Welcome one, welcome all!

Thank you for still being here. Hope everyone is safe and alright. Massive snowfall currently in my country as I'm writing this (probably gone by the time I post this).

Let me take a moment here to reply to all of you who left a review :)

Spaceflora: I can completely imagine Vinnie as a terrible cleaner. Making things even messier than it already was. The Martians will meet Izzy in this chapter! Also Dashwood is Izzy's maiden name, before she married Sam.

Styx: You were up at 4 am? I hope you managed to get some sleep after that :) I do really want to make this story feel like it's a new beginning. No more cleaning and cooking shows for Vinnie. Time for some action!

Angela: Vinnie brings that comedic aspect to the story though I definitely made him a bit more serious and mature compared to the show.

Madeline: Happy enough that you're here for the sequel, it means a lot. (I'm still writing the homeschooled fic! Thank you for reading that story too).

Wolftattoo: The picture is one small thing he can't seem to get rid off just yet. But we'll have to wait and see how that unfolds later on :)

Enjoy the new update!

Chapter 3 - In the heat of the moment

The Last Chance Garage

Oil stuck to her fingers and smudges of grime were visible on her blue shirt. It was pointless wiping them off as the spots would only get larger. The towel helped enough with her hands but even after cleaning them they still felt a little sticky.

Charley looked at the various parts currently laying on a piece of cloth on the floor in front of her. She'd finally managed to do it. She had stripped all the parts of her brother's motorcycle. Well, only those that were still salvageable. The parts she could find no use for were already long gone, having thrown them into the dumpster behind her house.

A groan escaped her as she leaned her behind against workbench. She wasn't feeling all too well. Her headache had returned accompanied by her stomach feeling queasy. A voice in the back of her head told her she should not have eaten that funny looking slice of bread. But she'd been incredibly hungry and wouldn't have been able to make it to the market without some food in her stomach. A decision she now regretted.

She glanced up at the clock hanging above the door. Three p.m.

Modo would probably return soon with Throttle and Vinnie. They still hadn't heard anything from Mars. Not from Stoker nor from Izzy. Charley felt rather annoyed with the one way communication. There had to be some way for her to change the transmitter so it would be possible for them to sent out a message instead of waiting for Mars to contact them?

Pushing herself away from the bench, the female mechanic made her way to the staircase, ready to head up and relax a little until the guys would swing by. But she didn't get very far. A loud ring echoed through the garage, causing her to jump a little from the unexpected noise.

"Geez..." She muttered under her breath. It couldn't be Modo or Throttle and Vinnie. She was pretty sure the three of them had no idea what a doorbell was and besides, there was no need for them to use it.

Charley walked up to the door, but didn't open it just yet. She moved the curtain aside and peeked through the window first. The guy standing there was unfamiliar to her, but his outfit pretty much gave away what he was.

Quickly she opened the door and placed on her hands in her side. "Good afternoon, officer. Anything I can help you with?"

The man nodded. "Ma'am. My name is agent Burrows." He paused and held aloft his badge for Charley to see. She nodded and quickly he tucked it away. "I'm looking for a Mrs. Davidson?"

Charley frowned at the unexpected question. What could he possibly want from her? "I'm Charley Davidson." She replied and extended her hand towards him.

But officer Burrows had already averted his eyes to pull something out of his coat. A picture. He turned it around and the female mechanic looked at it closely. It was a picture of a woman with honey coloured hair and blue eyes. It was a rather old looking picture, but she recognized the person as her sister-in-law, Isabel.

"Any chance you know a Mrs. Isabel Davidson née Dashwood?"

Alright, that question most definitely set off a red flag in her mind. Why was he looking for Izzy? Charley immediately straightened herself and cocked her head. "That is my sister-in-law. Is everything alright?"

"For the time being. Any chance you know where I can find her?" He arched an eyebrow and put the picture in his inner coat pocket.

Charley had to be quick about this, but lying in the heat of the moment wasn't a skill she possessed. It was a good thing the guys weren't here, but how she wished that they were. One thing was certain, she had to get this agent Burrows away from the garage before they would arrive.

"Not anymore, I'm afraid."

"Beg your pardon?" Burrows frowned.

Charley wasn't sure how much this man knew about Isabel. She had to convince him that she had no idea where Izzy was. Even if she told him the truth that her sister-in-law was on a different plant, he probably wouldn't believe her anyway, but obviously she couldn't say that.

"She left Chicago a little over a week ago. We had a falling out and I haven't talked to her since." None of those words were an actual lie, Charley was sure they sounded sincere enough for the agent to believe her.

"What sort of falling out would that be, miss Davidson?" He asked all of sudden holding a notepad and pen in his hands.

"Uh,- something foolish. About a guy." The auburn haired woman replied.

"A guy?"

Charley nodded. The way Burrows looked at her made her feel rather uncomfortable. She felt rather warm all of a sudden. Clearing her throat, she looked up at him. "Knowing her, she probably went back to England."

"Her country of origin, I believe?" It didn't even sound like a question. It seemed he knew a bit about Izzy. "You wouldn't happen to have a number or address where I can reach her?"

"I don't actually." Which was the truth. Charley didn't have any sort of address or phone number belonging to Izzy. For as long as she had known her, she'd lived in the US.

She caught agent Burrows throwing her a funny look. His expression telling her that he didn't really believe her very much, even though she had told him the truth. It was probably in his nature to be sceptical of everything she said.

"I could give you her last known address when she lived in the states. But I'm assuming you already have that."

"As a matter of fact, yes, I do."

Charley bit her bottom lip as agent Burrows clicked on the pen and put the notepad away. It seems he was getting ready to leave, but she couldn't let him. Not until she knew why he was looking for Izzy.

"Agent Burrows, please, I have to know. What is the reason that you are looking for her? Perhaps it's something I know of?"

Miraculously, those words seemed to have the desired effect on the situation. Burrows relaxed a little, though his expression remained cold and strict. He quickly glanced over his shoulder for a second.

"We've information that your sister-in-law might be involved with the murder of Charles Morden."

::::::...::::::

Modo gently rubbed Charley's lower back as she sat next to him on the couch. Him and his bros arrived at the Last Chance Garage about fifteen minutes after agent Burrows had left. Luckily without any valuable form of information.

The moment the guys arrived, Charley came running down the stair. Her face flushed and her expression full of concern. Stumbling over her words, she told them what had happened while they were gone. After she was done with her story, Modo had carried her back upstairs without protest. It took a few minutes, but finally her stress subdued, but still the grey mouse held her close.

"We'll figure this out." He assured her.

"I'm just happy she's on Mars. Imagine what could have happened if she hadn't gone?" Charley said to them and they all agreed with her.

"Nothing." Throttle immediately replied. "Because she didn't do anything. Stoker was the one who killed Morden."

Of course, what the others didn't know, was that Izzy had prepared herself to execute a similar scenario. If it hadn't been for Stoker or himself, there was a chance she would have pulled the trigger on Morden.

"So who spilled the beans to the cops, huh?" Vinnie asked leaning with his back against a wall. "Coach said he destroyed the surveillance cams and erased his tracks. We all know he's experienced in that department."

Throttle rubbed his chin. It was a mystery indeed. The club where they confronted Morden had been empty, except for two of his goons. But Stoker had taken care of them as well. Vinnie was asking all of the right questions. Who had pointed Izzy out to the authorities as a possible suspect?

"What about that man who kidnapped Charley?" Modo suddenly spoke up and the other mice turned to look his way.

"What about him?" Throttle frowned.

"You think he did,- Ah man!" Vinnie exclaimed loudly.

"Will you two tell me what on Mars you're talking about?!" The tanned furred mouse crossed his arms. "What about the guy who kidnapped Charley-girl?"

"Well..." Vinnie began, nervously scratching the back of his head. "We didn't actually do anything to him after rescuing Charley."

"What Vinnie means is,-" Modo interjected. "The guy is still alive probably. We burst in there, door slammed him right in the head and knocked him out cold. After that we just left to get Charley home."

As he spoke, he squeezed his arm just a little tighter around his girlfriend. The memory wasn't one of his fondest, but it had given him the push he needed to tell her how he truly felt about her.

"Did he see you and Vinnie?" Throttle asked, but Modo shook his head.

"Nope."

"Do you really think he went to the cops? It has been over two weeks now since Morden was killed. Why go now?"

It was rather weird why Charley's kidnapper would come forward all of a sudden. There was no real good reason for it, unless there was something in it for him. As if struck by lighting, all three mice turned their heads to look at each other. The same assumption crossing their minds.

"Limburger's reward." Throttle concluded.

"Without a doubt." Modo added.

"Great!" Vinnie clapped his hands and rubbed them together. "Does this mean we can finally go and kick lardface's stinking butt?"

Mars

One thing was for sure, none of his words had been a lie. All the talks and chest pounding whenever he spoke of the admiration his people had for him, turned out to be true.

The first evidence was how Izzy noticed a sudden shift in Stoker's overall demeanour. It was hard to explain. It happened the moment they approached an enormous rock formation. Stoker accelerated and within a couple of seconds they entered a cave.

At this point, Izzy's heart was practically pounding out of her chest and her skin tingled all over. Had she ever felt this nervous before? Stoker obviously didn't and the look of glee on his face once he removed his helmet was an expression she hadn't seen that often. It could only be described as a look of pride.

She squeezed his hand firmly. A slight distress visible in her eyes. Thankfully it hadn't gone unnoticed by the hazel mouse. He could, after all, sense her mood better than anyone.

"I won't let you out of my sight." He assured her. What else could she do but nod?

Stoker pulled her with him and they went through a tunnel. Something Izzy had only seen in mines that time she was on a school trip back in the day. The walls were a dirty red brown and small lights hung on the ceiling, not too bright but just enough to light the way properly. But that was when they entered a more open area.

The first thing she noticed was the amount of people or, in this case, Martians. Some punching each other playfully, talking, drinking and even yelling loudly. Something she'd apparently missed having been lost in thought whilst walking through the tunnel.

The image in front of her, reminded Izzy a lot of when she worked at the roadhouse bar. It was the same sort of setting and atmosphere, except for the large amount of anthropomorphic mice, naturally. Oh goodness gracious...

Stoker stepped in front of her, though still holding a firm grasp on her hand. He puffed his chest and opened his mouth.

"Alright, you low life scumbags! What's a mouse got to do to get some attention around here?"

It was as if the room exploded. Loud cheers erupted and multiple mice jumped out of their seats. Was that a table flying through the ait at the back? It was safe to say that Stoker revelled in the moment. He barked out a laugh as his fellow Martians came running forward to greet their most beloved leader.

Izzy was unsure what she was feeling at the sight of over a dozen large mice coming her way. She didn't want to acknowledge it for Stoker's sake, but this was one of the most uncomfortable moments she'd ever been in. Which was probably the reason why she passed out as soon as Stoker let go of her hand.

::::::...::::::

Complete and utter silence.

She opened her eyes and looked up at what she believed to be a ceiling. Though she couldn't tell what it was made out of. At first glance it looked like metal plates of some sort.

It didn't take long for Izzy to figure out what had happened to her and embarrassment soon set it. Out of all of the impressions she could have made on Stoker's friends, passing out should not have been one of them.

She propped herself up on her elbows to look around. The room wasn't large, but it wasn't small either. Was this Stoker's place at the base? Moving her left hand, she touched the sheets she was laying on. Dark green, but soft. The bed was just about big enough for two people.

There wasn't a lot of furniture in the room. A table, two chair, all made out of steel it would seem. Izzy tilted her head back and looked at the walls. A poster of a Thunderbird motorcycle and a,- She paused and sat up straight. Was that a naked female mouse on top of it?

Quickly she got up, ignoring the light head-rush it caused, and placed her feet on the floor. She wasn't wearing her shoes, nor her socks. Stoker had probably removed them after bringing her here. Speaking of him, where was he? Apart from herself, the furniture and the interesting poster, the room was empty.

What was she going to do now? Walk out and searched for him? Did they have a built-in intercom system in here somewhere she could use? Perhaps waiting was the best plan for now. Who knew what there could be on the other side of the door. Izzy took a few steps and halted in front of it. There was no handle or knob.

Frowning, she looked around the door frame and its walls, locating a small pad next to it. It looked more like a scanner than a keypad. Izzy raised her arms and pressed one out of only three buttons. Nothing happened. She leaned forward towards the small screen and cleared her throat.

"Door, open." But the door stayed shut.

"Open, door?" She tried again.

"Open sesame!"

"Open!"

This was getting ridiculous. How many ways could she think of in order to get that blasted door to open up? She'd pressed all the buttons. She'd shouted and yelled. She'd even tried to copy Stoker's voice, which of course was the most useless idea of all.

Eventually she tried one more thing she could think of. "Hello?! Is there anybody out there?"

However, everything stayed quiet. Izzy let out a sigh and dropped her shoulders. It would seem she was forced to sit and just wait, hoping for Stoker to come for her soon. She couldn't imagine him simply leaving her there, in spite of the happy 'welcome home' he had received.

Turning her back on the object of her frustration, Izzy headed back to the bed, when a whooshing noise sounded. Immediately she stopped and slowly looked behind her. It was odd, but something in her gut told her it wasn't the man she was hoping for and it turned out she was right.

In the door stood a very tall mouse. Taller than Stoker, almost the same height as Modo though not as broad. His fur was also the same type of grey colour only a shade darker, if that was even possible. His ebony hair fell into his eyes and rested on top of his shoulders.

"Ah! I thought I heard something stir." He grinned and extended his hand to her. "Name's Havoc, ma'am. Pleasure to meet you."

I hope none of you found it incredibly lame that I made Izzy faint in the heat of the moment of finally meeting the rebels. I mean considering how she fainted when she met Vinnie for the first time. I don't know. It felt in character for her somehow. She'll be alright though!

Also welcome Havoc, a new OC. Nothing major planned for him yet, but we all know how these things can go whilst writing.

Would love to hear you guys' thoughts as always!

Until next time!