Ch 4
It's now been 2 weeks since the race and the pictures came out and so far, everything was ok. That is until the phone rang in a room at the Wheel Well,
" Hmmm. Stickers, answer that. " Sally muttered groggily as she buried her side further into his to block the sound.
" It's clo(yawn)ser to you Sal. " Lightning muttered in the same tone as he also nuzzled against her as the phone stopped.
" Must not have been important. " she said and got ready to fall back to sleep beside her boyfriend when the blasted phone rang again.
" Jinxed it. " he replied as he reached out and hit the switch to the answer the phone.
" Ass. " she said back swatting the side of his bumper with her right back tire.
" Kinky. "
" I don't even want ta know I just interrupted between you 2. " A thick Texas voice spoke through the phone, making the 2 jump.
" It's not what you think! "
" We were just teasing! Oh no wait that came out wrong! We were just…. " Sally was interrupted by Tex laughing,
" I'm just messin' with ya! I know how you 2 are! Shoot I was young once myself too ya know! " he joked, still laughing at their expense, they laughed nervously along with him until he calmed down.
" Have you(slight cough) found out anything more about who sent those pictures, sir? " Lightning asked after a moment.
" I'm afraid not son. And all Chick will say is that they had come in the mail addressed to him. "
" Anything on Storm's side? As loath as I am to ask. " Lightning replied, sounding like he had just swallowed a bad can of oil.
" Well there is somethin' but nothin' that's helpful to us now. If anything it's making it worse. " Tex replied, exaggerated.
" What is it? " Sally asked this time.
" Well, it seems that he's trailer got blown up yesterday, he wasn't in it thank goodness, but his hauler got a bit scratched up and one of her fuel tanks got pierced, thankfully she wasn't attached to the trailer when it blew because it would've been a lot worse. "
" Is she going to be ok? " Sally asked again.
" She's shaken up, but otherwise she's alright. She was on her way to get the trailer for Storm when it blew. Police found evidence the bomb in the wreckage. Whoever did it had to have been disguised as a security guard, their going over the video surveillance now. "
" Where was Storm? " Lightning asked this time.
Tex cleared his throat a bit before answering, " He was, uhm, entertaining a young lady at a hotel, if you could call it that. "
" Not surprising. What should we do? What if something like that happens here? " Lightning replied, rolling his eyes at Storm's behavior, ' I wasn't that wild when I was a rookie. Well there was those triplets that one time… uh note to self don't mention Louisiana to Sally…ever! ' he thought before shaking his chassis and turned back to the phone,
" Well the thing is that you folks don't have to worry about that kind of thing bein' a small town and all. Any unfamiliar faces there would catch your attention, which is why I suggested to Don… "
" No, Mr. Tex, please don't say it! "
Scene split Don telling Storm the same time
" That he/You should/are going to stay at Radiator Springs until it's time to come back to the track! "
McQueen/Storm
" No! Absolutely not! "
Time Skip and scene change, McQueen/Storm again, Storm in a new trailer
" I can't believe this is happening! " they said together as they looked to the ramp of the trailer.
No more split scene
" Now Stickers be nice. " Storm heard outside, recognizing it as the Porsche that was with the Champ just 2 weeks prior.
" Nice?! How can I be nice to that, that, I don't even have a word for him! " he heard McQueen reply, causing him to roll his eyes and scoff quietly.
" It's just until the racing season starts again Mr. McQueen. " he heard a sickening sweet, preppy voice say.
" Of course, she'd be here too. Just more fuel to the fire. " he continued, taking a deep breath and pressed the switch and the ramp came down, nearly landing on top of Guido, who was trying to get to Luigi on the opposite side of the trailer.
Storm came out and lazily looked out at the older cars, the champ, the Porsche, and Ramirez staring up at him, he recognized them from the group pictures in their trailer, the cars that was older then them was absent. Looking up from them he looked to the small town with disinterest, holding a slight gaze to the Hudson Hornet Museum before going back to the residents. A thumping noise below him drew his attention over the edge of the ramp and saw an older model forklift banging on the ramp and shouting in Italian, from the sound of it, he was giving him a good chewing out, he only smirked at him,
" Oh, I'm so sorry, I didn't see you there, because of how little you are. " chuckling darkly when the forklift started again before Storm rolled off the ramp, giving a little bounce of his chassis on the ramp, hitting Guido on his head, causing everyone to gasp and glare at him as Sally, Cruz, and Luigi went to check on the little forklift.
" Are you ok Guido? " The girls asked as they turned their eyes to him, turning from fierce to gentle and kind as they looked the little forklift over while Luigi gently patted his side and trying to stop him from going after Storm.
Guido seemed to have forgotten his anger at the newcomer and was now feeling the pain on his head, his eyes got real big and watery, his lower lip stuck out and quivered a little.
" Ohh poor Guido! It's ok, we won't let that mean old Stormy hurt you! " Cruz and Sally cooed, pulling him into a hug, nuzzling their sides to his as he continued to look pitiful and bawling cutely, they glared at Storm again.
Storm just stared at the scene with a raised eye and a skeptic look, " Are you seriously falling for that? I didn't even hit him that hard. " he asked in the same skeptical tone.
" Knock it off Storm. You're on my turf now and your going to play nice. " Lightning said as he glared at him.
" He's totally faking it! " Storm retorted back.
" I don't care if Guido is or isn't, you hurt anyone in this town, you're going back to the races with a few dents and missing some paint, along with a few primer places. " Lightning replied, still glaring before he went to check on Guido as well.
" You alright little buddy? " he asked looking down at him and smiling kindly.
The girls moved away from him and like a switch he was happy again, " Si! " Guido replied just as happily, bouncing around before he and Lighting slapped their tire and one fork together, both grinning.
" Good to know. " Lightning laughed, while everyone but Storm laughed along with him.
" Told you he was faking it. " Storm muttered before he was hit over the cab, his frame scraping the asphalt, " Ow! What the hell? Who did that?! " He exclaimed looking around and saw Gale there.
" Will you please behave yourself for once kid? McQueen and his friends could've turned us away. Be thankful that we have a place to stay. " she scolded him as though she was scolding her own child.
" We could've stayed at the safehouse like Don said we were at instead here in hillbilly hell with McQueen and Cruz's crazy friends. "
" Whoever blew up your trailer will most likely come look for you at the safehouse and not suspect you being here with McQueen and Cruz when word gets out that you weren't in the trailer and that you have been placed in a safehouse until the races start up again. Besides, with the race season over, the tourists have stopped coming in and if anyone comes here now their going to draw attention to themselves and standout if they stay for too long. That's what good about these little places, unlike in the big cities where anyone could blend in and get away with something. "
" Yeah well what about the occasional passerby? There is a motel over there and a gas station. " Storm replied.
" If they stay longer than a day or 2 than they's be drawing attention to themselves. " a southern voice this time, causing both Storm and Gale to jump and look over at him,
" Do you mind? We are having a private conversion here. " Storm asked snidely, glaring over at the rusty tow truck that was leaning into him.
" Oh you was?! Then how comes ya talkin' so loud for? " Mater asked.
Storm and Gale looked over at the others and saw that they were looking at them with curious glances, one suspicious; Lightning.
" A safehouse? " Lightning asked.
Gale took a deep breathe and decided to answer him, " Don agreed to have Storm come here, but he wanted to make sure that no one knew that he was here, so he arranged for some security to guard an empty penthouse in the city in case whoever blew up the trailer came back when the word got out that he wasn't in the trailer. So, we did a little hide and seek, and had another truck and trailer go to the penthouse with a decoy car while we came here. "
" Let me guess, he had the truck, trailer, and car be seen in broad daylight so that other cars would see him and think he was there, while you two left during the night, right? " Lightning replied with a raised eye.
" Very good. You sure you weren't meant to be a detective instead of a racer Champ? " Storm remarked with a tone of smugness.
" Mr. Storm just wants to make sure that Jackson is safe, Mr. McQueen. " Gale said, causing everyone to look up at her in shock,
" Mr. Storm?! " they exclaim, looking between Storm and Gale.
" Don is my grandfather. " Storm explained, " You think he'd do all this show and tell for just any racer? " Storm asked cockily with a smirk to match.
" I get the feeling he'd rather let ' just any racer ' die then help them out and move on to the next rookie waiting in line. "
" You really do know the arrogant types, Champ. I'm impressed. " Storm replied with the same tone as before.
" I wasn't lying when I said was like you once. You can ask anyone here in front of you and they'll tell you how I was. They won't sugar coat it either. Right guys? " Lightning said somberly turning away from the group and going into the Cozy Cone office, leaving the group quiet for what felt like a long time before Sally said,
" (Sigh) I'll go talk to him. " she followed after her boyfriend.
Then one by one, everyone else drove away from Storm and Gale, Cruz held back for a moment, rolling over to Gale, " Are you alright? " She asked her, trying not to look at the welding patch done on her fuel tank.
" I'll be alright kid. I'm just thankful not to be hurt worse. And that Jackson wasn't in the trailer when it blew. " Gale answered her smiling an unsettled smile at the young racer, though she hoped it eased her worry for her.
" Ok, but if you need to talk…" Cruz began, but Storm interrupted,
" She said she was fine Ramirez. Now leave. " Storm ordered, glaring at her, trying to intimidate her, but it didn't faze her, she wasn't afraid of his stares.
" I'll be in Cone 2 if you need to talk. " Cruz continued looking up at Gale with a kind smile before going over to Flo's where most of the residents had gone.
When she was out of earshot, Gale knocked Storm's cab again. " Ow! Will you quite doing that! You're going to scrape my paint off! " he practically whined, wincing at the pain and the thought of his paint job getting ruined before looking up at her. He winced again at her glare and scowl.
" Will you please stop being an ass?! I'm not the only one you can rely on! Do you want to be like your grandfather? Old, bitter, and alone until your engine fails? " she scolds him once more before also going down to Flo's leaving Storm alone with the trailer and his thought's.
Time skip
Cruz woke to shouting outside,
" You have got to be kidding me! "
Yawning widely, she slowly rolled to the switch to open the door to her room to see what was going on. Rolling out on the ramp, she saw in the earlier morning light that Storm was shouting at Gale, who was calmly trying to explain something to him,
" I'm sorry Jackson, but Don said that the trailer has to come back to the company. He doesn't want to risk the chance that someone coming through here will see the trailer and start talking, putting you in danger again. "
" Than take me with you! I'm not staying here by myself with McQueen, Costume Girl, and those crazy weirdo's they call friends! "
" I can't do that. Look, I'll come back here, but the trailer must go. It's for your own good. I'm sorry. Now please get out of the way. "
" And just where am I supposed to stay until you get back? And where are you going to stay when you get back? "
" I'll stay in a truck stop nearby. And what do you mean where you'll stay? There's a motel here remember? You pointed it out just yesterday. "
" I know I pointed it out! And I refuse to stay in a place that's probably crawling with bugs! "
" Oh please! This place is nicer than most of those hotels you stay the night in. And they are the big fancy ones too! Now just go over there and ask that nice Porsche for a room and I'm sure she'll let stay. "
" Oh, I'm sure McQueen will let her too. "
Cruz almost laughed when she saw Storm pout and she was sure that if he could cross his tires in front him he'd be doing that too. Instead, he stomped his tire on the road and huffed, looking away from Gale.
" Can I at least get my music out of there? I do not want to hear anything that sounds like a banjo playing while I'm here. "
" Fine. But hurry it up, I got to get going. "
" Yeah Yeah! " he huffed going and getting his music out of the trailer.
Afterwards, he sat there watching her leave like it was the worst thing on earth. Cruz rolled over to him, he heard her coming and turned to her with an apathetic look.
" You know, this place ain't that bad. It's great here. The rooms are clean and neat, there's these cute little alarms clocks that…. "
" I could care less about the stupid alarm clocks. Just go wake up the Porsche so I can get into the bug infested room. " he replied with a disparage tone, his lip curling in revulsion at the thought of staying in the same place as his rivals.
" Her name is Sally, not Porsche. And for your information, the rooms are not bug infested! Chrysler how can anyone stand being around you longer than 5 minutes without wanting to throttle you! " Cruz said back, defending her friend and getting angry at Storm's brashness. They glared at each other for a moment before they heard a horn playing followed by the screeching of Hendrix, causing Storm to winch.
" Will you turn that disrespectful junk off! "
" Respect the classics man, it's Hendrix! "
" Does this happen all the time? " Storm asked in a tense kind of voice.
" Yep! " Cruz answered cheerfully before she turned to go into the office of the motel that he had seen McQueen and the Porsche go into yesterday.
He winced when Cruz's piercing yell sounded out from the office, " Ms. Sally! I got another customer for you! And, oh for the love of Chrysler! I did not need to see that! "
he raised an eye when he then heard the Champ's voice, followed by shuffling around and thing's being knocked around by an embarrassed Porsche,
" Knock next time Cruz! Knock! How many times do I have to tell you that! "
" Oh gosh! Ow! Cruz when did you get here?! Ahh! Oh, I was looking for that. "
" Are you ok Ms. Sally?! " Cruz asked.
" Yes! Yes! I'm fine! Now what was this about a new costumer? I thought all the tourists were done gone? "
Storm watched as the three came out from the back of the office, all three-looking flustered and embarrassed.
" Where's Storm's trailer? " McQueen was the first to ask, Storm rolled his eyes.
" Well…." Cruz started.
" Oh no, please no! "
" Stickers. Don't start. " Sally said nuzzling his side to calm him down, when that didn't work, she kissed him on the side of his fender, which worked instantly.
" Can't you just put him at Wheel Well? " he whispered to her.
" No, because we won't be able to watch him. Come on Stickers, give him a chance, if you can change, so can he. " she whispered back nuzzling the side of his fender.
" Was I really that bad? "
" Well, no. But you were very cocky and selfish and had a big ego and… "
" Ok! Ok! I get it! Kill him kindness, good plan. "
" Oh, hush you. A little kindness never hurt anyone. Besides if I had to guess, he's never had anyone do something for him without him expecting them to want something in return. "
" In that case, we should charge him extra, just for being an ass. "
" Oh, stop it! " she laughed, bumping against his chassis playfully before going outside to Storm.
Lightning watched as they spoke for bit before Sally drove around to the further side of the motel to the last cone, Storm behind her, she opened the door to the cone and went to leave but stopped for a second before smiling and coming back inside the office, a smile on her face.
" What? What is it? " Cruz asked.
" He actually said thank you, didn't he? " Lightning asked as he knew what that smile meant, he didn't know what to feel when he saw her smile widen because he was proven right.
" Yes. It was low, but I heard it and it didn't sound sarcastic. "
" Looks like he's taking Gale's advice. " Cruz commented.
" Where is Gale anyway? " Lightning asked.
" She had to take the trailer back to Don, something about him not wanting to risk a passerby seeing it and go blabbering that Storm was here. " Cruz answered, the 2 looked at her wondering how she knew that, she saw their looks and quickly answered their unasked question, " I heard Storm yelling and went to see what was causing his yelling and found them talking. "
" So that means that he's staying here until she comes back. " Lightning clarified.
" Well Gale did say that she was coming back, but without the trailer. And that she'd stay at a truck stop. " Cruz corrected.
" As long as he behaves. If not, I'm taking him to the Butte. " Lightning finally gave in but smiling wickedly when he thought about Storm going into the cactus patches.
" Now you're just waiting for him to mess up. " Sally teased with a slight smirk of her own.
" Maybe. " he replied laughing darkly as he went to the Butte to stretch his axles, scaring Cruz slightly,
" He can be scary sometimes. " she said.
" Nah, he just wants to show Storm that he's not as great as he thinks he is. " Sally replied.
" Mr. McQueen knows he'll win that race because Storm's never been off-road.(laugh) I bet he'd whine that he got dirt in his wheels. " she continues to laugh, Sally joining in.
" Well, I better get to the Butte too, can't have the old man have all the fun. Later Ms. Sally! " Cruz said after they had calmed down.
" Hey don't forget tonight's caraoke! " Sally called after her as she sped out of the office.
" Ok! " Cruz replied back from outside.
" Those 2. " Sally chuckled as she went to tidy the office and hers and Lightning's room.
Here's ch 4! Hope ya'll like it!
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