A Bond Between Friends
Finn McMissile shifted uncomfortably inside Siddeley, he had been through so much today. Every mission brought something different, something dangerous but this one had been worse: he had seen his friend's crushed body. A slight tremor passed through Sid's frame. His voice crackled over the radio, "We're close to headquarters, ten minutes 'til touchdown."
Finn sighed, "Roger that."
"What is wrong?" Siddeley asked slowly.
Finn's windshield was glossy with tears. "It's… Leland Turbo," he said in between sobs. Siddeley was silent and he began to tremble slightly. Finn continued, "He's dead… My best friend… my partner is… is… dead." Siddeley squeezed his eyes shut. A single tear was pushed back onto his wing. He forced himself to quit crying. "How… how did they go about it?" he whispered softly but the wind pushed his words back into his mouth.
Finn hardly heard Sid, "I only know that…" He pictured Leland's remains in his mind and shivered, "…that they crushed him."
"If he's dead, you may want to… check the computer," this time his words were strong but he couldn't prevent his voice from cracking. Finn glanced at one of the many computers lining Siddeley's interior. A garbled video popped up showing Leland, alive. "Finn, if you see this than it means I'm dead… or it's an accident that you saw this." Finn suppressed a chuckle. "Finn, I'm sorry for breaking the promise that I always make before a mission. I love you. Siddeley should be the one showing you this but if not tell him he was the best plane, the kindest plane, I've ever met. If Morningfire, Skylar, or Andrew still live tell them "thank you for the training" for me." Leland shut down the camera but the microphone was still on. Finn heard his engine in the background and a knock at the door. Leland must have realized that he still had the Mic. on and turned it off.
Finn smiled, Leland was always so considerate. "Thank you, old boy," Finn said half to Leland, half to Sid. His engine hurt from the loss. He was not physically injured but mentally. The video had helped fill a hole where Leland used to be.
Siddeley steadied his trembling wings, "You're very welcome."
The next few days were quite chaotic; Finn had met an agent from America who, in the end, turned out to be an innocent civilian, helped a newly hired British agent, met with his old French informant, nearly got killed several times including being crushed by Big Bentley's gears, and stopped a huge conspiracy from destroying a huge race and the trust in alternative fuel. All the while he drove with a hollow emptiness inside of him that slowly seemed to leak from him to his side. This emptiness was where Leland belonged; nothing Finn did could fill it. Holley, a new agent for C.H.R.O.M.E. had become his new partner and she seemed to fill a small bit of that void. Finn realized something that hurt him more than the loss of his friend: For a spy, it was dangerous to have friends, to have relations.
What was a life without somebody you could trust, somebody that would watch your back, a friend, someone that would be there to comfort you? No, nothing. That would be no life Finn would wish on anyone, even his greatest enemy and yet… oh, what did he know, perhaps he wasn't meant to be a spy. In his mind, no, his engine he knew that wasn't true, he was the best living agent in the world. Every spy had to have some friend, some family member that he trusted even if they didn't admit it. Finn's spirit seemed to be dying from the inside out as he lived on. Soon he seemed to be only an outer shell of himself, other agents began to steer away from him, and they began to doubt him. This only discouraged Finn even more. By now he seemed to be void of any feelings to the other vehicles. Siddeley and Holley began to worry about Finn's health and well-being. They did everything they could to help him, to bring him out of his depressing state.
Day after day passed and Finn seemed to be slowly recovering from his mental wounds. Not until he spoke without the clipped tones that had come with his illness did Holley or Siddeley have hope that Finn would return to his normal self. It had been a year since Leland's death when Finn had finally pulled through the emptiness. The emptiness had now faded until it was only a shadow haunting the fringes of his dreams. Finn did not forget the Jaguar, nor did he cease to miss him, he simply had accepted that Leland was gone until he would die.
Little did Finn realize that Leland had forgotten what pain was or what sadness brought. As soon as he had left his physical body he had forgotten, not what these words meant but how they felt. He looked down at Finn with good friends at his side. Morningfire, a Spitfire who had been an agent stood at his right, next to her husband B-29, Skylar. At his left was Andrew, his mentor and Crank, an old mechanic. Although Leland could not feel pain, hunger, or sadness he could feel a longing, a longing to comfort, to embrace Finn with his starry tires like he had when he was living. Leland watched Finn as he developed that empty void and recovered. When the day of Finn's death came the two would joyfully play together like children and embrace each other as they met again in the heavens… that would be a day to remember, a day that the two would never forget, even if they were capable of forgetting. I would be a day that was bittersweet, a day where Finn's friends would mourn and Finn would play, that shadow never haunting him again. That day Finn would also long to comfort his still living friends but never feel the labor of life again. Leland would wait for that day up in the heavens, but until that day came he would visit Finn's dreams and watch over him with a protective eye. The friends' love for each other would never die; never wither, no matter how many worlds they had between them. Perhaps a spy could have friends, even if it was painful for a time…