Love of Mars

Chapter 10

3 Weeks Later

Things had gone mostly back to normal after the kidnapping and torture incident.

The guys were a more protective than usual and the girls almost always had an escort everywhere but other than that- Oh and the nightmares... Other than those, things were back to normal..

It was Friday night and that meant movie night at the Last Chance Garage.

After a long day for the guys putting a stop to yet another of Limburger's half thoughtout schemes, the group all but crashed out on the sofas and the floor to watch the movie but none of them even made it past half way.

Vinnie and Charley were curled up together - they hadn't said anything to the group officially but honestly there was no denying what they were to each other at this point. Throttle and Modo had collapsed, leaning on each other while Stella had just dozed on the arm chair she had stolen from Throttle, much to his annoyance.

Standing up and stretching out her cramped muscles, Stella made her way up the stairs deciding there were two perfectly good beds not being used and she'd be damned if she let that go to waste. She'd much rather sleep in the spare room than squeeze into a semi-comfortable position in the recliner any day. Reaching the spare room she tugged off her jeans and pulled on a pair of Charley's pyjamas. She really needed to keep some spare clothes here...The pyjamas were small on her but would do for tonight and would be more comfortable than her jeans.

Stella was rudely awakened by a loud crash. She glanced blearily at the alarm clock on the floor, noted it was eight the morning, and briefly considered stuffing a pillow over her head and going back to sleep. Until a second crash startled her into nearly falling out of the bed. Terror at the thought of the noise being one of the Plutarkians or their goons coming to do a surprise attack filled her mind. As quietly as she could she crawled to her feet and stumbled her way out of the bedroom and down to the kitchen.

"Charley?" No answer... "Charley," she called louder, "what the hell is going-" Her words and feet both stumbled to a halt in front of the kitchen; she gaped at the sight of a large white body kneeling on the floor, mopping up a puddle of steaming coffee. She blinked, then blinked again. "Vinnie?"

"Mind your feet," Modo said from behind her, making her jump. "Vinnie dropped the coffee pot...twice."

"Aw, shaddup, I was only tryna-" Vinnie looked up to defend himself, but only managed a choked sound when he caught sight of Stell. His jaw remained open, dark pink eyes so wide that she wondered how they didn't fall right out of his head. She frowned at him, glanced over her shoulder to see Modo on the couch, facing the other direction with one hand covering his good eye. 

She glanced down at herself, and her sleeping attire of tiny shorts and vest top. "Oh, for God's sake! It's not like I knew you three were still here! You guys are always off early!" Stella tried to defend herself. "Charley is smaller than me in dress size! Not to mention that it's hot as hell in this place in summer!"

"It sure is," Vinnie breathed, still ogling.

From behind her, Modo slapped a hand over his eyes and shook his head with an exasperated sigh.

Stella fixed Vinnie with a mild glare before turning on her heel and marching back up to her room ... only to run headlong into a large body coming through the door from the stairs, stumbling into a furry chest as two hands came up to catch her by the arms and steady her. "Woah there, Doll." Throttle's voice chuckled softly, regarding her through his glasses.

"What's all the racket?" Charley yawned as she shrugged a ratty flannel robe on over her T-shirt and cut-off sweatpants. She stopped, taking notice of Stella's appearance for the first time. "Don't tell me you went out there dressed like that," she groaned, running a hand over her face.