FicWad

Author's Notes: This story is turning out to be longer than the original Brothers in Arms - here's the next bit.
Anyway, I have started to note the bike types I use in my stories - all Trailblazers are non-AI bikes, the generic-looking bikes ridden by most of the mice are Sylver army-commission bikes in their various types and the Martian equivalent of Harley-Davidson is the Merito. You want a comprehensive list? Then say so in your review and I'll send you one.
Also - Modo was obviously not born in America, so that accent must come from somewhere else. Right? Find out where...

CHAPTER THREE

Six years ago:
The shouting could be heard inside the medibay long before the source of the voice actually entered.
'Put me down, you idiot, I can walk, you know I can walk, you-' There was a short silence, then a barrage of screamed abuse and the door opened revealing a mangled and deeply unwilling Blue in the arms of Modo, who looked almost scared of his load.
'Well, we know she's alive,' murmured Machete to Flare. 'I'll deal with this, honey. You can kill her later for calling your son those names.' Flare fled, and Machete marched up to the patient. 'So, what happened?'
'Bike crash,' said Modo. 'She was-'
'Hey, I can talk!' snapped Blue.
'We know,' said Machete blandly. 'Well?'
'Racing Vinnie,' said Blue sulkily. 'Hit a patch of oil. Make him put me down, I can walk.'
'Not on that leg you can't. Looks to me like a break. You're not being independant, you're being /stupid/. This way, Modo.' Machete stalked off down the hall.
'Woah,' said Blue. 'Takes no prisoners, does she?'
Modo didn't reply, just followed and laid Blue carefully on the bed where Machete pointed. The medic ran an X-ray gun over Blue's leg and nodded. 'Fractured femur. We'll put a cast on it and you'll have to stay here for a while, heaven help us.'
'Sorry Blue,' said Modo. 'You're gonna have to let someone care 'bout you for once.'
Blue sighed heavily. 'Daddy would hate to see me like this.'
'You think so?' said Machete. 'Your father would rather you were cured, my girl. Modo, can you make sure she doesn't escape while I get my kit?'
'Uh, sure, ma'am,' said Modo. Machete strode out, leaving them alone.
'One of the things my daddy told me before he left was always to make sure I could rely on myself,' said Blue.
'Yeah, but he didn't mean you had to stop relyin' on anyone else at all.'
'Easy for you to say. You've got family. People who care about you.'
'Yeah, but...' Modo stopped.
'What?'
'Well, Ah was gonna say you got people that care about you too.'
'And you didn't because you know I haven't.'
'No. Cuz you have.'
'Oh, yeah? Who?'
'Yeah, that's why Ah didn't wanna say it. Ah didn't want you to ask me that.'
Blue propped herself up on her elbow with a little difficulty and stared at him. He didn't meet her eyes. 'Well, Modo, I had no idea.'
'Yeah, well, now you do.'
'Yeah. Um. Well, alright then, I'll do you a deal. I will stay here in this medibay and be as good as gold until the medics say I can go. But.'
'But?'
'But you have to come and visit me every day. Promise?'
Modo looked startled, but Blue was smiling. After a moment he smiled back. 'Yeah,' he said. 'Ah promise.'
xx
The following day, Blue was already filling the medibay with complaints - about the food, the boredom, the company, the weight of the cast, the bed, the toilet arrangements and anything else she could think of to rant about. Eventually Flare lost her temper.
'/Enough/!' she said. 'Any more of this and you'll be on family-only visitin' till you go home!'
'I don't have any family,' said Blue sulkily.
'Well, that's where you're wrong, Bluebird,' said Stoker cheerily, ambling in without bothering to knock. 'Morning, Flare. Got the boys outside, can we come in?'
Flare sighed. 'Normally Ah'd say no - but sure, go ahead. Maybe y'all can stop her moanin'.' She turned and left, with an air of thankful surrender.
'Hi, guys,' said Blue as Vinnie, Modo and Throttle practically fell into the room. 'Good to see you. Stoke, what're you talking about? I don't have any family.'
'Course you do! We're your family! Embarrassing stories and all!'
'Right,' said Vinnie. 'And you can't get rid of us, either...' he cackled evilly.
Blue rolled her eyes. 'Oh, gods... Yeah, that sounds like family to me.'
'Can we sign your cast?' said Throttle.
'What'll you write?' said Blue, warily.
'"To Blue, the best adopted sister a mouse could ask for".' He flashed her an innocent smile.
'Yeah, right. No, you can't sign my cast. I can see it now: "This space for rent", maybe, or "To Throttle, IOU five washing ups, signed Blue".'
'Hey, I hadn't thought of that, nice one,' said Vinnie. 'Modo, what'd you write?'
'"To Blue - Sponsor of Acme road cleaners",' replied Modo, flashing her a grin.
'/What/?' cried Blue. 'You-' She chucked a pillow at him. He fielded it easily and hung on to it. Blue frowned at him. 'C'mon, Modo, give me my pillow back.'
'Extra ammo? Not a chance, darlin'.'
'Pleeease?' she smiled and fluttered her eyelashes at him.
Stoker sighed theatrically. 'Modo, give her her pillow back, I can't bear such a pathetic display.' Modo laughed and tucked the pillow down behind Blue's back. There was... something... in the moment of closeness, but it passed, and neither said anything.
'Anyway, if we're done with the clowning around-' began Stoker.
'What, this family?' said Vinnie. 'Never!'
'What, even for cookies?'
'OK, I'm done clowning.' Stoker placed the box on the bedside table and there was a long and sugary silence. Blue reflected, with her mouth full, that this family might not be the one she was born with, but it didn't make a bad second choice.
xx
Blue was asleep when visiting time came round the following day, but the click of the door closing roused her. At first she thought no-one was there - if Stoker and the guys had come there'd be a lot more noise than just a click - but then she saw Modo just turning to leave.
'Modo - I'm awake, don't go,' she said, pushing herself up into a sitting position.
Modo turned around. 'Ah'm sorry, did Ah wake you up?'
'Sure, but if it's visiting time then I should be awake anyway, right? Not much to do round here but wait for visitors. Where are the rest of the crowd?'
''S just me today. Throttle and Stoke went to see Scabbard an' Vinnie decided he wants an extra bike tech class.'
Blue arched an eyebrow. 'This wouldn't have anything to do with Flash's rising star, would it?'
'Flash's... what?'
'The pretty little trainee mechanic with the curls.'
'Oh - Harley.' Modo grinned. 'Yeah, it prob'ly does, but you'd never get him to admit it.'
'Doesn't mean I can't tease him about it.'
'Blue, darlin', you'll give the kid a complex.'
'Um. Yeah, you're probably right.' She reached across and patted his hand. 'Good job you're around, really, or me and my big mouth might end up really hurting someone. So, you're on cripple-watch today, huh?'
'That's me - Saint Modo, visitin' the sick.' Blue made a sound halfway between a choke and a snort. 'What?' said Modo. 'What's funny?'
'You... I just had this image of you saying "blessings of Mars be upon you" like they do at the monastery, only in that funny Dire Valley accent... whoo, what an image.'
'What's wrong with mah accent?'
'Nothing. I like it. I just don't think you'd make a good saint, saints have to be calm and holy all the time. And I never heard of any saint who could punch through a wall. But you wouldn't be half as much fun as a saint, so don't you ever change.' She grinned. 'What's Dire Valley like, anyway?'
'Ah dunno, it was invaded just after Ah was born. Momma says it was a beautiful place but Ah guess Ah'll never see now. Ah only got the accent 'cause o' Momma and Silver.'
'Really? Oh... I'm so sorry.' Blue held out her arms; the hug was brief but then she turned her head a little and everything seemed to stop. Their faces were almost touching, it would take just a tiny movement...
The door opened and the moment shattered. The hug ended and they sat back as Flash entered the room. 'Hey, Blue Skies, how's the leg?' he said. 'Hi, Modo, you OK? Oh... Am I interrupting anything?'
'No,' said Blue and Modo together.
'Hi, Flash,' said Blue. 'Doing fine, Flare says I should be out in a day or so. Still with a cast, but what the hell.'
'I think you're very wise not letting anyone sign it,' said Flash. 'I broke my wrist a few years back and you know what my brother wrote? "Looks like you jerked it too much".'
Blue burst out laughing. 'This is Rocket, right? The big one?'
'No, it was Benelli - Rocky was in a blue funk for about an hour, said he wished he'd thought of it.'
'You're kidding - I didn't think Benny could think like that!'
'People have hidden talents, my girl.'
'Why do you call her Blue Skies?' said Modo, deciding it was time he made a contribution. 'Th' sky's red.'
'Here,' Flash dug around in his jacket pockets and brought out a slim case. Flipping through its contents, he produced a battered picture of a green field with a river and trees and, yes, a blue summer sky. 'Rocky brought that back from Earth. He says it's a great place and the fish haven't got there yet.'
'Isn't it pretty?' said Blue, craning her neck to look. 'We've got to go there one day. Maybe when we're not needed here anymore.'
'I guess in that case we'll never be going,' said Flash, as Modo handed the photo back. 'You'll have to take her, Modo, I don't think I'll get a chance.'
'That'd be really nice,' said Blue. 'Don't you think?'
'Yeah,' said Modo. 'Ah do.'
xx
Blue was home within two days. Flare said that normally the tenants of the Halls where the graduates of the nurseries lived would be kept in medibay till they were completely better, but Blue just made too much noise and besides, Blue's roommate Beretta was a trainee medic and well used to her by now. She wasn't quite as used to the entourage Blue seemed to have accumilated, since Blue spent most of her time elsewhere. On the first day back, though, everyone was brought bang up to events.
'You're going to stay there and rest your leg if I have to nail you down,' said Beretta calmly.
'Yeah, and then you fail your med test,' replied Blue.
'Oh, I'm sure I-' She was interrupted by a thunderous banging on the door. 'Phobos and Deimos, who the hell's /that/?'
'Door's still intact and shut so it's probably Throttle,' said Blue. 'Well, open it, then. I'm an invalid.'
Beretta scowled at her and opened the door. Throttle was there, so was Vinnie, but the one knocking was Stoker. Blue's eyebrows shot up. 'By the raging moons of Mars, Stoke, you actually learned to /knock/?'
'It's a lady's bower, I can't come barging in. And who is this delightful young thing? Blue, you didn't tell me you had such lovely friends.'
'This is my roommate, Beretta. Berry, you know Stoker, right? And Throttle and Vinnie.'
'Of course I do, he's our fearless leader, isn't he?' said Beretta. 'Come in, don't just stand on the doorstep, fearless leader, don't you know it's bad luck?' She beamed at Stoker and held the door open while they entered. 'I'll just go and get some drinks.'
Vinnie waited till she'd gone before he said, 'Is she being serious?'
'What, her? Berry is very rarely serious,' said Blue. 'Hi, Whiteass, hi, Crazyface. Do I get a hug or what?' All three of them hugged her at the same time and she emerged from under the heap of large male bodies slightly rumpled but smiling. 'Whoo, you know how to make a gal feel wanted.'
'So, this is where you live, huh?' said Throttle, looking around the room. It had a stack of battered crates, one rack of miscellaneous weaponry and another of bike tools, and a lot of the kind of mess you get when someone in a hurry comes in, drops whatever they're carrying and goes out again. 'Nice place.'
'No, this is where I sleep and keep my stuff,' replied Blue. 'Mostly I live between your place, the mess hall and the bike shed. You want to see a nice place, you should see Berry's room.'
At this moment the subject of the last sentence entered the room with a crate of root beer in her hands. Stoker jumped to his feet and took it from her. 'Let me help you with that.'
'Why thankyou,' said Berry sweetly. 'My goodness, Blue, he's very helpful. Should I tell him I'm only eighteen?'
'Should I tell her I'm not deaf?' said Stoker.
'I don't think it'd make a scrap of difference,' replied Blue to both questions.
'I don't think it would either,' said Stoker. 'My dear Beretta, Blue seems to think I should see your room.'
'What?' Berry turned and smiled at Blue; one of those dangerous smiles that implied medical precision with sharp instruments if not appeased. 'And why would she think that, now?'
'Oh, that's a nice smile...' said Vinnie.
'Throttle was trying to be nice about my room and I said if they wanted to see a nice room they should see yours,' said Blue. 'That's all. So please stop looking at me like that. Phobos, Berry, I know you scared all the firearms trainers but why'd anyone have to let you be a medic instead?'
'Oh, they thought I'd learn the merits of preserving life.' She reached past Throttle and took a root beer, popping the top off with her thumb. 'I think they're regretting it now.'
'Why?' said Throttle.
'I learned one hundred and one fun things to do with bodily reactions instead.'
'Yeah,' said Blue. 'We were roomed together because I was supposed to be a calming influence. Imagine that. The sort of person for whom I am a calming influence.'
'Ah, there were a few options. But I was the only person who could keep you quiet.'
'Sounds like a friendship made in heaven,' said Stoker. There was another knock on the door; this time it was Modo. A little later Stoker and all three boys left but Silver and the twins dropped by for a chat, and shortly after them came Flash and Harley.
Over the next few days Blue had a constant stream of regular visitors and Beretta only got any peace after she threatened to fit them all with rusty catheters unless they called before they dropped by. After that things calmed down a little and Blue settled down to recovery.
xx
'So, what exactly did happen with your firearms teachers?'
Beretta looked up. Stoker was leaning on a wall outside the medibay, clearly waiting for her, and the question had hit her practically in the face as she'd come out of the building.
'What?'
'I asked around but no-one will tell me. They just say you were ten. Now, how is it that you managed to get kicked out of the firearms class at ten when they don't even let you pack real iron till you're fifteen?'
Berry shrugged. 'Well, to start with it was the laugh.'
'The laugh?'
Berry threw back her head and cackled gleefully at the sky, eyes wide and wild and teeth glinting, black hair tossing around her; the display was uncontrolled and slightly demonic, and then it stopped just as suddenly as it started. 'Like that. Apparently if I do that when I'm holding a gun it scares my own side.'
'Yeees,' said Stoker. 'But the laugh alone doesn't explain it. Laughter is OK for a ten-year-old.'
'Yes, but then they heard me discussing at great length and in extreme detail the various ways of killing someone with a paint gun.' She grinned. 'I suppose it might've still been alright if I hadn't then tried to demonstrate.'
Stoker raised an eyebrow. 'You tried to kill a fellow student-'
'No, I just got a little carried away describing a theory, that's all. We're on perfectly amiable terms now. You can ask him if you like. You know Sprint?'
'The one who became a computer programmer?'
'It isn't my fault he's deaf now, I wasn't the one who shot his ears full of paint. Alright, it was my idea, but it wasn't me that did it in the end and it didn't work anyway.'
'So the training sessions got a little too unpredictable when you were around, is that it?' said Stoker, amused.
'That's right.' Berry's grin threatened to take the top off her head. 'And now they give me a scalpel and let me loose on the helpless. Don't it make you feel /good/?'
'I don't know. Ever tortured anyone before?'
Berry stopped dead, the smile wiped off her face. 'What kind of question is /that/?'
'A perfectly valid one, which I reckon I just got answered,' replied Stoker. 'Although one day I might take you on a mission, see if we can really give those stinkers something to remember. But that's not really why I came to find you.'
'No?'
'Came to say I sent the boys round to your place to watch Blue; you want to come over for dinner tonight?'
The smile returned. 'Now I really should have seen that coming. Are you supposed to be fraternising with the troops, fearless leader?'
'What's the point of being a leader if I can't fraternise a bit?'
'What about the questionable morality of trying to land a girl nearly as young as your son?'
'Well, first of all he's not my son, secondly I think I should try while I still can.'
Beretta raised an eyebrow. 'Ah, but can you?'
'Mars, you're a tough one, aren't you? I guess I'll have to try plan B.' Before she could move, Stoker swept her off her feet and kissed her; her bag dropped to the floor and she would have pushed him off but he was an incredibly persuasive kisser and she found herself first thinking, OK, in a second, then, and then returning the kiss.
'I think I still can,' whispered Stoker. 'What do you think?'
'Yeah,' said Berry. 'You're probably right.'
He set her back on her feet. 'And so I ask again, do you want to come for dinner?'
'After that,' said Berry, dusting herself down and picking up her bag. 'I don't think I have much of a choice.'
xx
Silver picked up an empty root beer bottle and dropped it in the bin. For a moment the crash obscured the noises coming from the room next door.
'How long've you had to put up with that?' she said.
'About two days,' replied Blue. 'I must say Stoke was very quick off the mark. But to tell you the truth, he's just her type. She'd have started chasing herself if he'd hung around a while.'
'Berry's got a type?' Silver started picking up discarded clothing and sorting it into the pile of crates or the laundry box. There was a thud as something heavy hit the dividing wall.
'Sure,' said Blue. 'I mean, she flirts a lot but that's just 'cause she likes to see 'em squirm. Find her a guy who'll push back-' There was another /thud/, '-figuratively speaking, and she'll chase 'em till the ducks come home. Man, I wish I had a radio in here... or a boyfriend. Silver, you really don't have to clear up my stuff.'
'Well, yes, Ah do, cause Ah'm keepin' you company and Ah don't wanna sit in a junkhole. Why don't y' have a boyfriend? There's gotta be loads of guys'd kill to be with you. Hell, Ah'm related to one of 'em.'
'Modo? You realise that's the first indication of that fact I've had since I got this thing fitted?' She thumped the cast. 'Your little brother is the cagiest mouse I know.'
'Naw, he's just shy. You like him?'
Blue grinned. 'Well, if I tell you, will you tell him?'
'Not if y' don't want me to.'
'Then yes, I do like him. He's sweet and funny and kind and cute and romantic and... oh, Mars... Silver, what am I going to do?'
Silver put the laundry box away and took Blue's hand in both of hers. 'Well, sweetie, since you asked, you gotta seize the moment for yerself, cause Modo's been taught that if there's one thing a gentlemouse don't do, it's take advantage of a lady. An' that's what he says y'are, honeychile, a lady. Bright an' beautiful an' shinin' like a star. So you gotta tell him what's buggin' you, and tell him hard, cause mah brother is nice as pie but /man/, he got one mighty thick head.'
'You think I should pounce him and give him a big wet soppy kiss?' said Blue.
'Don't sound too bad a plan,' said Silver. 'He'd get the picture.'
'OK. I was joking, but OK.'
The noises on the other side of the wall reached a loud and embarrassing climax. After a little while the joining door opened and a very dishevelled Berry sauntered through in her dressing gown, grinning widely.
'Hello, friends and neighbours,' she said. 'Got any root beer?'
'Hi, Berry,' said Blue. 'Having a good time? No, don't answer that. We heard.'
'Ahahaha,' said Berry.
'So, is it love?' said Silver.
'Don't be ridiculous,' said Stoker, appearing in the doorway in just his jeans and slipping an arm around Berry's waist. 'We're just having some fun, right, babe?'
'Right. No, we talked about this last night,' said Berry. 'I like it better this way.'
'Great sex and no emotional crap,' said Stoker, taking the root beer Berry handed him. 'Match made in heaven. Blue, I have no idea why you didn't introduce me to this girl earlier.'
'She only turned eighteen three months ago, Stoke,' said Blue wearily.
'Oh, yeah.'
'Now, are you just gonna stand there and be post-coital at me?'
'Nope. See you.' The door shut behind them and the lock clicked.