Disclaimer: I do NOT own Motorcity or characters, they belong to Titmouse copyright Disney

Hi, my first fanfic since I joined here; little nervous about it. Hope you all enjoy it.

Quick note: Chapter updates do not have a fixed date, so please bare with me on it. I'll try to update it as much as I can.


What's just happened?

Underground Tunnels

"You guys go on ahead, I'll keep these Kane bots off your tail!" Mike instructed.

"You sure about that, man? These bots are getting harder and harder to shake!" Dutch inquired.

"Guys, Kane wants me; he sees me separated from the group then he sees me weak. You guys will go on ahead and set up a defence perimeter around Motorcity." Mike instructed. "...Just in case I can't shake all of them." He smiled at his teammates.

"No way, man! That's far too risky!" Chuck whined over the intercom from Blond Thunder. Calmly Mike rolled his eyes.

"Come on guys, what other choice do we have? Let them follow us to Motorcity and find our HQ?" Julie inquired as she sent out copies of her own car to entertain the robots. "Besides Mike knows the roads down here like the back of his hand; the robots won't stand a chance of keeping up."

"Yeah, but you know who'd be harder to keep up with? TEXAS!" Texas yelled to everyone.

"Which is exactly why we need your fire power at home, buddy." Mike spoke comfortingly.

"Alright, ladies; let's see who can keep up with the one and only, TEXAS!" He screamed again as he planted his foot on his acceleration.

"Dutch set out a smoke screen to cover you guys." Mike instructed as he slammed down on the brakes and turned around, speeding off in the direction he just came through. "Julie, set up a handful of copies of Mutt and take some robots down dead end tunnels. Chuck and Dutch; cover Julie. Texas, you go home and tell Jacob to set up the back-up perimeter by taking the side entrance." Looking in his back mirror, Mike turned off his intercom with a worried look, then smiled as he drove towards a narrow alley. Pushing multiple buttons on his dashboard and a quick flick of his steering wheel, the car flipped onto its side in mid air, continuously spinning at 360 degrees.

Landing with a decent opening, Mike pulled away from the consecutive explosions behind him. "Woah, nice side winder, Mikey!" Chuck grinned. Looking across the distance, Mike saw the blond haired boy waving.

"Learners have both hands on the wheel, Chuckles." Mike retorted and watched as he gripped the wheel again. "And they also watch their own road..." He smiled as Chuck sped off ahead to catch up with the others.

"Mike, we've got a problem; one of the bots bailed out on the hologram and I can't find it anywhere." Julie spoke up.

"Just get to Motorcity and get the defences up; I'll deal with the rest." Mike instructed as he turned off, heading further away from their home and into the bowel of the underground. Looking at the icons on the screen he watched as they heeded his instructions.

"Yo Mike, Texas here! Jacob's set up the defences." Texas's voice boomed through the speaker.

"Good, now when every-one gets back, tell them to cover every main gate from a blind-spot; we can't have those robots shooting lasers and hitting our cars."

"Got it, Texas over and out, ka-chaw!" Mike pleasantly rolled his eyes with a small giggle and glanced in the rear view. Slamming his brakes when there wasn't anything behind him.

"Where are you?" He whispered to himself.

"MIKE GET OUT OF THERE!" Multiple voices shouted as his car was encase with red dots. Hitting the gas a little late, the back end of Mutt spun out of control.

"Where the heck did they come from?!" He yelped as the green car began to swing violently, and the engines' heating gauge began to rapidly rise. "That's not good." Mike murmured attempting to unfasten his seatbelt only for it to be jammed as his car crashed into a building.

"MIKE?!" Chucks voice echoed, followed by Julies' until the intercom gave out and Mutt's interior was red and the building above was crumbling. A large explosion, whipped at the broken structure, causing it to cave on top of Mike and his vehicle.

Kane Co Tower

Kane's Main Office

A sadistic grin crossed his face from under her moustache. "Send out the elites to search the remains." Kane spoke solemnly as he watched the smoke fill the screens. "If Chilton's alive; I don't want the Burners getting there first." He watched from his chair as the group began to headed out of the station. "I've got you now, Chilton." He purred, cracking his knuckles, before something behind him shattered. "TOOLEY!"

Outside Motorcity

"MIKE!" Dutch yelled, spinning his car around. Both Julie and Chuck following his lead as they sped across town. "Texas; Jacob! Mike is down! I repeat; Mike is down! Have medication on standby, Julie; Chuck and I are on our way to get him!"

The explosion wasn't subtle you could see it from the far side of Motorcity, and with the Burners zooming through all the shortcuts and even places that were no longer a road; every-one could feel it that something bad had happened to someone important in their settlement. Skidding to a halt the Burners scrambled from their cars to search the area, only to find the area had been mostly cleared, and their lay a destroyed Mutt. Dashing over the broken bricks, the three ripped off Mutt's door to find no sign of Mike.

Continuing their search they found nothing, and had already contacted Jacob to give Mutt a tow back to headquarters. "Hey guys..." Dutch spoke up. Looking away from their designated search places. Chuck and Julie ran over to his position. "I think Mike's been kidnapped..." He frowned as heavy foot prints lay in the ground, leading to and from a large imprinted square. Amongst the confusion were two weak lines that had only barely made it through the dirt.

"It's Kane's elite soldiers." Chuck spoke up, "But who knows where they've taken him!" biting on his finger nails, his knees began to knock together.

"Relax." Julie spoke up after taking a deep breath. "Look, I'll go up top and search around for Mike; if he's up there; me and Claire will bring him down back to safety. I promise nothing will happen to Mike. But, on the off chance that he's not; try and rally as many people as you can to search for Mike." Julie instructed as she sternly walked back into the car. "And be careful!"

"You to Jules." Dutch replied as the boys watched the yellow racer speed off down a tunnel.

Detroit Deluxe

Prison Cell

"Well, well, well; if it isn't Mr Chilton, all scratched up like the dog you are." Kane's voice loomed as Mike opened his eyes to a bright room.

"Who are you?" He inquired groggily. "Where am I? What is this place?" Shifting his head around slowly as it ached, he blinked, adjusting his eyes, before looking up at the man before him.

"You seem confused cadet."

"Cadet?" Mike repeated. "Like... a rank for a soldier?"

"What's the matter Chilton; you aren't yourself today." Kane, folded his arms firmly, scowling down at the boy.

"Who's ...'Chilton'?" Mike inquired, unknown to his own identity. Looking down at the brunette young man, Kane tipped his head to the side.

"Tooley, call in a paramedic..." Kane requested, barely turning his head as he kept an eye on the Burner.

Underground Tunnels

Towards Deluxe

"Girl, where are you!" Claire called down her own intercom. "They brought Mike back here and took him to your dad!"

"WHAT?!" Julie squeaked. "Oh no, there's no telling what could happen to him!" Biting her lip, Julie pressed harder on the accelerator.

"You're telling me! He was just letting them drag him! He was conscious and they just dragged him! He didn't even put up one bit of a fight!"

"That doesn't sound like Mike... but he was in a rather big explosion."

"Maybe so, but he was looking at Deluxe so strangely, like he didn't recognise it!" Claire sighed.

"Thanks Claire, I'll tell the boys." Julie sighed and opened communications to the other available Burners. "Good news, Mike is alive. Bad news, he's in Deluxe... worse news; he's not coping too good. But Kane knows Mike is there in Deluxe, so keep all perimeters on lockdown until I report back with Mike and Claire." Julie instructed, hoping that they would heed her instructions in substitute for Mikes.

Detroit Deluxe

Prison: Nurse' office

"Well, his brain isn't completely fried, but he's not all quite there..." A female spoke, as she did a fair inspection on the male. "It seems Mr Chilton is suffering from partial amnesia; he doesn't recall anything about the Burners, not even the vehicles they drive let alone their headquarters. He does remember being a cadet to a degree; even though his timing about it is misplaced. He's saying that it was only two weeks ago that he was getting ready in his room before heading off to inspection." The medic sighed, looking back at the young lad. "So anything about Motorcity is a blank to him, he is sometimes partially jittery and involuntary of some actions, but that's as much as I can get out of him."

"So, what about Deluxe?"

"Another blank; he doesn't know about Deluxe, he still knows his A B C's and his physical seems fine. So he can either be an ally or a threat depending on how you treat him. Unfortunately; he still knows right from wrong in basic instances."

"Good as I'm going to get with him. How is his learning?"

"Difficult to recognise apparently familiar things, new things are like teaching a child again, and one that isn't paying too much attention." The woman sighed, brushing back her hair. "If you want, I'll keep up with him every couple of days to a week, to see if he's progressing in any positive or negative way."

"That'd be useful." Kane nodded, allowing the woman to leave. "So son, what's your name?"

"My name?" Mike inquired. "Um... Chilton, I think. That seems to be what every-one's calling me."

"Good lad. Do you know your first name?"

"No, I don't." He sighed, looking at the ground seemingly lost.

"It's Mike."

"Mike?"

"Yes, now tell me Mike; do you know how to throw a punch?" Kane inquired and watched as the young man shook his head.

"I don't understand." Mike squinted before holding and rubbing his head in slight agony.

"What's the matter, cadet?"

"Just my head... sir?" Mike groaned, before backing against the wall to hold his weight. He felt something was off in that sentence, but for the moment – he couldn't place it. And he didn't expect to any time soon.

Claire's Pod

"Well according to these files that I've hacked, Mike is suffering from amnesia." Julie sighed as she stood in Claire's pod.

"Considering he was sort of blown up and crushed to pieces – amnesia doesn't sound as bad as dead." Claire spoke calmly. "So all we really got to do is, find him, get to Motorcity and rejog his memory."

"It's not that simple. Amnesia isn't a case of over night cough. It'll take time to mend him. But the worst part is; the building he's in, isn't holding him any more and there are way too many buildings he could be in!"

"So your boys can hold down the fort, while you and I will scout around and look for Mike." Claire stated calmly, placing a hand on her hip. "So, let's think about this logically. Mike has amnesia, so I highly doubt Kane would want him out of his sight for a long time – y'know to keep away from all the cars and your underground paradise of race tracks, you know the whole Motorcity craze." She shrugged.

"But then that makes it even harder for us to get Mike out. If my dad reprograms Mike into a real elite soldier without caring for civilians, then Motorcity will be pretty much doomed." Julie sighed, pacing over the white floor.

"Girl, you need to chill, alright? If we can just distract Kane long enough with something of important – yet trivial, then we can steal Mike away and speed on home to Motorcity. Easy!" Claire beamed.

"Not so simple, Claire. Name one thing that could distract Kane from Mike; those two have history... I don't know what that is but... well something to do with Kane can surely mark a person." Julie shrugged.

"Can't you pull of another Daddy-Daughter day?"

"Too soon, besides he'd think I'm in that age group where I want to be alone." Julie sighed. "But, I'm sure I could work something else whilst looking for Mike."

"Or you know, you could have 'the talk' with yo daddy..." Claire smiled folding her arms.

"No, no, no! I already know enough about the birds and the bees to not need 'that' talk from him!" Julie blushed and turned away, marching quickly to the window.

"But come on, Jules! We need him distracted!"

"But then that leaves you to figure everything else out!" She retorted. "How will you get passed the guards?"

"Easy, fire alarm."

"Then the whole building would evacuate then you'd be caught on camera sneaking Mike out, if the guards don't supervise him!" Julie retorted and sat on the floor. "I can't let you get caught, otherwise I won't be allowed to see you again." Walking up behind her, Claire embraced her softly.

"I'm sure the guys can handle the bots, the real trick is Mike. We get him to be a Burner, with some home remedies then we got us our Chilton." Claire beamed.

"Home remedies?" Julie inquired.

"Almond paste and Rosemary tea! My dad took a blow to the head when I was small and my mom gave him these and a few weeks or so later, good as new! It helps strengthen the mind. Besides I'm sure Mike's memories aren't lost, just hidden in his subconscious." Claire shrugged.

Julie turned to look at the approaching building that was her home. "You sure he wouldn't have forgotten me or the Burners completely?" Julies inquired as she played with a piece of hair.

"It's probably not even amnesia, he's probably just a little knocked back and went into a bit of shock; and his brain denying accessibility for the sake of his health. I mean, let's face it. Blown up; buried and delivered to the bad guy? Not the best of circumstances. He'll probably remember everything when he sees a friendly face, and if that doesn't work a tour around Motorcity definitely will." Claire beamed. "Now come on it's been a long day; you need your rest, if you need help the Burners know how to contact you."

"Yeah, I suppose you're right." Julie smiled.

"Of course I am!" Claire boasted. "Now come on, get a good nights' sleep and then you'll be refreshed and ready to take on the day and save Mike!" Julie giggled at her friends' remark and stood by the exit.

Motorcity

"Well, it's after dark up there, no way would Kane be sending his nasty bots down here at this hour." Dutch yawned, "Man, what a day." He sighed as he pulled away from the blind-spot and headed calmly to the garage.

"I know what you mean... Texas could use a little shut eye." He spoke calmly, giving out to the contagious yawn.

"I just hope Mike's alright." Chuck sighed, leaning back into his seat as he steered through the streets.

"Relax, you kids are over reacting. Mike's got Julie and Claire up there if he needs back up at least we've got him covered. Our main priority – as always; courtesy of Mike – is to protect Motorcity. No ifs; no buts, now you three get to bed, you'll need your energy in case an early attack." Jacob soothed.

Next morning

Detroit Deluxe

Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Be- Hitting down on her alarm, Julie lazily rolled out of bed with a groggy sigh. "Goooooooood Morning Deluxe! As usual the weather is perfect and the sky is clear, its perfect weather for a fabulous day. Top news this morning; Mike Chilton, of the Motorcity Burners, has been captured and rehabilitated! Yes, Kane Co has worked their magic once more; turning this delinquent into a model citizen."

"Mike?" Julie whispered as she sat beside the radio, holding her knees to her chest.

"Julie, are you awake?" A voice came from her bedroom door.

"Yeah, dad!" She called through as she lifted herself from the floor. "Doors' open, come on in." Walking through Abraham smiled down at his daughter.

"Did you here the big news already? We caught MIKE CHILTON!" He cackled as he squeezed her into a hug.

"Yeah, and rehabilitated him... already? Wow that's, uh, quite a feat dad." Julie smiled.

"Finally, the Burners won't be any more of a problem and we can finally wipe out Motorcity!" Kane exclaimed with joy. "Speaking of which. Julie; just as a test, you'll be going down to overlook the operation." He smiled as he looked down at his daughter.

"Don't you think that's a bit big of a responsibility?" Julie inquired.

"Not at all. It lets me see that if anything goes wrong; that you can think on your feet and get everything back on track and on schedule."

"But, dad ...what, what if something happens: something that I won't be able to solve or fix? What if the Burners get in the way? What if they fight back?" She sighed as her voice grew weaker and weaker.

"Don't worry sweetie, you won't be alone. I'm only a call away, and you'll have a body guard." He smiled and kissed her forehead. "Tell you what, I'll select my top ten men and you can choose as many as you want that will make you comfortable. How does that sound?"

"Great." She smiled awkwardly, "Fantastic even..." she chuckled as he hugged her.

"Perfect. Swing by my office at lunch. Tooley will escort you to the barracks; bring a friend if you want to help select." Kane proposed as he kissed her forehead and began to leave. "I'll leave you to get ready and make arrangements." He smiled proudly as he left her room.

Dawdling over to her dresser, she removed her pyjama's and into her casual Kane Co gear before heading into a typical morning routine.

Motorcity

Burners' Garage

"Is it me or does any-one else feel this day is going to be funky?" Dutch inquired as he sat at the bar stool in the garage.

"Or, y'know, it could be Jacob's breakfast, and he's made extra." Chuck spoke grimly.

"I don't know what you two sissies are talking about, but Texas is hungry!"

"Glad you feel that way, kiddo. Since Mike and Julie aren't here; we can share out the leftovers between us. It could be a big day, so it's best to be prepared for anything Kane Co could throw at us." Jacob beamed as he dished out breakfast between himself and the remaining Burners.

After a very unappealing breakfast Dutch and Chuck headed down to the cars, seeing how to modify them efficiently. Texas and Jacob, just sat talking; by which it was Texas bragging how he could kick Kane's butt and Jacob continuously trying to butt-in but never succeeding.

Detroit Deluxe

Claire's Pod

"So you're going to be in charge of destroying something you've been trying to protect?" Claire inquired. "Girl, that is messed up!"

"Worst part is, I'm going to have some-one over my shoulder so I won't be able to contact the Burners to warn them of what I might have to send. I can't disappoint my dad because he'll come down and take over. But I can't show my face to the Burners if I try destroying them!" Julie sighed.

"Maybe you could patch me into the network and I can relay the info to the Burners?" Claire opted.

"Sounds good, but my dad will be monitoring me on all frequencies – just to make sure the Burners can't block our contact should I need his help. And if I don't ask when going down, no doubt some stuck up elite soldier would!" Julie heaved.

"Well, then just pick one that's all brawn and no brains!" Claire beamed.

"Well, I'm allowed to take you with me to pick out my bodyguard; the fewer the better."

"Then what are we waiting for! Let's go pick us a brainless, scrawny bodyguard!" Claire grinned as she jumped up and down on the spot.

Kane Co

"Uh, Mr Kane. Are you sure it's safe enough for Julie to go down there by herself? What if she needs back-up?" Tooley inquired.

"Tooley, I'm not sending her down there vulnerable. I've picked out my top ten, smartest; strongest; fastest – most elite soldiers ever trained here at Kane Co. All Julie has to do is pick as many as she's comfortable with. And by using that number; I'll be able to see how confident she is. Confidence is good in making the tough choices, Tooley. But just in case, I've already picked some-one out to watch over her; only if she's overly confident in her choice." Kane sighed whilst looking out the window, then at the clock on the wall.

"But what about the Burners, Mr Kane?"

"They're useless without Chilton to help them. Chilton is their one and only trump card, without him; they've no leg to stand on." Kane beamed.

"But, if they don't have legs, how do they drive cars?"

"It's just a phrase Tooley." He sighed rolling his eyes. "I'm heading down to the barracks, escort Julie and her companion – should she have one – to meet me in the basement facility. Room 2-2-4." Kane instructed as he left the room.

Burners Garage

"Well that's Whiptail modified, wanna start on Blond Thunder?" Dutch inquired calmly.

"BOOM!" Texas yelped, "What do you think?" practically shoving a piece of paper in their faces, the two sighed.

"Texas, why do you want a super-charged-laser canon on the hood of your car? You won't be able to see anything! And it'll slow you down!" Chuck heaved.

"Because, it will look AWESOME!" Texas shouted as he pulled a pose, as if to emphasise his point.

"You know what, we'll think about it, alright man? See if we can modify it to be more... uh... we'll see if we can 'Texas-ify it'." Dutch grinned hopelessly as he watched Texas dance happily. "Come on Chuck, we'd better get a move on." Cautiously Chuck followed Dutch's leave towards his car, popping the hood, he; Dutch and R.O.T.H set to work.

Kane Co

"Hey Tooley." Claire spoke up. "Where's Mr Kane?" She inquired with Julie in tow.

"Is it just you two?" He asked calmly.

"Yep." Julie replied sharply with a smile.

"Okie-Dokie, right this way." Tooley beamed as he walked out the office, leading the girls to the elevator before pushing a button; he spent five minutes looking for. Both Julie and Claire waiting with a frown as the elevator descended, Tooley, on the other hand, never stopped smiling. "So, it must be pretty exciting going down to Motorcity to get to destroy stuff!"

"Oh yeah, it's giving me Goosebumps." Julie smirked, trying to make light of her situation, before looking at Claire for help.

"So, uh, how far down are we going? Julie was told to meet at Mr Kane's office."

"Oh, pfft, that was for me to escort you to the basement so you could meet Mr Kane's top ten most elite, smartest, strongest and fastest soldiers! His words too!" Tooley smiled.

"Really? Then why aren't you in those ranks?"

"Oh, he-he-he! I'm no soldier, I'm Mr Kane's right hand man!" Finally a light bell sounded and the doors opened. "Alright ladies, now we're going to room 4-4-2 or was it 2-4-4? Or was it 3-3-9?" He murmured as he walked out.

"We'll just walk down the corridor, it's mostly got huge glass windows. Maybe we could find Mr Kane in one of them?" Claire sighed and took the lead, with Julie and Tooley in tow.

Pacing themselves the trio walked down the corridor, "Ooh, now I remember it was room, 2-2-4!" He giggled as the girls headed down a corridor.

After about fifteen minutes of mindless wandering the three finally made it to the room. "Julie, you made it." Kane beamed, "Hello Claire. Tooley; what took you so long?!"

"Tooley forgot what room we were in." Julie spoke plainly before giving the ten a quick glance, already none of them looked like they'd give her an easy time.

"Go on have a browse." Kane smiled and gestured her to walk up the stairs. Doing as basically instructed, she and Claire climbed up the steps and slowly walked in front of each soldier, each looking serious as they loomed over the girls. Both in height and their muscles shown clean through their uniform. Just when all hope was lost, a familiar face had risen at the end, the figure still loomed but he was lean and slender, no outrageous muscles to bump into; or be freaked out at.

"Mike?" Julie whispered to herself before looking back at her father, then the other soldiers. Breathing slowly, Julie turned to look at the brunette. "Name and rank." Julie voiced strictly, her voice music to her fathers' ears.

"Corporal Mike Chilton, ma'am." Mike responded robotically, like the others; he held his arms behind his back.

"Tell me, Chilton; what would you do to defend Deluxe?"

"Forever wage battle against its enemies, ma'am." Rolling her eyes, Claire moved away; giving all the others a once-over before inquiring to her own questions.

Slightly impressed with the answer, Julie blinked a couple times before smirking. "Do you like quoting the oath of Deluxe, Corporal?" Julie smirked folding her arms over her chest.

"I've sworn to the oath, ma'am. And I'll defend Deluxe with my life." Mike spoke once more, sternness in his voice.

"Should a mishap happen, how would you handle the situation?" Julie inquired.

"I'd make sure everything continued going to plan while I dealt with the problem, ma'am."

"Jules, a word." Claire whispered, pulling her away from the ex-Burner and away from her father's hearing. "I'd say Mike's the best bet to go with, for multiple reasons. The biggest one in my opinion; the others would snap you like a twig and rat you out in a heartbeat." Claire murmured, holding on to her friends' arm.

"But I'd rather have some stranger hurt me than Mike!" Julie whispered back with a sad face.

"Well, while you were talking to Mike, I was able to get a little info on the others! Jules think about the spacing in the ship! At least Mike seems to still be a gentleman and able to respect a lady. The others would just shoulder barge you out of the way!"

"But if they hurt me, I could get them into trouble and Motorcity would have one less problem."

"Choosing Mike now would be nine less problems!" Claire insisted.

"I know, I know. But... being so close to some-one who won't act like himself?" Julie muttered. "It wouldn't feel right, I wouldn't be able to do anything right."

"But, spending time with Mike might get him to remember." Claire whispered violently. "Remember Motorcity, remember the Burners, remember Mutt... remember you." Claire pouted causing the other to sigh with a smile. "Besides, it's better we have him with us instead of looking all over Deluxe to where the soldiers sleep. And trying to kidnap some-one like Mike, would end up with hurting butts and being grounded until we die."

"What the hay, it's worth the risk... especially compared to the thugs called 'elite' soldiers." Julie giggled quietly as they walked over to Kane and Tooley.

"Have you ladies made your decision?" Kane inquired.

"Yes we have." Julie sighed, giving them all one last glance. "We choose Mr Chilton."

"Chilton?" Kane repeated.

"Yes... Is there a problem with that?" Julie asked, raising a hidden brow.

"No, I'm putting this down to you. But, just the one?" Kane looked down at her, unknowing what to say.

"Well if he could terrorise Deluxe as much as you say; Motorcity would be on its knees in seconds." Julie smiled.

"Wise choice, however to make sure that you won't be uncomfortable in the pod together. He is to be assigned to you at all times and should be close by – just in case." Kane sighed placing a hand on Julies' shoulder. "Are you completely sure with this choice?"

"Got to have the stomach to make tough choices sometimes. I'd say to take this as practice." Julie smirked. "Alright, every-one but Mr Chilton is dismissed!" Julie called out as she turned to face the soldiers, watching as they all exited, apart from the one who was like a statue. "You really have rehabilitated him, huh?" Julie questioned quietly.

"The perfect citizen and soldier." Kane whispered in his daughters' ear. "Chilton!" He called when straightening up. "Front and centre!" The four watched as Mike walked towards them, saluting them upon his arrival. "At ease, soldier." Kane smiled almost proudly. "Chilton, your task is to guard and protect 'this' young woman, and to meet her commands – at all costs." Kane spoke, gesturing to Julie.

"Yes, sir." Mike responded.

"You will also be accompanying her to Motorcity in a week's time with my armada, I don't need to tell you that no harm should come to her."

"Understood, sir."

"Good man, Chilton. Julie." Kane turned to look at the girl. "He's under your command, and no silly business, young lady."

"I promise." Julie smiled placing on hand on her heart and another by her shoulder.

"You will also be responsible for over looking the preparations for the attack."

"I understand."

"And you will contact me if anything goes wrong?"

"Only if I can't fix it." Julie responded. Seemingly satisfied with the answer, Kane smirked before turning around to leave. "You can stop standing so firmly now, it's sort of freaking my out." Julie spoke calmly, glancing at Mike, dropping her arms by her side.

"How else am I supposed to stand?" Mike inquired, sounding genuinely confused.

"Well, you could put your hands in your pockets, have them hang by your side; you know, relaxed." Julie shrugged.

"Well now that all this bodyguard stuff has been dealt with, how about we get some lunch?" Claire spoke up, hooking into Julie's arm. "I'm starving!" She beamed.

"Fair enough." Julie giggled. "Your place or mine?"

"Yours; that way, 'Mr Chilton' can get to know his temporary surroundings." Claire beamed as she pulled Julie from the room, Mike following the two at a steady pace.

Julie's Home

"Well here we are, it's not much – but it's home, I suppose." Julie shrugged as the three walked into the apartment.

"I'm still having a hard time believing that you've a whole two floors to yourself! I've only got my pod!" Claire sighed as she spun around the living room. "Well, my bedroom too but that's about it!"

"Not like there's much to do but sit around and wait for something to happen." Julie sighed as she walked over to the large sofa. Turning to look over, she saw Mike still standing at the door. "Don't tell me you're just going to stand there all day, take a seat, cowboy." Julie smiled patting the place next to her. "Your feet must be burning from all that walking!"

"I'm just scoping the area, ma'am." Mike spoke emotionlessly.

"You are human aren't you?" Julie inquired.

"Yes, ma'am."

"Please don't call me that. 'Julie' is fine." She smirked.

"Hey, Julie." Claire called, "Where's the kitchen in this place?" twirling around seemingly baffled, Claire ended up looking at her friend.

"Oh, right; I guess I should give you guys the grand tour, huh?" Julie giggled, standing up from the sofa and walked off to the room on the far left. "This is the dinning room." Julie sighed.

"A table with twelve chairs?" Claire inquired before glancing at Julie.

"Never really used as family time, so you know; I mostly sit alone." Julies sighed her gaze turning to the floor momentarily, "Through here..." she continued and moved on to another left. "Is the ridiculously large kitchen, stocked with a ridiculous amount of food, for a ridiculous amount of people..." Leaving once more, she pushed through the double doors leading back into the dinning room. "On the second left is a bathroom." Julie heaved and walked back into the living room. "Through there is my room and my personal bathroom. However it is also the only other way to the guest room. And said guest room is connected to the bathroom shown previously." She huffed before walking through the doors into her bedroom then opened the spare room. Upstairs is dad's space, I'm not really allowed up there... And that's all from the tour I suppose... so who's hungry?" Julie smiled as she walked back through to the kitchen.

"Um Jules, are you alright?" Claire inquired as she moved to her friends' side.

"Fine. Why do you ask?" She smirked at the raven haired female as they moved through the large apartment.

"I dunno, it just seems so big and lonely in here. I mean your dad is always at work, and there's nothing much to do..."

"Come on, I find ways to entertain myself." Julie shrugged calmly. "Besides, I've got you!" Claire beamed as the two hugged and giggled, Mike cautiously watched from a distance, unknown what to make of his situation. Baby sitting some intern? Let a lone an intern that would take over Motorcity? What connection did she have with Kane? "Hey, you alright over there?" Julie spoke up, waking the soldier from his daze.

"Yes ma'am." He responded.

"Julie..." She sighed, folding her arms softly over her chest.

"Sorry... Julie?" Mike spoke again, this time sounding unsure.

She smiled in return as she walked into the kitchen, "Did you bring the stuff?" Julie inquired, as she walked up to her best friend.

"Yep, Rosemary tea and Almond paste. Made freshly this morning and been refrigerated." Claire replied with a smile. "We should also let him watch security feeds, see if that will jog his memory."

"Well, looks like we'll have toast with peanut butter and Mike can have toast and almond paste."

"And we can all have rosemary tea, it's actually quite nice." Claire beamed as Julie pulled the bread from the silver bread-bin.

"Cups are second top shelf to your right." Julie spoke calmly pointing at the cupboard.

Not really interested in anything, Mike had walked over to the window with a smile. It was so tranquil, was there really any danger up here in Deluxe? A small clatter brought him back to reality as he turned around to see Claire setting out pieces of food on the table. "Are you going to stand there all day or are you going to have lunch?" She giggled tapping a chair. Walking over he noticed Julie carry a tray to the table.

"Go on, take a seat." She smiled at the two as she set the tray down on the table. Standing until the two had sat down he gently tucked the girls' under the table.

"Thank you." Claire giggled again before pulling a napkin on to her lap.

"Thanks." Julie responded as she followed Claire's lead, slightly watching Mike from the corner of her eye as he sat down beside her – and opposite Claire. "Hey Mike?"

"Yes ma'am- I mean, Julie..." Mike chuckled slightly.

"Would you mind teaching me how to fight? You know, just in case something goes wrong?" Julie inquired, picking up her slice from her plate.

"If that's what you want." Mike smiled comfortingly.

Motorcity

Burners' Garage

"This is weird, no Mike, no Julie, no Kane; nothing!" Chuck heaved as he tightened a nut in the engine.

"I know man, but isn't it a good thing too? Kane will probably be too busy with Mike to attack Motorcity. And if Julie can get Kane distracted long enough, she can steal Mike away and voila! Two Burners back in Motorcity, then all we need to do is restore his memory of being a Burner – that's if Claire and Julie aren't already working on it." Dutch replied with a smile, looking at Chuck with a smile.

"Well with those two up there, we'll be able to know what's going on if the two relay the information to us." Jacob spoke up from Sasquatch, jumping down to wipe his hands on the work rag, removing the majority of oil and dirt.

"I just can't believe Texas is still asleep." Chuck sighed.

"Nah, he woke up half and hour ago had some 'Muscle Mulch' then went to his own little training ground to kick cardboard butt." Jacob chuckled, looking up at the bar. "Well I'm going to get some refreshments, come on up if you two get hungry."

Once he left the two boys shuddered. "I'll say I'm going to work through the hunger." Chuck murmured.

"I think I'll follow you on that one." Dutch grinned, the two easily returning to their work on the blue vehicle.

Detroit Deluxe

Julie's Home

Julie panted calmly as she and Mike stood in the middle of her living room, everything had been pushed aside. Claire sat by the table with a half filled glass of water. "Alright, let's try it one more time."

"Easy for you to say, I'm not as flexible as I look."

"It's all about speed and weight placement, that's all." Mike shrugged.

"This coming from the expert?" Julie smiled. Calmly Mike took his stance and waited. Taking in a long breath Julie ran as fast as she could before jumping into the air, her right leg landing into the cross of his arms as he guarded her from the blow. Pushing back, Julie lost balance and landed heavily on the floor, derriere first. "Ow." Julie huffed as she lay sprawled out on the once soft plush carpet, to the now worn carpet angel.

"You ok?" Mike inquired, holding his hand down. "You went down hard on that one."

"Just sore ...very, very sore." Julie responded.

"Well considering you're a beginner, you're doing rather well." He smiled as she grabbed his wrist, gently he pulled her to her feet. "I thought you knew how to do a back flip? The forward mid-air roll was spot on. The entrance was flawless."

"Guess I'm not one that likes being blocked." Julie shrugged.

"Alright, let's try it differently. Claire could you come here for a minute?" Mike requested as the female skipped over. "Hold Julie's leg." Holding out her hands, Julie rolled her eyes before lifting her foot into Claire's palms. Suddenly Julie was lifted from the ground, instantly she clung onto Mike, who was responsible. "You can let go." Doing so with a blush, Julie avoided facing him. "Ok, so this is how you're coming in for the blow, right?"

"Yeah. I suppose." Julie shrugged.

"Now, lean backwards." Julie did as instructed and moved against his hand. "Further," Moving again her hair drooped towards the floor, wavering with her moves. "Bit more." Lying down so she was parallel with the floor and ceiling, she looked at Mike then at Claire. "Alright, that's good, but a bit more." Mike instructed softly again. Sighing Julie leaned as far back as she could, almost drooping in his arms. "Body firm. And put your hands on the ground." Doing as she was told, Julie felt her stomach become exposed as her shirt fell to her chest. "Now kick your legs over yourself to land, and after putting your feet on the ground, you have two choices, crouch down or stand up. Alright?"

"I think so." Julie sighed.

"3, 2, 1." On queue Julie kicked her legs over herself and ended up rolling over, landing on her back with giggles.

"I think too much blood went to my head." Julie chuckled.

"Well, that's one way to bounce back. Come lets' try it again." They had repeated this until Claire's arms grew weary, by then they decided to see if she could do the whole thing. Breathing calmly, both Mike and Julie took their stance. "I'll warn you now, if you do this right, we'll move on to the next part." Mike grinned. Julie smiled in return as she dashed towards the brunette, her feet left the ground with immense pressure; rolling powerful, her leg connected almost painfully with his forearms. Deflecting her blow yet again, he pushed her away. Finally perfecting the landing, Julie looked up to see Mike charging towards her. Nearly screaming Julie rolled from harms way and ran behind him.

Swinging around, Mike continued throwing punches towards her, until she was eventually against the wall. Slipping down the wall she narrowly missed Mike's fist. Was he genuinely trying to hit her? Jumping through the space between his legs, she stood up behind him, turning to face him; she subconsciously threw a punch, landing on his cheek as it knocked him backwards. "Oh my Gosh! Mike, are you ok?!" Julie whimpered.

"Well, it looks like you can counter attack." Mike smiled, rubbing his cheek slightly.

"Can we call a time out? I'm exhausted, and I can't feel my fist." Julie sighed looking at her limp hand.

"Sure, you're going very well considering you've never been in any academy or any real fight." Mike chuckled as he stood up and the two walked over to Claire who had their drinks waiting. Taking their glasses, the two toasted to each other before guzzling down the cool beverage.