Chapter One
6 Years later…Throttle stared out of the view screen as Earth grew closer. Thoughts of the human woman he hadn't seen for years flew through his mind. They hadn't heard from her since they'd left.
Without the Biker Mice to keep him in check, Limburger and his goons had run rampant in Chicago. More and more Plutarkians had gone to Earth as the battle for Mars grew better and better for the Martians. About a year after the Biker Mice left, open war broke out, and their enemies had foregone any human disguises and began to really concentrate on taking Earth. No one was really sure what started it all, but a human group of Freedom Fighters had quickly emerged to fight them off, and had held their own for four years. At that time, the Martians finally beat the Plutarkians off of their planet, and they began sending Freedom Fighters to Earth to help in the war. A year later, it was finally over. The Plutarkians had been well and truly defeated.
At long last, the Biker Mice were returned to Earth.
A hand descended upon his shoulder, and Throttle looked up to see Modo. "How's it hanging, Bro? Happy to be heading back?"
He looked back out at the verdant planet they were quickly approaching. "Do you think she's all right? She could have contacted us. The Freedom Fighters provided working transmitters."
Modo joined him in watching Earth. "I wish I could tell you, Bro. I'm bettin' Charlie-girl's been pretty heavily involved with the Earth resistance. It could be that she's simply been too busy. I've been watchin' the reports, and Earth's had as a bad a time as Mars did. It's a miracle that they managed to beat the fish-faces so quickly."
"Yeah," Throttle agreed. He breathed a heavy sigh. "I guess we'll see."
It only took about an hour to arrive, and the three jumped on the bikes and headed for the Garage. When they arrived, their jaws dropped.
"Man, oh man," Vinnie whistled. "Would ya lookit that."
The Last Chance Garage was still standing. In fact, it had been added to and reinforced, the dungy brick exterior now replaced with a titanium alloy the Bikers recognized from their own base. The place looked busy, with humans and Mice running in and out. Flyers perched on the roof, ready to take off at any moment.
Modo turned to look at Throttle, whose jaw hung to his chest. "See, Bro? She's been busy."
Throttle nodded. "Let's go see Charlie, guys."
They rolled into the garage, which was packed with bikes and other vehicles under various stages of repair. A desk stood over to one side, and they headed toward it.
"Well, look what the cat dragged in!" The familiar voice brought the Mice to a stop, and they stared at the human, if that's what he still was, who hurried toward them.
"Jack?" Throttle choked out.
Jack McCyber laughed as he neared them. "Surprised you, didn't I? Guess this getup would surprise anyone." He grinned and tapped the side of his head. Instead of a flesh and skin face, his head was completely metal. Cybernetic eyes stared out of their sockets, and his neck was a mass of wires.
"What happened, Jack?" Modo asked.
Jack leaned up against the open hood of a racer. "Got caught in a blast and fried my entire head. If not for your Martian techs and their replacement bits, I wouldn't be here today. Now, I really am a McCyber, huh?" He laughed again. "Don't lock so stunned, fellas. I'm fine." He reached out and grabbed Throttle's arm. "It's good to see you, guys. We'll have to do some catching up." He cocked his head and grinned at the still-bewildered trio. "But right now, I'm guessing there's someone else you'd like to see?"
Vinnie and Modo both glanced at Throttle as their leader's head jerked up. "Then Charlie's okay?"
"Boys, she's better then okay. Hey, Mitch!" Jack gestured at a teenager who was bending over the handlebars of a bike. "Take the Biker Mice to see the Commander, would you?"
"Commander?!" The Mice cried as one.
"Our Charlie's made quite a name for herself. But I guess you'll just have to ask her all about it." He clapped Mitch on the shoulder when the teen hurried over. "See you later." He swaggered off, leaving behind him three speechless Mice.
"If you'll come this way, sirs. Commander Davidson's office is upstairs." The kid had a bad case of acne, and a large Adam's apple. The reverence with which he said Charlie's name suggested a huge case of hero worship. "Are you really the Biker Mice that the Commander knew before the war?"
"You bet'cha, Mitch." Vinnie grinned down at the kid. "Vincent Van Wham at your service. These two blockheads are Modo and Throttle."
"Blockheads, huh? I'll show you a blockhead," Modo muttered as they climbed the old ladder up through the familiar trap door. Throttle grinned weakly, but his thoughts were on the woman they were going to see.
"Commander, ma'am? There's someone here to see you." Mitch's voice broke, and he flushed.
"Damn it, what is it now? I'm never gonna finish this friggin' paperwork." The growl that came through the door made their antennae straighten in surprise. That was Charlie? Her voice was harder then they remembered, and colder. It was her voice, all right, but it didn't sound like the cheerful woman they'd left six years before.
Vinnie opened the door and poked his head in. "Well, if paperwork is more important then old friends, I guess we could just head back to Mars…"
The auburn-haired woman at the desk raised her head and stared with familiar green eyes. "Vinnie?" The color drained from her face. "What are you doing here?"
This wasn't exactly the reception they'd expected. Vinnie opened the door wider so that the other two Mice were visible "Aren't you glad to see us, Charlie-ma'am?" Modo asked. Throttle couldn't seem to open his mouth. Mitch, he noticed, had quickly left them alone.
Charlie stared for another moment, then her eyes cleared and she stood up. "Of course! I'm sorry; you just really surprised me. Get in here and give me a hug! How are you?"
"Oh, same-old, same-old. Happy to be back on Earth. But look at you! Commander?" Vinnie whistled again as he eyeballed her outfit. Charlie's hair was pulled back into a bun, giving her a rather authoritarian look. A tight lavender top was tucked into leather jeans, and a leather jacket that bore a heavy resemblance to the Martian Freedom Fighters' uniforms completed the ensemble. She looked tough.
Charlie shrugged. "When the fish-faces finally decided to attack, they took out the military first. Seeing as I knew more about the enemy then anyone else, I pulled together the first resistance group. It grew, and was joined by other groups, until I found myself heading this entire nightmare."
"Good job, Charlie-ma'am," Modo said. She flushed, and graced him with a smile filled with quiet pride in her fighters.
Then Vinnie grinned. "But you haven't said hello to Throttle! Bet you're glad to see him." He grabbed Throttle and shoved him toward Charlie.
The two stared at each other in silence for a moment.
"Hello, Throttle. It's good to see you," she said quietly.
Throttle nodded. His eyes took in the shadows under her eyes, the overall gauntness of her frame. The war, he realized, had not been kind to Charlie.
"Umm, look, I hate to do this to you, but I need to finish this paperwork. The scoreboard's still standing, and most of your stuff should still be there. We were using it to hide refugees for a while. Why don't you drop anything you brought over there, and make yourselves comfortable? Head back over here in an hour or so, and we'll find some grub." With that, Charlie sat down behind the desk and looked down at the papers she had dropped. It was a friendly, but very clear, dismissal.
Modo and Vinnie glanced over at Throttle. He nodded toward the door, and they left. The room was quiet but for the scratching of Charlie's pen. Throttle walked over and stood in front of the desk, but she didn't look up. "Charlie-girl," he began.
"Look, Throttle, like I said, I'm sorry, but I'm really busy right now. Just give me an hour." She shoved away from the massive desk and stalked over to stuff some papers into a file cabinet. Throttle came up behind her and placed his hands on her shoulders. Beneath the jacket, he could feel her shoulder bones and wondered just how much weight she'd lost. She froze, and refused to turn and face him.
"I missed you, Charlene."
"How's Carbine, Throttle?" Her voice was sharp.
Throttle sighed. He had known it wasn't going to be easy, but… "She was fine, last I heard. 'Bout three years ago, we decided to stop lyin' to each other, and to ourselves. Charlie, we broke up. I realized that my heart just wasn't with her anymore. It's-"
Now Charlie swung around. "Don't!" She pushed by him and crossed behind the desk, using the large piece of furniture as a barrier between the two of them. "Just don't, okay? I can't do this right now." She stared at him through haunted eyes.
"Charlie-"
"Please leave, Throttle!" Her voice wasn't that of an old friend, but of a commander barking out an order.
Throttle stepped toward her, reaching out, then stopped, and let his hand fall back by his side. "Fine." His voice was quiet, but it held every bit as much power as hers. "I'll leave now, but we're gonna talk about this later, Charlene." With that, he turned and left, closing the door softly after him.
Behind the door, Charlie dropped her head into her hands and fought off the tears burning her eyes.
* * *
It didn't take long for Vinnie and Modo to set up what they'd brought with them, and they opened a few root beers to pass the time.
"Cheese, what happened to Charlie?" Vinnie rocked back in his chair. "If I didn't know better, I'd think she was kinda unhappy to see us! Even me, the greatest mammajammer in the universe!"
As he spoke, Throttle slammed in through the door. He took one agonized, furious look at the two Mice sitting at the table, then stalked across the room and entered his old room, smashing the door closed behind him. Modo groaned and covered his eyes. "Nice one, lamebrain. It's bad enough that he's been tearin' his fur out over her, but now you gotta rub it in."
"How the hell was I supposed ta know he'd walk in just then? Man, Fearless Leader's got it bad, huh? Ya think I should go talk to him? Like apologize or somethin'?"
"I dunno, little bro. Somethin' tells me that this is one Throttle's gonna have to work out on his own."
A crash rang out from the bedroom, and they winced. "I just hope he doesn't work it out on us," Vinnie muttered. "And Charlie ain't gonna pay to fix the walls anymore."
When the sounds of destruction, accompanied by growls of anger, continued from the other room, Modo thumped his half-empty bottle down on the table and shoved back his chair. "Bro's gonna hurt himself." He headed toward the bedroom, stopping only to say to Vinnie when he jumped up, "Do him a favor, and just butt out right now. We both know ya love 'im, and he knows it too, but your type'a sympathy isn't gonna help." With that, he visibly braced himself, and opened the door.
A lamp and two pulverized metal crates lay inside the door where they'd been thrown. Throttle sat on the bed, head in his hands. As Modo entered, he growled, "Go away. I don't wanna talk about it."
"Don't ya mean 'about her'?" Modo sat down next to his bro and laid a hand on his back. "Give her a little time. It's been six years after all. I'm sure Charlie-girl will come around once ya explain about you and Carbine goin' your own separate ways."
"I did!" Throttle raised his head, and the look of despair in his eyes made Modo's widen. "I told her, and tried to ask for just a chance, and she threw me out!"
Modo shook his head. "I guess I don't know what to tell you, Bro. But look at it from her point of view. Ya tell her it won't work –and don't hit me for sayin' it when ya both agreed- and fly off home. Then ya show up six years later an' tell Charlie-girl it's her ya love. I can't blame her for bein' kinda standoffish."
Throttle groaned. "My head hurts."
Modo clapped him on the shoulder. "It'll work out. Just give her some time."
"I hope you're right."
* * *