Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters from the original BMFM series, only Vikky and Jesse.
I know I know it's been months since I've updated, and I've been kicking myself for it. But I need help from my faithful readers. PLEASE REVIEW. I need some motivation if I'm ever going to finish this.
Last time we took a jump to the past and learned a little about our new friend. Or should I say, old friend? Oh well, anyway, we're back at the Last Chance now, and let's just say things are about to get interesting.
Chapter 8: Ground Rules
"Jesse! What are you doing here, man?" Vinnie asked once Vikky released their friend.
"I thought you were dead," Vikky cut in. That's when she noticed the scar over Jesse's left eye. He looked down at the floor for a moment, almost as if he was trying to hide something. "Jesse?" Vikky tried to look in his eyes.
Modo saw the concern on her face and heard it in her voice. He couldn't help but wonder if there had been something between the two. Resting her hands on either side of the Halfling's face, Vikky makes him raise his eyes to meet hers. The look he gives her, it speaks of nothing but regret, and she knows not to push any further. Instead, she angles his head and goes up onto her tiptoes to kiss the top of his head.
Something stirred in both Modo and Throttle at this display. Something primal, something that fixed itself upon their old friend.
"I was in the neighborhood and thought I'd stop by," Jesse spoke as soon as Victoria stepped away and walked past Modo. As she did, she brushed her fingers against the grey mouse's hand, signaling that they needed to talk. Vinnie was busy talking with Jesse, but that didn't mean the Halfling's blue eyes didn't catch Modo following Victoria out the back. Throttle had seen it too, and he was starting to get suspicious as to the real reason behind Tori's reaction.
Outside, Vikky stood leaning against the adjacent wall of the alley from the door. Her head turned slightly down, and her hands behind her back lost in her thoughts. What had happened to Jesse that he didn't want to tell her? She still remembered the last time she saw him. Hearing the door open and close, Vikky looked up from the ground and up at Modo. She didn't move. She didn't have to since the big grey mouse closed the distance in two long strides. Soon enough, he had her trapped in a cage of heat, muscle, and fur.
"Why must you be so big?" She asked him playfully as she ran a hand up his metal arm, while the other played with his chest fur, (He had taken his armor off for repairs earlier.) smiling at the tremor that raked his muscles.
"Why must you be so small?" He countered, laying his left hand on her waist. She shivered to his touch just like he had to her's, and it encouraged the oversized rodent. But before he forgot why they were out there, Modo caught her hand in his. "You needed to speak with me, Kiki?"
That brought the mouse-et out of her desire haze, but she still pouted up at him for being reasonable. "Yes, I do." She let out a heavy sigh and attempted to look away from the large mouse, but he would have none of it. Modo caught her chin and gently turned her back to face him. Vikky reluctantly met his gaze, knowing that her eyes would betray her to him, but what could she do, she couldn't fight him. Seeing her distress, Modo leaned in to give her a gentle, reassuring kiss. That was until he caught the scent of someone he believed to be his friend.
His eye flashed open, and Modo went stock still as he took a few testing sniffs. Then his eye met Vikky's, and he knew he didn't imagine things. Tori knew that he would smell Throttle; she had wanted him to catch the tan mouse's scent because she couldn't speak the words. But the look in his eye as he stepped back from her snapped her heart in half.
Modo didn't know what to think as he took a half step back from the she mouse. His retreat stopped short when said mouse pushed herself off the wall and into Modo's arms. Her ears were back, and her body was trembling as Vikky tried not to cry.
"No, Modo, it's not what you think. When Throttle and I were talking in my room, I was yelling at him to tell me why he treated me differently from you and Vinnie." Victoria started as she clung closer to him.
"I remember hearing shouting, but I couldn't hear what was said." The grey mouse mumbled slightly when his arms reflexively wrapped themselves around Kiki. There was a long silence. Vikky was trying to find the courage to tell her lover the rest of what happened. She took a deep breath to settle herself and looked up at him.
"I kept yelling," She started. "Till Throttle pushed my back against the wall and kissed me." She paused there as Modo's arms tightened, just the slightest around her. It was a possessive reflex that was common for Martian men when their mates were threatened. But he didn't say anything. His eye just glowed red slightly. "He told me that that was the reason that I was different. Till he called me,"
"Kiki." Modo cut her off when she looked at the ground, and he caught her cheek to turn her back to looking at him. His eye was so bright that it hurt to look at him. She wasn't able to get another word out as Modo released Vikky and stormed into the garage in a rage. "Throttle!" He screamed, nearly taking the door off its hinges when he came threw. Everyone looked up from what they were doing as the overly heavy footsteps echoed threw the garage. Vikky wasn't far behind him and tried to put herself between the raging rodent and the commander.
"Modo stop," again, Kiki was cut off as her older brother pulled her out of Modo's path.
"Not the best time to be stubborn sis. What did you say to the big guy to get him so wound up?" Vinnie asked his sister as the large grey mouse made a bee-line for Throttle.
"The truth." That was beyond vague, even for Vikky, as she struggled in Vinnie's hold.
"How dare you!" Modo continued to shout at the tan mouse, who was making a rather slow retreat as he backed towards the front doors.
"Hey hey, easy there big guy, what's going on?" Throttle tried to calm his friend, but it wasn't working much. It at least got him to pause in his assault.
"You kissed Kiki. You trapped her and forced yourself on her." Ok, maybe he was overdramatizing about what happened. But it got the point across and Throttle all but shattered into a million pieces.
He never expected Vikky to tell Modo what had happened. Were they that close of friends? Or, or was there something else between them? That's when it had hit home for Throttle, and all the missing pieces fell into place. Throttle had crossed into no man's land by kissing Vikky, and Modo was the bomber. But now Modo was the least of the tan mouse's problems. With this new information, Vinnie had gone stock still, and murder was in his eyes.
Jesse seemed to be the only one not in a jealous rage over this whole incident. He just looked between the grey and tan mice, trying to decide what he was going to do. The half blood's decision was made for him when Vinnie made to charge at Throttle. Jesse managed to catch the white mouse, and he was more than strong enough to hold him back. But that left Vikky free to run between Modo and his target. Seizing her opportunity, Vikky again put herself between the two mice, a stern and almost furious look in her eyes that made even Modo halt in his advance.
Modo met her gaze, and the grey mouse's fury cooled to a simmer. "Kiki." He growled in a warning tone.
"No, Modo, believe me, I want to rip off his antennas too, but he is your bro. And I refuse just to stand by and let you do something I know for a fact that you're going to regret." Vikky's voice was just as stern as her glare, but it held a gentleness to it that slowly made everyone relax. There was a short silence before Charley spoke up.
"She's right, Modo. Despite how much Throttle deserves it, you'll only end up beating yourself up for it later." Now with both of the women defending the commander, the big guy let out a sigh of defeat.
"Fine, you're lucky this time, Throttle. But if it ever happens again, not only will I make you eat your tail, I'll be sure to get Carbine on the com-link after." Modo's voice held a deadly razor edge to it as he eyed the tan mouse with not just a warning but a promise.
'"I second that." Vinnie said as he relaxed but still had Jesse's form in front of him since his anger hadn't yet fully evaporated. Both the grey and white mice moved a little further away from the object of their rage, that's when Throttle thought it was safe to approach Victoria.
Big mistake.
He tapped her on her shoulder to get her attention, and she spun around too quickly for him to react. Vikky caught his arm under her left one while she pulled back her right fist and drove it into his jaw with all the strength she had behind it. It was more than enough as the tan mouse went falling back a few feet only to hit the ground hard and with a bloody lip. "And here's a ground-rule for you, Commander, don't ever touch me unless it's to help me." She growled, feeling her knuckles start to pulse through her glove, and a dull pain began to set in. Throttle just looked up at the she mouse with a dumb-founded look on his face. But Vikky didn't say another word as she stormed into her room and slammed the door.
Once isolated from the others, Vikky slid down the wall to sit on the floor, heart drumming against her ribs. Everything hurt, from her hand to her heart. That's when she felt the tears burning her eye. So many emotions were going threw her that her mind couldn't make sense of any of it. Usually, when that happened, tears took the place of everything else. She hated it when she cried for no reason; it always gave the wrong impression about her. Closing her eyes, Vikky attempted to take slow controlled breaths while fighting back her tears and a slow-rising headache.
Victoria didn't know how long she had been sitting there. It wasn't till a slight knock on the door brought her out of her trance-like state.
