…"

"Elle," she giggled. "I'll keep my eye on Finn and make sure he doesn't do anything stupid. Kai's smart enough, she'll hold her own. Finn, however… Well, I'd be keeping my eye on him anyway," she spoke slyly.

I rolled my eyes, laughing. "All right, go. I'm sure someone needs you, somewhere."

"Yeah, just about as much as I need to clean another bathroom. Thanks, Aerrow." The radio returned to an unsteady pattern of static.

At least I knew Kai was okay…

With nothing to do but wait, I stood up straight, walked off to the kitchen, and began to rummage for something that would remedy my boredom.

For the first time in a long time… I was bored.