Hey there!

Thank you so much for the reviews, really, I can't thank you guys enough.
It seems to be impossible to express my gratitude in words, but the least I can do is try.
THANK YOU!

So, on with part two of the aftermath.
Enjoy! ^^

Chapter 15

Vinnie stared at himself in the mirror.
He looked tired, he noticed to his surprise.
That didn't happen that often.
Usually, his facial expression was a reflection of his ever-present hyperactivity, but not now.
The dried blood spatter on his face didn't help either, just as the blue circles under his eyes shining through his fur.
He felt the opposite of tired, though.
He was more than restless.
Although he would never say it out loud, but now he was alone, he could at least be honest to himself.
And the truth was that even he experienced a certain aftershock from that last day on Mars.
Just like his bro's did.
He was just… less obvious about it.
But that didn't mean he didn't care, because he did.
Mars was his home.
And now it was lost.
The Freedom Fighters had lost.
And he hated losing.
Just as he hated the more quiet moments in war such as these.
It gave him time to think.
He didn't want to think.

Because when he did, painful realizations forced themselves upon him.
Like, that the pain that came with this aftermath was all too familiar.
That it reminded him of a day he was trying so hard to forget.
Usually, he was able to shield himself from the darkness that came with war, always willing to see an opportunity in every situation instead of a problem.
Life was already hard enough and he refused to let it swallow him up.
His optimism stopped him from drowning and he intended to keep it that way.
Still, there were days when the darkness pulled harder on him than usual and that last day on Mars served as a good example.
And so was that other day.

Slowly, he lifted his hands and his fingers enclosed the familiar and unbroken links.
With reluctance, he took off the necklace that he wore every day, every hour, every minute.
But now, he needed to take it off so he could clean the fur in his neck and it somehow made his heart ache like never before.
Like there was a piece of him missing from the moment he took it off.
He was so used to feel the weight around his neck, to the warm and comforting feeling of metal on his chest, close to his always fluttering heart.
The tinkling sound that was heard when he laid the necklace with pendant on the edge of the -how did Ben call it?- sink gave him goosebumps all over his body and he shook his head as he gave himself a mental shake.
"Come on, man, enough with this bullshit. Keep your head up, like you always do", he said stern to his reflection, who looked back with burning eyes.
"Nothing can take the Vinman down, remember? Nothing."
Not since that day…

"Stop it."
His voice echoed against the walls of the sober-looking room from which Ben had told him it was called a bathroom and instead of being comforted by the familiar sound, it only made him more hyped up.
His hands grabbed the sink in an iron grip as he still stared at himself.
He didn't like the face that looked back.
It was too troubled.
Too serious.
There was too much pain visible in the ruby-red eyes.
He leaned closer to the mirror, his reflection now fogged by his breathing.
"Even though talking to yourself is the first sign that you're officially losing your mind, I'm still gonna say it. Stop. Doing. This. The past is the past and there's nothing you can do about it. Just live every day like it's your last and never look back."

Of course, his reflection didn't answer and he heaved a sigh, suddenly feeling a bit embarrassed by himself.
Perhaps the time had come to try that shower thingy.
If he had to believe Ben, it would calm his nerves.
Right.
The only thing that was able to calm his nerves was adrenaline.
Perhaps that was everything but logical, given the fact that adrenaline usually had a stimulating effect.
Still, it was the only thing that was able to chase away this certain restlessness that was always there.
The heritage of war.
And it needed a lot of explosions to make that happen.
So, unless the shower would fire laser or spit out grenades, he seriously had his doubts that it was capable of calming him down.

Right before he looked away, he suddenly saw something that caught his attention and he quickly turned his head back.
Again, he leaned closer to the mirror and looked at his right eye.
"That's weird…"
He raised his right hand and used his index finger to pull down his lower eyelid.
After trying different angles, he let it go again and blinked a few times.
But it was still there.
An almost microscopically small white dot in the scarlet iris, right next to the pupil, from which he knew it wasn't there before.
As a mouse who loved to adore himself in the mirror, he could know.
But it didn't hurt and the rest of his eye looked as beautiful as ever, so he shrugged and turned away from the mirror.
As he looked at the thing that was called a shower, he took off the rest of his clothes as Ben had instructed him.
Apparently, nudity was part of the process.
Where were the ladies when you needed them the most?
"Alright, partner. Let's do this."

…

"Modo. Modo, wake up."
Ben's voice echoed through the darkness and the grey-furred giant slowly opened his eye.
He tried to look around him, but the light hurt and he quickly closed it again.
"Come on, laddie, wake up. You're all done."
Again, Modo opened his eye and after blinking a few times, his vision became sharp.
He somehow couldn't remember where he was, but a sharp pain in his arm chased away some of the fog in his head and he looked down.
A neat row of stitches looked back and he frowned in confusion.
"What happened?"
"Apparently, your body reacts a little intense on alcohol. You were out like a light and I couldn't wake you up, so I figured I might as well use the time to stitch the wound. You'll be fine."
Modo slowly sat upright, but from the moment he moved, a pounding headache made him stop and he moaned softly.
"Oh, momma, what train hit me?"
"Max", Ben simply answered and it suddenly all came back.
Max.
How they found out that he hurt Charley.
How Throttle broke his wrist.
How he held Max to wait for further orders.
How things went south after that.
A knife.
A gunshot.
Blood.
Pain.
Needles.
"Max."
Ben nodded in response as he reached out a glass of water.
"Yes, Max. Don't worry, with your fast metabolism, the alcohol will be soon out of your system. That includes the headache, if you drink some water, that is."

Modo thankfully took the glass and after a few swigs, he already felt a bit better.
He looked at Ben, who was now collecting his used materials, probably to clean them.
He felt nothing but respect looking at the man, but there was still one thing that gnawed on him, something that didn't fit with the image he had of the human doctor.
"You knew and you did nothing. I keep asking myself, why? You clearly care about her and my guts are telling me you ain't no bad man. So I need to ask… why?"
The human doctor stopped with what he was doing and stared at his hands.
"Accidents happen. I found out. I'm a doctor. She came to me with mysterious injuries, more than once, and every time she had a different story. One time she tripped, the other time she fell off the stairs… Really, if I didn't know any better, she was the most clumsy person I've ever met. But I'm not stupid. So one day, I confronted her. Sometimes, I regret that I did. It made things even more complicated than they already were… Anyway, she didn't deny it. She burst into tears the moment I asked."
"How long ago was that?"
"Five years."
Modo almost fell off his chair and his tail lashed through the air.
"Five years? You let this go on for five years?"
He didn't want to get angry with the friendly doctor, but this went against everything he stood for.
Everything his beloved momma had taught him.
And even though a year on Earth was shorter than the ones on Mars, five years was still a very long time.

Ben didn't defend himself, he just nodded.
"It was wrong, I know, but she made me promise not to tell. Believe me, when she told me, I wanted nothing more but to confront Max, to tell him that he needed to keep his hands off of her, but she went ballistic. She literally begged me not to tell anyone, because she was scared of what would happen if I did. It was one of the hardest choices I ever made, but I did it to protect her."
"This whole thing just doesn't make sense. She was able to control his temper. I saw it the night we came, he actually listened to her… How could she let him treat her the way he did?"
"Because believe it or not, they loved each other. In a way, she was convinced that they needed each other. Charley needed someone by her side to built this camp, someone who believed in her and despite everything, Max did. Max, on his turn, knew he had a bad temper and Charley helped him to control it. Well, that's what they both thought. I think that he only suppressed it and we all know that in the end, suppressed anger always finds its way out. Charley's injuries were the proof of that."

Modo shook his head in confusion.
"What about the people in the camp? Did they know what was going on?"
Ben let out a soft chuckle, but it wasn't one of joy.
"It was only behind closed doors where Max showed his true nature. Everyone knew he was a hothead, but didn't think much more of it. The people here respect him, because despite the fact that he was a man that did bad things, he also did a lot of good things for this camp. People owe him their life. He was a man with two faces."
"And he never tried to take over leadership? I know guys like him, they are drunk on power."
"He was. But even though the people respected him, they respect Charley even more. They would never listen to him, not as they do to Charley. He knew that, and so he let her be the leader. In public, that is. When they were alone, the tables were turned."

Modo snorted, he was trying very hard to understand all this, but it was hard.
Ben seemed to hear his disapproval and he heaved a sigh with a sad glance in his brown eyes.
"Look, I know this hard for you to understand, but she loved him. She believed in him. I already told you, she's too caring for her own good. She's too good for this world. He kept telling her it wouldn't happen again, that he would change and she believed him, every single time. I couldn't get through to her that he was never going to change, that he was too far gone. My hands were tied, I couldn't force her to leave him, that's just not how this works. So, I promised her that I wouldn't tell and she promised me that she would come to me to let me treat her wounds. That was my way of helping her, to do at least something. Truth to be told, I was scared. Scared to lose her. Scared for Max, for what he would do to her if he found out that I knew his dirty secret… I love her, you know. She's my daughter. Maybe not by blood, but there are bonds stronger than blood and I think you know that. I couldn't risk losing her."
Modo heard the despair and pain in Ben's voice and he calmed down a bit.
Things weren't always as easy as they looked and love was a complicated thing, that he knew.
Hearing the helplessness reminded him that he once was on the same boat as Ben.
Convincing Throttle that Carbine was bad news for him had been impossible as well.
One once told him that love is blind.
And he knew, unfortunately, that was true.

"She thanked Throttle for killing him. What's changed?"
Ben looked him in the eye.
"Sometimes, strange eyes forces one to see what is right in front of them."
"I don't believe I get your drift..."
"I think your friend was able to give love sight. To let her see that things needed to change. That Max was only holding her back. He got through to her."
"You mean like, setting her free?"
"Something like that. And not just her. In fact, I don't think it's a coincidence that you three landed on this planet."
Modo frowned in confusion, but then it dawned on him.
"The Plutarkians."
"Yes. I believe you guys are here to set us all free."
Modo suddenly remembered what Throttle used to tell him on days when he was close to losing hope because of all the violence they were surrounded by, violence that never seemed to end.
The tan-furred mouse had told him it was their destiny to take care of those who needed it, to fight evil till their final breath.
Maybe he was right all along.
Maybe there was such a thing as fate.
Maybe the universe did have a plan for all of them.

"You better not tell Vinnie that, or you'll never hear the end of it…"
But then, his brain processed Ben's previous words.
'...able to give love sight.'
"You think she has feelings for Throttle?", he asked with surprise.
"All I know is that he got through to her. I tried that for years without any result and he succeeds only a few days after they met. That has to mean something, right?"
Modo thought about it for a moment, but then nodded.
"I guess you're right."
"What about your friend?"
"What about him?"
"Is he always this… devoted?"
"Depends on what you mean with devoted. But if you're asking if killing abusive boyfriends is part of his daily routine, I can tell you it definitely ain't his usual style."
"And what does that tell you?"
"That's he's willing to go far to protect her."
Ben studied Modo's face for a moment.
"You don't like to talk about this", he then concluded.

Modo heaved a sigh as he got a bit more upright.
"Look doc, to be honest, I ain't sure what's going on in his head right now. He just ain't himself lately. That last day on Mars took a lot of him, that I know. But I would never judge him. He's my bro, no matter his actions or state of mind. I've known him since forever and I'll always have his back, no matter what. He's a good mouse. A good leader. He always tries to do the right thing. But he ain't perfect. No one is. And I don't blame him for that. I mean, we all make mistakes, whether we like it or not, especially when we're under the same pressure Throttle lives with every day. Being a leader is everything but easy."
"I'm not judging your friend, Modo, I'm admiring him. Just as I admire Charley. I can't imagine how it must be to live under such pressure and I know that only a few are able to do so without losing their mind. Charley is one of those few and from what I've seen so far, your friend is too. They are both born leaders, it's in their blood, but they both have lost their way. But I think that they can help each other to find back their path. And that, my dear boy, is more than just love. That's destiny."

"Yeah, maybe…", Modo mumbled absent-mindedly, already thinking about what Vinnie's role would be in this story.
He still hadn't had the chance to ask, but he could see the way he looked at Charley.
He was definitely interested.
But interested was a broad term and he wasn't sure where his young bro was standing.
It wasn't always easy to see what Vinnie's true intentions were behind his flirting, the metal mask wasn't the only mask he was wearing, after all.
But Modo had a nagging feeling that he already knew.
And it wasn't love, nor it was destiny.
Then again, if Ben was right and this was truly meant to be, then not even Vinnie was gonna be able to come between.
Still, knowing what to expect never hurt anyone.
And then there was Carbine...

But speaking of the young daredevil, it was this moment that Vinnie decided to make his dramatic come back.
The white-furred mouse burst inside the room with a big smile on his face and by the looks of things, he was even more hyped up than when he'd left the room.
"Holy shit, that shower thingy is awesome!"
Modo opened his mouth to tell the young mouse he needed to calm down for his headache couldn't handle this level of activity, but then something stopped him and he wrinkled his nose.
"Wow, what on Mars is that smell?"
It wasn't that bad actually, well, if it was to a lesser extent, that is.
"Oh, I guess that's the stuff I used to wash my fur. Why, you don't like it?"
"It's just… a bit intense, I guess…"
Vinnie sniffed at his fur and smiled a bit sheepishly, now understanding where his older bro was coming from.
"Maybe I overdid it…"
"That ain't exactly new, bro", Modo responded dryly as he looked at his youngest bro who looked a lot better now.
His fur was back to its usual snow-white color and it even glanced like never before.
The clothes Ben had given to him looked a lot like the ones he usually wore and by seeing the ragged hole by Vinnie's tail, he concluded that was the only adjustment the outfit had needed.

"How much did you use?", Ben asked curiously as he was now standing by the counter cleaning his tools.
"I dunno, like two bottles or so."
The human doctor froze, but then burst into laughter.
Vinnie stopped his bouncing and gave the man a confused look.
"What? What's so funny?"
"Two bottles? No wonder you smell like a walking bouquet of petunias!"
"What are petunias?"
Ben shook his head, not able to answer the question, but Vinnie was already with his attention back to Modo, not able to focus on one thing for longer than two seconds.
"Really, bro, you should try it, it's so cool! There's this lever, and when you switch it, there's coming water out of the wall! Can you believe that shit? And it gets even better, because you can actually change the temperature! Shit man, Earth is so weird, I'm telling ya", the white-furred mouse babbled and before giving Modo the chance to react, he already looked at Ben again.
"Yo Ben, can I have my own shower?"

Ben was finally able to talk again and he shook his head, his brown eyes still twinkling in amusement.
"I'm afraid not. This is the only working shower we have and we only use it in emergencies. Water is in short supply in the apocalypse. Besides, it was supposed to calm you down…"
He then turned around to look at Modo as he pointed at the white-furred bouncing ball.
"Is he always like this?"
"Yup. Believe it or not, this is him being restraint. But not to worry, you'll get used to it. One day."
"What my bro here is trying to say is that with my shiny presence in it, your life will never be the same again. Really, I've seen it happen a thousand times already. So yeah, not to worry, doc. Every day, for the rest of your life, you'll be grateful that you've met me. Success guaranteed", Vinnie said casually as he polished his nails to his shirt with a very smugly facial expression.
Ben stared at the white-furred mouse with a look on his face that one could call perplexed.
Modo couldn't blame him, after all, no one could brag this insolent as Vinnie.
One could almost call it a talent.
Well, actually, it was.
But no one, absolutely no one felt the need to tell that to Vinnie for many obvious reasons.

"He's right, ya know. Well, about the part that your life will never gonna be the same again. It's his perspective on why that you should question", the grey-furred mouse chuckled after seeing the look on Ben's face.
The human doc opened his mouth, but then the radio on his belt came to life.
"Charley to Ben, over."
Ben, who was still smiling, brought the black device to his mouth and pushed the button on the side.
"Ben for Charley, over."
"If you're ready with Modo's wound, I can use your help over here, over."
"I'm about to finish things up here. I'll be there in a few, over."
"Copy that, over."
The radio fell silent for a moment, but then Charley's voice came through the speakers again.
"Oh, and Ben? Bring a body bag. Charley over and out."
Ben lowered the radio, his smile already gone again and he turned around to clean the last of his tools.

Modo took a deep breath and slowly got back on his feet.
For a moment, the world was spinning around him, but then, everything got back on its place again.
"We'll come with you. Maybe we can do something to help", he spoke to the now tensed back of Ben.
Suddenly, something pulled on his ear and he looked down a bit annoyed, straight into the rebellious eyes of his youngest bro.
"Help? What do you mean, help? Cleaning up dead bodies is not in this mouse his job description!"
"I'm afraid it just got penciled in, bro. No one forced Charley to help us, and yet she did. We owe her something and as you know, we always pay our debts."
But looking into the burning ruby-red eyes, Modo could tell that the white-furred mouse needed a little bit more incentive.
"Come on, Vin, we never let a lady down, remember? If you don't wanna do this for me, then do it for Charley."

It was a risky move, that he knew.
The last thing Modo wanted was to push Vinnie closer to Charley.
Not with this thing that was going on with Throttle.
But he needed to know.
Next to the fact that forcing Vinnie into something he didn't want to do simply didn't work.
The young mouse needed the right motivation and right now, Charley was one of those motivations, whether he liked it or not.
Something changed in Vinnie's eyes, his obstinacy got replaced with smugness and Modo finally knew.
He was right.
It wasn't love and it sure as hell wasn't destiny.
It was a competition.

But before he could say something, Ben interfered.
"I'm done here. You guys know what you want to do or do you need another minute?"
"We're coming with you, doc", Vinnie said quickly as he turned around.
Ben nodded and left the room, probably assuming that the two mice would follow.
Well, that was Vinnie's plan, but Modo wasn't done yet, so he grabbed him by the arm and forced him to turn back around.
"I swear on my mother's grave, if you hurt her…", he threatened between clenched teeth, his voice so low it sounded more like a growl.
Vinnie's eyes grew big in played shock.
"Who? Moi? Never! Come on, big fella, you know me. I'm the paragon of virtue."
A pang of anger made Modo grab Vinnie by his bandana and he pulled him closer.
"You leave her alone, you hear me? This ain't no game, Vincent. There's too much at stake."
But instead of being impressed, the left corner of Vinnie's mouth curled into a small but arrogant smile and it suddenly hit Modo like a train.
Talk about a stupid move.
To Vinnie, everything was a game.
A competition.
And he had just made it an interesting one too.

…

That night, everyone gathered in the outermost part of Sleepy Park for Max his funeral.
The atmosphere was passive, almost resigned, as if the people knew that this day would come.
Maybe they did.
They were living in a war.
And the sad truth was that war and death were inseparable.
That Max his death was a bit more personal no one knew.
Ben had told them that a Plutarkian had managed to find a weak spot in the perimeter, that Max had spotted him right after sneaking inside, but that the fish was the first one who pulled the trigger.
That soon after that, the mice had caught the intruder and killed him.
The story had caused shock and fear, but Ben had managed to put their minds at ease by telling them that Charley and the mice had not only fixed the fence, but also checked every square inch of it and that they could say for sure that this would never happen again.

Throttle didn't like to be part of a lie this big, but even he understood it was the only way to keep peace in this camp.
Next to the fact that Charley was determined to keep Max his reputation intact.
She somehow didn't have the heart to tell the truth about him, but nobody had forced her to it either.
She was the one calling the shots, after all.
And she knew what was best for this camp.
So, he and his bro's had played along.
They had even checked the fence to make the story more credible and pretended to fix a part that was in reality still in very good shape.
Vinnie had been, of course, more than willing to fire his gun two times and they had used the already dead body of the Plutarkian out Ben's lab to carry away in a body bag.
As far as they knew, nobody had actually seen them, but it was all just in case someone would have.
But it looked like their plan had worked, because no one had questioned the story so far.

Throttle glanced at Charley, who was standing next to him.
She was staring at the hole in the ground as tears streamed down her face.
Her pain cut through his soul, and not because he felt guilty for killing Max, but simply because he cared about her.
Very much.
It was strange, how important she had become to him in such a short matter of time.
But he had stopped fighting it, ever since that moment he pulled the trigger.
He couldn't run from this.
He couldn't hide from this.
And fighting it only made it more confusing.
Sometimes, the path one walks on takes an unexpected turn, but that didn't mean it would lead to something bad.
Going back wasn't an option either.
So he had made his peace with it.
And now, all there was left to do was to wait and see where this path would take him.

He looked back at Ben, who stood next to Max's grave and was about to finish his talk.
"Max his tragic and sudden death will leave a great void behind, but perhaps we can comfort ourselves with the thought that he died as what he was to us. A hero."
Vinnie, who was standing next to Throttle, snorted loudly in response and the tan-furred mouse quickly gave him a warning look.
The last thing they could use right now was that loudmouth disrupting this gathering, although it wouldn't be exactly a surprise.
But it appeared that Modo, who on his turn stood next to Vinnie, wasn't planning on letting that happen either, because he elbowed the white-furred mouse in the ribs.
It didn't escape Throttle's attention that it seemed to be a bit harder than just a warning jab, which was in line with something he had noticed right after his two bro's came back with Ben this afternoon.
There was a certain tension palpable between them, one the tan-furred leader couldn't put his finger on.
As if something happened in the short time that they were separated.
Throttle wondered what that could be, but then again, it wasn't exactly breaking news that his two beloved bro's had this odd love-hate pattern from time to time.
Still, it felt different this time and he made a mental note to himself that he would ask them as soon as he got the chance.
Luckily, Vinnie got the hint, although with indignation, and the peace returned.

Throttle focussed his attention back on Ben, who now threw a handful of sand in Max his grave and suddenly, Charley grabbed his hand in an iron grip.
He lowered his eyes and looked at their entwined fingers.
And even though he was attending a ceremony of death and pain, he couldn't stop himself from getting the feeling that he was the luckiest guy on Mars… or on Earth.
Maybe on both planets.
Or maybe even in the entire universe.
To find something this beautiful, this pure in a world that was upside down was a miracle to say at least.
And he vowed to himself that he would do anything to keep it close to him.
To keep her close to him.

When it was her turn, Charley did a few steps forward without letting go of his hand, as if it was the only thing that stopped her from drowning in her grief.
She slowly bent down to grab a handful of sand and when she got back upright, she gave Throttle a quick, but helpless look.
Strangely enough, seeing that look gave him the sudden urge to cry, a feeling he hadn't felt in a very long time.
She was so lost at the moment.
No one ever said that -even though the ladder appeared to be long enough- climbing out of the deep black pit was easy.
But she wasn't alone.
She needed to know that, and so, the tan-furred mouse leaned closer to her.
"Letting go is one of the hardest things in life, but it's the only way to make room for new things. I believe in you, Charley. You can do this", he whispered in her ear, closing his eyes when he smelled a hint of her lovely scent.
It didn't make him crazy anymore, not since he had stopped fighting this thing that was happening to him.
Now, it only made him calm, almost peaceful.
But underneath the calmness, carefully hidden, desire was brewing.

Charley took a deep breath and reached out her trembling hand.
For a moment, it just floated above the hole, holding the sand with so much strength that the usual pinkish skin around her knuckles was now white.
Throttle squeezed softly in her other hand as encouragement, to let her know that she wasn't alone.
That he believed in her.
Because he did.
With his whole heart and soul, he believed in her.
After closing her eyes for a moment, she let out her breath and opened her hand.
And when the sand landed on the body bag with a rustling sound, the book called Max closed to never open again.
It would always be there, collecting dust on one of the shelves in Charley's memory, but it would remain closed.
For it was now time to look forward.
And there, the future awaits.

'And will we ever…
End up together?'

The en... no, just kidding.
The story is far from over, on the contrary, it's just getting started.

Feel free to leave a review and thanks for supporting me by reading my story.
Much love to all of you out there.

Later dudes!