Finn was the first to move. Aerrow and Piper had drifted back to sleep, faces flushed and stained with tears. Finn felt numb. Even as he stood and scanned the room for his clothes, he didn't feel much of anything. Not the way his feet stuck to the floor as he walked, nor the cool metal against his knees as he knelt down to pick up a shirt. He was dull to everything in the world with the exception of a pressure in his chest. Pulling the shirt over his head, he let it swing around his neck as he continued to scour the floor.

The whole situation was just bizarre.

He found most of his clothes as time passed, coming across the others outfits as well. Currently reaching for what he believed was Piper's shirt, he was halfway under the nightstand by the bed. His fingers stretched until they popped, fingertips grazing the fabric. This was all just ridiculous. Ridiculous and surreal and Finn couldn't think of any other adjectives at the moment, but at least he managed to wrap his fingers around the elusive shirt. He attempted to stand in a hurry, proud of his accomplishment thus far. He failed, however, to remember that there was a nightstand directly above his head.

The resounding bang was enough to remind him. That, and the sheer pain that rattled his teeth. Tears welled up and Finn fought them back. There was no way he was going to cry over something so simple. There was no way he was going to cry at all about anything ever. As long as his mouth was muttering God damn it God damn it, there was no way the sobs could escape. And yet there he was sitting on the cool hard floor, the recovered shirt held to his chest repeating those words around tears and cries.

There was shuffling from the bed, but Finn was too busy not crying to notice.

"Finn?" The cries were quickly stifled and he hiccupped pathetically as he looked up at Piper. There was a moment of silence more stifling than any previous lull, until Finn stood. He was awkward and moved too fast, but he thrust the shirt in her face, looking away while wiping his face.

"Here."

He didn't have to see her to know she was giving him that look. The one where her eyes are full of worry and made him feel insanely guilty. He had enough guilt thank you very much, and she wasn't going to shove more on him without even saying a word.

"Thanks."

He pointed to the two neat piles at the foot of the bed.

"The rest is there."

Finn was really starting to get sick of the weird silences constantly worming into their conversations. It drove him nuts. Pulling his arms into his sleeves, Finn kicked the bed,

"Hey. Aerrow. Get up."

Aerrow frowned and groaned, slowly opening his eyes. Finn couldn't remember the last time he had legitimately been in charge of a situation. Aerrow was always the level headed one. Always. This was just one thing that the young leader of the Storm Hawks couldn't handle on his own. So Finn would help as best he could. And Finn's first action as a helpful teammate was to get everyone out of bed.

"Your clothes are right there. What I could find anyway,"

He briefly wondered where their shoes and gloves were. Aerrow slid out of bed pulling his clothes on. Finn knew that face. The stony expression coupled with deafening silence. Aerrow was thinking, and Finn let himself relax a bit because at least there was a bit of normality in that.

Piper stood, already dressed. Crossing her arms and tilting her hips, she stared at Aerrow as he dressed, "So…" She started.

It wasn't the most defined statement ever, so Finn tried to clarify, "Yeah…"

Aerrow looked at his unusually taciturn friends and shrugged the most helpless, dispirited shrug in existence, "I don't know."

"Food," Finn offered. He knew it wasn't the best suggestion, but it definitely beat standing around, wallowing in pity, "Let's eat something."

He had expected Piper to be skeptical of the idea, but she just nodded, "It might help."

Aerrow followed their lead and nodded as well, "Alright, to the kitchen." He shot a glance at the bed in all of its stained and soiled glory, "We'll figure something out."

Finn marched to the door, ignoring the sense of defilement that washed over him with every step. Piper followed halfheartedly, a feeling of contamination oozing from every pore. Aerrow trailed behind the two, grappling with guilt. The trio trudged down the hallway.

The self loathing dirge was interrupted as the three passed the bathroom in the corridor. A low voice drifted from behind the door, causing Piper to slow down and glance back at Aerrow,

"Is that…Stork?"

Aerrow frowned, "Sounds like it. Should we check up on him?" He looked to Finn and Piper for assurance.

Finn shrugged and chuckled darkly, "Doubt he's in a bigger shit hole than we are," He joked.

Choosing to ignore the comment, Aerrow knocked on the door. "Stork?" He called, "Is that you?" The voice subsided and Aerrow knocked again, "Are you alright, buddy?"

Despite his thin and frail stature, it was common knowledge that Stork could exert quite a bit of strength when needed. Perhaps that was how he swung open the door so hard and so fast, startling Aerrow as Piper squeaked and Finn flinched.

"Never again." He spoke slowly, each word tinged dark. "Whatever happened last night. Never. Again."

To say that the young Merb looked run ragged was a grotesque understatement. His face was gaunt and his eyes sunk into their sockets, dark circles pooling around them. His knees wobbled a bit as he let the doorframe support his weight. "As far as I know," His tone was still acrid, "Every fifteen minutes, my stomach thought it within my best interest to…expel itself of its contents." Finn made a face and Stork sighed, his body practically collapsing on itself, "After the first hour or so, I had run out of contents to vomit." A rueful smile, "Though that didn't stop my body from trying."

Aerrow bit his lip, "Sorry, Stork."

The pilot shook his head and disappeared back into the bathroom. His voice reverberating out in the hallway, "It's not solely your fault, Aerrow," He reappeared, lanky arms embracing a trashcan, "As far as I recall we were all responsible for that," Another sigh. "Monstrosity."

Piper opened her mouth to comment, but Stork assumed leadership of the pitiful parade and started to trudge toward the kitchen. The three younger Storm Hawks followed wordlessly, "Let's find Junko and Radarr," Stork offered, "Afterwards we can sleep until death slowly and silently claims us."

The now group of four did not make much progress to their destination as the ceiling began to rattle violently. The ducts above clattered and jangled, "I suppose we've found Radarr." Stork bemoaned.

Sure enough, a vent swung open and a mess of blue came crashing down.

"Radarr?" Aerrow's voice cracked a bit. He chose to ignore it. The resident mission specialist chattered noisily as he shook his head. He too looked worse for wear, what with his matted fur and a thin layer of grime coating his features.

The group, in all their disfunctionality, couldn't discern whether Radarr was frustrated, annoyed, traumatized or some combination of all three. The consensus was that his night had been less than enjoyable, containing its fair share of air ducts, chickens, and terrorizing a nearby terra.

At least that was what Finn had gathered.

With only one more teammate to locate, the team gained a renewed vigor in reaching the kitchen. Finn lead the way with Radarr perched on his shoulder. As they approached the kitchen, a smell bathed their senses. Stork dry heaved into his trash bin for a time and Piper put a hand in front of her face.

The scent was rancid, at best. Overwhelming and powerful, yes, but it no doubt held a bitter, sour, and all together nauseating quality as well.

"That's got to be Junko's cooking." Finn concluded. If there was one thing he knew about his friend, it was the insulting smell of his offensive cuisine.

"So who wants to go in first?" Piper inquired from behind her hand. Aerrow shrugged half-heartedly and raised a hand,

"I guess I should?"

Finn smirked. Aerrow was starting to be in charge again. In no time he would be the fearless leader and this whole fiasco would fade into background noise. Never mind that Piper flinched as he brushed by her or that Finn could feel the throbbing all over. That was all temporary.

"Maybe we should go together," Finn offered. Sure Aerrow, was their unspoken leader, but he didn't have to make all decisions or actions alone. Of course, facing Junko's questionable cooking wasn't the most threatening or important task they would have to do as a team, but it still counted for something. "On the count of three."

Piper nodded and Aerrow chanced a smile. "On three then." She agreed.

Aerrow led the count. When they rushed in, they weren't sure whether to feel disappointed or relieved. Junko was startled.

"Oh hey guys!" He jovially greeted, "I didn't know you were up yet." He motioned to the blender on the counter, "I don't know what we made last night, but it tasted kinda funny," Pulling down five mugs, the Wallop continued his merry banter, "And then I woke up with a really bad headache." He placed the cups on the table and poured the blender's contents into each one, "A while back, my Aunt taught me this killer tonic that's supposed to be a cure-all and I figured I'd try it." He shrugged, sloshing the concoction around, "It's kinda bland, but you guys can have some if you want."

Maybe his legs had finally given out or maybe he had just decided the floor was a great place to sit, but either way Stork slid to the ground, sighing heavily, "Chances are you guys will be the death of me one day."

Finn laughed. He didn't know whether he had finally lost it or whether it was Junko's frilly pink apron or perhaps it was the surreal absurdity of the whole Goddamn morning but whatever it was he just started laughing. He continued laughing as he took a glass of tonic, leaning across the counter, his elbows propped on the hard surface. His laughter subsided to chuckles but tears rolled down his face all the same. He took a sip of the suspect elixir and spoke around the burning sensation it left,

"What the fuck is going to happen to us?"

Junko gave him a questioning look and Aerrow grabbed two more glasses, handing them to Piper and Stork, "Get old and die probably."

"Maybe." Piper said, accepting the cup.

"Hopefully." Stork corrected as he put aside the trashcan.

Aerrow took a mug for himself, "We'll just take care of 'now' and worry about 'then' later."

Radarr hopped onto the table, wrapping his lithe body around his mug.

"We're still young," Junko picked up the remaining cup with both hands, glancing around the group worriedly, "Should we really worry about later?"

"The things we've seen. The things we've done," Aerrow fidgeted and Piper stared into her cup, "Eat away at grown men like some sick poison. Which is why I ask," Finn took another sip,

"What the fuck is going to happen to us?"

******
Notice how I said this had to be mature and then failed to change the rating.
I then proceeded to drop off the face of the planet for a bit. Oops.
(Remember how I said I was generally unsatisfied with the previous chapter? I am wholly unsatisfied with this one.)
That's all for this piece of work, it's suffered from degenerative writing, and it's time to move onto something else.