Greetings, Welcome and Salutations! I have finally returned with another story! Before I forget...

Don't own the Storm Hawks, Nerdcorp does.

OK, now that's out of the way. Sorry it took so long to post another story. Not because I was unfinished with it, not because I was too busy. Nope. Couldn't decide on a title. Sigh... It's alway's the little things. Must of went through a few dozen and none seemed to work. Either they described one aspect or just plain didn't fit.

So what's this one about? I originally was going to do a story exploring the 'what if' of Starling joining the group and off they go and have an adventure and everybody's happy as can be. And then I got to thinking - What If... Starling joined and everybody wasn't happy about it. What If one of the members ended up not liking the the way things were turning out.

And being a self described Finnfanatic, naturally I settled on him being the one to get his nose bent out of shape. Actually though, he does make the most sense. Turn up his self-centeredness, throw in his childish behavior, stir in his impulsiveness along with a healthy dose of teen anxiety and voila! I've got a story.

This one is a bit darker than the other's I've written. And longer (22 chapters in all and some of them wordy). But it is complete and I will do my best to update a chapter a day - but keep in mind the time of year - holidays approach and family take precedence). Also, I'm going to rate this a strong T due to future implied situations. Nothing graphic and probably nothing anyone with access to today's society wouldn't know about, but still. Can't say I didn't give fair warning.

But although this does contain some angst and despair, this is me that wrote this. So along with some sadness and sorrow it does also contain some action, some adventure, some romance (oh yeah...), humor and joy.

One thing it does not contain? One word of conversation. Don't know why, just came out in first person reflective.

Enough of my blathering on. Hope you enjoy, let me know what you think (If you would be so kind), and read on, thou gentle readers...

Chapter 1 -

He watched the pair who stood together, each one green-eyed, his own blue eyes narrowed. He had never thought of himself as jealous before, but he was burning with it now. Ever since She had arrived. Everybody else thought it was just wonderful, that the Great Starling had finally joined up with them. Even he had been happy at first. Until recently…

Aerrow rarely looked at him anymore. Wasn't he supposed to be the red-haired Sky Knight's wingman? But on every mission it was Starling who rode beside Aerrow. The two of them were always together, discussing this, debating that. When Aerrow rode out on reconnaissance missions, it was Her that went with him, never Finn.

Piper was no help either. She was so enamored of the older female that she went around with her head in the clouds most of the time. It was embarrassing, really, how the once unflappable girl acted like a total retard, stumbling over her words and her feet in her clumsy attempts to gain Starling's attention.

The one time he had tried to confide his feelings to Junko, the good natured Wallop had looked at him in confusion. Why shouldn't Finn be happy that there was another member to their squadron? After all, more was better, wasn't it? And Starling was nice, Junko liked her. Finn had bit his lip from retorting that Junko liked just about anybody as long as they weren't wearing a Cyclonian uniform.

Stork was Stork, accepting the new arrival with a mixture of gleeful apprehension. Part of him was happy that Starling was with them, part of him was sure that this new arrival would cause all of them doom.

Finn didn't even try to confide in Radarr. Wherever Aerrow went, Radarr was right with him. Heck, Finn had even seen the blue furred whatzit riding on Starling's shoulder a few times.

No, it seemed that only Finn saw things the way they really were. The makeup of the team had shifted. And he felt like he was being pushed to the back.

What made things even worse was the incredible string of bad luck he seemed to be going through. Everyone had noticed it. Finn was making about one in every ten shots, most of them going wide or worse, hitting his own teammates. He'd knocked Junko clean off his skimmer during a battle just the other day. Boy, had the Wallop been mad. Aerrow had managed to keep the huge teen from flattening Finn, but then, Aerrow wasn't too happy either.

Finn really dreaded the after battle recaps, a little routine that Starling had suggested and that Aerrow had naturally eagerly embraced. More and more Finn just sat silently through them, his arms folded and his eyes down, as his teammates made sure to pick apart his every wrong move. Constructive criticism is what She called it. Finn called it something else.

Sighing Finn decided to go to his room, it being the only place that he felt he truly belonged any more. At least there he could take out his frustrations on his Rock Machine, banging out some kicking music. All though even that lately had begun to sound off. Hard to feel inspired if your surroundings were less than motivational. As he let the door slide shut behind him, he was unaware of the troubled looks that followed him.

***

Aerrow and Starling exchanged shared looks of frustration, confusion and in the case of Starling, hurt. Neither one could understand Finn's latest behavior. Aerrow was beginning to become quite irritated with the blonde. He was used to his wingman's prima-donna ways, but this was starting to go too far - Finn's actions were beginning to affect both the team and Finn's performance. So far he had managed to head off the others reactions to Finn's childish petulance, but he wasn't sure for how long. Piper especially was more than her usual peeved self at Finn, and both Junko and Stork were picking up on the strained relationships.

And then there was Starling. She said she understood that Finn would be feeling a little left out of things, and that given time, he'd work his way out of it. Well, that had been two weeks ago and if anything, Finn was getting worse. He barely showed his face, when he did he was surly, did the least amount he could, gave absolutely no feedback at any of the pre or post meetings and in general was becoming a big pain in the rear.

Aerrow had let a lot of things slide with Finn over the years he had known him. Aerrow was wondering if that had been the wrong thing to do. But things had been different then. Now…

Cyclonia was stepping up its invasions, pulling out more and more of the bigger guns, larger squadrons, invading two or more terras at a time. It was all the combined Sky Knights could do to repel the attacks and hold on to the lands they had. Starling had thought that Cyclonia was becoming desperate, that tides were turning and that she had heard through her vast spy network that there had even been some rebellions on a few of Cyclonia's furthest holdings.

Aerrow only knew that the time for fun was passing. The attacks were becoming more vicious, better armed and harder to repel. He needed his teammates to be at their top form, not be distracted by petty emotions.

Frowning, Aerrow stepped towards Finn's door. It was time to have a talk.

***

Starling watched Aerrow walk toward the sharpshooter's door and sighed. She had thought long and hard about joining the Storm Hawks and had finally given in. She was lonely and needed company. The long solitary missions were getting to her and she needed, craved companionship. Even though she still feared the possibility of losing her friends again, she knew it was a chance she had to take. Hiding didn't make the monsters go away. And at first everything had been great. They had all welcomed her, helped her move what little personal items she had into the room they had prepared for her. She had settled in and tried to become one of the teammates. Even though she was a Sky Knight and had more years of experience, this was Aerrow's squadron and he was her leader now. Used to being on her own, she found it hard not to take control, but had managed. Aerrow was smart and very capable. He seemed to find her suggestions and advice welcome and had instituted many of her ideas.

She had talked for hours to him, along with Piper, exchanging plans and ideas, coming up with strategies that they implemented on their missions. Starling still had to hide her smile when working with the dark skinned girl. She'd never had anyone have a crush on her before, and Piper's obvious hero worship was a bit overwhelming. But she had to admit that Piper had amazing abilities. A bit unorthodox at times, but then the entire squadron wasn't exactly your run of the mill.

There was no one who could pilot a carrier like Stork could, especially a ship in the condition of the Condor. Some of the paces he put that ship through would tear other, newer ships in half. Not that the Condor came through unscathed. But between Stork and Junko, they soon had it back in working order, though not exactly in tip-top shape.

Starling was astounded by the Wallop as well. She hadn't had much dealings with the race before, but those she had met demonstrated the talents native to the race. Strong, dumb and mean. Well, Junko was definitely strong, but there was nothing dumb about him. Oh, he'd never win a prize for having the most smarts, but he wasn't a burnt out crystal either. And there wasn't a mean bone in his body. Why, the big teen practiced yoga for instance and she was pretty sure he slept with a teddy bear.

She was rapidly gaining a soft spot in her heart for Radarr. For something that couldn't talk, the small blue-furred creature could certainly communicate. And she had found few beings with as much loyalty. She wasn't sure what it was or why it was there, Aerrow had said that he'd always had it by his side, but she certainly found it to be a valuable member of the team.

And then there was Finn. She had seen him during the few missions she had shared before joining with them. Sure he had been reckless and impulsive, but he had also seemed daring. Who else would fire at Master Cyclonis after being caught trying to steal the Aurora Stone back? She had heard of his going power mad when she and Aerrow had gone on the mission to free the Terradons, but it had been Finn's skills that had made it possible for the scientists to escape the Energy Cannons of Bogoton. And yes, he had gotten a little carried away and broke a string on his guitar, but he had managed to hold off the pulses of the Metranomic Cannon long enough for the team to take out the towering terra it stood on. She had even heard of reports that he had become the fabled Great Domo of the lost terra of Vapos, had even snuck on board a Murk Raider ship to steal some rare element that was threatening the health of the Vaposians. She had asked Stork about it, and although he hadn't denied it, he was a little vague on the details.

But the young teen she had observed the last two weeks or so was nothing like she had known or heard about. She knew Finn had a tendency to become childish, vain, selfish; not only from what she had observed herself but also from Piper's reports. But this wasn't just teenage anxiety. She could feel his animosity toward her. She had tried to become his friend, invited him to show her his skill with the crossbow, offered to train with him. He had stared at her and then turned and walked away. And his actions were beginning to be felt by the others as well. She had watched them give the sharpshooter looks of confusion, annoyance, irritation and even anger.

She was starting to wonder if she had made a mistake, joining up with the team.

***

Piper bent over the map she was studying, but her eyes did not see it. They saw red, instead. Stupid, irritating, dumb little fool. How could he be such an idiot? She'd been mad at Finn before, but never like this. Just what was his problem? She'd never known anyone who could get under her skin like he could. Usually he managed to escape her wrath by actually doing something worthwhile, but lately…it was as if he wasn't even trying. And how he could treat Starling the way he was. She was glad Aerrow was finally going to have a talk with Finn. He deserved it. Many times over the last few days she had gone to Aerrow, complaining to him about Finn's dismal attitude, his rudeness and his lack of interest. She had wanted to take the annoying, frustrating, maddening jerk and bang his head against something, Did he not have a clue? Idiot. He was such an idiot.

***

Junko had observed his best buddy with a mixture of sorrow and confusion. He just couldn't understand why Finn was being so mean to Starling. Starling was nice. She was great. She had actually listened to Junko when he had shown her his latest addition to his collection, agreed with him that it was an especially nice piece of silvery metal, the best he'd found yet. And why did Finn think she was in the way? She fit in nicely, and she never seemed to think she was better than any of the rest. If anything, it was Finn who seemed to be getting in the way. Junko loved his buddy, but, boy, the guy sure could get irritating sometimes. He was sorry that Aerrow was going to have to talk with him, but it was for his own good. It was just too bad it had to come to this. Junko hoped Aerrow would go easy on the blond. Finn's feelings could get hurt easily.

***

Stork stared out the front window, checking for signs of anything that might attack. So far the clouds had not morphed into Hysterian Vapor Fiends, but one could never be too careful. Doom was always just around the corner. Like right now for instance. Stork could have told them, it was a well known Merbian idiom – the more people there were, the better the chance that doom would fall. And seven was such an unlucky number. Just about the most unlucky number there was. Well next to three, of course, but that was a given. Then there was one, well, everyone knew just how unlucky one was, it was right next to zero, and there was nothing worse than zero. Except for the negatives, but dwelling on that was a sure way to invite any lurking mindworms to start drilling. Yep, all the good that Starling had given by joining the group was fast being undone by the ill luck such a connection surely contained. Only a matter of time before they were knocked out of the sky by a meteorite. Or eaten by voracious mutant mud eels. Piper might think they were only an inch long and nibbled on moss, but he knew there were some that were as massive as a house, and preyed on the unsuspecting. Stork hunched his shoulders, his left eye twitching.

***

Radarr watched his master walk toward the blond one's door and sighed. The big ones could be such a mystery. Why they fought to begin with was something he couldn't understand. The Cyclonian one's didn't seem to be after food, and they seemed to have plenty of shelter so what was their problem? But if his master fought them, then they were his enemies too. But especially disturbing was when friends turned away from each other. He had watched the blond growing more and more discontent, spreading his bad mood among the rest. Radarr knew his master and the blond shared a special bond, but he also knew it was being stretched tight.

Radarr sighed again. The big ones were strange.