He barely remembers what happened. A grenade was rolled his way, all his friends were behind him. Someone had followed them to Radiator Springs. he remembers focusing on the bomb, and he remembers jumping forward to cover it. He had wanted so desperately to save his family that he would have willingly sacrificed himself, but when his fingers touch the grenade it detonates. flames burst forth and he wishes so hard he could stop it.

something shifts.

the fire recedes and the impending explosion is diminished into a sphere the size of a ping pong ball. he holds it like that for as long as he can, and at one point focuses so hard blood begins to spurt from his nose. when he finally releases the ball of energy, it gives off a warm wave of heat, and he's so relieved he feels like he might pass out. He was exhausted after... whatever he had just done. The world was vividly sharp and out of focus at the same time. He recognizes the faint loading of guns and knows he's wasted. whoever had sent for his body had sent along several armed guards, and they would have perfect aim.

he hears muffled shouting that he vaguely recognizes, and watches as a shock of red appears in front of him. It's... Lightning? no! they're going to shoot! he hold his hands up in a weak attempt to move the racer, but he doesn't budge. He's saying something, carefully slow, enunciating each word but there's a ringing in his ears and he can only hear the blood roaring through his veins.

he can hear the sounds of the first trigger pulled, and he feels a little bit of him die. Lightnings body shuddered, at he looks up at the gathering of people behind him. Blood trickles from the corner of his mouth as a good aim hits the side of his throat and scraps at the skin. His body shudders as more clips are unloaded, but he looked far from pained. In fact... he looked more annoyed than anything. more shots rang out and Lightning stubbornly stayed in front of him, shielding him.

the guns start firing nothing but air.

Sarge steps up next to him and nods at Lightning, who manages to pull himself to his feet along with Finn and escort him away from the scene. Finn can hear a rather violent sounding background noise, but as Siddeley reaches them and helps Lightning take his weight he finally falls unconsciousness.

He wants answers.

His eyes flicker open and he recognizes Doc's pristine clinic. Always in perfect condition. He has a thin sheet laying over him and a pounding headache, but he rights his body and clambers to his feet. He pokes around the barren office and finds no one there. No one to even watch him? he frowns. something's up, and he needed to know what it was.

He quickly dresses in the cloths laying next to his bed and exits the building. where could everyone be? he spots Flos cafe, and decided that it would be his best guess. He starts up a quick pace and makes it there in no time, but things still seem to quiet. He pushes open the door with a jingle, and immediately all eyes are on him. they're all strewn about the Cafe haphazardly.

Flo and Ramone are sitting on the floor playing cards with Sarge and Fillmore, but the Hippie had long ago fallen asleep leaning up against the bar. his cards lay scattered on the floor, but none of his playing partners were all that interested in picking them up. Sarge attempted a smile, but it came out more as a grimace and Flo turned her head to whisper to her fiance.

Siddeley and Holley were the next people he saw. They both rose from the large round booth to help their friend walk. He was still a bit unsteady on his feet and they rushed to help him on the perilous trip to the table. Red, Guido, Luigi, and Lizzie were hanging around in the back of the store listening to her old radio, completely relaxed in their music. Gathered around the round booth was the last few residents of Radiator Springs, and they looked anything but happy.

Mater had fallen asleep too. He was sitting on the floor, leaned up against Doc who was on the outside, of the booth. He glanced up at Finn and scowled at him being out of bed so early. He should have kept resting, but heaven knows that a boy like him will take a moment to think of his injuries... Sally was next, idly chewing a bite of french fry she had swiped off the various plates around her. She looked tired and worried, with deep bags underneath her eyes, but her eyes weren't cast his way, but to her Boyfriend.

Finn physically flinched when he remembered what had happened to the racer. He snuck a glace at the boy and felt sick. He was wrapped up in several balnkets and was surrounded by a large amount of food. He was currently digging into a large plate of fruit salad. On the other sides of that was meat, fish, nuts, vegetables and several other food items. Finn logically concluded that it was all for major blood loss, because the boy had been shot a whole ton and was as pale as a sheet.

Finn wanted to be more surprised that Lightning was actually alive, but he had just single handedly stopped an exploding grenade with the power of his mind, so he felt no obligations to look a gift horse in the mouth. He was shoved into the seat first and was squashed next to the rookie, who smiled weakly at him, before going back to poking at his food.

"You too." Doc said gruffly, motioning towards the food. It was only then that Finn realized how hungry he was.

After the two had their fill, it seemed like it was finally time to get down to business. Doc leaned forward on his elbows and everyone followed suit except for lightning, who continue to lay back against the booth for warmth, but his eyes were dark and intense. quite a bit clearer than before.

Finn took a deep breath and steeled himself.

"What was that?" He asks finally. his voice sounds weak, like he hadn't used it in months.

"A lot of bullshit." Lightning answered back wearily, reaching up to rub at his tired eyes.

"You're a mutant." Holley says softly. Her voice is strained and scared, like she couldn't believe he could keep a secret from her and he looks puzzled.

That couldn't be right. "No," He said slowly, "That's impossible. Mutants aren't real." The look lightning gave him was single-handedly the most sarcastic and cynical look he had ever received. He shifted a little, "CHROME has never had any records on mutants." He defends.

Lightning shrugs, "I wonder why..." He quips darkly.

Finn carefully avoids the bait, and looks at Doc for explanation.

The man runs a hand through his hair, making it more of a mess than it already was. "Sheriffs much better at explaining than me." He confesses. Finn knows the man had taken off to go see his cousins wedding, or something along that line, but he wasn't here now.

"CHROME doesn't have any records of Mutants because they technically don't exist." Doc twisted up his face in thought, "Mutants were persecuted for thousands of years, and there were several secret police forces created in order to weed out and eradicate all mutants. it was a widespread fear of what they could do, and eventually it spread to national government associations like the CIA, FBI, and CHROME. Years and years passed of this, and eventually they erased all lists and records of their killing. They buried it deep, so deep that not even the highest ranking official would remember the words 'operation final stand'." Doc closed his eyes. "No one but the mutants who suffered through it. People who's parents were killed, or were sent to live in specialized areas while they're parents were taken away. No matter what your power, you were a threat."

Finn felt cold. He wanted to ask so many questions. He would blame it on his exhaustion later, but he couldn't stop the way his mouth opened, "Was that what happened to you?"

Doc stared at him for a long, sad moment. "That's what happened to most of us."