Hey you guys...

Thanks for the reviews, so happy to see that you liked it.
SpaceFlora; I'm deeply humbled by your kind words, again.
But please, don't let my writing affecting yours, that would be such a shame.
You rock and don't you forget about that! :)

Aaaaaaaaaanyway, on with the story.
I'm kind of excited to share this chapter with you, especially the last part. *wiggles eyebrows*
Feel free to let me know what you think of these... developments, hehe, but of course, no pressure.

Thanks again for supporting me and till next time, dudes!
Later!

Chapter 23

"Come on, Vin, up and at 'em. You made your point, now it's time to go", Throttle tried to motivate the young white-furred mouse, but without any result.
"N to the O to the PE. I ain't going nowhere without my weapons."
The tan-furred mouse clenched his fists, trying very hard to not to lose his patience.
With Vinnie being in this mood, patience was the only thing that could make a difference here, after all.
But it was hard.
"Look, I already told you why we can't go back, isn't that enough to just, I dunno, suck it up?"
"Yeah, little bro, I mean, ain't that what heroes do? Keeping everyone safe in spite of themselves?", Modo joined him in the fight to get their stubborn bro back on his feet.

It was a good attempt, Throttle had to give him that.
After all, stroking Vinnie's ego usually did the trick.
Just not today.
"Nice try, dude. But imagine a world where everyone would just leave their children behind without blinking because it might be dangerous to go get them. Would you do that?"
"What?! Come on, Vin, that's hardly the same…"
"Would you?!", Vinnie repeated compellingly, cutting him off.
"Well, no, I guess not, but…"
"Of course you wouldn't! So why expecting me to leave my weapons behind, huh? Gosh, you can be so slow on the uptake sometimes, Modo."

Looking at the scene, Throttle suddenly felt an almost hysterical fit of laughter bubbling up, simply because this whole thing was more than ridiculous.
And very typical.
He managed to keep it inside though.
Things were already tiring enough without him getting the giggles.
As he swallowed it away, his gaze landed on Vinnie's bike, which hadn't moved ever since he and Modo arrived at the scene, he now realized.
That was weird, because the bike was usually just as hyper as its owner.
"Say, Vincent? Is your bike on strike too?"
Vinnie put his chin in the air again.
"Of course she is, wherever I go, she goes…", he started high and mighty, but then his eyes grew big and he jumped at his feet as if he got stung by a Martian Bee Bee.
"My bike! Gosh, how could I forget?"
"My my, if I had known it could be this simple...", the tan-furred mouse muttered under his breath as his bionic eyes followed the young mouse who stumbled to his beloved wheels.

When he reached it, he fell on his knees and spread his arms in -if Throttle had to guess- an attempt to hug it, which was -of course- an impossible task.
Vinnie seemed to realize that too, because when it didn't work out the way he wanted, he just laid his head on her side and gently stroked the cherry-red paint.
"I'm sorry, baby, I'm the worst dad ever, please forgive me…", he babbled and Modo and Throttle shared another puzzled look before looking back at their youngest bro who was still chattering to his bike.
"Is he high?", Modo asked out of the corner of his mouth.
"I dunno, maybe he's having a seizure or something…"
"He's calling himself 'dad'. Now that's just downright scary."
"You said it, big fella. Maybe all the adrenaline is affecting his brain…"
"What brain?"
"Excellent point."

The two male mice observed their youngest bro for a little while, but Vinnie had eyes for only his bike.
"Okay, I'll bite. Again. What the hell are you doing?", Throttle eventually asked a bit tiredly, scratching the back of his head.
Vinnie's head jerked up and he gave his bro a look that practically screamed; 'Isn't that obvious?'
"Are you serious? Look at her!"
"I am, but it isn't like she has a speech bubble hanging above her. So I'm asking you. What is going on?"
"She's… I dunno, she's just gone…"
The white-furred mouse then looked up at his two bro's with his eyes wide open and drooping ears, sheer panic readable in his two-colored eyes.
"You don't think she's dead, do you? What if she's dead?!", he wailed dramatically and Throttle rolled his eyes, he just couldn't stop himself.
Of course, he fully understood how important the bike was to Vinnie, for his own bike meant the world to him too.
But this was just downright excessive.
Well, it was very Vinnie, too.
"Bikes don't just die, Vincent, not even ours. It's a bike."

Vinnie almost banged with his head against the windshield of his bike in shock when he heard these words and he gave his bro and leader the evil stare.
"Sssshhh! She can hear ya! It's okay, baby, uncle Throttle didn't mean that… You're so much more than a bike to me."
By the gods...
This day was getting more and more exhausting by the minute, and that while the sun hadn't even come up yet.
"Ahem… what I'm trying to say is; there's probably a perfectly logical explanation for all this and the beauty of her being a bike is that once we find the problem, we can fix it. Just like that. Now, isn't that just beautiful?", Throttle explained himself as if he was talking to an upset toddler who had dropped his ice cream in the sand instead of a fully grown, by a war-hardened soldier.
Sometimes, the differences were hard to find though.
Very hard.
"Maybe Charley ma'am is able to fix it, little bro. I'm sure your bike will be okay", Modo added.

Hearing her name made Throttle realize that he still hadn't heard anything from the human female, a fact that concerned him more than he liked to admit.
What if she really decided to stay here?
Would he be able to leave her behind?
Even though he'd made his choice, he wasn't sure if he could.
But luckily, it didn't come that far, because his sensitive ears picked up the purring sound of her bike, a sound he had learned to recognize during their last little trip.
And indeed, after a few seconds, she stopped her bike next to Modo and pulled off her helmet.
It was just a simple act, but she managed to make it breathtakingly beautiful.
The way she shook her hair, her shiny auburn-colored hair, out of her face…
...her gorgeous face...

So here he was.
Staring at her like he was seeing her for the first time again, as if he hadn't turned her down just an hour ago.
But she was so… special.
How was he able to ignore how special she was, despite his choice?
Her scent filled his nostrils, almost caressed them and he closed his eyes for a moment, enjoying the relaxing effect she always seemed to have on him.
When he opened them again, he saw that she was ready and zipped and sheer relief washed over him when he realized that could only mean one thing.
She was still coming.

Despite everything, he was delighted that she was.
Even though she was clearly avoiding his look.
But that he couldn't blame her.
He'd played with her feelings, after all.
Unintentionally, yes, but still.
She had every right and every reason to take some distance.
He'd practically told her to do so.
It still hurt though.
Even if he tried so hard to deny it, it still hurt.
Yeah, well…
He'd made his choice.
And now he needed to live with the consequences.
Nothing new.

Either way, Throttle wasn't the only one who was relieved to see the human mechanic.
"Sweetheart! Sweetheart, my bike is dying or something, she needs your help, right now!", Vinnie almost yelled at her, clearly, his beloved reputation forgotten for now.
"Typical. I leave you guys alone for what, five seconds? -and look what happens. Bikes are already dying", Charley responded dryly as she dismounted her bike.
"Honestly, it's a good thing that me and my tools have decided to come with you."
After walking over to the cherry-red racer and a very upset white-furred mouse, she kneeled next to both.
"Now, what happened?"
"I dunno… She just stopped responding."
"Hm…"

After studying the bike for a little while, her face suddenly lit up and she reached out.
With a plopping sound, she removed a small black device close to the left handlebar and held it up.
"Here's the little troublemaker."
"What is it?", Modo asked curiously.
"It's a signal blocker. It literally blocks the signal from the AI chip and wham, the bike is just a normal bike all of a sudden", Charley explained as she rose back on her feet.
As if on cue, Vinnie's bike started its engine with a flashing headlight and the human female smiled.
"See? She's fine."

Vinnie stared at the small device for a moment and a faint blush appeared on his cheeks that was, thanks to the white fur, not that hard to miss.
Clearly, he finally realized that his behavior had been beyond extreme, especially now the solution to his problem seemed to be this easy.
In fact, it was so easy, that he simply could've fixed it himself if he hadn't been so busy flipping out.
"I uh… I totally knew that, hehe", he stammered, pulling his bandana.
"Oh really, huh? You just what, forgot to mention it?", Charley snorted in response and the white-furred mouse shrugged before putting his bike back on its tires.
"Something like that."
But then, he glanced at the human female from under his lashes as one corner of his mouth curled up.
"But thanks, doll. You're the best."

It was crazy, how the young mouse managed to make such a simple sentence sound this flirty.
Full with implied promises.
Perhaps it was the mischievous glance in his two-colored eyes.
Or the slightly raw tone of his voice.
Or that arrogant trademark smile of his.
Throttle wasn't sure, but even he didn't miss it and it made him sick to the stomach.
But what could he do?
Nothing.
Not anymore.
It wasn't his place anymore.
And he needed to stop worrying about all this.
Carbine was all he needed to worry about.
She was the one in trouble, she was the one who needed him, after all.
And she was the one who he needed.
Right?
Right.

Still, he couldn't stop himself from keeping a close eye on Charley, to see how she was going to react, but all she did was winking at the young mouse before focussing her attention back on the black device in her hand.
"You know, this means that the one who caught you was prepared. As in; very good prepared."
Throttle realized she was right and gave himself an inner scolding that it wasn't him who came up with this suggestion.
He was a bit too distracted for his own taste, a thing that could cost lives in times like these.
He really needed to focus on what was important and that was everyone's safety.
Which was now at stake because apparently, the mysterious biker was aware of the fact that their bikes were powered by Artificial intelligence, which was bad news on itself, because if he knew this, what else did he find out about them?

But before he, or Modo for that matter, could respond, Vinnie decided that this was the time to restore his ego in the most impossible way.
"Hey, who said someone actually caught me? This mouse is too slick to catch, babe. I'm like a ninja", he bragged as he flexed his muscles, but Charley just held up the device with one hand as she pointed at the net close to her feet with the other one and Vinnie immediately deflated like a balloon when he heaved a sigh in defeat.
"Okay, okay, there might be a possibility that there perhaps was someone who might have slowed me down for just a teeny-tiny moment…"

As he was trying to save what was left to be saved, Modo reached down and grabbed the net. After studying it for a while, he looked at Throttle.
"This is Plutarkian Fiber Steel. Charley ma'am here is right. This person came prepared."
Throttle rubbed his chin in response, a bit confused by this fact.
"A human who works for the Plutarkians?"
"Why not? It wouldn't be the first time", Modo told him, and the tan-furred leader knew he was referring to the Martian Mountain Rats, who had chosen the wrong side shortly after the war broke loose on Mars.
The grey-furred giant despised them for it, and with good reason.
It was betrayal in its purest and ugliest form.
"And you're sure it was a human?", Charley asked puzzled with a frown.
"Positive."

"Well, whoever it was, the next time I see him I'll show him the true meaning of payback, big time", Vinnie grumbled as he cracked his knuckles with a determined look on his young face.
"I mean, look what he did to my ride! Not to mention my pride… Hey! I made a rhyme!"
"What makes you think it's a man?", Charley interrupted his glorious moment and, as if by miracle, the white-furred mouse fell silent as he stared at her, his two-colored eyes as big as saucers.
Throttle and Modo gave Charley a look too, not entirely sure if she was suggesting what they thought she was suggesting.
"What? Why are you looking at me like that? All I'm saying is that it could just as easily be a woman."

Okay.
This was painful, even for the two males whose ego wasn't as big as Mars.
The human just suggested that they were taken down by a woman.
As much as he hated it to admit, even Throttle felt a bit insulted by this.
Perhaps she was joking.
She had to be, right?
He looked at his bro's, who looked back and Vinnie was the first one to burst into laughter.
And since his laugh was more than contagious, next to the fact that this suggestion was beyond ridiculous, Throttle and Modo soon joined him.
"Ha, right!"
"Good one, Charley ma'am."
"Love your sense of humor, babe."

The human female rolled her eyes, clearly not as amused as they were.
Come to think of it, she didn't seem to like inhaling too much testosterone, a thing Throttle had noticed before.
He guessed that no one actually could blame her.
But it was just a guess.
"Who'd have thought that sexism is a problem on Mars too? Too bad the world isn't here to witness this extraordinary discovery. The crowd would've gone wild."
Throttle was the first one to recover, for he felt a bit guilty when he saw her annoyance.
"Sorry, babe, it's not that we don't appreciate women, because we do…"
"Obviously", Vinnie interrupted as he wiggled his eyebrows and Throttle heaved a sigh before continuing.
"But no woman has ever succeeded in taking us down, not even on Mars. It's just hard to believe it would be any different here."
"We meant no disrespect, Charley ma'am", Modo added, chivalrous as he was.
Charley held up her hands.
"Fine. I just hope I'm there if it turns out that you're wrong. God, I'd really like to see your faces when that happens. Maybe I'll even record it."

After a short silence, Modo cleared his throat.
"Maybe this ain't the right time, but I was wondering if uh… if you could take a look at my bike, too? She's got some serious scratches and I… well, I uh… I was kind of hoping that you might be able to fix it?"
Throttle looked down to hide his smile when he saw the poor guy's bumbling, knowing this was Modo to the core.
Always a bit shy when it came to women, always had been.
Not that surprising, after being raised by his beloved grey-furred momma, who had taken 'being feisty' to a whole other level.
She could be downright scary too but at the same time, she was the most loving person Throttle had ever met.
Growing up, he'd spend a lot of time at the Maverick household and it was Modo's mom in particular who had made him feel at home at all times.
Kind of like having a second family and the tan-furred mouse would be forever grateful.

Still, he could understand why Modo was always a bit… cautious when it came to the ladies, always on high alert if they might explode.
Loving or not, his mother hadn't been the best example to him on that front.
Which was a shame, actually.
Because despite his size, he was very good at being invisible and no girl ever really saw him.
No girl, except for Niva.
The slender-built silver-furred female had been able to see right through him and had thereby sealed their fate.
If she hadn't gone missing, they'd probably still be together.
Next to shy, Modo was a loyal mouse.
He'd chosen his partner with care and his heart would belong to her for the rest of his life.
Not even death itself could change that.
Throttle kind of admired him for that.
For his ability to give true love, always and forever.
It was sad at the same time, because he probably would spend the rest of his life alone now, for the chances of Niva's safe return were reduced to almost zero.

Either way, it was mind-blowing to say the least that the grey-furred giant asked Charley to take a look at his bike.
His bike, that was like his whole world, since Niva was the one who gave it to him, only a few months before she disappeared.
It was all he had left of her.
All he had left to give his unconditional love to.
He must really trust the human female, which was good.
Trust was needed when one fought a war together.
Without trust, there was nothing.
Only death.
And Throttle could only hope that Charley was still trusting him after what he did to her.
Time would tell, and time alone.

Charley seemed to be a bit surprised by this question as well, probably because she remembered Modo's first reaction that day when she showed them the garage.
He'd been evasive, and not just a little.
But she quickly recovered herself and bend over Little Hoss.
Modo stood next to her, clearly nervous as hell.
The bond he had with his bike wasn't one-sided and usually, when someone beside him -or his bro's- only thought so much about touching it, it was either him or his bike who wouldn't hesitate to blow their brains out.
But the bike let Charley touch it without making a single sound, which was highly unusual.
It seemed to be another sign that this human being was to be trusted.

"I can fix it, but not here", she started, wiping off her hands on her pants as she got back upright and for the first time since she joined them here, she looked Throttle straight in the eye.
"I need to take her back to the garage."
Enjoying this small moment of seeing her beautiful green eyes looking back at him, Throttle ran a hand through his hair as he processed her words.
Back to the garage meant back to the camp.
And they all knew what that meant in turn.
But he couldn't tell Modo that he just needed to suck it up, unlike some others.
This was too important for him.
So, the tan-furred mouse nodded.
"Okay. If that's what it takes…"
"Yes! Hotdogs and rootbeer!", Vinnie immediately cheered as he made a jump in excitement, not thinking about anything else but himself.
As usual.

But Modo did, because he firmly shook his head.
"No. No, I don't wanna put those people in danger because of my bike. It's just a few scratches. She'll be fine, right Lil' Darling?"
The impressive machine beeped back in return as she flashed her headlight.
"Are you sure?", Throttle asked his older bro, somehow feeling the need to clarify that he would never pass him over or something like that.
This was a very touchy subject for his older bro and he wanted him to know that he understood, because he did.
But Modo gave him a warm smile, hereby telling his leader that he knew.
"Yeah, I'm sure. There are children in there. I would never forgive myself if something happens to them because of me."
"Ah, man… Does this mean no hotdogs and rootbeer?", Vinnie interfered and, as if on cue, everyone heaved a sigh.
Of course, the white-furred mouse was unaware of any wrongdoing and he looked around the group a bit puzzled.
"What? Something I said?"

As Modo took the white-furred mouse in a headlock, Throttle glanced at Charley, who was standing with her back towards him.
"Are you ready to go?"
After a short silence, she turned around.
"I'm ready. Everything is taken care of."
Throttle noticed that she was, again, avoiding his look and he suddenly felt the urge to apologize to her for everything he'd done.
Perhaps even for his entire existence.
"Look, Charley, I'm sorry if I hurt you, it wasn't my intention…", he started, but immediately trialed off again when he saw the look on her face,
It came close to… amusement?
Why though?
As far as he's concerned, there was nothing funny about all of this.
Not at all.
"I love it how much credits you're giving yourself here", she snorted as she mounted her bike again, but before she could put on her helmet, Throttle laid a hand on her arm to stop her.
"What does that even mean?"

After looking at his hand for a little while, Charley looked up at him.
Her eyes were cold, colder than he'd ever seen before.
It gave him the chills, actually.
"You think I'm sad because of you, but you couldn't be more wrong. It is leaving my people behind that hurts, even though I know it's the right thing to do right now."
Her voice was just as cold as her eyes and Throttle pulled back his hand, knowing he needed to give her some space.
That was the least he could do.
Because even if her words said he didn't hurt her, her eyes told quite a different story.
She just didn't seem to want to admit it, a thing he needed to respect.
He couldn't force her to talk about things when she wasn't ready yet.
If she would ever be ready, that is.
"You can still change your mind. No one would blame you for it", he said softly.
"No. This isn't about us. It's bigger than that. You were right, there are so many people out there who need help, at least, I hope there are. It feels wrong to let them down. So I'm coming."
And before he could react, she put on her helmet.
"I'm ready if you guys are."

Knowing there was nothing he could say or do to stop her from hating him right now, Throttle trudged back to his bike as he whistled between his teeth to get his bro's attention, who were currently caught up in an old school Martian Wrestle session.
"Wrap it up, boys. It's time for us to rock and ride into the miraculous world of the human being."
"Ooh, I kinda like the sound of that", Modo smiled as he let Vinnie go, who now dropped on the floor with a loud thump.
"Modo!"
"Whoops, sorry little bro."
"You didn't mean that."
"You're right, I didn't."
"Man… What did I do to deserve this?"
"That's easy. You were born."
"Ouch, now that hurts, man. My day of birth is the best day in history and you know it."
Throttle shook his head with a smile as he listened to their bickering, grateful that at least some things would never change, not even while being on a different planet.
It was strangely comforting to have something that familiar around you when everything else was falling apart.

When his bro's were all ready to go, the tan-furred mouse revved his bike.
"So, now you two are done with playing the married couple…"
"Married?!", Vinnie protested insulted, but Throttle ignored him as he popped a wheelie.
"...it's time to rock…"
But again, Vinnie came in between.
"Wait, wait, wait, wait, WAIT!"
"Now what?", the tan-furred leader sighed as his bike landed back on its front wheel again.
"My weapons! I told ya, I won't leave without them!"
"Great moons of Mars, you're obsessed", Modo groaned as he leaned over his handlebars and rested his head in his metal hand.
"I'm starting to feel a little bit annoyed here, Vincent…"
But before anyone else could say another word, Charley threw a backpack in the middle of the group.
"You mean these weapons?"

Vinnie stared at the backpack for a moment, but then a big grin appeared on his face and he jumped off his bike to pick it up.
As he wrapped his arms around his precious weapons, he gave Charley a grateful look.
"You truly are a lifesaver today, huh, sweetheart? I like it. Yeah, I like it a lot…"
"I figured you might be needing them", she replied with a small smile around her lips and a slightly flirty undertone in her voice.
Throttle stared at the two for a moment, not liking what he saw.
Something was different between them, but he couldn't put his furry finger on it.
Modo cleared his throat a bit uncomfortable, telling Throttle he wasn't seeing ghosts.
There was this certain tension palpable between these two, one he could hardly bear, so he quickly broke the loaded silence, even if it made him feel beyond hypocrite.
"Well, now this happy family has finally reunited again, let's rock…"

As soon as he started talking, Vinnie broke eye contact with Charley, but still with that arrogant crooked smile of his chiseled on his face and jumped on his bike, but this time it was Modo who stopped them from leaving, simply by staring at the scratches on his bike, clearly deep in thought.
Throttle raised his eyes to heaven as he repeated himself a bit louder this time.
"Let's rock…"
Still no response and now it was Vinnie who lost his patience.
"MODO!"
The grey-furred giant looked up with a jerk and soon realized what was happening.
"I'm sorry, my bad. Let's ride…"
"..and rock?", the tan-furred leader asked tiredly as he squeezed the bridge of his nose.
"Ya know, we really need to plan our exits better. But this one is ruined anyway, so let's just go, okay?", Vinnie sighed and hit the accelerator, soon followed by his bro's and Charley.
And with that, their road trip to California began.

…

They drove through the wrecked landscape of America the whole day, but surprisingly enough, they didn't run into trouble.
Which was highly unusual, because they seemed to be a magnet for everything that looks like trouble.
But for once, things were quiet, almost peaceful.
It would've been really peaceful if Vinnie didn't keep whining about being bored, or asking almost every five minutes if they were there yet.
Ah well.
A mouse couldn't have it all.

Throttle used the quietness to call Carbine again, just to tell her that they were on their way and to ask how things were going over there.
It was kind of a laborious conversation, simply because she was back to her old cold self, her despair from the other day nowhere to be found.
Although he didn't like this side of her, he still preferred it to despair.
That conversation had broken his heart.
This one only annoyed him a bit, but it softened the pressing guilt at the same time.
And at least he knew what he wanted to know, which was that Stoker was still alive and that the rest was still safe for now.
That was all that mattered for now.
When the sun had set, Throttle decided it was time to find a place to spend the night and shortly thereafter, they came across a small town and after a quick exploration, it turned out to be deserted.
Eventually, they settled down on the second-highest floor of one of the buildings and after a quick meal, they all went to sleep, tired and stiff from the long ride.

Well, except for a certain white-furred mouse, who -again- couldn't sleep, much to his annoyance.
It wasn't that he wasn't tired, because he was.
Especially after the whole day driving through a wrecked landscape.
Still, seeing the damage that the Plutarkians had done to this planet stirred enough memories to give him over more than a hundred sleepless nights and yet, it wasn't the reason why he was still wide awake.
Nor was it his roaring stomach.
Gosh, he wished it was.
That would be so much easier.
But it wasn't.
No, it was a certain human female who got the credits.
That had actually more than one reason.

At first, something seemed to be different about her today.
More to the point, she seemed to be different around him.
The so-called casual touches, the comments with a dual message...
Heck, if he didn't know any better, he would've sworn that she was actually flirting with him.
Which, of course, was completely understandable.
Not many women were immune to his trademark charm.

But even though it didn't really surprise him that she seemed to be interested in him, her change in behavior did come from an unexpected quarter, for he had seen the way she looked at Throttle.
Even if some would claim otherwise, he wasn't stupid.
She liked him.
But something must have happened between them that had caused this sudden turn of events, and he was for about 99% sure that something was actually Carbine.

But truth be told, he couldn't care less about the reason for her sudden change, which was weird because he was very much aware of the fact that he was either second choice or a rebound, a thing his ego usually couldn't bear.
He wasn't entirely sure why he didn't care though.
All he knew was that every bit of attention fed this unexplainable desire he felt each time she was near to him.
And she had been close to him, alright.
The second and most important reason why he couldn't sleep.

Unfortunately, the building that Throttle had chosen used to be some kind of office -at least, that's what Charley thought- and apparently, offices didn't have beds, much to Vinnie's shock.
Humans were weird.
Luckily, Charley had brought some blankets so they didn't have to lie on the cold floor, but they were hardly sufficient.
So was the small supply of food and water she'd taken with her.
It was because of the hurry with which they had to leave, she'd explained to them.
But Throttle had reassured her that it was enough for now and that they probably would find something to eat on the way.
Yeah, right.
As if.
This place was like a fucking ghost town and Vinnie had a hard time believing that it would be any different further along the way.

Either way, all this had nothing to do with why he couldn't sleep, for all this was just the war on Mars all over again and therefore, he was used to it.
No, it was because Charley had settled down close to him when they were preparing themselves for the night.
Now, that fact alone would be enough to keep him awake, but then there was her smell.
Her lovely smell that now covered him like a thick blanket and only grew stronger by every minute she was in the same room as him.
And surprise, surprise, it fired that awful burning desire, that had been dormant in the background, like a missile again.

So here he was, lying on only a blanket on a cold floor, staring at the ceiling with a smoldering body.
Yearning for the woman who lay only a few feet away from him.
He turned his head and glanced at the source of his unease, seeing that she was lying with her back towards him.
Judging by her slow breathing and calm heartbeat, she was out like a light.
Which was probably a good thing.
The chances of him jumping on her were a lot smaller when she was peacefully asleep, after all.
Gosh, the thought alone.
That would be so awkward.
Hehe.
Totally.

As he still stared at her back with teeth clenched and every muscle in his body as tight as a drum, she suddenly rolled on her back, causing a wave of air whooshing towards him.
Air that was filled with that maddening scent of hers and he suddenly couldn't take it anymore.
He needed to get the hell out of here, as in; right now, before things would get really awkward.
And so he did.

After taking the two stairs, he burst through the door that led to the roof and the fresh air almost slapped him in the face, just the thing he needed right now.
Kind of like a cold shower, hehe.
Even if it seemed to be impossible to get rid of that nagging craving, the fresh air did clear his head at least a little bit, a thing that was more than welcome right now.
Man, this was crazy, even beyond that.
This was just the first night of their little road trip and who knew how long they were going to be together twenty-four-seven?
How on Mars was he able to function properly while this human was affecting him the way she did?
Gosh, he needed a serious release, and fast, too.
Sure, great idea and all, but how?

He couldn't just go back down and drag her out of her homemade bed.
She was part of the team now, not just some random girl he would never see again and he somehow felt reluctant to get on her bad side.
And since the Plutarkians had decided to wipe out almost the entire human race, and that included its women, they weren't exactly standing in line for him.
Which they totally would have if they were still here, that he knew for sure.
Of course.
And on top of it all, there was Throttle.
His tan-furred bro and leader, who would kill to keep Charley safe, that he knew.
Oh man, how much he loved his life...
Not.
Okay, maybe he did.
But not now.
Certainly not now.
Air.
He just needed some more fresh air, that would do the trick.

He closed his eyes -because hey, maybe it would help the fresh breeze to penetrate deeper into his overheated brain- and took a few deep breaths.
Ah yes.
This was just what he needed.
Pure air.
Pure and fresh air.
Pure and fresh air with a hint of the sweetest scent he'd ever smelled.
A scent that made his blood rush through his veins faster than the speed of light, that made him more than aware of every nerve end in his body, that…
Hey.
Wait a minute…
That wasn't supposed to happen.

Wrinkling his nose, he took another deep breath.
And another one.
Deep down, he definitely realized he looked like a complete fool, standing here, almost gasping for air like a fish out of the water.
Kind of how John had looked like.
But for once, he didn't care, and not only because nobody was able to see him right now.
No, simply because he was more than determined to win this fight, to get rid of this awful yearning that was about to drive him crazy.
Unfortunately, the more breaths he took, the stronger the scent grew.
Oh gosh...
Was it stuck in his nose or something?
Was that even possible?
He sure hoped it wasn't, otherwise, it wouldn't take long before he would really lose his mind.

But then, his sensitive hearing picked up footsteps.
Despite everything, his brain was still clear enough to quickly connect the dots and his eyes flew open again when he realized what was happening.
Uh oh...
As he held in his breath, he looked over his shoulder, just in time to see Charley stepping through the door.
Uh oh indeed.

"Hey you", she greeted him softly as she closed the door behind her.
"Hi", Vinnie squeaked back, still trying very hard not to breathe and giving himself an inner scolding for being this uncool at the same time.
But the damage had already been done, because the human female gave him a puzzled look.
"Are you okay?"
No.
Yet, he nodded as his lungs practically screamed for oxygen, but he simply refused to give them what they wanted as long as he was looking her in the eye.
Luckily, after giving him one last investigating look, she wrapped her arms around her waist and looked up to the stars.
"It's such a clear sky tonight."

Without waiting for a response, she walked closer to the side of the roof, still gazing at the wild and wooly universe while Vinnie's eyes followed her every move, taking in her beautiful body.
He couldn't care less about the stars.
All he saw was her auburn-colored hair shining in the moonlight, her strong shoulders, her small waist, her perfectly-muscled legs...
Without really realizing it, he let out his breath, almost mesmerized by the view.
But letting it out meant letting new air in, which included that inciting fragrance of hers and his body just burst into flames.
Well, not literally, of course, although he somehow wished it was.
Because this was unbearable.

Biting his lower lip in an attempt to keep his head in the game, he put his hands in his pockets as he still glanced at Charley's back.
Maybe he had to say something.
This was getting a bit awkward.
"So here we are again. Yet another sleepless night…"

It didn't exactly make things better.
Because his voice was too low, too... raw.
It all had something to do with these damned hormones that raged through his system at this very moment.
And for the first time since forever, he cursed his great and handsome body for this overproduction of testosterone.
But Charley's reaction told him she clearly thought differently, because he could see how she tensed her back, he could hear how her heartbeat increased, so was her breathing and he now knew for sure; he obviously did something to her as well.
Oh boy.

Perhaps he didn't need a random girl to get a release, after all.
Perhaps salvation was closer than he'd thought in the first place.
It was as if she was able to hear what was going on in his head, because she slowly turned around and when his eyes locked with hers, he almost exploded out of his fur by seeing them burn in a way he hadn't seen before.
Well, he had seen it before, but not with her.
Either way, he knew what it meant.
Oh, man, he knew alright.
And it made him even more aroused, to the extent possible.
Holy shit, she was so sexy.
Attractive.
Irresistible.
Hm.
This was going to be interesting.
Very… interesting.