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Chapter 6

Carbine was there to greet them at the ship's hanger along with two of the base's best scientists. At the shocked murmurings of the pilot's radar tower, they glanced skyward. The Stalker ship was gliding in as smooth as a baby's fur. All three Mice gaped at the perfect landing as the deep red ship's landing gear touched down with a soft thump, the hanger's disguised bay doors sliding shut. "Wow, Stoker's really been working with that kid, hasn't he?" Dr Nikil, a bio-chemist, said to the general.

"Apparently," Carbine said in surprise. She smiled as the ramp came down and the Biker Mice came out, wheeling their bikes beside them. "Modo, Vincent...Throttle."

The tan Martian nodded respectfully, "General." He suddenly broke into a genuine smile. "Hey there, pretty girl."

Carbine tried to ignore her blush as she ran up the ramp into his arms. The two Mice kissed, Throttle's fingers running through his lover's black hair. For a whole minute they just held each other, reconfirming that they were really together. The other engineers and pilots that manned the hanger wolf-whistled and called joking comments as they moved to put away the ship. Modo looked away to give his friends privacy as they started to kiss, and he just barely caught the envious look on Vinnie's face before the white Mouse turned too. He noted that to bring up later as Stoker and Rimfire skirted around the lovebirds and helped Charley down the ramp. Her tail was still giving her some trouble.

A soft whistle was heard from a short grey male Martian with a dark brown mane, blue slacks, a black shirt, and a white doctor's coat. Dr. Circuit shook his head in amazement. "Is she the one? Gods above, to think she started out human. She's positively lovely." He looked over at Throttle and Carbine, who were being gently teased by Charley and Stoker. "Commander, you have the samples of the lady's original DNA?"

Throttle nodded, straightening his stance and moving slightly away from his lover, their tails still entwined. "Yeah, we've got her hairbrush and some of her blood. Will that be enough?"

"That should do fine," Dr Nikil said softly as she took the samples. The white mouse had similar coloring to Charley, but with more red to her mane and was about eight inches taller, with jeans and a buttoned-up lab smock. "Miss Charley, if you'll come with us? We can go ahead and get the tests finished so you can get settled in shortly."

Charley nodded and went to follow her, with Stoker not two steps behind. Carbine frowned in confusion at that, and sent an arched eyebrow to Throttle. "Something I need to know about with them? Because as much as I like her, if she's planning on becoming my new aunt, we're going to have words."

Throttle blinked in shock, then burst out laughing. "No! Oh cheeze, no, Carbine, nothing like that. See, when Charley got her DNA scrambled and became a Mouse, she grew antennae, like you saw. But since she never needed anyone to protect her mind before, when her antennae started working they started letting her hear the thoughts of everyone around her. I tested her myself and she could hear me like I was saying it outloud."

"That's incredible! I've never heard of anyone with telepathy so strong that they didn't need to be touching to use it," Carbine said in surprise.

"Yeah, and Charley couldn't turn it off," Throttle went on. "I couldn't sheild her, and neither could the bros, so when Stoker found out, he tried to help and offered to take her in under his clan's mental protection. It worked like a charm, and she'd doing a lot better now."

The general's eyes went wide in shock. As Stoker's niece, she knew what his actions meant, and what that meant to her. It meant that-"I have a new cousin! This is great! And even better since its Charley. We're friends already, and she's a brilliant mechanic and a great fighter to boot. I always thought that once things clear up on Earth she'd be coming back here with all of you even if she isn't still a Mouse"-

"I wouldn't be too sure of that," Modo groused as he watched Vinnie hurry off to the barracks. "Vinnie's really been sticking his foot in it lately. If it gets any worse, I'm pretty sure she'll break it off with him."

Carbine's gaze followed Vinnie as he walked away. "You guys already talked to him?"

"You bet, and we still can't figure out what's going on in his head," Throttle said.

"Hmm. Maybe this just needs a woman's touch," Carbine said softly. "You guys get settled in and go find Charley. I'll go talk to the wild man."

It didn't take long to find him. Vincent had already stored his bike at the base's garage to recharge the laser cannons and unpacked his things at the barracks. He was now at the base's only bar, nursing a Venusian Darag whiskey that could have knocked Modo out. He looked absolutely miserable, with a dragging tail and his ears almost flat against his head. Carbine arched a brow at his appearance. "Hey, Snowball."

His tail twitched. "For the last time, Barbie-Carbie, do not call me that."

Her eyebrow twitched. "And speaking of nicknames, I'd like to remind you that I have a lot more grenades than you do flares, and I have no problem sticking one of them where the sun don't shine."

"You're a real sweetheart, you know that?" Vinnie groused, taking a cautious sip of his drink.

She shook her head at him, sitting on a stool beside him and motioning for the bartender to get her usual drink. "So I hear there's trouble in paradise."

"Wow, news travels so fast," Vinnie said in mock awe. "Yeah, things aren't so hot. Thanks again to my mouth. And I didn't even say it out loud! Its not my fault she could hear what I was thinking!"

"And what did she hear?" Carbine asked as she took a sip of her drink.

Vincent shot her a look. "Throttle and Modo put you up to this?"

"No, my genuine concern for my friend and new cousin brought this on. So what did you say? Or think?"

He sighed, gulping down the last of his drink in one go. "I was thinking that I really like how she looks now. Like, really like it. I mean, she was hot as a human, but now she's just smokin', and-well, I-"

Carbine's eyes went wide as the younger Mouse began to stammer. "Oh gods above and below, tell me you didn't think that you don't want her to change back because she wouldn't be as pretty. Or even worse, that you wouldn't like her as much as you do now because she wouldn't be a Mouse."

He couldn't say anything. What could he say? That wasn't what happened at all! And yet...

Flashback

She had been packing her bag when he'd come into her room. He smiled nervously. "Hey, Charley-girl."

"Hey, Vin." She kept calmly packing up her shirts and a few pairs of jeans.

He cleared his throat. "Um, so I was wondering, you know, you and me, we're...we're good, right? You and me together?"

Charley's eyebrow quirked up as she turned to look at him. "Us? Yeah, we're good."

He shook his head in frustration. Why was he no good with mushy stuff and words? "That's not what I mean, I mean, you and me. Together. We'd be good like that, right? Would..." he blushed a bit now, his voice going softer, "would you like that? For us to be together?"

Charley barely dared to breathe. Was he asking what she thought he was? "You mean, like, dating?"

Vinnie nodded, his ears high and tensed, the tip of his tail twitiching in anticipation.

The human turned Martian Mouse smiled happily, her ears perking up and her tail swinging in low arcs. "You mean it? You really want to go out with me?"

At her smile, his confidence returned with a vengence. "Absolutely, sweetheart!"

She smiled, walked over, cupped his face in her hands, and kissed him. It was very different to kiss someone when she had a muzzle, but it worked. Oooh, lord, did it work. Her body shivered in pleasure as he deepened the kiss, his muscled arms wrapping around her waist, his tail coiling with hers. With great reluctance, he pulled back. "J-just so I'm clear, this means you're my girl, right?"

She laughed. "Yes, Vin. And it means you're my man."

"This is perfect! I'll have the most gorgeous babe on Mars on my arm, Stoker is going to be so jealous. Hell, everyone is going to be jealous! The most beautiful girl and the hottest stud getting together, heheh, I bet we inspire some wild fantasies when we get there-"

Charley blinked at his enthusiasm, and then an ugly thought hit. She tried to shake it off, but it wouldn't leave her. She figured that asking him would clear it up, and said, "Wait. Wait a minute, Vin, let me ask you something."

"What is it?"

"I thought, well, I mean, you never tried to ask me out before. What changed your mind?"

He blinked in surprise. "What do you mean, what changed my mind? Charley, you're all I've ever wanted. You're beautiful!"

She gave him a small smile, and tried to make a joke out of her question. "Thanks handsome, but really, is that all that matters?"

"What? I-I don't understand."

Charley frowned a bit, worry growing in her voice and all joking gone. "Is my appearance all that matters to you?"

He stammered, "B-uh, um, I-" but his thoughts were clearer. But I don't get it! What...what else is there?

The girl's sensitivity to thoughts let her hear his perfectly. Her aqua eyes filled with tears.

End Flashback

He hadn't said that he only wanted her because she was a Mouse. But saying that he'd wanted her just for her beauty would be even worse! Wouldn't it? Vincent said nothing to reply to the general.

It took serious effort for Carbine to not reach for her laser to shoot him, so she settled for stomping the end of his tail. Hard. "YEEEOOOOWW!"

"YOU IDIOT!" she screamed. "Are you really that shallow? ! Are you really so selfish and petty that you'd throw away a smart, wonderful girl that can actually put up with you because she might turn back into her original species? !" Carbine looked at his hunched posture, his shamed flush, and how his ears and tail sunk impossibly lower. "Merciful gods, I thought better of you than that! And here I had some respect for you, Vincent Van Wham. But not any more. And maybe never again." She stalked out of the bar.

Not even ten minutes later, a furious Throttle and Modo stomped into the bar. The bartender had already hidden all the good liquor and put the breakables away after hearing the General talk to the white mouse like that. Seems like it was a good idea as the fur and fists began to fly.