Author's Note:  This story takes place shortly after the events 
shown in "Monster Rally."
________

"Home is where the heart is."
________

Pieces of Home



'Some vacation.'

Wildwing let his head drop back against the headrest as his 
eyes drifted shut. He was tired, he was worn out, and he was 
coming down off a serious adrenaline high. He was ready to 
crash. They wouldn't be back in Anaheim for almost another 
hour, maybe he could catch some sleep.

Beside him Dive shifted, already almost half asleep, then 
quieted and settled back into his seat. Wildwing listened 
quietly, making sure that he was settled, before letting his 
thoughts drift off again.

He'd been looking forward to this trip for a while. After two 
months of non-stop action and confrontations, the idea of 
taking time off had been extremely appealing. A trip south to 
show off the Migrator at a car show had seemed like a safe 
way of taking a couple days off.

'If we only knew,' Wildwing thought dryly. 'Relaxing is not 
how I would describe this day.'

A psychotic mutant cat, angry at them for disrupting his 
criminal plans, had decided to eliminate them by sending some 
souped-up, super-powered, over-armed monster trucks after 
them. It had almost succeeded too, Mallory and Grin had 
gotten away, tried to go for safety, but Wing and Dive had 
been caught by the mutants and nearly killed before Mallory 
and Grin had returned and rescued them. Wildwing had only 
managed to free Nosedive before things got out of control, and 
then Dive had nearly died when he refused to leave Wildwing 
behind. Wildwing had been torn between fear and fury, scared 
almost to death at the idea that Dive would get himself killed 
trying to keep Wing alive. 

Wildwing fought down a sudden shudder as he remembered 
the fear he'd felt at that moment. There hadn't been time to 
think about anything then, about what had almost happened 
and why, with all the trouble of going after Daddy-O -- 
'Daddy-O? Puh-lease' - and his friends, and now that he finally 
could set back and allow it all to process he suddenly realized 
just how scared he had been.

'I wish you wouldn't scare me like that,' he thought fervently, 
as if Dive could hear him. 'It's not worth it, bro. Don't ever 
think it is.' The idea that one day Dive could be hurt or - 'stars 
no, please no' - killed because of Wildwing was one that Wing 
could not, would not accept. It couldn't happen and that was 
simply it.

The Migrator hit a rut in the road and bounced slightly. Dive's 
head slammed against Wing's shoulder, and the younger man 
grumbled slightly, but didn't stir. Wildwing opened tired eyes 
just long enough to see that Dive hadn't been awakened before 
allowing his eyes to drift shut again. The Migrator continued to 
bounce as the road they were on began to get progressively 
worse. Wing could feel Dive slipping forward out of the seat 
with each new bounce. He wrapped an arm around his 
brother's shoulders and braced him against his side, effectively 
keeping him from slipping further. Dive mumbled something 
beneath his breath and curled against Wing's side, never 
awakening.

'What am I going to do with you?' Wildwing wondered fondly. 
'Someday you're going to give me a heart attack with the stunts 
you pull. Not that I'd have it any other way. Just please try to 
be more careful. I don't think I could take it if something 
happened to you.'

It was something he'd always known; losing Dive was probably 
the one thing he could not handle. It was a fact Wildwing had 
learned early in his life, when a serious of neglectful foster 
parents had resulted in Dive's being nearly beaten to death. 
They had been separated for a year, and every day had been 
torture for Wildwing, as he wondered what had become of his 
younger brother. The same lesson had been reinforced when 
the Saurians came and they had again been separated. It had 
been months before they were once again reunited, and several 
more weeks more before Canard had freed them from the work 
camp and offered them sanctuary within the resistance. 
Wildwing had spent three months alone in the camps 
considering the pros and cons of suicide versus being worked 
to death half seriously. Then the mine on the outskirts of the 
Metropolis had suffered an explosion, costing more than a 
hundred lives, and the survivors had been brought into the 
same camp Wildwing had been kept in. A coincidence that had 
in all likely hood saved his life when he realized that Nosedive 
was amongst the survivors. Three weeks later Canard had 
come for them.

Today he had faced the same fear he had felt at that foster 
home, the same fear as when he was in the camp. Only simpler. 
Today, if Nosedive dies, then it meant he was dead too, and 
that had been somewhat easier to take.

'I'm a selfish idiot aren't I?' he thought. 'It would be so much 
easier if I didn't have to stay behind. That's what I'm most 
afraid of, you know. Your dying scares me, kills me, but 
staying behind with you gone - that would destroy me.'

Nosedive would kill him for thinking that, but Wildwing 
couldn't help it. He'd faced life without his brother before, and 
he didn't care to face it again.

Selfish was the only word Wildwing could think of to describe 
that - it wasn't he knew, but that's how it seemed at times like 
this. Selfish that he would do anything, give anything, to keep 
from losing the only thing he had left. Selfish, that he would 
refuse Dive the right to do the same.

'Idiot,' he thought at the warm weight settled against his side. 
'You're not supposed to risk your life for me. That's my job. 
What would be the point if you ever died for me?'

‘Talk about a double standard,’ he mused thoughtfully. 'You 
mean so much to me, that I almost hope I don't mean as much 
to you. How's that for weird?'

"Aren't they cute?" Duke murmured softly. Mallory laughed 
softly in response and said something too low for Wing to 
catch it. He debated over taking the time and energy to open 
his eyes and glare at them, but decided he was happy where he 
was. Duke didn't mean anything by it and Wildwing could 
afford to put up with some mild teasing they probably didn't 
even know he had heard. Besides, they were safe.

Safe. How long had it been since he had known someone 'safe?' 
There had been Mitchi, their caseworker. Later there had been 
the McDrakes - not for a long time had they earned Wildwing's 
trust though. And Canard. His sisters, later on.

That was pretty much it. 

Trust still came hard for Wildwing, the true trust that meant so 
much. He had had friends and acquaintances, but aside from 
those few above, he had never trusted anyone with his life, 
with Dive's life. Even Mitchi had been taken off the list when 
she placed them with the Featheringstons and Dive had been 
hurt.

Now there was Duke. And, to somewhat lesser degrees, Grin, 
Tanya and Mallory. Wildwing wasn't sure exactly when it had 
happened, but it had been brought home to him today - when 
Mallory and Grin had  risked capture and death to comeback 
for them, when Duke and Tanya had arrived just in the nick of 
time, the proverbial cavalry, and he hadn't been surprised to see 
any of them. His lack of surprise had been unexpected. He was 
so used to not counting on anyone... And then he had left Dive 
behind with Grin while he and the others went after Daddy-O. 
When was the last time he had trusted someone else to keep 
Dive safe? Canard had barely earned that honor and Wildwing 
had known him for ten years.

'Stars,' Wildwing mused. 'I'm actually starting to trust people. 
Next thing you know I'll stop being a paranoid, overprotective 
control freak.'

Wildwing had the distinct feeling that if Nosedive had heard 
that thought, he would have laughed in his face.

'Okay, so maybe not,' he conceded. 'Got to hang on to a few 
neuroses, hmmm?'

So he trusted his teammates. That was hardly a bad thing, even 
if it was a little unexpected. The kind of lives they led, trust 
was essential, and truth of the matter was, Wildwing's lack of 
the above had probably caused its fair share of problems. Now 
that he knew better maybe things between them all could 
change for the better.

Something caught at the back of his mind. 'The bond that links 
your true family is not one of blood, but one of respect and joy 
in each other's life. Rarely do members of one family grow up 
under one roof.'

Is that it? Family?

'Well damn,' Wildwing thought with dry humor. 'Figures, 
doesn't it?' he thought toward the still form beside him. 'We 
spent half our lives looking for a family, when all we had to do 
was get catapulted into
another universe. Wish I'd known *that* seventeen years ago. 
Might have saved us a lot of grief.'

Damned if he didn't like the idea. He wondered for a moment 
what the others would think if he should ever share this little 
revelation with them. Mallory would launch instant rebellion 
and Duke would probably
enjoy playing big brother *way* too much. Eh. He didn't really 
want to share this with anyone, anyway. Except Dive. 
Assuming, of course, that he still remembered all this once he 
woke up.

'I have a feeling I will,' he thought. And he was glad of it.



End