Hey there!
Thanks again for the reviews!

Woohoo, another update. Still having time off because of the holiday season, so I have tons of time to write. Next week it's back to life, back to reality, so I won't be able to write every day, I guess. Ah well, we'll see.

So, a big thing is about to happen. A massive game changer...
Enjoy this chapter! It's a bit sad, though. And a bit shorter than usual.

Chapter forty eight

"Modo, we can't just walk into a hospital, I'm sorry, but the best we can do for the kid is calling an ambulance…", Throttle tried to reason with the very upset gray furred giant.
"Throttle, I… This is my fault, I need to…", but Throttle shook his head.
"I know you wanna help him and we will, but we ain't gonna walk into a hospital with a heavily injured kid. How are you gonna explain that? That you found him? Look at you. They will get suspicious immediately. And you know it, no one…"
"... can know about us, I know!", Modo growled.
"Guys!"
Kiwi's voice.
Since the guys had a huge head start because of the by Vinnie declared race, she just now arrived in town and she had spotted the guys standing close by a construction site. But when she stopped her bike, she immediately sensed there was something wrong.
Very wrong.
She stepped off her bike and pulled off her helmet, slowly walking towards them. When Vinnie turned around, she suddenly saw the body of a kid lying on the ground.
"Oh no, what happened?", she asked urgently, kneeling down next to the kid.
His head was bleeding heavily from a wound on the side. It looked like he got hit by a rock or something.
"Kiwi, you need to call an ambulance, now", Throttle ordered.
"On it."
Kiwi quickly grabbed her phone and did what he said.
When that was done, she looked over her shoulder.
"But really, what happened?"
"It… it's m-my f-f-fault…", Modo stuttered, staring at the kid with his one eye still wide open.
Kiwi shook her head in confusion.
"What? Modo, this can't possibly be your fault…"
"It is! I shot at Greasepit and after… I saw him lying here.. Oh momma, I did this…"
For the first time she knew Modo, she heard panic in his heavy voice.
Oh no, poor guy.
She quickly jumped at her feet and grabbed Modo by his arms.
"That sounds more like a accident to me, big fella…", she said firmly, but she already could see she wasn't gonna get through to him.
They suddenly heard sirens in the distance and Throttle gave a short, but sharp whistle.
"Come on, we've gotta book, bro's and ma'am."
Vinnie and Throttle jumped on their bikes, but Modo was still standing there, staring at the little kid.
"Modo, come on, there's nothing you can do right now, the ambulance is on its way, they will help him… come on, we need to get ya outta here..", Kiwi tried.
But it looked like Modo didn't even heard her. Kiwi gave Throttle a pleading look.
"Modo, let's go. Now…"
The authority in Throttle's voice did the trick and Modo walked to his bike and drove away, without looking back. His bro's followed him.
Kiwi looked one more time at the kid with a heavy heart.
Oh man… this was bad. Real bad…

They stopped around the corner, watching how the ambulance took the boy with them. When he was gone, the mice and Kiwi mounted their bikes and drove through the city back home.
"You've gotta let it go, big fella…", Throttle said softly, while glancing at the upset face of his older bro.
"Easy for you to say, I'm the one who hurt a poor innocent kid…", Modo snapped at him.
"Yeah, but… Wow! Hold up, bro's. And ma'am."

Throttle hit the brakes, so did his bro's and Kiwi. They watched a big truck, surrounded by goons in buggies passing by.
Vinnie, who was a little nervous because of this whole situation with Modo, was glad with the distraction.
"Welly well well, if it isn't the goon platoon…", he smiled.
"Yeah… I'd like to give myself a little look into whatever they're hauling", Throttle nodded. He looked at Kiwi.
"You go home, babe, things are getting dirty now."
Vinnie quickly slid off his bike and gave his girl a short, but very passionate kiss.
"See ya at home, sweetheart", and he winked at her while leaning forward. "Can't wait to finish what we've started yesterday… Ya know, before you almost puked you're whole dinner right over me?"
Kiwi punched him against the arm, a blush on her face.
"Argh, you really are annoying sometimes... Gonna miss ya, love", and she winked back. "Good luck guys!"
When she was gone, Vinnie jumped back on his bike.
"Okay, it's time to ROCK…", Throttle started.
"... and RIDE!", he and Vinnie finished and they sped away, but they soon noticed they missed a heavy voice and the sound of another bike. They both stopped and looked over their shoulder.
Modo was still standing at the same spot, staring down.
"You ehm… coming?", Throttle asked a little bit confused.
"W-what?", Modo looked up startled. But then it dawned on him.
"Oh sure…", and he drove past them on a real slow pace. "Let's rock and… whatever…"
Throttle and Vinnie shared a worried look.
"Oh man…", Throttle sighed.
He wished they had the time to talk about it, but Limburger was up to something and they needed to stop him.
Later. Later, he would talk to his bro. But he could only hope he was gonna get through to him.

When they caught up with the big truck, with Greasepit behind the wheel, a huger laser cannon came outta the top of the truck and opened fire. The mice zigzagged to avoid to get hit.
"Ya know, this is just plain rude", Vinnie pointed out, while using his weight to swirl his bike from left to right.
"Yeah, guess he needs a little finishing school!", Throttle agreed.
Modo was still awfully quiet, but hey, at least he was with them.
Vinnie and Throttle shot a rope outta the front of their bikes and the hooks whirled around the handles of the back doors of the truck. When the goons turned around to attack them, the two mice hit the brakes and the doors flew open, slamming right into the face of the goons.
Modo used this moment to jump into the truck and he fired his jets. He crashed right through the ceiling of the truck and when he was in the air, he shot a rope outta the back of his bike. It whirled around the laser gun and Modo pulled it loose from the truck.
Greasepit watched into his side mirror.
"Where the ding dong heck did that mousies go?" and he started laughing when he saw nothing in the mirror. "Haha, must have lost them!"
"Objects in the mirror may be closer than they appear!", Vinnie smiled and Greasepit looked down.
The white furred mouse was driving next to the truck and clenched his fist with a smugly smile on his face. He punched Greasepit right in the face and the guy slid to the passenger seat.
"But always remember to check both mirrors!", Throttle chuckled and he also punched Greasepit in the face, making the guy slide back again.
Greasepit grabbed the wheel and steered to the left. Vinnie saw the space between him and the wall on his left became tighter and tighter, but there was no time to get out. The truck pushed his bike against the wall, making Vinnie crash and the white furred mouse flew off, landing hard on the asphalt. Then, Greasepit did the same at his right, making Throttle crash too.
They both came to a halt in the middle of the road, too dazed to get up.
Greasepit turned the truck and drove back to them, ready to drive them over.
Modo saw it and raised his arm cannon. But when he wanted to fire, he suddenly froze. He saw the image of the young boy, lying there, bleeding..
"No…"
Sweat started to from on his forehead and he clenched his teeth. But his body was still frozen and the truck was getting closer to his bro's. His heart was pounding in his chest and he was breathing heavily.
No… His bro's...
"Come on, Modo Maverick, you've got this... ", he whispered to himself and he supported his right arm with his left hand and fired. He hit the tire from the truck, that got outta control and right before it could hit his bro's, it crashed against the wall. But it was still capable of driving and Greasepit quickly left the scene.
"Ah man! Like it's not already hard enough for a Martian to get insurance…", Vinnie complained while pushing himself up.
"Thanks for the help, bro", Throttle mentioned to Modo, who stopped next to them.
Vinnie grabbed his bike, that was damaged, but good enough to get through another round.
"Okay. Time for some payback!", he growled annoyed. "Let's finish off that walking grease stain!"
Enough was just enough, right?
"I think…", Modo started. His bro's looked at him and he let out his breath. "I think you can count me out…"
"Hey, you can't just…"
"What are ya talking about?"
Vinnie and Throttle started to talk at the same time, but Modo shook his head in annoyance.
"Didn't you see? I froze! I almost got you guys killed just now! After what happened to that kid…"
"Modo, I told ya man, it's not your fault", Throttle said firmly.
"You've gotta be kidding me…", Vinnie muttered under his breath.
"LOOK! I just can't risk getting my bro's in danger again. I'm no good to anybody this way…" and the gray furred giant revved his bike and drove away. "You're better off without me…"
Throttle and Vinnie just stared at him, watching him drive around a corner, their mouth wide open.
"Did he just… he just… Did he just drive away just now?", Vinnie managed to get out, disbelief written on his face. "He really just did that? And what about payback?"
Throttle grabbed his handlebars tightly.
"Ain't gonna happen, we're way too vulnerable with just the two of us, Vincent."
"Great, just great… And all this because of some kid?", Vinnie murmured, but immediately regretted that.
That was harsh, even for him. Must be the adrenaline talking.
"Vincent, come on, you know how he is! And even if it was a accident, it wasn't supposed to happen. We're here to keep the citizens safe…", Throttle warned him.
"I know, I know… but you can't keep them all safe, now can ya?"
"Maybe not, but this… Ah man, I really have no idea if the big guy is gonna get himself over this one… And if he can't, and Limburger is gonna find out, we're in deep shit, alright…"

Modo was driving without paying attention to where he was going. His heart was pounding in his chest, he somehow had difficulty with breathing. Oh momma, what had he done?
He always had loved children. When Cami was still alive, they never asked each other if they wanted children, but how many. Family was so important to him. He'd helped raising Rimfire without complaining. Most boys of his age back then, were busy with finding out who they were, trying to understand the transformation of their body while they were slowly turning from little boy into a man... Modo not. He was at Rimfire's side, everyday. He learned him how to walk, to talk, to read… He was there when his mom, his sis, got sick. He was there when she died. He was there when Rimfire couldn't sleep, completely devastated because of the loss of his mom. He almost saw Rimfire as his own son.
His momma always taught him to treat people with respect. Most important, ladies and children. Especially children.
Children were pure.
They didn't judge.
They didn't lie.
They were vulnerable.
It was up to him, to all the adults, to protect them. And he'd failed. That young boy was badly injured because of him.
He'd failed to protect the vulnerable. And it was killing him.
He suddenly realized he was at their private spot at Lake Michigan and he slowly stopped his bike, pulled off his helmet and stared at the water.
His bro's told him it wasn't his fault. Of course they did. They tried to make him feel better about himself. But he knew they were lying. This was his fault, after all. Maybe not intended, but it was him who fired that shot. It was because of him, that kid was now maybe dying, or already dead…
He breathed in sharply. What if the kid died? What if he just killed a kid just now? How was he ever gonna be able to live with himself?
He fighted the urge to go straight to the hospital, to just burst in there and check every room until he would find the boy. He knew he couldn't. No matter how lost he felt right now, he knew deep down Throttle was right. He couldn't just walk into a hospital. There were greater things at risk. If the government would find out about them, they weren't gonna be able to stop Limburger. And then, Earth would be doomed, just as Mars. He couldn't risk all that. He couldn't risk the safety of a whole planet because of one kid. He knew, but it still hurt like hell. Because all he wanted right now was to grab the boy's hand, look him into the eye and tell him how sorry he was. And he just wished the boy would look back at him and told him he was gonna be okay. That it was just a scratch…
Ugh, who was he kidding? He'd seen the blood. He'd seen the look on Kiwi's face when she arrived.
It was bad. Real bad.
He stayed at the beach till it was dark. His bro's had tried to contact him, but he had shut down the radio. He wasn't in the mood for talking right now. Nothing they would say was gonna make him feel any better. But he knew he had to go back home, otherwise they were gonna search for him. And he knew they were gonna find him. And he didn't want to face them without at least trying to get himself together.
So, he revved his bike and started the drive back home.
Slowly.
Lingering.
Oh momma, if you could look at your boy right now… Such a disappointment...

"This is ridiculous guys, where could he be?", Kiwi asked worried, pacing through the living room.
"Probably driving around the city, no sweat, sweetheart, I'm sure he's fine", Vinnie answered absently, lying listless at the couch and staring at the TV. He wasn't sure who he was trying to convince.
Kiwi turned around with fuming eyes.
"Fine? Fine? Did you see the look on his face? Jesus, Vin, you know better than me he's everything but alright!"
She didn't want to sound so… hysterical.
But Modo was missing for a few hours now and she almost climbed up against the walls because of worry. And to make things even worse, Throttle was worried too. He didn't told her things were gonna be okay. And that was when the alarm bells had started to ring. That was a few hours ago now.
So, I guess nobody could really blame her for being on edge right now.
Vinnie gave her a warning glare, as if he was trying to tell her the last thing he needed right now was a hysterical girl. Maybe it was indeed the last thing they all needed right now. But she wasn't good in dealing with this nagging feeling of uncertainty.
Throttle, on his turn, gave Vinnie a warning glare and then looked at Kiwi.
"He turned his tracker off, he clearly needed some time alone, I…", but before he could say more, the door from the garage slowly opened.
Kiwi turned around and her heart skipped a beat. She had never seen the gray furred giant looking this… helpless. Not even when Limburger had taken his bike. Not even when it was eleven years ago that he'd lost Cami. Not even when Throttle almost died. Not even when Vinnie was that badly injured.
Her heart broke for him. His pain became hers.
"Oh Modo, come here…" and she walked towards him and wrapped her small arms around his huge waist. Modo was just standing there, completely frozen, making no attempt at all to answer her gesture. She slowly let him go and looked up at him, but he was just staring at something behind her.
Oh boy…
Vinnie slowly got upright on the couch, his gaze locked on Modo. He bit his lower lip, no idea how to handle this. Probably for the best to keep his mouth shut, before he was gonna say something stupid, like he always did.
It was a gift, really.
Throttle was obviously thinking the same, giving his white furred bro his most authoritative look he had, before turning his attention at his older bro.
"Ah man, Modo…", he sighed while looking at him.
He knew that look. It was the same look he'd on his face when Throttle had found him with Cami's body in his arms.
Modo slowly walked into the living room and sat down on the couch. He moved like a robot. He was almost lethargic.
He just sat there. Staring.
"Look, bro… It may sound like complete bullshit right now, but this whole thing wasn't your fault… It really wasn't", Throttle said softly.
Modo said nothing.
He didn't even blink.
Vinnie was wiggling on the couch, clenching his teeth to keep his mouth shut.
"Throttle is right", Kiwi said. "You couldn't have know the kid was standing there…"
Still nothing.
Another silence.
Vinnie was having a hard time now. He hated these kinda moments. As if there was a elephant in the room and everybody tiptoed around it. The tension that was hanging in the air was almost too much.
Suffocating.
"Talk to us, big fella…", Throttle tried again.
"We're here for you, you know that, right?", Kiwi added.
Still no response.
Vinnie snapped.
"Modo, bro, you really need to get over this one. The kid was just at the wrong place at the wrong time. I mean, you saved my tail, if you hadn't fired that shot, I wouldn't be sitting her right now… "
The weirdest thing was that the white furred mouse was right.
But it was too soon. Too simple. Too painful. Too… harsh right now.
And the slight arrogant tone in his voice didn't help either.
Without blinking, Modo was on his feet and grabbed the white furred mouse by his bandana, lifting him up without any trouble.
"And what does that make the kid? Collateral damage?", he growled, his eye glowing red.
Vinnie flinched, he could hear in the voice of his older bro he really crossed the line this time.
Dammit. He and his big mouth. He tried to peel off Modo's fingers that were still holding his bandana. The fabric almost cut in the flesh in the back his neck, since Modo used so much strength.
He gave up his attempt to get free and looked into Modo's eye. Vinnie narrowed his eyes by seeing the pain, the guilt… He had to admit, he'd never seen his bro this upset. He wasn't there when Cami died. They met later on. But he could imagine this was how it had looked like.
"Something like that…", he blurted out, without thinking.
Why, for fuck sake why, was the connection between his brain and mouth not doing what's it supposed to do? He knew it, he knew he needed to keep his mouth shut, but as usual, it was already out before he could stop it.
Story of his life.
But to his surprise, Modo suddenly let him go and dropped on the couch again, a tormented look on his face. Vinnie quickly created some distance between them.
"This is my fault… what if he… dies?", the big guy whispered, a tear escaped his eye. "What if he dies because of me? Collateral damage. It doesn't make it any better..."
Vinnie felt a pang of guilt. But he bit his tongue and said nothing.
Throttle lay a hand on Modo's shoulder.
"You don't know that. Maybe he's okay. I understand you need time, big fella, but please… stop torturing yourself like this…"
"I can't. Don't you see? I can't. I did the one thing I swore to never do; I've failed to protect the vulnerable…"
His voice broke and he jumped up, keeping his head low.
"I need to be alone right now, I can't do this now, I…", he mumbled while he almost ran away, outta the house, straight to his room in the guesthouse.
Kiwi shared a look with Throttle. The tan furred mouse let out his breath and adjusted his glasses.
"Let's just give him some time… That's all we can do right now…", he said softly, pain clearly hearable in his voice.
Kiwi nodded, her heart sore. He was right. He just needed some time.

Days past.
Limburger was awfully quiet, but that was a good thing. Because Modo was a mess. He'd locked himself up in his room and nobody was allowed to come inside. They'd tried everything, but nothing worked. The only response they got was Modo telling them to leave him alone.
Throttle had tried to talk him into going for a ride. But not even his bike could help him right now.
Nothing could.
Not Kiwi who told him she'd cooked his favorite dinner; hotdog oven dish.
Not Throttle who tried to talk some sense into him, the one time calm, the other time authoritative.
And not even Vinnie, who'd lost his patience and already threatened to blow up the whole guesthouse if that's what it was gonna take to make him talk to them. Luckily, Throttle had dragged him away in time. Kiwi was glad he did. She was kinda attached to her guest house. And to Modo, that is.

"We've gotta do something, guys…", Kiwi mused when they were eating dinner for the fifth time without Modo now.
"Yeah sure, great idea. Any suggestions what? We've already tried everything…", Vinnie sighed, a little annoyed.
But Kiwi ignored his tone. She didn't blame him for being on edge. It was a hard time after all. Maybe he hadn't said it out loud, she knew he was worried sick about his older bro. She was too. And so was Throttle.
"Maybe we can try to figure out how the kid is doing… Ya know, maybe he's already back home, playing with his friends…", she continued, a thoughtful frown on her face.
Throttle swallowed his bite.
"What are ya thinking about, babe? I mean, you can't just walk into the hospital and ask, now can ya?"
"No, but who said something about me going in there? I'm a computer wizz after all... Boring, but handy", she said, winking at Vinnie, who gave her a small smile, but his face soon grew serious again.
"Maybe boring is just what we need right now", and he looked at Throttle, who nodded.
"You're right. It's a good idea. Do it."
But when she opened her laptop, Vinnie suddenly grabbed her arm to stop her.
"What if the kid's dead? What then?"
"Then we won't tell Modo, obviously. Maybe, in that case, we need to tell him our own version of the truth…", Kiwi said slowly.
"You mean lie to him?", Vinnie asked with his eyes narrowed. He clearly didn't like that idea.
"Let's start with finding out what happened with the kid. Then, we'll make a plan", Throttle cut off the conversation.
First; facts. They needed facts. That was the most important thing right now.

Modo was sitting on the edge of his bed, where he was sitting for days now. His body somehow had shut down. He didn't need to eat, to drink, to go to the bathroom… He was just sitting there, his thoughts miles away.
If one of his bro's or Kiwi tried to talk to him, he only had yelled to leave him alone. It was like he turned off his phone and they only got his voicemail.

"You've reached the voicemail of Modo Maverick. I can't pick up the phone right now, because I'm having a inner battle with myself after hurting a innocent kid. Don't bother to leave a message after the beep, because I won't call ya back."

How long was he gonna take this? This… feeling. The pain in his chest was unbearable. He'd survived so much. He'd lost the love of his live, he'd seen his home getting destroyed by Plutarkians, he'd lost his arm, he'd lost friends, family… He'd seen the most terrible things on the battlefield, mice dying around him, bleeding to death, exploding into a thousand pieces… But it was nothing. Nothing compared to what this was doing to him.
His one eye suddenly blinked. His left ear twitched a little. His gaze lowered and landed on his arm. His bionic arm. With a powerful laser gun inside of it.
He could end this. He could stop this endless misery. Because honestly… He had the feeling... no, he knew he wasn't gonna get over this. He wasn't gonna be able to live with himself. So maybe, maybe… Maybe it was better to just step out.
But that's the coward way, right?
He couldn't just leave, right? Not after what he did. He needed to take responsibility for his own actions.
But that was just the thing. He couldn't. It was too much.
His armcannon popped out and he stared at it.
So tempting…

"Almost in…", Kiwi mumbled with her tongue between her teeth.
Throttle was sitting next to her, looking at what she was doing. It was like magic to him. He knew about computers. He knew how to use them. But this was far beyond his capabilities. He was, despite the whole situation, impressed.
Vinnie was tapping with his fingers on the table, hardly able to keep himself calm.
"Yes, I'm in!"
"Great job, babe", Throttle said impressed and proud at the same time.
"I saw the number of the ambulance, so that makes it a lot easier…I need to go back to that day, about a hour later after we made the call… Speaking of which, how late did we make the call, by the way?"
Obviously only talking to herself, she grabbed her phone and scrolled back in her history of made calls.
"Ah, okay… Lemme see…"
Vinnie's tail started to twitch. This was boring, alright. And taking forever…
But he remained where he was. There was nothing else he could do now anyway…

Everything that ever made him happy, that kept him going on his feet, was gone.
Modo let his thoughts wander to his bro's. But he felt nothing.
He thought about his bike. But he felt nothing.
Rimfire. Nothing.
All he could feel was this devastating feeling of guilt. He felt it in his whole body.
It made his heart beat loud and irregular.
It made his stomach feel as if there was a stone inside of it.
It made his insides twist and turn.
It made him breath with difficulty.
And yet, at the same time, he felt numb. As if he was in a trance.
"Oh momma…", he rasped, his voice raw.
And he slowly raised his arm…

"Tick tock, tick tock... ", Vinnie yawned, hanging listless in the chair as far that was possible.
"Would you shut up? I ain't no magician, these kinda things cost time!", Kiwi snapped at him.
Vinnie sighed exaggeratedly loud as answer.
"I think I've got something here…", Kiwi said eventually. She opened the file.
"Clark Meera. 11 years old, brought in with head injury, cause unknown…"
"That's gotta be him", Throttle nodded.
Kiwi's eyes were flying over the screen. Vinnie was now sitting upright, a expectant but also impatient look on his face.
After what seemed a eternity, Kiwi let out her breath and leaned back in her chair.
"He's okay… Thank the gods, he's okay…"
Vinnie slammed his fist on the table.
"Yes! This is gonna change everything, right?", he asked hopeful at Throttle.
"Let's just hope it does. Kiwi, you wanna tell him the good news? It was you after all who found out."
"Sure thing", and she closed her laptop. "Lemme get something to drink first."

He felt the cannon against his temple.
It was cold. Heavy.
This was it.
Never would he have thought it would end like this.
But it was the only way.
He wasn't gonna be able to live with himself.
Not like this.
He was no use to anyone anymore.
He'd already killed himself by hurting that kid...
Modo closed his eye.
His muscles tensed, ready to fire.
He let out his breath, but then…
"Modo! Modo, lemme in! I've got something to tell ya!"
Modo's eye flew open, his arm started to shake all of a sudden.
He took a few deep breaths and closed his eye again.
"Modo, please! It's about the kid…"
He tried to shut her out. He took a deep breath...

*CRACK*

Kiwi stumbled into the room, somehow surprised she really succeeded into kicking the door open. But when she saw Modo, holding his armcannon against his head, her stomach dropped and she stopped death in her tracks. The can with root beer slipped outta her hand and landed on the floor with a loud bang.
"Modo, no… Please, don't do this, listen to me, I…", but Modo interrupted her.
"Kiwi, please, just go. I don't want you to see this…", he said softly, his voice shaky and breakable.
Kiwi's eyes filled with tears.
"No, you don't understand, I found out about the kid, he's okay, Modo!"
Modo felt a jerk going through his body. What the…
No. She was lying. She was telling him that to stop him.
Kiwi slowly did a few steps forward and reached out to him.
"He's okay, Modo. I've hacked into the hospital system, his name is Clark and he's okay!"
The words slowly dawned on Modo. He slowly lowered his armcannon. What if she was telling the truth?
"He's… okay?", he whispered.
Now he had lowered the gun, Kiwi kneeled down in front of him and lay both hands against his cheeks.
"Yes, Modo, he's okay. He had a nasty headwound and one hell of a concussion, but nothing that won't heal. He's already back home… He's fine."
"He really is okay?"
Modo had a hard time with believing that. But when he looked into Kiwi's blue eyes, he saw she wasn't lying. He only saw honesty. And shock. He suddenly realized what he almost had done just now. Holy shit…
"I… I eh…", he stuttered, looking helpless at Kiwi, but she rubbed his cheek.
"Ssshh, it's okay… You don't have to say anything if you don't want to. I'm just glad I was on time, jesus Modo, what if I was too late?"
Modo blushed and looked at his feet, feeling very uncomfortable all of a sudden.
"You eh… Can you keep this between us?", he eventually asked.
Kiwi hesitated for a moment. But it was the pleading look in his eye, the despair written on his whole face, that made her slowly nod her head.
"Okay… Okay, fine, I won't tell…"
"Won't tell us what?"
Kiwi whirled around and saw Throttle and Vinnie standing in the door opening.
"I eh… well… ehm…", she stuttered, but Modo lay a hand on her shoulder.
"She saw something I didn't want her to see. A moment of weakness…", he said softly.
Throttle rubbed his chin, studying his bro's face.
"You okay, big fella?"
"I eh… I guess I will be… Bro's, I'm…", but Vinnie cut him off.
"No need for that, big guy. Welcome back."
Modo smiled, it was still a sad smile though, but it was a smile.
"Thanks…"

Kiwi's phone rang, breaking the silence. She grabbed it and stared at the screen.
"Who is it, babe?", Throttle asked, feeling a pang of worry when he saw her face.
"Unknown number…"
She slowly brought the phone to her ear.
"Hello?"
"Hey Kiwi, it's me… "
Kiwi paled and her heart skipped a beat. How did he get her number?
More important, why was he calling her? I mean, wasn't he supposed to forget the whole thing?
"Chaz? Is that you?" She tried so hard to sound normal, but she noticed her voice was still a little shaky.
Dammit.
"Jesus, Chaz, how long has it been? How did you get my number?", she continued, trying to act as if she hadn't talked to him in years.
But he let out a low chuckle and she felt a shiver running through her spine. She looked at the mice, who seemed to be frozen.
"You can drop the act, Kiwi. You know, I had the weirdest experience a few days back… I woke up in the morning, and no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't remember what I had done the day before. Which is weird, because usually I don't have problems with my short term memory. But when I took place behind my computer, everything became so clear all of a sudden…"
The picture. Shit.
Throttle grabbed her by the arm.
"You deleted the picture, right?", he hissed, a slight pang of panic in his voice.
Kiwi slowly nodded, her eyes wide open. Yeah, she did. But how…
"Oh, Kiwi. You really thought that I, the wizards of all wizards, would just send one copy to my computer? That I really would make it that easy for you? It's cute, really…"
Kiwi cleared her throat, her hands were shaking so bad that the phone almost slipped between her fingers.
"I eh… I don't know where you're talking about…", she said, trying to sound confident, but damn you voice.
"Oh, but I think you do… You see, when I saw that picture on my computer, everything came back… And you can say a lot about me, but I'm a man of my word."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Listen, I'll give you one last chance. The police are on their way as we speak, accompanied with the army, to arrest your overbiting friends…."
Kiwi's heart dropped and she jumped at her feet.
"No, Chaz, you can't be serious, right? RIGHT?"
"I don't think interplanetary rats are a joke. They're dangerous and a threat to our society."
"RAT? My momma didn't raise no stinking RAT!"
Kiwi gestured to Modo to keep his mouth shut, panic on her face.
"No, no, Chaz, you couldn't be more wrong! They're here to protect us!"
"Spare me the bullshit, Kiwi. Listen very carefully now. When the police arrives, you walk outside with your hands in the air. You will surrender yourself. If you don't… Well, than I suppose you just gotta pray they treat traitors with respect…"
"Chaz, please listen to me, if I still mean ANYTHING to you, you call this whole thing off! You're wrong about this, they aren't the problem here! They are the heroes, can't you see? Why can't you see?!"
"Tick tock, tick tock… time is ticking, Kiwi. Make your choice."
And he broke the connection.
Kiwi slowly lowered the phone, her heart beating in her chest. She looked at the mice, who looked back in shock.
"I can't… I can't believe he did this… Throttle, how is it even possible he remembers?"
"The picture must have triggered something… I did the best I could, but apparently it wasn't good enough…"
The tan furred mouse looked more defeated than ever. "I'm sorry, bro's, I let ya down…"
"Oh, shut up. This ain't your fault, if we want someone to blame, it's prince charming", Vinnie spit out.
"Maybe he's bluffing, ya know, how do we know he really told the authorities?", Modo mused.

"POLICE! We've got the place surrounded, so come out with your hands in the air!"

"There's your answer", Kiwi said toneless.
Was this even real? But when she peeked outside, she knew it was. The whole house was surrounded by SWAT cars, army vehicles, heavily armed man.. Jesus, they got the whole package.
Her blood suddenly started to boil.
Chaz… God dammit, you fool. You ruined everything…
She turned around to look at the mice. Her family.
"So now what?"

Oooooh boy! They're discovered. So Kiwi is asking the exact right thing here…
Now what?
And thank the holy mothers of Mars, she got right on time to stop Modo from doing something very stupid.
Honestly, where would they be without her?

Please review and till next time!
Later dudes!