Chasing Blue
Summary: Celestia is an ordinary car with a big heart. When she runs away after a fight with her mother and stumbles upon the small town of Radiator Springs, she finds a family she didn't know she had. And more importantly, her father.
Author's Note: I'm back, baby! Finally I'm getting back into the Cars fandom! Anyways this is being co-written with my lovely Co-Writer, Songbird's Call. Go check her out on here and on AO3 at Song of the Rails or Songbird's Call! Enjoy the story!
Chapter 1: A Drive
July, 2003
Millroad, Arizona
Turning. That's all her life seemed to do anymore. Turn. One after the other. Moving from place to place, never staying in one spot for too long. Such was the norm for Celestia Trackster. After all, what was one supposed to do with a workaholic mom and an unknown dad? And it didn't help that her mom had explicitly forbidden her from racing, even though they seemed to be racing all the time with the constant moving.
Celestia loved the thrill of speed. Something about racing made her oil burn in excitement and her powerful engine roar. She was a mixed breed of car. Her mother was a Dark Green 1976 Lancia Stratos, but poor Celestia didn't look anything like her.
She still looked like a Lancia Stratos, but was more sleek in shape, almost as if she was made in the 1950's, her dark bluish green paint blending well with her bright blue eyes that she got from her mother. Instead of her engine in the back like her mom, it was in the front. Her mother said she got it from her father, but she never told her what kind of make and model he was, nor his name.
Even though her mother specifically forbidden her from racing, that didn't stop her from doing it. She had been street racing ever since she turned 16 in January just before their latest move, a somewhat large city called Millroad, Arizona. She didn't win first place, but she did manage to win third or second if she was lucky. She looked at herself in the mirror in the new house, which she lived in with her mother. Her mother had gone to work like she always did at night. Celestia let off a deep sigh.
"Alright. Showtime."
Turning off lights to the house, she drove outside, locking the door behind her and headed to the outskirts of town. It was hard work avoiding the neighbors, who seemed to have been hired to watch her every move. But, she was soon out of her neighborhood and moving down back alleys and sidestreets. Just outside of town, five cars sat on the edge of the road, waiting for Celestia.
"Where is she?" grumbled one of the cars.
"Ah, just relax, Wingo," replied a blue Redo-Do with two wings on his roof. In the back he had woofers and subwoofers along with a CD player to play some tunes.
Just then the sound of a powerful V6 engine roared into hearing range as Celestia zoomed into view.
"Hey, guys. Sorry I'm late. Had to ditch the parent."
Boost, a greyish purple Kyoku and the leader of the Tuners, rolled over to her.
"Good to see you again. What is this? Your twelfth move to another city?"
"Feels like it," Celestia muttered.
"Well, it's good that you're back with us. Heck, maybe you'll even beat me this time. Something I highly doubt. I got me some upgrades."
He turned to show off his new boost tanks for his nitrous. Celestia rolled her eyes.
"You can talk the talk, but that doesn't mean you can drive."
"Oh, we'll see about that," replied Boost. "Natalie, get ready to wave the green flag, babe."
A red sports car rolled in front of Boost, giving him a quick smooch on his fender.
"You got it, babe."
As Boost rolled to the starting line, Natalie made her over to Celestia.
"You got about a 0.2 percent chance of winning. There's no way you'll beat my boy toy."
"Numbers aren't everything, Nat. Just watch."
Natalie drove off to the main pack. It consisted of Snot Rod, an orange and black racing striped 1970 Roadburner, Wingo, whose giant green fin would squash him as flat as a piece of paper if it was any taller, DJ, and Boost. DJ was parked next to Boost, leaving one open space for Celestia next to him. Celestia drove up beside Boost.
"Hey, control your girl, would ya? She started spouting numbers at me again."
Boost shifted his front tires, as if to say it wasn't his problem.
"Hey, it's just how she is. Besides whatever she told you, she's right. Numbers don't lie."
Celestia grit her teeth and focused on the road, leaning forward on her suspension and rubbing her front tires against the asphalt in anticipation.
"They do today."
Time seemed to slow as Natalie waved her green handkerchief, dropping it to the ground. Celestia pushed her engine as hard as she could, putting the pedal to the metal. It wasn't long before Boost, Wingo, DJ, and Snot Rod passed her, but she still kept her speed. She knew they would run out of nitrous sooner or later.
DJ was the first to slow, since some of his systems were being diverted to playing his music. Next was Wingo, whose ridiculous tail fin was causing some serious drag. Celestia grinned as she passed them both. Snot Rod was a little more tricky with his sneezing, but she eventually shot ahead.
Three down, one to go.
She boosted once with her nitrous to catch up with Boost, getting into his slipstream to draft behind him. Up ahead, she could see the county line, which was the finish line. She shifted her tires and moved to the side, slowly accelerating past Boost. Boost tried to get past her, but his nitrous tanks were practically empty.
Which left Celestia to speed over the county line, victorious.
But what the two didn't realize was there was a police officer parked on the county line, keeping an eye out for Celestia and the rest of the Tuners. Suddenly the sound of a siren filled the air and red and blue lights flashed. Boost growled.
"Cops! I hate cops!"
"I think that's one thing we can both agree on, Boost!" Celestia snapped back.
Boost frowned.
"Sorry about this, Celestia. Call me when you get out of prison!"
Boost slammed into her side, forcing her into a spin. Celestia screamed as she spun and slammed her side into a tree. Things were dizzy for a moment as the officer came up to her.
"Girl, you're in a heap of trouble."
Celestia's eyes rolled back as she passed out.
It wasn't until a couple days later when she awoke to the steady sound of an engine monitor. She tried to move, but found her tire was stuck. Glancing down she saw there was a parking boot on her. Glancing towards a mirror she noticed her modifications had been torn off. No boost tanks, no spoiler, no nothing.
"Where...is...my...stuff?" she growled.
"Gone," said a voice that was all too familiar to Celestia. A quick glance confirmed that it was her mother, Sylvia.
"Where did you put it? That was mine! I paid for all of it!"
"Like I said," replied Sylvia, "Gone. It's in the trash. Where it belongs. You could have died, Celestia! Do you have any idea what I had to do to bail you out? I had to use all of our savings! That was supposed to pay our rent and bills, Celestia! We may have to move again now!"
"'Where it belongs'?! Are you joking? Do you have any idea how long it took to save all that money to get those upgrades? Forget about bailing me out! Mom, I won! I came in first!"
"It doesn't matter, Celestia! You broke the law! I forbid you from ever racing again! And if I ever see another modification to your body that's not a normal paint job, I will send you off straight to jail because I can't do this anymore!"
Sylvia began to calm down.
"Now...the officer is going to remove your boot and you cannot speed out of here. You're still healing and there is a tracker on how fast you're going. If you go above the posted speed limit, you will be found and arrested."
The officer began to remove her boot. When he did so, Celestia glared at her mother and shook it off, rolling out of the hospital room, revving her engine loudly. Soon the two were home and Celestia went to her room, not wanting to speak to her mom. She glanced out her bedroom window and saw cars on the interstate going at high speeds.
Glancing into the hallway, she saw her mother was on the phone. Grabbing only essential supplies and money, she drove out the front door and headed towards the seedier parts of town, hopefully to remove her tracker and get some of her mods back. Sylvia didn't even notice.
She stopped by a small clinic that didn't ask many questions and quickly got the tracker removed. It hurt a bit, but she felt a lot better when it was finally out. From there, she headed to a body shop where she got nitros boosters and a simple spoiler. She even found a little bit of extra money to get a few flames painted on her.
As she rolled out of the body shop, she glanced at herself in a nearby mirror. Her paint was now a deep shade of royal blue. Her spoiler and boost tanks were cheap, but they would do until she came into some money. The added bluish green flames also highlighted her paint and would draw some looks to her, but she didn't care. She looked halfway decent and that's all that mattered.
She was soon out of the city and on the interstate. At first, she kept it a little on the slow side, remembering that she was still healing. But, after a few other cars jeered at her, she picked up the pace. She laughed as she sped down the interstate, the wind flying over her hood and roof. This...this was freedom.
Celestia had only been driving for a couple of hours when a warning light flashed on her panel. She groaned.
"They couldn't have filled my tank up just a little bit? Stupid hospital staff..." she grumbled. She glanced ahead and saw an exit.
"Maybe if I get off here, I can find a gas station close by. I wish I stopped back at that rest stop. Seriously who calls a place Top Down Truck Stop? And I'm talking to myself…"
Celestia pulled off of the interstate and took a right, heading north into the unknown. It was a very dreary road, not even lit. She saw train tracks up ahead and carefully crossed them before reaching a T intersection. Looking both ways, she sighed.
"Well, nothing in sight. Better head back and try to make it to the next gas station."
She whirled around and drove off, not realizing she had gone the wrong way. She didn't even notice a sign that said "Route 66." Celestia sped along the dark road when suddenly her engine began to sputter.
"No, no, no! Not now!"
Celestia tried to speed up, but her engine wouldn't provide the power she needed and it quit. She panted and gently braked, stopping next to an old billboard. Only one light for it was on and the billboard read: "Radiator Springs: Gateway to Ornament Valley".
"Radiator Springs?" Celestia said quietly.
A deep snore from behind the billboard made her yelp in fright. Whoever...or whatever it is was obviously heard her yelp because a yawn emanated it, followed by the smacking of lips.
"Who..who goes there?"
Celestia stayed quiet, unsure of who was there. Soon, a black and white 1949 Mercury Eight Police Cruiser appeared from behind the sign.
"Hmph. A crazy hot-rodder. What are you doing here? You woke me up."
Celestia noticed what he was and carefully chose her words.
"I...ran out of gas while I was trying to find a service station. Somehow I ended up here."
"Hmph. I'll get Mater. Wait here."
The car turned on his lights and turned right, heading down the dark road and leaving Celestia by herself. About thirty minutes passed before two sets of headlights were seen coming towards Celestia. The police cruiser pulled up alongside Celestia, while a rusty tow truck with one headlight and no hood pulled up in front of her.
"Well, howdy! My name's Mater! You know, like Tuh Mater? But without the Tuh! What's your name?"
"Celestia," she replied, smiling a bit. "I assume you're gonna take me to the gas station?"
"Sure am! You also get to see the cutest little town in Carburetor County."
Mater went behind her and hooked his tow cable underneath her, trying his best to be gentle.
"You ready, Miss Celestia?"
Celestia had jumped a little bit when Mater hooked onto her, but she nodded.
"Yep. I'm ready."
Soon, the three cars were on their way. As they drove along, Celestia could see lights up ahead of the small town in her rearview mirrors.
"Is that Radiator Springs?"
"You bet," said the police cruiser.
"Hey, Sheriff? After she fills up, can I show Miss Celestia 'round?"
"If she agrees. And if she adheres to the speed limit."
Celestia let off a silent groan. She wanted to go fast.
Suddenly, Mater pulled into a small lot and parked Celestia next to a gas pump. Celestia's eyes went wide with curiosity. Across the street sat a ramshackle building called Radiator Springs Curios. On the front porch sat an old Model T Ford, snoozing away. Next door to that was a tire shop called Luigi's Casa Della Tires. A yellow 1959 Fiat 500 and a blue Alza Tutto forklift were making sure some tires on display looked good. Across from that was a body shop called Ramone's House of Body Art. A 1959 purple Chevrolet Impala low-rider with orange flames on his sides entered the station, admiring Celestia's paint job.
"Mmh...that paintwork is nice, man. I could have done it better. I'm Ramone. My wife Flo owns the cafe here.
"Thanks," Celestia said. "Your paint's nice too."
The Impala smiled and saw his wife.
"Flo! You got a customer, darlin'!"
A light green and white 1957 GM Motorama show car pulled into the station.
"Well, hey, there! I'm Flo! Welcome to Flo's V-8 Cafe! The finest fuel on Route 66!"
"Hi. And a good thing. I'm...out."
"Well we'll fix that right away, sugar!"
Flo hit a lever on the other side of Celestia's pump with her tire and the nozzle dropped right into the hatch for Celestia's fuel tank, the pump clicking away as gas filled Celestia's tank. Then she moved back in front of Celestia.
"Now can I get you somethin' to eat? You look a bit hungry."
But before Celestia could say what she wanted, a 2002 baby blue Porsche 911 seemed to appear out of nowhere.
"A customer? Finally! But the Cozy Cone isn't ready! Oh!"
The Porsche drove off to a hotel across the street.
"Who was that?" asked Celestia.
"That," said Mater helpfully, "was Miss Sally. She's the town attorney and my fiancee."
Celestia's eyes went wide until Mater laughed.
"Nah, just kiddn'. She just likes me for ma body. She also runs the Cozy Cone. You might be able to stay there, if you'd like."
Celestia pondered it, but shook her hood.
"The offer is welcomed, but I'm afraid I have to get back on the road again."
Sheriff pulled into the station.
"Uh, uh. Not until Doc checks you over. You look like you need to rest too. How long have been driving for?"
"Um… A couple of hours?" Celestia said, shrugging sheepishly at the end. That probably wasn't the best idea after waking up in the hospital not too long before she headed out…
"Well, I'll get Doc," replied Sheriff. "Fillmore and Sarge should be along anytime now. You can talk to them while you wait."
"Alright," Celestia agreed, just happy to have a full tank again.
Soon enough, an Army Jeep and a Volkswagen Bus pulled in. The bus was covered in all sorts of sayings and images from the 1960s. The bus noticed Celestia first.
"Whoa, man...a customer. Hasn't been one here in a long time. You really need to try some of my homemade organic fuel, man…"
"Not that freak juice," muttered the Jeep.
Celestia looked both curious and confused.
"Um...Hi?"
The Jeep smiled.
"Greetings, Soldier. Welcome to Radiator Springs. Be sure to stop by Sarge's Surplus Hut for all of your Government surplus needs."
"Make peace, not war, man." replied Fillmore.
"Tree hugger," mumbled Sarge.
Celestia chuckled at the banter.
"Nice to meet you two."
A voice spoke up from behind Celestia, this one super deep and had some hidden wisdom behind it.
"So...Sheriff tells me we got a race car in town...let me guess...that's you."
Celestia froze.
"Y-Yeah."
She slowly started to turn around to see who was behind her. She was shocked to see a 1951 Dark Royal Blue Hudson Hornet. His chrome was dull and he had a tired look in his eyes, but those eyes widened when he saw her eye color.
Doc's engine raced.
"It can't be...no...it's not her."
He gently cleared his engine before speaking.
"The name's Hudson. Hudson Hornet. I know, real original. Everyone here just calls me Doc."
"Why am I telling her this? She probably just has one of those faces."
As Doc thought, Celestia gently coughed to get his attention.
"I'm Celestia. Celestia Trackster. Nice to meet ya, Doc."
Doc's engine almost stalled.
"No...can it be? Of course not…there's probably another family called Trackster."
"It..It's nice to meet you too. Well..best get you checked up."
Doc turned around and drove over to a small building next to Flo's. Celestia followed.
"So...anything you need to know about me medically?"
"Just your make, model and any medical problems."
He pushed open the front door and drove in, revealing a small doctor's office. On the walls were different tools and equipment. In one corner there was a small area where Doc slept and in the other was a lift so Doc could work on someone's axles or transmission.
"Alright. Onto the lift you get."
Celestia obeyed, settling herself as comfortably as she could.
"Right." Doc went over to a small computer and pulled up a new medical file, putting in Celestia's name.
"Alright. Birth month, date, and year?"
"January 23rd, 1987."
Doc paused for a minute, but continued on.
"Alright. Make and model?"
"1976 Lancia Stratos hybrid."
Doc paused again.
"You're a hybrid? Of what?"
Celestia shrugged.
"My mom never told me."
Doc hummed to himself.
"Alright. Well, that's everything I need for personal info wise. Any medical issues?"
"Nothing life threatening."
Doc nodded and entered the file.
"Alright. Pop your hood."
Celestia did so. She never liked medical exams, especially for this reason. Doc was surprised.
"You have an engine in front? Most Lancia's have engines in back."
"I've had a front engine my whole life. Don't ask me why," Celestia sighed.
Doc nodded and began his examination.
"Well, I think I see a slight problem to why you ran out of fuel. You have a small leak in your fuel line to your engine. That can be easily fixed, but I'm gonna have to raise the lift to get at the line."
Doc pressed a button nearby and the lift raised Celestia into the air. Soon, Doc had fixed the line and lowered Celestia down.
"I have one more thing to do before I let you go. You have to have a sample of your oil taken. It's standard practice now."
He grabbed a small needle and syringe from the wall with his tire and attached it to his wheel.
"Okay, here we go. You'll feel a small pinch and….done!"
Doc pulled the needle out and applied a bandage to Celestia's oil line. He put the sample into a nearby refrigerator and sighed.
"Alright. You're cleared to go. Take it easy. I found some damage to your sides. I'm surprised you drove as far as you did without breaking something. I do recommend you stay in town for two weeks however."
Celestia muttered something that he couldn't hear before she registered what he said.
"Two WEEKS!? I can't. I have very important things to do on the West Coast."
"Well, I'm sorry to say, but Doctor's orders. Plus your tires won't get you far. Those are hospital issued tires. They only last about two hundred miles or so before they burst. You need to get them replaced soon."
Celestia nodded, quietly mad that he noticed.
"I'll do that in the morning. I'll stay the night and be out of you guys' town by noon tomorrow."
"I still recommend you stay the two weeks. I'll have Sheriff lock you up in the impound otherwise."
It didn't take long for Celestia to make her decision.
"Alright. I'll stay."
Doc nodded.
"Good. You don't have to pay me for the repairs. You being a customer is enough for me."
Doc turned and got on his computer, typing away.
Celestia gave him a small smile.
"Thanks."
With that, she headed out. Doc glanced over to the door, before picking up his phone and making a call. A voice answered.
"Hello?"
"Donnie, it's Doc."
"Doc...do you have any idea what time it is?"
"Yeah, I know, but listen. I'm sending you two oil samples to test."
"You know it will take two weeks for it to get here, and to get the test results back?"
"Yeah...that's what I'm counting on."
"Fine...what are we testing?"
Doc let off a sigh, and told Donnie what was happening.
Meanwhile, Sally had managed to get Cone #2 halfway decent when Celestia rolled by.
"Oh! Miss! Miss!"
Celestia stopped before coming over to the Porsche.
"Yes?"
"I have Cone #2 fixed up and ready to go if you wish to spend the night. It's newly refurbished. I'm still working on the rest of them," Sally replied, laughing nervously.
"It's alright!" Celestia reassured. "I'll be spending the night. Well, it was either your place or the impound lot and I'd rather not stay there. No offence."
Sally chuckled.
"None taken. I wouldn't want to sleep there either. It's only for criminals anyways. Let me guess...Doc threatened to throw you in there?"
"How could you ever guess?" Celestia asked sarcastically.
Sally smiled softly.
"Cause I was just like you. I was an attorney in L.A. Livin' life in the fast lane...but….I never felt...happy. So I left L.A. and just drove and drove. Until I ended up breaking down up at Wheel Well Motel up in Tailfin Pass."
She gestured to the mountain range behind the courthouse down the street with her tire.
"Doc fixed me up, Flo took me in...well...they all did. And I never left. Of course I wanted to go back and Doc threatened me with the very same threat. But then I tried to leave and went back the way I came. I'll never forget that moment. The sun was setting, I slowed to a stop by Wheel Well, and...well...I fell in love."
Celestia chuckled a bit at the story before giving Sally a sly grin.
"Who's the lucky guy?"
Sally rolled her eyes.
"It's not a guy. I'll take you up to Wheel Well tomorrow. You'll see. Night."
Sally went over to the main office building and shut off the lights. Celestia glanced around to see everyone else heading home to their respective shops and shutting their lights off. She sighed and headed into Cone #2. At least, if she never heard of this place before now, her mom wouldn't have either. She sighed once more and pressed a button in her cone, the door shutting and the lights turning off. Celestia yawned and went to sleep, not caring what tomorrow would bring.
So, what did you guys think? Let me know in a review and be sure to follow/favorite! Also can you guess who Natalie is?