Hey you guys!

Thank you so much for the reviews!
I guess we're all very happy that Max is gone, hehe.

And now, the aftermath.
The idea was to write that in one chapter, but of course, that failed.
So I decided to cut it in half, otherwise, the chapter would've been way too long.

So here's the first part.
Hope you guys like it.

Feel free to leave a review and thanks for reading my story.
Later dudes!

Chapter 14

'Picking up the pieces, now where to begin…
The hardest part of ending is starting again.'

The frown was gone.
Her green eyes were reflecting her pain for that's what eyes did.
They were a mirror of the soul.
But the frown was gone.

Charley's words echoed in his head, her voice sounding even more beautiful by every fading word.
Thank you…
Throttle suddenly realized how easy it was to breathe.
How his body now felt as light as a feather that was dancing in the wind.
A feather that had surrendered to its fate, letting the warm breeze take it to wherever its destiny was.
A warm and soft light chased away the remaining darkness in his head.
That's what her words did to him.
They accomplished something that he thought he had lost forever ever since that awful day on Mars.
Hope.
He felt hope.

Without thinking, he slowly lifted his hand.
Everything felt so light, almost weightless.
He reached out to her, already feeling her warmth under his fingers.
And in the most gentle way, he wiped away a tear from her cheek.
The warm drop shattered under his touch and scattered throughout the tiny little tan-colored hairs on his thumb.
It caused a tingle more intense than he had ever felt before and it soon spread through his body like wildfire, chasing away that horrible and consuming anger.
As if a small piece of her soul now blended in with his.
Maybe it did.
He had no idea.
All he knew was that she gave him hope.

"Throttle?"
The soft and comforting sound of Ben's voice broke him out his trance and he blinked a few times before he looked over his shoulder.
The human doctor pointed at Modo's arm.
"Despite your ability to heal fast, this is gonna need some stitches. I need to take him to the infirmary as soon as possible before the wound starts to heal without a good clean up. That could cause some nasty infections."
There was a slight hesitation hearable in Ben's voice, and while he was talking, his eyes kept flying into Charley's direction.
He was worried about her, Throttle realized.
He wanted to be there for her, simply because he cared about her.
Apparently, Charley saw it too, because she gave him a sad, but reassuring smile.
"It's okay, Ben, I'll be fine. Go."
"I'll stay here and keep an eye on her", Throttle added when he saw that Ben still wasn't entirely convinced.
The doc gave him a meaningful, perhaps even warning look and Throttle nodded in return to tell him he got the message.
He would keep her safe at all costs.
Max his dead body was the proof that he would.

The tan-furred mouse then looked at Vinnie, who was now only wearing a black tank top at top of his with blood-stained pants.
The hoodie had taken most of the blood, but still, it wasn't a pretty sight.
"You go with them, Vincent. I'm sure you can use a little fresh up."
"Wait, you mean you don't like my new look?", the white-furred mouse asked innocently as he flashed his eyes, but the pressing silence that followed along with the deadly glare Throttle gave him made him realize now wasn't the time for jokes and he raised his hands.
"Okay, okay, too soon, I get it."
Ben shook his head as he helped Modo back on his feet, which was nothing more but pro-forma given the fact that the grey-furred giant was about twice his size.
But the intentions were good.
"Come on, let's get you both cleaned up. Maybe I can find some clean clothes that fit you, Vincent. I'm afraid this outfit is ruined."
"And here I was, thinking that bloody with chopped human was the latest fashion", Vinnie blurted out before he could stop himself, as usual skipping the part where a normal person would think before speaking.
Modo heaved a sigh and grabbed his young bro by the neck.
"Come on, Mister 'It's All About The Looks', let's go, before someone else gets hurt."
And after giving Charley an apologetic look, the grey-furred giant pushed Vinnie through the door.
Or well, what was left of it.
Ben looked over his shoulder one last time, and when Charley gave him a nod to tell him it really was okay, he too left the room.

Throttle looked back at Charley, who was already staring at Max his face again.
"I'm sorry. I'm afraid he fell on his head when he was a baby. It's the only explanation I can come up with why the link between his brain and his mouth is not working the way it should be. Believe it or not, he means well."
Unlike others.
The unspoken words lingered between them, in the air that was now already riddled with the horrendous smell of death.
Suddenly, Charley put a hand in front of her mouth, as if she just now realized what had happened and burst into tears again.
"Oh god, Max…"
She looked up at Throttle with watery eyes and lowered her hand.
"You must think I'm stupid, crying over him…"
But the tan-furred mouse calmly shook his head.
"You loved him", he simply stated.
It didn't make him sick anymore.
Because the frown was gone.
So was Max.
That was all that mattered for now.

Charley looked down again and rubbed away a drop of blood that was on Max's cheek.
"I did. Does that make me crazy?"
"Maybe. But someone very wise once told me that the best people are."
Her lips curled into a sad smile, but it soon faded again.
"He wasn't a bad person. I know it looked like he was, but he wasn't. It's just… in this world… everything is upside down or something. We found each other in chaos and destruction and we needed each other to get through it all, you know. We held each other up…"
Throttle said nothing, he did not even mention the fact that this sounded somehow familiar.
For now, he would just let her talk.
It was obvious that she wanted to get it all out and it was no secret that he was anxious to hear her point of view.
So, he made himself comfortable -as far as that goes with a dead body lying between you and your interlocutor- and gave her an encouraging nod.

"It's hard to describe what it did to me when I saw the destruction after the invasion. Even though I was determined to stay alive, I had no idea how and truth to be told, hope was in real short supply at that point. Still, when Max and his team found me, I refused to come with them. I couldn't leave my home behind, my home that's filled with memories, both good and bad. The fact that it was still standing seemed to be a sign and I was determined to find out what the universe had in store for me. Max apparently saw something in me. A certain spirit, he told me later on. A spirit he hadn't seen in a long time. He already knew how fucked up the world was, even before the fish set foot on this planet. He was a soldier. So are you, so I don't need to tell you how horrific the things are that one sees in war…"
No, she didn't need to tell him.
He was more than aware of that fact.
Unfortunate, but true.

"He believed in me. So, he decided to stay. We grew closer to each other, especially when we found out that there was nobody out there who could save us. The world we once knew was gone and the only thing that kept us going was each other. We both had something back that was worth fighting for. Nothing bonds better than an apocalypse", she added a bit sarcastic with the hint of a smile on her beautiful face.
Or war.
The image of Carbine flashed before Throttle's eyes.
Her brown eyes that were so familiar and safe to look into.
He blinked a few times and the image slowly deformed.
Now it were green eyes he looked into and he quickly turned his gaze away, a bit taken back by this teasing game that his brain was playing with him.
Charley didn't seem to notice, she was clearly sucked back in time, a thing Throttle was grateful for.
Now wasn't the time for ghosts of his own past.
He was here for her.
And he could only be there for her if he was really here.
So, he gave himself a mental shake and focused his attention back on the thing that mattered the most now.
And that was Charley.

"But he was so… trouble minded by his experiences. And who could blame him for it? He'd seen some very disturbing things. Not that he ever talked about it, but I just knew. I'm not stupid. War is gruesome. It destroys people from the inside out. He was one of those people. He was a broken man. Still, I needed him by my side."
"He gave you hope."
It was nothing more but a statement.
She looked up a bit surprised.
"Yeah… Strangely enough, he did. It was only a few months after we met that he showed me his other side, but I was already used to have him standing next to me. I wasn't sure if I could do all this on my own and so, I gave him chance after chance. Every time when he promised me it wouldn't happen again I believed him, simply because I knew he meant it. He just couldn't live up to it… God, listen to me, trying to justify his actions. I know what he did was wrong. I just… I dunno…"
She fiddled with Max's sweater, searching for words to explain herself, but Throttle already understood.
And now, it was time to tell her that she wasn't alone.
That he wouldn't judge her.
He was the last one who had the right to judge.

"I get it. Like you said, this world is upside down. Nothing makes sense anymore, and with nothing, I mean absolutely nothing. Boundaries fade, so does the line between good and bad, until you don't even know what good and bad means anymore. You hold onto things that you know aren't good for you, and yet, you're scared to let it go because it's the only thing that does make sense. Because letting it go is both scary and difficult, maybe even impossible for you have no idea how to move forward without this familiar part of you. It's like throwing yourself into a deep black pit without knowing if the ladder is long enough to get you out again."
Charley stared at him and he could see that his words affected her deeply.
If he had to guess, it was because he might be the first one who really understood.
He knew how easy and tempting it was to only see someone's bad side, but no one ever said that judging people without really knowing them or their experiences was fair or righteous.
It was so important to look further, to not judge a book by its cover, but only after reading it from A till Z and then alone.
Unfortunately, most of the people didn't take the time to read, that he knew.
But he did.
He always did.
Still, it didn't justify Max his actions, oh no… it only made them understandable.

"You sound like someone who's been there too…"
Throttle chuckled, although it wasn't because he thought what she said was funny.
No, on the contrary.
It was because she was right.
Well, at least very close to the truth and his smile vanished like smoke in the wind as the familiar pain crawled back into his heart and soul.
"Sort of. Let's just say that I too held something close to me that wasn't healthy. It was different though."
She seemed to understand what he was trying to say.
"You don't have to physically abuse someone to hurt them. Words can be like knives too, maybe even worse."
"I know."
"Do you… do you wanna tell me about her?", she asked a bit hesitant and he looked into her beautiful green eyes.
Her sad eyes.
"Maybe one day I will."
Silence dawned on them and they were both caught up in their own thoughts for a little while.
Throttle couldn't stop himself but wonder if Carbine might be still alive.
She had always been a fighter, so was Stoker, so it wouldn't exactly be shocking if they had managed to survive, somehow.
The more burning question here was; what would he do if she was?

Luckily, Charley broke him out of his thoughts before he could answer that question, a thing he was fine with.
There was only so much he could take and the last couple of days had been rough on him.
Worrying about Carbine didn't exactly make things better.
It only made it worse.
He knew he was running just as much as he knew that he couldn't flee from this.
It always followed him, no matter how hard he ran.
But sometimes life forced him to it.
"Still, I didn't lie when I told you that Max did a lot for this camp. It really is the truth that this camp wouldn't have been here without his help. The people respect him. They have no idea what was going on between us, we kept it behind closed doors. He needs to have a proper funeral. The people in this camp need to get the chance to say goodbye."
Throttle reached out and gently laid his hand on hers.
"You can do whatever you want, Charley. You're free now."
She nodded a bit dazed.
"Yeah… I guess I am…"

After a small hesitation, Charley laid one hand on his.
"Thank you. For saving me. For saving him from himself. For understanding. No matter how much it hurts, I feel a certain weightlessness. But at the same time, there's this emptiness… I'm scared, Throttle. I'm not sure if I'm able to do this without him…"
Her whole appearance radiated helplessness and the tan-furred mouse squeezed in her hand to comfort her.
"You're not alone, Charley. As much as I'd love to say that I'm sorry for killing him, I can't. Because that would be a lie and I can't lie to you. Despite his experiences, he was a bad man. He was only holding you back, even though that is hard for you to see right now. What I can do, is promise you that I'll help you to get through this. I'll help to let you see you can do this without him because I know you can. I believe in you, so does my bro's. And time will heal your wounds, trust me."
She looked up at him with tears in her eyes.
"I do. I do trust you, even though I hardly know you. A strange given in the world we live in now, that I know. But it sometimes feels like I do already know you... "
Throttle's heart made a little jump and he gave her a warm smile.
"I feel the same way…"

But the pain was still there.
He saw it in her eyes.
He felt it too, because he knew how difficult it was to cut loose from that one thing that's keeping you together, no matter what that person had done to you.
It was all too familiar.
And even though he didn't want it, the pain he felt was intrinsically linked with Carbine.
Ah man, Carbine…
How much he had loved her.
Maybe he still did.
But she was like poison.
An unhealthy addiction.
He once thought she was the one for him.
But, no matter how painful, he knew she wasn't.

'In the end, we were made to be apart...
Like separate chambers of the human heart…'

…

Meanwhile, when Modo, Vinnie and Ben left the building, the grey-furred giant set course to Sleepy Park, but Ben stopped him.
"It's the other way."
"Huh? But I thought the infirmary was back at the tents?", Modo asked confused, suddenly doubting his own memory.
Maybe he'd lost more blood than he thought in the first place, but thinking back to their first night, he was pretty sure that it was in one of the tents where Ben had patched Vinnie up.
"One of the two, yes. But I used all my silk on your friend here and I haven't been able to replenish the supply. The last few days have been a bit... chaotic, I'm afraid", Ben explained as he walked the other way, gesturing the two mice to follow him.
"Why on Mars would you need two infirmary's?", Vinnie asked a bit confused as he plucked an indefinable and squishy piece out of the now greasy fur on his arm. After studying it for a while with disgust written all over his face, he shot it away with his thumb and index finger, but it accidentally ended up on Ben's back.
Oops.

"Because as a doctor, it's my duty to be prepared for anything. That includes a possible outbreak of diseases ", Ben answered his question, unaware that a piece of Max -probably his brain- was now stuck to his sweater.
Vinnie hastily quickened his pace to close the gap between him and Ben, not really listening to what the doc was telling him, determined to remove the tissue before the doctor would even notice it was there.
He may not know much about humans, but something was telling him that they wouldn't like walking around with a piece of its fellow human being sticking to its clothes.
"I can use this one as quarantine if necessary, but luckily, that day has not come yet. Still, proper preparation pays off, that's something I've learned in the past."
As he was talking, he stopped in front of another building and Vinnie almost bumped into him because he was now so close behind him, but he stopped right in time.
Ben still didn't notice and he grabbed his keys.
"But till that day, I use this building as a lab and storage of the medical supplies we've found on recon."
That took Vinnie's attention and he froze right before he could pluck the gory piece off of Ben's back.
Now, his hand just floated uselessly in the air as he processed the words.
"Did you just say lab?"

Ben suddenly turned around and the white-furred mouse quickly put his hands behind his back as he did a few steps backward, trying to look as innocent as possible.
The human gave him an investigative look but then nodded.
"Yes, a lab. I figure you know what that is?", he asked, probably referring to Vinnie's violent reaction when Max compared them with lab mice.
Vinnie's face darkened and the tip of his tail started to dance like the fur of a Martian Wooly Wolf in the wind.
"Oh, I know what it is, alright", he answered as he touched his metal mask absent-mindedly, for a moment sucked back in time.
Ben pointed at it.
"Is that where you got that?"
"No. It's where I got the thing I hide underneath it", the white-furred mouse answered shortly and he quickly changed the subject.
"So, you gonna let us in or do we wait till Modo bleeds to death? You know that's gonna take like forever, right? I mean, look at him. He's a tank."
Modo snorted at that comment and Vinnie looked up at his older bro with twinkling eyes.
"What? You really should take that as a compliment, big fella."
"And how am supposed to do that, huh? You never give compliments to others but yourself", Modo replied dryly.
"Well, no, but I luh-ove tanks. In a macho kinda way, of course", he hastily added when he realized what he just said.
"Of course."
"Yeah, man. I mean, those things can do some serious damage alright, so what's not to love?"
"Kinda like you, you mean?"

It wasn't exactly meant as a compliment, but someone should tell Vinnie that, because his face lit up and Modo heaved a sigh, now realizing this would only flatter Vinnie's ego instead of bruising it.
There was only one mouse in this entire universe who was this proud of his ability to destroy about anything that came on his path and he was now standing right next to Modo.
"Exactly! You see? A compliment."
"Who can fight logic like that?", Modo muttered under his breath, but he wasn't exactly surprised.
Loving tanks as much as he did himself, it wasn't exactly shocking that in Vinnie's world, calling him a tank was -indeed- a compliment.
That boy needed a serious lecture on the significance of humility, but Modo decided that he wasn't the right mouse for the job.
Not now, that is.
Besides, the white-furred mouse was probably too far gone already.
"You guys really are something, huh?", Ben chuckled and he turned around to open the door, shaking his head in amusement.
For a moment, the serious look on his face was nowhere to be found, the one that was chiseled on his face ever since that moment he'd walked into that room in the factory.
"Oh, you don't know the half of it, doc", Vinnie smiled arrogantly and he quickly brushed away the little piece of brain without him noticing.
Mission accomplished.

When they followed Ben inside, a horrific scent almost struck them in the face.
"Wow, what the hell is that?", Vinnie brought out as he covered his nose and mouth with the black bandana that was tied around his neck, almost gagging.
Just like the hearing, the sense of smell of a Martian Cave Mouse was highly developed and tears jumped into Modo's eye as he too covered his nose.
"Yeah, did you maybe forget to clean this place?", he asked frowning with a nasal voice.
"For like, I dunno, years?", Vinnie added.
The smell didn't seem to bother Ben, or at least not as much as it bothered the mice, but he quickly ran into a room on their left with an apologetic look on his friendly face.
"I'm sorry, I forgot that I was working on this one the night you guys arrived. I usually keep them in the freezer, keeps the stench away", he babbled as he hastily opened some windows, letting in the fresh air before the two mice would possibly pass out.
"Working on wh… Holy shit!", Vinnie suddenly exclaimed as he stopped dead in his tracks once he saw what was inside the room.
Modo bumped into him because of his sudden stop and therefore almost catapulted his young bro into the room.
He grabbed him right before the white-furred mouse landed face forward on the floor and quickly put him back on his feet.
"Whoops, sorry little bro, I wasn't…", but he trailed off when he too looked into the room.
"... paying attention… Where on Mars am I looking at?"

Ben turned around with a surprised look on his face, but when his gaze landed on the object on the table, he seemed to understand their confusion.
"Oh! That's a… how do you guys call it? Plutarkian?"
"What's left of it, you mean", Vinnie slowly said and he walked closer to the table that was in the middle of the room, his eyes narrowed as he took in the dissected body of the fish that lay on it.
Modo followed the white-furred mouse, the pain in his arm completely forgotten by the sight of the heavily mutilated body of their mortal enemy.
Its upper body was completely cut open and when he took a closer look, he could see that the abdominal contents were gone.
His gaze wandered up, looking into the dull and sunken eyes of the unfortunate fellow.
The usual green and slimy skin was now almost brown and crusty and the fins on top of its head, the ones that usually stood up with pride, were cut off.
The wounds that stayed behind were deep, so deep that at some places, the white bone of the skull was visible.
"Oh, momma…"

The sight of the body, enemy or not, along with the smell made him sick to the stomach and he quickly did a few steps back.
But he bumped into something, causing a tinkling sound and he spun around, alarmed by the noise.
Vinnie looked over his shoulder, now on high alert too and his eyes landed on the cases against the walls.
The source of the sound seemed to be the different sized jars that were crammed on every shelf.
Despite his good vision, he couldn't really tell what it was exactly what was inside those jars and something told him he didn't want to know either.
But if he had to guess, they had just found the insides of the Plutarkian who was lying on the table, along with the ones of its buddies.
After sharing a look with Modo, he turned his head back to look at Ben, who now opened the last one of the windows.
"Okay, so, lemme ask the most obvious question here… Why is there a dead fish on your table?"
The human male turned around to look at the white-furred mouse, still with that friendly look on his face.
"Because I'm doing research on them."
Vinnie pulled a face.
"Okay... That's not creepy at all…"
"Like I said, I'm a doctor, not a soldier. I fight this war with knowledge instead of firepower. It's my way of participating."
"You mean you're searching for a weak spot?", Modo asked, his curiosity now piqued.
"Something like that. I'm trying to understand how their body works, how our atmosphere affects them…"
"And did you find anything useful? Something we can use against them?"

Ben's face lit up by that question, probably eager to share some of his test results, but then he shook his head.
"I better stop myself before I even start, because trust me, once I'm on a roll...Besides, you're not here for biology class. Come on, let's get that wound treated first."
Ben left the room and gestured the mice to follow him.
They were more than happy to do what the man asked given the stench that was still terrorizing their sensitive nostrils, even with all the windows open.
But Ben was moving fast and soon, the distance between him and the two mice became bigger and bigger.
"Are you sure you wanna let someone who cuts up aliens in his free time touch you, bro?", Vinnie asked from the corner of his mouth.
"I mean, doesn't that remind you of someone? And it ain't exactly a happy memory."
Modo's lips curled into a smile as he ruffled his bionic hand through the short, with blood smeared fur on top of Vinnie's head.
"I'm touched by your concern, it's almost cute, but he's different. I trust him. Besides, he did a good job with patching you up, so I think I'm good."

Vinnie slapped Modo's hand away and rubbed his now sore antennas.
"Man, I hate it when you do that."
"I know", Modo simply smiled as he put an arm around his young bro's neck and pulled him closer.
"Come on, before we lose the doc and get lost. This place gives me the creeps."
"Ugh, Modo, stop being such a girl and grow a pair, man. It's just a building with a room filled with Plutarkian organs in jars, that are put in there by a doc who happens to have cutting in dead bodies as a hobby. How is that even scary, huh?", Vinnie contradicted as he wriggled himself free from Modo's grip.
Modo wasn't sure who his young bro was trying to convince, but he did know one thing and that was that nobody was allowed to call him a wuss.
Not even his little bro.
"You forget the spiders, Vin. I'm sure this building is full of them."
The white-furred mouse, who had created some distance between them, now suddenly almost jumped on Modo's back and pushed his older bro forward.
"I think I hear Ben calling for us. Let's not disappoint him, shall we?"
Modo shook his head with a smile as he quickened his pace.
That's Vinnie for ya.

A little while later, Modo was sitting on a chair in a clean and -more important- fresh-smelling room on the third floor.
Ben took place next to him and unwrapped the blood-soaked bandana. After cleaning away most of the blood, he studied the deep wound.
He then looked at Modo.
"You want me to use a local anesthetic?"
If Modo could pale under his fur, now would be a perfect time.
Well, maybe he did anyway, but the grey fur did a good job covering it up.
Still, the panicked reaction wasn't that hard to miss.
"No! Ahum… I uh… I mean no, thanks."

Vinnie saw Ben's interrogative look and he laid his hands on Modo's shoulders.
"Our beloved big fella over here doesn't like needles", he explained his older bro's behavior with a little smile on his face.
The grey-furred giant sighed in return, but he didn't deny it either.
Ben nodded as he changed his gloves and when he was done, he leaned forward.
"Me neither, so you've got nothing to be ashamed of. Almost ten percent of the human population is scared of needles. Well, that was before the Plutarkians came, of course. Now, I don't even know if there still is a population in the first place. Either way, someone once told me it says nothing about your manhood, so don't worry."
"Wait, what? But you're a doctor. How can you be scared of needles when using them is your job?", Vinnie asked confused as he wandered through the room, not able to sit or stand still.
He yearned for a ride on his bike, eager to release some of the already slowly ascending tension in his body, preferably before he'd possibly explode.
"Well, the funny part is that I don't have any problem with using them", Ben smiled as he took the needle-holder into his right hand and a tweezer in the other one.
"You better look the other way, my friend", he said friendly to Modo when he picked up the suture with the needle-holder.

Modo swallowed with difficulty and quickly did what he was told.
Vinnie suddenly popped up behind Ben to look over his shoulder and whistled between his teeth.
"Whoa, that's one big ass needle you've got there, doc."
Modo's head jerked up and his eye flickered red a couple of times.
"This ain't exactly helpful, Vincent", he growled.
"Oops. Sorry, big fella, I wasn't thinking", the white-furred mouse smirked, telling Modo he wasn't sorry at all.
Knowing his little bro, it probably was a payback for the spiders.
Still, there were limits, but that was just another word missing in Vinnie's vocabulary.
"You never do."

But before he could stand up to teach that loudmouth a lesson, Ben pushed the needle into his arm.
When he felt the mean sting, Modo's heart almost jumped out of his chest and his bionic hand tightened its grip around the armrest.
Right before he would break it, Ben stopped and took off his gloves again.
"This isn't gonna work. But don't worry, I've got just the thing that will help you relax", he said as he rose on his feet.
He opened one of the cabinets in the corner and turned around with a bottle in his hands, closing the door with his hip.
After he sat down again, he handed over the bottle to Modo, who took it with both suspicion and curiosity written on his face.
"What's this?"
"Whiskey. It's an age-old custom to drink alcohol to ease the pain, back in the time when they didn't have drugs at their disposal."
Modo studied the amber-colored liquid, still not entirely convinced.
"And how exactly does this help for the pain?"
"Just take a few swigs and you'll find out soon enough. I'm not trying to poison you, trust me."
"Hey man, no guts no glory, right?", Vinnie encouraged his older bro, now standing next to him, curious as he was.
"Right."

And after taking off the cap, the grey-furred giant carefully took a sip.
But what he didn't expect was that the drink almost burned down his throat and he coughed loudly as tears jumped in his eye.
"Oh momma, this stuff burns worse than the sun on Mars", he managed to bring out, but Ben didn't look worried at all.
"It's disgusting, I know. Come on, don't stop. With a body of your size, you're gonna need a little bit more than just one sip."
With difficulty, Modo took a few more before giving the bottle back to Ben, who nodded satisfied.
"Can I try?", Vinnie asked before the human male could put it back, almost bouncing on his feet.
Ben studied the worked up white-furred mouse for a moment, but then shook his head.
"I don't think that's a good idea, given your current state of mind. I'm afraid it will only make it worse."
"Ah, man, no fair! Why does Modo get all the fun, huh?", Vinnie protested loudly, but Modo grabbed him before he could try to snatch the bottle out of Ben's hands.
"There's absolutely nothing fun about this drink, trust me", he told his young bro with a hoarse voice.

Before Vinnie could say more, Ben laid a hand on his shoulder.
"Come, let me take you to the shower. The alcohol needs some time to do its job anyway."
"What's a shower?"
Any other person might have lost its patience because of the endless stream of questions coming from the mice, but not Ben.
Modo's respect for the man grew when he saw the still friendly and patient glance in his brown eyes as he laid a hand on Vinnie's shoulder.
"I'll show you."
Vinnie gave Modo a questionable look, their little quarrel already forgotten.
When it came down to it, they always took care of each other, it was all part of their strong bond.
The grey-furred giant nodded in response.
"It's okay, Vin, go. I'll be fine."
The young mouse gave him a nod back and let Ben lead him out of the room.

Modo listened to the fading footsteps and tried to relax a little, but that wasn't easy.
He wasn't one who didn't know how to handle pain, next to the fact that Martian Mice had a high pain threshold.
But even he had to admit that this hurt, whether he liked it or not and thinking back at the moment when Max planted the knife in his arm, his anger sparked up for a moment.
That darn human...
Ah well, at least he had paid the price.
Modo moved his arm and squeezed his eye when a sharp pain made him almost throw up.
Maybe he still needed to ask for that local anesthetic when Ben came back, but he suddenly noticed how a warm glow spread through his body.
It seemed to come from his stomach and he wondered if this was the work of the alcohol.
As the glow spread, it took away the sharp edges of the pain and he was finally able to relax.
He slumped back in his chair, suddenly tired like he hadn't slept in weeks.
"Oh, momma, this alcohol thing really is something…", he yawned, rubbing his face in an attempt to stay awake, but it was no use.

What a day.
What a crazy day.
What a crazy planet.

And before Modo even knew it, the whole world became black.