Chapter 2: Secrets- Part two of "Loss"

Disclaimer: I own "Hacker". That's about it. He does play a bigger part than my O.C's normally do, but what he says is important to the plot line.


He had to go break something. Whether it was an old abandoned building and its contents inside, or something even more satisfying like a face. He didn't care. Though, that second option, he conjured, was more of a better plan than the first. For one, busting up a building was kind of illegal. At least with the second option, if it were your typical side street baddie, he'd be doing Chi-Town a small favor by getting low life scum off the neighboring sidewalks and away from all of those innocent homes where happy families lied.

Not to mention, Throttle would be doing his 'good deed' for the day and that thought pleased him greatly.

The golden fur leader didn't like to admit it, but he did have one horrendous temper to hide, and when tested, he needed an outlet. His bro's and Charley pushed him over that edge about an hour ago and he was still feeling the aftershocks of the running cold water under his fur.

He growled inwardly, shivering beside himself when the whole shower scene replayed like a broken record on the inside of his mind, thanking his lucky stars that the hum of the engine coming from his precious ride clouded his outrage. The sweet drum of 'Lil' Darlin's' motor was almost settling his bundle of nerves- almost.

He continued down the road in silence to the worst parts of town, looking for the sorry asshole that dared to cross his path. Tonight wasn't a very good night for them he mused. He had issues to pull strings from, things to get off of his chest and for a few precious moments he actually felt sorry for whoever decided to leak out from within the shadows to greet him- surprisingly so- and Throttle grinned in satisfaction at that. Well, he would at least say hi first; always being the gentlemen that he was of course.

The lead biker rounded another corner sharply, completely unaware that he had a follower. He was too uptight and lost in his own fantasy world to notice another revving engine just a few yards back, watching him with interest, as he made a an unplanned stop at a side street killing the engine of his bike. He ushered her in a dark corner of the alleyway, whispering to her to stay low and guarded until she was needed before he sauntered off to find one of his potential take downs.

Throttle didn't have to search very far, because as with any Martian Mouse, they were equipped with an astounding sound system attached to their rugged features and he had heard something faint across the way in a dumpster when taking a free moment to look around at his surroundings.

"Well, well, well." Throttle cooed sarcastically, making his presence known to the thug and cracking a smug smile. "Figured Limburger paid his retired henchmen way better than this," and he slapped his glove covered hand on the green metal bin, startling whatever was inside of it. "401K's and everything- the whole sha-bang."

Hacker; named for his ridiculous talent with technology, cocked a brow ridge, sneering at the mouse who caught him completely off guard. His mouth was holding a limp piece of lettuce which had been dripping profusely with dumpster water and he hissed a devilish snicker at his assailant, recoiling slyly. "Stupid ol' mousey." He spat, hunkering down further into his garbage filled bunker as his back hunched upward like that of a feral cat.

Avoiding more of the insults and getting straight to the point, with very little patience, Throttle made his move with a curdled snarl by reaching in and pulling out the man-like-snake from his hiding space, only to be spun around on his heel with an electrifying jolt as a startling cry escaped from the very depths of his feet. Hacker had just laced his bionic eyes with venom. Fortunately for Throttle, he was wearing his tinted spectacles, but that didn't mean he couldn't feel the poisonous concoction running through the follicles of his golden fur, and with a quick swipe of his face, he rounded a thrusting kick to the snake's chest, sending him against the adjacent building a few feet away and he slid down the wall as if in slow motion, hitting the concrete below.

The hit didn't hinder the mutant any, because now he was sitting on his backside laughing hysterically, taunting the mouse to hit him that much harder when he decided to crawl up onto his knees. The reptile's eyes were sparkling mad with delight when he finally reached the soles from the bottom of his boots. "Retirement?!" He beamed gleefully, bearing his fangs and suddenly understanding the ribbing displayed from earlier.

Throttle assumed he must have been a little behind on the rebound, because he made that whole 401K and retirement joke several minutes back already. Though, he could've just knocked the living daylights out of the guy too and brought out the undeniable stupidity.

"Heh-heh! I Juss' got it," Hacker hummed, confirming it, sealing the deal on the leader's assessment about him. For someone claiming to be so smart with computers, he certainly was a few donuts short from a bakers dozen.

Hacker abruptly went serious, cold, and he immediately lunged without warning at Throttle. He threw his upper body and sharp daggers upon the mouse's unsealed extremities, knocking him forcefully to the ground, and with a quick flick of his wrists, Hacker's nails hooked into the hero's arms with utmost precision, lifting him up and spinning him around, sending the Martian airborne and crash-landing into several random boxes and barrels of forgotten trash.

"I ain't retired yet, boy." Hacker drawled darkly, his voice was thick and heavy and his boots clinked from the spurs when he walked up to the fallen mouse as he stood above him, his claws twinkling from the moonlight. "I'm definitely one hundred percent in workin' order," he chuckled with a sniff. "You mousey folk have no idea what's been goin' on in your own little town. Ya'll are just too blind with yer own personal problems t'see it," and he lifted his foot, forcing a twisting and crushing blow to Throttle's chest. "Which means easy-good pickins' for us criminal folk."

Throttle grunted as Hacker's foot came hurling toward his torso, and his shades slid slightly from his muzzle on the incline. He tried to dodge the attack, but he wasn't nearly fast enough and the cleats on the bottom of the boots scraped against his skin taking quite a few hairs along with it and it caused him to wince slightly from the staggering pain. "Yeah, well," he grunted once again from the pressure. "Looks like you've got even bigger problems," and he took a good, solid hold of Hacker's larger foot, cranking it mercilessly to the right with a crack, sending the snake-man off balance and onto the ground.

Throttle immediately got up, holding his injuries and spitting out the blood that was dripping from his mouth. His skull was throbbing profusely, as if someone had took a sledgehammer to the side of his temple, his arms burned like fire from being sliced several times over and he shook his head to try and clear himself. He was feeling as if he was in a drunken haze again and the street below his feet was beginning to spin slightly out of control.

"Havin' fun yet, mousey-man?" The sound of that southern drawl hackle grabbed Throttles attention away from his wounds. He knew Hacker wouldn't stay down for long and he straightened his fighting stance, in the ready to finally take the bastard out, no matter how badly he was hurting. He would ignore it- like he always did.

Throttle grinned along with Hacker in amusement and he chuckled under his breath, igniting his knuke-knucks, "Tons," he said in short. "I'm always up for a good party," and with a deep, curdling snarl, he ran toward his charge, fitting the snake with an electrified left hook to the jaw and sliding the enemy a good foot or two back onto the side street.

Knuckling his jaw with a wipe, the self-proclaimed genius's eyes grew in maddening delight from the blow and he straightened is lab coat, like it mattered whether or not he appeared to be 'dressed to impress', as Throttle came after him in full force once again. With quick thinking and a fast flick to his leathery tail, he knocked the alien back on his haunches and took the open opportunity to lunge at his throat, bearing his elongated fangs. "I was told to keep you rodent-vermin alive if ever I saw ya's." He bragged, pushing his heavy weight upon his captive's torso, grabbing Throttle's torn vest in his palms and pulling him toward his face. The mouse could see the saliva raining from his teeth. "But I reckon that ol' Mr. Limburger could look the other way just this one time."

The hero's blood ran dangerously cold. Limburger was supposed to be in prison on Mars heavily guarded, awaiting trial. If he had it his way on the night at the cliff, he would have taken that insane prick out himself, but the Martian authorities took that chance away from him, threating if he didn't disengage, he would be put into solid confinement along with the Plutarkian as well. Throttle had found himself torn with doing the right thing; he wanted Fish Face's blood to spill endlessly at his feet, to do nothing more than to make him feel tortured, to be in unbearable amounts of ruthless pain, just as he was, and he wouldn't stop until that fat, useless waste of space cried out, begging and pleading on his knees for every inch of his miserable life to be spared.

And even then, he wagered, he still wouldn't have held back. What happened to Carbine was unforgivable, and nothing short of killing Limburger was justice enough, he caused her death, he took her away from him. If given another chance, he would-

"Did I scare you, rat-boy?" Hacker chuckled deep and dark, interrupting the mouse's impure thoughts on revenge, and he purposely leaned closer to Throttle's ear with a long, dismal pause, whispering, "You ain't seen nothin' scary yet, kid, 'cuz now it's my turn for some wine'n and dine'n time," and he sat up some, still clinging to the black vest with his claws, pulling his capture closer to his mouth. "But please," he pleaded mockingly with a cheshire grin, "Feel free to 'wine' as much as ya' like… makes my meals all the more satisfyin'."

Hacker's mouth slowly began to relax and unhinge from his upper jaw with a 'pop' and Throttle tried cringing away in reaction to the sound, but the strength of his grasp continued its hold. His teeth started separating, breaking apart from one another to allow them to spiral forward, leaving them extremely sharp and fully exposed. His jaw had grown so enormously large by then that Throttle could now see the full extent of its length, as well as his throat lining with several rows of spurs and daggers to help swallow his food whole with ease.

Throttle swore to the heavens above that he was eating his own heart at the moment and he tried his hardest to not let the fear of being digested alive crawl effortlessly around his skin - to keep it together and not lose his goddamn mind over this shit. Gods, he did not want to go out this way.

Suddenly, a loud, ear-piercing crack thundered in the air, and Hacker barrel-rolled into the more dimming areas next to the dumpsters, completely knocked out cold; a pinging sound then echoed off the side walk causing Throttle to look up to see where the damaging hit had come from. There, stood Charlene, panting in a state of panic, green eyes wide with dread written all over her face, and a crowbar lying carelessly at her feet.

Throttle couldn't help the inspiring awe growing upon his cheeks as his jaw dropped; did she really take that guy down in less than two seconds flat? He paused in thought for what seemed like a very long minute before he let out a strained chuckle, finally believing what he'd just witnessed. "Mother of Mars..." He breathed shaking his head in disbelief, trying to get up from the ground. "That's one hell of a right hook you got there, babe" the adrenalin that was coursing through his body during the fight had eventually given out and he crashed to his knees automatically with a tiring and heavy huff.

Charley rolled her eyes, "Come on tough guy, before 'tall dark and scaly' over there comes out of his coma," and she pulled one of Throttle's arms over her shoulder, lifting him up with a grunt and heading towards her bike. Some times she wished they would just take up the extreme sport of knitting when they got angry. At least that was something usually quiet and it required less bodily harm to participate.

Yep, she thought, it was definitely going to be a very, very long night.


The ride to the garage was a quiet one. Charlene insisted she drive, which meant that it left 'Lil Darlin' without a co-pilot. Throttle disagreed with the idea of course, but knowing it was best not to argue with the lady he complied, allowing her to take the wheel as he instructed his bike to follow them home.

To Throttle, the drive to 'Last Chance' seemed to take longer than it normally did. Maybe it was because he was exhausted. Or maybe it was because he had a lot on his mind. Hacker said a lot of damning things tonight that made his blood boil to the core, reaching its limit, and he sure as hell didn't like the thought of Limburger being out of prison. Many things were clearly wrong with that scenario and it put the fear of God into his heart. Especially for his brothers' and Charley. They were obviously in danger again, and not knowing where the son of bitch was made it a million times worse; he didn't have a clue as to where to start or where to go with this new found information that he had and it irritated him even more.

"Stoker." The leader mumbled under his breath in a low rage when the light bulb in his head went off. "He knows somethin', I can feel it," and the garage door opening from a broken crank shaft startled him out of his deep thinking, watching as Charley turned the engine to her bike off- when did they finally reach the garage?

"What about Stoker?" Charlene asked when she stepped away from her ride, turning around; the look on the mouse's face didn't appear very pleasing; he didn't realize she was even listening to him.

"Didn't you hear what Hacker said back there?" The mouse questioned lifting a brow; his words came out harsher than anticipated and he chastised himself for raising his voice to Charley. "Old Fish-Face is-"

"I know." The mechanic interrupted with a sad sigh. "I heard," and she took a few steps up to her living quarters, opening the door to go inside and turning on the light switch closest to her kitchen. "You coming?" she finished absently.

Throttle stared at her incredulously and remained seated on her bike with his arms carefully folded along his chest in alarm. "And you're not concerned that Stoker may know somethin' about all this?" he huffed under his breath, staring her down. "Or how 'bout the possibility of him just conveniently neglecting to tell us anything. Wouldn't that raise a few red flags with you, Charley-girl?"

The mechanic slowly turned and sighed heavily once again and Throttle could tell that she was trying not to get too upset over their latest development; he wasn't helping, but he had to make her realize that this was serious, not something to take lightly, and it pained him in having to be so harsh with her. This was big news, something that they couldn't just brush off with a shrug in their step. It had to be dealt with- now.

Charley moved away from the door with another heavy sigh and walked back up to her bike. Then she did something that she couldn't stop herself from doing and laid a warm hand upon Throttle's cheek in kind. He jumped slightly at her reach, but let her palm remain. "I know how bad things are getting." She said, her words unusually soft, searching his face. "But right now, you need to be cleaned up. So the other stuff can wait." She removed her hand from his cheek and pulled him off her bike with a small smile. "Can't have these cuts of yours getting infected," a pause, "Then where would we be, hm?"

Throttle snorted and looked away from her, his eyes merely tiny slits. "Fine, just like always," he said with a huff.

Charley giggled at his little temper tantrum and began leading him into the house. He followed her obediently as she continued to keep a firm hold of his hand. Then, she let him go, and he felt a small loss in the calming warmth within her touch as she flicked the light on in the bathroom. Throttle flinched some from its brightness before he took a seat on the toilet, waiting surprisingly patient while she grabbed what she needed to heal up his wounds.

But it didn't help his wandering mind any. For one, why was Charley-girl so damn calm about everything? He wasn't used to her acting rational when it came to them being in a fight. He learned that a long while ago when Vincent miscalculated a jump from one of their standard break-ins at Limburger Tower and almost fracturing one of his legs. Boy, was she pretty pissed. Which reminded him-

"Do the bro's know?" Throttle asked in a whisper when Charlene took a seat next to him on the tub's edge.

"Yeah, I spoke to them on the way here," she said, opening the First Aid kit and pulling out a bottle of rubbing alcohol. "No worries," she smiled. "They're aware of your recent stupidity."

Throttle shook his head, ignoring the recent insult towards him. "No, I mean- do they know… about-" and he couldn't finish what he wanted to say, all he could do was let out an agitated sigh.

"No," Charley confirmed, gently reaching for one of his arms. "I figured we'd sort it out together; that way we're all on the same page."

The leader simply nodded. "Smart."

"'Bout time you fellas' realized that I was." She grinned up at him and laid his arm across her lap. "Now," she said, changing the subject. "This will probably sting a little," and she swiped his arm as lightly as she could with a cotton swab.

Throttle gasped, pulling his limb away from her on instinct, but she held firm, making sure that he didn't rip his wounds open any farther than what they already were. "Holy-shi- For the love of- to the Gods Almighty, Charley-girl!" he yelled, trying his best not to swear in front of the lady, the pain was proving the task to be quite difficult at the moment and he almost fell face first off the toilet seat.

"Oh stop being such a big baby." She teased, bringing out the butterfly bandages to seal up his torn up skin, minding the fur. Charley wondered if he could use stitches instead. They were rather deep looking.

Throttle sniffed regaining his cool composure. "Well, it kinda stung."

"And I warned you that it would," Charley bit back with a wide grin, squeezing his shoulder in comfort as she stood from the bathtub, putting her things away. "You're just lucky I saved your furry-butt before old leather lips had you for a late, midnight snack." She turned around with a small smile. "Those cuts of yours could've been ten times worse you know," and her expression stiffened once she saw the look upon Throttle's face.

There was a heavy thought that hadn't crossed his mind yet- and it hit him in the gut like a two-ton truck driving over a hundred miles an hour on the expressway. He had purposely put Charlene in danger without even realizing it and his heart sank at the possibilities of what could have happened if she wasn't fully prepared; that the actions he took tonight weren't fully his to stand-alone. What if Hacker had Charlene hanging by her toes? What if Hacker tried to-

"Hey." Charley said, taking her knees to the floor and crouching in front of him, then forcing his gaze upon her with a single digit under his chin; Throttle had been staring hard at his feet in guilt. "I followed you, alright?" she spoke with sincerity as his muzzle dropped a little lower in surprise. "I was the fur-brained idiot this time."

How did she exactly know what he was thinking?

"Charley-girl, I shouldn't have-" He forced out a humorless chuckle trying to apologize. "I mean-."

"Would I listen to you anyway?" She questioned, her lips were perched into a thin line and she shook her head. "When will you boys' learn that I'm not some delicate little flower that's going to break when things get tough?" She stood away then, leaning against the sink with a fold of her arms. "I won't break." She repeated heatedly when Throttle didn't appear truly convinced with what she was saying. "And I don't appreciate it when the three of you go flying off the handle every time I put myself on the line."

Throttle ran a hand through his hair and sighed. She was right, he mused silently, as usual, but that didn't make him feel any better. If he had kept his emotions in check today, they wouldn't be in this situation in the first place, minus the injuries. Though, if he never did what he had done tonight, they probably wouldn't have found out about Limburger and his escape from the Martian prison compound, and that thought right there, brought him back to Carbine again. "Look, I just don't want what happened with Carbine happening with you too, Charley-girl." He spoke softly, but firmly. "So forgive me a little if I seem to be actin' like a total jerk about all this."

Charley resumed her position back on the floor from seeing the internal vice pull at his heartstrings in despair and she wasted no time taking him into a fierce hug, startling and knocking him and his shades off balance. Her simple touch in affection was vividly warm and inviting. So much so, that it made it easier for him to just wrap his arms up and around her back, getting lost in the moment, but not before he hesitated on where he should put his hands. Her scent was incredibly feminine, almost like wild flowers with a hint of something else he couldn't quite place and he found that he kind of liked it. She felt small, familiar; utterly vulnerable in his grasp and his breath hitched slightly when he thought about the horrible possibilities of losing her too and he unknowingly brought her in closer to his heart. That beating muscle between his ribs couldn't take another loss of a friend. It would be too much. He wanted her to fully understand where he was coming from- to comprehend that when he lost someone close to him it became a little more than he could bear. Losing Carbine just about did him in and if he lost his bros' or even Charley -

"I'm sorry." Charlene apologized, once she felt him squeezing her harder and she unhinged herself to look up into his eyes. Even behind those dark glasses of his she could tell they were incredibly sad, nearly broken.

All Throttle could do was stare at her, completely lost with the endearment in her green pools. His palms had some how fallen down to her hips, settling themselves at the curve of her waist, and he swallowed thickly when he felt the on coming urge of a sudden, nervous lump forming on the inside of his throat. "Me too, babe." He finally spoke, still staring. His voice cracked, and felt a bit more hoarse than he was comfortable with, so he thrummed his chest with a short cough to clear it. Then he did something bold, almost daring, not even sure of himself if he was even in control anymore and flitted a hand to brush a long lock of unruly hair away from Charlene's eyes with the pads of his fingertips, feeling her leaning in from the touch, but when she did, he jerked his hand back as if it got burned.

Throttle cleared his throat once again, realizing the way he was intimately touching Charley and could not fully comprehend why he was to begin with- it left him feeling confused. "We should probably call the fellas'," he said a little too fast as he got up from his seat, trying to head out of the bathroom door, but he found that he couldn't. Someone, or rather some thing was keeping him from taking another step. He quickly looked down to see what was stopping him from moving forward and his face immediately turned three different shades of red. "Uh, s-sorry 'bout that, Charley." He mumbled, chuckling in embarrassment. Then he unraveled his tightly coiled tail swiftly away from the lady's thigh and left the bathroom without saying another word.

The mechanic sat stunned in silence, waiting for the over heat from her blush to leave her cheeks, wondering herself, as to what the hell just happened as well.

That, and with the growing fact that she was really, really beginning to hate her bathroom.


Author's Note: Thank you guys for the reviews so far. I look forward to them every time I open my page! Also, the boys, including Stoker, who plays a pretty big part, will be coming up in chapter 3. I am working on that as we speak! So again, thank you ever so much for your time by checking out my fictional fun! Hope to see more people becoming interested once the story starts progressing a little more. :D

BIG PERSONAL THANK YOU'S TO:

Thoughtmirror: For a review and the follow.

The-Ruby-Rabbit: For a review and the follow.

miceaholic: For a review and the follow.

clary2008: For the follow.

ThePaleEmpress For the follow

Also, there is one more follower but, for some reason it won't let me recognize them through typing. But you know who you are. ;) So thank you to you too!

It's very appreciated! :D