*Waves*

Hi...It's me. Your friendly neighbourhood monkey, not updating for 6 months.

In the last update I said I started a bookstagram account under the name flofairytales and yeah, that claimed most of my time (that and reading and of course being a fulltime middleschool teacher can also get in the way). That is by no means an excuse to leave you all hanging with the story, which is obviously nowhere near done. Still I do owe you all an apology.

Especially considering the amount of people who started reading both of my biker mice stories, leaving reviews and sending messaging 'when will you continue!?'

Well, I'm here! With an update, exactly half a year since the last one. (Bloody hell, that's long).

Anyway, if you're still here for the journey, thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Enjoy!

Chapter 16 - Rock the boat

Mars

A small send off. Nothing more was needed. Carbine, Havoc, a handful of Freedom Fighters, no Rimfire as he was on his way to Earth. But the real surprise was that Izzy had not been there. Throttle had already said his goodbyes to her in a way nobody, except for her, had appreciated. But despite the fur that had raised, he felt good about what he had done. At least now he could head for Boreas without a single worry or concern for her wellbeing.

"There's still time to go back, rookie."

Stoker's voice sounded in his ear and Throttle rolled his eyes.

"You should listen to your own advise, old-timer." He retorted through the radio. "Nobody would hate you for it."

"I would hate me for it."

This conversation was a never ending one.

They'd only left the Freedom base an hour ago. Him, Stoker, Colt and Rackham. A group of four. Four Martian mice to find and bring back Vinnie and the human in one piece. The human who'd been sent by the FBI to find Isabel and question her for Morden's death. Stoker was unaware of who Kirk Burrows exactly was and Throttle was set on keeping it that way for now. It would only add more fuel to the fire and they had bigger squids to fry.

Find Vinnie. Bring him back. Bring the whole team back. Alive. That was his mission and Throttle would see to it that it would be done. It was no different for Stoker, he knew that. Still, he would have been happier if his former coach had stayed behind at the base. For all their sakes, but especially for Izzy's.

He'd already failed that part. Throttle had promised, voiced it out loud even, that if Stoker wouldn't stay behind for Izzy then he would in his stead. But then Stoker had shown up with his bike. Ready to leave, and Throttle? Throttle had nodded at him. Searched the upper platforms with his eyes to see if Izzy was there too. But she hadn't been there to see them off.

Perhaps if she had been there, Throttle would have gotten off his bike and given the mission to Havoc instead. However, at the same time, a little voice popped up in the back of his head. Something Stoker had said to him earlier.

I need you, Vinnie needs you. You're really going to choose my girlfriend over the life of your brother?

Throttle didn't think those words would be enough to persuade him to drop his initial plan. But it had. In fact, whether or not if Izzy had been there to say goodbye to them, he probably would have still left with Stoker. By the Goddess, he really wasn't good at sticking to his words nowadays.

"Stoke, if anything happens to you,-"

"Yeah, yeah, you'll take care of Izzy." Stoker interjected before he could finish his sentence.

"I will...and I will hate you for it."

Both mice fell quiet after that. Without saying anything else, they switched the frequency of their helmets back to the main channel. This was no time to dwell on ifs and maybes. They needed to be of one mind, along with Colt and Rackham, if they were to get to and from Boreas in once piece with another mouse and human back added to the formation.

Chicago, Earth

"Too quiet."

"You really think he's gone?"

"Seems so. No trace. Not even Greasepit or his goons are in the neighbourhood."

Charley leaned back in her seat, her hand gently caressing her still small stomach. Modo was currently at Limburger Tower. Chicago had been awfully quiet lately. No explosions, no uninvited guests visiting the Last Chance garage. Ever since Throttle had left them, the whole place had gone silent. As if Limburger had disappeared along with him.

One would think this was a blessing, but somehow not having big ol' fish around made Charley more nervous than she ever thought it would. Modo felt the same, which was why he'd gone out there. Being the only mouse in town, it was up to him now to make sure nothing out of the ordinary was going one.

"So what now?"

"Comin' back to you. Ain't nothing here."

"I'll be waiting."

With a sigh, Charley switched the microphone off. Ain't nothing here. Those were not reassuring words. The only good thing was that Charley knew for sure there wasn't much to worry about. At least they were safe. The garage was safe. No Limburger in sight, no Karbunkle, no Greasepit. But the question was, where were they?

She had a bad feeling about this. If Limburger was gone, it wouldn't be for good. Because if that was the case, wouldn't he destroyed the tower? Or at the very least the transporter? Everything had been in perfect order the day they went to Karbunkle's lab to use the transporter. And if she were to believe Modo, it still looked exactly the same, except for it being more dusty.

Charley raised her hand to her lips and tapped her fingers against them. No doubt Limburger was up to something and she knew it was all connected to the microfilm. Hiring an FBI agent to track down Morden's killer...Why did Limburger care so much? Why did the FBI suspect Izzy of being involved with Morden's death? Had Stoker not cleaned up enough after killing him? Or was it because of Sam?

No, no that didn't make sense.

"Sam..." Charley whispered her brother's name.

He'd kept so many secrets during his life from everyone. From her, from Izzy. Even now, after his death, the secrets were still there. Some solved, but not this one. Not the one about the microfilm. He'd stolen it from Morden, but why? Don't let anyone get their hands of claws on it.
Was what he'd said in his final letter. Claws...it was such a specific word. Did he know about the aliens roaming around on Earth? Plutarkians, Martians, who knew what else.

He knew something, Charley was sure of this. But would she ever find out? One thing was certain, as soon as Rimfire would arrive and take her and Modo to Mars, she was going to meddle with this microfilm. She'd only seen bits of the blueprints, knew a little of what the contained, but she was a mechanic. An engineer, really.

She could help the Martians out with this. Part of her felt she needed to, even if initially she planned on having the blasted piece of film destroyed because Sam had begged her to, she now was set on being a helping hand in the matter.

Pushing her chair back, she walked up towards the window and stared outside into the darkness as only one of the streetlamps was functioning properly. Closing her eyes she listened, listened quietly for that familiar rumble of a motorcycle engine in the distance. Modo couldn't get home soon enough. Rimfire couldn't get to Earth soon enough. She was sick,-

Sick. Oh, crap.

Clasping a hand in front of her mouth, Charley rushed towards the toilet. Sometimes she really did not enjoy being pregnant.

Boreas, Mars

Flint. Stoker's blasted brother. What was he doing here? Alive and well. Apparently he'd managed to get into good graces with the leader of this Malacian clan. Vinnie hardly knew him, except for the stories. No doubt he was just as much of a smooth talker like Stoker was. Vinnie had too many questions and he was going to start asking some of those right now.

"Stoker is, was, my coach. He taught me and my brothers how to ride, how to fight."

"Was? Dead?" Flint jumped up from the floor.

Vinnie shook his head. "No. Definitely alive. Just no longer my coach."

"So, he lives, ey? And on top of that, sounds like my baby brother took my spot in the rebellion, did he?" Flint snorted.

Quietly he strode over to Vinnie, stopping only a couple of inches in front of his face. Flint was a tall mouse, not that it was difficult when it concern Vincent as he wasn't known for being a tall mouse, but Stoker's older brother was massive. Broad shouldered, the same hazel-like colour, streaks of white through his long brown hair.

"Mmm, you're not wearing the rebel colours. How do I know you are who you claim to be?"

"Name's Vincent Van Wham." Vinnie replied sticking his muzzle up into the air. He wasn't going to let Flint stare him down. Yeah, he definitely preferred Stoker over this dude any day.

"Van Wham?" Flint leaned back and cocked his head. "That sounds familiar. It'll do for now,- So!" He clapped his hands and walked back to the Malacian clan leader and took a stand next to her. "Can we expect my brother to show his face as well? Or is he too scared to face me after all these years?"

The resentment for Stoker was obvious in his voice. Vinnie crossed his arms.

"Stoker doesn't know I'm here. We arrived here on accident. I could tell you the details but,- it might go over your head."

Flint frowned at him and Vinnie quickly cleared his throat, this was not the time to make enemies, especially not with Stoker's brother.

"One of the Malacians just informed me that this place, this cave,-" He waved his arm for emphasize. "We're in Boreas?"

"That was the place I was riding through before getting swallowed by a sand pit. Nasty experience." Flint visibly shuddered.

Crap! Vinnie was hoping it hadn't been true, but there was no doubt about it. He was in Boreas. One of the, if not the most inhabitable places on all of Mars. Every mouse avoided the area like the Rat plague, if you went there, you were bound for death. Stoker had lost his team back here. Not only his team, but apparently his brother. If Stoker knew his brother was still alive after all these years...But why had he never mentioned losing Flint there specifically?

"Just you?" Vinnie asked.

"I thought all of us had. But now you tell me Stoker is alive and kicking,- guess one of us didn't get dragged down a funnel of sand." Flint huffed.

Yep, there was definitely resentment there. Oh boy. Vinnie scratched the back of his head, at the same time Kirk Burrows stepped forward. He'd been so quiet, Vinnie had almost forgotten he hadn't come here alone.

"I'm sure there is plenty more to talk about with regards to this, Stoker fellow? However, if you forgive me for interrupting, I'd like to know if there is a way out of here? Out of these caves and back to Earth."

"Earth?" Flint barked out the word. "I thought you were a weird looking mouse. An Earthling, right in our midst. You know, you guys make some good entertainment on those square screens."

Kirk blinked, confused and definitely taken back by what the immense hairy creature was saying to him. Was he talking about television?

"Is this what I've been missing? Humans on Mars?"

"Beloved?" The Malacian female placed her hand against his chest and Flint immediately seemed to relax. "An important question was asked. Perhaps we should provide this Earthling with an answer?"

An answer, finally. Vinnie had to give it to not Kevin, he'd almost forgotten why they were there in the first place. To ask the clan leader for help, but how the heck was he suppose to know he'd run into one of the original Freedom Fighters? But as Vinnie's eyes landed on the tall white female mouse, he felt his heart sink.

Her milky veiled eyes seemed to looked straight through him accompanied by a look of, was it compassion? No, it felt different. He couldn't explain it, but he didn't like the way she was looking at him.

"I'm afraid, neither of you, will ever be able to go back home."

Freedom Fighter Base

He knocked twice on the small window and waited patiently for the person on the other side to open up. After the Boreas search team had left the base, he'd waited about an hour before finally making his way over there. To check and make sure she was alright. After all, he had promised his captain to look after her. And he was a mouse of his word.

The door slid open, revealing Izzy, sweaty, puffy eyed and her hair tide up in a bun. She'd been crying, it was clear to see. Even Martian females got that reddish shade in their whites when sad. But the blue colour staring back at him was intense. Blue like water. When was the last time he'd seen a Martian ocean in his life?

"They left." Havoc said though he was certain she was well aware. "May I come in?"

Without answering Izzy stepped aside to let him in. Dear Goddess, it was warm in there. Havoc didn't like it. No wonder Izzy's skin was glistening the way that it was. Any minute now and his fur was going to stick to his clothes.

"How are you coping?" He asked.

"Just that...coping." She answered with a deep sigh. "Ridiculous, right? It's been what, an hour at most, and I'm already a weeping mess. I'll be fine tomorrow. I just need to,- accept this is happening."

"If there's anything I can do to help." Havoc offered, searching Izzy's eyes again until she locked hers with his. "You name it. That's what I'm here for. To make sure you're okay. Until Stoker comes back with the others."

Somehow he managed to get a small smile out of her and he stood up straight, proudly, as if he'd achieved something profound. That's when his gaze landed on the left side of her head. He narrowed his eyes and leaned forward just a little. This hadn't been there last he'd seen her.

"You're...engaged." He said softly.

Izzy's eyes widened. Apparently he said something surprising? It was clear as day, was it not? There had been so many scents in this hot room that he hadn't noticed anything particular about her. But now that he saw it, yes, it was obvious. Stoker had claimed her officially and visibly.

"How do you,- we haven't told,-" Izzy stumbled over her words.

Was he wrong? This was his captain's hair entwined with hers was it not?

"The braid." He pointed at her hair. "May I look at it?"

With a confused look she grabbed the small plait and held it aloft for him. Havoc took it between his thumb and index finger. Without getting too close, he inhaled deeply. Stoker's scent. It was his hair. He dropped the braid and took a step back.

"It seems a congratulation is in order!" He smiled broadly and placed a hand on Izzy's shoulder. It was sticky from the humid environment and Havoc crinkled his nose for a second.

Izzy tilted her head back and looked up at the ceiling. "He did just that, didn't he. That blasted man." A short chuckle escaped her.

Another one of those Martian customs which meant something important that he just so happened not to tell her about. If, when he got...she was going to give him another earful.

"Let me guess, this tells you he proposed to me?" She asked, despite already knowing the answer.

Havoc gave a swift nod. "Yes. It means you are is future wife. Did he not tell you?"

"Must have slipped his mind." Izzy muttered under her breath, though her heart skipped a little beat.

Who could have guessed something as simple as a braid was the equivalent of an engagement ring. Although the part where he added his hair to it had struck her as odd, she thought he was just being sweet. That he wanted her to have something personal of his to carry with her until he'd come back.

"We should celebrate! Ah, quietly, of course." Havoc quickly added as he saw the look of shock crossing Izzy's face. "People will notice it sooner or later, I fear. Unless you want to stay in this awfully warm cabin for, well, for how long I do not know."

He was right, she knew he was. Best deal with it now than later. At least Havoc would be with her. Thank goodness there was someone around willing to explain all of these Martian customs to her.

"You're right, it would be nice to have a moment to take my mind of today. Alright. Give me a moment to wash up and I'll meet you in front of your cabin?"

Clearly for this chapter I decided to just give everybody some screentime.

Cause why not? We hadn't seen Modo and Charley in ages. Last chapter didn't contain any Stoker and Izzy. And of course we had to round up more about this Flint guy.

So to clarify some things about good old Flint. He's Stoker's older brother, but no he is not Carbine's father.

I hope you enjoyed this short chapter and that it made you eager for more.

Until next time!