This damn chapter took forever to write. So I wanna thank Spades24 and my buddy Cha for heling me with it.

Thanks guys!

R&R

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It was Halloween.

The first holiday that they had been exposed too and after several hours of partying and playing juvenile pranks that they hadn't played since they had been sixteen or younger- the three had gone back to the scoreboard to turn in for the night. Or so it had seemed.

However the second they had pulled their bikes into their usual parking spot, Throttle, their unit leader since the Martian war had started, told them to go ahead and turn in without him.

There was something that he wanted to do before he called it a night.

Ignoring the curious/questioning looks he got from his bros, Throttle pulled back out of the parking space and returned to the streets. Steadily making his way down to the park that was three or four miles over from where the Last Chance Garage was located.

This had become a ritual for him of late. Leaving in the middle of the night and going to the park to stargaze.

Ever since the last time he and his bros had found themselves strapped down to one of Karbunkle's tables to be experimented on. Which had been a few weeks ago if he could recall the incident correctly- He had thought that the doc was going to hollow out his skull, but then his bros had gotten free and held the scrawny man at gun point, and told him to fix his eyes.

So that he never needed to rely on his shades again since he had been caught one too many times helpless without them.

After which he had woken up from a coma-like sleep to discover that he could see. Not vague outlines or fuzziness. But actually honest to god see like he had used too. There was color and shape. Texture and definition.

Everything that he had missed in the past nine years.

It had been so overwhelming that he had cried at first. Earth, as it appeared to him now- was so dazzlingly beautiful with it's lush greenery and crystalline waters. It's buildings of stone and glass, and the land- the wild life preserves and parks like the one he liked hanging out in, they were like works of art to him.

And then there were his bros.

Modo with his grey fur and one eye and arm. And Vinny with his white fur, piercing pink eyes, and the metal mask covering the part of his face that had been maimed by the mad scientist. The second Throttle had seen them, he had wrapped an arm around both of their necks and hugged them and cried that much harder for the pain that they had endured.

Then there had been Charley-girl.

The human woman that they had become friends with. He had only identified her as a hazy mass with a pretty voice, but now he could actually see her. And she was shockingly pretty even by his standards.

The second he had got a good look at her his jaw had almost dropped.

Charlene Davidson was a lovely female with her soft peach colored skin, hazle eyes and mid back length auburn hair and her nice hour glass figure. And her smile. Jesus, his heart could have stopped just from looking at it.

Now he understood why Vinny was so flirtatious with her.

Pulling his bike into the local park's parking lot and stopped his bike and parked it then pulled his helmet off and set it down in the small crease between his bike's handlebars and where the motor was located and then got up. Crossing the parking lot, he stuffed his gloved hands into his jean pockets and made his way over to the favorite path he liked to take and disappeared into the thicket leading to the clearing he liked to stand and stargaze in.

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"Bye Mrs. Jonson, you get a good night's sleep okay." Bella Morgan said to the little ol' blue haired lady standing in the doorway. Mrs. Jonson gave her a semi toothless smile and shook a knarled finger at her nurse.

"And you be careful walking home, dolly. Some ruffian might catch you and decide to have his wicked way with you." The elder said playfully as Bella chuckled. Oh she highly doubted that a ruffian would like her much. She was much too strong minded for a ruffian to like since she tended to pick back when picked on.

Still... Mrs. Jonson was right to warn her. The streets were full of drunks, juveniles and mischief makers tonight since it was Halloween. And one never knew what might jump out at them when they walked home so late.

"I'll be fine Mrs. Jonson." Bella said as she waved bye to the woman then reminded her to lock her door behind her then turned to leave. Stuffing her hands into her blue coat pockets and walking down the steps that led to the run down apartment building that her friend lived in, she headed onward down the streets.

Deciding to keep her head down so that she didn't draw anyones attention, the twenty five year old young woman slowly made her way towards the park where she would take her usual shortcut through the woods to get home.

The street between Mrs. Jonson's place and the park was creepy. Every shadow danced and every sound was enough to make her heart pound with dread if not for the fact that she had walked these streets a million times before. But even so by the time she had reached the park, she was more than ready to get home and lock herself inside for the rest of the night.

Paused in the parking lot she glanced curiously at the black and chrome motorcycle sitting a few feet away and wondered if some kid was out in the woods surrounding the park trying to scare themself senseless, while another part of her suddenly felt wary about taking the woods home.

She couldn't help but think of Mrs. Jonson's warning about ruffians. And god knew that horrible things happened to women walking alone at night but she still needed to get home.

Shivering a little she pulled her hands from her pockets and forced herself to start walking again.

The old deer trail that she took through the woods was one of the only ones in the park now since there was very little wild life in the area. Lawrance Limburger's digging and construction had all but ruined the area.

Leaving it a mangled and barren mess while driving out all of the bigger wild life.

She got about half way down the trail before she reached an embankment that had another trail running along the side of it and made her way up when she heard a sound in the bushes that startled her. Gasping she jerked around and took an involentary step back, forgetting for a second that the embankment was there and lost her footing and fell backwards into the bushes before she could even scream for help.

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He was on his way back to his bike, taking a different trail than the one he'd taken to the clearing so he could watch the sky. There were storm clouds rolling in and he wanted to get back to the scoreboard before it started to rain. He got about half way up this small hill next to a steep embankment when he heard a loud crash coming from the bushes just a few feet in front of him.

Frowning, his tail gave an irritated flick as he tipped his head back a bit and inhaled deeply. Trying to disconcern whether or not he had something to be worried about. He took a deep breath and frowned even more when all he picked up on was the subtle scent of flowers that were no longer in bloom and the slightest hint of sweat and pheromones.

Human pheromones.

A female. What the hell was a female doing out and about at this ungodly hour? He wondered as he moved closer to the embankment just as something came crashing through the bushes.

Putting his arms out almost absently, he caught the thing and wrapped his arms around it and felt the petite, slender form coupled with the softness of warm flesh and shifted his body so that he was in a kneeling position, his body hunched over the one in his grasp in a protective gesture, while he scanned the place where the body had come through the bushes for any signs of trouble.

He hadn't heard a scream or anything to indicate foul play. But that didn't mean that someone hadn't have pushed her or scared her into running right off the embankment. Shit like that happened all the time in this park. Someone decided to play a joke and someone else got hurt because of it.

But at the same time he couldn't rule out that she had simply been out walking and lost simply her footing in the dark.

Slipping the arm that he'd had under her knees free, he then shifted his grip so that he could check for a pulse. Once assured that she was still alive he turned his head to look at her, needing to check and see if she was hurt, and blinked when the first thing he saw was dark hair with a little bluish-purple crystal butterfly hair clip that was slightly askew.

Next was the tip of a little ear.

Reaching up he slipped his shades down his nose a bit then brushed some of the dark hair and dirt from the female's face, and blinked in surprise. Well, well... He thought as he took in the scratched up heart shaped face, the pale almost translucent skin, the soft pink lips- Christ, were all human females bombshells like the one in his arms? Or was there simply something in the water that made them beautiful? He wondered, dumbstruck for a moment, as she stirred slightly in his arms.

Uh-oh- He thought, suddenly feeling apprihensive about being seen. He debated on putting her down and hiding himself in the trees close by to keep from having to deal with any hysterics, but by the time he came to a decision it was too late. Her eyes were open and she was looking up at him. Her vivid teal eyes, wide and staring.

He opened his mouth to say, 'Please don't scream.' or 'I'm not a threat to you.' But no sound came out. Honestly he doubted he could have said something to her anyways. Not when her eyes were staring at him like that.

Luckily for him though, no sound came out of her either, thank god.

It seemed as if she were too shocked to even bother screaming bloody murder. Which in itself was an odd reaction. Flattening his ears against his head a little bit he decided to try speaking again. This time managing an almost nervous sounding, "Hey... Are you okay?"

The woman nodded her head slightly, her expression one of disbelief. And he sighed in relief and slowly removed his other arm from around her then moved back away and took on a squating position and simply stared at her like she was staring at him. With open curiosity that bordered on awe.

His tail did this weird twitching motion, a nervous reaction to her silence as his short fur bristled slightly. Why wasn't she saying something? Why didn't she get up and run? It would certainly be a reaction that he would expect from a human that didn't know him. After all fear of the unknown was something that he could understand.

She finally moved, his eyes automatically going to her figure as he saw her lift her hands- they were trembling slightly as she started to pat herself down, trying to see if she was still whole after her tumble. He found himself entranced by her hands.

His mind whispering to him that they were lovely.

Delicate and fine boned with long slender fingers tipped with little oval shaped fingernails that gleamed a teal color like her eyes in the wane light filtering between the tree limbs hanging overhead. Once she was done patting herself down she shivered, and slowly got to her feet. Her face ashen.

Observing her movements, he subconsciously followed them with his own body until he was standing at his full height of six foot seven in a half inches, and caught her looking at him for a moment, her expression unreadable before she quickly ducked her head and flushed when she realized that he'd caught her looking at him.

Well this is...odd. Bella thought as she tried to think of what to say to the intimidating, giant... What the hell was that thing anyways? She didn't know.

She could make out a muzzle, dark brownish-colored fur, round ears studded with glinting metal earrings, with little chunks missing from them- And was that a long slender tail she just saw flick behind it? "Um..." She said as she reached up and started to tuck her dark hair behind one of her ears when it suddenly moved a step closer to her, causing her to scurry back a step in alarm.

The creature stopped where it was and held it's hands up in a placating gesture, "Whoa sweetheart. Take it easy. You've had a rough fall." She heard it say in a low, husky sounding voice.

"I-I did?" She said almost stupidly, her tone and expression stunned. The creature nodded it's head slowly and took another small step towards her. That was when she saw the glint of silver on a boot attached to a black jean clad calf and blinked. Giving the thing another chance to close in on her.

"Are you okay?" He found himself asking again before mentally shaking himself and asking something else, "Did you hit your head? Do you need to go to the hospital?"

Bella took a moment to mentally take stock of her wounds and when she looked up again the creature was right on top of her, a claw tipped hand hovering just next to her head. Close to touching her yet a hairsbreath from actually doing so. She made a strangled sound in the back of her throat and tried to take another step back only to find herself trapped between a tree and it.

The thing made a soft crooning sound followed by the words, "Shhh, I know that you're scared, but I'm just checking you for any head wounds you may have gotten when you fell."

She felt him gently unclip her hair clip and then attach it to her jacket collar a moment before he slipped his clawed hands through her dark hair and ran- his? Yes, the creature was a male. She was sure of that now that she could see him more clearly. His features, strange as they were; coupled with his height and build, could only belong to a male- As he ran his fingers along her scalp and got the impression of her closing her eyes tightly as he checked for bumps or anyplace where the skin might be broken and bleeding and after a moment or so sighed.

She seemed to be fine.

A little shaken and shocked speechless by his presence, but otherwise fine. Stepping back a little bit he dropped his hands from her and just stood there. Wondering what he should do now when all of a sudden the sky opened up and it started to rain.

Glancing up he scowled at the sky for a second and then moved closer to the woman, trying to be a gentleman and shelter her from the rain with his body.

She gasped, her eyes snapping open and put her small hands up as if to ward him off as he used one arm to brace himself against the tree, not wanting to put an uncomfortable amount of pressure on her body. And rested his head on his arm as the rain soaked through his fur, vest, and jeans intending to wait out the storm.

"Sorry about crowding you, miss. But I'm sure that you wouldn't appreciate being drenched by this downpour." Throttle said after a few moments or so of unbearable silence.

"S'okay..." The woman finally said before he noticed that she was shivering as she looked him over again and noted that she had been wrong about the color of his fur. It had only looked dark due to the darkness around them. But up close it was a light brown or tawny color.

Shifting a little he wrapped his free arm around her waist and pulled her as close to him as he could so that he could help her keep warm. His arm going around her waist must have startled her if the odd squeaking sound she made, along with the way she grabbed his vest and buried her face against his chest, was any indication at all.

Finding the action oddly endearing he slipped his tail up one of her pants legs in a light caress. Trying to be comforting without overstepping his bounds.

She twitched as small shuttering breath escaped her as her fingers tightened on his vest until her knuckles were nearly white.

"Are you still cold?" He asked, his voice right next to her ear, making her shiver again as her breathing hitched in her throat. She shook her head no as she felt his hand against the small of her back, his fingers splayed wide.

Pressing her more fully against him causing her to panic a bit. "L-Let go. Let go-" She said as she started to push against his chest, trying to get him to back off. But all it did was cause him to shift his hand up from the small of her back to the middle of it. Almost crushing her breasts against his torso as he growled.

"Hush-" He felt the rising panic in her and while he could certainly understand how frightening things were from her point of view. If she started freaking on him now and tried to make a run for it, she'd only get hurt even worse than she already was and that meant that he couldn't guarantee that she would make it home in one piece.

Besides, this wasn't exactly a picnic for him either.

It had been five years since he and Carbine, his old girlfriend from his home planet, had called it quits on their relationship. And in that time he had only dated one woman seriously.

A human girl named Trina. But she had just been a slut playing with his emotions. Something that he hadn't appreciated since he had invested a lot in her.

So being so close to a warm soft female body was tearing at his self control in ways that he hadn't thought imaginable. He kept clenching his teeth and the hand at the woman's back was tightly gripping her jacket. So much so that his sharp ears picked up the faintest hint of fabric ripping. And forced his hand to loosen before he accidentally wound up ripping her clothes off since such an action would be perceived as a threat to her well being.

Feeling his fingers grip her jacket and shirt, she gasped as a small thrill went through her causing her to squirm a little bit in his grasp to the point where she felt him lower his head a bit and ask, "Am I hurting you?"

"N-No." She said in a nearly breathless and embarrassed tone that caught Throttle's attention in a big way.

"What's wrong?" He asked in a curiously as he tipped his head to the side a little bit. Allowing some rain drops to run down his muzzle and drip onto the shoulder of the woman's jacket as he waited for her to reply to his query.

He felt her fingers tighten on his vest even more, and frowned as she said quietly. "Nothing." And pressed her face a bit more into his torso. She was so close now that he could feel the little hitches in her breath through his fur and frowned again. Was he squeezing her too hard or something? He wondered when he felt her fingers untangle themselves from his vest and hesitantly touch his body.

Eyes going wide in shock, Throttle stood very still and let her little hands travel over his chest, exploring the thick muscle of his torso when there was a flash of light followed by a loud boom overhead. The sound startling her into gripping his shoulders until her little nails bit into his skin through his fur as she trembled a little more violently.

Concerned, Throttle crooned a little more, thinking that she must be afraid of storms like the one that they were stuck in, and tried to calm her. "Shhh. It's okay. It's just thunder and some lightening. No big deal."

"You wouldn't be saying that if you were the tree that probably just got struck-" She said as she pressed her body as far against his own as it would go, part of her seeking his warmth while another, wilder part of her was seeking something else entirely.

He remained quiet and still, not bothering to stop her hesitant exploration as she loosened her grip on his shoulders and ran her hands along his arms, then lower until her hand drifted down a bit and explored the muscle's of his stomach.

Her small hand running along his abs before he snatched it in his and stopped her. "Don't." He growled low in his throat, his tone warning her that she didn't want to go there, especially since there would be no way back. Tipping her head back in the dark to look up at his face, searching his expression for something.

"I-I'm sorry. Am I bothering you?" She asked almost innocently and he groaned softly in the back of his throat. God yes, she was bothering him. But after hearing her speak so innocently he figured that he had no choice but to 'grin and bear it' and released her hand so that she could resume her exploration with another warning of,

"Don't go too low-" I'm not sure how I'll react if you do. He thought as she placed her hand back over his abs and slowly traced a trail through his fur that slowly, but surely, had him twitching and clenching his jaw so hard that he feared it may break as little flames of desire flickered to life in the pit of his stomach.

Oh fuck- He thought as the muscle under her hand, trembled, as it occurred to him that the last shreds of his self control were quickly being eaten away by the soft and almost tentative touch that was now trailing up from his stomach to his neck. Where slender little fingers brushed over his pulse point, causing him to make a strained sound in the back of his throat as he went weak in the knees.

Oh shit, I'm about to lose it. He thought almost in a panic as he tipped his head back so that the rain was hitting him square in the face while allowing the woman to continue stroking his neck. Exhaling a long shuttering breath, he tried to focus on something other than how good it felt to be touched and couldn't keep himself from jumping when he felt the underside of his chin being licked.

"Whoa! Hey!" He nearly shouted as he pushed the woman back and jumped away so quickly that he didn't notice the woman hitting the tree with enough force to knock her unconscious.

Stunned by the jarring impact, and a little hurt too after hitting the tree trunk so hard, she slipped down the trunk until she was sitting on the muddy ground, her eyes fixated on him. Ok, maybe I went too far... She thought. But in her defense, she really hadn't meant to lick him. It had simply been a spur of the moment thing, she thought as she watched his tail flick in agitation as he reached up to where she had licked him and wiped at the spot with his gloved hand before giving her a strange look and swore.

Crap, he'd over reacted to the intimate move and now she was not only soaked but probably injured worse than she had been before. What the hell is wrong with you Thornboy? It isn't like you to freak out over being licked by a female. And on top of that, said female was probably hurt by you- Throttle's mind whispered darkly, making him feel ashamed of what he had done.

It had never been his intention to hurt the woman.

"I'm sorry..." Her voice was soft, yet managed to cut through his thoughts like a knife, drawing his eyes to her face. What the hell was she apologizing for? She's the one who had been thrown into a tree for Christs sake! He should be the one apologizing to her.

Instead he simply bristled in irritation and waved off her apology before scrambling across the ground at a speed that was too difficult for her to track and stopped only when he was hovering in her personal space again, his big hands framing her face and tipping her head back. Ignoring the wet strands of dark hair hanging in her face, and dropped his head to touch his antennae to her head and closed his eyes.

Reaching out with his mind, he found himself searching. Worried that he may have done some sort of irreparable damage to her when he had shoved her away- this was really all he could do unless he took her to the hospital.

However instead of finding her mind clouded with pain, he found other things.

A bone deep weariness. Sorrow. A slight discomfort in her limbs and back, probably from all of her injuries. And buried underneath all of that had been desire.

A need to reach out to another being and feel alive. The fact that he was an unknown creature to her and could possibly even kill her, had crossed her mind...but only long enough to be squashed down by her need to reach out to him. The fact that he had reacted so violently to her attempt to reach out to him only served to embarrass her.

She wasn't used to people shoving her away like she was a leper or something.

And the knowledge that he had sort of hurt her feelings, shamed him further as the sound of her teeth chattering drew his attention. Well, he'd failed to protect her from the rain and the chill that came with it. So he had no other choice- Slipping his arms around her, he scooped her up and got to his feet and started moving.

He needed to get her out of the cold before she became ill.