Well, this is another shorty. It didn't really fit on the end of last chapter, or on the front of the next, but I think it's a rather necessary section.
Thank you to Morning and The Bookworm for your wonderful and very helpful reviews!
Interlude
Throttle rolled his bike into a corner of the Garage and glanced up at the trapdoor. Charlie had left the Warehouse early, citing more of the dastardly paperwork that she hated so much. He had given her an hour to work, then had followed her back. Damn it, they needed to talk, if he had to tie her to the desk to make her stay.
They were managing to work together companionably enough, but the tension was always there. He needed to get his feelings out in the open, and he needed to hear Charlie's side of things as well.
Quietly, he climbed the ladder and slipped up into the hallway, hoping to surprise her. At this point, Throttle wouldn't put it past Charlie-girl to manufacture some sort of excuse just to slip away, and he wasn't about to give her that opportunity.
The door to her office was cracked, and light shone through into the dim hallway. Throttle gathered his nerves and pushed the door open.
Charlie was curled up in her seat, head resting on one outstretched arm. She was sleeping.
The Mouse paused, suddenly reluctant to wake her from sleep that he knew she needed. He hadn't been the only one to notice the seemingly permanent shadows under her eyes, the stress lines on her face. Well, he could wait for her to wake. Throttle crossed the room to grab the jacket hanging off the one free chair to cover her with.
"No…"
The murmured denial caught his ears, and he spun around toward the desk.
Charlie's hands were clenched, and her face full of torment. Her breathing was rapidly becoming very heavy. "D…don't…please! I… can't!" She tossed her head, pressing it into the papers strewn over the desk.
"Charlie-girl, what's wrong?"
She didn't answer, and Throttle realized she was still asleep. A nightmare!
He dropped to his knees beside her and grabbed her shoulder, shaking her gently. "Charlie-girl, wake up. It's just a dream. Wake up."
Instead of pulling her awake, the contact only worsened Charlie's thrashing. "Sto…p!" she begged, tears slipping out of her closed eyes and falling down her cheek.
"Charlie!" Slightly panicky, Throttle grasped the woman and pulled her upright, holding her against his chest. "Sweetie, snap out of it!"
"Ahhh!" Charlie's eyes sprang open, and she pushed him violently away. "Leave me-" Awareness slipped back into her eyes, and she rapidly glanced around the room, coming back to stare at the golden-furred Mouse next to her. "Throttle?"
"You were havin' a nightmare, Charlie. A real doozie by the looks of things. You okay?"
The human took a couple of deep breaths, and nodded. "Yeah. Thanks. Sorry about that." She stared down at the desk, avoiding his eyes in the manner he had come to associate with Charlie's hiding something. "So, umm, why'd you come back here?" She glanced at the clock. "It's only ten. Things at the Warehouse should still be going strong."
Throttle actually caught himself glancing away to a small tear in his jeans. "I, uh, wanted ta talk to you."
"Throttle." Despite the tears that still clung to her lashes, there was a strong note of warning in Charlie's voice, but he drove gamely on.
"Maybe you don't want to listen, but I'm gonna tell ya anyways. We can't go on the way we are, Charlie-girl."
"Fine." She stood and wiped her face on her sleeve. "But we'll take this outside. Anyone down in the garage?"
"Not when I drove in."
"All right." Charlie walked around the desk, carefully avoiding contact with the large Mouse. "Downstairs. But I need some coffee first." He followed her into a smaller room down the hall. It was easy to tell that it had formerly been her kitchen; the same old appliances were there, in slightly different places. Same battered cabinets, same old tiny table that Modo had smashed in a brief moment of rage, then painstakingly (and painfully) repaired. He was touched to see that she hadn't replaced it. Charlie grabbed the half-full carafe that stood on the hot plate, and filled a mug. When she lifted the carafe in his direction, he nodded, and she grabbed another mug for him.
Throttle trailed her back down the ladder, being careful not to spill his drink. She crossed to Baby Doll and sat sideways on the seat. After a sip of her coffee, she stared up at him. "So, spill."
Throttle took a deep breath and forged on. "We need to talk about what happened that night before I left Earth."
"You mean the kiss?"
His ears flattened at her careless tone. "Yes."
Charlie flapped her hand at him. "I guess I should apologize for that. I was feeling so upset at your leaving that I let my hormones get a jump on me. I felt a little guilty for jumping you like that. It-"
He interrupted her. "Don't lie to me, Charlene. You and I both know there was more to it then that. Why else have you been so set on not bein' alone with me?"
"I haven't-"
"Yes, you have!" Throttle yelled. He pulled off his field specs and glared at the woman who seemed so intent on pulling out his heart to save her own. "Every damn time we're left alone in a room together, you've got somethin' 'urgent' to take care of. Ever since the day we got back, you've been avoidin' me! I'm sick and tired of it, and I want a straight answer!"
"Fine! I have!" Charlie didn't seem frightened of him now. She pushed away from her bike and stalked over to him. "I've been avoiding you because I knew that this was exactly the sort of thing that would happen. We had feelings between us six years ago, but we agreed it wouldn't work. Well, maybe Carbine's not in your life now, but I don't want a relationship! I can't handle one right now! I've got too goddamn much else to deal with, and I'm not about to start something that's just going to rip us apart! That's going to rip me apart! Get it?!"
"All right." She seemed quite taken aback by his calm voice, so very different from the roar of moments ago. "You could'a just told me that, Charlie-girl. You didn't need to get yourself so riled up."
"Umm…" Charlie was silent for a moment, staring down at the floor. He could see the tips of her ears through her hair, and they were bright pink. "I'm sorry, Throttle. I'm just really stressed out right now."
"I know. We all are. Are we friends again?"
She looked back up, and smiled. "Okay." This time, when he drew her into a brief hug, she didn't resist. Instead, she wrapped her arms around his neck and squeezed. "We're something, ya know that?"
"Yeah." He pulled away, keeping his arms around her, and grinned. "Yeah, we are." He started to move, but was caught by the gleaming emeralds of her eyes. They sparkled, still slightly red from her earlier tears, flashing from her brief fury. They were so beautiful…
"Throttle," she murmured.
He could feel it again, that same tug that had pulled then into each other's arms so many years ago. Time hadn't diminished it at all.
Then she blinked, and pulled her arms from around his neck. She cleared her throats. "Well, I'm, um, glad that's settled. I didn't really like avoiding you."
"Yeah." He fought down the frustration that had risen inside of him. The first step had been accomplished. There would be plenty of time for the next.
If, of course, he had the patience.
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