Massive thanks to Glazier Blue for helping me out with this chapter!

I hope you all enjoy!

Planet: Earth

Location: Last Chance Garage, Chicago, Illinois

Time: 2nd August 1992, 10:00 pm

Throttle growled as they entered the Scoreboard. He threw his helmet down on the ground and stormed towards the punching bag, bashing it several times. He could feel his bros gazes on him, but frankly he couldn't care less right now. In his state, he activated his Nuke Knucks and hit the bag one final time, breaking it off its chain and knocking it away. He breathed harshly as he stared at it, tears stinging his eyes. He felt a gentle hand on his shoulder and turned to see Vinnie, watching him with a concerned expression.

"C'mon bro. You need air." Vinnie murmured, guiding him outside. Modo made a point of finding something to do, but Throttle caught the strange nod he gave to Vinnie on the way out.

Throttle soon found himself leaning against the outer wall of the Scoreboard. He slid down until he was sitting on the floor. Vinnie went and sat next to him more demurely. "You wanna talk?"

"I… I just… I don't know what to do anymore, Vinnie." He admitted, head held in his hands. "I just- I want to keep her safe but… she just seems so determined to throw herself into danger at every opportunity!"

"…That's honestly not that different from our Charley. You couldn't put her in a glass box either."

Throttle choked and turned to Vinnie, who shrugged with a knowing look on his face. "Hey, you know I'm right. Remember the recon mission? The Council? The trial? Saving us from Karbunkle's lab…"

"I get it." Throttle interrupted, turning away. "But it's different now."

"It isn't though. She is still Charley. She is still the woman that became your sister. The only difference is that you think you're gonna lose her."

"What do you mean 'think'? I know I lose her."

There was a short pause before Vinnie spoke again, like he was choosing his words carefully. "I don't think we do." Throttle frowned at his bro, who hunched forward slightly. "Hear me out. Number one: We both know how smart Charley was. There is no way she would have allowed herself to be taken out like that. Number two: Where was Comet? You know how protective that bike was, so why wasn't she around? And then three... there's that necklace." He pointed to the charm around Throttle's neck. "You and I both know that that thing never once fell off in the time Stoker wore it, and the clasp wasn't broken, meaning Mace hadn't snapped it off her neck. It was taken off deliberately, for us to find."

"Where are you going with this?" Throttle asked softly.

"…Harley and I have had a theory for years now. When Stoker and the twins told us about Charley's future…none of them mentioned Harley." Vinnie's expression hardened a little. "Mace was aiming that gun at Harley, bro. We… we think that Harley was the one who was supposed to die that die…or disappear at the very least. Charley had to have known that... and stopped it somehow."

"By taking her place!?"

"That's just it, bro. I don't think she's dead. Number four: We never found her body. And finally, number five: the way she acted, those last few hours. I think she knew what was coming. And not just from the knowledge we gave…give?... her. Something changed from that morning to the time when she rescued us. And I think…it may have been us. Or some version of us, at least. I mean, she came to us in the past, right? What would stop us from doing the same?"

Throttle shook his head. It was spinning, both with the bizarreness of Vinnie's theory….and the hope that it was true. Could it be true...? Was it...possible?

"You think…that we somehow go back in time and save her? From here?" he asked softly.

"Look, it's just a theory, but it's the only one that makes sense to me. Now, of course, this will only pan out if you fix the current situation. Charley is not a damsel in distress, and you need to stop treating her like she's a fragile doll. Forget your dignity, bro. Go back there, prostrate yourself on the ground and beg for her forgiveness until you're blue in the face if you have to."

"She's not gonna accept an apology without some sort of explanation." He shook his head.

"Then give her one bro. it doesn't have to be the whole truth, not yet, but she does deserve something."

Throttle raised a brow at his younger bro, small smile on his face. "When did you become so wise and mature?"

"Three words. I got married." Vinnie said with a smirk that made Throttle chuckle. He felt emotionally drained, but he knew Vinnie was right. He needed to talk to Charley.

"Alright. I'm gonna go talk to her. Don't wait up." he stood and headed for his bike, grabbing his helmet.

"Good luck bro." Vinnie murmured watching him grab Lady's handlebars. He smiled at his bro's encouragement. Lady revved softly as they took off. It had started raining. The drive to the garage was filled with dread. He kept trying to come up with ways to explain himself to Charley, but each one sounded stupider than the last.

As he pulled up to the garage, he noticed the lights still on. One of the doors was open, which was a little odd considering the time. He rolled into the garage, which was too quiet.

"Charley? You here?" he called out. He glanced around the garage, and noticed her tow truck was missing. She must have been called out on a job, although it wasn't usual for her to go out so late. And leaving the garage doors open wasn't like her. He figured he should just wait for her to come back. At least this gave him a little more time to come up with a reason for the way he'd been treating her. Of course, explaining she was his sister in the past was out of the question…

As if summoned by his thoughts, he heard the rumble of her truck approaching. Taking a deep breath, he prepared himself for the well-deserved rage that was coming his way. He stepped aside so she could park, but to his surprise, she bounced on the curb as she came to a sudden stop. The door burst open, and a woman he did not know jumped out of the driver seat. She was clearly distressed in addition to being soaked. Thankful that he hadn't removed his helmet yet, he frowned noticing the cut above her eye that was leaking blood, and several smaller lacerations on her body. She hesitated a moment seeing him standing there, before she rushed into the garage.

"Do you know where Charley keeps her phone?" she called out, a sense of desperation in her voice that made Throttle's fur standup.

"Who are you? Where's Charley?" he asked in response.

"It… there was an accident!" Was all she said, adding to his alarm. The woman had tears streaming down her cheeks as she passed him, having spotted the phone by herself. She hadn't answered him quickly dialing three numbers as she gasped for breath. He faintly heard someone on the other end asking what the emergency was.

"I need fire and ambulance on the East 95th Street Bridge! M-my car broke down on the bridge, and another car hit it. It was hanging off the edge of the bridge. I-I don't know about the other driver, but my daughter was still in the car! My friend sent me with her truck to call!"

Throttle listened to the whole thing with rising dread. Charley was at the scene of the accident and a little girl was apparently in trouble. Without waiting for her to finish the call, he raced to Lady, jumping on and zooming towards East 95th street. It had begun raining harder, and it was making him nervous. He prayed he got there in time.

Charley was pissed. She felt hurt by his words, but right now, the rage was overtaking the hurt. She groaned when the landline rang, disrupting her warpath. She could really use a night of quiet. She answered the phone regardless.

"Last Chance Garage, Charley speaking." She said, trying to keep her voice steady.

"Hi Charlene, it's Cindy." She heard at the other end.

"Hi Auntie Charley!" a smaller voice called out in the distance, successfully putting a smile on her face.

"Hey baby girl! You being good for your mom?" she called out to six-year-old Amy, knowing that Cindy would be holding the phone away from her ear.

"Yup!" came the sweet reply. She could hear Cindy sigh in the phone.

"I'm sorry to bother you so late, Charley, but my car decided to break down as we were driving home from her concert. We're on the East 95th Street Bridge. Could you come help us out?"

She bit her lip. Cindy was one of her regulars, and was one of those sweet souls that always paid on time. She really wasn't feeling up to it, but she also couldn't leave her in the lurch. She sighed, pushing her irritation aside for the moment.

"Sure, I can come out. Need me to bring the tow truck?"

"Oh, you are a life-saver Charlene. Yes, we'll be—"

Amy's scream cut off Cindy's response. A loud crash followed short after, and the call cut off. Charley gasped and set the phone down, racing for her tow truck. She probably went way over the speed limit in her rush to get to the bridge, it had started raining, and she put her headlights on as she drove. When she reached the bridge, she gasped in alarm.

Cindy's Honda Accord was on its side, the back of the vehicle hanging precariously over the edge of the bridge. Charley could see it was only a matter of time before the steel bars snapped and sent the car plunging in the river below. She saw another car, a brand new Ford Taurus, on the other side of the bridge. The front of the car was totaled, and she wasn't sure if the driver was still inside. She jumped out of her truck, racing towards the Accord.

"Cindy!" she cried, trying to figure out how to go about this. She heard a thump and a shout from the Accord, and raced towards the front windshield. Cindy was resting on the driver's side window, trying to kick the windshield out. Her movements caused the steel of the bridge to groan and Charley waved her hands at her to stop. She raced back to her tow truck, grabbing her glass breaker from her glove compartment, she rushed back and gestured for Cindy to get back as far as possible, and to cover her face. Cindy complied, and Charley shattered the windshield, using her feet to break through the glass the rest of the way. Cindy was in tears as she crawled out of the car.

"Amy…Amy's still in the car." She whimpered as Charley helped her up. "Amy, sweetheart can you hear me?"

Charley bent down once she knew Cindy could stand on her own and tried to find Amy's car seat. The girl was still strapped to it, but was unresponsive. Charley bit her lip as the steel groaned again.

"It's too risky to get her out, we need to call the Fire Department." She reached for her pocket, and froze. She had left her cellphone back at the garage. She looked up at Cindy, who still looked shell-shocked. "Do you have your phone?"

"I-I dropped it in the crash…" Cindy whimpered. Charley cursed under her breath. She didn't want to leave the little girl like this.

"Do you think you can drive?" She asked Cindy, who nodded weakly. "Ok. Take the truck back to the Garage, I'll stay here with Amy. Use my landline to call 911." Cindy looked conflicted to leave, but ultimately nodded when the steel groaned again. She raced for the tow truck and drove off. Charley looked over at the other car. She hadn't thought about checking on the other driver, or looking to see if they had a working phone. A small whimper made her turn back.

She saw Amy's tearstained face, looking down at the river below her, terrified. "Mommy!"

"It's ok! You're ok, honey!" She called out, "Look at Auntie Charley for me!" Amy turned to her, and Charley smiled reassuringly at her. The steel groaned again, and Amy screamed. Charley knew it was stupid, but her only thought was calming the scared little girl. She crawled through the broken glass into the front of the car, hoping the extra weight would keep the car stable for longer. Amy reached out to her, and Charley carefully held her hand. "Are you hurt sweetie?" she asked softly. Amy took a moment to think before shaking her head. "Ok, that's good honey. Your mommy is getting help, ok? We're gonna wait for her to get back."

No sooner had she said this when the car shifted suddenly. Amy screamed and Charley gasped she felt the back of the car shift even more. They didn't have time. They had to get out of this car now.

"Amy, sweetie, I need you to be brave. Can you do that for me?" Amy eyes were filled with tears as she shook her head. "Oh, c'mon. You can be brave." A thought hit her. "Hey, have I told you about some friends of mine? I'll let you in on a little secret. They're the Biker Mice from Mars!" She spoke animatedly as she inched forward, trying to find Amy's seatbelt and unclip it without dislodging the car further. "They're three of the most macho mice you'll ever meet. There's Vinnie, who is a speed demon with a kind heart. He's got white fur, and he wears a really cool silver mask on his face. Then there's Modo, who looks the scariest, but he has the biggest heart. He's got grey fur, and he's got a super cool metal arm." Amy's eyes were wide in interest as she spoke, even as tears rolled down her cheeks. Her heart twisted a little as she continued. "And then, there's the leader, Throttle. He's got tan fur, and wears some special glasses so he can see. He can be…stubborn at times. And sometimes you wanna tear your hair out because of it. But he really cares, and he just wants to keep you safe…even if that means he accidentally hurts you in the process."

"…I don't think I like Mista Throttle." She heard Amy whisper. It made her chuckle as she finally found the seat buckle.

"Well, what do you say we get outta here so you can meet him and see how nice he is?" she asked, Amy nodded hesitantly, and Charley reached over to pull her out of the seat. The car groaned again, and Amy whimpered in her ear, clutching her tightly. Charley moved slowly back into the front seat when the sound of an engine and a bright light caught her eye, making her turn.

…It was Throttle. How he was here and how he even knew to come was a mystery, but in that moment, she didn't care. Despite her earlier fury, an overwhelming sense of relief overcame her as he jumped off of Lady. He stood up, quickly pulling off his helmet before spotting her in the car. They smiled at each other, and for a moment, everything was fine.

But their relief was short-lived. Throttle's head snapped to the side as the steel of the bridge groaned a final time and snapped, dislodging the car. Amy screamed as the car tipped into mid-air, falling back. Charley could only hold onto her tightly as the car fell from the bridge into the water below.

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