A Matter Of The Heart
It was another busy day at the Last Chance Garage except the Biker Mice were anything but happy. Charley was making them mop the floor. The three mice were on their hands and knees vigorously scrubbing with hand brushes and a bucket of soapy water.
"Aw, Charley-ma'am. Do we gotta do this?" Modo groaned.
"Yeah, babe. We never had this in cool school." Throttle said.
"You're the ones who spilled carburetor fluid all over my floor so now you clean it up." Charley replied, "Besides, I'm busy."
She sat at a table on which was a police scanner and CB radio. Suddenly, a voice came over loud and clear.
"We just got a report of a fire near Bleeker Street." It said.
"That's not far from here." Charley said.
"That's our cue." Vinnie said. He and his two bros got up off floor. They went to their bikes.
"Oh, no you don't!" She told them, "This time I'm getting in on the action."
"Sorry, babe. 'Can't let ya do that. 'Fraid you'll get hurt." Throttle said.
"But, I wanna help-."Charley began to protest.
The mice shook their heads.
"We'll handle it. Guard the fort." Vinnie told her, cupping her chin under his hand.
The three mice donned their helmets and rode off leaving Charley fuming.
"Those mice!" She groaned.
Throttle hated to say no to Charley but he knew He'd never forgive himself if anything happened to her. She was the only friend he and his bros had when they first crash-landed on Earth. She took them in and helped them settle into the Scoreboard. In fact, she herself suggested that they use the Scoreboard as a hideout from Limburger. She also kept their existence a secret hidden from the world. They owed her big time.
His two bros were of the same mindset that he was. As long as they kept Charley out of the fighting, she was safe. To Vinnie, Charley was the one who kept their bikes in tip top shape and supplied them with plenty of hot dogs and root beers. But she was much more than that. She was someone he cared abut a great deal. That's why he wouldn't let her help them in their fight against Limburger. It would take some awesome fighting skills to bring down the Big Cheese. He knew she would be helpless if Limburger or any of his stooges got a hold of her.
Modo looked at her like a sister. He, like his two bros, just wanted to keep her safe. She was the only family besides Throttle and Vinnie that he had. He knew that Limburger and his baddies were nothing to play with. What they did everyday to save Earth was dangerous. He wished Charley would realize that and stop acting like this was some game.
Charley felt like the guys thought that she didn't understand the danger of the Plurtarkians' invasion. But she understood all too well. What happened on Mars was exactly what Limburger was doing to this neighborhood. He'd been stripmining it for months. He got a lot of the people who owned businesses in this neighborhood to clear out by offering them large sums of money. Only later did they find out that he'd paid them with bad checks. Now a lot of them are out of their money as well as their land.
She was determined not to let the Last Chance fall into Limburger's scummy hands. The business had belonged to her dad. It was his life till he died. Now it's was part of Charley's life and no one was going to take it from her. She vowed to keep her dad's memory alive by keeping the business open. It's been hard in recent years since a lot of the people moved out of the old neighborhood so business has been bad.
"But still...I don't want to lose it" She thought.
The mice thought Charley was amazing. She fixed Throttle's sweet ride and made some super cool adjustments to their weapons on their bikes. Vinnie really admired her mechanic skills as well as her beauty. Those were two of the things that attracted him to her. In recent years, his feelings for her grew as well as her feelings for him grew.
"How am I ever going to tell her how I feel?" He told himself. He knew it was impossible.
"I mean, seriously. She's a human. I'm a Martian Mouse. "He thought.
He sometimes flirted with her and she always playfully threw him off. So naturally he thought she wouldn't be interested. But a part of him secretly wished she was. He often felt like he wasn't good enough for her. That was why he shamelessly flirted with her.
Charley saw the guys going down the road toward Limburger Plaza. She decided she was going to get in on the action with or without their written permission. She was getting in her truck. Just as I was about to get in she was forcibly yanked down and grabbed from behind.
"Youse just entered a wurld of hurt, lady." I heard Greasepit say, trying to squeeze the life out of her. She stomped hard on his foot. The greasy ape released her and yelped. He grabbed his hurt foot and began hopping up and down. Charley ran to her cb radio. She grabbed the communicator and frantically pressed the call button.
"Youse pissing me off, lady!" He blurted.
"Guys! Come in-" was all she managed to get out before she was struck from behind. She instinctively put her hand there and felt a sharp pain.
"Charley? Sweetheart?"Vinnie responded back, "Is everything ok? Charley?"
Greasepit then roughly grabbed her arm and she felt herself being dragged her up.
"You and your fuzzy pals ain't gonna bother Mr. Limburger no mores." he grunted.
Charley's heart sank. Did he and his goons manage to get the drop on the guys somehow? Then she heard a voice that made her feel so much better.
"Let her go, Oilslick!" Vinnie's voice screamed.
"And we don't mean maybe!" Throttle said.
"Or we gonna pound ya into pate!" Modo retorted.
Relief flowed through her. They were alright. But she felt herself going off into unconsciousness.
"CHARLEY!" She heard Vinnie scream.
"Oh, man! Not youse miserable moles!" Greasepit groaned. Charley felt herself being shoved away. Her knees buckled and she saw herself about to hit the floor when two strong, white, furry muscular arms went around her shoulders. Before her eyes closed, she vagely saw Vinnie's concerned face. Then everything went black. But she could still hear everything.
"Is she okay?" Modo asked, concern in his voice.
" Aw, did I hurt her? Don't worry, you moles gonna get more of the same!" Greasepit gloated. Charley heard movement of lots of feet. She sensed they were surrounded by Limburger's goon squad. She didn't know what happened next but she felt herself being gently handed to Modo.
"Look after Charley-girl, Big Guy. I gotta teach Greasegutt some manners." He told him. Charley heard sounds of grunts, laser blasts, punches and kicks. Then silence.
Charley was out of it for a week. During that time, the guys took great care of her and the garage. Throttle answered calls from people needing work on their cars. The guys did all the repair work. She was unconscious, but she heard every word they spoke to her.
"Had a customer this week. Wanted me to fix two motorcycles and a speed boat! Don't know how you do it, Miss Charley-ma'am." Modo said, cheerfully.
"Just toppled Ole Tuna Tail's tower! With a detonator. Vinnie put them all around. I hit a remote and whoosh! It was epic, Charley-girl!"Throttle said.
"You think she heard us?" Vinnie asked.
"The doctor said she would. He said people in a coma can hear the other person speaking to them. If we keep talking to her, she'll wake up out of it."Modo said.
Vinnie wanted with all his heart to believe that.
"Charley-girl has to wake up and come back to us. But what if she doesn't? What if I can't get through to her? She'll never know how I feel about her. How I've always felt about her." He thought.
"Sweetheart... If you can hear me... I'm sorry I couldn't have protected you from that creep. Forgive me!" She heard him say one day they were alone.
Her heart broke. Oh, how she wanted so badly to reach out to him and tell him she was okay!
"It's my fault. If I hadn't left you alone...Charley, please hear me. You're more than a mechanic. You've proved to us time and time again that you're just as capable as saving this planet as we are. Come back to us. We need you. I need you. And I...I love you. I always have and I always will no matter what."
Suddenly she felt her eyes slowly open. She glanced around. She was lying in her own bed in her own room. She saw Vinnie kneeling next to the bed with his head down next to her. She placed her hand on his arm. He started up.
"Sweetheart..."
"I love you, too." Charley said.
He was suddenly engulfed in a big bear hug. Then a kiss on the lips. A passionate one!
"She's awake!" Vinnie cried out. More hugs from Throttle and Modo followed.
Vinnie and Charley are now dating. Throttle and Modo at first we're surprised. But are now okay with it.
"Hey, if you and Vinnie are happy, that's all that matters, Charley-ma'am." Modo told Charley, "So long as he don't hurt you or he'll answer to me."
"I say about time! 'Was wondering when you two were finally gonna make it official."Throttle said.
Now Vinnie hardly leaves her side. Charley has to remind him that Throttle and Modo also need him to help them fight Limburger and his baddies. When he's off with his bros, Vinnie and Charley call each other to let the other know they're okay. Vinnie even lets Charley go with them when they go after Limburger. He grins as she gets on his bike toting a large missile launcher.
"Let's whip tail!" She cries out.
