Disclaimer: As I hope I've made it clear by now I own nothing but my own creations. Any resemblance my own characters and settings have to any other work is purely coincidental.

Setting: A month after the last chapter.

Author's Notes: Well I think I'm back to my old style now and I promise to stop jumping around on ya all.

The Blade and Angel Saga: Chapter 8

By Jcdracon

Copyright Jcdracon All Rights Reserved

A Martian Spacecraft Orbiting Earth:

With a sigh Carbine turned and stared out the window at the planet of swirling blue, green and white below. It was a pretty enough place, she mused, but she was still hard pressed to figure out the attraction it held for some of the others of her species. One tan colored male in particular.

It wasn't that she still loved him. Over the months since he'd broken it off she'd come to realize that it had been inevitable, they had changed too much over the years, they were too alike, and too different. When he had refused to come back home it had been her pride that had been damaged not her heart.

Still, she hadn't quite convinced herself that the female Blade hadn't been at least partly responsible for their break-up. She slanted a glance at the hansom male mouse acting as Stokers co-pilot. She'd seen him in action and knew that he was probably one of the best fighters they had (there were speculations that he'd be making General within a year), maybe she should see if he was interested, and put her and Throttle on equal footing.

She took the time to study him as she pondered this thought. He was tall 6'7 at least with dark red fur and longish red/brown hair that almost reached his shoulders. And that body! He'd been just about all any female under 40 had been able to talk about since he'd shown up at one of their most cleverly hidden bases with a band of some of the scruffiest mice she'd ever seen in tow and offered an alliance with the freedom fighters. But maybe the his most compelling and repelling features were his eyes, dark green in color and seemed to be able to see straight into your soul. She'd seen more than one hardened Plutarkian quail when pinned by those eyes.

Odd how she couldn't remember his name at the moment, she knew she'd heard it somewhere but it wasn't commonly used in their ranks. Almost everyone, young or old, friend, foe or casual acquaintance simply referred to him as "Big Red" the name his followers had given him.

And they were without question HIS followers, with a loyalty she wouldn't have credited them with if she hadn't seen it for herself they blatantly refused to follow any orders that did not directly from him. Oh they were brilliant warriors, their unit had taken down more plutarkians, rats and sand raiders than any other, they were just very particular about who was in command of these spectacular raids. And any attempt to split them up had been quickly and efficiently put to rest.

She had little doubt that they considered themselves almost completely separate from the freedom fighters. Upon being asked to done the regulation uniforms all freedom fighters sported Red had simply glared at the poor flustered rookie (who'd had the misfortune to deliver that particular message) and stated gesturing to the battered civilian wair they all wore, "These are our uniforms, we started out wairing them we'll finish wairing them and no one, not even your commanders can change that." The subject was never raised again.

Well that wasn't such a bad thing she mused, taking in the sight he made decked out in his standard dark blue jeans with the right knee torn out, his slightly lighter blue denim vest, and the dark brown leather fingerless glove that wrapped comfortably around his right hand and matched the color of his beaten up old boots. He seemed to have a real liking for that shade of leather she noted noticing his ever present armband was still settled comfortably on his right upper arm and his belt were both almost the exact same color. Also they were both circled with gold studs that matched the five in his left ear.

In a way he almost reminded her of Throttle, the same cool headedness, the same loyalty and dedication to his comrades, but there was one thing that truly set them apart, Red's blind hatred of plutarkians. Oh sure, Throttle hated plutarkians as much as any other mouse but Red, Red hated them with a passion that was almost fanatical. And everyone he could get his hands on was questioned mercilessly about missing street kids of all things! As if they didn't have enough problems to deal with without bringing personal vendettas into it. Still on the plus side they had one of the most dedicated warriors many of them had ever seen on their side, so what if he had a few unpleasant quirks.

It must have been his hatred for plutarkians that made him volunteer for this assignment. Because everyone of their rank knew that they weren't just heading to earth so the priest traveling with them could marry Modo and Angel but because they had decided that it was time the plutarkian influence on earth was removed, once and for all.

Already other teams of mice were getting into place in cities with known plutarkian leaders present. When the time was right they would attack and clean out the stink fish infestation in one fell swoop. At least that was the plan.

Again her focus sharpened on Red, sure maybe they weren't gonna get married and live happily ever after buy hey, a simple overture couldn't hurt. With that in mind she unbuckled her seat and moved towards the cockpit.

He was so absorbed in what he was doing he didn't notice she was coming until she put her hand on his shoulder. She wasn't expecting the reaction she got, he whipped around, hand instinctively going to the blaster at his side. Taking in who she was he relaxed a little and stared hard at her. She froze as his eyes caught and trapped her gaze (not unlike that of a deer caught in the headlights) and in a dispassionate voice he said, "Did you want something? If not I suggest you get back to your seat, we're almost ready to land."

She stammered a quiet no and stumbled back to her seat, her face burning with humiliation. She hadn't reacted that way to a male since, EVER! What on mars was the matter with her? It really didn't matter she supposed, he really wasn't her type anyway.

She shivered as she remembered the way he had instinctavly moved to grab his blaster. Now she remembered his name, it really suited him quite well. Gun.

With a sigh she settled back as they began their decent.

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The Quigley Field Scoreboard:

Throttle crept up the stairs leading to the room he and Blade now shared as quietly as he could, pushing open the door he stopped and grimaced. Lying curled up on their bed was Blade, blissfully asleep.

Regretfully he moved into the room and stood by the bed, putting off the unwelcome task of waking her for as long as he could.

She hadn't been getting nearly enough rest lately, the mild nausea that had first troubled her had evolved into a near constant state which made it nearly impossible to even smell food with out retching. But these boughts had a tendency to hit right when she least needed them, in the dead of night when she should heave been sleeping.

But cuddled up underneath the blankets in one of his old T-shirts she looked so peaceful, so content, it was nearly impossible to imagine how irritable she had been lately with regards to what she liked to call his incessant hovering. The urge to protect her was strong and he knew that she found his attempts to take care of her annoying at best smothering at worst, a fact she made no secret of.

He really, REALLY didn't want to wake her up! In fact he wouldn't if it weren't for two things, 1) Stoker had hinted quiet strongly that he wanted her there when they landed, and 2) There wasn't a doubt in his mind that Blade would chew him out royally if he didn't get her up in time.

Accepting the inevitable he put a hand on her shoulder and gently shook her awake. Her eyes formed two green slits and she mumbled an incoherent "Wha?…" While giving him a look that said plainly that this had better be good.

"Stoker just radioed in," He said as he sat down beside her. "You said you wanted me to wake you in time to see them come in."

"Oh." She sat up and then looked down at the bed spread guiltily, "I'm sorry, about how I acted earlier."

Throttle was confused for a minute and sat still trying to think of what she meant. Then it came to him that she must be talking about how she'd lost patience with him earlier that day and yelled at him. He wasn't angry about that, he knew she'd had a headache that morning and he had been more cloying than he should have, not letting her do anything for herself. It had taken Vinnie hunting him down and confronting him with his behavior to get him to snap out of it, ending his lecture with "She's pregnant Bro, not crippled."

But now wasn't the time to brood about his own behavior, right now he had to make sure she didn't start beating herself up about this. He knew that she loved him, even if she hadn't been able to say the words yet, just as he knew that she secretly feared he was only staying with her out of duty. And that hurt a bit but given all the other shit that had happened to her hardly unexpected, all he could do was wait, and do every thing in his power to prove to her that it wasn't the case.

"It's okay, I know you were hurting and I was being a jerk." He heaved a sigh and closed his eyes deciding it was time to lay it all on the line. "Look, I know I've been getting on your nerves lately, I probably will again. But the fact is I love you," He felt her tense beside him, "And I'm not just saying that. I love you and I love our child and I want you to be safe. Now I'm gonna get out of line and I need you to keep right on putting me in my place when I do, cause I never want you to be unhappy again."

She blinked at him and with a sob crumpled against his shoulder, hot tears soaking his fur and changing it from gold to brown. And in a small voice he had to strain to hear she choked out two words that tilted his world on its access "Love you."

They sat like that for awhile, it could have been hours, it could have been seconds, but for that little space in time they were the only people who existed.

Finally Blade ended the moment by pulling away and looking up in to his eyes said, "Come on, we'd better go meet the others." And began rummaging around in the small dresser they'd managed to cram into the little room looking around for something respectable.

"Yeah, I bet the they're wondering what happened to us." He replied and wondered absently if he should change his slightly stained bandana for another one.

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On the roof of the scoreboard two gray mice sat cuddled together watching the sky.

Looking down at the female he'd come to love more than life itself Modo said, "We'd better be getting in."

Two large blue eyes looked back at him as Angel answered, "I guess your right, we don't want to be late."

"Yeah, unlike Vin and Charley, where did they disappear to anyway?"

"They're at the garage, Vinnie thought something was wrong with his bike so Charley promised to check it out."

They smiled at each other, they all knew about Vinnie and Charley's not so secret relationship. But considering the pains they had gone to to keep it under wraps none of them had the heart to tell them that the cat was out of the bag.

"Well just so long as they show up I guess we can't complain." The big mouse said, happy that both his best bros were as content as he was and in love with the two best ladies (with the exemption of Angel and his gray furred mama) that he had ever known.

With that thought in mind he turned two his fiancé and asked "So how is Blade feeling?"

"Frustrated with Throttle and terrified that she's not mother material." She snorted slightly to show what she thought of that idea. Blade was one of the most maternal people she knew, certainly more so that her own mother. Just look at how she'd taken care of her, in many ways she was the only real mother she'd ever had. No scratch that she was more of a protective big sister.

Suddenly out of the corner of her eye she saw a flash streaking down from the sky.

"Modo look!" She exclaimed pointing.

"Looks like they're here." He said.

With that he drew her gently to her feet and holding hands the descended down the stairs.

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The ship (For once) landed without incident and as the six of them gathered around the hatch opened and a walkway descended to the ground.

Stoker was the first to make his way out of the ship with Carbine following closely behind and the kindly old priest who had been taken in by the freedom fighters early on in the war made his way over to the happy couple to be. But these things passed by, unnoticed by Blade whose gaze was focused entirely on the single mouse still standing into the hatchway.

She let out on little choked off word "Gun?" they both raced forward and were in each others arms, tears of joy rolling down their faces.

"Good ta see ya little sis." He said, his normally calm voice shaking.

"Right back at ya big bro." She replied her voice just as shaky.

Stoker, looking incredibly smug shattered the moment by saying "I love family reunions, don't you?"

The two siblings broke apart reluctantly and Blade turning toward the others started introductions.

"Everyone, this is my brother. Gun. Gun I'd like you to meet Charley, Vinnie, Modo and this is…"

"The bastard that got you pregnant." He cut in as she gestured towards Throttle. At her stunned look his gaze softened and he explained, "Any changes in health are reported Blade. Stoker thought I should know."

He smiled at her and giving her a slight push said, "Why don't you go get everyone settled inside? I wanna have a talk with Throttle here."

At he pensive look he smiled slightly, "Don't worry, there'll be no bloodshed I promise."

With a sigh and a few more ancious glances she moved everyone inside. As soon as she was out of sight and hearing distance the large red mouse turned and faced down the other male.

Eyes narrowed menacingly as he hissed out his terse warning. "Okay hotshot I'm gonna make a few things clear right from the start. The one and only reason I'm not braking every bone in your miserable body is that Stoker said you're a standup guy. But if you ever make my sister or that kid even minisculy unhappy I'm gonna hunt you down like a dog and kill you in the slowest most painful way I can think of. And trust me after what happened to her before I've given a lot of thought into what I'd do to any guy who made my sister unhappy. I let her down before but it won't happen again, I'm going to be watching you like a glider hawk. You got that?"

"Got it." Throttle replied. If there was one thing they agreed upon it was keeping Blade happy.

"Good."

The two males turned and headed inside, if not as friend than at least not as enemies. Gods knew they both had enough of those.

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It was a beautiful wedding. Modo was proud and strong in the freedom fighter equivalent of a dress uniform. While Angel looked stunning in a simple yet elegant dress of the pale green all Martian brides wore. The love they had for each other was obvious to everyone present.

After a lot of thought they'd decided to have the ceremony that night out on the field in the open air.

And as the priest finished the ceremony the two newlyweds kissed, with their closest friends and the glittering galaxy above as their witnesses.