Disclaimer: I do not own anything... just my imagination here, so do not sue! :)

Those Three Little Words

Written: NightLight

When he stepped between the gun and Charley, the only thing that crossed his mind was, 'I can't let her get hurt.' Heck, that sounded so much like that stupid macho stuff he usually played for her...well, for anyone, actually. That's why he found himself surprised when he felt his own heart jump at the feel of Charley's hand slipping into his own. He played it cool, as much as he could, but he couldn't hide a little burning blush rising up on his cheekbones.

"Over my dead body, buddy," Vinnie growled to the prison guard that dared pull a gun on Charley. He squeezed Charley's hand a little bit harder, proving to her and the guard that he was dead serious. The atmosphere was more than tense as the white-furred mouse and the brown-eyed prison guard stared at each other with a firey gaze. From the cell next door, Throttle felt the seriousness of the situation, but couldn't help the slight twitch of a smile on his mouth at the sight of his bro's blush.

"Oh? We got a tough guy here? The guard sneered at the white mouse, still pointing the gun towards him. "I would gladly do the honors, but the boss wants you mice alive and kicking. But I can always help with the kicking part!" The guard quickly reached into his jacket pocket for some kind of remote, "And here we go!" He smiled as he pointed the device at Vinnie, leaving his bros to stare in horror at what was about to happen.

Vinnie's reaction happened in a fraction of a second, letting go of Charley's hand and pushing her away to the wall. At the same time the guard laughed evilly as he pushed the remote's button.

Charley landed next to Throttle and Modo's cell wall, and Modo quickly reached though the bars to help her up. The next thing they saw was Vinnie jerking horribly as the guard activated the electric shock treatment. She cried Vinnie's name as she rushed toward the guard, kicking out betweent the bars to make him stop it. Vinnie fell to the floor, unmoving. She tried to go to him, to try and help him, but was stopped by the guard's grip on her arm.

"You're as sassy as the boss said," The guard smiled evilly. "But you'll be purring like a kitten after Karbunkle gives you some treatments." He laughed as he dragged her from the cell, locking the door behind them. Charley's attempts to stop him weren't even noticed by the guard. Modo and Throttle furiously yelled that the guard would pay later for how he treated their friends. Charley looked back with fear for her friends, two still standing, and one lying terribly still in the other cell. She couldn't help it when she felt tears rising up in her eyes as the guard took her out of the mice's sight.

*&*&&*

As Vinnie opened his eyes, he couldn't help but growl as he got to his feet. The feeling in his head was ten times worst than the worst hangover he'd ever experianced. "Wha--" was the only word he could get himself to say, as he touched his forehead with his hand.

"You okay there, prince charming?" The tan mouse asked from the next cell, relief clear in his voice at the sight of his younger bro awake. Vinnie snorted and rolled his eyes with a smile, wondering why he was compared to prince charming.

"It was quite a shock there, bro," Modo said with sympathy in his voice.

"Nothin' this mouse couldn't handle," Vinnie said as the headache seemed to move from one side of his head to the other, making him wince. Modo rolled his eyes.

"You can stop acting now, bro. Charley ain't around," Throttle teased Vinnie, meaning the previously seen blush.

"What? I don't get it," Vinnie said in confusion, scratching his head as he decided to change the subject. "Where is she, anyway?"

"Come on now, bro," Throttle said with a smile for his younger bro.

"It is a BIT obvious," Modo continued, following that up with a grin and a poke at his bro's shoulder.

Vinnie try to fire back a witty comeback, but stumble over his own words as he felt himself blushing once more. "I-it really is nothing..." was the only sentance he got out right. The confidence of the young mouse was suddenly gone, as Modo gave him a look that clearly said that he didn't believe him.

Emotion suddenly showed in his eyes as the blush came over all of his visable face, and he could no longer meet his bros eyes. "Its....well....I just..." his words stumbled and he gave a frustrated sigh.

Throttle was a bit shocked, as he had almost never seen his bro so nervous talking about a girl. The tan mouse realized that this must really be serious for his young bro. "But hey, there's nothing bad about this, right?" he said to reassure his friend.

Modo nodded in agreement, "Yeah, there's nothing wrong with feelin' like that about Charley. Especially for a girl like Charley!"

"Hey!" Vinnie quickly yell, "Its not like that! Its just..." he never finished the sentance. He was suddenly nervous and angry that he let someone see this weakness. He was acting like a lovesick teenager, and it did make a funny situation for his bros.

"Ok then, Romeo, we'll leave it for now," Throttle said with a smile.

"Yeah, we still need to get out of here and save Charley-girl. Just whenever you're ready,"

Modo continued, still teasing Vinnie a little with his tone.

"Great," Vinnie said to himself, but not because he didn't wanna save Charley, but because he knew he was never gonna hear the end of this.