Biker Mice From Mars - Somewhere I Belong

Trust Is Earned When Action Meets Words

"Please... My wife... she's pregnant..."

A family.
He had a family?
This... man?
This cold and distant man had actually managed to find himself a wife?
What the...
Well, if that wasn't a wake-up call, what possibly was?

Vinnie blinked a few times before he looked down on the Earther lying underneath him, and when he saw brown eyes filled with sheer terror looking back at him, he suddenly let the man go as if he was on fire.
O'Neill gasped desperately for air before bursting into a severe coughing fit and the white-furred mouse quickly scrambled backward until his back touched the couch, gazing at the man with his red eyes wide open.
"You have a wife?", he breathed in shock, the anger already perishing almost as quickly as it came.

O'Neill merely nodded his flushed head, still coughing loudly as he rubbed his sore throat, obviously not able to speak just yet.
Vinnie took a deep breath, trying not to get nauseous due to the quite disturbing sounds that came out of the human and his gaze wandered from O'Neill to his hands.
The same hands that almost killed a man who was about to become a father.
Holy shit, what a way of showing him that they were the good guys here.

"I ah... I'm sorry. I didn't know", he mumbled, suddenly very ashamed of his behavior.
Behavior that usually wasn't like him despite his temper, but everything was just so different ever since he met Charley.
He was different.
Movement in front of him made him raise his eyes again, just in time to see Charley giving the unfortunate man a glass of water, her face blank.

The latter gratefully took it, and after taking a few sips, he heaved a sigh and wiped off his mouth.
"Of course you didn't know. No one really knows, after all", he rasped, still a bit out of breath.
Charley crouched down next to him with a furrowed brow, her hands resting on her knees.
"What do you mean, no one really knows?"
O'Neill let out a humorless laugh, which he immediately regretted because again, he started coughing extremely loud and Vinnie rolled his eyes, he just couldn't stop himself.
Exaggerating much?

When he was finally done puking his lungs out, the lawman took another sip of the water before he let out his breath.
"In my profession, it's best to keep your weaknesses as thoroughly hidden as possible. So, no, I don't exactly advertise that I have a family."
It was a fair point.
Look what happened to Charley today.
Still, it must be a lonely existence, being a cop.

It was then that Throttle finally opened his mouth again.
"How do we know that you're telling the truth? People would say pretty much anything when death is knocking on their door, after all."
Vinnie glanced at his leader, who was, by the looks of things, not amused by this sudden turn.
The reason why was actually quite simple — this whole thing just became even more complicated than it already was.
And whose fault is that?
Man.

Instead of answering, O'Neill leaned a bit to the right and reached for his pocket, alarming everyone in the room at the same time.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, keep your hands where we can see them, pal", Throttle warned the man as he already aimed his gun at him, now on high alert.
The same applied to Vinnie, who was now back on his feet, and with the hand that wasn't holding a gun, he gestured to Charley to come over to him, as in — right now.
The human female immediately obeyed and while keeping a close eye on O'Neill, she rushed over to the white-furred mouse.
Also with his red eyes fixed on the detective, Vinnie gently but firmly pushed her behind him in a most protective way, able to breathe again now he knew she was out of harm's way.

But instead of whipping out a hidden gun, or any other deadly weapon for that matter, O'Neill immediately raised his hands again when he heard Throttle's voice.
"Easy, fella's. You wanted proof, right? I've got it right here."
"Why don't I take it for ya, huh?", Modo suggested as he approached the man with his bionic arm aimed at his bald head.
The detective shrugged.
"Sure. It's in my right pocket."
After sharing a quick glance with his bro's, Modo crouched down next to O'Neill and reached into the pocket of the khaki coat before pulling something out that looked a lot like a wallet.