Hello, everybody! I know it's been awhile, and I'm sorry for that, but I'm back, finally with another Fan Fiction. It's a Cars Fan Fiction, my first one (yup, I'm a Cas fan), and it's also about my own first Cars OC, Buster, an aspiring young mechanic, who stumbles upon a much older and vastly different Lightning McQueen than the one we are used to seeing in the movies, in the haunted Cars graveyard we see in a deleted scene that I was very intrigued by from the first Cars movie, but I can see why they cut it. It was a bit different and darker in tone than the rest of the movie, and probably would've scared the little ones. I've been working on this story since last year, and I still don't know if I'm completely 100% satisfied with it, but it will do, I guess. Ugh. I really wanted to write it, but I struggled with it, for some reason.
Anyway, I hope you like the story!
The car was old.
That was the first thing Buster noticed about it right off. It was an old stock car, its red paint and once bright decal barely visible underneath all of the rust and dirt coating its metal plating, with long, gnarled and twisted vines curling around its collapsing structure. Part of its grill had broken and fallen off, there was a long crack winding down the middle of its windshield, and it had two flat tires on either side of its wrinkled, crumpled-up frame, causing it to sink low to the ground. By the looks of things, it had been sitting amidst all of the other corpses of the cars in the haunted graveyard for some time, wasting away to nothing. For some reason, Buster was saddened by the sight. The car had seen better days. At one time, it might've even been a racing legend.
"Who's there?"
Buster jumped at the sound of the voice, which was nothing but a harsh rasp, and swerved around, looking for its owner.
"What do you want?"
After he had composed himself, Buster backed up to get a better look at the car, realizing, with a start, that its eyes were open but heavy-lidded, and that its mouth was curved up into a thin, lopsided scowl. It took Buster a moment, but once he was able to discern these unsettling, but somehow comforting signs of life underneath all of the dust and foliage concealing them, he was able to put two and two together.
Startled, Buster blinked and jumped back, gaping at the car in disbelief. "Y-you can talk?" he asked, stammering. He felt like an idiot.
"Yes, I can talk," the car grumbled, his gruff voice a painful wheeze. "What do you think I' am, some kind of dummy?"
Buster thought it was wise to keep his mouth shut, in order to keep his dignity. To be honest, he had thought the car was nothing but a worthless, hunk of junk, and that its engine had died a long time ago. Apparently, he had been wrong.
The old car chuckled, but the chuckle soon turned into a violent coughing fit, doubling the car over in agony. "A car of few words, eh?' he asked, as soon as the coughing fit had passed, his breath coming out in short, labored, shallow gasps, but his wise, weary eyes were still twinkling with mirth. "I like that. Less talking I have to do.'
"You're sick," Buster said, making it more of a statement than a question, wearing a look of concern across his grill.
"Bah!" the old car exclaimed, shaking off Buster's worry with a feeble wave of one of his tires. "I've been sick, for a long time, and I'm not going to get any better anytime soon, so there's no sense in pouting about it." He groaned, grimacing at some kind of pain, but ignored it. "Hey, what's your name, kid? You never did say."
"U-Uh, B-Buster," he said, having never felt so awkward or embarrassed before in his whole life. Whoever this old car was, he sure did know how to make Buster feel small and insignificant, despite the imprisonment he was in. .
The old car bobbed its hood up and down in acknowledgment, closing its ancient, tired eyes. "Buster, huh?" With great effort, he forced his eyes to flutter back open, his wavering gaze struggling to find Buster. For the first time, the younger car saw how milky white and filmed over his rheumy eyes were. The old car was blind. "It's got spunk. Reminds me of me when I was your age. I like it. You know, kid? You just might be all right."
Buster didn't know whether to be flattered or annoyed. In the end, he decided he was a little bit of both. "So, what's your name, sir?" he asked, without thinking. As the old car's attitude had become more laidback, Buster had, without knowing it, relaxed in its intimidating presence. "If you don't mind me asking, I mean."
"Nah, I don't mind," the old car said, shaking his hood back and forth. "The name's Lightning, Lightning McQueen." He tilted the hood a slight inch to the left, raising one eyelid at him. "You might've heard of me?"
Buster jumped off of the ground. He must've leaped fifty feet in the air.
Lighting McQueen? Of course he had heard of Lightning McQueen! Why, who hadn't heard of Lightning McQueen? With seven Piston Cups to his name, the car was a racing legend! He had been a force to be reckoned with, back in his heyday. Buster had grown up watching all of his races on television, and even recorded all of them on tape. He even had a copy of the big wreck that had almost destroyed his career. Buster wasn't afraid to admit, he had cried like a baby car watching that one.
Now that Buster thought about it, the old car's voice had sounded familiar, but he hadn't recognized it, until now. The southern drawl had changed since the days he remembered watching him on TV when he had been younger, becoming deeper and rougher with age. He was starting to sound more and more like how he pictured Doc, Lightning's old teacher, must've sounded.
"Of course I've heard of you, Lightning," Buster said, unable to contain his excitement. "You're my hero! What happened to you, anyway?"
"I got old," Lightning said, and Buster heard the faint, yet unmistakable sound of a death rattle in his engine, an already ominous sound made even more so by the morbid backdrop looming over them.
"Oh…" Buster said, trailing off into awkward silence for a brief moment before speaking again. "But what happened to your other friends?" He thought this had been a logical question to ask, and saw nothing wrong with it. Everyone knew Lightning's friends had been essential to most of his success. Any self-respecting Lighting McQueen fan would want to know what had happened to them. "What about Mater and Sally, and the rest of the Radiator Springs gang, huh?"
"Sally..." Lightning said, his voice growing so low, mournful, and sad, Buster thought he'd never be happy again, and regretted asking the question. "My Sally…" To Buster's horror, Lightning began to sob, tears pouring out of his sightless eyes. "I can't see my beautiful Sally no more…"
"I'm sorry…" Buster began, his eyes widening in alarm. "I didn't mean to make you upset…I'll just go." He turned to leave.
"Wait," Lightning said, his voice growing cold and hard. "What brought you to this place, anyway?"
Buster stopped. "Well, I'm a bit of an aspiring mechanic, you see, and my friends and I heard there was this great, old, haunted graveyard just outside of Radiator Springs where you can find all kinds of parts," he said, beginning to talk fast in his excitement. "And I was on my way home from the training center, just passing through, and I-"
Lightning interrupted him with a snort. "So, you thought you'd come here to see what you can salvage and tinker with," he said, finishing Buster's sentence for him. "Well, you came to the right place." He waved one of his broken mirrors at the countless piles of old broken, rundown cars surrounding them, seeming to stretch out in an endless sea of carnage and destruction for miles around. "A lot of old pieces of junk in this place to choose from."
"I'm…I'm not going to use you, if that's what you're thinking," Buster said, and shuddered, horrified at the very thought of using his hero as spare parts.
"I know," Lightning said, but still looked grateful.
"You never did answer my question," Buster said, refusing to give up.
"Which one?" Lightning asked, annoyance creeping back into his tone. Buster could tell he was losing his patience.
"You know…" Buster said, twirling his right front tired around. "The one I had about what happened to your friends-"
"You don't want to know, kid," he said, his voice cracking on the last word. Buster thought it had to have been the saddest thing he had ever heard.
"Go ahead, try me," Buster asked, and turned off his engine, making himself comfortable. "I've got all the time in the world, and after everything I've seen today, I think I can handle anything."
"I said you're better off not knowing, kid!" Lightning's voice rose to a shout, startling Buster. "Just go and leave me alone." He closed his eyes for what seemed like the final time, and his engine popped and cracked as it began to sputter. "I'm old and tired, and I just want to rest."
All of a sudden, everything became blurry, and Buster blinked his gaze back into focus. At some point during their conversation, he had started crying without even knowing it. Buster was shocked by the realization. He wasn't, by nature, a very emotional car. The last time he had cried had been when Lightning wrecked, and seeing Lightning like this, the way he was now, that had seemed like a lifetime ago. "You know, you're not the car I thought you were," he said, sniffing. "Maybe you deserve to be in here."
Almost as soon as Buster had said the words, he regretted them. He tried to peer under all the vines covering Lightning's grill and hood, squinting to see his reaction, but he couldn't make out his face for all of the foliage concealing his expression. The vines had been growing and curling around Lightning throughout their entire discussion, and Buster had been watching them twist and turn with almost rapt fascination, hypnotized by the wild, untamed frequency of their movements. They seemed to be almost a zigzag-like pattern to the path in which they travelled.
Buster revved his engine. "Hold on, Lightning," he said, and spun his tires, beginning to take off. "I'm going to go get you some help."
"You know, you remind me of her," Lightning said, stopping Buster in his tracks.
"Who?" Buster asked, hitting his breaks a little. He thought Lightning was just going to go on another one of his ramblings, but thought it would be best just to humor him. "Sally?'
"No, not Sally," Lightning said, smiling since the first time they had been there, and Buster thought he looked years younger. "Cruz."
Cruz…Buster recognized that name, too. If he wasn't badly mistaken, she was the young rookie racer Lightning had begun to train when he became her pit crew chief.
"Oh, yeah, Cruz," Buster said, recalling the name with fondness. He had always liked Cruz. He had always found her story inspirational, and had looked up to her as much as he had Lightning."I remember her…is she still around?"
Lightning moaned. "Don't you ever hush, kid?" he asked. "I said I'm tired…and I just want to be left alone."
"You know, Lightning McQueen," Buster said, starting his engine back up again. "Maybe you are just a lost cause." He drove away for good that time, and didn't look back, not once.
Lightning watched the kid leave, struggling to breathe. One of the vines had lodged in his mouth, making it difficult for him to draw in any air out.
Fear rose within him. His worst nightmare was coming true. He was going to die old and alone, with none of his friends by his side, but he knew he couldn't complain.
No. He had only himself to blame for his fate. If he hadn't snapped at the kid like that, he wouldn't have ran off like he did, and he would have somebody else to talk to besides the trees for a change…
Lightning sighed. He hadn't been able to help it. He hurt. He stayed in constant pain. He ached all over. He was sore. Ever since the wreck, he had been sore all the time. Didn't he have the right, after all he had been through, to drive anybody he wanted to away? He thought he did, but not everybody would agree with him, he knew.
That still didn't mean he had no right to drive the kid away. He hadn't done anything wrong. He wished he could take the words back. He hadn't meant them. He had said them in a fit of anger.
"Ah, kid, I'm sorry," Lightning said, but there was nobody there to hear the words.
Buster kept on driving, without stopping. Before long, he came upon a place he recognized from TV and countless newspapers.
It was Radiator Springs, without a doubt, and it hadn't changed much. He had seen it so many times in his dreams, he liked to think he would've recognized it anywhere, even if it had. The town was still bustling with life and commerce, its street lined with different types of numerous businesses, vehicles of all shapes and sizes cruising along its busy roads. Some of them even stopped to say hello to him, and Buster would take his time to stop and say hello right back to them, being the polite car he was. He barely heard them, being, in part, distracted, trying to pay attention to all of the stores and restaurants he was trying to take in all at once. There were some new businesses open, ones he didn't recognize, and some he did, most of these places, like Luigi's Casa Della Tires, and Ramone's House of Body Art, being nostalgic for him.
"What's the matter, honey?"
For the second or third time that day, Buster almost jumped out of his metal casing.
He had been so lost in his thoughts, he hadn't heard the vehicle come up behind him, but when he turned around, he saw an old, blue car had pulled up beside him. He didn't know what it was, but there was something familiar about the car. He just couldn't quite figure out what it was, yet.
"You look like you've seen a ghost," the car said, her voice, without a doubt, female.
"I think…I think I did," Buster said, as soon as he had caught his bearings.
The car's expression was hopeful, full of longing. "Did you find Lightning?"
"Y-Yeah, how did you guess?" Buster asked, caught off guard.
"The look on your grill said it all, honey," the car said, rolling her eyes. "When Lightning got, you know… real bad, they all used to wear that look, when they saw him."
"What look?" Buster asked, unnerved by how this car seemed to be able to read his thoughts.
"You know, that dear-in-the-headlights kind of look, like you're scared to death," the car said, as if it should've been common knowledge, and everybody should've known it, including him. "You got it, honey. I've seen that look so many times, I'd recognize it anywhere." She pointed a tire at him and shook it. "You're wearing it right now."
Embarrassed, Buster felt his engine growing hot. "I found him in an old graveyard, just a couple of miles out of town," he said, to save face. "I'm kind of a mechanic, of sorts, and I came to the old graveyard looking for some spare parts to use," He watched her, waiting for her reaction. "Some of my friends told me about it."
"And that's where you found Lightning," the car said, putting two and two together.
"Yeah…"
"So that's where he's been all this time," the car said, her expression growing thoughtful, distant. "I should've known…it was the only place we didn't look, but we didn't want to. Sherriff suggested it, but we didn't want to accept the possibility of…you know, what it could mean, if we found him there."
Buster was fuming. He didn't know what to think now. He felt as if Sally and Lightning's other friends had abandoned him by giving up on him, and it made him angry. "Why didn't you go look for him?" he asked, not about to go easy on her. "Why are you here?" He wasn't going to stop, either, until he had some answers. "The way Lightning talked, he thought he lost you guys forever."
"Try not to think too badly of us," the car said, her expression remaining stoic and impassive, surprising Buster by how calm and cool she was being under the pressure his integration was no doubt putting her under. "I tried to stop them, you know, but Mater and Lightning wanted to go Tractor Tipping. It was actually Mater's idea, and Mater, being Mater, wanted Lightning to go with him, too, so naturally Lightning, being Lightning, wanted to go with him, too. I told them at their age they were too old to be Tractor Tipping, but you saw what good that did. They went anyway, and they went missing for days. Everybody got worried, and I had to have Sherriff declare them missing and start off a search for them after they had already been gone a day and still hadn't came back. We hadn't heard or found the first sign of them in weeks. Then, one day, Mater finally came back, alive and distraught, but alive, only he had came back without Lightning, when we asked him what had happened to him, he claimed he didn't remember where, how, or when he had lost him, only that he had just happened to look behind him once by chance to see if he was still behind him and he was nowhere in sight. We feared the worst then, and we looked, believe me, we looked. We really did. Sherriff had everybody looking everywhere, but he was getting up there in years, too, you know, and he was getting tired. He was wanting to rest."
Buster opened his mouth to argue, but closed it again, not feeling like fighting anymore. He was tired of fighting. "Look, I got to go," he said, getting ready to leave. "Lightning needs help. He's covered in vines, and they're eating him alive, slowly but surely."
"Vines?" the car asked, blinking her eyes in bewilderment.
"Yes, and I know it sounds kind of farfetched, but I'm not kidding," Buster said, finding himself getting ecstatic just by talking about it, despite himself. "They were growing out of the ground, and when I left he was almost completely covered! I wouldn't have believed it myself if I knew I hadn't seen it with my own two eyes."
"Well, I've never heard of that happening, before, but I haven't really been in the graveyard before, either," the car said. "Like I said, it was a place we usually tried to avoid. I believe you, though. I don't know why you would lie about something like that and get so excited about it the way you are."
Buster sighed and took a deep breath. "Thanks, thanks for believing me," he said. "Thanks for not thinking I'm crazy." He fell silent, realizing he didn't know the car's name, and decided he was more than determined to get it before he left. "What's your name, anyway?"
"Sally, Sally," the car said, laughing at the confused look that must've been on Buster's grill. "What's yours?"
Buster chuckled nervously. "Buster, Buster Miles," he said, trembling like a leaf. "I'm sorry, I didn't recognize you before, Sally."
"That's okay," Sally said, and looked like she meant it, because she didn't seem offended. "No one recognizes me anymore these days, anyway, what with all of these wrinkles I got now."
Buster was sadden by the revelation. It seemed like all of his heroes had gotten old.
Buster decided to keep his thoughts on the matter to himself, however. "I'm going to have to have help moving Lightning," he said. "He's stuck, and even if we can get him out, he's still not going to be able to move."
Sally was desperate. "Is there anything I can do to help?"
"Well, do you have a tow truck or anything we can use to get him out?" Buster asked, getting a little distressed himself. "Is Mater still around?"
"Yeah, he's still around," Sally said, just a hint of sadness in her voice. 'You should still be able to find him at his usual spot, the Tow Mater, and, he might be older now, but he's still the same old Mater, believe me."
"Thanks, Sally," Buster said, and left.
"Don't mention it," Sally said, under her breath.
Buster could feel her eyes on his bumper as he drove off, but he didn't slow down to stop to see if she was looking or not. He didn't have time. Lightning didn't either. The old car was counting on him.
Buster drove through Radiator Springs, taking in all the familiar sights and sounds, and keeping an eye out for the first sign of Mater.
It didn't take him very long for him to find the tow truck.
Mater was exactly where Sally had said he would be.
Looking pretty much how Buster remembered him, but seeming a little different, somehow, he was parked in the lot of his own business, waiting for customers. When he saw Buster pull up, he came to life, revving up his engine, which was only a putter. "Why, howdy there, partner," he said, bouncing a little on his wheels, unable to contain his excitement. "What can your good ol' buddy Mater do for ya today, huh?"
Buster was relieved to see neither time nor age seemed to have changed Mater's cheerful, happy-go lucky personality. "Hi, Mater," he said, pulling up to him. "My name's Buster, and I'm new in town, but I was needing some help and Sally sent me over here to find you."
Recognition dawned in Mater's eyes. "Miss. Sally, eh?" he asked, and nodded his hood up and down, closing his eyes in deep thought. "Yeah, I know Miss. Sally." He chuckled, his mouth widening into his familiar, bucktoothed grin. "Me and her go way back, and I know she wouldn't have sent ya to me for no reason, so why did she send ya to me, anyhow?"
Buster paused for effect, and steeled himself for Mater's reaction, knowing that, whatever it was going to be, the tow truck's response was going to be energized, judging by the answer he had gotten from him when he had said Sally had sent him. "I found Lightning, but he's stuck," he said. "Sally said you could help me pull him out."
If Mater had been thrilled before, the happiness he had showed earlier was nothing compared to the enthusiasm he was displaying now. "You found my good ol' buddy, Lightning McQueen?" he asked, his tongue hanging out of his mouth, making him look very much like a dog. "Why, I haven't seen him in ages!" Drool dripped out of his mouth and down the front of his grill. "What happened to him? Where did you find him?"
"I found him in the old graveyard, just outside of town," Buster said, motioning Mater to follow him. "Come with me, and I'll show you,"
Buster didn't have to ask Mater twice. He followed Buster as if he had been his royal companion for years, and the two of them made their way back to Sally, enjoying each other's company and the conversation they were having. Years later, Buster wouldn't remember much of what they discussed, but he knew they had talked about a little bit of everything, and that he had been relieved to find that one of his heroes, at least, had been pretty much how he had pictured him to be in person.
Having appeared to be lost in deep thought, Sally snapped to attention when Buster and Mater came upon her, and her eyes lit up. "Hey, you found him!" she exclaimed, but she hadn't sounded as enthused as Mater had. "Great! I knew you would!"
Mater gasped, gaping at Sally, scandalized. "Did ya have any doubt he would find me, Miss. Sally?" he asked, appalled.
"No," Sally said, but she wasn't meeting him in the eye. "No, I didn't."
"I'm taking him back to see Lightning," Buster said, still trying to figure out what was bothering Sally. "I thought you might want to come with us."
Sally looked down at the ground, not making eye contact. "N-No, I'm afraid I can't right now," she said, a stammer in her voice and a slight tremor in her lip.
It was Buster's turn to be shocked. "W-Why…why not?" he asked, unable to believe what he was hearing. "Lightning needs you, Sally. I know he would love to see you. He misses you. He started crying when I mentioned your name -"
Buster felt a light touch on the back of his bumper, and jumped, just realizing Mater had drove up to his side."Miss. Sally has her reasons," he said, nudging at him. "Come on, let's go, buddy."
Buster hesitated, looking back over at Sally, reluctant to leave. "B-But, what about Lightning?" he asked, stammering a little as he struggled to find words. "She has to go see him! He's very sick and-"
Without warning, Mater whipped his tow cable out, and hooked it to the back end of Buster. "Try not to take what Miss. Sally said too personally, buddy," he said, dragging Buster away from Sally, despite Buster's screams of protest. "It's hard for her to see Lightning the way he is, you see, after the wreck and everything. Just give her time. She'll come around. You'll see."
Buster didn't argue with him, having nothing else to say. Besides, he knew Mater was right. "Poor Sally…poor Lightning…" he said, but said nothing else for the rest of the drive, spending the rest of it in silence.
Lightning was still alive when Buster arrived back in the forest with Mater trailing behind him, but only just barely. Buster had trouble finding him, at first. He had almost overlooked him, but then, he spotted him, nothing but a great lump underneath a big pile of leaves.
"Hey, Lightning, I'm back, and look who I brought with me," Buster said, indicating Mater with a tilt of his hood.
"For the last time, kid, I can't see a blasted thing," Lightning said, leaving Buster at a loss for words.
Mater spoke up. "Why, it's your good ol' buddy Mater," he said, raising his voice almost to a shout, making Buster wince. "You didn't forget about me, did ya?"
Lightning sagged on his tires, looking much older than he had just moments ago, and Buster hadn't thought that possible. "Mater, how could I forget about you?" he asked, seeming to age right before their very eyes.
"Heck, I don't know, buddy," Mater said, with a casual shrug. "I just thought I lost ya there for a sec'."
"Whatever gave you that idea?" Lightning asked, clearly insulted by Mater's assumption.
Buster looked Lightning up and down, inspecting him for any damage. "Are you still holding up?" he asked, putting an end to Lightning and Mater's little conversation, having a feeling it could go on for awhile.
"Y-Yeah, b-b-but I-I-I need w-w-water, kid, before I spontaneously combust here," Lightning said, fear in his old voice. "I-It's w-where I-I've b-been t-trapped h-here for so long."
It was then Buster saw the smoke rising from underneath Lightning's tires, rising far above his hood and into the mid-afternoon sky. "You're engine's going to overheat!"
The fright in Lightning's eyes was gone, vanishing as fast as it had come, only to be replaced by anger. "That's what I've been trying to tell, you, kid!"
Buster shushed Lightning. He stared off into the distance, drowning out Lightning, his voice growing further and further away. He wasn't for sure, but he thought he had heard a particular sound, almost a pitter-patter, like water dripping from somewhere.
Lightning harrumphed, affronted. "Don't you tell me, to hush, you rookie-"
Buster ignored Lightning, knowing he was more bark than bite by now and posed no threat. "Oh, cool you jets before you have an engine attack," he said, grinning at the long string of insults issuing forth from Lightning's mouth, all of them hurled at him.
"Why, you ungrateful, young upstart-" Lightning began, but his sentence was interrupted by another unforgiving, ruthless, coughing fit, sending his body into spasms.
Buster glanced down and started to look beneath Lightning's undercarriage, but rose back up, thinking it would be best to ask permission first. "Wait a minute," he said, giving Lightning a sheepish, self-conscious look. "Do you mind?"
"Sure, go ahead, knock yourself out," Lightning said, rolling his eyes. "It's not like I have much of a choice anyway."
Buster was hurt, and didn't even bother to try to hide it. "You don't have to be so grouchy," he said, hating himself for whining when he knew Lightning had every right to complain. "I'm just trying to help."
"Kid, when you get to be as old as I' am, you'll know why I'm so 'grouchy'," Lighting said, and jerked, a sudden gasp escaping him. "Oh, that hurt, kid…that hurt bad…" He panted for breath.
"What's wrong?" Buster asked, peering underneath Lightning again, his tone anxious. The old car was leaking fuel real bad, and if any of it caught fire…
Lightning wouldn't be the only one going up in flames. The whole forest would be set ablaze, and Buster would catch on fire, too, if he didn't get out in time.
Buster looked back up at the car. "You're losing a lot of fuel," he said, alarmed. "If you do catch fire, and any of the flames lick on it, we're…"
Buster trailed off, and let the words hang in the air, knowing he didn't have to finish his sentence. The look on Lightning's grill said it all.
Lightning gulped, swallowing down his fear. "Get out of here, kid, while you still can," he said, his mouth trembling. "I'm afraid this is the end of the road for me, but you still have a lot of mileage left." He closed his eyes again. "Use 'em up."
Buster wasn't about to take no for an answer. "I'm not leaving you here to…die like this!" he exclaimed, not about to give up. He turned to Mater. "Take care of him for me, please?" He stormed off before Mater could answer.
"Wait, kid!"
Buster hadn't heard him. He was already long gone.
When he got back to Radiator Springs, Sally was still waiting for him.
Buster came to a stop in front of her. "What are you still doing here?" he asked.
Sally smiled. "I knew you would be back," she said. "Besides, I've got nowhere else to go, and even if I did, I wouldn't be able to. This is my home, and I'm too old to be joyriding all over the country."
Buster couldn't argue with her on that one. She had a point. "Do you know where I can get some water?" he asked, wishing he had water for himself, after that drive. "Lightning needs some, bad. He's about to overheat."
"Red's the truck you're looking for," Sally said, a worried look on her grill. "He should still have plenty water left in him, and he would be more than willing to help Lightning, I'm sure."
"Thanks," Buster said, and started to drive off, when Sally called out to him again.
She was hesitant, uncertain. "How's Stickers doing, anyway?"
Buster stopped, turning back around to face Sally. "He's a very old and sick car, and he won't admit it, but he's also very scared," he said.
"Oh, poor Stickers…" Sally said, tears glistening in her eyes. "Say, honey, can I go with you this time? I would like to go and see him…before…before…" She couldn't bring herself to say the word.
Buster nudged his tire with hers. "Sure, Miss. Sally," he said. "I could use some help anyway, pushing him out. I cut most of the vines away from him, but they won't be gone long. They'll be back."
"Yeah, I kind of figured," Sally said, and took a deep breath, gathering up her courage.
With Sally trailing along behind him, Buster searched the town for Red. Like Mater, the fire truck hadn't been difficult to locate, and it hadn't taken him very long to find him. It wasn't hard to miss the big red fire truck sitting parked beside the old statue of Stanley, the town's founder. According to Sally, like Mater, age hadn't changed him much. He still spent most of his days watering the plants around town, humming to himself, not saying a word.
From the old videos of the Radiator Spring gang Buster used to watch back at home, he knew Red had been a fire truck of few words, and right away he saw that the engine hadn't changed much at all. The truck didn't say anything when he and Sally pulled up to him, just blinked his big eyes, which were filled with wonder and awe.
Buster gave Sally permission to speak first, thinking Red would be more comfortable around him if Sally was the one to introduce him.
Sally beamed at him. "Hi, Red," she said, waving a tire at him.
Red just smiled.
Sally leaned over on her side, indicating Buster by tilting her hood at him. "I brought a visitor here with me today," she said. "He's new in town, but he came for our help. He's name's Buster."
Red continued to stare, wordlessly, his ongoing silence beginning to irk Buster just a little bit.
Sally, in what could've only been an obvious attempt to calm the situation, changed he subject. "He found Lightning in the old graveyard, but he's been stuck there for a long time," she said. "We helped Mater get him out, but he's engine's about to overheat, and he needs some water."
Red's eyes widened.
Buster took this as a yes. "Great, come on, let's go," he said, and without waiting for an answer from any of them, sped off.
Buster returned to Lightning not long after, Red and Sally arriving shortly afterwards. "I'm back, Lightning, and look who I brought with me," he said, once Sally and Mater had caught up with Buster and pulled up to either side of him.
Lightning cracked open one of his blind eyes. "Who is it, kid?" he asked, the white iris swirling around in his eye. "Didn't you forget I'm as blind as a bat?"
Buster flinched. He had, indeed, once again forgotten Lightning's blindness. At times, the old car seemed so young he almost forgot just how old and sick he actually was. "I brought Red…and Sally…"
Tears welled up in Lightning's pale eyes. "Oh, Sally…my beautiful Sally…" he said. "You came…I never thought you would…I thought you abandoned me..."
Sally was heartbroken. "Oh, Stickers…how could you say that?" she asked. "You know I would never leave you."
Buster looked away for a moment, to give them some privacy. It was clear by their exchange that Sally and Lightning had known each other for a long time, and might've even been lovers at one point, just like all of the videos had portrayed them. He was glad that much was true, at least. "Lightning, I brought you some water, and I asked Sally to come with me to help me move you," he asked, after he thought they had had enough time to get reacquainted, but hated to disrupt their moment, knowing it was precious.
Terror had returned to Lightning's eyes. "I…I can't move kid," he said, once again looking very vulnerable, and somehow managing to look very young in his vulnerability, despite his age. "It…it hurts too much."
Buster wanted to cry, but somehow managed to bottle up his emotions. "I know, but we have to get you out somehow," he said, instead, bound and detrained to get his hero out of the disturbing predicament he had found himself in. "Red's going to pour this water over you, okay?" When he didn't get a response, he took Lightning's silence as a yes, and motioned to Red to spray Lightning with water. Red didn't hesitate, soaking Lightning with a fountain of water. The smoke and the flames still wafting up from the old car were doused in an instant, and Buster backed away from him to give him some air.
"You going to be all right?" Buster asked in alarm.
Lightning's entire body was sent into a string of uncontrollable spasms, wracked by another intense coughing fit, this one seeming even worse than the first. "I guess I have to be, don't I?" he asked, as soon as he regained control of himself once again, still trying to be the tough guy, but failing miserably; there were still tears in his eyes.
"Okay, then," Buster said, pretending not to notice Lightning's tears. He knew he would've wanted the old car to do the same for him if he had been in the same situation. "Sally and I are going to help Mater pull you out, okay?"
Without saying a word, Lightning bit his lip, but gave a slight tilt of his hood in acknowledgement.
Buster got on one side of Lightning, Sally on the other, and together they pushed while Mater hooked his tow cable to Lightning's bumper and yanked on his old friend, hard.
Lightning screamed.
Buster pressed harder against his side, holding him up. "Come on, big guy, hold on," he said, feeling his body weakening under the strain. "You're almost out."
Lightning pushed and pulled with what little strength he had left, which wasn't much, grunting and groaning with the great exertion caused him.
After it was all over, and Lightning was safely out of the reach of the vines, the old car collapsed. "That was the hardest thing…I've ever had to do…" He broke down and began sobbing.
Buster and Sally looked at each other.
Sally burst into tears.
Buster gaped at her in horror. "Sally, what's wrong?" he asked, his eyes wide with shock. "Why are you crying? We got him out. He's okay."
Sally took a deep, shuddering breath. "Oh, it was so hard…seeing him like that again," she said. "It was almost like the wreck…all over again…"
Lightning, unable to move, could only stare at Sally, completely helpless. "Oh, Sally, honey, don't cry," he said, after he had composed himself and regained control of emotions. "Don't cry over an old, broken-down, used car like me. I'm not worth it. "
Sally rubbed her fender against his in an obvious show of affection. Buster looked away in order to give them some privacy. He didn't know how else to handle it.
"Are you ready to tell me what happened to Cruz now?" Buster asked, and Lightning gave him a look so full of loathing and spite, Buster thought he must've shrunk several inches, he felt so small and insignificant.
"You're not going to give up, are you kid?" Lightning asked.
Buster shook his hood.
"I knew it," Lightning said. "You're like one of those annoying, little reporters who never went away, the ones who always used to hound me with questions about my retirement and who I was dating, nonsense stuff like that."
Buster could only stare back at Lightning, dumbfounded.
Buster was relieved when Lightning roared with laughter. "I'm just messing with you, kid," he said, his frame shaking with joviality. "The look on your face…I wish I could see it…I bet it's priceless. I know I would love it."
Sally just smiled at him. "Pay him no mind, honey," she said. "He lost his a long time ago. He doesn't know what he's saying. "
Lightning actually looked a little hurt. "I know perfectly well what I'm saying, and you know it, Sally," he said. "I might be old, blind, and crippled, but I'm not crazy, not by a long shot."
Buster grinned.
"Thank you, Buster, honey for finding him for us," Sally said. "We never would've found him, if not for you, and he would've been lost to us forever." There was a slight hitch in her voice, but it was noticeable, and Buster had caught it. "I never would've gotten to see him again."
Buster didn't know what to say. "You're welcome, Miss. Sally, but it was no problem," he said, "I was glad to help."
To Buster's surprise, Sally looked kind of annoyed. "And stop it with that Miss. Sally stuff," she said. "Only Mater does that, and I have no idea why. He's known me long enough he knows he doesn't have to do it anymore. You have earned the right to call me Sally."
"Thank you, Miss.-" Buster said, but stopped himself just in time, realizing what he was about to say. "Thank you, Sally, I mean." He put the emphasis on Sally on purpose. "I'm honored."
Sally laughed. "Where are you going to go now, honey?" she asked. "Back home?"
"Yeah, I got to get back before it gets too late," Buster said, feeling the crushing weight of anxiety almost overwhelming him. He didn't want to cause his friends to call the police on him. "No offense, but I've already stayed here longer than I should have."
Lightning spoke up, his low, grating voice barely rising above a whisper. "Now, what was it you were wanting to know, kid?" he asked, his memory loss, despite his firm denial of it earlier, becoming quite apparent.
"Oh, I was just wondering…where's Cruz?" Buster asked, seeing no point in aggravating Lightning further with the inquiry he had expressed earlier regarding his other friends, having found Sally, Mater, and Red, and thus the answer to his original question, completing his mission in achieving his goal to bring them back to Lightning in the process, even though it hadn't been his intention from the start.
Lightning had to think about it a moment, searching his addled memory for an answer to Buster's question. "Why, I…I don't rightly know for sure, kid," he said, after he had his mind for a few minutes and came up with nothing. "I…I wasn't lying about that."
"Oh…sorry," Buster said, ashamed.
Lightning was unfazed. "Don't worry about it," he said, brushing off Buster's blunder. "Cruz got big, kid, after she won that first race, and I mean big. She made history, broke all kinds of records. No doubt, knowing her, she's off winning another race somewhere. I'm proud of her. I haven't seen her in a long time, though. Heck, then again, I haven't seen anybody in a long time."
Buster moaned at Lightning's dark sense of humor.
"Ha, ha!" Lightning laughed.
Sally shoved him in the side with one of her tires. "Stop that, you're making him uncomfortable," she muttered, narrowing her stern gaze at him before she softened her expression and reverted it back to Buster. "I'm sorry, honey, please forgive him. He doesn't know what he's saying."
"Just ignore her, kid, she's been around me too long," Lightning said, lowering his voice to a conversational whisper. "I think I'm starting to rub off on her. She can't be trusted, either."
Buster smiled at him, heartened by their playful banter.
Lightning stared at him, his eyes staring passed him, unseeing, almost seeming to see through him. "Wasn't there something else you were wanting, kid?"
"Oh, yeah," Buster said, having almost completely forgotten the main reason why he had came in the first place. "I was looking for a part."
"Go ahead, kid, take your pick," Lightning said, his wry tone as dry and as sarcastic as ever. "Everything's free grabs here as far as I'm concerned."
Buster looked around the graveyard, scanning his weary gaze over the macabre scenery. He drove over to an engine he had spotted lying next to a car nearby, picked it up in his mouth, and drove back to Lightning. He dropped the engine down in front of the old car. "Here's a good one, I think," he said, licking the taste of metal the engine had left in his mouth. "Thanks, Lightning."
Lightning looked as if he was lost. "Thanks for what?" he asked, deep loneliness in his eyes, despite being surrounded by his friends.
"Nothing, never mind," Buster said, thinking he sounded better, but still only a faint shadow of the car he had once been, an empty shell. His glory days of racing were over, and he was never going to get them back.
As if they all realized the same thing at the same time, the group fell silent, listening to Lightning's shallow breathing.
Buster watched him, with bated breath, waiting with dread for the moment when he would take his last.
Sally must've seen the look on Buster's grill and recognized it for what it was: fear. "He'll be all right, honey, for awhile, anyway," she said, her eyes still wet with tears. "I won't leave him, I promise you."
Buster believed Sally. He didn't doubt her. He just felt better hearing her say it. "Thank you," he said, truly meaning it. "I didn't have any doubt." With one last smile at them, he picked the engine back up in his mouth, and left the graveyard for the second and final time that day, leaving his heroes behind for good.
Lightning watched Buster leave for the second time that day, but knew this time would be the last.
"He's a good, tough kid," Sally said, as if to reassure him. "He'll be all right."
Lightning breathed heavily, air whistling out of his mouth. "It's not him I'm really worried about."
Sally felt Lightning trembling against her body. It was all he could do stay on all four tires. She could feel him sliding against her. She had to press herself against him to keep him from falling. "What are you saying, Stickers?"
"Sally…Sally, I'm…I'm s-s-scared…" Lightning said, stammering real bad on the last word, and Sally knew then how much it had cost him to say it.
Sally looked over at him, horrified. "You're starting toscare me talking like that," she said. "What do you mean?"
"I'm afraid…I'm afraid of losing my mind…among other things…" Lightning said, a shudder shaking his ailing body. "I can't…remember things, like I used to…you're right, Sally…I' am losing my mind…"
"Oh, Stickers…" Sally said, beginning to cry again. "You're breaking my heart."
"Sssshhh, none of that now, Sally, none of that," Lightning said, and kissed her on the side, surprising her with the gentleness the usually hateful old codger demonstrated in the gesture.
"Oh, Stickers…you know I love you, don't you?" Sally said, gazing up at Lightning with pure adoration and affection in her eyes.
"Yes, and I love you, Sally, my dear, but enough talking, for now," Lightning said, kissing her again. "I'm tired of talking. Let's just sit together and watch the sunset, shall we?
Sally couldn't agree with Lightning more. She was getting a little tired of talking herself. "Whatever you say, Stickers, honey," she said, and closed her eyes, resting against his side.
For the rest of the night, Sally sat with Lightning in silence, watching him fade away with the dying light of the sunset.
The End