Hey there, my loyal readers.

Thank you so much for the reviews, keeps me motivated!
I feel very humbled by your kind words.

Anyway, next chapter!
Enjoy! ^^

Chapter 10

"You don't have to answer right now, I know it's a lot to ask", Charley quickly added to her question.
"It's just… we can use experienced fighters like you, so I figured I might as well ask, but please, don't feel obligated. Take the time you need to think about it."
She was right, though.
It was a lot to ask.
Especially after what they had been through.
Throttle looked at his bro's.
Vinnie avoided his gaze, clearly still upset.
That wasn't really a surprise.
The white-furred mouse didn't easily forget and he never forgave.
Well, he was willing to make an exception for his bro's, most of the time.
But Throttle knew he'd some serious apologizing to do before his young bro would even think about forgiveness.
But other than that, the young mouse would probably have no problem with joining the human's side in their fight against the Plutarkians.
War was all he knew, after all.
And he wasn't exactly shy about the fact that he enjoyed the action that came with it, most of the time.
Modo, however…
Modo was a different story.
The grey-furred giant was staring at the ground, by the looks of things deep in thought.
The anguished expression on his face told Throttle just what he thought. His bro was obviously having a hard time with being here, most of all, to already stand with one foot in the next war without having the chance to process the things that happened during the last one. War was no place to be for the ones who cared as much as he did.
But then again, Modo was a mouse who placed great value upon doing the right thing, no matter what that'll do to him.
Unlike Vinnie, he was able to put himself in second place if that's what it took.
Still...
Throttle didn't just wanna skip to the part where he would say yes or no to Charley's question.
He needed to talk to his bro's first.
In private.
This decision needed to be unanimous(e), for this was about their future.
Their uncertain future.
They needed to think this one through.
Were they gonna choose peace or war?
Life or death?
The tan-furred mouse heaved a sigh and looked back at Charley.
"Let us get our heads together first. We'll let you know what we decide as soon as we know."
"Sure thing. Take all the time you need", the human female nodded.
"We'll do."

Throttle suddenly discovered that Vinnie wasn't standing next to him anymore and he quickly looked over his shoulder, only to spot his young bro snooping around in the garage.
"Honestly, sometimes it feels like I'm babysitting a toddler", Throttle muttered before raising his voice.
"Vinnie! You can't just walk into someone's home and workplace. I'm sorry, his middle name is curious George", he then added towards Charley, giving her an apologetic look.
She was about to answer him when Vinnie suddenly pulled a door open.
"Hey! What's this?"
Throttle squeezed the bridge of his nose with his eyes closed.
This day was getting more exhausting by the minute.
When he opened his eyes again, he saw Charley walking towards the white-furred mouse, who was still standing in the doorway.
At least he had the morality to wait until the human female joined him, Throttle had to give him that.
"That's the bomb shelter I told you guys about", she informed and slid past Vinnie, who's lips curled into a small but smugly smile when her body rubbed against his, even if it was for only a short matter of time.
Luckily for him, Throttle didn't see it.
Modo did, but he decided to ignore it for now.
As his beloved grey-furred momma used to say:
'There is a time for talk and there is a time for action.'
It was clear now wasn't the time for both.
Charley turned around, now standing backward on the stairs that led down.
"You guys wanna see it?"
"Hell yeah. Lead the way, sweetheart", Vinnie answered enthusiastic, almost bouncing on one foot.
"Only if it's okay with you, Charley ma'am", Modo added, not wanting to force her on a trip down on memory lane.
"What he says, babe", Throttle agreed with Modo.

But apparently, Charley had no trouble with taking this trip.
"Of course it's okay. It's been a while since I've been down there, though, so it's probably a bit dusty", she warned them before turning around to walk down the stairs.
The mice followed her, nearly fitting through the small hallway.
Especially Modo was having a hard time to prevent himself from getting stuck and he let out a soft noise in annoyance when his antenna brushed up against the ceiling.
The antennas of a Martian Cave Mouse were home of many, many nerve ends and therefore extremely sensitive.
Luckily, the stair wasn't long and soon, Charley stopped in front of a heavy-looking door.
With a little effort, she managed to open it by herself.
The longer he was in her company, the more it became clear to Throttle that she didn't like to feel depended on others.
A thing he could only admire.
This kind of life must be hard for a woman, but she held her own and that fact alone was enough for him to know that she was strong.
And not just physically strong.
Once inside, she switched on a light and the three mice looked inside the small room.
It was simple yet sufficient, with a bed in the corner, a few lockers standing next to it and a hole in the ground from which Throttle assumed was the lavatory.
The walls were made of some sort of steel, so was the floor.
"You spend a whole week down here?", Modo asked a bit astonished.
"Yup."
The grey-furred giant shivered as an answer.
He didn't like small spaces for many reasons and this was definitely and without a doubt a small space.
He could hardly stand upright and the stale air didn't help either.
His respect for Charley grew, because he wasn't sure if he would be able to survive living down here for an entire week.
He didn't say it out loud, though.
There was such a thing as self-preservation.
And even though his ego was ten times smaller than Vinnie's, he did have some manly pride, just enough to stop himself from explaining why he'd shivered just now.

Vinnie was the first to do a few steps forward, but he stopped when he suddenly felt something sticky in his face.
"Ugh, what the hell is that?", he asked slightly disgusted as he rubbed his face with both hands.
He then looked at his hands and noticed some thin and sticky threads between his fingers.
Charley turned around to look and then smiled.
"That's a spider web."
She made it sound as if she was stating the obvious, but for the mice, and especially for Vinnie, it was everything but obvious.
"Okay... And what's a spider?"
The human female lifted her hand and pointed at his left arm.
"That is."
Vinnie followed her finger and when he saw where she pointed at, he nearly hit the ceiling.
"Yiiaaaaooow! Get it off me, getitoffmegetitffome!", he cried, doing some sort of crazy dance as he used both his hands and tail to get rid of the weird and scary creature on his perfect body.
The spider flew through the air and landed on the ground, close to Vinnie's feet.
"Is it gone? Tell me, IS IT GONE?!", he demanded with a raw voice when he didn't see it anymore, his fur puffed up like a Martian Puffy Puf Fish.
Modo only pointed at the small animal close to his young bro's feet, which was a bad move, he found out shortly thereafter.
Because Vinnie's adrenaline level had skyrocketed by seeing the for him unknown creature and when that happened, he tended to do stupid things.
Like grabbing his gun and opening fire at an innocent spider in a bomb shelter, for example.

"Wow, Vincent, don't!", Throttle tried to stop him the moment he saw what his young bro was up to, but Vinnie was already shooting at the spider with his teeth clenched, determined to blow this thing to the seventh galaxy.
But, as mentioned before, this was a bomb shelter.
The walls and floor were made to hold back heavy artillery, no matter where it came from.
Outside… or inside.
The laser beams that came out of Vinnie's gun bounced off the metallic material and flew through the whole room before they lost their power and vanished.
Charley quickly dove behind one of the lockers to find cover, while Modo and Throttle both jumped on the white-furred mouse. They all fell on the floor and Modo quickly pried the small handgun out of Vinnie's hand.
The little spider disappeared under the bed and with the last laser beam slowly fading, peace returned in the small room.
When the silence that came with it dawned upon them, the two mice on top let out their breath as they shared a meaningful look.
"I don't like spiders", Vinnie broke the silence, smiling a bit sheepishly because he now realized what he'd done just now.
"You don't say…", Throttle sighed and he slowly got back on his feet, so did Modo.
Charley's head popped up from behind the locker, her green eyes wide open.
"Okay, note to myself; never tell an armed alien soldier that he's got a spider on him. Things can get ugly, apparently."
She came out of her hiding spot and looked at Vinnie.
"I guess it's too late to tell you that most of the spiders are completely harmless, huh?", she asked with a hint of a smile on her face.
Vinnie's cheeks turned red under his fur, knowing that freaking out like that didn't match with his cool- and greatness, at all.
The fact that it happened in front of a lady made it even more embarrassing.
But then again, did she see that spider?
Holy shit.
Who wouldn't freak out?!
Besides, it was a little bit too late now to pretend that the little animal did nothing to him.
Even he knew that.

"I still don't like them. They are creepy as hell", he answered stubbornly as he sat upright.
Modo and Throttle shared an amused look before the grey-furred giant looked down on his little bro.
"The little fella was like, I dunno, one inch tall, Vin..."
Vinnie looked up at him, his ruby-red eyes almost burning a hole in his skull.
"So?! He was still creepy! What would you have done when you see a hideous freak like that sitting on you, huh? Shit, how many legs does that monstrosity have anyway?"
"Eight", Charley answered, trying to keep her face in check.
"See? Eight legs, man! How is that not scary?"
Throttle shook his head as he offered his young bro a hand.
Every time when he thought things couldn't get any crazier, then there was Vinnie van Wham.
Always ready to prove that nothing was too crazy for him.
He'd really outdone himself this time, though.
"You're one heck of a mouse, Vinnie."
"Well, duh. What took ya so long to notice?", the white-furred mouse responded and after a small hesitation, he decided to take Throttle's hand.
That was a good sign, the tan-furred mouse concluded.
Perhaps he wasn't that angry after all.
Then again, with Vinnie, nothing was certain.
When the white-furred mouse was back on his feet, he rested his weight on the left one as a hint of pain flickered across his face.
Modo saw it.
"Your leg didn't appreciate that little groovy dance of yours?"
Vinnie spun around on one leg.
"Dance? Dance?! Dude, you'll never see this mouse dance, I'm way too cool for that. And my leg is fine."
"You think you can walk?", Throttle intervened, thinking that his young bro's ego had suffered enough for one day.
Vinnie rolled his eyes and limped back to the stairs.
"Ugh, I'm fine."
"It was a nice dance, though", Modo uttered softly to no one in specific as he followed Vinnie to the stairs.
"I heard that!"

Once they were all back in the workspace of the garage, Charley closed the door behind her and looked at her watch.
"It's getting late. You guys hungry?"
Three stomachs roared in answer and she smiled.
"Look, you guys are free to stay to fix the bikes, but we have common dinner in about five minutes. You're welcome to join me, so you can meet the rest of the people."
"The bikes can wait", Vinnie instantly answered, already close to drooling by only thinking about these wonderful hotdogs.
Modo and Throttle shared a look, a bit less eager than their younger bro. Charley saw their hesitation and reached in her pocket.
"Here", and she offered Throttle the small device to open the garage.
"I've got some other work to do after dinner, with this you can start whenever you like and take all the time you need."
Throttle slowly took it and when he did, his fingers accidentally brushed against hers.
From the moment he felt her creamy skin under his fingers, his heart skipped a beat and he suddenly felt pins and needles all over his body, it even made his fur bristle.
He quickly put the device in his pocket.
"Thanks. Really appreciate it", he mumbled as he focussed his attention on her nose again, already rattled again by this intense physical response.
Man.
He yearned for a moment alone, so he could think about what the hell was going on here.
But at the same time, he didn't want to leave her side, the thought alone gave him a heavy feeling in his stomach.
"Guys, we're not gonna skip dinner, right? I'm starving", Vinnie broke him out of his thoughts and the tan-furred mouse looked up.
"I've gotta admit, bro, I can use some chow too", Modo hesitantly agreed with his young bro.
"I never said I didn't", Throttle smiled, although it felt a bit… fake.
"But after dinner, we're gonna fix the bikes and that's final."
"Sure thing, bro", Vinnie said bored as he already made his way outside, as if the food was calling to him.
In his head, it probably was.
It was no secret that the youthful mouse liked eating as much as he liked a good fight.
Charley followed him with her eyes and rested her hand on one hip.
"It's the other way", she pointed out dryly.
Vinnie froze and turned around.
"Right. I knew that", he smiled sheepishly as he so-called casually limped the other way.
"You did, huh?", the human female snorted, shaking her head with a smile.
"I totally did."
"Right. Come on, follow me."

As Charley led them through the camp, Throttle was looking around him with awe.
The camp was clean and by the looks of things, well-maintained.
At his right, he saw the green areas with the tents again and he remembered their confusion.
"Say, Charley? Why is everything green at this side of the camp?"
Charley followed his gaze.
"Oh, because that used to be a park. As I told you, my house and the surrounding area was still intact, that included this part of the park. It's a good surface for the tents, so it's now called Sleepy Park. I know, I know, not really original, but who cares. It works for us."
"And the green stuff?", Vinnie asked.
"The green stuff?", she asked in return, a bit confused and she gazed at her right again.
Then, she looked back at the mice.
"You guys don't know grass?"
There was no judgment in the question.
Only curiosity.
Vinnie tilted his head, his ears twitching.
"Grass? No, never heard of."
"Oh. You don't have nature on Mars?"
"Only trees and a few plants", Modo answered that question. "But they ain't green."
"So grass is a plant?", Throttle finalized hesitantly.
"Yeah. What kind of plants do you have on Mars?"
"Oh, only a few flesh-eating ones, nasty little fuckers, you better stay away from them, although they don't like mice on their menu, not sure about humans, though. Then there's another one that spits venom that paralyzes you for the rest of your life… Oh, and one that strangles you to do death, why, no one knows…", Vinnie summed up casually, using his fingers to count.
Charley stared at him.
"Sounds like a nice place to be… Mars…", she eventually brought out.
"It does have its charms", Modo agreed, not hearing the sarcastic subtext in her voice.

Throttle suddenly spotted another one of the big trucks he'd seen the day they met Charley.
"What about those trucks? As far as I know, those engines make a lot of noise and yet, you managed to sneak up on us on that day. How?"
"Soon after the invasion, it became clear that it was impossible to get gasoline. So, we converted the engine from gasoline to electrical. We use solar panels to get electricity, since the Plutarkians destroyed everything, including our power grid. Luckily, we have enough sun hours here in Chicago to keep everything running", Charley explained.
"To answer your question, electrical engines are pretty much silent."
"They're not! My bike ain't silent, and yet, she runs on solar energy", Vinnie protested, nearly insulted that she even dared to suggest something like that.
Riding a silent bike was not what he considered fun, next to the fact that it wasn't macho and manly and all.
An engine needed to roar, end of story.
"Really? That's real interesting… As soon as I got time, I'm gonna remind you of your promise to let me take a look at your bikes. Perhaps we can learn one another…", Charley mused, not affected by his offensive tone at all.
She then pointed at a building on their left.
"Here we are. The Clubhouse."

The mice followed her inside and they were greeted by buzz.
But that died as soon as the door closed and about a hundred hairless faces were now staring at them, most of them with their eyes wide open.
Throttle's gaze wandered over the long tables that were each occupied with at least twenty humans.
And, to his surprise, it weren't only males.
It was now so quiet in the big hall that the tan-furred mouse could hear every single one of them breathe.
That and the fact that they all stared at him made him feel slightly uncomfortable.
Charley must have sensed it, for she heaved a sigh.
"I'm sorry, it's not that they get to see giant humanoid mice every day. Even though I already told them about you, seeing you is quite another story", she whispered at the mice before she raised her voice.
"These three mice are our guests for open-ended time. They are aliens, yes, but they are not the same as the Samaki. We can trust them. Some of you have already seen how they helped us this morning to stop the fish from coming through our gate. I expect you all treat them as one of us."
While she was speaking to the people, Throttle could see how most of them relaxed a bit.
They all looked at Charley with admiration and respect in their eyes, telling him that she was a valuable leader.
It made him somehow feel proud.
That was more than ludicrous for he hardly knew her, but the fact remained it just did.
"And now, it's time to eat. Enjoy your meal!"
Loud applause followed.
"How many people are in this camp?", Throttle asked softly.
"About a hundred."
Vinnie whistled between his teeth as his ruby-red eyes wandered over the faces.
"You did a good job, sweetheart. A very good job."
"Thanks. That means a lot", she grinned, a small blush on her cheeks.
Throttle mentally slapped himself in the face for not saying something like that before his young bro got the chance.
Again, confusion followed.
It started to feel as if he was in a race with Vinnie to get some appreciation from Charley.
This was wrong on so many levels.
Even beyond that.
What the hell had gotten into him?

"Wooooow…"
A soft child's voice snapped him back to reality and his gaze landed on a small human child, who was standing in front of Modo.
The girl stared at him with her head in her neck, her mouth wide open.
"Can I touch your ears?", she then asked, her blue eyes twinkling.
Modo immediately went down on his knees with a smile on his face.
"Sure thing, little citizen."
The little girl reached out and when she touched the soft fur on his ear, she pulled her hand back, giggling aloud.
"It tickles. Doesn't it tickle you all day?"
Modo shook his head.
"Nah. But when it does, I just tickle back. That works. Wanna try?"
Still giggling, the little girl reached out again and tickled Modo's fur with the tip of her fingers.
In return, Modo's ear twitched and the girl now laughed out loud.

Throttle felt his heart warm up by watching this cute sight.
Modo always had a way with kids.
The loss of his nephew and niece had almost crushed him, for they meant the world to him.
It was good to see him this way. The smile on his face was nothing but genuinely, his one eye twinkling with warmth.
Only kids were able to trigger this warm side of him and Throttle was just happy to see that it wasn't gone after what happened with his nephew and niece.
Somewhere deep down in his overstimulated brain, he realized that this was gonna change everything.
This was gonna be Modo's motivation to stay and fight.
To protect those who needed protection, because they weren't able to fight for themselves.
Because that's just who he was.
A mouse who did the right thing, no matter the consequences.
So, both his bro's now had a reason to stay.
Vinnie because he was Vinnie.
Modo because he was Modo.
And he wondered... what made him Throttle?
What was gonna be his motivation to stay?
At this point, he wasn't sure.
He hardly remembered who he was before setting foot on this strange planet.
Because all that had followed was confusion and weirdness.

Modo got back on his feet when the girl skipped off, still laughing loudly.
"I didn't know you had women and children in here, Charley ma'am."
Charley smiled warmly at him, clearly, the sight of the big badass looking mouse being this kind and gentle with a kid had touched her.
"We keep them hidden in one place when we're under attack. The fact that I didn't show them earlier to you was because I needed to figure out myself if I was able to trust you guys. Consider you meeting them as a sign that I do."
She then glanced at Throttle.
"Trusting you."
Before he realized it, the tan-furred mouse already looked into her stunning green eyes again.
She looked back and for a moment, time seemed to stop ticking.
His whole body warmed up by only looking at her and his heart was making over time.
What was she doing to him?
He had never felt like this before.
Not even with...
"Can we go eat now?"
With reluctance, Throttle broke eye contact to look at Vinnie, who avoided his gaze in return.
So it seemed that the young mouse was still angry with him, after all.
Life…
Life on Mars hadn't been easy.
It seemed that life on Earth wasn't any different.
Maybe even harder.
So far for a better future.
He might as well forget that promise.

They followed Charley to a table in the back, Vinnie waving to everyone they passed.
Most of them had been part of the group who fought with the mice this morning and apparently, they all wanted to show them their gratitude.
A thing Vinnie had no problem with.
"Heyhey, nice welcome reception!"
Throttle and Modo both rolled their eyes, but when they reached the table Charley was leading them to, even Vinnie's smile vanished like smoke in the wind.
The reason was the human named Max, who already sat at the table and given his facial expression, he was just as happy to see them as they were him.
Ben sat next to him and already gestured to the mice to sit down with a big smile on his face.
"Come, come, sit down!"
Throttle took place next to him, while Modo and Vinnie sat down across him.
Too late the tan-furred mouse noticed that Vinnie now sat right across Max, which was a bad idea for many obvious reasons.
But he couldn't tell him to switch, that would look suspicious, not to mention weird.
Besides, it was Charley who now sat down across him, so Throttle was suddenly more than pleased about the seating chart.
Which in return was a clear sign to him that he was distracted from his task as leader.
A thing he and his bro's couldn't afford, but he wasn't exactly in control of the situation.
He gave Modo a meaningful look, telling him to keep an eye on that white-furred loudmouth.
Modo gave him a small nod back, to let his leader know that he got the message.
Charley and Ben leaned forward and pulled the lits of the scales that were on the table, revealing steaming piles of hotdogs.
"I'd say: let's eat!"

Vinnie needed not to be told twice and was already stuffing a hotdog in his mouth while looking at the can of drink that was standing next to their plate.
"Whawts thwis?"
The human doctor laughed again, clearly not bothered by Vinnie's bad table manners whatsoever.
"It's a drink we call root beer. You should try it, it's delicious."
The white-furred mouse struggled with the small lip of the can for a while, but then lost his patience and he just ripped the top off.
The drink splattered all over the place, and unfortunately for those who sat close to the young mouse, root beer was a sticky substance.
Throttle and Modo glared at him as they wiped off their face, but Ben was still laughing as he cleaned his glasses with his shirt.
"You really are something, huh?"
Vinnie shrugged as he gave Max a look, who was cleaning his face, his brown eyes fuming as he glared at the mouse who was responsible for this unwanted soda shower.
"You okay, Max? You look a little… annoyed", the white-furred mouse asked innocently with a lazy smile on his face.
The human male clasped the table in an iron grip.
"I am. Annoyed. Wanna know why?"
"Oh, do tell, I'm all ears… See?", and Vinnie pointed at his twitching oversized ears, still with that somehow lazy and provoking smile on his face.
"I just found out that this place is infested with mice. And now I need to catch them", Max continued as he leaned closer to the young mouse, as if he was telling a highly classified secret.
"Oh really? And what are you gonna do once you've caught them?", Vinnie asked so-called interested as he too leaned forward.
"Kill them. Painfully. Slowly."
The white-furred mouse his left ear twitched as he leaned even closer.
"Is that a threat, Max?"
Max also leaned closer and now, their noses almost touched.
"Call it what you like, mouse."

"Okaaaaaay, so, there's something I wanted to ask you… all three of you...", Ben quickly intervened before Throttle could.
After giving Max one last deathly glare, the white-furred mouse got back upright and looked at Ben.
So did Throttle and Modo, but not before the tan-furred mouse gave Vinnie a warning look, who in his turn ignored it.
Great.
Just great.
This was exactly why it was a bad idea to have Vinnie sitting across Max.
Throttle suspected his young bro of provoking the human on purpose.
Vinnie was known to be a bit rebellious and especially good in undermining authority.
Usually, he listened to Throttle without too much trouble, but not today.
His bro and leader had hurt his feelings today, after all.
In return, he did the one thing that was forbidden by Throttle and that was messing with Max.
Not the most mature reaction, but no one ever said that he was a fully grown mouse.
Quite the opposite, actually.
Throttle could only hope that the young mouse would behave himself for the rest of the diner, but a nagging feeling was telling him he wasn't.
The tan-furred mouse felt a pang of regret for not staying behind to fix the bikes.
It would've been better if he'd talked to Vinnie first.
But a little bit too late for that now.

When Ben saw that he had the attention of all three mice, he continued.
"Your story about the fast healing made me think. It would be a major advance for us if I could develop a serum that accelerates human healing. But I need your blood for that. So, I was wondering, is it okay if I'd take some blood samples?"
The mice shared a look, but before one of them could answer, Max already opened his mouth again.
"I'm sure they're more than willing to help, doc. After all, isn't that what lab mice do?"
Vinnie froze and Throttle closed his eyes for a moment, cursing the bad choice of words.
Again.
At least the man was smart enough to use the word mice instead of rats, but the lab part was a sensitive matter too, especially for Vinnie.
The scars that were hidden under his metal mask didn't just pop up out of nowhere, after all.
Vinnie slowly turned his head to look at Max as he grinded his teeth.
"What did you just say?"
When Throttle heard the tone in his voice, about a thousand alarm bells went off in his head.
He knew that tone.
Their young bro was pissed and shit was about to get real.
He jumped at his feet, so did Modo, but before the grey-furred giant could grab him, Vinnie already jumped over the table, giving Max no chance to answer his question.
Not that he was really interested.
Like already proven, there was absolutely nothing wrong with his hearing.
He knew perfectly well what the guy had said.
And now, he needed to pay.
Provoking mice came with a price, after all.

He grabbed the human and they both fell on the floor.
After a small struggle, Max ended up on his back with the white-furred mouse on top of him.
"I ain't no fucking lab mouse, you hear me?", Vinnie spat out and without hesitation, he clenched his fist and punched the human male on the nose.
The crack he felt under his knuckles didn't stop him from hitting Max again.
And again.
It was then when Modo grabbed his young bro by his hoodie and pulled him off the human male without real effort.
"This ain't no good way to prove that we're different than the Plutarkians, Vin", he whispered in his young bro's ear, but Vinnie was not reasonable at this point.
"Like I care. Lemme go, Modo, you heard what he said. No one has the right to say that, and you know it!", he protested as he kept struggling to get loose, his ruby-red eyes fuming with pure hatred and fixated on Max.
"I think you've already made your point, bro. Enough is enough", the grey-furred giant replied calmly, not letting his own feelings towards Max getting to him.
Well, to be completely honest, he might have grabbed Vinnie a fraction too late, thereby giving the white-furred mouse just the time he needed to give the human male a few good punches.
But that was his little secret.

Throttle knew they had to get Vinnie out of here before things would escalate into a major and perhaps even more bloody mess.
The young mouse still had that gun, after all.
And Vinnie could be capricious and unpredictable, sometimes.
One of his less pleasant qualities.
So, he threw the key of the garage toward Modo, who managed to catch it with his tail.
"Take him to the garage to cool off, big fella. I'll be there in a minute."
The grey-furred giant nodded and dragged the young and upset mouse with him.
Throttle quickly turned around to Charley, but she wasn't standing next to him anymore.
He found her a few feet away, sitting on her knees next to Max.
She reached out her hand to touch his face, but he slapped it away and climbed on his feet.
Ben rushed over to them, clearly, the human doctor wanted to help, but Max wasn't having any of it and pushed Ben away.
He then looked at Charley, who now was back on her feet too.
Blood poured out of his nose as he glared at her with fuming eyes.
"See?! This is why I was against taking them with us. They're all the same! And that bullshit you told the rest before dinner, about trusting them? It makes me sick!"
With every word that he was yelling at her, he came closer and closer.
The weirdest thing was that Throttle sort of expected her to push him away or tell him his place, but she winced under his loud voice, even did a few steps back to create some distance.
He narrowed his eyes.
Heck, if he didn't know any better, he'd think that she was scared of him.
But that was crazy, right?
She didn't strike him as the type to be afraid of a man.
Or anything, for that matter.

Looking at the two, Throttle was conflicted.
He wanted to intervene, if only to make that unpleasant nervous look on her face go away.
On the other hand, he didn't want to make things worse.
Still, if the guy would only so much as touch her, right here, right now...
Well, then he couldn't guarantee Max's safety.
Luckily, it didn't come to that, because Max already ended his not very inspirational speech.
"I want them gone, you hear me? Gone!"
And without waiting for an answer, he pushed Throttle out of the way and marched to the door.
It closed behind him with a loud bang and tan-furred mouse now suddenly noticed how quiet it was.
As he looked around him, he saw that everybody was gaping at them.
Charley saw it too and quickly put on a comforting smile.
"It's okay, everyone. Just a little misunderstanding. Please, continue your dinner."
And after another short silence, they did.
Charley then looked at Throttle, still with that nervous look in her eyes.
Next to… gratitude?
Man.
She was even harder to read now she was lowering her walls.

"Are you okay?", he asked as he did a few steps in her direction.
She immediately flinched and Throttle stopped, putting his hands in the air.
"Wow, easy now. I'm not gonna hurt you…"
She seemed to relax by hearing his husky and calm voice.
But her behavior made him more than suspicious and the question already left his mouth before he could stop it.
"What was that all about, Charley?"
"What?"
"That whole thing with Max. I mean, babe, if he's hurting you…"
"No!", she cut him off, a bit too quick to his taste and he narrowed his eyes behind his glasses.
She must have seen the suspicion on her face because she took a deep breath and replied to his assumption a bit calmer now.
"No, he's not hurting me."
Throttle studied her face, but she avoided his gaze. As she put her hands in her pockets, she stared at the floor.
He didn't believe her.
Not even a little bit.
There was something very disturbing going on between her and Max, but she obviously didn't want to talk about it.
Not with him, that is.
Which wasn't really weird, given the fact that they only knew each other for a few days now, whereof he'd been asleep most of the time.
And he couldn't just force the truth out of her, that had the exact opposite effect, he knew from experience.
So, he let it be for now.
But just for now.

"Anyhoo... we're not here to cause any trouble, I promised you that. And the last thing I want is to cause problems between you and Max. If you want us to leave too, you only have to say the word…"
Her head jerked up and she now looked at him again with those intense green eyes of her.
"No. I'm in charge here, not Max and I don't want you guys to leave. You're staying, and that's final."
Hearing the firm tone of her voice, Throttle wouldn't even think about going against her, even if he wanted to.
He didn't, though.
Leaving this weird, yet interesting and wonderful creature behind was the last thing he wanted right now and he warmed up by hearing her say she wanted them to stay.
"If you insist", he replied dryly.
"I do. Insist."
"I figured."
Throttle cleared his throat as he pulled the red bandana that was tied around his neck.
"Look, I'm really sorry about what happened. Vinnie... he's supposed to know better, but he's young, only…"
He made a quick calculation.
"...19 years old. His emotions still get the best of him sometimes. Next to the fact that Max hit a nerve. Look, it's no excuse, and trust me when I say I'm gonna give him hell…"
He was babbling. He knew he was.
Charley laid a hand on his arm and he immediately forgot what he wanted to say.
She bent forward and he felt her warm breath close by his ear.
"Between you and me; don't be too hard on him. He did what no man ever dared so far…", she whispered in his ear.
Then, she did a few steps backward and folded her arms.
"Make sure this never happens again, you hear me?"
The tone in her voice was now strict, but calm.
It was the exact same tone she'd used when they met.
But the frown between her eyes was absent.
She even winked at him.
Throttle did everything he could to keep his face in check, knowing he needed to play along.
They had an audience, after all.
And Charley couldn't lose face in front of her people.
So, as befits a soldier, he saluted.
"Yes, ma'am."

But... no matter how much he would like to stay here and eat dinner with this incredible creature, he knew he couldn't.
Because duty called.
"If you'll excuse me now, I really need to talk to my bro's."
"Dismissed", she granted him permission, with a teasing look on her face.
With a smile from one oversized ear to the other, Throttle turned around and walked to the door.
Once outside, the smile slowly faded.
This was a talk he didn't look forward too, for he knew he owed them an explanation.
And he still had no idea what was going on.
The one thing he did know was that he'd found his motivation to stay.
And that was Charley.
Because she was in serious trouble, even though she refused to admit it.
But no woman deserved to be in such position.
And just as Modo, Throttle always tried to do the right thing.
Because that's just who he was.
He finally remembered who he was again.
And that was a leader where people can rely on.

Sidenote: Yes, I know that Vinnie is older in the series, but I've decided to make him a bit younger in this story.
As for the rest; their ages will be revealed later on in the story.

Well, I hoped you liked it.
Feel free to leave a review, always very much appreciated.
And till next time, dudes!

Later!

PS: God, I really do hate spiders.