Chapter 4: Call the man

Throttle and Modo arrived back at headquarters shortly after Vinnie's body was transported to a secured and quarantined medical facility. General Carbine was quick to order the two grieving mice into her office.

"What the hell happened out there?" she demanded to know, not feeling much loss over the white furred mouse.

"I don't know" Throttle growled back at his wife.

"What do you mean by that? What kind kind of answer is that?" Carbine inquired as she remained seated in her chair.

"Look, all we know is that there was something else out there. Not mouse. Not human. And damn sure not Plutarkian" Modo snapped back at the general. He glanced over at Throttle and noticed his friend's hands were shaking while he attempted to maintain control of his temper.

"I need a clear definition of what you're talking about" Carbine insisted as she turned on her computer and began to start writing up her report as she glared at Throttle and Modo from across the room.

Throttle and Modo repeated, their voices overlapping, their side of the story of what they saw and how Vinnie died. Both of them were beyond angry at Carbine's lack of empathy for the situation but, thought nothing of it due to the fact that the military had partially hardened her heart against such emotions.

Finally, they had had enough. Both of them stood up and proceeded to storm out of the office.

"Where do you think you two are going?" General Carbine demanded as she watched them turn their backs to her, indicating their retreat from the confines of her office.

"I'm heading home to tell my wife what happened" Modo's eye glowed red, hot, and angry as he thought about all the ways his best friend could have died and it turned out to not be in a blaze of glory. He clenched both of his fists at his side and refused to look at Carbine.

"What about you, Commander?" Carbine clenched her jaw as she noticed Throttle refused to look back at her.

"I have a widow to inform of her husband's untimely passing" was all Throttle would say through gritted teeth, trying to hold back the tears that threatened to fall as he willed his body to not start shaking out of sadness and anger.

Close the door
Shut the world away
All the fight's gone from this wounded heart
Across the floor
Dreams and shadows play
Like wind blown refugees

"We will finish this conversation later on this evening" Carbine stated as she continued tapping on the keyboard, attempting to finish working on Vinnie's death report before calling it a night.

"Whatever" Throttle said as he slammed the door shut behind Modo and himself.

"You gonna tell Charley?" Modo inquired, knowing that only Throttle would be the only one who would be able to calmly talk to her at this time.

"Yeah" Throttle murmured as he mounted his motorcycle and watched Vinnie's bike saddle up next to him, ready to go home to Charley. Even though she was Vinnie's bike, she still had her devotion to his wife and her mechanic.

"See ya later bro" Modo said as he sped off, leaving a cloud of dust in his path.

"Yeah, see ya" Throttle mumbled as he put his helmet on is head and sped off, with Vinnie's bike following close beside him.

Throttle thought the whole way to Charley's home about how he was going to break the news to his best lady friend. He wasn't sure how much information he should give her and how bad her reaction was going to be. He knew how he felt about it all and he knew he was still in a state of shock but, he also knew that he needed to tell Charley immediately.

Pulling up outside their home, he noticed Charley pulling back the curtain as he drove into the garage. Turning his bike off, he pulled his helmet off and sighed, listening to the red bike also following suit.

"I guess it's now or never, Lady" Throttle softly commented as he made his way to the staircase on the back side of the garage, wishing that this was going to be easy but, acknowledged its difficulty.

P.O.V.

After the doctor visited her and told Charley that the reason she was so sick was due to the fact that she was pregnant. The doctor gave her a shot in the hip to help with the nausea and it worked like a charm. Within ten minutes, Charley felt completely back to normal and ready to take on the world.

Call the man
Who deals in love beyond repair
He can heal the world
Of hearts in need of care
Shine a light ahead
When the next step is unclear
Call the man
He's needed here

Except, she now had to figure out how she was going to tell Vinnie that they were going to be parents before they were ready to be.

As far as her vision of something bad happening to Vinnie, she chalked it up to maybe a minor side-effect from the shot and decided to get her mind back on track to happier things.

Charley decided to make Vinnie's favorite dinner and dessert; loaded hot dogs with root beer and tater tots and for dessert, she made him a red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting. She even went into town and purchased some decorating supplies and a cute little two piece footed baby outfit with a matching cap that she wrapped up in some red wrapping paper with black motorcycles on it and a big red bow.

I close my eyes
I remember when
Your sweet love filled this empty room
The tears I cry
Won't bring it back again
Unless the lonely star should fall

While the cake was baking in the oven, Charley hung up streamers throughout the small dinning room. After pulling the cake out of the oven and allowing it to cool on the counter, she started to blow up white balloons and tied them up to long strings to hang up in the corners. After that, she decorated the table with a white tablecloth and a clear vase in the center of the table filled with faux red silk roses, since there weren't any real roses on Mars.

Looking at the time, she saw that it was getting close to when Vinnie would be getting home and quickly put the tater tots into the oven and got to frosting the cake. She was not a big fan of red velvet but, she really wanted him to be surprised with all his favorites so when she finally informed him of their unexpected surprise, it would be a lot easier for her.

Call the man
Who deals in love beyond repair
He can heal the world
Of hearts in need of care
Shine a light ahead
When the next step is unclear
Call the man
He's needed here

She heard a couple of motorcycles pull up and into the garage. She recognized them as Vinnie and Throttle's bikes. She was actually excited that Throttle was going to be here for her little surprise party for Vinnie. Throttle and Modo were definitely larger supporters of having kids between the three of them.

She heard a knock on the door and wondered why they were knocking. Charley chuckled at the thought that Vinnie may have left the house key at home but, then remembered that he did have it on his key chain when he left that morning.

Shaking her head, she made her way over to the door and opened it. She only saw Throttle standing there with his head hanging and Vinnie's helmet in his hands. Her lower lip quivered as she realized that the nightmare she had earlier in the day was a premonition.

Needed in the chaos and confusion
From the plains to city hall
Needed where the proud who walk the wire are set to fall

"Throttle?" Charley whimpered as she looked at the tan-furred mouse, whose shoulders shook with pent up sadness combined with anger and frustration.

"Charley-girl" Throttle whispered as he raised his shaded eyes to look at his best friend's widow.

"What happened?" she inquired as she placed her hands over the top of his, quietly beckoning him to come inside.

"It all happened so fast" Throttle stated, following Charley's lead as she escorted him over to the couch. She patted the cushions and he took the initiative to sit down next to her, gently placing Vinnie's helmet onto the floor.

"What? Please tell me" she begged as she gripped his wrist, tears beginning to form in her eyes as she watched Throttle's face fall while he removed his sunglasses. She took note of the fact that he couldn't even look at her without the urge to cry. She could hear his voice quivering as he spoke, finally gazing over at her.

"Vinnie was...murdered" Throttle barely got those words out before turning his focus to his lap. He couldn't look at Charley without wanting to fall apart in her arms.

Call the man
Who deals in once upon a time
Maybe he
Can mend this broken heart of mine
Shine a light ahead
Now the future isn't clear
Call the man
He's needed here
Call the man
He's needed here

He heard her gasp and looked back over at her. Instinctively, he wrapped his arms around her shaking shoulders and she wrapped her arms around his waist. It was at this moment that Throttle finally let his emotions go wild. He buried his muzzle into her auburn hair and cried into her shoulder while she wailed into his chest. He was so far past angry that tears were the only thing left for him to shed.

As night fell over the Martian sky, Throttle and Charley held each other through their sadness and comforted each other through the night. They ate dinner, spoke softly to one another, and Charley told Throttle, what was suppose to be good news for Vinnie. Throttle grasped her hand at the table and told he would help her out in any way he could, even if it meant helping her go back to Earth to mourn her loss. She thanked him and said that she would have to think about it because, Mars had become her home as well.

He's needed here
He's needed here
Call the man

It was was past midnight before Throttle decided it was best if he headed back home and told her that he would check on her later. She thanked him for being there and then locked up all the doors and windows. It had been a long time since she had to worry about the future since she met the guys.

Now, as she cleaned up the kitchen, she reached under the sink and pulled out her pistol. She had every intention of doing a double check on the doors and windows before going to sleep on the couch for the remainder of the night. She pulled a blanket from off the backside of the couch and used the couch's throw pillows to lay her head on. She placed the gun under the pillows and fell into a light sleep, falling back into her old habits of when the guys weren't at home and to before she met them.

He's needed here
Right here right now


I want to thank everyone for their patience on me getting this latest chapter completed and posted. I have been very busy with homeschooling my son and trying to get moved into our new house basically by myself.

DinoDragonMaster: thanks for being there since the beginning

Yankee71: I am so sorry you got sick and happy belated holidays (all of them)

bookworm4321: I look forward to your reviews

Vlaatjee: I guess it's an "Oh my god, I killed Kenny!" LOL. I know, I started them off rather calm but, I hope this new chapter makes up for it

Many CYBER HUGS to all readers and reviewers. I am so going to to try to do better about writing more frequently. It also hasn't helped that I just adopted a kitten that just loves to assist with rewriting a chapter. UGH.