Thanks for the reviews. This story is mainly about Vinnie, since he's my fav. But maybe there will be some more romance between Throttle and Carbine, but I can't promise anything, I'm sorry. I hope you still will enjoy the story.

Chapter nine

Vinnie sped through the night. He felt so angry, so frustrated, so… helpless. He grabbed his handlebars tightly. He hoped that a good, fast ride will clear his head. With full speed, he drove to a cliff, pulled his handlebars and jumped over the edge.
"AAAOOWW, the only way to fly!" and after performing an perfect somersault, he landed on the ground.
"I'm still the best, and don't you just hate me for it?", he grinned. The adrenaline from the jump took over his body. It chased away the pain. He drove between two canyons, using every stone and cliff to pull some dangerous stunts. Of course, he nailed them all. After all, he was still the baddest mamma jammer from Mars.

After about an hour, Vinnie drove inside the big garage at the base. He felt reborn, like a new person. With the adrenaline still running through his body, he parked his bike and patted her on the side. "Thanks sweetheart", he said and his bike beeped back happily.
"Blowing off some steam, hotshot?"
Vinnie turned around so quickly by hearing the sudden voice, he almost fell over.
"Holy mothers of Mars, you almost give me a heart attack!", Vinnie breathed, holding his chest. Violet smiled and walked over to him. Vinnie looked at her with distrust on his face.
"What are you doing here?"
"Waiting for you. You were very upset when you left the cafeteria."
Vinnie's face got blank and he tried to walk past her to the door. Violet blocked his way.
"Are you okay, Vinnie?", she asked, loving how his name rolled over her tongue.
Vinnie looked at her darkly, feeling very annoyed that everybody on this base just keeps asking if he was doing fine. Geez, can't they just leave him alone?
"Leave me alone, I'm fine! And if I wasn't, you're not the person I would talk to." He did another try to get to the door. Again, Violet blocked his way.
"You are not fine. I've heard your conversation with your friend, actually, everybody heard that. I wanna help you…" Violet reached out to his face, but before she could touch him, Vinnie grabbed her arm.
"I don't need your help. I've already told you, it's none of your business."
He pushed her out of his way and walked to the door.
"The only reason you are pushing me away is because that deep down in that stubborn head of yours, I do mean something to you!", Violet yelled at his back, feeling a little humiliated by his rejection.
Vinnie was about the grab the doorknob, but froze when he heard her say these words. Damn, am I really that obvious?, he thought. Time for a little more drastic measures. He slowly turned around with a cold look on his face.
"Now you listen carefully. You mean shit to me. The only thing that is not getting in that stubborn head of yours...," he pointed at her "is that I've used you. I've used you for seks to blow off some steam and it meant nothing to me. The only thing you are good for is to spread your legs, you've got that?"
Violet stared at him. His words were cutting like a knife. It brought back memories she was so carefully trying to forget. The image of her father's face flashed before her eyes. "You're nothing more than a slut!"
She closed her eyes, a tear escaped through her lashes. Then anger overruled her sorrow. She opened her eyes, only to see that Vinnie was gone.
"That asshole..", she whispered. Deep down she still knew he was lying, but still… the things he said hurted.
Violet leaned against the wall and slided down. She sat on the ground with her back against the wall, embracing her legs. She felt so sad. This was a mistake. Everything was a mistake. She shouldn't have come here.

When she heard the door open again, she looked up hopefully, expecting to see Vinnie. Instead she saw a huge, grey mouse. He wore an eye pad and his right arm looked like it was made from some kind of metal. Although his size was very intimidating, he had a gentle look on his face.
"Oh, I'm sorry ma'am, didn't see you there!", he said when he saw her.
Violet smiled. Ma'am? She couldn't remember anybody calling her that.
"It's okay", she answered when she climbed back on her feet. "I was just leaving."
The grey furred giant studied her face. "Don't I know you from something?"
She suddenly realized that this was the mouse she saw in the hallway last night. "Great", she muttered under her breath. Like this day couldn't get any worse.
"Not that I know off", Violet said, thinkin that a little lie never hurted anyone. The grey mouse offered his hand. "I'm Modo."
Violet hesitated, but then shook his hand. "I'm Violet."
Modo smiled at her. "Nice to meet you, Violet ma'am!"
Violet couldn't help but giggle. "Please don't call me ma'am, I'm 19 years old."
Modo was startled. He had recognized her as the female mouse Vinnie had dragged to his room last night. 19 years old? Modo couldn't believe his ears. Note to myself, smack Vinnie on the head the next time you see him. He quickly recovered himself.
"Are you alright, Violet? You look a little sad."
Violet looked at Modo. She normally didn't trust other people. The one night stand with Vinnie was something she didn't do before. It was so not like her.
When she looked Modo in the eyes, she felt she could trust him. He gave her a safe feeling, almost the same feeling her dad gave her before… she stopped herself.
She realized that she didn't answer Modo's question and that he was waiting patiently.
"Ehm, yeah, I'm fine I guess.."
Modo snickered. "That didn't sound very convincing." He patted her on the arm.
"It's none of my business. If you don't want to talk about it, that's okay. I just came here to check on my bike." and he walked to Little Hoss, which was parked next to Vinnie's bike. Modo's bike beeped when he stood next to her. "Hey there, little darling," and he patted her on one of the handlebars. Violet watched the interaction between rider and bike with interest. Modo saw her looking and waved to her.
"Come here and meet Little Hoss."
Violet walked over to him, feeling a little insecure. She knew how to ride a bike, but she never talked to one.
"Ehm… Hi?", she said, feeling a little stupid. The bike beeped back and Modo smiled.
Violet laughed and touched the bike. "I've never talked to a bike before."
Modo almost looked offended. "Oh momma, how is that possible? It's very important to have a good relationship with your bike. After all, you must be a good team on the battlefield. You've never learned that?"
Violet shook her head. "We didn't have bikes with this technologie. The bikes we had were just.. bikes.."
Modo nodded. "You don't have your own bike?"
"No, I ride on one of the bikes from the base."

There was a silence for a moment, but it didn't feel awkward. Violet looked at the bike next to Modo's. She recognized it as Vinnie's bike. It was a beautiful bike, designed for speed. Modo followed her look. "That's Vinnie's bike, but I have the feeling you already knew that."
Violet stayed in silent for a moment. Of course, Modo was no fool. She knew he had recognized her from last night.
"Did he hurt you?", Modo asked, with a worried look on his face.
"No… yes… well, not physically…" she stuttered. The tears came very unexpected. Modo took her hand. "What happened, Violet ma'am?"
"He… we had a really good night, you know?" Modo's face sturred a little, but he nodded to encourage her.
"I really had the feeling that it was more than just a one night stand, but now… now he is acting like a jerk, saying he used me and stuff…", Violet sniffed.
That sounds like Vinnie alright, Modo thought. He gently grabbed Violet by the shoulders.
"Listen Violet. I can't explain Vinnie's behaviour, because that's not my place. I do can tell you that he is not a bad guy. He is in pain. That doesn't make right what he said, but I'm sure he didn't mean it. I think it's for the best to leave him alone for now. Give him some time."
Violet nodded, drying her face off with her sleeve. "Thanks Modo." Modo took her in his arms and gave her a hug. He vowed to himself that he would talk to Vinnie about how to treat a lady, his eye glowing red.

Modo marched back to the cafeteria, but he only saw Throttle and Carbine, whispering to each other, tails entwined.
"Sorry to bother you, but have you guys seen Vinnie?", Modo asked.
Throttle shook his head. "Nope. Why? You look angry?"
"I just need to talk to him about something", Modo answered and he walked away to Vinnie's room. Without knocking, he bursted inside.

Vinnie was lying on his bed on his belly, with a pillow over his head. When Modo entered the room, Vinnie looked up from under his pillow. When he saw the angry look on Modo's face, he jumped up and held his hands before his body.
"Whoa, big fella! Whatever you think I've done, it wasn't me!" and he tried to keep his distance. Even he never taunted Modo's anger. That was like a suicide mission.
Modo marched to the white mouse and pointed his finger at his face, almost touching Vinnie's nose.
"Oh is that so? I've just talked to a very upset, YOUNG, female mouse, named Violet. Does that ring any bells?"
Vinnie laughed nervously. "Oh… that… yeah… I just told her to stay away from me. She is stalking me, man! Not that I can blame her", he finished with a arrogant smile. Modo fighted the urge to smack Vinnie in the face. But, since there seemed to be only one adult in this room, he must act like it.
"You can't just share the bed with somebody and telling after that you've used her. You can't expect they feel the same way like you. Some people do fall in love, you know!" It felt like he was talking to a child. Vinnie started to look annoyed.
"I know that Modo, I'm not that stupid!" Modo snorted. Vinnie glared at him and continued.
"I don't do love. Not anymore. I've tried to tell her that, but she refused to listen. So I took some… drastic measures.." Vinnie gave a frustrated sigh.
"So you just tell her that she's a slut!?", Modo asked, with disbelief on his face.
"No, I didn't! Well… not with those words…" Vinnie looked nervous at Modo.
"Well, I want you to apologize at her. Nobody is treaten a lady like this when I'm around!" Modo pointed at the door. "GO!"
"But Modo, I…" Vinnie protested, but Modo interrupted him."No buts. Go!"
Vinnie sighed and left his room, softly cursing to himself.

He searched for Violet and found her on the balcony on the back of the base. It had a beautiful view over the desert and the stars. Violet sat on a chair and was staring in the distance, deep in thoughts. She didn't respond when Vinnie took place in the chair next to her. Vinnie cleared his throat. Violet, startled by the sudden noise, almost jumped out of her chair.
"Jeeezz Vinnie, you scared the death out of me!" Vinnie smiled. "Guess we're even then." Violet, recovered from her shock, gave him an angry glare.
"What are you doing here? If you came to tell me again that I mean shit to you, that's not necessary. Your last message was loud and clear!"
Vinnie looked uncomfortable. He wasn't good at this stuff. Smooth talk to get in a lady's head (and in his bed), no problemo. But this feeling stuff? Ugh…
"Ehm… well… I just wanted to say…", he stuttered. Smooth Vincent, smooth.
Violet shook her head, but said nothing. It was kind of funny (and cute) to see him struggle, his bravado nowhere to be found. She decided to let him work for it. Vinnie fiddled with his bandoliers. "Look sweetheart, I shouldn't have said those things. But you left me no choice."
Violet threw her head in her neck and laughed. "So it's my fault now?" Vinnie looked surprised by her reaction, then narrowed his eyes.
"Well, I've tried to make clear that I don't do love, but you didn't listen. So I thought…"
"You thought: let's break her heart, so I can move on with my life? Like nothing happened?", Violet interrupted him.
"Yeah, well…", Vinnie sighed. This was not going very well.
Violet shook her head. "You're unbelievable."

Vinnie felt the sudden urge to run away, but realized the other option was to face an angry Modo. So, he took a deep breath.
"I'm sorry, okay?", he blurted out. Violet turned her head to look at him. He had a little blush on his cheeks that was visible under his white fur and looked very unhappy. Poor Vinnie.
"I didn't mean to hurt you, but…", Vinnie couldn't find the words. He didn't want to talk about Charley. Violet saw him struggling and believed he learned his lesson now. She gently took his hand.
"You know you can talk to me, right? But only when you are ready. I know you are in pain. And if you really, really don't give a shit about me, then this is your chance to tell me one more time and if you do... I will leave you alone."
Vinnie looked at her from the corners of his eye. He only needed to say once more that she must leave him alone. But he couldn't. As much as he tried to run from it, he couldn't ignore the feeling that he needed her. He played with her fingers.
"I… I can't…But I need some time. I can't talk about it right now. It hurts too much…" Violet nodded understanding, feeling a little tingle in her belly.
"That's okay, Vinnie, whenever you are ready. I'll be waiting. I know we hardly know each other, but… you give me a feeling I've never felt before. Almost like we already know each other our entire life. I don't wanna ignore that. It must mean something. But I don't want to be that pushy girl."
Vinnie's heart lighted up by hearing those words. He was having the same feeling about her. But it was so confusing at the same time. His heart belonged to Charley. This all came too soon. He sighed, couldn't find the words.
"We'll see where this goes, alright? No pressure. Let's find out what time will bring us." Violet gave him a small kiss on his cheek. "I'll see you tomorrow", and she walked back inside, leaving Vinnie with his thoughts.

Vinnie looked up at the sky and saw the small dot that was Earth. Oh man, what a mess. Everything was happening so fast, something he normally didn't have a problem with. But now, things were going too fast, even for him. He felt so frustrated, still didn't have any clue what to do with all this emotions. Blugh… Life would be so much easier without it…

Please review! :)