The Aston Martin reversed quickly, his expression suddenly serious.
"What is it?" the purple spy car inquired.
"Change of plan. You're meeting the American."
Holley gasped. The American spy. She knew which agent had been placed under cover on the oil rigs. Agent Rod Redline. Her ex-boyfriend. "What? Me?" They had broken up because of this very mission. He had agreed to take the assignment and go under cover as a Gremlin. She went to work in the technical department at Tokyo's base shortly after to try and clear her hood.
"Those thugs down there were on the oil platform. If they see me the whole mission is comprimised." Finn explained.
The Jaguar tried to come up with some excuse to avoid meeting him, although the Aston Martin's logic was impossible to argue with. But she tried anyway. "No, no, I'm technical, you see. I'm in diagnostics. I'm - I'm not a field agent." Her hood was spinning. This was getting really awkward, really fast. The break-up was so bad that she hadn't even told Finn the American's name.
The older spy car smiled slightly, his eyes mischievious. He could tell she was hiding something, but completing this mission was more important than personal issues at the moment. "You are now." Holley gulped and nodded. She knew it was pointless to argue. She wouldn't comprimise this mission.
"Alright," she sighed.
"Good," Finn nodded. "I'm going to a more secure location. If you have any questions, just ask. I'll have my radio on."
"Right then. Thank you," Holley replied, turning to look over the balcony once more. She glanced over her fender to see if Finn had anything else to say, but the Aston Martin was gone.
"AAAAAHHH!" The Jaguar turned her attention back to the floor below as a rusty tow truck was speeding through the party towards McQueen and Axelrod. The red stock car looked redder at this outburst (if that was even possible) and Sir Miles was, to say the least, astonished. The whole party watched as the truck lapped at the waterfall, taking big gulps. Holley reversed and drove away. The spectacle he was creating wasn't really that entertaining to her right now. She had to figure out what she was going to say when she met Rod again. She knew he expected to be meeting C.H.R.O.M.E.'s finest spy - not herself.
Moments later, her screen came alive, showing a glowing orange dot. Time to contact Finn. "Okay, so, the American has activated his tracking beacon." Crap, this is really happening, she thought. She kept a cool composure, however.
"Roger that," came Finn's voice over the radio. "Move in." Holley drove on, following the beacon and dodging the many party guests that dotted the floor. Then she realized where she was headed.
"Oh, you've got to be joking."
"What's the problem, Shiftwell?" the Aston Martin sighed.
"He's in the loo!" And it just can't get any more awkward than this.
"Well go in!"
"I can't just go into the men's loo!"
"Time is of the essence, Shiftwell." Holley could tell he was getting impatient.
"Alright," she snapped. She remembered feeling this way when she was a kid. Her parents had wanted her to give a hug to some distant relative she didn't know at a family reunion once. Except this feeling now was worse. Like, times a hundred. She drove down the hallway towards the restrooms and was about to push open the door when that same tow truck from earlier backed out, nearly running her over.
" 'Scuse me, Ma'am!" he hollered in that rediculous accent of his. She watched, mouth agape as the orange beacon followed the truck back toward the party. He backfired, saying something about pistachio ice cream. She scrunched up her face in disgust and confusion. That isn't Rod.
"This cannot be him," she informed her partner.
"Is he American?" the silvery-blue car asked, somewhat doubting Holley's judgement on who was and was not a field agent.
The rusty truck waggled his tow cable around in the air. "Lookout ladies!" he said. Was he talking to himself? "Mater's fittin' to get funky!"
"Extremely," she verified.
"Then it's him."
We'll just see about that, Holley thought, driving forward to catch up with this supposed agent. "Hello," she said, flashing a fake smile.
"Well, hello," he replied, his buck-toothed smile absolutely genuine.
"A Volkswagen Karmann Ghia has no radiator." He's not a spy unless he knows the code.
Mater's smile disappeared upon hearing this beautiful Jaguar spit out a random fact. It was weird, but he thought it would only be polite to answer accordingly. "Well, of course it doesn't. That's 'cause it's air-cooled."
"Perfect," she said, cutting into the middle of his sentence. "Um, I'm from the Tokyo station and. . ."
" 'Course, Karmann Ghias weren't the only ones. Besides the Beetles, you had your Type 3 Squarebacks with the Pancake motors."
"Yeah, Okay. I get it," the purple spy tried again. But the tow truck continued.
". . . And before both of them there's the Type 2 buses. My buddy Fillmore's one a-them."
"Listen!" Holley raised her voice slightly to stop the banter. Now I wish it really had been Rod, even as awkward as that would have been. "Um, we should find somewhere more private." the Jaguar saw the expression on his face. Great, he totally took that the wrong way. I have to let him know I'm talking about the mission.
"Gee, don't you think that's a little uh. . ."
"Yeah, you're right. Impossible to know which areas here are comprimised. So, when can I see you again?" Maybe that sounded professional enough so he wouldn't get the wrong idea.
"Well, let's see," he replied. "Tomorrow I'll be out there at the races." Mater smiled again.
"Got it." Good, she thought. He understands. "We'll rendezvous then." Holley drove past him to get to the women's loo. She let out a breath she didn't realize she was holding. "Calm, Holley," she told herself in the mirror. "Not bad for your first field assignment. Not bad," she exhaled, feeling more relaxed already.
"Shiftwell, your radio is on," came Finn's voice. Holley jumped.
"Sorry, Finn. I'm heading your way now." She drove on, passing a few cars in the restroom hallway. Suddenly she heard the tow truck's accented voice from clear across the party.
"Hey! Hey, lady! See you tomorrow!"
Her eyes shifted uneasily. Doesn't he know anything about discretion? This is a secret mission! The Jaguar sped up - cars were starting to stare! She had to get away, and fast!
"I'm no longer at the party," the Aston Martin said. "I'll meet up with you tomorrow. Get some rest, Shiftwell."
"Roger that," Holley sighed. She was tired of this party. She was tired of the stress of being a field agent (even though it had only been about thirty minutes). She decided to go back to her hotel room and get rested up for a full day of espionage tomorrow. She - not Finn - was to rendezvous with the American agent.
As Holley was drifting off to sleep, safe in her hotel room, thoughts were racing through her mind. Did the American station switch agents at the last minute? Why was she not informed? Did she misunderstand when they told her who they would be sending? Did something happen to Rod? The Jaguar's green eyes popped open at this last question her mind threw at her. She was over him. She hadn't seen him in years! Why did she suddenly care about his safety? Sleepily she nodded to herself as an answer formed - she has a heart. Of course she would care if another agent were in trouble. Ex-boyfriend or not. Holley still couldn't answer the other questions, but perhaps after a good night sleep and a cup of hot mocha oil in the morning, she would be able to.
A/N Okay, so you don't have to agree with the pairing. I'm not so sure I even ship it myself. But the idea popped in my head and I thought, "Hey, why not?" It could work, maybe ;) Thanks for reading!