Thanks for the reviews!
In this chapter, I used the song "The Messenger" from Linkin Park. All the credits for these words are for them.
Chapter thirteen
The mice were driving through the streets, on their way to help the orphans. The weather was bad, but as always, the mice tried to make the best of it.
"Dashing through the snow", Throttle started to sing.
"On a three hundred horse powered sleigh", Modo continued.
"Over the streets we gooooo", Vinnie cheered.
"Going to whip tail all the waaaaaaay", they all sang together.
They reached the blocked road and just crashed through the big pile of snow. The vehicles for the orphanage followed them, now able to use the road again.
"AAAOOOWWW, on Throttle, on Modo, on Biker Mice all!", Vinnie cheered, glad to finally have something to do.
Throttle looked over his shoulder.
"Hey, we're doing it, bro's! The relief trucks are getting through."
"Yeah, Merry Christmas to all and to all and…", Modo trailed off, seeing a huge hailstone coming straight at him. "... goodnight…"
The big piece of ice missed him and landed behind him with a loud bang. Vinnie looked up and saw the same view coming straight at him.
"Yiiiikes", he yelled and made a sharp turn to avoid it. "This sure ain't Christmas ornaments…"
Hell broke loose. Hailstones as big as a footballs rained down and the mice were having a hard time to avoid them.
"Oh man, we need to hurry, bro's", Throttle said, while looking ahead. The Orphanage Shelter was already heavily damaged because of this weird storm.
"These kids are in trouble!", Modo yelled and he revved his engine.
They heard the kids screaming in fear.
"You said it, bro, we've gotta do something", Throttle also revved his engine.
"Or we all gonna get our tails smashed", Vinnie agreed, still using all his skills to avoid the big pieces of ice.
"This weather ain't natural!", Modo growled. Even if it was only this week he had seen snow for the first time, even he know this couldn't be normal.
"Yeah, must be some sort of trap!", Vinnie said, slightly annoyed now too.
"Well, in that case, let's make it a trap sheet, bro's", and Throttle grabbed his purple laser gun. "Follow me!" and he pushed a button on his helmet. The visor locked the targets and made sure Throttle could hit them. While shooting at the huge hailstones, he drove straight to the orphans, followed by Vinnie and Modo.
"Yeaaahhh, hot stuff in tha chillzoooone", Vinnie smiled.
"Yippie ta ya yo!", Modo yelled, raising his armcannon and also shooting at the big ice pieces.
They finally came close enough.
"We've gotta rescue these kids!", Throttle ordered and sped forward.
They crashed through the doors, right after a huge hailstone crashed through the roof and landed on the Christmas tree. The mice quickly grabbed the kids and drove outside. Right on time, because the whole building crashed.
They stopped their bikes under a tunnel closeby, watching the building crumbling into dust.
"Wooow, looks like the storm's over", Vinnie said, with two kids on his bike and one sitting on his neck. He was right. It was still cold, still windy, but the hailstorm was gone.
"For now…", Throttle said, looking at the sky. He also had two kids sitting on his bike. Modo looked at on of the kids standing next to his bike, the one he just rescued.
"You okay?", he asked.
The one that was still sitting on the front of his bike, answered. It was just a little girl, about 10 years old. She was only wearing her pyjama.
"Yeah, we're okay, but our house is gone…", she said with a small voice. She started crying. "And it's almost Christmas…"
Modo, who always had a soft spot for children, felt a tear escaping his eye. Those poor kids. They didn't deserve this. They already had suffered so much… and now, all that they had left, was gone…
"Hey, easy big fella…", Throttle said when he saw how Modo was touched by this. But he also felt angry about this. "Hey kids! We'll fix this… somehow… You know, I got a feeling this storm was no accident."
"Hmmm, I'd say you're right", Vinnie said with a low voice, still with a kid on his neck. He had used his visor to zoom in on LP. "Look! The big cheese is making sure his toes… stays toasty."
His bro's did the same and saw what their younger bro meant. It looked like Limburger had his own personal weather around the tower and it was sunny and warm.
"He must have found a way to control the weather…", Modo said, still with a little emotion in his voice.
"Ah man, I knew this whole setup had been a trap!", Throttle sighed.
Vinnie had it. "Come on! Something fat, smelly and uuuugly is gonna pay for this!", he growled while gently setting the kids on the floor.
Throttle looked at him and felt the same anger as his white furred companion.
"You said a mouthful, Vincent. Let's ROCK…"
"...and RIDE!"
The kids waved at them, and shortly after the mice had left, the relief trucks arrived and took care of them.
When the mice were close to LP, they saw Limburger standing on the roof.
"You've stepped way over the line this time, Limburger!", Modo yelled at him, his eye glowing red.
"Yeah! Nobody endangers kids while the mamma jammers from Mars are around!", Vinnie said while firing a rocket. He missed Limburger, but hit the building. Angrily he shot another rocket. His bro's joined him. But Limburger was prepared. He ran to a strange, pink airplane, followed by Karbunkle and a woman they didn't know. She must be the villain Limburger had hired. The one who could control the weather. The mice kept firing, but when Throttle saw Limburger flying away, he gave a short whistle.
"Wow, wow, hold your fire, bro's. Our stinkbird is flying the coop…"
"Yeah? Well… He's gotta come down somewhere…", Vinnie said with a dangerously low voice.
"And I got a face planting present for him when he does…", Modo finished the threat, waving his armcannon.
Throttle laughed."I hear you, bro's. So, let's dash away, dash away and dash away all!"
They followed Limburger to Lake Michigan. They saw the pink plane hanging in the air above the frozen lake. They jumped over a pile of snow and fired their laser at the plane.
"AAAOOWW, looks like a cooooool party!", Vinnie yelled happily.
"Yeaahhh, and we came to break the ice!", Modo answered, while shooting his laser.
"Let's heat them up!", Throttle agreed, also firing.
He saw that the same snow suckers were standing spread over the whole frozen lake. If he had to guess what Limburger's plan was, then it was controlling the weather to make sure it was cold, so that he could steal the ice and snow for Plutark. After all, ice and snow did turn into water when it melted. And Plutark always needed water.
Suddenly, the snow suckers stopped with what they were doing and walked closer to each other. They started climbing on each others shoulders, as far as a robot even has shoulders. The mice stopped their bikes and Vinnie opened his visor, looking closely at the scene in front of him.
"What the…", Modo said slowly.
"Looks like… showtime!" and Throttle braced himself.
The snowsuckers continued climbing on each other and the result was a huge robot, almost as big as Limburger skyscraper. The mice stared at it, somehow impressed.
"Well, you know what they say… The bigger they are...", Throttle tried to lighten up the mood.
"The harder they fall!", Vinnie finished between gritted teeth.
"Fall? I thought this was winter!", Modo suddenly said with a confused look on his face.
Vinnie and Throttle stared at him for a moment, but then rolled their eyes.
"Oh man…"
Modo chuckled embarrassed, but the robot took their attention again. It slowly came to life and took a step into their direction.
"Stay cool, bro's… 'cause a mighty big problem is about to come down!"
They saw the big foot above their heads.
"MOVE!" and they quickly split up.
"Hey, how about we give frosty here a hot foot", Throttle said, while turning his bike.
They all three drove straight towards the big robot, firing their laser, but it was no use. The robot lifted his feet again and stamped on the ground. That caused a wave of snow, ice and cold water. And it was coming straight at the mice. They quickly turned around and sped away, but the wave was coming closer and closer. Even if they could ride their bikes in the snow now because of the adjustments, they still couldn't drive full speed.
Vinnie looked over his shoulder.
"Wow, that's one hell of a tsunami", he breathed and when he looked forward, he saw a huge pile of snow and ice. Since he was the daredevil of the group and loved taking risks, he pushed a button on his bike. His jets activated and he used the pile as a ramp. He flew straight up, laughing hysterically. "AAAOOWW!"
Meanwhile, Throttle and Modo drove further, knowing their bro would come down later. The robot followed them, and they did everything they could to take it down. But it wasn't that easy. Suddenly, the robot shot snow and ice at Throttle and because of the hard hit, Throttle's bike got out of control and started spinning. Unfortunately, he slid straight towards a small cliff. And small or not, it still was too high to fall down without consequences.
Modo quickly followed him. "Hang on, bro!"
"Believe me, I'm doing my best, man!", Throttle answered, but there was nothing he could do. He flew over the edge of the cliff, but before he could fall down, Modo grabbed him by the arm. Throttle quickly grabbed his bike with his tail and Modo used all his strength to lift them up. Throttle flew through the air and landed on his bike.
He quickly drove further, ready for another attack. Modo followed him. No time to talk. They needed to get this thing out of order.
In the sky, Vinnie noticed he was losing speed and he made a looping. When the nose of his bike was facing down, he fired his jets again. With dangerous speed, he flew straight towards the big robot. He smiled, enjoying himself.
"Here goes nothing…", he chuckled and fired a rope. The rope whirled around the arm of the robot and so did his bike. Vinnie quickly jumped off, landed on the arm of the robot, almost lost his balance, but then, fell face forward into the robot. "WOOAAOOW"
Throttle and Modo saw it all happen and smiled.
"Hehe, that's our Vinnie", Modo snickered, while shaking his head.
"Crazy kid… But lot's of style", Throttle agreed, also a big smile on his face.
The robot started to smash his own head, probably because Vinnie made it into the control room.
And oh yeah, he did. The white furred mouse was looking around him, at all the technology, switches, handles… He rubbed his chin.
"Complex city… This requires concentration and skills…"
He was silent for a moment, but then a big grin almost split his face in half. Like he had the patience to concentrate. Skills, however, was something he did have. Maybe not the ones that were required now, but hey… Skills are skills. He shrugged and grabbed a handle. It broke off and Vinnie let himself go. Finally, he was able to release some Limburger related stress. He smashed everything he saw, using the metal pipe in his hands but also his feet. He was laughing almost manically, so happy that he finally could let himself go for a moment.
When everything was broken, he quickly jumped out of the same hole he came in. His bike was standing under him on the shoulder of the robot, waiting to blow this joint. He landed on it and hit the accelerator. Right on time, because the big robot was starting to get out of control. He flew straight towards the pink plane.
"Hahahaaaa, make room for one more!"
And he landed on one of the wings. That made the ship spinning in the air like a leaf in the wind. Vinnie was still laughing so loud, he almost couldn't breathe. Man, this was one awesome day.
Meanwhile, Modo and Throttle took care of the robot. Now it was out of control, he didn't came after them anymore. The problem was, it kept shooting snow and ice everywhere and Modo almost got hit.
"Say bro, I'm about to get my tail toasted here", he said in the radio. Throttle quickly joined him.
"Well, then let's get cooking, man! Double heater number five!"
They both fired their laser, aimed on the floor, and drove circles around the robot. After a few rounds, the ice of the lake broke and the robot fell down. Hard. Just like they had predicted.
"Bingo!"
The robot raised his hand into the air and grabbed the spinning plane that just flew over. Vinnie, who was still standing with his bike on the wing, slowly stopped laughing and looked at Limburger with his most charming smile.
"Hehehe, sorry I can't stay", and he waved at the big fish. He revved his bike and jumped off the plane.
"Have a nice winter, and a great FALL!" and he drove towards his bro's. Limburger was furious.
"I'll have you broiled for this, you mouse!", but the mice ignored him.
They were turning their bikes, ready for another round, but…
"Hey! Where did it go?", Modo asked, looking around him in confusion. The robot and the plane where nowhere to be found.
"Dammit. Just when it was starting to get real fun!", Vinnie pouted.
"You know, bro's. Something tells me Limburger problems are getting bigger by the second", Throttle smiled.
And he turned out to be right. Apparently, they had transported the whole robot back to the tower. But the robot was about the same size and the building had exploded.
"Sweetheart! Sweetheart, we had the most awesome day, we saved those kids, we kicked some majorly tail, and…", Vinnie babbled hyper when they walked into Kiwi's home. Kiwi was standing in the kitchen, busy with cooking diner. She turned around and smiled at Vinnie. He could be so cute sometimes. Like a small kid that came back from a birthday party. She held up her hand to stop the stream of words and Vinnie closed his mouth.
"I wanna hear it all during diner, okay?", she smiled at him. Which was very clever of her, because she knew when you gave the mice food, they suddenly could be quiet as mice. Vinnie nodded and grabbed a rootbeer. Throttle and Modo sat down at the table, happy to finally be back into the warmth of the house. It was indeed one hell of a fight, but the cold… they really hated it. Vinnie was still hyped up. He couldn't sit still and he was bouncing on his feet.
"Do I need to knock him down?", Modo whispered.
"HEY! I heard that!", Vinnie yelled, whirling around to look at his grey furred bro. Modo smiled innocently. Kiwi quickly intervened, before her whole kitchen was gonna be destroyed by three big wrestling macho mice.
"Okay, okay. Guys, diner is ready", and she quickly set the hotdogs on the table. Vinnie immediately grabbed a seat and started to stuff his mouth full. Finally, some peace and quietness… They all sighed and enjoyed the rest of their diner in silence.
When they were done, Kiwi shove away her plate. Throttle told her what had happened and she sighed.
"What about those kids, guys? We need to help them. It's Christmas in three days, they can't celebrate that on the streets, now can they?"
"No… but how can we help them?", Modo asked, rubbing his chin. Kiwi thought about it for a moment. She did have a lot of money. So maybe she could arrange something for them. She jumped on her feet.
"You guys clean up this mess, I'm gonna make some calls." And she left the kitchen.
Later that night, Kiwi walked to the guest house. When she came in, she saw Modo and Throttle sitting on couch, watching a football game. Vinnie was nowhere to be found. She dropped on the other couch.
"It's all settled, guys. The kids don't have to celebrate Christmas on the street", she smiled at them.
Modo turned off the tv and looked at her, a big smile on his face.
"How did you do that, Kiwi ma'am?"
"I've called an old friend of my dad, he's a estate agent. Story short; I'm now renting a big house just outside town and the kids can live there with the people who takes care of them. Basically, I gave them a new home."
Throttle and Modo were silent for a moment, impressed by this charity.
"That's very nice of you, Kiwi", Throttle said eventually. Kiwi shrugged, clearly not that impressed.
"It's the least I could do for them. Nobody deserves a ruined Christmas."
"So true, Kiwi ma'am, so true", Modo nodded, clearly relieved the kids were safed.
"Where is that white furred loudmouth by the way?", Kiwi asked, looking around her. Throttle shrugged.
"Guess he's in his room."
Kiwi nodded and decided to look if he was okay. Isolating himself just wasn't his thing. She knocked on the door and before Vinnie could answer, she opened it. It was dark in the room and she gave her eyes some time to get used to it. She saw Vinnie lying on his belly on the bed, his clothes still on. By the looks of things, he just walked in, dropped on the bed and fell asleep immediately. Probably tired from the fight. Adrenaline was a beautiful thing, but when it wore off, you ended up like a wrack. She smiled and slowly sat down on the bed. She looked at his face, completely relaxed. He was lying with his masked side down, so she could take a good look at the unharmed side of his face. Her eyes followed the contours of his forehead, nose and mouth. His buck teeth, his black nose, his lashes… She just sat there, staring at him. His beautiful snow white fur. His big ears, the one he wasn't lying on now flattened next to his face. She suddenly realized what she was doing. She quickly stood up, but when she wanted to leave the room, Vinnie suddenly moaned. She froze and turned around. His face, that was so relaxed just seconds ago, was now twitching. He gritted his teeth and growled, his tail started to lash. She stared at him, still with one hand on the doorknob. He was dreaming, she realised. Worse, he was having a nightmare. She hesitated, but let go off the doorknob and walked back to the bed. She ducked when his tail almost hit her in the face and she sat down again. She stretched her hand, let it float for a moment, but then she lay her hand on his arm.
"Ssshh, Vin. It's okay", she whispered.
She saw his ear twitching, in the direction of the sound of her voice. But he didn't woke up. And he was still restless. Agony was written on his face, his eyes were flying in every direction under his closed eyelids, he was breathing heavily.
"Ssshh… You're safe, Vin. Nothing can harm you here. And if they try, I will protect you. I will never let anyone hurt you…"
Suddenly, Vinnie jerked upright, his ruby red eyes wide open, filled with panic. Kiwi was startled, but quickly recovered herself. Vinnie stared at her.
"It's just me, Vin. Easy now…", Kiwi said slowly and softly.
She gently took his hand and he still stared at her. By the looks of things, he wasn't exactly in the world of the living. But he seemed to be able to hear her. Kiwi took a deep breath and started to sing, very soft.
"When you feel you're alone…
Cut off from this cruel world…
Your instinct is telling you to run…
Listen to your heart…
Those angel voices…
They'll sing to you
They'll be your guide back home…
When life leaves us blind…
Love keeps us kind…"
He slowly relaxed and lay down again. His eyes closed and his breathing became calmer.
"When you've suffered enough…
And your spirit is breaking…
You're growing desperate from the fight…
Remember you're loved…
And you always will be…
This melody will bring you right back home…
When life leaves us blind…
Love keeps us kind…"
When she sang the last note, she looked at him. His face was completely relaxed again. His breathing was calm. His tail was lying like a lifeless snake on the bed. And he was still holding her hand. She stared at it, at their entwined fingers… With a deep sigh, she slowly pulled back her hand. Vinnie rolled on his side, also letting out a deep sigh. Like he knew what was happening. Like he felt the same way as her. Kiwi looked one more time at him, turned around and slowly closed the door behind her. When she came back into the living room, Modo and Throttle looked at her.
"And?"
"Sleeping like a baby", she said distracted and she just walked outside, back to her own house. Modo and Throttle looked at each other and shrugged. They focussed their attention back on the game.
That night, a girl dreamed about a white furred mouse. A white furred mouse dreamed about a girl. But when they woke up, they both couldn't remember the dream. They both started the day like they always did, thinking about everything, except a white furred mouse. Everything, except a girl.
"We wish you a merry Christmas, we wish you a merry Christmas, we wish you a merry Christmas and a happy new year!"
Even sweet old Georgie Brown was playing Christmas songs on his radio. It was Christmas eve, and Kiwi was sitting on the floor, next to the Christmas tree. She looked at the presents that were lying under the tree, a exited blush on her cheeks. Christmas always brought back the little kid inside of her. Especially now, now she wasn't alone anymore. She looked at the mice, her face glowing.
"Presents time!", she cheered and grabbed the first one.
It was for Throttle. She gave it to him, almost bouncing on her feet. Throttle took it with a smile on his face. He opened it. It was a beautiful red bandana, made from a very soft fabric.
"Wow, this is beautiful." He looked at Kiwi. "Thank you!"
Kiwi smiled. "You're welcome! Next!"
The next one was for Modo. The big guy obviously felt slightly uncomfortable while unwrapping his packet. But when he saw what it was, his eyes grew big.
"Oh momma, all the dvd's from James Bomb! This is great! Thanks Kiwi!"
Kiwi gave him a big smile and grabbed another present. She hesitated, but then gave it to Vinnie. The white furred mouse ripped off the paper and froze. He looked at the little box in his hands. Two shiny ear studs looked back, both with a small, red diamond in it. Just like his eyes. Throttle and Modo fell silent too. Kiwi suddenly felt the tension rising. What the…
"What's wrong?", she asked worried, looking at the mice.
Throttle wanted to say something, but Vinnie was quicker.
"Nothing, sweetheart. Thanks, they're awesome!", but his voice sounded different. Kiwi didn't let him distract her.
"Obviously there is something up, the temperature just dropped like fifty degrees."
Modo looked at her. "Maybe you should check the thermostat then?"
She stared at him.
"So to speak, Modo. There is nothing wrong with my thermostat. But there is something wrong with you guys."
Throttle sighed.
"Look, my guess this is just one of the differences between Earth and Mars. Let me tell you what this means on Mars. When two mice are getting engaged, they switch studs with each other. Or the male will give a new one to the female…", he trailed off when he saw how red Kiwi's cheeks were. She quickly jumped on her feet.
"Oh no! That is not what I meant at all! This is just a gift, nothing more…"
Vinnie also stood up and grabbed her by the shoulders.
"It's okay, sweetheart. I know it is. Thanks!" and he hugged her. She wrapped her arms around him and buried her nose into his fur. He smelled so good… She almost felt disappointed when he let her go and sat down again. God, what was wrong with her…
"I can't blame ya if you want to marry me, though… Who wouldn't?", Vinnie smiled arrogant her her and winked. Kiwi's head almost exploded now. Throttle quickly grabbed a present from under the tree and gave it to Kiwi.
"Here! This one is from me."
Kiwi glared one more time at Vinnie, but decided a gift was more important than his ego. She opened it and smiled. It was her favorite shower gel.
"Thanks Throttle!"
She had gave them some money yesterday, because they wanted to buy her some presents. It was Throttle who came to ask her, clearly not at ease. It was cute, really.
Modo gave her his present. It was a book from her favorite writer.
"Thanks, big guy! I was waiting for this book to come out, so perfect timing!"
Vinnie gave her his present with that arrogant, but also charming smile of his. She sighed and braced herself. When she saw what he gave her, she fell silent.
"Really, Vincent?", Throttle sighed when he saw what it was. "Why would you give her a weapon? You want her to get hurt?"
Vinnie looked offended.
"No way! This is for protection! She is involved in our war now, whether we like it or not. And I want her to be able to defend herself."
Kiwi looked at the gun. It was beautiful. It had the same shape as the laser guns from the mice, but this one was silver. But she… She looked at Vinnie, a little ashamed.
"But I don't know how to use it…", she whispered. Vinnie waved it away.
"That's why I'm gonna teach ya. No worries, you're gonna learn it from the best!", he bragged, swinging an arm around her. "We will start tomorrow, sweetheart."
She kept staring at the gun and she suddenly felt tears filling her eyes. This was so sweet. This was his way to make sure she was safe. Throttle was right. He did care. She quickly recovered herself and looked up to him.
"Thank you, Vin. Really, it's beautiful."
Vinnie winked at her.
"You're welcome."
The next day, Vinnie and Kiwi were standing in the back of the yard. The snow was gone since they had beated Limburger. Throttle and Modo were chilling in the guesthouse, to give Kiwi some space for her shooting practise. Kiwi had noticed Vinnie was wearing his new studs. A warm feeling crept over her. It did look good on him. Just like she had thought. It matched his eyes perfectly.
"Ready for your first lesson?", Vinnie asked, looking at Kiwi. She nodded, looking at the gun in her hand. Vinnie had found an old table and had set a multiple empty bottles and cans on it. The white furred mouse grabbed his own gun and pointed at a small button on the side.
"This is the safety pin, when you push on it, it will go off, look…" and he pushed the small button on his own gun. A soft click was heard.
"Make sure when you're not using the gun, that the safety pin is on. That avoids some nasty accidents…", he explained, unusual serious. Kiwi nodded.
"Okay, now the gun is ready to use. You don't have to load it or reload it, that's the beauty of this type of gun. You with me so far?"
"Yeah."
Vinnie whirled his own gun around his finger and smiled at her.
"Alrighty then. First step, pose. Face towards the targets, make sure you stand a little wide-legged, like this", and he demonstrated it. Kiwi followed his example. He nodded.
"Yeah, that's it. Now, hold your back straight and grab your gun with two hands. Later on, when you'll get the hang of it, we will practise with one hand."
Kiwi did what he said, and raised both arms, aiming the gun at the target. She saw her hands were shaking.
"Easy sweetheart, we're just practising pose now, focus on that", Vinnie said when he saw the look on her face.
Kiwi took a deep breath and tried to relax. But that was hard. At first, she was kinda scared to fire a gun. She never had done it before and new things were always scary. Especially when the new thing could be deadly. And second… she was very aware of the close presence of the white furred mouse. She still didn't quite knew what he was doing with her, but it was obvious he caused something.
"Make sure you're finger is only on the trigger when you are ready to shoot. When you aim, walk with it, grab it, whatever, lay your finger on the trigger guard."
Kiwi quickly did what he said, since her finger was already on the trigger.
"Right. When you aim, don't stretch your arms too far. Your body needs to intercept the backlash, and with your body I actually mean your arms. If you stretch your arms too far, it will be your back and shoulders which will suffer, trust me. So, slight bend in the elbows."
He looked closely at her, to see if she was doing like he said. He nodded satisfied.
"Good. Now the aiming. Look at your gun", he said, taking the same position again.
"Look at it and follow the path till the target before you. Always aim a little lower, since the backlash will give your shot a slight deviation. When you think you are ready, you lay your finger on the trigger. Look one more time at your target and push the trigger." He did what he said and the bottle on the left exploded. "See? No big deal, sweetheart."
Kiwi looked at the bottle at the right, with the gun also still in her eyesight. Slowly, her finger moved to the trigger and after a deep breath, she fired. But if even Vinnie had warned her about the backlash, she wasn't expecting it to be so powerful. Her laser hit the top of the tree that was standing behind the table.
"Oh my god, that was bad", she sighed. Vinnie shook his head.
"It was your first time firing a gun. You really believed you could hit the target? No way, even me wasn't that good."
She glared at him and he smiled his charming smile.
"Try again."
She aimed, but her hands were still shaking. She noticed she was scared. Not sure why, but she was. Suddenly, she felt Vinnie behind her. He leaned against her with his body, his arms around her. His hands slowly made their way to her hands.
"Easy, sweetheart. There is nothing to be afraid of. Let me help you…"
His voice. That low voice she loved so much. That voice that gave her goosebumps. That voice that helped her completely relax.
"That's it…" and he helped her aiming at the target. "Now take a deep breath…"
She did and closed her eyes for a moment. When she let out her breath, she could feel her body completely relax. She opened her eyes again and aimed. Her finger pushed the trigger and the bottle exploded.
"Yes!", she cheered and Vinnie let her go.
"Good job, sweetheart!", and he gave her high five. "Still scared?"
She nodded. "No… Thank you."
"That's me, Vinnie the fear fighter, not afraid of anything!", he smiled arrogant. Kiwi shook her head.
"Honestly… Even you must be afraid of something…"
"Nope, nothing."
"I don't believe you. Nobody isn't afraid of anything. Everybody has their demons."
Vinnie fell silent and looked at her. She looked back, warmth in her eyes. She wasn't saying this to tease him. She wanted to get to know him better. She knew he was scared of some things, like hospitals. But he didn't look ready to open up yet. He gave her a dark look.
"Try again", he said with a cold voice, pointing at the gun in her hands.
"Vin, I…"
"Try again!"
She looked at him. He wasn't mad. He was scared. She could see it in his eyes. He did have his demons. And one of them was opening up. Being vulnerable. And he tried to chase her away. But she wasn't going anywhere. He just needed time.
She lay a hand on his arm.
"Whenever you ready, okay? I will always be here for you."
And before he could react, she returned in the pose he just had taught her and aimed. She fired, but missed.
"Again."
They practised the whole afternoon. Vinnie had recovered himself after he was sure that Kiwi wasn't gonna ask him tough questions anymore, so they also had a lot of fun. Throttle and Modo joined them to look at her progress and were impressed by how fast Kiwi was picking it up. She could hit the targets without missing a few times now.
"You're born to do this, Kiwi ma'am", Modo smiled at her when another bottle exploded. She laughed happily.
Throttle watched her. She had changed so much since the day they had met her. At first, she was cold and distant. But now, she smiled most of the time, she had this glow in her eyes that gave her such a different appearance. She looked 10 years younger. She looked happy. Throttle smiled. She deserved to be happy. And it was great to see how she was flourished in their company. But he couldn't stop asking himself; what was Vinnie's role in her happiness? He still had no clue what was going on between them, by the looks of things they both still didn't knew either. But what was gonna happen if they needed to go back to Mars? What was gonna happen to her if she was gonna lose Vinnie? And what was she to Vinnie? What was gonna happen to him when they were gonna leave this place? He couldn't answer that questions, but he had the nagging feeling he wasn't gonna like the answer when he finally did find it...
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