When a Fight Goes Wrong Part 2

This is the final part, I hope you enjoyed.

The following seven days after the fight went by very slowly for the mice who were awake. It felt like an eternity when in reality it was only seven days. Stoker and Throttle stayed at Vinnie's bedside the most. Modo felt like he was better off helping Charlene out at the garage instead. He would still visit the white furred mouse, but it would be at the times during the day where he would be all alone. He felt it was better to talk to Vinnie then. It has been a rollercoaster to say the least. One moment they would be happy as he makes improvements then a few hours later all that progress was undone. He was one very poorly mouse and they all knew it. They all knew deep down that he still could die on them even though he was going to be woken up today.

The doctor in charge of his care thought it was best if they did it today. He thought it might break the cycle if they gave Vinnie's body a little more work to do. The ventilator tube was most likely going to be staying in for a few days, his lungs are the weakest that they have ever been. The doctor thinks if they took the tube out now there was a huge risk of him going into respiratory arrest and sending everything back to square one. Everyone agreed that it would be best for Vinnie to get as much help as possible and if that meant that he needed to be on a ventilator for a few more days later then that was going to happen. "He's not going to be happy that he is going to be silent for another few days," Modo says, with a chuckle.

They knew what their brother was like and he was a talker. He would also hate having his mask off, but he needs it off, so he could have the ventilator in properly. There was nothing that they could do but hope and pray that Vinnie was going to make it now. They felt a whole lot more optimistic then they did this time a week ago but until Vinnie was awake and looking that them again they would be nervous. "Now it's up to Vinnie when he wakes up," the doctor said, they had just stopped the medication that was keeping him in the deep comatose state that he was in after the emergency surgery. "It's going to be okay Vinnie," Throttle tells the smaller mouse. He just wanted to reassure the young mouse that he was going to be fine because he was most likely going to be freaking out.

Throttle and Modo decided to talk to Vinnie while Stoker watched on. He just wanted the three bros to have their moment together where they realise that the white furred mouse is going to be fine and he will recover from this. The mice were very lucky that they didn't have to pay for the healthcare Vinnie was receiving unlike Charlene if she was in this situation. Stoker decided that he was going to also write down the details of their revenge plan. Once Vinnie is out of hospital and in a safe location they were going to strike. The cats were going to pay for what they had done to the youngest of the group and they were going to feel the pain for many months to come. "Are you sure you don't want to be closer?" Throttle asks Stoker.

"I'm fine here for now. I want to give you three the chance to just have as private of a reunion moment that you can get," Stoker replies. Then he decided to be a little silly and draw the plan which was them on their bikes shooting the cats. It was a very simplistic drawing and they would probably compare that with the drawings that a five-year-old human would do. He didn't have the time to make the complicated detailed drawings he used to. He was too focused on the three mice, the three brothers that he had personally trained to be the best of the best. He knew what happened to Vinnie was through no fault of his own, Stoker just wished that he could have done more to help and more to prevent the scene from happening again.

Stoker could also be a door guard, stop nosey doctors from coming in for a moment until Vinnie was more awake and aware of his surroundings. The biker mice where somewhat of a celebrity group back on Mars, so doctors that were not in charge of Vinnie's care were desperate to get a look for themselves at the men who had a big part in saving Mars from the Catatonian army. They also couldn't forget all the help the mice had done when their homeland was destroyed by the Plutarkians before the mice left to go to Earth the first time around. The Regenerator was safe, the cats had no idea where it is kept which allowed Stoker to have as much time with his bros that he needed. He just wished the target was himself and not Vinnie.

An hour had passed after the doctor said that all the sedation had been withdrawn. Modo and Throttle were beginning to question whether or not the doctor had been truthful when Modo felt the smallest mouse's hand twitch against his own. Modo smiled, it was the confirmation that he needed, the confirmation that Vinnie was going to be okay. "Hey Vinnie, it's going to be just fine. Take your time little bro," Modo tells the now semi-conscious mouse. They all knew from previous experiences that the initial wake up process is slow, but after that it should be smooth sailing. They were told that talking to Vinnie was going to be the best help they could provide him while he was comatose, and it worked.

Vinnie was a lot calmer when he was waking up than he had been during previous experiences. He could hear Modo now and Throttle, so he knew he was safe. It didn't matter to him at that moment where he was. The two older mice let out a silent cheer when Vinnie finally was able to open his eyes for the first time in a week. It took him a moment to get used to the amount of light but the first thing he fully focused on was his brothers. "You had us worried Vin, I thought for a moment there I was going to lose you," Throttle says. It was a difficult thing for him to admit but he was happy he got it out there. He knew everyone else shared the same feelings he does. They didn't know if Vinnie was going to live.

"It's been a week since the battle, you have been in here ever since. You have been sedated for that long. The tube can come out tomorrow," Throttle tells Vinnie, making sure that he knew about the tube. They all know Vinnie will be counting down the hours before the tube gets removed. Well, that's what they originally thought. Vinnie seemed to be different this time around. Modo knows something is off, he isn't giving his cheeky hand signs to the guys. He also wasn't trying to take the tube out as he had done so in the past. This battle had been tough on Vinnie, and it was becoming clearer and clearer to the bros the more aware of his surrounds Vinnie became. "Hey bros, go tell the girls that the rookie woke up," Stoker says.

He wouldn't have intervened, he wanted the bros to enjoy the time together that they had but Vinnie was in an odd place and he needed bringing out of it quickly. Stoker was worried that Vinnie's behaviour was more signs that he was having flashbacks of the time he was held by the Plutarkians and the treatment that he suffered that the bros didn't know about. He had hallucinations of the bros being there and telling him that he was okay when in reality he wasn't, and it was only a matter of time before the Plutarkians came to hurt him again. "Listen rookie, I promise you that you are safe. You are here on Earth with Throttle, Modo, Carbine, Charley and me Stoker," Stoker tells the younger mouse.

He made sure that he spoke a lot slower than he usually does and makes sure that he has Vinnie's full attention the entire time despite the poor mouse waking up in a flashback and a scary place. Stoker was going to guide him back to the happy place and where he was calmer, and he could fully appreciate the support around him. He knew the last thing Vinnie wanted was the bros finding out, so he sent a message to Carbine asking to take the older two bros away from the hospital to get food. It would hopefully buy him the time he needs to make Vinnie calm down. Stoker never thought that he would be cursing the tube currently down Vinnie's throat, but here he was silently cursing it. He needed Vinnie to tell him what was wrong and what he was feeling so that they could work through it together.

Stoker looks around until he finds a notepad and a pen that Charlene had left on the table for them. She knew that Vinnie would want to communicate with them when he woke up, so she was giving them the tools to help him along with it. Stoker passed the pen to Vinnie and held the notebook so that he could express his thoughts on the paper. He was worried that Vinnie was not in the mindset to do it right now, but it might help him. It might help Stoker find the right words to say to make the situation better. "Take your time rookie, we will work through this together," Stoker says, Vinnie was aware enough that he could attempt to write coherent sentences. His hand was shaking a lot though.

I keep seeing that stupid Karbunkle guy everywhere. He keeps experimenting on me and there is nothing that I can do to stop them. I keep seeing Throttle and Modo being experimented on too. Please make it stop Stoker, I am begging you.

It was one of the first times since Vinnie's father died that Stoker has seen the young mouse cry. He completely understood why, what Karbunkle put them through back then would make even the toughest human suffer from PTSD. Stoker was starting to see how many young mice where getting PTSD either from the war with the Plutarkians and the current war with the Catatonian army. Stoker can't hug Vinnie properly under the current circumstances, but he managed to help him calm down somewhat. "I know rookie, I know it was hard on the three of you. It's all over now, you will never have to see Karbunkle for as long as that slimy asshole is still around," Stoker says. He noticed Vinnie was fighting less against the ventilator now and he was calming down a considerable amount. He was going to be just fine.

Yeah, I just can't seem to escape the images of my face being burnt and hearing the guys screams mix in my own as Karbunkle plays his sick and twisted games. Whenever the cat battle was, I honestly thought I was going to die then. I didn't know if I should have welcomed it with open arms or not. I am tired Stoker; the memories never give me peace. I just want the peace from them.

It broke Stoker's heart to read Vinnie's desperate pleas, he never knew how desperate Vinnie was to die at some points because of what he had been through. He knew that he needed to speak to the top doctor back on Mars to get Vinnie some emotional support, the macho mouse had been hiding behind his persona for almost far too long now. The only way to stop the pain was to talk through it and understand that it was okay to show emotions after going through what he had been through. Maybe even opening up to Throttle or Modo in a private setting could help Vinnie. Stoker was going through all of the options in his head and will decide to try them all out to see what happens, if the Martian doctor can't help then he would try to get Vinnie to open up to the bros. If that doesn't work then they didn't know where to go from there.

"It might seem difficult now and it might well seem impossible, but I think we can overcome this you know rookie. I know that we can get you fixed and back to your usual happy go lucky self in no time," Stoker says and squeezes the white mouse's paw gently. He was relieved that Vinnie had the strength do squeeze the older mouse's paw back. Stoker smiled at the bros when they walked back in ten minutes later. Vinnie had fallen asleep, but that was okay. He is still healing from the battle injuries that happened only a week ago. It is going to take a lot of energy to recover from all of it. "He's okay bros, he just had some issues figuring out where he is right now," Stoker says, as he gets up when the bros get closer to the bedside. He wants to let the bros get as close to their brother as possible.

"He still suffers from what Karbunkle did to us all doesn't he?" Throttle asks Stoker. Stoker has the notepad close so that the bros can't see what Vinnie wrote. Well, it seems like now maybe having the bros guide Vinnie through his Post Traumatic Stress Disorder was going to be better than waiting for months on end for the Martian doctor, he is busy enough as it is with all the mice on Mars needing his treatment and diagnosis daily. Yes, Vincent would be a high priority because of the severity of his symports and the length of time that has passed where he has been displaying them, but Stoker hoped that a little bit of brother therapy would be the best cure. "He is, he woke up thinking he was back there again. He wrote some pretty upsetting stuff," Stoker admits.

The girls watch on from a distance, they could hear what was going on and they didn't want to interfere. It was a hard thing for them to discover. Throttle knew Vinnie was most likely suffering from some form of PTSD, but it had never been confirmed until now. The notes told a story which was a harsh look at the reality for a lot of the freedom fighters on Mars. Even Throttle and Modo themselves have been through similar things to Vinnie, but they talked to each other about it which made them feel better. They still had their bad days, but they got through them and remained strong. In some ways Vinnie's façade helped them, Vinnie's happiness when genuine was infectious and hard to ignore.

"I was beginning to suspect he has PTSD to be honest Stoker. Sometimes in the middle of the night, I will be up and thinking about home and how proud my momma would be at all of us and I would hear him. He would have woken up from a nightmare and panic for a little while, then he would calm himself down and when I would check on him he would be fast asleep again," Modo says, revealing more about Vinnie's suffering that was first known. Vinnie keeps his personal feelings private at the cost of his mental and possibly even physical health as well. "We need to help Vinnie through this, he is not on his own anymore. We have been through it and lived to tell the tale and I am sure he can too," Throttle says, making Stoker smile.

Stoker knew he didn't need to worry as much about Vinnie anymore, he still would because at the end of the day he is sure Vinnie sees him as somewhat of a replacement father figure after all the help he has given the young mouse in the days, weeks, months and years that have followed the death of his father. Stoker has a special place in his heart for the boys and would do anything for them. "Yeah, I am sure we can all help Vinnie out. I know a friend who can give me some tips on helping someone cope with PTSD. I won't reveal anything about Vinnie. I can cover it by saying I know a war veteran who is struggling, and I want some tips so that I can help him without forcing it upon him," Charlene says, determined to help her lover.

They haven't been officially together for very long, but she saw more genuine smiles out of him that she has ever seen. She was one of the reasons why Vinnie had longer periods of genuine happiness and she was determined to keep that up. "Charlene you are amazing, human doctors know more about PTSD than regular Martian doctors. It would be more beneficial to him to have an expert in the subject rather than someone who knows very little about it. It's sometimes hard to forget that PTSD has only recently been discovered and diagnosed on Mars. They are relying on a lot of help from training resources down here to help treat the patients as best as they can," Stoker says. The conversation had to take a pause as a doctor had walked in to do his checks on Vinnie, they were used to this.

Stoker told them that Vinnie had woken up for about a 20-minute period and didn't hint toward anything else wrong. He was just weak, tired and sore from the fight. The doctor said that it was common for that to happen and once he has rested and recovered some more that a full recovery would happen. Half an hour after the doctor left, the nurse came in to wean Vinnie's dependency on the ventilator. Then ten minutes after that Vinnie woke up again and Throttle went straight in for a hug. Vinnie had tears in his eyes when he knew what the hug meant to him while he is so fragile. "It's going to be okay Vinnie. Everything is going to be just fine, you can come to us at any time," Throttle says.

Then they talk to Vinnie and got him to open up a little more, mainly making him aware that talking about the suffering and getting the feelings out in the open was making him no less of a manly mouse than he was before. Vinnie wrote on his notepad and opened up a whole lot more than they were expecting him to at this early stage of the treatment. Everything was good, everyone was telling him positive things about what he is going through and how it's going to take time, but there is a light at the end of the tunnel and he is going to get there. Throttle and Modo opened up about their experiences and made sure that he knew that he was not alone in his experiences. If they lived to tell their stories then they knew that Vinnie would be able to do the same.

Vinnie had gone back to calling Stoker old timer which showed that he was in brighter spirits than he was when he first woke up that day. Charlene sat next to him and played with the fur on the top of his head, she already told him that she didn't mind about the scars on his face. Each scar underneath the fur tells a story about the battle or incident that it came from and how he overcame it successfully. The burns that took most of the right side of his face were bad, but it didn't mean that she loved him any less for them. She told him that as soon as he was able to he would have his mask back on which made him happy. What he wasn't aware of was that she had gotten a new one made which would hopefully be comfier than his old one.

She is still keeping his old one, it will be proudly displayed in a case. It will be a way to help him talk about his experiences and give him something to treasure when he becomes an old mouse. Vinnie managed to stay awake for an hour this time before the need to sleep became too much. The others around him smiled, everything is going to work out fine. Now they can add the finishing touches to their plan, knowing that in a weeks' time that Vinnie was going to be back at the scoreboard resting. Rimfire has been a big help in making sure that the cats weren't to know what was coming to them and to make sure that they had no idea that the mice lived in the scoreboard. There are only a few locations where they could keep Vinnie safe while he finishes his recovery.

Rimfire was trying to call Modo at that very moment, he was worried about his uncle Vinnie and knew that today was a big day for everyone. "Hey Rimfire, what's got you all fired up?" Modo asks, once he finally realised that his phone had been ringing and who was trying to get hold of him. "Is Uncle Vinnie awake yet?" they all hear as Rimfire's reply. In the panic and the slight rush of the day they had forgotten to update him on the progress. "Yep, he's been awake a couple of times now. He's gonna be not himself for a little while though. He's got to rest up and heal," Modo replies and he hears his nephews excited cheer on the other side of the line. Modo updated Rimfire further and decided with Stoker's blessing that he was going to replace Vinnie on the team only for when they were going to take their revenge.

Rimfire was going to keep an eye on the cat's base until a few short hours before the attack would take place. That way they would have the most accurate and up to date information on what they were up to. It would also help them with the strategy and make sure they don't get caught in any traps. Rimfire had mentioned that Hairball believes that Vinnie had died, so it is a high possibility that the other cats believe the same. "Let's let the cats believe that, it will surprise them next week when we tell them that he is still alive, and we are whipping their butts on his behalf," Modo says and Throttle agrees. That would be good, it would be interesting to see the looks on their faces when they found out their plan had failed once again.

They loved it when they let the cats think that they have gotten away with their plan and it works and then Throttle, Carbine, Modo, Rimfire and Stoker show up and ruin their day. Well it would usually be the three bros, but Vinnie will be out of action for another week or two if he continues this improvement. They are sure that with the right care and rest Vinnie will be back on his feet by the end of the month. They just need to make sure that the cats don't interrupt their plans to get Vinnie better without any battles or other interferences. Vinnie is comfortable the way he is right now, they don't want that changing any time soon. He will be going to go home with some strong pain killers because of the injuries that he has.

A week and a half later

"Steady Vinnie, don't want the stitches ripping open again," Throttle says as he helps Vinnie to get from the door of the scoreboard to the sofa, seeing as he didn't think that Vinnie could get much further in his current state. Walking long distances often wore him out. He needed a long rest when he walked along the corridor back in the hospital. Even the journey from his room to the bus was exhausting for him. He was tired and needed a rest and if he could get comfy on the sofa then he could sleep for a while. Throttle just hoped that the pain medication he had taken will last for long enough for Vinnie to get a peaceful sleep. They were waiting on the prescription and paracetamol doesn't work on the mice, so it had to be morphine.

Modo was still at the hospital, waiting for the prescription to be filled. Vinnie wouldn't have been able to stand for long so they all decided that Charlene, Vinnie and Throttle would go back to the scoreboard before everyone else. Maybe then Vinnie would be fast asleep and still comfortable when the other mice get back. Charlene knows what to do anyway. Once everyone is back they are making their final preparations for the main revenge attack which will happen in a few hours' time. They hope that since Vinnie still sleeps for a majority of the day that they could do it while he sleeps and not worry and upset him since he relies on them for a lot of the emotional support he needs. The Catatonian attack has resurfaced a lot of bad memories.

Throttle sits next to Vinnie's head once he has settled down. Over the last week and a half, they discovered a technique that works to settle him into a peaceful sleep which lasts at most 4 or 5 hours at a time which is good. If he does it twice in a row then he can get from anywhere between eight to ten hours a night which is what he needs. On top of that he has several naps during the day which vary in length. All of it helps with his recovery. Throttle sits with him and tells him some Martian tales they were told as children. It helps him fall asleep and it brings back the more peaceful memories of much more simpler times. Charlene enjoys the stories too, she gets more insight into what life was like before war broke out.

It also interests her to hear how similar the stories are between Martian and Human children. She offers stories of her own to the mice when they go through tough times and hard memories. Throttle was telling the story from Modo's mom's childhood. Vinnie loved those stories the most out of all of the stories that he gets told. Although he does quite enjoy Charlene's stories too. Soon he drifts off into a peaceful sleep and Throttle covers him in a blanket. "Sometimes it's easy to forget that he is the youngest out of the three of us. He has been through so much horror that many other mice his age wouldn't have gone through. We all lost our fathers to the Plutarkian's, we still bear the scars from the war," Throttle says.

He feels horrible for the youngest, he was only a teenager when he first joined the Freedom Fighters where the others were either in the late teens or early twenties. He was definitely the youngest to sign up back then. "He always acted more mature for his age, even when we were back on Mars. I think he just felt like after his father died during one of the attacks in the Plutarkian war he had to look after his momma like his father told him to before he left. It was a lot of responsibility for such a young mouse, Vinnie took it very seriously," Modo says, having just walked in from outside. He had heard what Throttle had just told Charlene. "Very true, and he always thought that he to work harder than he needed too," Throttle tells them.

"That was what I thought was going to be his downfall when he first joined. He wanted to be at the same level as me right from the get go. He's proven himself as a worthy fighter though, he just needs to learn when it is time to take a break," Stoker says, Rimfire and Carbine are at the cat base already. Stoker was just going to go through the final details with Throttle and Modo before the three of them leave for revenge. "Does his momma know what happened?" Modo asks, they often update their mommas on how they are doing on earth. "Not yet, waited until Vinnie was out of hospital. She'll know by the end of the night. She does worry about him a lot anyway, so I didn't want her to get very worried while communication is bad," Stoker says.

"Maybe it will be good if Vinnie is awake when you call his mom. That way she can hear him and be completely reassured by the fact that he is safe and getting better," Throttle suggests. Stoker agrees, and they work on their final battle plan while Modo gets the gear ready. They want to make sure that the cats can't get up to their usual tricks for a long while to come. They want the cats to feel the pain that they went through when they were waiting to see in Vinnie would live to see the next sunrise. Then the agonising wait to see if he would make it to nightfall and then through to the next morning. "That's a good idea Throttle. His mom would be calmer and happier if she heard her son telling her that it was okay and that he is okay," Stoker says.

A few hours later

"I promise mom I'm okay. Yes, the bros are taking good care of me," Vinnie tells his anxious mother on the phone. She was happy to hear her son on the phone. She was less happy to hear how rough the last three weeks have been and what happened, but she is okay now, she knows that Vinnie is well on the road to recovery. Throttle and Modo chuckled, his momma was a lot worse than this when the three of them were back on Mars. Even their own mommas were quite worried. They do know that they are all capable of taking care of themselves. "I'll come back and visit soon Mom, I promise," Vinnie says, and they talk some more. He missed her as much as she missed him, and he was sure Stoker would take him to see her for a day or two.

The revenge mission went so much better than they all anticipated. Hairball and the rest of the cats are definitely going to be sore when the morning arrives. They weren't even sure at this point that there were some fatalities on the other side. It was a huge surprise for the cats, they were acting as if the mice went back to Mars after Vinnie died for his funeral, so they could take over in a day's time no worries. Throttle and Modo both decided that they would spend the night with Vinnie in between them, they still had a worry that they were going to wake up and this would all be some horrible dream. They know that it isn't now, but they could still wake up the next morning and it would all be different.

And that is the end of my first Biker Mice from Mars fic. I hope you enjoyed. I don't know if I will make another one. We'll see how it goes.

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