It has been a while...I know and I am so sorry! Soon everything will finally calm down in my life, giving me more time to focus on writing a lot once again.

Thank all of you so much for reading this story. Also the amount of people still reading Family Matters, thank you so much.

Special shout out to: SpaceFlora, Wolftattoo, Wyde Yankee71, Angela, Amara86, Youkai55, MrsDarcy and Styx83. Thank you for reviewing the last chapter, coming up with ideas, thoughts or other random things. I love you all.

Hope you will all enjoy this next chapter!

Chapter 9 - Just a regular day by Martian standards

The Last Chance Garage

Throttle dropped himself down on the large green chair in the corner of Charley's living room. He was slightly out of breath from having carried Modo up the stairs. Not only was the tan furred mouse slightly winded because of it, but also due to what had just happened down in the garage. The second Charley dropped the bomb of her being pregnant, Modo had hit the floor like a ton of bricks.

After a lot of gasps, shouting and exclamations of various sounds coming from the other side of the monitor, Throttle decided to break the transmission between the garage and Mars. Whatever the next step in their plan was going to be regarding getting to the red planet and finding Vinnie, it was going to have to wait. At least for the next couple of hours. Surely the white mouse would be able to survive the harsh climate for that long? Knowing him he probably found the human along with him more of a challenge to deal with.

"Should I see this as a bad sign?" Charley wondered as she gently caressed the top of her boyfriend's head.

"Nah, I wouldn't worry about it. Clearly he's overjoyed." Throttle replied as he turned his head towards his bro, whose eye was still closed and his mouth slightly parted as he lied there on the couch.

"Don't let the way he looks now deceive you." The mouse added.

A chuckle escaped Charley as she stood back up. This was not the way she had wanted to break the news about her pregnancy. Not that she'd had an actual idea on how to do that in the first place, but the current situation sort of forced her to reveal her secret earlier than she had wanted.

If anything, she would have preferred it to have been just her and Modo. Well, now everybody knew. No more secrets. Perhaps it was easier this way. But where to go from here?

She bit her bottom lip. Vinnie was stranded somewhere on the more treacherous side of Mars and Izzy could be in trouble once Burrows would find her. If they were alive of course, that was one thing they didn't know for sure. But the thought hadn't even crossed their minds. This was Vinnie they were talking about.

"What are you thinking about?" Throttle asked after having observed Charley staring absentmindedly into the distance.

"Mars. Vinnie. What to do next..." She admitted instantly.

"You really think going through the transporter is too dangerous?" The tanned mouse tried once again. Charley didn't nod and she didn't really have to, he could already tell that she had made up her mind.

"I'm not a scientist, Throttle. But the idea of being broken down into a numerous amount of molecules and then be put back together again. If it was just me it would be a no brainer. However given the circumstances,-" She paused and reached for her stomach.

Throttle got up from his seat and walked over to her, gently placing his hand on her shoulder and giving it a squeeze. "Hey, you don't have to explain anything."

"I meant what I said,- I can send you and Modo through the transporter. But I won't be coming with."

"We're not leaving you behind, Charley girl. Either we all go or no one goes. End of discussion. Besides, do you honestly think Modo will leave you here?"

That was easy enough. It was the same as asking Vinnie how many hotdogs do you want tonight? The answer would simply be yes instead of something logical.

"Is that what you want?" She then asked him. "I figured you would want nothing more than to go back to Mars, even if Vinnie wasn't in this situation."

Throttle blinked, unexpectedly. "Well, we were going to head back home at some point. Rebuild Mars and then there is the scanner Stoker will put together. I know that is something they can do without us. But yeah, perhaps a part of me wishes I had gone to Mars earlier. And now with Vinnie being there, stuck somewhere in the Northern atmosphere,- I don't care how capable the Freedom Fighters will be able to handle finding him. He is our bro. It is our responsibility to at least try to get him."

Charley had fallen quiet as her friend talked. His voice had risen as he talked, filled with emotions which showed how much Vinnie meant to him as a brother and a friend. It was clear that Throttle would only get more and more anxious the longer it would take for him to get to Mars. She raised her hand and pressed her index finger against her mouth, something she did when thinking extensively.

"And then there is also the matter of finding agent Burrows and getting him back to Earth." Throttle continued. "But only after we tell him what really happened to Morden. If he is then still set on questioning Izzy and arresting her, I can already assure you that he will not leave the planet. I'll make sure of that."

Of course that wasn't the only possible problem they faced with the agent, because of the simple fact that he was on their planet and had learned that Martians are real. If Burrows was to survive this whole predicament he was in, their entire species and future could be at risk. None of them knew if he could be trusted to keep their existence a secret from the people of Earth.

"But we'll deal with that later." Throttle quickly continued. "The most important thing now is getting to Mars and find both Vinnie and Burrows."

"Mmm,-"

A deep groan sounded from the large grey furred mouse lying on the couch. Charley turned away from Throttle and crouched down next to her boyfriend who opened his eye and locked it with hers.

"Hi, Modo." She greeted him with a warm smile. "How are you feeling?"

Modo pushed himself upward and rubbed his nose. "I had the weirdest dream." He said. "We were talking about going to Mars using Limburger's transporter when you told us that you couldn't go because you are pregnant,-"

Charley glanced over her shoulder to look at Throttle who kept his mouth shut in a tight line trying to hold down a laugh. Shaking her head, she turned back to Modo and placed her hands on his leg.

"It wasn't a dream."

The mouse blinked. "It wasn't?"

"No." A chuckle escaped her.

"You're pregnant?"

"Yes."

Modo moved his gaze from Charley to his bro and then back to her. "Are you sure?"

"Yes." The woman said again.

"Did I do that?"

Charley's brow shot upwards and her eyes widened. At the same time Throttle barked out a laugh. He walked up to the couch and clapped his bro on the back.

"Congratulations, man. You are going to be a daddy."

"A daddy..." Modo mouthed.

He seemed almost as taken back as he'd been down in the garage earlier when Charley first broke the news. Luckily this time he didn't faint. It only took him a second, but the mouse soon jumped up from the couch and pulled the auburn haired woman with him. With one easy swoop, he scooped her up within his arms and began to spun around. Charley yelped and quickly wrapped her hands behind Modo's neck.

"I'm going to be a father!"

Throttle let out a low chuckle as he watched his bro and Charley with a big smile.

He couldn't recall the last time he'd seen Modo this happy. The grey mouse had fallen in love with their human friend, feelings which she returned and now they were going to become parents. It was a beautiful sight to behold. But as much as he wished they could stay in this moment, they couldn't neglect the current troubles they were facing.

Eventually he cleared his throat and Modo stopped his moment of euphoric spinning. Gently he set Charley down on her two feet and rubbed the back of his neck. "Sorry, bro."

"No, no. It's alright, big guy. Don't apologize. I understand you want nothing more than to celebrate, and we would were it not for our current situation with Vinnie being lost on Mars."

Modo nodded and punched his fist against the palm of his robotic hand. "There has got to be a way for us to get there as soon as possible." He then paused and looked at his girlfriend. "But I agree with Charley. I don't want to risk taking the teleporter now that we're,- expecting. Heh,-" He breathed, still unable to believe it. He was going to be a daddy.

"We won't. Like I told Charley earlier, either we all go or no one goes...unless,-" He furrowed his brow. There was another option, but doing that meant that what he'd just said no longer held any value. However, it was a good plan. One that could benefit everyone.

"What if I go ahead instead?" He suggested.

"You mean use the teleporter to head to Mars alone?" Charley asked and Throttle nodded.

"Are you sure, Throttle? I mean, you know I want nothing more than to come with, but I can't leave Charley alone."

"Yeah, I'm sure. It'll save us some time. And you're right, you need to be with your family. I can leave today and join the search party Carbine and Stoker are hopefully already setting up. Meanwhile, I'll make sure to send a shuttle to Earth, pick you two up,- That is of course if you want to come to Mars, Charley girl?"

The question wasn't entirely unexpected. The thought had crossed her mind more than once, even before she found out she was pregnant. She always knew the guys wanted to return to Mars, it was their home. Though unsafe, they needed and wanted to be there to help rebuild it. But Earth was her home. Her parents were here, her house was here. Not that the latter was that important, but it was hers. A place she had built from scratch.

She moved her hands and placed them against her abdomen. You couldn't really tell by looking at her, but there was life growing in there. Would her and Modo's child be safe in Chicago? She had no idea what the baby would even look like. Human? Martian? Or a combination of both?

Martians had strong genes and that though alone caused a part of her to suspect the child would look more like his daddy than it would look like her. If her suspicion was correct, Earth was not the place to be.

She sighed deeply and her breathing shuddered a little. "This baby is going to get incredibly spoiled on Mars, right?"

Modo slipped his arm around his love's waist and pulled her close. "You betcha, darlin'."

A smile crept up on Charley's face. "That's enough for me." She tilted her head back and looked at Throttle. "Let's get you to Mars."

Mars

"Hey, Kevin,-"

"My name is not Kevin. It's Kirk. But I prefer it if you'd call me agent Burrows."

"Kirk? Are you sure? I could have sworn you said Kevin." Vincent replied with a grunt as he pushed his bike forward.

"I didn't."

Burrows was starting to think he had made the wrong choice by putting his life in this alien creature's hands. How long had they been walking for? An hour? Two, maybe three? He couldn't tell. His watch seemed to have stopped working the last time he checked. Was it because of where he was or had it been that teleportation device?

He swore he could feel his brain melt into mush at the thought of having teleported to another planet. But yet, here he was. By now he was convinced that this was not a dream. A nightmare at most, but he was definitely awake and walking side by side with a white anthropomorphic mouse. How was he going to get out of this predicament in one piece? More importantly, how was he going to get back to Earth? For one thing, neither him nor the mouse had any idea on what planet they were on.

"Would you mind walking a little faster? I might have no idea where we're going, but the slower you walk, the longer it'll take before I hopefully will find a sign of other life."

Oh, Burrows did not like its tone of voice, especially considering it had no idea where it's going. The other downside was that the creature's motorcycle didn't appear to function as it should. It moved alright, but the mouse couldn't get it to start and ride on it. The other odd thing was that the animal seemed to communicate with the vehicle in some way.

Whenever it talked to the red motorcycle, it replied with various bleeps and pings. As if it understood what it was saying, which was ridiculous though not as weird as a mouse owning a sports bike of course.

"Considering you have no clue where we are or where we are heading, I suggest you change your tone of voice a little bit. The last thing we want is wasting all of our energy too quickly. Unless you have food or water stashed away somewhere?"

Food and water? What Vinnie really needed was a garage or a cave at most. Some place to park his bike safely in order to figure out what to do next without having to push his baby around. He needed time to find out what was wrong with her. Though to see she was responsive to him made him more than happy for the time being.

The thing he didn't like at all, was the scenery up ahead. Not to mention the human walking a couple of feet next to him, but that was a different story. Vinnie could already tell there was going to be trouble. The sky was red, but a more darker shade on the horizon and he could have sworn he'd seen a flash of thunder, although no loud rumbling or cracking had followed.

"Any idea what to do if we can't find whatever it is your looking for?" Not Kevin asked him.

"Nope, because like I said, I don't know what I am looking for."

"And that doesn't concern you?"

Vinnie stopped and flicked his tail left and right in an agitated manner. "Look. Obviously you have never lived on the edge of danger. You're looking at a guy who has seen Death up close multiple times with a big smile on his face. You wanna worry, go ahead. But not this mouse."

As soon as Vinnie finished his sentence, an odd tremble rumbled underneath his feet. He lowered his eyes and looked down at the apricot coloured sand. The shaking increased with each passing second and it didn't take pretty long before the shaking got too much in order for both Vinnie and Burrows to stay upright. Both landed flat on their backs on the ground.

"Any idea what this is?" Burrows shouted with an obvious quiver in his voice.

"Earthquake?!" Vinnie replied, though he wasn't entirely sure. If he didn't know any better, he'd say it was something else. Something he'd experienced more than once back home on his red planet. And that's when he saw the cause of the quakes.

A bit further up ahead, the sand began to shift, twirling into a circle. Like a whirlpool when water runs into a sink drain. Suddenly something erupted out of it and it wasn't water, nor sand. It was a creature. With three heads on long necks which came together into one large oval shaped body. No legs or arms, only huge fangs protruding from each individual's round gaping mouths.

"Sabre Squid,-" Vinnie whispered under his breath.

"What is that?!" Burrows yelled from the top of his lungs. "What in the name of the holy spirit it that!"

"Quiet!" Vinnie hissed at the man as he wrapped his tail around the agent's ankle to pull him closer to the bike. "That is a Sabre Squid. A big one. We need to stay perfectly still. It focuses on movement."

Without objecting, Burrows closed his mouth and stared at the reptilian like creature as one of its head was currently snaking its way towards them. At least the mouse knew what that thing was, which should have been a bit comforting, but the prospect of being swallowed and chomped down on by a creature that looked like a mutated worm was something Burrows was not looking forward to.

However, after a minute, as the odd duo stayed perfectly silent, the squid decided there was nothing of interest and vanished deep within the sand which caused another trembling to settle all around Vinnie and agent Burrows. After the dust and sand had settled, the two of them stood back up. Burrows shakily tried to steady himself as Vinnie wiped some of the sand off his pants.

Strangely enough the encounter with the Sabre Squid had managed to make him feel better than he had felt earlier. Because he was sure of one thing now. He was definitely in a familiar place.

He was back on Mars.

The Freedom Fighter Base

"Are you sure he is alright?" Havoc asked right after Stoker cut the transmission between the red planet and Earth. He'd just seen his cousin hit the ground before his very eyes and he wasn't even entirely sure why.

"You know Modo. He's a big guy. A concussion at best if he happened to hit his head during that fall." The older Freedom Fighter couldn't stop a short chortle escaping him. "Guess Charley really knows how to knock him off his feet in more ways than one."

Havoc stared at his superior with a confused look. The human female, Charley. Modo had called her Darlin' earlier, he was sure of it. And when she was talking, she'd grabbed hold of Modo's hands and placed them against her stomach. The tall grey mouse with the long ebony hair turned his head and lowered his gaze at the honey haired woman next to him. Was his cousin Modo together with this Charley person? Had he mated with a human? Just like Stoker had done with Isabel?

"Great. Just great." Carbine groaned as she sat down on the corner of her desk. "Another hurdle in the road."

"Hurdle?" Stoker repeated. "Where do you see a hurdle? So Charley doesn't want to use the transporter. I can't see why though, but if that's her wish then that's the way it shall be. We'll figure something out."

"And when will that be, huh? The clock is ticking, Stoker. Vinnie is in a dangerous area. With a human!" She paused and quickly looked in Izzy's direction. "No offense."

Izzy's mouth twitched a little as Carbine addressed her, but she didn't say anything else. Something was wrong. She couldn't exactly put her finger on it, but Carbine's attitude towards her was different than before. Not that she had been overly welcoming in the first place, but she'd never been as short towards her as she was now. Perhaps this whole deal with Vinnie missing worried the Martian female more than she dared to show. She'd let it go, for now.

Stoker started to pace around the office. "You should feel sorry for that human in my opinion. But I get what you're saying. We don't need Throttle and Modo to find him. While they're back on Earth figuring out a way to get here, we'll arrange a search a rescue party and get to Vinnie ourselves."

Carbine rubbed the space between her eyes. "You know as well as I do that Boreas is a danger zone for us mice and our bikes. This cannot be planned within an hour."

"Fine. Two hours then. We've faced worse, we can handle a fieldtrip through icy winds and fierce thunderstorms."

Carbine couldn't believe what she was hearing. She could only hope that Stoker's current optimism was his way of ensuring certain people in the room, that there was nothing to worry about. But with his mindset you could never know.

She let out a sigh. "Even if we did begin to assemble a search and rescue party, any idea on who to sent up there? We can only spare a few mice and you know not everyone will be jumping at the thought of possibly dying in order to save Vinnie. The only mouse crazy enough to actually do that is Vinnie himself. Knowing him he would have volunteered immediately."

"What about the ship?" Izzy suddenly spoke and all three mice in the room turned towards her.

"What ship would that be, beautiful?" Stoker asked her.

"The one we came with. You once told me it is the fastest spacecraft on Mars. It seems large enough to hold four people and a pair of bikes. Why not send it to Earth to pick up Modo, Charley and Throttle?"

"I'll be the judge of what gets send out to where." Carbine replied shortly.

"Shouldn't that be my call, Carbine?" Stoker interjected as he frowned at the general.

"It would be, if you'd acted a little more like the army general that you are. Ever since you've gotten back you've been busy with other things and the Freedom Fighter hasn't been one of them." Her tone was harsh and her eyes automatically shifted to Izzy once again. The human wasn't looking her way, but Stoker certainly did notice it and he did not like what Carbine was implying.

Though he knew she wasn't entirely wrong, he had been neglecting his duty as the Freedom Fighter leader and he was thankful that Carbine was there to help out. Yet in the end, it was still his responsibility. For now at least. He was still set on resigning his position, but with everything currently going on that was going to have to wait a bit longer.

Stoker walked back to the desk and placed his hands on its surface. "Fine. You want me to take charge? In that case, I'll tell you what we'll do. We assemble a party and send them to Boreas to find Vinnie and the human. At the same time, we'll also assign someone to commandeer the ship and fly to Earth to get our friends."

Carbine clenched her jaw and crossed her arms. She didn't want to agree with him, but she also couldn't see any other option. Finding Vinnie was a priority now. However getting Throttle and Modo to Mars wasn't. Carbine wasn't sure if she felt that way because it was common sense of if her emotions were getting in the way of thinking clearly.

"Alright. Considering sending someone to Earth will be the easiest decision, any suggestions?" She asked.

"Nobody comes to mind immediately. Unless you want to volunteer? I know it's been a while since you've seen Throttle." The hazel coloured mouse suggested.

A pregnant pause filled the room. Carbine's eyes darted across the room towards Havoc and then to Izzy, before settling on Stoker once again. It wasn't necessarily a bad suggestion, but she wasn't entirely sure it was the best choice considering the last talk she'd had with Throttle. To be stuck with him in a confined space for almost a week, even with Modo and Charley there, was not something she wanted to experience.

"Might I suggest Rimfire instead? He's been to Earth before, plus I bet he'd love to see his uncle again."

"That's settled then." Stoker paused and turned his head. "Havoc, you mind finding your nephew and telling him he'll be going on a trip?"

Havoc, who'd been listening to Carbine and Stoker's discussion quietly all this time, straightened himself and saluted. "Yes, sir."

"Good. All that's left to do now is figure out who to sent after Vinnie." Stoker continued.

This was going to take some time. He wanted to make a well thought out decision. After all, Boreas was not going to be a picnic. There weren't a lot of mice who Stoker trusted to manage such an undertaking. Havoc was a good option. He was one of the best, aside from Stoker himself. The idea of going after Vinnie himself had crossed his mind.

But Stoker didn't dare to leave Izzy alone at the base. Sure, Carbine or Havoc would stay behind if he were to go. That way both of them could keep an eye on her. However, it was a good option. Dang it. Stoker rubbed the back of his neck and started to pace again. Was he really going to do this?

"Havoc, would you mind taking Izzy back to my quarters? Or better yet, take her with you to meet Rimfire. I need to talk to Carbine." Stoker eventually said.

Havoc nodded and started to head towards the door, but Izzy remained in her spot. Unwavering.

"Izzy,-" Stoker began but the woman shook her head.

"Don't worry, I'll go. But I just want you to know that I am also willing to join the search and rescue party, should there be a need for it." She stepped closer towards the tall mouse and placed her hands against his chest.

"Vinnie is my friend too. I know I may seem like the puny human in this scenario compared to all of you tough soldiers. But don't forget I've had my share of fights too."

She pushed herself upwards until she stood on her toes and kissed Stoker's cheek. A warm sensation spread through him as he watched his woman walk out of Carbine's office and being closely followed by Havoc. Damn that, woman. He cursed under his breath, though a soft chuckle followed almost immediately.

No, he would not consider her for the search party, that much was certain. But this did make it more difficult for what he was about to decide.

May the Goddess forgive me.

Hope you all enjoyed!

Next up, a certain mouse will return to Mars... What will happen next?

Would love to hear your thoughts!

Until next time you lovely beans.