This is a first, isn't it? Out of everything I've ever written on this site, not one of those stories had been in the Cartoon category.

First of all, there are not a lot of bmfm fics out there. Hope you can find the time to give this one a chance.

Second, I loved the show as a kid, and teen...and adult. But I have never seen the 2006 version.

Hopefully you will all enjoy this story I've come up with and finally decided to share.

I present to you, Family Matters.

Sidenote: the sequel to this story is out now (since 01-2021) called - For the Cause

Chapter 1 - A blast from the past

The Last Chance Garage

Her hands were shaking, though she couldn't understand why. It had been over a year since it had happened. But then, the moment when she answered the phone and heard the voice on the other side, her knees began to buckle and her entire body seemed to tremble all over. She was thankful she managed to keep her voice from cracking during the phone call.

By now the person who had called her, had already hung up. But Charley was still standing there, staring into the distance. After a few seconds, even though it felt like minutes, Charley set the phone down and quietly stepped back in search of a something, such as a chair, to sit herself down upon. The nearest piece of furniture she spotted wasn't exactly what she'd been looking for, but it would have to do. She slowly sat herself down on her desk, pushing aside a pile of paperwork she still had lying about.

It had been almost a year ago. Perhaps even a bit over a year, when Charley got a call from her mother. A call which would throw her entire world upside down. Something she hadn't seen coming, something she could have never even prepared for. However, it had not been her who answered that fateful call.

It had been Modo.

Big, tall, broad-shouldered and strong as concrete, Modo. The mouse with the biggest heart and kindest soul she'd ever seen in someone. Even to this day there was nobody like him. The fact that it had been him who answered the call was one of the unfairest things in the world, but maybe it was also for the best in that sense. For he had dealt with matters like that before.

Yes, Modo was not unfamiliar with the territory of death...

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"Charley, ma'am?"

Modo walked into the kitchen where Charley was currently sat at the table enjoying her short breaktime. The auburn haired beauty looked up at the tall grey mouse standing in her doorway. She smiled at him but when he didn't return hers like he normally would, she pushed her chair back and stood up with a furrowed brow.

"What's wrong, Modo?" She asked, her voice holding a slight hint of worry.

"The phone was ringing, I- I answered it." He took a step forward and halted in front of Charley.

"It's your momma, Charley-girl. She said,- something bad happened,-"

Modo blinked and Charley was gone, running out of the kitchen into the living room and towards the table where the phone was. The horn lay flat on its surface. She grabbed it and held it up to her ear.

"Mom?" A sob sounded from the other side and Charley knew then that something terrible indeed must have happened.

"Oh honey." Charley's mother said, her voice breaking as she spoke. "It's your brother,-"

Charley's legs gave away and she hit the ground like a ton of bricks. Mode stood a couple of feet behind her, watching quietly as loud sobs started to fill the room. Modo wasn't a hundred percent sure what Charley's momma was telling her, but he understood this type of grief like nobody else, as him and his brothers had experienced it all too often and all too close.

Death.

Charley was no longer holding the phone, at some point it had slipped from her grasp and was now lying in her lap. Modo took this as his cue and he walked up to the table, grabbed the horn from her legs and placed it back where it belonged. He got down on his knees and looked at the woman in front of him. She never looked up at him though, but that wasn't necessary. He placed his good arm around her and pulled her close, resting his chin on top of her head.

They stayed like this for a while, until Throttle and Vinnie came back from buying hot dogs. When they found their brother and Charley on the living room floor, they dropped everything and listened as Charley told them what had happened. Her brother Sam and sister-in-law had been in an road accident. And Sam hadn't made it...

:::::::...:::::::

This time none of the mice were at the Last Chance Garage to support their female friend and Charley had to relive the memory on her own this time. The death of her brother had made Charley realize how close the two of them had actually been, but neither had ever really showed each other. She couldn't recall the last time she'd cried that much as she had done on that horrible day. Charley had also gone to the funeral on her own, but her friends were nearby as she stood there, keeping an ever watchful eye on their dear female friend.

Now a year had passed and Charley had forgotten all about what was still to come her way. Initially she didn't like it and therefore declined what her brother had left her in his will. Her parents told her to think about it before completely stepping away from her brother's final wishes. And so she did. She had thought on it, but then as time went by she'd slowly forgotten about it, until now.

The sound of three motorcycles approaching shook Charley out of her thoughts and within a minute Vinnie, Modo and Throttle rode into the garage. Loud and obnoxious as usual, yet they always managed to bring a smile to her face. Vinnie roared out loud as each of them turned their engines off.

"Ow! That was awesome, bros!" He exclaimed taking off his helmet and fist pumping the air.

"Hi, sweetheart." He winked at Charley.

Charley got off the desk and walked up to them. "You guys seem like you're having a heck of a time." She smiled.

"Well, we do. Scored some dogs,-"

"Got the new James Bomb movie,-" Modo held up a rectangular shaped box. Charley grinned and expectantly turned her head towards Throttle.

The tanned mouse shrugged. "That's it actually."

"Anti-climactic, bro." Vinnie shook his head and wrapped his tail around Charley's waist. "Missed us? Me in particular of course." He wiggled his eyebrows.

"You've only been gone for a day, macho." She playfully shoved him aside and even though for a moment she'd forgotten all about the phone call, her smile soon faltered and it did not go unnoticed by the others.

"You okay, Charley ma'am?" Modo asked with concern.

"I just got a call from the will and estates company that took care of my brother's will. Sam's bike is coming tomorrow."

The three mice grew quiet, the gleeful atmosphere gone grim. "How you doing, Charley girl?" Throttle asked carefully as he stepped in front of her.

"I'm fine, Throttle. Thanks. I can't believe it's already been over a year." Charley shook her head.

"You want us to be here when it arrives?"

Charley looked up at Throttle, the leader of the trio, always ready to take care of everything and everyone. He didn't even had to ask how she felt about that.

"I'd like that very much."

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That night Charley and the three mice sat in the living room on the couch. Charley leaning against Vinnie's chest with her legs resting across Modo's lap. Throttle had taken his usual spot in the big lounge chair. Charley had suggested to not watch the new James Bomb movie tonight as she feared she'd be in a rather distracted mode because of Sam. Therefore they watched one of the first James Bomb movies, which obviously nobody minded, especially Modo who adored the character James Bomb more than anyone else.

Halfway through the movie Vinnie noticed the female mechanic breathing slow and steady, a tiny snore coming from the back of her throat. He threw a piece of popcorn at Throttle's head, who immediately glared in his direction. The white mouse pointed at the woman sleeping against him before pointing up at the ceiling where Charley's bedroom was located. The bros didn't need words to communicate with each other at times like these.

Throttle stretched out and stood up from his seat. He gently and carefully scooped Charley off of the other two mice and headed towards the stairs. Modo walked up ahead to open the bedroom door for him, with Vinnie tagging close behind. The two mice watched as their leader gently placed Charley in her bed and swooped aside a few strands of her hair.

"Tomorrow's gonna be a long day." Modo commented in a whisper as Throttle closed the door behind them.

"Do any of you happen to know if this is the same bike that her brother crashed with?" The tanned mouse asked his bros. They shook their heads and Throttle sighed.

"We'd better be prepared for anything in that case." He remarked.

The three mice walked down the stairs, ready to finish the movie and then call it a night, when a loud crash came from the front of the building. The floor shook from the collision and Vinnie managed to trip and fall over the couch.

"Geez, what in the name of Mars was that?!" He rubbed the back of his head.

"No clue. Time to check it out, bros." Throttle said punching his fist against the palm of his hand. "Uh, but quietly, don't want to wake up Charley."

"Unless that miniature earthquake already did." Modo retorted looking over his shoulder up the staircase.

They tiptoed through the door into the garage ready attack whoever was in front of the building if needed. Throttle led the way slowly but surely. It was quiet, not a peep came from the outside.

"Maybe a car backfired?" Vinnie suggested.

"You think?" Throttle rolled his eyes. Because when was something as simple as that was ever the case?

The three mice halted in front of the doors. "Open them!" Throttle shouted to Modo who hit the button on the wall. The garage doors began to rise and the bikers were ready to attack who ever it was that had disturbed their movie night.

But as the doors fully opened there was nothing there to see. The only thing they did see was an old car crashed against the side of the Last Chance Garage. The bros lowered their arms, confusion written on their faces.

"Uh, hello?" Vinnie yelled into the night sky.

Modo scratched the back of his neck. "There no one in there."

But he could not have been more wrong and frankly, the person who in fact was currently there, could not have felt more insulted by it. Obviously he wasn't going to let them in the dark for too long.

"You rookies planning on standing there all night or are you actually planning on helping an old mouse out?"

The trio turned around at the sudden sound of an all too familiar voice. "Stoker!" They exclaimed in unison.

The former Freedom-fighter smirked at the three mice he had trained during their first years as members of the Freedom Fighters rebellion on Mars.

"The one and only. Smashed my bike during landing so I had to borrow a different mode of transportation." He explained, nodding at the car.

"Borrow?" Throttle arched an eyebrow.

"Borrow, loan,- Fine. I took without permission. That said, I'll bring it back first thing in the morning. If it'll still move that is." He began to laugh but suddenly flinched and grabbed his shoulder.

"You alright, Stoke?"

"Slammed into something, probably just popped it out of its socket." The brown mouse replied. "Hey, where's Charley? I'm sure little miss beautiful can patch me right back up." Stoker wiggled his eyebrows.

Throttle shook his head. Their former coach still had his sense of charm or perhaps lack of it. It didn't matter how you looked at it, Stoker may be a about a decade older than Throttle and his bros, but he had the same mindset as that of a young mouse. A mindset such as Vinnie that was and having one of those was more than enough already.

"Charley is asleep. It's been a rough day for her." Modo told Stoker. "I'm sure she'll tell you all about it early in the morning."

Stoker nodded understandingly. When it came to Charley, or females in general, he did know when it was the time for jokes and the time for serious matters. At least he thought he did. "Not a problem. Uh, but just in case,-"

He walked up to Modo. "Mind popping this baby back in, big fella?"

The next morning

Surprisingly enough, Charley woke up from what felt like the perfect sleep. No waking up during the middle of the night due to any unexpected explosions, loud laughter or yelling from the mice or any other kind of mayhem those three might have been up to. However, when her feet touched the floor, reality hit her and she realized what today had in store for her. Begrudgingly she stepped out of bed, wondering at the same time when it she'd gone to sleep last night as she couldn't remember how she'd gotten upstairs in the first place.

"I guess I've got the guys to thank for that." She muttered to herself.

After a quick shower, she descended down the stairs only to be greeted by a quiet living room, meaning the others had probably left at some point during the night. But then a loud clang sounded from the kitchen and Charley swiftly turned her head. Apparently they hadn't left. Quickly, she made her way towards the kitchen when something caught her midway during her run. Charley tripped over something hard and cold and she landed on the floor with a loud thud. She glanced over her shoulder to look at what she could have possibly caused her to fall over. The object was long and made out of metal, but it was its shape which was rather unnatural, yet one she knew far too well.

"Stoker?"

She leaned up on her elbows and stared at the mouse lying on her couch. General Stoker slowly moved upright and rubbed the side of his head. He blinked a few times and stared back at Charley with his ruby red eyes.

"Hello, gorgeous." He winked.

"What on Earth are you doing here? On my couch? How did you get in?" Charley exclaimed, not that she wasn't happy to see him.

Stoker was as dear of a friend to her, just like the guys were. Yet when it came to Stoker, he always seemed to bring trouble with him whenever he popped up. On that note, a tan furred Martian entered the living room after hearing all of the commotion.

"Uhm, we might have done that, Charley girl." Throttle cleared his throat and appeared behind her.

Charley pushed herself back up on her feet. "Ah, figured as much."

Another clang sounded from the kitchen, followed by the distinct sound of glass breaking.

"Please don't tell Vinnie is in there?" Charley groaned. She could not use this, not today. Throttle pressed his lips together and stepped aside to let the mechanic through.

"I sure like her spunk." Stoker commented to Throttle and the tanned mouse could not disagree with him on that.

"Vinnie!" Charley yelled as soon as she entered the kitchen. "Did you just break something?"

Vinnie jumped back as Charley appeared from out of the blue. The white mouse was wearing a pink ruffled apron, Charley had no recollection of ever having bought such and item but yet there it was covering the youngest mouse's muscular chest.

"Uh,-" He stammered.

"Not just now, if you'd been here an hour earlier,-" Modo interjected instead, but Charley threw him a look which made him take a step back. "We wanted to clean up, maybe make you breakfast because of, well you know?"

Charley's tense demeanour began to fade and she exhaled deeply. "You're right. I'm sorry, Modo. I'm already on edge and I don't even know what time they're coming over."

"In that case, breakfast, sweetheart?" Vinnie held a coffeepot in his hands and pulled a chair back for Charley with his tail.

Charley and all four mice sat down at the kitchen table, which was a rare sight indeed. Normally everyone was scattered around but not today and Charley suspected it must have had something to do with her brother's motor cycle coming her way.

In the meantime Stoker's sudden appearance was discussed as well as the current state of his bike and the situation regarding the airship he'd come with. Apparently it was some type of new ship but he hadn't really taken the time to do a couple of test flights, instead he'd taken it immediately for the ultimate test. A test of endurance. Turned out there had been no problems getting all the way to Earth, in fact the ride was smoother than any of the other ships that Mars currently owned. However that was when everything spiralled downwards, quite literally.

"And then I went through the atmosphere and it just went nuts. Not in a bad way, but I couldn't get it to slow down at the required speed to make a proper landing." Stoker added. "Luckily I spotted the scoreboard and took my chance."

The guys looked at each other realizing what their former coach meant with that comment.

"Let me guess, you crashed?" Charley leaned back and took a sip of her coffee.

"If you broke anything, you're buying it." Vinnie said to his coach.

"If that's the case, Vincent. Then you owe Modo and I a lot more than Stoker." Throttle laughed and the white mouse scratched one of his ears.

Modo suddenly perked his ears up and glanced over at the window. "Listen." He said.

The other mice followed his gaze and stared intensely into the same direction. Charley cocked her head, not quite understanding or hearing what the guys were talking about. It was Vinnie who broke the silence.

"I think it's time, sweetheart." He placed his hands over Charley's and gave it a gentle squeeze.

Well guys, I hope you all enjoyed this first chapter.

I'd love to hear your thoughts and comments about it!

Have a great day