Hi Everyone!

It's been so long, I'm incredibly sorry about that. Things have been really hectic, they still are but I finally found some time!

Thank you so much, Spaceflora, Wolftattoo, Sammy and for your kind words and how you're experiencing the story :)

I'd also like to thank you all in particular for always taking the time to review a new chapter, it makes me happy (seriously, you have no idea).

Also Newbie, thank you so much for your detailed review and view on each of the characters! I love that you care for Modo and Charley :)

Time to continue with chapter 16

The Last Chance Garage

Charley and Izzy waited for one of the four mice to answer the question. It was obvious something was going on. The way they all went quiet, accompanied by the suspicious look in their eyes the very moment Charley had opened the door to the living room.

"Well?" The female mechanic asked once more.

"Uh,- I,- we,- what do you mean?" Vinnie immediately stumbled over his words. The other Martians all turned their heads his way. A blush crept over his white cheeks. "I mean,- Throttle wants to go back to the stadium."

Placing all focus on Throttle, Vinnie managed to escape the stares of confusion the women had been given him. However, Throttle inwardly groaned. Not that he minded Vinnie revealing the plan they'd been discussing, but he wasn't planning on telling them right away. He also couldn't help but feel a little bit disappointed with the reaction Charley gave to this news.

The auburn haired woman frowned but only for a second, before she shrugged. "Alright, if you guys think it's safe for him to ride? I see no problem with it."

"No need to worry, darling. I'll take him to the scoreboard." Stoker flashed a bright smile. "I'll strap him against my body if needed."

"That won't be necessary." Throttle huffed from the couch. "I'm not that weak."

"Perhaps Miss Izzy should have another look, just in case, bro?" Modo suggested.

"Modo,-" The tanned mouse turned his head once more throwing him a 'will-you-shut-up' look.

"I'm sure he'll manage." This came from Izzy, causing another silence to fall over the room. All eyes diverted her way. "I mean he did help me a moment ago getting the bike inside. Sure he's not at full strength and yes, he needs to stay in bed and rest up." At this last bit she lowered her eyes towards the mouse on the couch.

"But I'm certain he'll survive the journey to the scoreboard. Though I would prefer it if someone brought him there with a car instead of a motorcycle?"

Whatever the reason was behind her words, Throttle did not know, but he appreciated the fact she agreed with him. He felt no need staying at the Last Chance Garage for another minute.

"I guess that settles it then." Stoker clapped his hands together. "In that case we'll all go together. Three bikes, three mice. A car with two lovely ladies and Throttle."

Charley and Izzy exchanged looks with each other, silently conversing Stoker's suggestion, then they nodded. "Let's do it."

"I'll grab my things from my car in the meantime." Izzy said and she made her way over to the stairs.

"And I'll be right back." Stoker quickly added before anybody else could intervene.

The eldest mouse hurried after the honey haired woman before she even managed to reach the garage floor. However, Izzy kept on walking towards her car with Stoker closely behind her.

"So, how did it go with Charley? You asked her if you could stay here?" He asked the moment they stopped in front of the grey vehicle.

Izzy cleared her throat. "I did and she said yes."

Stoker raised his hands in a victory stance. "That's great news!" But when he caught the look on Izzy's face he frowned. "What's wrong, beautiful?"

The woman shook her head and turned around to lean her back against the car door. "Nothing. I mean, I know I should be happy that I can stay here instead of at the motel." She averted her gaze. "It's just,-"

But she didn't continue, afraid that someone might hear her or that if she said it out loud it would come true. Stoker lowered his arms and stared at her for a second. He knew what she had intended to say. He didn't know how, but he just did. Martians were no mind readers, that only happened when they were connected. But he had connected with her, could that have been enough in order for him to sense her thoughts? Inwardly he shook his head, was that even possibly with another species? It hardly ever happened with his own species outside physical contact.

"No one,-" Stoker told her firmly. He closed the gap between the two of them. He placed his hand against the car door, right next Izzy's head.

The tall mouse lowered his gaze and locked his red eyes with her bright blue ones. "As long as I'm here, no one is going to get close to you or Charley." His nose twitched, fighting the urge to breathe in deeply.

Izzy blinked and gave him a thankful smile. "Oh, Stoker,-" She sighed.

"Stoke!"

Stoker flinched as Throttle's voice shouted from a distance. Why was it always him that had to shake him awake? He stepped away from Izzy and waited for Throttle, accompanied by Vinnie, to reach them.

"We'll take my car." Izzy said to them as they stopped next to Stoker. She opened the door for Throttle. "Hop in."

"Uh,-" The tanned mouse scratched the back of his neck. "If it's alright with you, I'd rather sit in the front."

Izzy shrugged and closed the door again. "Be my guest."

"Thanks."

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

Modo had waited until his bros left the room. He was now alone with Charley. But he had no idea what to do next. Honestly he had no idea why he'd even done this in the first place. His mind was completely out of sorts. All he could think of was being alone with her. Ever since Izzy arrived, he'd gotten closer to Charley than ever before. They'd talked privately about Mars. Charley had asked for his advise multiple times, something she hardly ever did at least to his recollection.

She'd also thanked him more than once and on top of that, something that had never happened before, he'd held her hand. Modo had only done so on a whim. Alright, perhaps not a whim. The mouse had to gather all his courage, deep breaths and then he just went for it. His warm hand on top of hers, their fingers intertwining. But what the best part was, something he never could have imagined even in his wildest dreams, Charley had welcomed it. Holding his hand just as tightly as he held hers.

Modo felt that had been a sign, a sign that she might see him in a different light. Different from how she viewed Throttle and Stoker, but most importantly, Vinnie. A pang of guilt hit him there and then. What would Vinnie think of this? Did he not also view Charley the same way he did? Compared to Vinnie would he even stand a chance? She always rode with him. Only rolled her eyes when he flirted with her, but never stopped him. Modo wasn't a smooth talker like his bro.

The tall grey mouse looked at the woman standing in front of him, eyeing him as if she knew he stayed behind on purpose as the others went downstairs to their bikes. Modo gulped. What on Earth was he going to say to her now?

"You okay, Modo?" Charley asked him.

An awkward smile formed on his face. "Yeah, I'm fine, Charley ma'am." He uttered. "I was,- I mean,-" A swift short breath escaped him, tired as if he'd been running. Modo was so caught up with his own thoughts and words that he hadn't noticed Charley move closer to him.

"Is something bothering you? You know you can always talk to me." She told him with a warm smile.

Modo blinked and his pulse increased. "Thanks, Charley. Nothing is bothering me, honestly. I was wondering how you're feeling?" He asked. "I know lots of things have been happening lately."

Charley cocked her head. "Didn't we talk about that already?"

Did they? Modo couldn't remember. Was that what they'd talked about in the middle of the night? He had a hard time recalling what happened. All he could remember was holding her hand. That was before Throttle decided he no longer wanted to rest in Charley's bed and Modo and Vinnie had to help him down the stairs.

"Uh,- Just checking in. It means a lot to me to know how you're feeling." The latter escaped him before he realized. A warmth radiated from Charley and he felt his cheeks heat up. He sincerely hoped she realized how she was currently making him feel.

"Thank you, Modo." She said to him as she placed her hand upon his lower arm. Modo's fur began to tingle and he honestly would not know what might have happened next if it hadn't been for a loud knocking sound coming from the back of the room.

There stood Izzy looking at them whilst biting her lower lip. "I'm terribly sorry to interrupt, but there is a certain Martian mouse ready to leave. Eager is actually a better word."

Charley retracted her hand from Modo and the tall mouse gritted his teeth out of frustration. He liked Izzy, he really did, but right now he wished she would have waited just a little bit longer before making an appearance.

"We're coming!" Charley told her sister-in-law before returning her attention to Modo. "Come on, big guy. Your fearless leader is getting impatient."

Never before had Modo cursed Throttle as much as he did just then.

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

Throttle in turn could not believe his current situation. When Modo and Charley finally appeared outside, his female friend did not join Izzy to ride in the car with them. No, instead she walked over to Vinnie, with her helmet and stepped onto the seat behind him. Vinnie wrapped his tail around the woman's waist, threw his fist into the air and drove off with Modo and Stoker in tow. Now here he was, sitting in the front passenger seat next to Charley's sister-in-law. All alone.

He leaned back in those awful white leather seats, trying to get comfortable. He probably would have been able to do so if he was not sitting next to her. The entire car smelled like her and it was driving him insane. Izzy was oblivious to Throttle's inwardly struggle. She quietly drove behind the other mice, keeping her eyes on the road in front of her. The tanned mouse did not like the silence hanging in the car. He needed a distraction, anything. Music, words. Something.

As if she had heard his thoughts, Izzy cleared her throat and shifted in her seat. "Throttle, may I ask you a question?"

Throttle glanced her way for a quick second before replying. "Go ahead."

"This might sound weird coming from me, but I was wondering,- Are Martians and Earthlings compatible?"

If it had been possible, Throttle would have turned as white as Vinnie after hearing her question. Had he been drinking, liquid would have sprayed from his nostrils. Had he been eating, he would have most certainly choked on something. Had he heard her correctly? What was she implying? Why was she asking this question? More importantly, why was she asking him of all people?

"What do you mean?" He asked, just to be on the safe side.

"Compatible?" She repeated. "Are Martian mice and humans compatible? As a couple? Love?"

"Wait, what?"

Izzy suddenly steered the car aside as a guy in an expensive car raced past her. She honked the car horn and gritted her teeth.

"Son of a,- sorry, Throttle. What did you say?"

It seemed to him as if Izzy was asking him a question purely based on curiosity. She didn't stutter or tripped over her words. Her heartbeat hadn't increased, nor was she flustered. If the question had been intended for her personally, wouldn't she be more embarrassed?

"Uh,- I don't know. To be honest, Izzy, this has never happened before. My bros and I, we discovered Earth by accident. We never had encounters with your species before. Technically, Charley is the first of your kind ever to spent time around us."

The woman let his words sink in for a second before nodding. "I see. I guess there's no telling then until something like that actually happens."

The Martian couldn't help but stare at Charley's sister-in-law. He was curious to know why she suddenly had the urge to ask him such a question out of the blue. But did he really want to go there? Was the urge to know the reason behind her question really big enough to continue the conversation? In the meantime Izzy rolled down the window next to her to let a soft warm breeze enter the car. Immediately Throttle shivered as Izzy's scent flew his way by the drifting wind. Warm, sunny, sweet and flowery. He'd seen pictures of sunny tropical beaches but he had never been to one. Somehow he imagined that this is what that might smell like.

He opened his mouth and knew he was probably going to regret what he was about to ask. "Is there a reason why you want to know if Martians and Earthlings are compatible?"

Izzy's eyes glanced his way for a quick second, a coy smile appeared on her face. "You never wondered that yourself?" Throttle felt his face flush, not expecting his question to backfire like that.

Luckily for him Izzy continued talking. "You guys have been here for a while, haven't you? I mean Charley is a beautiful woman. At least to human standards. None of you ever felt anything stir or had an urge,-" But then she paused. "Actually, you know what. Forget I asked. I hardly know anything about you guys, I could be completely wrong here."

But she wasn't wrong. Throttle was kind of impressed by their conversation. He'd never noticed before how curious of a person Izzy was. Then he remembered all the questions she had asked Stoker about his spacecraft when she was at the scoreboard. She had been genuinely interested and even came up with suggestions on what might have caused the issues during the crash.

"No. You're not entirely wrong." Throttle admitted to her. "Charley is a beautiful woman. We all see it. Technically how we look on the outside is the biggest difference between our species. But most of the other basics are the same. Though we heal quicker, our hearts beat faster and we're stronger than your species." This latter part he said with quite some pride. Izzy chuckled.

"I do apologize if my question offended you."

Throttle shook his head. "It didn't."

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

The scoreboard

Modo waited patiently until all of them were settled inside before he took a moment for himself. Truth was the big grey mouse wasn't feeling well. His eyes landed on his bro, sitting on the armrest of the couch talking to Throttle and Charley. The female mechanic laughed at something and Modo felt his heart sink. After they had talked back at the Last Chance Garage he was floating on cloud nine. He honestly believed he was finally getting somewhere with her albeit with small baby steps. But when they were outside, instead of getting into the car with Izzy and Throttle, she'd got on Vinnie's motorcycle. Her arms wrapped around his muscled waist.

Modo gritted his teeth and he genuinely wondered why she always chose to ride with Vinnie and never with him. Was it because that was the way it had always been or was there something else going on. Something he was unaware of? He shook his head. No, he would have known. If Vinnie and Charley had anything else going on aside from a good friendship, he would have known. Vinnie never hid things when it came to women. Although with Harley he had been shy. But she always knew what to say and had probably been the only mouse on Mars ever capable of throwing Vinnie off guard. Though he hated to admit it, but Charley came pretty close to doing so as well.

"Mind if I sit down?"

The grey mouse looked up at the soft voice which had just spoken to him. It was Izzy. With a surprised look he motioned for her to take one of the chairs at the kitchen table. He honestly never would have guessed Izzy would have been comfortable enough to sit near him. She had been in Chicago for almost week now but already she seemed to be comfortable with all of them. They probably had to thank Stoker for that. He never back down from anything, for which he was notoriously known for on Mars.

"I wanted to apologize to you." She said with a serious tone and Modo blinked.

"Apologize, miss Izzy?" He repeated.

Izzy nodded. "About two things, actually. One for the way I behaved towards you all during the first couple of days that we'd met."

Modo shook his head. "You don't have to apologize for that, miss Izzy. We understand. I'm glad we no longer frighten you." He was greeted with a bright smile as he said that.

"Thank you, Modo. You really are a kind person. Charley told me you were."

Now it was Modo's turn react the same way Izzy had done. He couldn't stop his mouth from forming a shy grin. "Did she?"

"She did." Izzy confirmed. "Which brings me to my second apology, which is for interrupting the conversation you two were engaged in earlier. It seemed as if you two were discussing something important."

Honestly every moment Modo spent with Charley was important to him, no matter the subject. And it was true that he had been disappointed when Izzy interrupted them, mainly because it was due to his bro who was set on getting back to the scoreboard as soon as possible.

"No. Not at all. We were just talking. Don't feel bad about it, ma'am."

Ma'am. The way he said it made Izzy feel ridiculously old despite the fact she was only a few years older than Charley. "That makes me feel a lot better. I'll have to tell you, at first I wasn't sure about Charley being around creatures from outer space. I didn't even know other species existed. Martians and,- Plutorkions."

"Plutarkians." Modo corrected. "and many more."

Izzy nodded. "I realize I was wrong. You guys are probably one of the best things that ever happened to her. Always there for her, ready to protect her."

Modo was unsure at what point the conversation turned so grim, but perhaps it was just his imagination. However it made him happy to hear Izzy's thoughts about them. That she was no longer afraid and that she sort of admired them for being there for her sister-in-law. "Miss Izzy, for as long as I live I will protect Charley ma'am with my life."

Izzy thanked him again and stood up from her seat. "Thank you, Modo."

The grey mouse watched silently as she walked away before shifting his eyes back to Charlene Davidson, thinking about what he had just said to Izzy. He meant every word. He pushed his chair back, decided he was done moping for today and joined the others. He plopped down next to Throttle who leaned as far back in the couch as he could. His legs stretched out and resting on the low table in front of them.

The tanned mouse was happy to be back at the scoreboard. Lots of space, his own bed and best of all no distractions. Although this was the first time he ever felt that way. Normally they never stayed over at Charley's place. Unless it was a real case of emergency. Not to mention it was always just her. Just Charley. And with Modo and Vinnie always there, Throttle was usually not the centre of attention, just the way he liked it. His bros and Charley were usually the ones occupied with things while he could sit back and relax.

He'd noticed Modo had been talking to Izzy and though he wondered what it had been the two discussed, he decided not to indulge. Knowing Modo the conversation was probably as polite as could be and Throttle couldn't imagine the grey mouse flirting with her. Heck, he never even flirted with Charley. Funnily enough not even Vinnie seemed interested in using his mouse bravado to make an impression on Izzy, something Throttle automatically assumed his bro would do.

Quietly he watched as Izzy made her way across the room towards the spacecraft, which was still broken as Stoker had not taken any action in fixing it. Speaking of Stoker, Throttle suddenly pushed himself more upright, where had that mouse wandered off to? But he soon enough caught sight of Stoker's metal tail flicking from behind a workbench. Perhaps he had finally decided to start working on his spacecraft. Still, Throttle kept his gaze focused on his location as Izzy was walking straight towards his former leader.

Whenever Stoker decided to pay a visit to Earth things were never quiet, and frankly Throttle always welcomed his former chief. Four was better than just the three of them and he loved reminiscing over the olden days. But currently he didn't feel as appreciative of Stoker's presence. Especially due to his behaviour towards a certain female. He watched as Stoker placed a wrench back on the table as Izzy halted next to him. The two of them then began to whisper to each other and though they were standing rather far and secluded from everyone else, Throttle tried to eavesdrop. But he couldn't pick up on anything as Vinnie was chatting away right beside him. Unlike with Modo, Throttle now did wonder what Stoker and Izzy were talking about.

Stoker crossed his arms and leaned back against the workbench, his eyes fixated on the woman next to him. He shook his head. "No. Forget it. Not going to happen."

A look of anger crossed Izzy's face. "It is not yours to keep, Stoker."

Of course her words held truth and Stoker knew that he was technically in no position to withhold Izzy of her weapon. But he knew why she had it in the first place and he did not want her to use it. He'd seen the way she handled it up close, and though she was careful enough, he could tell she wasn't used to using a firearm. But then again, compared to his species, nobody else really was.

"Who says I have it?" He countered. Izzy threw him a look and Stoker sighed. "Fine, I have it. But you don't need it."

"Yes, I do." The woman hissed. "If not for my own protection then think of Charley?"

"I believe you are forgetting about us, sweetheart. You've got not one but four mice ready to protect both of you from any situation." He threw in a wink, but Izzy was not planning to budge.

"I know that, but what if somehow something happens and you are nowhere near us? You're not around Charley twenty-four seven?"

Now there she was sort of wrong. Perhaps not twenty-four seven, but Stoker knew very well the guys were with Charley every day, at least for the majority of the time. It's not that he didn't understand Izzy's concern or where she was coming from, he got that. But he didn't want her to be the one to do the protecting or to be on alert all the time. She'd already done that. Why was that so difficult for her to understand that he was trying to help her?

"Look, we will always be near. No matter the time of day. If that guy hadn't shown up today, you wouldn't feel the need to have this thing in the first place." And there Stoker had done it. He'd struck the nerve and hit the nail on its head. Izzy parted her lips, ready to reply, but she couldn't. Both of them were right and neither willing to admit defeat. But then she narrowed her eyes and clenched her jaw. He'd angered her even further.

"Fine. I'll just get a new one." She said.

"Wait." Stoker uttered as he grabbed hold of Izzy's wrist before she could walk away from him. Izzy tilted her head back and looked at him with her bright eyes. If he didn't return that which was rightfully hers, he would probably be back to square one. He didn't want to risk that, not now that she was finally confiding in him. "Okay, I'll give it back to you. I'll wrap it in a cloth and place it on the seat of your car. Don't want the others to get suspicious now."

The angry look on Izzy's face faded away and she exhaled deeply. "Thank you."

"But I'm serious, Izzy." Stoker continued as he tightened his hold on her wrist. "Nothing is going to happen to you. Because I am here now." He gave her one last look before letting go of her. He inhaled deeply, getting one good whiff of her scent which smelled even sweeter now than ever before.

Not a lot of Vinnie this time, but I really wanted more focus on Modo when it came to Charley. Vinnie will have more spotlight next time, because let's face it...something has been waiting to happen between the three of them.

Hope you enjoyed the dynamic between all of the mice and women in this chapter :)

Let me know what you think, until next time!