A/N: I totally miss this fandom. And I really really miss writing the guys. That being said...the idea of Modo and Charley got stuck in my head this weekend and was relentless. So much so that the idea of a fic sprung from an idea of the pairing after searching the fandom for some fodder to ease my sudden craving. So, here you have it - me giving into my muse and letting another plot bunny take charge. Damn plot bunnies.

Disclaimer: I do now own BMFM and make no profit from the writing of this fic.

Chapter One : Clueless

It had been looking to be a pretty quiet night at the scoreboard. Which was exactly what Modo, oldest of the Biker Mice, had been looking forward to. A few root beers, a western or two – a perfect night as far as he was concerned. Then Charley-girl had showed up with a question and all hopes of a quiet night were shattered.

"Clueless? Whaddaya mean, clueless?"

Modo watched his youngest bro, Vinnie flop down on the couch with a root beer.

Throttle wasn't far behind him. He rounded the couch, opting to stand across from the white-furred Martian and although he wore his field shades, his glare was obvious. "I mean, it doesn't take a genius to realize that Charley-girl was looking for you to join her," he snapped irritably.

Modo pressed back into the worn confines of the recliner, choosing to stay as far out of the argument brewing as possible.

"Excuse me, but I never heard the words 'Vinnie, come to Thanksgiving Dinner and meet my family,' leave her mouth. Besides - me and Charley, we're not like that. Why would she want me to meet her family?" He leaned back, saluting Throttle with his bottle before taking a long pull from it. "If you ask me, Throttle, you're the one she's probably wanting to introduce to them which would make you the clueless one."

"Me?" Throttle released a bark of laughter. "Carbine-,"

"Is on another planet and whatever honorable line you're walkin' is a pretty damn thin one. I've seen the attention you give to Charley. Ain't that hard to misinterpret it."

"Vincent, do you even know what the word misinterpret means?"

The root beer bottle slammed against the table and Modo decided it was high time to make a hasty retreat. Fights like this between Throttle and Vinnie never ended well and he never made it a habit to stick around to watch them.

As almost an afterthought, he picked the phone up from the coffee table and took it with him to his room. The voices rose and he pulled his door closed behind him, muffling them. Two stubborn men with not even the slightest intelligent thought between then. At least not when it came to Charley-girl.

She'd left there nearly an hour ago after having coyly hinted that she'd appreciate some company besides family this Thanksgiving. To Modo, it hadn't sounded like a request specific to any of them. It had sounded like the request of a woman who wasn't entirely sold on the idea of being around her family without a little moral support. But Vinnie had immediately started in on how he and Charley weren't exactly in that "meet the parents" place while Throttle had gone on about the possible dangers of introducing themselves to even more humans. The look on Charley's face could have frozen Mars ten times over. His excuse was exactly that- an excuse. Too many people knew about them for caution to be an issue and although they faced some bigotry on an unfortunately normal basis, they were overall accepted by the human population. In the end, she'd walked out while they were still arguing their points, the slam of the door finally silencing them.

With a deep sigh, Modo sank down on the bed and rubbed a hand over his face. They were both clueless…and stupid to boot. But he was one to talk. Here they had a beautiful, intelligent woman who made it seem like she had nothing better to do than hang out with them and fix their bikes and not a single one of them had made a move.

Vinnie had been given more than enough opportunities. He'd flirted the woman into the ground and still kept this strange distance between himself and Charley that both of them seemed to understand and yet not understand at the same time. And he could deny it all he wanted, but Throttle was just as guilty. He wasn't as bad as Vinnie had made it sound, but he definitely had his way with Charley that teetered dangerously between just friends and something more.

And there they both were – passing up yet another opportunity to be something more to the lovely mechanic.

Modo looked down at the phone, his thumb hovering over the talk button. Did he want to keep being one of the clueless ones? One of the ones that didn't take a chance to hope for something more? He'd been doing it for nearly two years now. Two incredibly long years.

Vinnie may have had his way with Charley. And Throttle may have had his way with Charley. But neither of them had a thing for her – not the way Modo did. And it was a thing he'd been diligently trying to ignore for too long now. Out of respect for Vinnie, he'd kept quiet. If there was one thing you didn't do, it was go after the girl your bro was settin' his sights on. But all those mixed signals and one night stands had added up and that need to stay respectful towards his youngest bro had started to waver.

Maybe now was a good time to just…stop.

Taking a deep breath, he turned the phone on and dialed Charley's number. She answered on the third ring, her voice tired.

"Hey, Charley-girl."

"Modo." Her voice instantly softened. "Sorry for leaving so quickly."

"No need to apologize. Sorry about the knuckleheads."

She chuckled softly and he swallowed, the sound causing his stomach to clench slightly with something he immediately recognized as longing. It went hand-in-hand with wanting the poor girl to distraction and was just another emotion he'd learned to tamp down.

"Yes, well…I tried."

"That's what I'm callin' about." He cleared his throat, suddenly nervous. "I was ah…wonderin' if that offer to go with you for Thanksgiving-."

The shouting in the living room escalated dramatically and he winced.

"Was that…Throttle and Vinnie?"

"Yeah…does that offer still stand?"

There was a pause on the other end and he swore he could hear her smiling that smile that melted every inch of him. "It does."

"Well…I'll take you up on it."

"Oh, you will, huh?"

A door slammed quickly followed by another and Modo grimaced. The argument was over for now. Lord knew what they had yet to go over and he was more than happy to find a way out of watching round two.

"Yes, ma'am."

"Alright. Pack for a week and I'll pick you up in the morning."

Modo hung up, then sat staring at the phone. A week with Charley. It was one step in the right direction. Now…if he could only find the courage to keep walking.