THE MUSIC OF OUR LIVES

a Road Rovers fan fiction by Ratchet McCloud

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the songs or canon characters in this fic.

Summary: Hunter leaves Rovers HQ by himself to visit his mother on the anniversary of his first visit, and it's not purely a social visit; he wants to ask his mother's advice on certain matters. This will impact the team in a big way... (Pairings: Hunter x Colleen, takes place after episode 13 of the series)

Chapter 2
Snow Angels
Featured song: "All I Want Is Forever"
Original performers: Regina Belle, James "J.T." Taylor
From album Master of the Game (J. T. Taylor, 1989)

22 February 1998, 09h00 local time
Road Rovers HQ, USA

It was mid-morning when the Sky Rover returned to Road Rovers headquarters. Hunter parked the Sky Rover in the vehicle bay, and then he and his mother disembarked. Shaking herself to get rid of some perceived discomfort, Hunter's mother barked, {Wow, that was one interesting experience.}

"First time flying, huh, Mom?" Hunter asked her.

{Not like that,} she whined. {I don't know how anyone could ever get used to flying at that speed.} She shook herself again. {So, son, where is everyone? It's too quiet here.}

"Let's see..." Hunter considered. "They'll all have eaten breakfast by now, so let's try the recreation room."

{Lead the way, son.} So Hunter led his mother toward the rec room. On the way, they passesed a room with six devices that looked like phone booths. Hunter's mother noticed the machines. {What are those things?} she asked Hunter.

"Those machines are called Transdogrifiers," Hunter explained. "The Transdogrifier is the explanation for how I got this body and how I became a Road Rover. When a normal dog steps in, they gain a humanoid body shape, and all the abilities that go with it—language, bipedal locomotion, and so forth. And when a Transdogrified canine steps in, they change back." Hunter's mother had a skeptical look on her face, so Hunter said, "I think it might be better if I showed you. Come on." So he entered the room, stepped into one of the devices, and closed the door. There was a flash of light, and when Hunter stepped out, he was in his natural form, although he was a bit unsteady on his feet—after all, it had been a while since the last time he'd been in that form. {See?} he said. {It's just like I said.}

{Did it hurt?} his mother asked.

{Not at all, although it is a little jarring to have your perspective shift suddenly like that.} He stepped back into the device, closed the door, and a flash of light later, he was back in Road Rover form. "So, what do you think, Mom?" he asked.

{How truly remarkable,} she barked. She went up to the device Hunter used. {You said it doesn't hurt?}

"Correct."

{Anything else I should know about these machines?}

"Actually, there is. Watch this." Hunter ran out of the room at full speed, then ran back in—all in less than a second. "The Transdogrifier is also the reason why I can do what I just did. It might be different with you, though. I have five teammates, and being Transdogrified affected each of us differently. Most of us gained super powers—I have super speed; Colleen has super reflexes; Blitz, our Doberman teammate, has very sharp claws; and Exile, our Siberian Husky teammate, can burn or freeze things with his gaze."

{So these things have turned you guys into superheroes.}

"I suppose that's one way to look at it, Mom."

{What about your other two teammates?}

"Well, that's where things got interesting. Shag, our Polish Lowland Sheepdog teammate, was too big to fit into the Transdogrifier, so his transformation was only partial. He gained a humanoid body, but only partially gained the ability to speak. He still gained a super power, sort of—his fur can store things that shouldn't be able to fit in there. And Scout, a Rottweiler who's actually my Master's pet, was a test subject for an experimental version of the Transdogrifier. Being subjected to the device made him mentally unstable. He goes into a blood frenzy if he sees any of us get seriously hurt. We call him Muzzle because he has to be restrained whenever he goes into the field with us... that is, until we are ready to unleash him, and when we do, it's not pretty."

{I see.} Without another word, she ran toward the device and jumped in. Hunter tried to stop her, but she'd already closed the door. There was a flash of light, and when she stepped out, she was bipedal and wearing the standard Road Rover armor. Or rather, when she tried to step out, because she tripped over her own feet (seeing as she wasn't used to walking on only two legs) and fell, the left side of her face coming into contact with the floor.

"Ohmygosh! Mom, are you all right?!" Hunted rushed over to his mother and helped her up.

"Yes, son, I'm fine. My left cheek hurts, though, and it feels swollen. I must have a bruise." Hunter took a look, then said, "Yeah, Mom, you've got a massive one on your cheek—wait a second, something's happening, and it's an unexpected twist."

"What's happening?"

"Either I'm seeing things, or the bruise is getting smaller as I'm looking at it."

"Come again?"

"It's healing rapidly." About that time, the bruise completely disappeared. "And now there's no more bruise."

Unconvinced, Hunter's mother was about to voice her skepticism, but her mouth froze in the open position, as though she were considering something. "Come to think of it, I can't feel the bruise anymore. I think you're right, son. It's gone! Seems like I've got super healing or something."

"So it would seem." Then Hunter remembered what had just happened. "That was really stupid, Mom, just jumping into the Transdogrifier like that! You could have been seriously harmed!"

"I figured the best way to understand what it was all about is to experience the transformation for myself."

"Well, you certainly did that. So, how was it like to walk on two legs for the first time—and on the heels, no less?"

"I wouldn't really call that walking, son. I took one step and tripped."

"Would you like to practice walking before I introduce you to the team?"

"Yeah, I think that'd be best." So Hunter's mother walked around the room for a few minutes until she was steady enough that she didn't have to hold onto Hunter for support, and then they were on their way. Some minutes later, they reached the rec room. Sure enough, all of Hunter's teammates were there. Blitz, Exile, and Shag were playing poker (yeah yeah yeah, I know, it's cliché, shut up) and Colleen and Scout were watching a Homeward Bound videocassette on the television. None of them noticed Hunter or his mother—the guys were too engrossed in their card game; and Colleen and Scout had their backs to Hunter. So Hunter greeted them, "Hey, guys."

"Comrade Hunter!/Hunter!/Runrer!/Huntie!" his teammates all said in unison. (You figure out who said what.)

"Where were you being all morning, Comrade Hunter?" Exile asked. "You were goneski and we looked everywhere for you!"

"I think it's obvious where I was, Exile," Hunter deadpanned. "Guys, I'd like for you to meet my mother..." Hunter trailed off and, after a few seconds of silence, snapped his fingers. "I just realized that I don't know my own mother's name! Yet another unexpected twist! Bummer!"

"Goldenrod," his mother supplied. "Call me Goldie, though." After the guys all said some variation of "Pleasure to meet you" and Goldie reciprocated, Goldie fixed her eyes on Colleen, who'd remained back somewhat. "You must be Colleen," she said to her. "It's a pleasure to meet you, too."

"The pleasure is all mine, Goldie," Colleen replied. As the two females went aside to get to know each other better, the guys crowded around Hunter. "Yeah, guys," he told them, "I went to visit my mother. It was her idea to come back with me, though; she wanted to meet the whole team."

"And what about being Transdogrified, Hunter?" Blitz queried.

"Also her idea, Blitz. She asked me about the Transdogrifier, and I answered her questions, but I didn't know she was going to try it out so soon." Hunter looked toward the place where Goldie and Colleen went to talk. "Well, it looks like Mom and Colleen are hitting it off pretty well." Blitz, Exile, and Shag had to agree.

"Yes, it looks like they're getting along quite well, Hunter," another male voice piped up.

"Well, what can I say, Master, my mother just has this way about her—" Hunter did a double take. "Master! How long have you been in the room?"

"Just got here, actually. Can we speak, in my office?" Shepard didn't exactly sound pleased.

"Sure." So the two went to Dr. Shepard's office. Shepard entered first. "Close the door behind you, Hunter," he said. Hunter did so. Sitting down behind his desk, Shepard pointed at the chair in front of the desk and said, "Hunter, sit." So Hunter did. For several seconds, Shepard said nothing. He just leaned over his desk, his head supported by his elbows, and he started massaging his temples with his knuckles. Finally, he spoke. "Hunter, what on earth possessed you to bring a civilian dog back here and let her use the Transdogrifier? Do you realize that the device could have killed her?"

"Yes, Master," Hunter admitted, "but there are two things." He held up a fist with the index finger held up. "One: It wasn't my idea to bring my mother back here; it was hers. She wanted to meet Colleen." He then held up his middle finger to join his index finger. "And two: I didn't know that my mother had any intention to use the Transdogrifier until it was too late to stop her." He put his hand down. "So none of this is really my fault."

Dr. Shepard paused to consider Hunter's words, then he sighed. "Well, in any event, what's done is done. Did your mother say why she wanted to undergo the transformation?"

"Yes, but only after the fact. She said that she thought the best way to understand it was to experience it for herself."

"And did she manifest any ability that one might consider superhuman?"

"Yes. As a matter of fact, she did. It seems that any injury she suffers now heals completely in just a few seconds."

"I see. How do you know this?"

"Well, as she was stepping out of the Transdogrifier, she tripped, fell, and kind of face-planted, giving her a really nasty bruise on the cheek. The bruise healed in less than ten seconds, Master. At first I thought I was seeing things, but when she told me that she couldn't even feel the bruise anymore I knew that what I'd seen wasn't a hallucination."

Shepard tapped his chin pensively. "Interesting. Yes, very interesting." He stood up slowly and started pacing. "It would appear that your mother shall get more than she bargained for, Hunter."

"Master?" Hunted asked, confused.

"I'm going to have her join the team, Hunter. Someone with that ability would be perfect for the front lines, yes?"

"Whatever you think is best, Master," Hunter said submissively, although he felt like dancing at that moment. Yes! he thought. My mom's going to be a Road Rover! This is awesome!

"I'm glad that we're on the same page, Hunter. That will be all. You may return to your previous activities now." And he returned to the chair behind his desk. Hunter nodded and left, returning to the rec room. When he got there, he saw that Colleen and Goldie had finished talking and were just hanging out watching Homeward Bound. Hunter smiled. This would be the perfect opportunity to put my mother's advice to good use, he thought. So he snuck up behind Colleen, put his hands over her eyes, and said in an affected voice, "Guess who."

"Is that you, Huntie?" Colleen asked.

"Dang, you guessed right, Colleen. I can never fool you."

"Is there something you wanted, Huntie?"

"Actually, Colleen, there is. Could we speak in private?"

"Of course, Huntie. Any particular spot?"

"No, not really. How about we go for a walk outside?"

"Say no more, Huntie. Let's go!" And the two were off. Goldie saw this and said, to no one in particular, "That's my boy!"

A few minutes later, Hunter and Colleen, dressed in their winter gear, were outside. "So," Colleen asked, "what's this all about, Huntie?"

"Well..." Hunter cleared his throat. "This morning, I went to visit my mother. It was on this day last year that I visited her for the first time since I was separated from her as a pup. This time around, I asked her for advice on certain matters, and she gave me some very good advice." Hunter swallowed nervously. "Colleen, there's some things I need to tell you that I've put off telling you for about a year now. I put it off because I was too afraid to say anything. Can you ever forgive me for that, Colleen?"

"You're one of my best friends, Huntie. Of course I forgive you."

"Thank you. Here I go." Hunter took a deep breath. "I think that you're the smartest, bravest, nicest, and most beautiful female I've ever laid eyes on. I could look into those shimmering pools of blue that you call eyes and be totally lost in them. Your voice sounds like an angelic chorus to me; I honestly could listen to it all day long and never tire of hearing it. And those flawless kicks of yours, wow! Nothing short of amazing to behold! I love everything about you—no, let me rephrase that—I love you, Colleen Blair. I always have and always will. And..." Hunter started breaking into song:

All I want, all I want is forever
I don't want much from you, just your love my whole life through, that's all I want, yeah, that's all I want
And all I need is to be with you always
I don't need much, you see, I just need eternity, to be with you, yeah, to be with you

Forever, all I want is forever
Am I asking too much asking for all your love forever?

All I know is when we're together, baby
Time passes much too fast, and I want to make it last, last forevermore, yes, forevermore
And all my life, I've been waiting to find you
Now that you're finally here, I want you always near to share my life, yeah, to share my life

Forever, all I want is forever
Am I asking too much asking for all your love
Forever, won't you give me forever?
I'm not asking too much asking for all your love forever

Just say that you will stay for always
And always you'll be mine
Just till the end of time

Forever, all I want is forever
Am I asking too much asking for all your love
Forever, all I want is forever
Am I asking too much asking for all your love forever?

When Hunter finished singing, he produced a velvet box from somewhere on his person and got down on one knee in the sand. As he opened the box, revealing a ring encrusted with many tiny diamonds, he asked, "So, Colleen, may I have all your love forever?"

Colleen was thunderstruck. She couldn't speak for nearly a minute. "Could you please repeat what you just said," she finally asked, "just to make sure I didn't hallucinate it?"

"Of course I can. Colleen Blair, will you marry me?" A smile crept across Colleen's face as tears of joy issued forth from her eyes. She put both hands to her mouth, just taking in the moment, and she finally whispered, "Oh, Huntie... I thought you were never going to ask me that." She let out a joyous shout as she wrapped her arms around Hunter and said, "Yes, Hunter Clinton, of course I'll marry you!" She grabbed Hunter's face and gave him one very long kiss. On the mouth. When their lips parted, Colleen said, "I love you so much, my brave Huntie-Wuntie."

"And I love you, my beautiful English rose," Hunter replied, slipping the ring on Colleen's ring finger. And they kissed again. It was a wonderful moment for the both of them.

Hunter and Colleen spent the rest of the morning and well into the afternoon outside, throwing snowballs, making snowmen, and making snow angels. Finally, at about 16h00, they went back inside. The rest of the team was waiting for them in the rec room. "Ah, Comrade Hunter, Comrade Colleen," Exile said to them. "Where were you two being all dayski?"

"We went outside to talk," Hunter answered him. "Well, we did more than just talk, actually."

Then Shag said something unintelligible, but his inflections indicated that he was asking a question. "Ja, what else did you guys do?" Blitz piped up.

"We did other stuff," Colleen replied, "but the most wonderful thing relates to this." And she lifted up her hand, showing them the ring on her finger.

"That is being an engagement ringski, Comrade Colleen," Exile observed. Blitz's eyes went wide.

"That's right. Huntie proposed to me, and I said yes. Guys, we're getting married!"

Shag said something unintelligible. Exile nodded at Shag. "It is indeed being wonderful news, Well saidski, Shag." Goldie didn't say a word—at least, not at first. She simply embraced Colleen. "Welcome to the family," she told her.

"Thank you, Goldie," Colleen said. "You have no idea how happy that makes me."

"Think nothing of it, dear," Goldie replied. "You're Hunter's special someone, so that makes you OK in my book."

Blitz, however, did not congratulate the new couple. As a matter of fact, he didn't do anything. He had gone catatonic when Colleen flashed the ring. When he recovered enough to actually do something, he got up and fled to his quarters. When he got there, he flung himself on the bed, buried his face in his pillow, and cried his eyes out. Before long, there was a knock on his door. "Blitz?" It was Hunter. "Are you all right? You ran out of the rec room like you were escaping from a demon."

"Ja, Hunter, I'm fine," Blitz lied. "I just want to be alone for now."

"OK, Blitz." And Hunter left. So Blitz went back to crying into his pillow and feeling rather sorry for himself. And he did that for the rest of that day, while his teammates ate dinner and had social activities.

23 February 1998, 08h00 local time
Road Rovers HQ, USA

The sun was shining as the Road Rovers gathered to eat breakfast. Well, not all of them. Hunter was the first to notice that someone was missing. "Guys," he asked his teammates, "where's Blitz?"

"I am not knowing, Comrade Hunter," Exile said. "I haven't seen him yet today."

"Neither have I," Colleen said. Shag and Goldie said similar things, and then Goldie asked, "Could he still be in his quarters?"

"I suppose it's possible, Mom," Hunter conceded. "He did kind of bolt from the rec room yesterday after Colleen's announcement, and he did sound kind of sad when I tried to talk to him shortly after that. On top of that, he never came out of his quarters again for the rest of that day. I knew he had a crush on Colleen, but I never thought he'd take that kind of news so hard." Hunter had a sudden thought. "I've got a bad feeling about this, guys. I'm going to go check on him, see if he's all right. Colleen, Shag, with me. The rest of you, stand by. I may need to call for help."

So Hunter, Colleen, and Shag went to Blitz's quarters. Hunter knocked on the door. "Blitz?" he called out. "It's Hunter. Are you all right?" No answer. "Blitz? Are you in there?" Still no answer. Then Hunter heard the sound of a sharp object slashing something. Twice. "Shit!" he swore. He tried opening the door, but it was locked. "Shag, break this door down!" he ordered. Shag obliged him. Hunter entered the room just in time to see Blitz collapse onto the bed with deep lacerations on his arms, beginning at the wrists, that were spurting blood. "Oh, no!" Hunter cried out. He pulled out his communicator. "Exile, contact the Professor and have him come to the sick bay. Blitz just slashed his own wrists!" To Shag, he said, "Do you have a gurney in there? We've got to get Blitz to the sick bay immediately!" Shag rummaged through his fur and, sure enough, produced a gurney. Then he carefully picked Blitz up and placed him gently on the gurney, the wounds on Blitz's arms still spurting blood. Then he wheeled Blitz to the sick bay as Colleen and Hunter put pressure on the wounds in an effort to stop the bleeding. As they went, Hunter fervently prayed that they wouldn't get to the sick bay too late.

End of chapter 2