SpaceFlora and Ashe2 thank you so much for your reviews and kind words and your opinions on where to take this story.
Enjoy!
She never was much of a drinker, but somehow at this very moment it was all she wanted. Sam had always told her she was a lousy drinker. Aside from the fact that she was a bartender which meant she couldn't drink anyway, a couple glasses of anything containing alcohol was good enough to sent Isabel dancing on top of a table. This was one of the reasons why she hardly ever reached for a bottle. Yet there she was, sitting on her motel bed with the television on and a bottle of Jack in her hand.
If anything Isabel wanted to forget everything about today, at least for a couple of hours. But her encounter with these aliens was a lot for her mind to handle and sleep just wouldn't come, no matter how much she told herself to think of something else. After having tossed and turned for an hour she went to a night market and bought a bottle of whiskey, something she probably would regret in the morning.
The plan was simple. Watch an old movie filled with action or at leas a ton of jokes and then fall asleep or pass out because of the alcohol. Either plan sounded doable and yet she kept thinking of Charley's friends. The white one with the mask. The tall toned grey one, whose face she still hadn't seen. The guy with the tinted glasses who she met only two hours ago and then there was the other one with the long hair.
He was the one who had admired her truck two days ago, talking to her as if he had been interested in it. Isabel clenched her fist around the bottle and took a big gulp, the golden liquid slightly burned her throat.
Boy, had she been played the fool. By Charley, by that guy. What was his name again? Smoker? She'd even been left out of the loop by Sam, who had known but never once mentioned to her that space mice were real. Not that she would have believed him if he'd told her, but that wasn't the point.
"Come on. Just fall asleep." She said to herself as she closed her eyes. "Sleep. Sleep. Sleep."
::::::...::::::
Isabel wasn't the only one who was having trouble falling asleep.
Back in the scoreboard, Stoker was lying on the couch in front of the television. One of Modo's James Bomb tapes playing. The former rebel leader couldn't shake the thought of Isabel being 'rescued' by Throttle. His tanned bro had her scent all over him. She'd even shaken Throttle's hand, willingly. She hadn't shaken his hand when he had introduced himself to her.
Still, something good might have come out of it. At least she had another close encounter with one of them, meaning next time they would meet up she probably wouldn't be so scared. Stoker was only upset that it had been Throttle and not him who had gotten that opportunity.
Perhaps it was his own fault. Stoker had to admit, he'd been too eager about the whole thing. Isabel wasn't Martian. She didn't understand how their biology worked, how could she? If whatever he was feeling was real and not just something random sensation because he'd been out of the game for so long, than he had to approach this differently. The human way.
Yeah, that was it. The human way. But what was the human way? Stoker had no idea, but his bros might know. They'd been on Earth long enough and with a special woman such as Charley, surely one of them could help him with this. With a smile on his face, Stoker finally shut his eyes and turned around on the couch. Finally able to fall asleep.
Across from the room where Stoker was another mouse was having some thoughts of his own. Thoughts he hadn't had before and he didn't want to have.
Throttle lied on his back in his bed staring at the ceiling. The image of Isabel haunted his vision. It was all Stoker's fault. If he hadn't blabbed about how lovely she was, how delicious she smelled and how kind she'd been to him, Throttle wouldn't have looked twice at the woman.
Okay, perhaps that was a lie. He would have looked. He also looked at Charley, but that was different as to how Modo and Vincent perceived her. He was more annoyed with the fact that he couldn't sleep and he blamed Stoker and Isabel for it. One thing was for sure, Throttle planned on not losing another card game ever again.
He sat up straight and stood up. Vinnie was sound asleep in his own bed. His mouth hung open and loud snores escaped his throat. Sure, the white mouse had no trouble falling asleep. Ever. There wasn't much Throttle could do. He walked towards the window and sat down in the window sill. He glanced up at the cloudless sky and looked at a red dot blinking in the distance.
Mars looked incredibly small from Earth, even if it was one of the planets closest to it. He wondered what Carbine was currently doing. How was she handling matters back home? Surely, but slowly, mouse numbers were growing but the war wasn't completely over yet. Rats were still an issue and Carbine had informed them that there had been other planets trying to invade Mars, now that it was finally getting back on its feet.
Perhaps he should have stayed on Mars alongside her, despite her objections. they could work on their relationship. Throttle sighed and leaned back against the wall and hoped sleep would catch up to him soon.
::::::...::::::
Somehow at some point during the night Isabel did fall asleep. She opened her eyes and was hit by a ray of sun shining through an opening in the curtains. She sat up and immediately reached for her head. That bottle of Jack had been a bad idea. The light hit her eyes and the pounding in her head made her feel sick. Still, she didn't feel nauseous enough to empty her stomach so that was a good thing.
She slipped off of the bed and headed to the bathroom to brush her teeth. But the moment she looked into the mirror and saw her reflection she made a face. Her blond hair was all tangled up. She looked like a mess. Sam had been right, she really was a lousy drinker. Glancing down at her watch she noticed it was already noon. Isabel groaned and vigorously began to brush her hair.
A faint knocking suddenly sounded from the other room. Confused, Isabel looked at her reflection. Who could that be? Perhaps the owner of the motel? Again someone knocked and Isabel hurried out of the bathroom. She quickly opened the door and stared into a pair of aviator sunglasses, which rested upon the nose of her sister-in-law.
"Charley?"
The brunette smiled and removed the glasses. "Morning, Izzy. I thought I'd come pick you up for lunch."
"Oh,-" Isabel replied feeling incredibly caught off guard. How in the blazes did Charley figure out where she was staying? She hadn't given the address to her since she came to Chicago. "I'm just,- I'm sorry. Not to come off as rude but how did you figure out I was here?"
"Stoker knew." Charley told her.
Isabel blinked. "What?"
Without waiting for an invitation, Charley walked into the room. "Stoker. The one with the long hair? The one who followed you back here two days ago?"
"Ah. Him." So, that encounter had been anything but a coincidence. She should have known, but to now hear that he had actually followed her all the way back to her motel? How had he done that? If things went on like this, her fear of those aliens would certainly turn more into anger than any other emotion.
Charley noticed her sister-in-law's demeanour change. Maybe she shouldn't have said that about Stoker so casually. After all, she did have this whole big fight with him over it and now she made it seem as if his behaviour had been perfectly normal. "Izzy, I should tell you that I was unaware of it and when I found out that he had followed you, I was really upset."
Isabel threw Charley a sceptical look. "You were?"
"Of course I was." Charley replied. "I love those guys, but subtlety is not their forte or boundaries for that matter. He could have placed himself in grave danger or have given you the fright of a lifetime in broad daylight."
Isabel thought back to that moment when she had actually met Stoker without knowing what he really was. Sure she had thought he was a bit odd, but he seemed rather harmless. She probably would have screamed just as much as she had done when she saw Vinnie for the first time in his full Martian glory. "I see."
"You still up for lunch with me?" Charley asked with a small smile and Isabel nodded. She wasn't planning on holding Charley accountable for the behaviour of those mice.
"Sure. Uh, I'm just,- not ready. Will you give me a second?"
Charley nodded. A rather flustered Isabel quickly grabbed the whiskey bottle from the table and tossed it into a bin. Charley sat down at the edge of the bed and glanced around the room.
"By the way, didn't you tell me you were staying at a hotel?" Charley suddenly said.
Isabel blushed. Crap. The auburn haired mechanic eyed her with suspicion. "Well, didn't you?" She asked again.
"Did I?" Isabel cleared her throat. She knew perfectly well she had told Charley that she was staying at a hotel. All for the simple reason she didn't want Charley to worry about her not being able to afford a hotel. And money was not a conversation Isabel wanted to have with her friend for several reasons.
"I'm pretty sure you did."
Isabel ran a hand through her tangled hair. "I don't know. Hotel, motel. I mean we don't really use the word 'motel' back in England."
Charley arched an eyebrow. Isabel shrugged acting as nonchalant as possible. She really did not want Charley to find out the reason why she'd lied. If Charley found out what happened to the money Isabel received after the accident and Sam's death, the brunette would surely lose every respect she'd ever had for her brother. Eventually Charley shook her head and Isabel quietly sighed with relief. At least that story was laid to rest, for now.
"I see you've been drinking." Charley then said changing the subject as she nodded towards the wall, where Isabel had chucked the almost empty bottle into the bin a minute ago.
Isabel rolled her eyes. "Was last night. Felt like it."
"Are you okay? Do you need to talk about something?" Charley asked and Isabel didn't really care for her tone. First that mouse thought she was planning on drowning herself and now Charley treated her as if she was sort of unstable.
"Just a hangover, Charley. I'll be fine. I just need,-" She paused for a second. "A new head." She could hear Charley giggle. "Not funny."
"Sorry. I'll wait right here until you find your new head in the bathroom."
"Ha, ha. Thank you very much." Isabel retorted.
::::::...::::::
"Heads up, Throttle!"
"Vincent, no!" Throttle shouted but it was too late. The youngest mouse hurled the football with the force of a hurricane through the room and nobody managed to reach him in time to hold him back.
The football went straight through the bottles of root beer which stood on the kitchen table, causing broken pieces of glass to fly across the area before colliding with the fridge. When the sound of falling shards had stopped, Throttle looked up at the damage Vinnie had managed to cause with one throw. All of the bottles except for one had been broken. But the biggest damage had been done to the fridge. The tanned mouse walked over to the machine and pulled the football out of the now dented door.
"How do you always manage to break everything?" Throttle exclaimed out loud.
"Come on, bro. You sound just like Charley-girl." Vinnie replied pulling the broken fridge door open and grabbing a drink. Throttle clenched his fingers around the football until it popped.
"Hey!" Vinnie shouted pulling the object from Throttle's hands. "It was still in perfect shape."
"Yeah, unlike our fridge. Just look at it." The tanned mouse shook his head. "We'll need a new one."
Vinnie walked over to the trash can and chucked the flat football into it. "I'll give Charley-girl a call. I'm sure she can get her hands on another one or check this one out. Maybe it isn't broken. If it's broken she can get one of those third hand thingies."
"Second hand." Modo corrected him. He glanced over at the fridge and let out a whistle. "Oh boy."
Ignoring any more comments, Vinnie grabbed the microphone and turned the radio on. He plopped down on the chair next to Stoker who had somehow managed to sleep through all of the commotion. He opened his eyes and dropped his legs onto the ground. "Morning, Rookie." He said to Vinnie.
"Sh!" The white mouse hushed Stoker. "I'm contacting Charley." Immediately Stoker's ears perked up.
::::::...::::::
A bleeping sound filled the car where currently Charley and Isabel resided in. Charley nodded at Isabel. "Can you pick that up?" She pointed at the microphone attached to the radio inside the dashboard. "I'm kind of manoeuvring around traffic here."
Isabel turned around, leaned towards the device and grabbed the black microphone off its hook. "Hello?"
"Hello?" She said again after a few seconds. The static sound of the radio crackled through the car but then someone on the other side cleared their throat.
"Charley?"
"No, this is Isabel." She replied.
"Oh, hi there Honey! This is Vinnie. Ouch! Hey, what did I do?" The voice said and Isabel's eyes widened. It was one of the Martians. Did he just call her honey?
She moved her eyes towards Charley who had a small smile on her face. Had she known it would be one of them? She couldn't very well hand Charley the microphone, she was driving. Besides it was only his voice she was hearing. Isabel cleared her throat.
"Charley is here, she can hear you." Again it sounded as if the line went quiet but in the distance Isabel could hear some murmuring going on.
"Great! Hey sweetheart, the fridge kinda broke and we think we might need a new one?" Vinnie said without sounding embarrassed at all. "Think you could pop over and help us out?"
"The fridge,- broke?" Isabel repeated, not sure if she'd heard that right, and glanced over at Charley who groaned loudly.
"I don't believe this. Not again,-" She muttered under her breath.
Isabel cleared her throat. "She doesn't seem very happy about it."
This time Vinnie let out a groan. "Honestly, babe, it wasn't my fault."
Isabel eyed Charley who let out another sigh and then extended her hand. "Hand me that microphone, will you?" Without arguing about safety, Isabel quickly gave her what she asked for.
"Vinnie, if that fridge is completely broken yet again, I'm not buying you guys food for two weeks." Then she reached out and turned the radio off before the conversation could continue.
"Of course he broke the fridge. Who else could it have been? Stoker? Maybe, but not Throttle or Modo. Well, Modo could have done it on accident, but with Vinnie it is somehow always different." Charley began to ramble as she hung the microphone back in its place.
She made it sound as if living with these Martians was incredibly tiring and yet there was a hint of endearment in there. Isabel tilted her head sideways. "So, you're going to go there now?"
Charley blinked and looked at Izzy for a few seconds. "Oh, you're right. Would you mind? I could drop you off at the garage first if you'd prefer that?"
For a moment it seemed as if Isabel was going to accept Charley's offer, but then she shook her head. "That's alright. I'll wait in the car." She said. It would be ridiculous and inconvenient if she'd make Charley drive her to the Last Chance Garage.
"Thanks, Izzy." In Charley's mind this felt like a small step towards victory. Soon Isabel would be talking with the guys as if she was never afraid of them in the first place.
"I can't believe you have one of these in your car." She nodded at the radio transmitter and Charley smile broadly.
"Isn't it cool? It's a new model, works really well. I mostly use it to contact the guys or vice versa. There's also one in the garage." She gave the device a quick pet on the front. "Of course the connection sucks once outside of the city, but I hardly ever go out alone nowadays."
Isabel listened quietly as Charley talked. It all sounded so, normal. There was no other way to describe it.
::::::...::::::
"Why the heck you do that for?" Vinnie said to Stoker after he set the transmitter away.
"Honey?" Stoker arched an eyebrow as he crossed his arms.
"What? Isn't she?" Vinnie shrugged confused and Stoker gritted his teeth. "The good news is that Charley is coming over to fix the fridge."
Deep down Stoker knew Vinnie was absolutely oblivious of his own actions, especially when it came to women. But at least Charley was coming their way and she was bringing Isabel with her. This was his chance. A chance to show he was a normal guy. As far as you could consider a Martian mouse normal.
She sounded quite calm through the radio. That soft velvety voice. Not scared or nervous at all. For a quick second he looked over at Throttle who was standing next to the fridge scratching the back of his head. Was it due to his actions last night? Did he take some of her fear away? He stood up and walked over the Throttle and Modo who were busy in conversation.
"In that case, it's best if we cleared some of this mess up." Modo said. "Don't want Charley ma'am to walk through glass or accidentally cut herself." Glass shards, a broken fridge, Stoker had really missed a lot during his nap. The four mice began to clear the kitchen. A couple of tiny cuts and another broken bottle later, the guys were done cleaning.
The four of them now stood in the middle of the room and looked around. Normally they didn't care about how the scoreboard looked, but somehow today they seemed to notice how messy all of it must look to an outsider. Despite the fact that Charley regularly commented about it, because in the end she always let it slide and thus the guys never properly took care of it.
"You think if we get a broom and push it all to one side it'll look more presentable?" Stoker suggested.
"I don't even think we have a broom." Modo rubbed his chin. "Maybe use our tails to sweep everything under the couch?"
"That's one way to do it." It was a silly idea, perhaps even pointless, but Throttle agreed with the others. They should at least clean it up to the best of their abilities.
"You know, I don't understand why all of you are acting so different. Is it just me or are we still walking on eggshells because of Isabel?" Vinnie grunted as he kicked a chair back towards the table.
"Hey, a change of pace never hurt anyone." Stoker replied.
Vinnie huffed. "That's rich coming from you."
"Meaning?" The former leader of the Freedom Fighters narrowed his eyes at the youngest of the bunch.
Throttle stepped between them before both mice got too riled up. "Okay, cool it. You're both right, but right now I agree with Modo and say we use our tails and sweep every visible crumb under the couch."
::::::...::::::
The stadium scoreboard. Isabel knew this is where the Martian mice resided thanks to one of them, but to now stand in front of it was something else. Of all the places to hide and live in, they had chosen this?
"That is some hideout." She said looking up at the gigantic scoreboard. "I didn't even know there could be something on the inside of it."
"You still want to stay out here? I mean if you're planning on staying for as long as I'm working on Sam's bike, you know you'll have to meet them face to face eventually."
Isabel turned her head. Charley had a point, a point Isabel had already crossed but Charley didn't know that yet. She hadn't told her sister-in-law about her short encounter with Throttle and she very much doubted he had told Charley as well. If he had, Charley would have surely made a comment about it.
"I'll join you." She said. "But I might not be very talkative."
Charley nodded. "That's alright. Considering why we're here, I can assure you I will be doing a lot of talking. Maybe yelling."
With that said Charley led the way up and into the scoreboard and Isabel couldn't believe what she was seeing. The inside of the structure mainly consisted of metal and sometimes wooden beams. The walls were mostly made out of brick and the floor as a dark grey concrete. Even though the outside was not very appealing, the inside was quite the structure and even Isabel could find some weird type of beauty in it.
Before they reached the final door, the door which led to the others, Charley abruptly stopped and turned to Isabel. "Just a heads up about Modo."
"Modo?"
"The tall grey one? He lost his arm and eye during a battle on their home planet. Now he may look the most,- menacing of all. But he is the kindest and purest one out of all of them." Charley paused and bit her bottom lip for a second as if deep in thought. "I'd hate for you to freak out when you meet him, it'll break his heart."
Isabel couldn't help but stare at her sister-in-law. By now it was more than obvious what they all meant to Charley, she couldn't deny it any more. She let out a deep breath and nodded. "I promise." and Charley smiled back at her.
She turned back to the door and knocked on it. "Guys, it's me and Izzy! We're coming in!" Without waiting for an answer she turned the doorknob.
On the other side of the door, the four mice brothers stood scattered around the room trying to act as unconcerned as possible even though deep down inside they were all anxious. Well, all except for one. Vinnie was only anxious regarding Charley's reaction to the second broken fridge within the span of a month.
Stoker had taken a seat a the table, cleaning his helmet with a cloth. Throttle sat on the couch with the television on, trying hard to focus on whatever was airing on the screen. Vinnie stood near the door ready to sweet talk to Charley, hoping that would somehow make her less angry with him. Modo however was nowhere near the door or near any of the others. He stood all the way in the back of the room next to Lil' Hoss, the only one who could always manage to make him feel at ease.
Charley entered first and immediately was swept up from the ground by Vinnie. It happen so suddenly that Isabel couldn't help but jump aside with a soft yelp escaping her.
"Vinnie, put me down!" Charley said to the white mouse.
"Hey, sweetheart! Miss me? You're looking beautiful today, like every day,-" He stopped and put Charley back on the ground. She threw him an angry look.
"You broke it, didn't you?"
Vinnie looked appalled and stepped back. "Whoa, that's still up for debate. I mean the fridge might not be broken. Just,- dented."
Charley let out a groan and Isabel chuckled behind her hand. She took a deep breath and let her eyes roam around the room, taking in everything and everyone she saw. She caught the tanned mouse, she'd met last night, turning his head away from her the moment she looked his way. Suddenly she felt nervous being in his presence. Had last night scared her more than she realized?
When she turned her attention away from Throttle she noticed Charley had already made her way to the kitchen, there she spotted the other mouse. The one who'd told Charley about her whereabouts. She clenched her jaw and watched him slowly turn to greet Charley. He stood up from his seat and wrapped his arms around her. From this distance Isabel could see the long metal tail moving and she wondered why his tail was different from the others. Charley had said that the one called Modo had lost his arm during a war? Perhaps that was why this guy had a tail made out of metal. With a look of surprise she saw him let go of Charley only to reach for her hand and give it a kiss causing her sister-in-law to giggle.
Watching them made Isabel forget for a moment that Vinnie was still standing a couple of feet away from her. An opportunity he was using to observe her closely. She still came across as wary to all of them. He noticed the moment she spotted Throttle she'd taken a small step back and when she looked at Stoker she'd seemed upset. Man, she was difficult to read. Was she still afraid of him? Best to get it all over with and just confront her head on, starting by apologizing for scaring her yesterday.
Vinnie cleared his throat and Isabel swiftly turned, her eyes wide at the unexpected noise. "Hi, honey." He said with his most charming smile. "Listen, I want to say I'm sorry for scaring you like that yesterday. I hope I'll have a different effect on you from now on."
He frowned as Isabel gulped. Had he said something weird? At least she hadn't fainted on him yet. He probably startled her, yeah that was it. He cleared his throat ready to say something when he noticed a figure appearing from the corner of his eye.
"Is he bothering you, ma'am?" A warm voice said.
Who is the person that came to interrupt Vinnie's apology?
(I know it, it's already written, but I'm curious to see who you think it is).
Have a great day!