A/N: I apologize for the long absence of posting. I have been real busy with school work and no time to write. Please enjoy.

Just about everyone came out of their rooms when they heard the car leave the lot. Even Throttle's mom stopped walking the twins around the lot when the car left. Everyone looked at each other then saw Throttle turn and go back into the room. Even Carbine and Morgan had been outside of their room and saw what was going on.

Morgan saw the look on Carbine's face. He put his hand on her shoulder and told her to go talk to him. "You 2 have history. Maybe he'll open up to you."

"I hope so. I'm very familiar with that walk. Its what I call "the sadness walk". I think it has something to do with Michelle leaving in that car."

"Then go find out. I'll get changed then come over there."

Carbine nodded and walked over to Throttle's room. Silverdawn had just gotten to the door herself. Carbine couldn't believe how big the boys are getting.

"They're getting so big, Silverdawn. Throttle must be so proud of them."

Silverdawn turned around and saw Carbine and smiled. "Yes, he is and yes, they are. They're a year and a half now. Is there something I can do for you, Carbine?"

"I'd like to talk to Throttle. He was doing "the sadness walk" back into the room. Since we have history…"

"You're hoping he'll talk to you, right?"

"Yes, I am. If he doesn't want to talk about it, I'll leave him alone til he's ready to talk."

"You always did respect his wishes. Come on in. We'll see if he wants to talk."

Silverdawn put her key card in and opened the door. Carbine held it open for her while she pushed the stroller in. "Thank you, Carbine. That was very kind of you to hold open the door for me."

"No problem." Then she let the door shut on its own.

"Throttle, sweetie. Carbine is here to talk to you."

Throttle rolled over in the bed farthest from the door. He had been crying. His face was soaked with his tears. It broke both womens' hearts. It was a good thing the boys were fast asleep and didn't see their father with tears in his eyes.

Carbine walked around the bed and sat down next to Throttle. He had sat up to give her some room to sit. "Michelle wouldn't want to see you like this, Throttle. It would break her heart so bad. That "walk of sadness" proves that you miss her."

"You gave that walk a name? Not surprising. Yeah, I do miss her, Carbine. She didn't want to leave, but the General told her she had to."

"Duty calls, she answered, even if she didn't want to. We both know how that feels."
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Camp Pendleton Marine Corps. base in San Diego, CA. The private and I had just arrived. As we stopped at the gate by the MP's, I noticed the General had walked up after one of the MP's informed him of my arrival. The General was in for a shock.

After I got out of the car, I saluted to the General. He wasn't sure if he should salute back or have me arrested. "At ease, Major. I will expect you to take that animal suit off as soon as you can. You are a Marine, not a child. Halloween is for children."

I stood at ease and told the General that it wasn't an animal suit.

"Go ahead and pull on the fur, General. I assure you its not a suit."

He pulled the fur and it hurt. I winced at the pain. He was shocked that it hurt me.

"The tail too? Its part of you, as well?"

"Yes, sir. The antenna on my head, too." I pointed to the antenna on the top of my head.

"This will take some time to get use to, Major. How did this happen?"

"Bad human blood, got a blood transfusion from my husband, got turned into a Martian Mouse."

"The one that answered your phone was your husband?"

"Yes, sir. Why was I reactivated, General? I did my 20+ yrs. in the Marines and retired. I had no desire to come back. Seen too much death overseas."

"I understood your reluctance in coming back when we talked on the phone, but you are the only one that can train the new recruits. No other drill instructor wants to do it."

"And I don't wanna do it, either. I'm not in tip top shape anymore, General. Not like I use to be."

"Could have fooled me. Come on. At least give the drill instructors a hand if they need it, ok?"

I sighed and gave in. "Fine. I hope I'm not making a mistake here."
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Over the next 13 weeks of boot camp, I helped the drill instructors train the new recruits. One of the recruits made the mistake of grabbing my tail and yanking on it. Guess he wanted to see if it was real or not. He found out real fast that it was real when I had him hanging upside down in front of me.

"Gonna try that again, private?"

"N..no ma'am."

"Good." Then I gently put him back down. "Get back in formation, grunt."

"Yes ma'am!"

I smiled knowing that I had just made a recruit piss himself. The other drill instructors noticed my smile then looked at the private with the wet spot on the front of his pants. They cocked an eyebrow each. I looked at them and shrugged. I didn't need to explain myself to them.

"You all should be proud of yourselves. You made it through boot camp and with my help, you made it through my ultimate training. Not many can make it without ringing the bell and calling it quits. I'm glad to call you all Marines. Oorah!"

In unison they all said, "Oorah!"

Later that afternoon, I watched all the recruits graduate from boot camp and become full Marines. I was hoping that I was done here, cause I wanted to get back to my family and friends. I missed my twin boys like crazy.

8hrs. later, the General walked up to me as I was heading for the officers' housing units. "Major, may I speak with you please?"

"Sure. I was just heading to the officers' housing units for the night."

"About that. Orders just came down and you're needed overseas. They have no commanding officer any more over there. He was shot and killed while leading his platoon."

I stopped and looked at him in shock. He also saw the fear in my eyes. "I'm sorry Major, but you are the only other high ranking Marine on the base besides me."

"No. Absolutely not. I will not do that to my family and friends. My twins need their mother and I'll be damned if I'm going to leave them without one."

"Orders are orders, Major. You know that."

"Fuck those orders, General. And I mean that in the utmost respect."

"I understand you're frustration, Major. I told them you have a family and they told me that you have a week to see your family and friends, then you need to pack and take the next transport overseas."

"Throttle isn't going to like this, General. He worries about my well-being, despite being a Marine."

"But he may understand that duty calls no matter what."

"That he will, but he's not going to like it. Why me, though?"

"I asked them the same thing."

"And…?"

"They didn't want me going. They liked how I was running the base. They knew you were on base and sent me your orders. At least they're giving you a week to see your family and friends before you have to leave."

I growled low in my throat. I was pissed. The General could tell I was pissed.

"Unless a family emergency comes up, you have to go, Major. I'm very sorry. I hope your husband and friends understand."

I looked at the General. "If he doesn't like the idea of me going overseas and getting hurt, I'm sending him to you then to the other higher ups who sent those damn orders."

The General dug his keys out of his pocket and handed them over to me. "Here, take my car back to the motel your family and friends are. I'll see if I can find someone else to take your place and I'll also find out why they wanted you to go overseas when we have other high-ranking officers here."

I took the keys and hit the unlock button. I looked where the noise came from. I couldn't believe it. A cherry red Lamborghini Diablo. I looked at the General. "There's no way you can afford this, sir. Unless you bought it at auction."

"Actually, I did buy it at auction. She's a beauty, isn't she?"

"That she is. Wait 'til my husband sees me roll up in this."

"Keep it, Major. You deserve it more than me."

"I can't keep this, sir."

"Major, I'm ordering you to keep it."

"Yes, sir." Then I walked over to the Lambo and got in. The General walked over shortly after and looked in.

"I knew you would look good in it. Enjoy it."

I started it up and revved it a bit. I loved how it sounded. "She purrs like a kitten."

"That she does. Go be with your family and I'll try to change your orders before next week."

"Thanks sir." I put it in gear and left the base. I headed back to the motel.
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

I pulled out my cell phone and called Charley.

"Hey Mike. You on your way back?"

"Yeah, I am."

"What's wrong?"

"Don't tell Throttle this, but I'm being sent overseas next week. My orders came down today."

"You know he's going to be pissed, Mike."

"I know, Charley. Believe me, I know."

"How you going to tell him?"

"I haven't figured that out yet. Any ideas?"

"Take him out to a nice restaurant, order the best beer on tap, then tell him before dinner."

"And if walks out before dinner?"

"Hope he doesn't walk out of your life and your boys' life, too."

"You really think he would walk out on his family?"

"I would hope not, Mike, but he can be unpredictable when pissed."

"Have you seen him that way before?"

"Yes, I have. It was long before you showed up. Modo had been hit bad in a fight with Greasepit and his goons. Both Vinnie and Throttle were pissed and went for blood. I wasn't there when it happened. Vinnie radioed me to come get Modo and his bike and take them back to the garage. By the time they came back to the garage, they had blood all over them and their bikes. I didn't bother to ask why they had all that blood on them. They were still in what I called "rage mode."

"I never wanna see Throttle like that."

I hope you never do either. It was pretty scary seeing both of them like that. Where are you at right now?"

"I'm about 3 miles from the hotel. I'll see you all soon."

"Ok, Mike. See ya soon."

After I hung up with Charley, I got pulled over by a police officer. Not what I needed at the moment.

The officer got out of his cruiser and walked up to the driver side window.

"Good evening officer."

"Evening ma'am. Can I see your license, registration and proof of insurance, please."

"Of course, officer." I reached into the glove box for the registration and insurance, then got my wallet out and got my license out. I gave him all 3.

"I haven't transferred anything over yet. My General just gave me this car today."

"Stay put and I'll be right back."

"Not a problem."

While I waited, I checked my email and Facebook.

The officer comes back and hands everything back to me. "Ma'am, did you know that you look nothing like your drivers' license picture?"

"Yes, I'm aware of that. I'm due to renew it soon, so I'm gonna set up an appt. to get a new picture taken for my new license."

"That's good. Other than having to transfer the car into your name, everything else checks out. Just please watch how fast you're going and use a handsfree device when talking on the phone next time. That's why you were pulled over."

"Understood officer. Am I free to leave now?"

"Yes ma'am. Have a nice day."

"You too, officer."

After I put everything away, I put the car in gear and headed for the hotel.