Surprise, Surprise

Kai

"So, what do you think about being a Storm Hawk?"

I shrugged. "Life… hasn't really changed that much…"

Lora watched me, concerned. "You can't lie to me, Kai. Plus… when you lie, the markings below your eye glow… You just can't lie to me," she laughed.

I shook my head, laughing. "It's been stressful… I can't tell you how many nights I've fallen asleep wishing to be back home."

"Even your home? You'd be alone…"

"Which is less stressful? Waking up alone, or living day-to-day where my life as I know it is constantly threatened to change at the drop of a pin?"

"So, it's been bad…?"

I looked away, chucking another drained crystal off the edge. "You know, they've been asking about you for a few weeks, now."

"Am I supposed to listen?" Lora smiled. "They can't keep me locked up in that damned purple room… Have they tried asking Starling again? She could do with a few years of solitary confinement…"

"Oh, ha, ha. I live on this ship, too, you know…"

She rested her hand on my knee for a moment, flashing another brilliant smile. "I'm not insulting your choices, don't get me wrong… It's just not something I would choose for myself."

"Oh? What would you rather, then, Miss Know-It-All?"

"Bounty Hunting… Risky, yes, but you're not confined by any laws… I personally couldn't handle the pressure… but if given the opportunity at a younger age, I would've jumped in."

"Forewarning for myself, then?"

She nodded. "Think about it? It's not as fancy as the title of "Storm Hawk," but wouldn't you rather have fun than be famous?"

"Fame can arise in surprising places…" I handed her a crystal, and watched her dispose of the crystal in an interesting way.

"Watch," she spoke slyly, enclosing the crystal in her hands. Rolling her hands over in a twisting fashion, she then, slowly, reopened her hands. The crystal was missing.

"How…?"

"Magic," she laughed. "Simply magic." In another moment, she reached over and grabbed the missing crystal, hidden neatly behind her leg, out of my view. Lora swiftly—and visibly—chucked it over the edge. We watched it disappear.

"Kai!" Finn shouted. "Aerrow's looking for you. Why are you still out here, anyway?" The blond stepped forward, cautiously walking out onto the edge. "You know, somehow I'm not surprised," he laughed. "Are you two conspiring to murder?"

I forcefully yet playfully punched his arm, smiling. "We've just been chatting…"

"You two have been spending quite some time together…"

Lora, looking confused, began to speak. One look at me, however, changed her mind.

I decided against telling him where, and whom, I've been spending my time with. Although I'm hypocritical for choosing to share the same air with the Talon, he had an alluring air about him. I tried to stay away… Curiosity kept me coming back. I dared to learn more about this so-called future of mine he claimed to know about… He was stringing me along, and through his masquerade, I knew that I would never learn the information I yearned for.

And yet he smiled and laughed with me, betrayed his own team… As did I… I decided I would regret it someday and go against my instincts. I told myself I would find out at all costs…

"Maybe I rather spend time with someone who tells the truth than a pack of bipolar liars?" I smiled.

"Come on, Kai… You know you love us."

"With an attitude like that, how could I not? Hell, your eyes are overkill, Blondie." I leaned against him, feeling quite a bit exhausted.

He smiled, glancing at the box of drained crystals. "What are those for?"

"We're getting rid of them. Would you like to play a game, Finn?" Lora asked.

"Sure!"

"All right. You can play a drained crystal, and I'll throw your blond ass off of the landing strip!" She laughed, proud of the joke.

Finn quickly grabbed onto me. "You'll never take me alive! Not without Kai!"

Silence took over as something caught Lora's eye. She smiled.

Quiet tapping behind Finn and I quickly told the blond to release me, and I looked over my shoulder. "Aer…row… Hi…," I dragged out, smiling nervously.

"What does this have to do with crystals?"

"Kai is a walking crystal! I'm trying to throw her off of the landing strip!" Finn spoke defensively.

"Smooth save, you blond idiot," Lora laughed.

I rubbed the corner of my eye, watching Aerrow closely. "What's up, Storm Boy?"

"Lora," he addressed the Interceptor, ignoring my query. "Are you here to stay for a while, or are you going to leave again?"

Lora rose to her feet. "With a greeting like that, I might as well leave now!"

He rolled his eyes. "It's nice to see you again, Lora."

"I must say though, I was here to check on Kai. She said she was having a bit of trouble when we last met. I just wanted to make sure she was all right."

"So you don't care about us?" Finn whined.

Lora grasped his shoulder. "Shut up, Finn. I'll push you over the edge."

Aerrow laughed. "We're stopping by a Sky Harbor, if you'd like us to drop you off."

She shrugged, welcoming the offer. "Kai… How's V2 doing?"

I looked down. "He's… not doing so well, Lora…"

She sighed. "It was bound to happen. I took him down; he was meant to stay down."

"Kai!" Piper shouted. Half the team had now followed me outside.

I looked up toward Aerrow, my gaze narrowed from the blinding light. I brushed my bangs from my eyes as I spoke, "Why were you looking for me?"

"Piper… She, uh…"

"Kai! I have a present for you!" she giggled, running across the strip without reserve.

I sighed.

"Sounds interesting," Finn poked, nudging my side.

"Don't tempt me, Sharp-Shooter," I groaned, threatening to push him off the edge.

He laughed, picking at stray strings hanging from his uniform.

"Kai… Kai, here…"

"Ingenious!" I smiled, taking an odd crystal from her grasp. "It's an ordinary crystal!" My amazement dropped and I spoke, unimpressed, "What is it?"

"C-can you absorb it?"

That caught everyone's attention.

I gripped tightly on the crystal, and in the blink of an eye, it vaporized into mere dust.

Lora clapped. "I will never get tired of that! This girl is a freak! I like her." She grasped my hand, pulling me to my feet.

Aerrow cleared his throat, looking away.

"Whoa, dude… Careful. Her hands are lethal weapons."

"I have it under control, I swear."

Piper was quick to notice the metal gloves were missing. "Where are they?" she asked angrily.

"Piper, relax. I just woke up, I… I haven't put them on…," I lied.

She shook her head. "Come with me…," she demanded, reaching out. Her fingers curled in the air, remembering how dangerous it was to hold my hand. "I have… a surprise for you."

"What, so that crystal was just lunch?" I asked, laughing. I rubbed my stomach and belched, stepping forward. "Good lunch, though… Thanks."

Finn laughed.

"Come with me," I whispered to the three, following swiftly after the anxious Crystal expert.

As we maneuvered around the ship, climbing up and down ladders, we made it to her lab with expert timing. Piper wheeled over a prop, explaining its purpose. "This is supposed to concentrate Crystal energy, much like yourself, Kai."

"Can you turn it off?" I interrupted.

"….What?"

"Can you… turn it… off?"

"I… I think so…" She looked the device over, walking around it at least twice.

"If we are alike, and you can turn that off, why can't you fix me?"

Lora and Aerrow lurched forward in anticipation—they immediately prepared to restrain me.

"Kai…," Aerrow cooed, trying to soothe the rising anger. I could see my hands begin to light up—I had to calm down.

"Not now, kid," Lora growled.

Piper continued hesitantly, "If you, um… That crystal, Kai… That crystal… This machine creates concentrated crystal energy out of any energy given. Although, unlike you, Kai… In a technical realm, this machine is the female counterpart of concentrated energy, and Kai is the male. Kai gives the energy in a raw form and the machine receives it and, theoretically, materializes it."

"Much like Cyclonian-manufactured crystals," Aerrow offered up, silencing Finn's stifled laughter.

"Just… in a much safer way… I don't even know if this thing works… You remember how I told you about V2's memory, and how the crystal that contained his entirety was so complex?" When I agreed, she continued, "You absorbed everything that made up V2."

Lora's grip on my shoulder tightened. If her love for the robot wasn't evident before, it had become entirely obvious now. "Do you still have his shell?" she asked.

Piper shook her head. "V2 is a very odd contraption—"

"Person!" Lora corrected angrily.

"V2… is a very odd… person…" Piper rested her palm against her lab desk, leaning her weight onto it. "When his heart, per se, was removed, the shell… his exterior… Lora, I—," she stopped, trying to think of a better way to explain it. "Lora, the damn thing disappeared." Piper couldn't help but laugh, however Lora's hard and unforgiving exterior silenced her in moments.

"Is he all right?"

With a smile, Piper looked to me. "That's up to Kai… You see, this thing is supposed to concentrate crystal energy. If Kai projects the energy from V2's crystal… It's a bit of an untested theory, and I can't guarantee it's going to work…"

"Do it," Lora demanded.

Piper looked toward the ground.

"How does it work?" I asked, trying to lighten the evident tension.

"Concentrate every ounce of crystal energy you can manage into this box." Piper stuck her hand into a 5-sided box, the missing wall facing me. Lightning-like streams of energy surrounded her skin, clinging to any possible energy within her system. She removed her hand with a smile. "It's safe, I swear."

"That's not what you keep saying about me…"

Piper rolled her eyes. "For one moment, can we please focus on this and not your selfish need to cure this 'problem'?"

I nodded, looking off to the side. In reality, she was right. I needed to silence my qualms, as they had only risen out of vain anger.

Lora pushed me forward, and I stumbled. "Stop fidgeting and do it already!"

I sighed. "So, what? You want me to stand here like a dumbass, focusing some 'theoretically' impossible energy into a 'theoretical' box that 'theoretically' may not do anything?"

Lora smacked the back of my head. "Shut up and do it."

I sighed and took a stance. I'd never focused energy into thin-air, I always had a physical target to wrap my hands around… A failed attempt could call the end to Lora's old friend, assuming it was a one-shot deal.

In order to compensate for the lack of a physical target, I closed my eyes and envisioned wrapping my hands around someone's neck. Although violent, it was surprisingly the very first thing that popped into my mind. I resented that very fact.

I projected all of the energy I could muster into the invisible man, noting that the majority of the energy would be the last crystal I absorbed; Piper anticipated and hoped for just that.

When I opened my eyes, I saw Lora standing before me, in marvel of something before her. I leaned one direction, then another, in hopes of catching a glimpse. Piper—ecstatic—couldn't help but dance with word of the success. "I can't believe it worked!"

I rushed toward Piper, maneuvering around Lora. "You had me do that for nothing?"

She cringed. "For possibly nothing, but it worked, so don't complain!"

"What was the point of this anyway?"

We all stood in silence, waiting for an answer.

"Ask him yourself…"

Lora turned around, cradling an odd, almost ghostly ball of energy in her hands.

"Hello…," the object spoke. "Who… are you?"

I stuttered as I spoke, trying to utter the old machine's name. Piper called out, signaling me to stop. "It's… best not to mention anything pertaining to his old… memory…"

"So… I was right…"

Lora reached out, nudging the odd manifested energy into the air. He floated there, wafting through the slight draft. "Whoa…," he laughed.

"You'll get the hang of it," Piper chimed.

Grasping what Piper had said, Aerrow spoke up. "What should we name him?"

"I… don't know if I have a name…," the little guy spoke up.

"Well, what do you want to be called?"

He floated through the air, flying around her lab. Catching his own reflection, he smiled. "….Torch…"

"Fitting," Lora spoke sarcastically. "You were so lively before…"

I shook my head. "Maybe he'll be different now? He was programmed as a service robot… Maybe we can re-teach him to be human?"

"He'll never be human…," Lora spoke with distain.

I understood that she loved V2—or rather, Torch—but it was as if, in a moment, she'd turned her back on her long-lost friend. That I didn't understand.

"Welcome to the team, Torch," I announced.

"Team…?"

"You are now officially part of the Storm Hawks," Aerrow explained.

"I… suppose I'll have to take your word for it," Torch laughed. "When you say team, is this… everyone?"

Finn shook his head. "Lora isn't part of the team, and we're missing a few people."

"Where's Radarr…?"Aerrow asked, trailing off. He looked around the room before mindlessly wandering away.

"I… assume I've bored you all enough for one day. You can leave, but I'll need you," she grasped my shoulder, "and you, to stay here."

Finn shot Lora and I a half-hearted salute and a smile, walking out of the room.

"So…," Piper dragged out, dusting off her hands. "In short, Torch is attached to you. He can go wherever he wants, but he's… technically with you. Always."

"Like a leash?" Torch asked eagerly.

She shrugged. "Technically…"

"I assume I can't leave with the little buggar," Lora interjected.

Piper shook her head. "If… there was any way to transfer his 'soul' to you, safely, I would do it without a second thought. I'm sorry, Lora, I truly am…"

Lora looked away, her eyes focused on something more interesting.

"So I have to deal with this annoying thing on a daily basis?"

"He'll grow on you, Kai. Give him a chance…"

I watched Torch for a moment, sighing. I suppose life has changed so much recently… One more addition wouldn't be so bad.

ooo

"You sure you don't want to come with me, Storm Hawk?"

"You sure you don't want to stay?" I asked in return with a laugh.

She laughed, shaking her head. "Don't count on it, Kai. Hey… If you change your mind…" She reached into her satchel, pulling out a card. "You can find me here. Send a bird my way sometime… I live at that bunker."

I nodded, taking the address gratefully.

"If you ever need something…"

I nodded once more, watching her as she waved, stepping lightly and quickly along the dock. Lora quickly disappeared into the mechanics hangar.

I walked slowly along the strip, back into the ship, contemplating her offer. I was needed on the ship, yet I was slowly being pushed away.

How long had it been since someone hugged me, or held my hand? Even Aerrow, the only one that dared to do so, hadn't been given that chance. If it wasn't one thing, it was another; I had gone off at him so many times, our one-sided fights had prevented a relationship from blooming.

I sighed, digging my hands into my pockets.

"Are you all right, Miss Kai?"

"Just Kai," I told Torch. "None of that formal bull…"

"Kai… Just Kai…" Torch laughed. "I like the sound of that.