Author's pov:

After the hearings, Adira had a chance to see Dan through the bars. He had lost his other leg because of princess Niv, but somehow he didn't remember anything again for now. The Mutation seemed to take him over, which got the old gray furred female cry heavily. It was so devastating for her to see him not only alive after a long time, but also in the horrible situation. The Most painful fact had been that she had recognized him still being there for real. For somehow the male was Dan, even if not probably exactly the same way as the male's family had been used to.

Immediately she had walked into the room where they kept him behind the high technical bars, she stopped at the room's doorway and lifted her hands on her mouth in shock. The Old gray furred female felt her body trembling while tears started to roll down her cheeks. She placed her hands gently together and closed her eyes to feel the telepathic brain connection to the love of her life, except this time it was only one sided. The Male didn't seem to react in any kind of ways or try to connect back, but she could still tell it was him, that same Dan who had asked her to the summer dance when they had been young, and the same Dan who she had fallen in love with and got married to. The Same Dan who she had had her children with. And now that thought-to-be-dead Dan was alive after all those years Adira had been living as a widow, and he was a mutated rat.

The Soldiers who were guarding him there, asked Adira if they needed to stun him if she needed to share the connection with antennas, but she shook her head before telling them that she felt it already through the telepathic connection that was still there since he was actually alive. She didn't need to get closer to him, even if she could have never even guessed that she would end up in this kind of situation and to feel the connection that she had thought to be gone forever, ever again. One soldier brought her some calming tea before they asked her some more questions about him.

For first she denied having something to drink, but when she noticed that her body couldn't stop trembling, she drank it to avoid having some symptoms again in her heart, even if this alone was already a huge thing to deal with. One nurse was waiting for her outside of the room just in case something happened to her heart or anything else in her health situation while Adira was meeting Dan and the soldiers. And to protect their grandchildren, Rimfire and Rhea were hanging out at the plaza since they weren't allowed to come there, but neither Mericy could go to see her father after hearing what he had done. She couldn't believe he was alive and did so many horrible things during the war and especially to the royals their whole family had always appreciated, honored and supported.

Mericy was sitting on the outdoor stairs while wiping her tears to her tissue. Her body was trembling while she tried to comfort herself from some memories from her childhood, at the same she was trying even to look at the highly secured prisoner hospital where her all-these-years-thought-to-be-dead-father was currently held. Now she mostly needed her biggest supporter, Modo, to be there with her, but no-one had yet reached him for some reason. And those memories from her childhood, included also her little brother, one of the Biker Mice. Mericy surely remembered their little game they had made while watching some Martian Motocross races behind their mother's back, since Adira thought they weren't for children even to watch, but every time she and Modo had managed to watch the most important races while their mother did something else. She had been nearly in her teenage years with their age difference of four years to Modo, when they had made up the game called 'Trust bet'.

And because Mericy had a very hard time believing her father had kidnapped Harley for a revenge on the princess, and for a revenge for the Biker Mice too, she had to invoke her safest and the more comfortable memories to get her head clear from not losing her mind totally. How could her own father betray his family and the whole planet with the way of trying to avenge someone, totally innocent Martians, including his own son? Even if the tetra hydro carbons had their effect on him, he was still responsible for his actions, but at the same time she couldn't be thinking about whether there still be a chance to save him? To get their father back?

Timeskip: More or less 20 to 25 years ago

"Mer-Mer! MERICY! The Race is about to start! Come quickly or we'll miss the Trust Bet!" Modo had been jumping on the living room's couch while Mericy had gone to take some Martian fruit candies from the kitchen for them. "ALRIGHT, just calm down, Modo!" She had laughed at the same when she had walked to the living room to join her little brother on the couch. Adira had been outside to do some gardening while the children were supposed to eat healthy snacks and play something in the backyard after it.

"Thanks! These are my favorite" Modo grabbed a handful from the bowl of candy, making Mericy slap his hand with her tail. "If you eat everything, we'll get caught!" She growled, making him drop his ears down while looking guilty and sad. "Alright.. Take it" She smiled while rubbing his head a bit with her knuckles, making him laugh and push her away from him. "It's starting! Now we have our chance!" Modo hurried to close his eyes for a moment with his older sister too, before they opened their eyes again to watch the starting race from the monitor. The Children were so happy and enjoying the Motocross race, they didn't realize their mother came inside after a while of them watching the race. When Adira had noticed what her children were doing instead of what they were supposed to do, she came to stand next to the couch, her hands on her waist while her other foot was tapping the floor.

"Krhm.." Adira coughed when the candies flew to the air when the children cheered for the race. "Mericy Adia Jacey! And Modo Jackae Daniel! The Children of Dan!! What the Goddess' sake do you think you are doing?!" The Gray furred female shouted, making the children scream and turn to look at their mother with very surprised expressions. Even if the full names of Martians were mostly used just in official things or events like weddings for example, sometimes parents used their children's full names to scold them if they had done something prohibited. "Mother?!" Mericy gulped while Modo was just stuffing more candy to his mouth, making her take the bowl away from him as the way to try to hide it even if it was too late already. "You have dirt on your skirt, mama" Modo said, his mouth full of candy and pointed at her knees level, making their mother just cross her arms while lifting up her other eyebrow. He ate the candies fast even if it was no use since their mother had already noticed it, which made him gulp and drop down his ears.

"We- We thought you were outside.." Modo started to sob while looking down the couch when he hugged his knees behind his sister. And without anyone noticing it, while acting to be hurt, he stuffed more candy to his mouth from the bowl that Mericy had hid behind her back. "This is the season finale, mom! Can't we just watch this last race? It's ending soon" Mericy dropped her ears down too while begging from her mother when she turned to look at the living room's monitor. And right then, one racer drove out of the track, hurting himself pretty badly which got the gray furred female walk to the monitor as meaning of closing it. "No!!" Mericy and Modo ran in between it and their mother while holding their hands up in the air.

"And why should I let you watch this?! This is not for children! Especially as young as Modo!" Adira growled while standing in front of the monitor when the children tried to peek behind her to see what was going on the track. "We want to know who wins! Please mother!" Mericy turned to look at her mother while Modo grabbed her from her skirt gently at the same time he was trying to eat the candy unnoticed but ended up doing it unclearly. "My favorite of course!" Modo turned to look at his sister, making her growl and point at him with her tail behind her back to tell him about the candies to hide them. She tried to do it the way their mother wouldn't see it, but clearly failed since Adira rolled her eyes at her. "No! Definitely mine will win!" Mericy growled too, making their mother pull their ears a bit, making them groan and take a few steps away from her and each other.

"How many times I have told you both to now watch anything like this? Motocross isn't for children because it's very dangerous! As you just saw.. The Drivers can get hurt any time!" Adira lifted her index finger up for them as the sign of scolding, making both of the children turn to look at the floor. "Sorry mother.." Mericy sighed, making Modo sob again. "Sorryy!!" He ran to cry to his mother's skirt, making her sigh and lift him into her arms. "It's alright.. But you still stole the candy that was bought for the weekend.. And I won't get new ones! You need to learn to behave better than this! No wonder if you get a stomach ache later.." Adira said while wiping his tears away when Mericy started to clean the dropped candies from the floor.

"And what do you think you are doing, young lady?" Adira smiled when Modo nuzzled against her cheek. "This mess won't clean itself!" Mericy smiled brightly while cleaning, making their mother chuckle and shake her head a bit. "Fine! You can watch the race this time.. But only if there's still some candy for me too?" Adira smiled, making the children scream happily when she sat on the couch, Modo on her lap and Mericy hurried to sit next to her. "What happened to the cleaning?" She continued, making Mericy just hush her own mother. "What mess?" She asked, making her mother point at the floor while glaring at her from hushing at her. "That mess which you just said won't clean itself!" Adira said but her words were only heard by deaf ears, which got her to sigh and roll her eyes. "Or do I need to close the monitor?" She smirked, making the children gasp and hurry to clean the mess fast. That made their mother laugh even more while watching the motocross race to the end.

One of the reasons she didn't want her children to watch races, was that her late husband Dan had got injured badly at one of the races when he still participated in them. She had met him there for the first time and they had gone to see every motocross race together ever since, but it had ended after the injury, meaning that Dan had also given up from his dream of the best motocross driver on Mars. And later when Modo had got older and had wanted to drive a motorcycle, he and Adira had argued about it so many times, he had managed to get to drive behind her back with Stoker's help. She had been very mad about that to the brown furred male, but later allowed Modo to drive since she couldn't either stop him. And she didn't want to lose their bond because of their argument, even if motorcycles could be very dangerous and she was still afraid of losing his son, especially after what had happened to Throttle.

"Yes!! I won!" Modo cheered when the race ended and he started to jump on the couch, making Adira demand him to stop immediately. "No way! Our game, Modo!" Mericy demanded while climbing over their mother to her brother to grab him by his shoulders. "What game?" Adira asked before she saw her children connecting their antennae, making her smile and lift her hands to her heart. The Trust Bet was all about the trust between the siblings. Modo and Mericy had made up the game to bond better and the best way to play the game was to watch some kinds of sports and races, especially motocross.

The Game's rules were to guess the winner before the race even started, to watch it to the end before telling the truth about who had guessed the winner right. "Cheater! I won!" Mericy laughed while pushing his brother down from the couch, making him stick his tongue out to her while stealing the bowl of candy from her. "Hey!!" Mericy shouted when she started to chase him around the living room. That made their mother smile while watching them enjoying each other's company. It was very important to bond with siblings, especially when she had never had one herself, nor had their father, meaning that the couple had wanted to have at least two children so they could play with each other and have a great time together.

"Children, children! Do not run inside!" Adira couldn't hold her laughter even if she tried to stay strong with the house rules. "You cheated!" Mericy pulled Modo over to the floor while both of them were laughing. "Alright you won, ouch! My ear!" Modo whined when his sister pulled his other earlobe. "My prize.." Mericy reached her hand open towards his face, making him growl and give her his candies from his pockets that he had saved from the last weekend, without their mother seeing it at all since Adira had got up to make some proper snack for them. "Here.." Modo growled, making her smiled and get up from the floor. "Come to eat, both of you!" Adira demanded from the kitchen, making Mericy run to there immediately while Modo just kept looking at the floor.

"Modo? Dear.. What is it?" Adira walked to kiss his forehead when he sat on the seat. Mericy glared at him to not to tell, making him shake his head and start to eat quietly. "Alright.. Mericy? Would you like to tell or are the sweets banned for next two weekends?" Adira lifted her hands on her waist while looking at her children, making them turn to look at each other, their eyes widened. "No!" Mericy gasped and turned to look at their mother while Modo was eating in peace. "Then tell me what made your little brother upset, would you?" She demanded, making Mericy sigh deeply.

"I was just so sure my favorite driver would win.. It felt like I'd had lost too.." Modo blurted out, making Adira lift up her other eyebrow but then sigh. "Oh Modo.. You know, you can't win every time, neither do your favorites. Like any kind of games or races always have winners and losers. Sometimes it can be tied, but rarely" Adira petted her son's head gently, making him hurry to hug her mother while winking at Mericy who smirked back at her little brother. Mericy ate too while giggling herself without their mother noticing it. She definitely heard it but let her children have their own secrets since it didn't seem to be anything more serious. "I know.. It still feels bad.." Modo sobbed, making their mother hug him tightly. "It's alright.. But enough with those races.. Would you like to go play outside? Maybe there are some neighbors kids out too while I can clean this mess" The Gray furred female smiled, making her children nod while smiling.

"Thanks mom" Mericy thanked politely after eating, making her mother nod and clean the table after Modo had eaten and thanked too. "But remember to stay in our or some neighbors' backyard if you get a permission from them!" Adira shouted after her children who had already run out of the backdoor, making her smile and shake her head when she started to clean their mess. At the backyard, Mericy helped Modo to climb on the tree that was half way to their backyard and half way to their most grumpy neighbor's backyard, meaning some old male mouse who didn't like children at all.

After they had managed to climb to the bigger branches, Modo sat opposite of his sister who started to eat her victory candies. He had been sad for real for losing his favorite candies, but more important was the trust between him and his sister. "Thanks.. For not telling mom.. Here, let's share this time" Mericy smirked while handing him some of the candies. That got him to smile brightly which made her smile too. "Thanks! And ain't that what siblings are for?" Modo smiled when he took a bite of another candy. "Definitely! Trust Bet, remember?" Mericy smiled before fixing her skirt a bit. "Always! But.. What about.." Modo smirked while pointing at the old male's backyard with his tail, which got his sister to smirk and nod too.

"What do you think? How long does it take this time?" The Dark brown haired girl lifted her two braids behind her back while picking up some Pearl peaches from the tree. Her tail was swinging cunningly while her brother chuckled at her words. "Five.." Modo smirked while helping her to pick up some peaches before they started to throw the Pearl peaches at the old male's windows. Modo had been right, it took five Pearl peaches to get the old and grumpy male to come outside to shout at the children who just started giggling while hurrying down from the tree. The Male took his yard's watering system to aim the children with it, making them scream and run as fast as they could. Adira heard that noise to the inside which got her to come outside just before her children ran behind her, meaning that the water hit straight to Adira's face, watering her all over her clothing.

"My apologies Adira ma'am! But it was your children who, once again, threw some softened pearl peaches to my windows! I had just got them cleaned yesterday" The Old Martian male apologized while still being clearly annoyed and very grumpy, but soon the situation turned the other way around. Modo and Mericy laughed so much that their stomachs started hurting when they laid laughing on the ground, watching their own well mannered mother chasing the old male with his own watering system. That exact memory was one of the happiest memories from Mericy's childhood, but even it didn't help her this time.

That day from the memory hadn't been many years after their father's death, but she and her brother had got over the worst already while being so young children that with sorrow and grief, they still didn't realize it completely which might have helped with the healing process too. But now, all of that work to get over losing her father at such a young age, was all wasted. Her father was alive and one of the worst war criminals on Mars.

Neither Mericy or her mother could have ever believed that to happen, but mostly she was now afraid of how Modo would react when he hears the truth. He had been the one from two of them who had been more sad after losing their father. How could she help him over this if she didn't even know how she would get over this either? Would that information even affect Modo with becoming a good father for his own baby that Jessica was expecting for him? And how could Mericy tell the news to her own children, who have never met their grandfather but always thought him to be one of the warmest and caring mice on Mars?