I do not own Storm Hawks!

I did kill Finn again! (Maybe now my writer's block will leave, and I can get cracking on the other twelve stories that are in my head)

Also, I use a song in here, but it's not a songfic! It's by Nickelback.

On with the Story!

Piper hummed as she manned the radio station in the tent. The Cyclonians were going for an all out battle for the Terra's crystal deposit. The boys were out making defenses, as the Storm Hawks were the only squadron in the area. The Third Degree Burners and Starling were on their way, but wouldn't join the battle until it was midway through, if they managed to arrive at all.

The Terra was huge. The Condor could circle it, so the first thing Dark Ace did was cripple the carrier ship. That really ticked off Stork, who took a huge section of the fleet with him.

But Dark Ace had escaped with at least a third of his forces intact, which left him and thirty fighters un-harmed.

Aerrow and Piper had looked over the Terra's maps, and to fight for the deposit, there were only two directions to attack the mining facility.
Finn went to the southern channel to block it up, much like he had the Verrocs. That way, no unwanted creepy crawlies were sneaking up behind them. Plus when the battle was over, a gate could be built to help with any future problems.

Aerrow, Radarr and Junko left to scope out the frontier, which left Piper and Stork to man the Condor. Piper had decided that being out of Stork's way would help, and left for a tent with the radio, to tell Finn where he was, and to help Aerrow scope out the best ambush spots.

The Terra was warm, and there were several active volcanoes, but if the volcanoes blew, the whole Terra would go, and with the Condor down, they would lose more than the crystal deposit.

Piper continued humming when the radio crackled to life. Finn, on line four, was hailing her.

"So Finn, did you find the formation?"

Finn's voice came over the radio. He sounded very calm for a teenager that was allowed to play a key role in defense.

"Yeah, the passageway is blocked. I beat some Talons that were scoping the area. We might want to look out for tunneling."

"Well, then, make your way back and we'll-"

"I'm not coming back."

"Finn?" Piper curled her hand around the radio transmission. "What do you mean? It's just another fight."

"I- I ran out of bolts to defeat the Talons. So I rammed my Skimmer into the pillar to topple it. The passageway was sealed, so I made an over pass to return, and I was shot down."

"Well, start walking." Piper was getting terse. There was an uneasy feeling in her stomach, and she did not like the tone in Finn's voice. It was as though he had given up.

"I landed in the volcano, Piper. The lip is…really fragile. It can't take anymore shock. If I climb out, the wall will collapse from the concentrated weight, and we lose the Condor. Plus, my Skimmer landed in the lava."

Piper felt the dread in her stomach turn into a solid lump of cold fear. She remembered her lessons on how a volcano worked. The lava rose, and rather than over spilling, fell back down, creating higher walls that cooled and protected the outside Terra. If Finn was in there, and the lava was coming up….maybe they could get to him.
Lava moved slowly over the ground, right?

"I'll radio Aerrow to pick you up."

"STOP!"

Piper froze. "Calm down. Think. If Aerrow leaves before the planning is done, we lose. Also, it takes an hour to reach to the volcano. I have thirty minutes left."

There was an odd blooping noise over the radio.

"Or less than that. Fifteen is more realistic. He wouldn't get to me in time."

Piper bit her lip. She had flown over a volcano before, and while it was something she didn't want to do again…

"Hang on. I'll come get you. I'm ten minutes from you." She turned to hang up the speaker again.

"Stork dismantled your Heli-Scooter to fix the Condor, remember? By the time he locates and re-assembles the Heli-Scooter, I'll be toast."

"He's working really fast-" Piper was desperate to get Finn to realize that he could be saved.

"He's also injured, remember? The head wound? If he messes up, you're stuck in here with me."

"I've got to try." Piper felt the time closing in on her. Even if she left now, what would she do when she got to Finn? Air lift him out? The Heli-Scooter was strong, but not that strong. Junko was completely out of the question, he was too heavy, and might smash the volcano wall, making the Terra useless to the defeat of Cyclonia.

Perhaps they should smash the mountain, save Finn and forget about the Terra.

"Piper, please don't hang up on me." There was a note in Finn's voice that Piper rarely heard. For all his whining and pleading, Finn never begged.

"Finn-"

"I lied, Piper. The lava's at my feet. The Skimmer threw the lava up around and I can't move. The heat is already melting the radio in my head to the point where I can't feel my fingers. If you rescued me, I wouldn't be a marksman anymore. Just please, don't hang up."

Piper hit her head to help her think. Junko was too slow, Finn couldn't climb out, Aerrow was too far away, and Stork was injured. And now smashing into the volcano wouldn't save him either.

She couldn't hail a Talon to rescue Finn.

"Finn! I got an idea. It's dangerous, but maybe if Dark Ace or a Cyclonian takes your prisoner, we could rescue you at a later date." It was a desperate, crazy idea, and she had no idea how to make it work, but it was an idea.

"The skies are clear, Piper. I'm not in Cyclonian custody."

Piper slammed her hand into the desk. There had to be something that she could do!

"Piper, don't blame yourself. It's my fault."

"No it isn't Finn. You succeeded in your mission." Piper didn't snap at Finn, but she was angry with herself for failing a teammate. There was silence for a few minutes. Piper wrestled with the idea that maybe, just maybe, a miracle would fall out of the sky.

"Hey, Piper? I remember something that Junko asked me once."

"What is it Finn?"

"If today was your last day, and tomorrow was too late, could you say goodbye to yesterday?"

Piper was silent. Finally she grit out, "Can you, Finn?"

"Yeah. I don't regret yesterday- aaaaaaaah!" The pained scream made Piper yank away from the radio. That was loud and it hurt. Was that what being burned alive felt like?

"Finn!"

"It's—aargh—okay, Piper. The lava just introduced itself to my legs. I'm lying on the wall, and the lava is crawling over me. It really hurts, Piper. Then the pain goes away, and I realize that I just lost the feeling in my leg."

Piper felt her eyes start to water. "You lied."

"Aha. Didn't want you to know until I had to give it away. I kinda landed in the lava, and scrambled away and passed out. My legs are both shot now." Finn was speaking through his clenched teeth.

All of a sudden, Piper could see what was going on in her mind.

Finn, laying there on a jagged, bumpy and swirled black rock surface, still cooling from the last surge, with hints of red from hot lava under the surface, waiting for something heavy enough to break the thin crust on top, and there was Finn, half in the red, half on black rock, holding his hand to his ear so that he could call her, and just say good-bye.

He would be screaming from the pain, but he couldn't feel any pain with his nerves burnt away. He would be crying, but now he wasn't dying alone.

He was talking to her, in his last moments, he chose her.

Probably because she was the one manning the radio, a snarky voice in her head told her. She told the voice to take a hike and focused on Finn.

"Hey, Piper, I thought about making it into a song. Wanna hear it?"

"Sure Finn." She refused to cry.

"My best friend gave me

The best advice

He said each day's a gift

And not a given right.

Leave no stone unturned,

Leave your fears behind.

And try to take the path

Less traveled by.

That first step you take

Is the longest stride.

If today was your last day

And tomorrow was too late

Could you say good-bye to yesterday?

Would you call on friends you never see?

Reminisce your memories?

And that's as far as I got writing the song. Maybe you can find it and put it on a record?"

Piper felt herself choking up. She times the rising lava, and found that Finn really was being cooked alive.

"Finn, are there any last requests that you want?"

There was an intake of breath.

"Don't tell Aerrow."

"What?" Piper felt the shock go in her ear and down to her feet. "Why not?" Finn was dying, why shouldn't she tell Aerrow?

"This battle. It's key to beating Cyclonia in the long run, right? I can't afford to distract Aerrow. I know how important it is to be focused, I'm an archer. Please wait until after the victory to tell him. Just say that I have Skimmer troubles and can't make it to the battle."

"Finn…"

"Piper, please."

Piper bit her lip. Finn was asking the impossible of her. Not to tell Aerrow that his wingman wouldn't be making the battle? That Finn would never be going into battle with them ever again?

Piper bit her lip until blood dribbled onto the table. Then, with a deep breath, "Okay Finn."

"Thank you, Piper."

"But you owe me big time- Finn? Finn?"

The static over the line indicated a lost signal.

Piper's immediate reaction was to deny it. Finn wasn't dead. The Cyclonians had tapped the wire, so he was playing dead so that he could be a hero at the last second.

Or maybe Finn was having a morbid sense of pranks.

Or he really was captured and was planting evidence that he was dead so they wouldn't be distracted.

Or….or….maybe….if…..

Piper's thoughts continued to spiral out of control.

Finn wasn't dead. She could call him again. Piper picked up a personal radio and called Finn. She wasn't going to hang up on him. He would answer, and everything would be okay.

Piper left the speaker that had connecter her to Finn off the hook. She couldn't hang up on Finn.

It was like admitting it was over. Finn is dead.

No signal came through. The radio never even rang. Maybe Finn had the foresight to turn the radio off?

Piper started to pace, pulling at her hair. No way was Finn dead. He would come out of the sky and laugh at her for getting so worked up.

Piper walked out of the tent. It was still daylight out, and to the south, smoke rose out of an active volcano.

No Skimmers in sight. No Finn flying over the sky, to land in the cracks that were wide enough for a single Skimmer. The Condor was behind her, resting on a protrusion.

Piper felt nothing. The sky was blue, the battle was on for tomorrow, and she wanted to hurl. Just curl up and cry.

Scream and beg for Finn to come back. Instead, she returned to the radio.

A light was on signaling an incoming call from Aerrow on line two. Piper picked up the speaker, and hung it on the hook. Then she hit the switch to transfer calls and said, "I'm here, Aerrow."

"Piper! Thank goodness. We've finished up the ambushes, and are ready to come back. How's Finn doing?"

Piper swallowed hard.

"Piper?"

"Finn's not going to make it to the battle. Skimmer trouble. He'll catch up when he can after the walk back."

"Well, it'll take an hour and more crystals than I've got on hand, but if you still have that Solar Crystal charged I can go pick him up."

"Negative, Aerrow. He said the terrain only looked good for walking."

"Piper, is everything okay?"

Piper felt the first tears hit the table.

"Everything is fine, Aerrow. Everyone is okay."

"Okay, then. Just radio Finn back and tell him he gets the chores on the Condor for the next month for missing this- well, for not taking better care of his Skimmer." The teasing in Aerrow's voice came through clearly, but to Piper it was distorted. She heard cruelty in his voice. There was no cruelty in what Aerrow was doing, chores were a good way to enforce behavior, even Aerrow did them.

"Sure, I'll tell him that."

"Piper, it's a joke." Piper shook her head.

If today was your last day

"I know, Aerrow."

And tomorrow was too late

"Well, I'm over and out. See you when we get back."

Could you say good-bye to yesterday?

"See you." Piper felt the numb feeling spreading from a point in her chest.

Finn wasn't coming back. He never joked like this. It was too real, too close to home, to the families they had all lost to the war. If he was captured, he wouldn't tell her about a song that he wrote-

A song he had asked her to find.

Piper tore through the tent and onto the Condor. She ransacked the room. Finally, she found the sheet music. Scarcely breathing, she flipped through the pages. Some were full, some were half written, and some were splattered in different colors of ink that made sense to Finn.

Then she found one, with a note at the top saying 'Credit-Junko' and the words that Finn had written.

The same words she told her.

The only message here was 'To live life to the Fullest' scrawled in a margin.

And written at the bottom of the page was 'Central theme- good-bye as finality'.

Piper sank to her knees. No secret message meant that Finn wasn't alive, and held by Cyclonians.

He was dead.

Aerrow walked into the room. "Piper, is everything okay?"

"Oh, Finn just got to me. I thought maybe I could get back at him. Juvenile, I know." Piper felt her face move and body indicate that everything was okay, and inside she was screaming for Aerrow to sit her down and make her talk.

She wanted to tell Aerrow. She wanted to keep her promise to Finn.

That arrogant, self-absorbed git just had to die on her, didn't he? He just had to leave her with the mess that the Storm Hawks would be without him.

She knew tactical navigations. She knew how crystals related to each other. She knew how to make things work.

She didn't know how to act in front of the others. That was what Finn did, even when he blundered.

"Piper?" Aerrow looks at her with concerned green eyes.

Piper wanted blue eyes that challenged her to be better, to rise to the occasion, and set the bar higher. Blue eyes that didn't set her on a pedestal, or made her feel special. Blue eyes that laughed at her faults and made her strive to be better.

Piper grabbed Aerrow. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be. Finn gets to everyone sooner or later."

Piper nodded into his shoulder and sniffled. Finn had cried out when he died. But he hadn't cried for losing his life to help his friends.

Piper held Aerrow closer, imagining what it would be like to see him head off to battle, and not come back.

The numb feeling increased. Piper felt a seizure of being unable to breathe coming on. She couldn't lose Aerrow and Finn.

"I'm ready to take on the Cyclonians now." Aerrow beamed at her and led the way to the bridge.

"That's good, Piper. We'll secure the Terra and detail its protection in shifts."

Piper looked back at the room.

The room. Not Finn's room.

Piper discreetly scrubbed at her eyes.

The battle went off without a hitch. Piper couldn't fly into battle with Aerrow, Radarr, and Junko, but she did find a spare crossbow. Most of shots went wide, but she did hit three Talons and slightly damage them.

Aerrow wondered about his Crystal Mage taking over Finn's job as Sharp Shooter, but pushed it to the back of his mind. Dark Ace was really giving him more of a chase than a fight.

That's when Aerrow realized that Dark Ace had the defeated men from two days ago loading as many crystals as they could and getting out. It wasn't much compared to the entire deposit, but it was something.

Unable to cross the distance and catch up to the fleeing Talons, Aerrow made sure to defeat the Dark Ace. He was at the battle for two hours. Junko and Piper were grounded, but as they flew over a volcano on the south side, Dark Ace became distracted.

"I wondered what happened to the marksman." Aerrow looked down.

There, encrusted in the lava, and badly burnt except for the warped Storm Hawk shoulder plate, lay Finn's body in the lava.

"No."

"Good-bye, Aerrow." Aerrow looked at Dark Ace. Radarr pulled hard on Aerrow's side and managed to turn the fatal blow into a glancing one that set them down outside the volcano.

Dark Ace flew off. He had lost the battle, but the major setback was tempered somewhat.

Aerrow couldn't get the image out of his head. Then he fixed the Skimmer, and flew off to the Condor. Piper was there, apart from the joyous others.

The look on her face….

"He told you not to say anything." Piper stared into his eyes, and opened her arms.

Aerrow wanted to be angry. To be furious. He wanted a way to rationalize what had happened and find out why. Instead, he fell into Piper's arms and wept.

She was crying too, the kind that seals your throat and makes the whole body heave. Stork and Junko stopped looking happy and moved to them.

"Finn…." Aerrow sobbed out.

Junko and Stork both looked stunned. Then they started to look around for Finn, certain that he would jump out and yell 'gotcha!'.

Aerrow knew that wasn't going to happen. He didn't get happy endings. He just wanted the stupid war over. First his father, than the Terras, and now Finn.

Piper cried for her lost friend. Aerrow cried for their lost future.

Could you say good-bye to yesterday?

A/N: Depressing, and a lot longer than originally planned, but I like the final version. Now to proof-read and post, so that this back log of stories starts to diminish. Help yourselves to cyber tissues if you cried.