Disclaimer: I own all the OCs, so please don't take them! Other than that, enjoy!

CHAPTER NINE

Brian lifted his frame off the cafe's floor as he watched Doc and Laura silently switch into reverse and back out of Flo's.

As Dave continued to ramble on about something, Brian started to drive after them when a tire was placed on his right fender.

"Don't go, leave them alone." Lightning warned.

Brian shoved off his tire and glared at the rookie. "You little twit, you don't know what you're talking about!" He whispered harshly.

Apparently, too loud. Dave stopped talking as all the townsfolk looked towards Brian and Lightning.

"Something the matter?" Dave asked through gritted teeth. He knew damn well what Brian was getting worked up about, and he wasn't in the mood to discuss it.

Brian looked at most of the eyes upon him. Lightning sat there with a subtle smirk as he, too, looked at him.

"No, nothing's wrong, Dave..." He told him, lowering himself back down to the cold floor. Brian sighed and looked at the ground in front of him, he would have stopped Doc and Laura from leaving if it wouldn't have created such a disturbance.

Dave resumed his conversation about something great while Brian consumed himself in his own thoughts. Tonight, he would talk to Doc when he got back.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Laura and Doc met under the streetlight of the middle of town.

"Where's a place we can go?"

Doc looked at Laura with concern. "Is everything okay?" He asked.

Laura sighed impatiently, "Hudson, I'll explain when we find some place to talk alone..." She said, turning to look around the town.

Doc thought on that a minute. He wanted desperately to find out what was bothering Laura so much. "We can go up to the mountains?" He suggested.

Laura turned to him, "Wonderful, lets go."

She turned to leave out of town towards Tailfin Pass when Doc caught her with a tire. What could possibly have her so anxious?

When she turned back around to look at him, he was speechless. Doc stared at her, his grill hung open in a failed attempt to form words.

"Yeah?" She asked after a moment of silence.

Doc shook himself from his thoughts. "Never mind, lets go..." He said, driving past her towards the mountains.

Laura caught up to him, passing him. "C'mon, lets go before Brian decides to stop us..."

Doc braked where he was. "What's Brian got to do with this?"

She turned back to look at him, "I'll explain later, okay?" She continued on her way, Doc wasn't hesitant this time.

There was no need for headlights, the moon was enough to light up the entire valley. Once they reached the mountain's side, they found themselves under the shadows of the trees. Patches of moonlit road ever so often being their guide up the side of the mountain.

Doc pulled up beside her. "Is this good enough?" He asked as they came to a clearing over a small hill.

Slowing down, Laura considered it. "This is fine."

They pulled off the main road to the side. The cliff overlooked the town and all it's neon lights it so proudly displayed at night. Laura pulled up towards the edge, leaving Doc's side.

He watched her steady form through the silence that was now cast between them.

She sighed and turned around to face Doc. "Oh don't give me that look," She laughed playfully.

He tilted on his frame, the moonlight reflecting off her cherry red chassis shone in a brilliant way. "What's wrong? You wouldn't talk to me on the drive here..."

She turned away from him and looked at the town, this wasn't going to be easy on either of them she supposed. "Hudson... I gotta tell you something."

Doc pulled up beside her and gazed down upon the town with her. "I'm listening."

A slight pause before she began. "I'm not married."

Doc froze where he was next to her, that simple statement threw him into another dimension. "Wait, what?" There was no way he heard her correctly.

"I'm not married," She repeated. "It was a cover-up..."

Doc sighed, "A cover-up for what?"

Laura closed her eyes, avoiding his side stare. "I wasn't even supposed to come here, Hudson. So when I finally convinced the others to let me come, they told me to say that I was married..."

Doc looked at the ground and shifted his tires. "What good would that do?"

"They all said that it was for the best that we never saw each other again. Saying that I was married was supposed to protect both of us."

Doc thought on that. He looked over at her. "It was Brian's idea, wasn't it?"

Laura nodded.

He sighed once more, "Didn't he ever think that I'd find out eventually?"

She cast a quick glance at him. "He's been trying hard to avoid that. He's tried hard to keep it a secret."

Now what am I supposed to say, Doc thought, this is as awkward as it gets.

Laura shifted on her weight and leaned her chassis against Doc's. It surprised him at first, but he accepted it, and latched onto that feeling like he'd never have it again.

That moon was almost blinding, it cut through the night strong and effortlessly. The silence around them could have been the only thing more powerful than the moon above them. Doc could hear Laura's breathing.

He looked at her beside him, she had closed her eyes.

Doc didn't know what to say to her. Knowing now that she wasn't married opened up the world he'd never have again. Thinking that she was married stopped Doc's dream of Laura being his. It was a painful reality, but it was true none the less. That once locked door was now open, and it haunted him because of the fact that she was available. Too many things stood in the way for them to be happy again, and that's what kept that door unreachable.

To know that door was open and there, just tortured him more. He wished Laura hadn't told him that she wasn't married, because now he hurt all over. It was an invitation he had no choice but to deny.

He missed times like these, he'd love to have nights such as this come back to him; for her, too.

But that wouldn't be possible. A couple days from now, this wonderful time would be drug away forever. Unless some miracle happened, something amazing would have to present itself.

Doc felt Laura press against him harder, he could see her try to shut her eyes tighter. He guessed she was trying to push away those same thoughts as well.

He gently leaned back against her to comfort her. A light breeze ventured through the mountains and swayed the trees around them, creating a lonesome sound. This moment came at a cost, and they could both feel it.

The two of them sunk low to the ground in deep thought of their current dismay. What happened after this, no one knew.

Doc sighed, he'd have to ask this question even if he already knew the answer. "Do you still love me?"

A moment of painful thoughts before her answer. "Yes, always have..." She whispered.

He could see himself chained down in a hazy world in his thoughts. Those chains didn't seem to be connected to anything around him. There was nothing in front of him, behind or underneath. He didn't know where he was or what he was doing, but he was chained.

But then, in front of him, good times and old memories danced in front of him wildly. The better side of days that were almost forgotten, almost gone. Images and past hopes of his other life played out before him like a movie.

Now he knew why he was chained. As he pulled and tugged against the never forgiving chains, he cried out trying to get to those happier times. Laura's sweet laughter echoed around him in the sea foam green haze while the memories started to leave him, disappear, fade away and vanish forever.

Doc opened his eyes and was immediately greeted by the darkness of the night. He looked up into the sky, the moon blocking the stars.

"I love you, too." He said softly as he nuzzled her. "I promise, I'll find a way to make things better."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

He sighed impatiently. The town was dark, only the lone streetlight lighting up what ever was in it's reach. Death silence hung over the place where many cars had been sleeping for quite some time. The moon had disappeared behind the one of many clouds that formed, the sky was no longer clear.

Staying up until one o'clock in the morning wasn't Brian's idea of fun, especially for the reason behind such a task. But then again, he wasn't looking forward to those dreams of his either.

He shifted his tires on the pavement in front of Doc's clinic trying to get comfortable once more. Who knows how much longer he'd be waiting for him and Laura to get back into town.

Brian looked his clinic up and down. It was everything he'd picture for a small town country doctor. Simplicity, he liked it. This clinic was better than that hospital he was stationed at all those years ago.

Luckily for Brian, whenever Doc and Laura got here, they wouldn't see him. The shadows were in his favor, and the streetlight was just far enough away.

But even more lucky for Lightning. He had been sitting on the other side of Doc's clinic near his garage, waiting for the car himself. He'd been waiting here long before Brian rolled up in front of the double doors.

Brian was unaware of the stock car's presence. It never occurred to him that someone else might want a conversation with Doc tonight. It had been quiet enough, he never had reason to suspect another car near him.

Lightning had questioned himself on whether or not he should tell Brian that he was there, but eaves dropping was fun. Why not play a game and make this interesting? Who knows how much information he could gain.

In the distance, Brian heard two engines approaching from the west from the mountain range. He couldn't see them, but he would once they passed the courthouse. He sighed when he saw two figures rolling down the street towards him, trying their best to keep their engines quiet so as to not wake anyone up.

Doc and Laura pulled into the Cozy Cone slowly. Brian was just hoping that they wouldn't -- and they did...

The two cars kissed.

Brian sighed sadly, he saw that coming. He didn't care who made the first move, but that goodnight kiss was more like a goodbye one. They sure made it seem that way.

Laura pulled away and smiled. "I'll see you tomorrow morning."

Doc smiled back. "I wouldn't have it any other way."

They sat there, admiring what they had. Wondering how this had escaped them all those years ago.

Doc smirked and drove behind Laura and to her cone. He opened the garage door and held out a tire. "For you, darling."

Laura smiled brighter and switched into reverse to back into her cone. The small lamp inside outlining her figure. She looked Doc up and down. "Another goodnight kiss, Hudson?"

He drove up the ramp towards her and gave her one. "Sweet dreams."

"You, too." She said before closing the door.

Doc didn't leave until he couldn't see her anymore. In fact, he didn't want to leave. He didn't want to leave her, ever again. The world was different to him now, she was here with him.

He began to drive back to his office when he braked halfway. From what he could see, an enraged green car sat perfectly still in front of the double doors. "Brian?" He asked, quite surprised to see him sitting there.

Brian wasn't sure who he was more mad at. Laura for spilling the secret, or Doc for leading her on afterwards. He continued to sit there in silence.

Doc continued to his office. He understood now why he was sitting there, he remembered his conversation earlier with Laura at the mountain, and how Brian was behind all this.

"Brian--"

"Are you going back out with her?" He asked, glaring at the navy car. He had heard their conversation clearly from all the way over here, not to mention seen it.

"No, we aren't." He said firmly. "But it's not any of your business..."

Brian rolled back a bit upon hearing that. His eyes flickered behind him for a split second, something caught his attention. "None of my business? Listen, Hudson, I don't want anyone to get hurt."

"Hurt?" Doc asked in disbelief. "You should have thought of that sooner."

"Hey, I'm trying to be nice here. If it wasn't for everyone sleeping, I'd have came over to the Cozy Cone and stopped that nonsense..."

"Nonsense? You call what Laura and I have nonsense... That's real great, Brian."

Brian sighed and closed his eyes. "I don't want to argue with you, Hudson. I had to tell you she was married. I just did what I thought would be best for everyone."

"I understand that. But now that Laura is here, I'm not letting her go."

There was a moment of silence between the two cars. "Wait, what are you talking about?"

Doc sighed, "I'm gonna ask her to stay here with me."

Lightning's eyes widened in shock. He tried his best to keep himself quiet as his mind screamed. He guessed Brian had the same response.

"What?!" Brian roared.

"Keep your voice down," Doc warned. "We don't want the whole town to know our conversation..."

Brian bit his lower lip as he looked around erratically, trying to find something to say. "You haven't mentioned that to Laura yet, have you?" He asked.

"No, I'm gonna ask her--"

"You can't ask her that. Hudson, it'll be a mistake. Don't do that, please." He begged.

Doc looked at him questionably. "Why not? Laura can do what ever she wants."

"It's not up to you to ask such a big question. I can't let you ask her."

"And who's gonna stop me?" Doc challenged.

Brian narrowed his eyes at him. "That would be me."

Doc, for some reason, took that threat seriously. "What's wrong with asking her to stay here with me?"

Brian sighed again, "Listen, she's got a life... and friends back in South Carolina that she can't leave. I'm not gonna let you take her away from that."

"But I love her." Doc told him.

"And her friends and I love her. They've been there for her all this time, not you. And because of that, I won't let you jump back into this expecting for everything to be okay. What have you got to offer her here? What can you possibly give her in this town? There's nothing here for her. I'm sorry, but I can't let you put Laura in that kind of position."

Reality hit Doc a second time. "Then why did she come back here to see me if she wasn't looking for anything?"

"She came here to say goodbye, something she didn't get to do in 1954..."

Doc sat there in silence, that one stung.

"It's time you let this go." Brian started. "Just because she showed up again, like you didn't expect her to, doesn't give you the right to ask such a big question at a time like this."

Doc was distraught, and intent on finding a solution. He tried all he had, and finally, he spoke. "Things are different now. Why are you so determined to stop us?"

Brian glared at him with an anger that was too ineffable. He couldn't understand why Doc wasn't getting what he was talking about, and why he was blind to the fact that he would hurt everyone.

He decided to dig up some pain, just for him. "Because you know why? At one point, I got sick of watching her cry. I got sick of trying to answer that one question that remained. None of us ever understood why you did what you did. You'll never know how hard it was on all of us, not just her."

He was bringing Doc down, he could see it in his eyes.

Brian breathed in deep. "For all those times she crashed at Dave's house to seek comfort from all of us, I wanna let you know that we were there for her. Not you, Hudson. We were in her life, not you..."

Doc took his gaze to the ground. Before he could speak, Brian continued.

"You don't even know her! At this moment, you're meeting her for the first time all over again. Only now, we aren't in 1952 on our way to the season's last Piston Cup race."

Doc sunk low to the ground, he wanted Brian to stop.

"Oh yeah, you remember that night? The night you first met her, don't you? Don't forget, if it wasn't for my stupid drinking habit, you would have never met her in that bar. I bet you think about that all the time..."

Doc nodded.

"You know what your problem is? You forgot who your real friends were. You left us all, you ran away. Not once did you try and contact us when you got out of the hospital." Brian rose up off the ground slightly. "You quit."

Doc looked up from the pavement. "I didn't--"

"Shut up," Brian snipped, leaning forward. "You don't have the right to talk. I don't think you fully understand this situation. Maybe you do, but I highly doubt that. From the moment we got here, I could see that this would be all about Laura..."

Doc looked at him questionably. He wanted to reply to that, but something told him that he shouldn't.

"Lemme ask you something, Hudson. Have all your thoughts been consumed around her, or have you figured out that certain cars are missing?"

"I noticed something was off..." he said, reflecting on Dave and Joanna's divorce. He still didn't know where James and Mason were.

"That's only the beginning, the very top layer. There is so much more you've missed out on, so much that you don't know!"

The lies, the secrets, the betrayals that happened all those years ago. He wondered, and it drove him crazy. Doc wanted a chance to get to know his old friends all over again.

"But anyways, getting back to Laura." Brian announced sarcastically. "I won't let you ask her to stay with you. You don't know our lives, and you certainly don't know hers."

He began to drive away when Doc stopped him. "A race." He stated simply.

Brian turned back and looked at him. "A race for what?"

"If I win, I ask Laura to stay here with me. If you win, everyone leaves here and no further attempts for me to make things right are tried."

"That's a hell of a reason to race." Brian said, driving towards Doc. "You sure you wanna race me?"

Doc thought about the condition of Brian's engine. It was a long shot, but he was willing to try. "A race." He repeated.

Brian smirked. Yeah, he was going to take him up on that race, but only to see how much he really wanted Laura. "You pick the time and track."

Doc glared at him, angry about everything said between them. He backed into his office for the night. The double doors to his office shut, and the death silence returned.

He sighed and started to drive towards his cone. "You can come out now, kid."

That caught Lightning by surprise. "How'd you know I was there?" He asked, pulling up beside Brian on his way back to the Cozy Cone.

"Rearview mirrors, idiot..."

"Oh."

"So you finally got your wish. You finally figured out what I've been trying to hide. Congratulations, kid..."

"I didn't want to have to find out about everything that way..."

The two reached the courtyard of the Cozy Cone. Brian turned to Lightning. "Just keep the information you know to yourself. I don't need Dave and Sadie brought into this just yet, got it?"

Lightning nodded. "I may be nosy, but I don't blab."

"Good boy, now go home." He said, driving away from him to his cone. He opened up the door and proceeded to back into it when Lightning drove up to him.

"Sorry."

Brian scoffed and backed into his cone. "For what? You haven't done anything."

"Sorry for what ever happened in the 50's."

Brian sat there, unsure of what to say. "It's not your fault..." He went to close the door to end the conversation when Lightning stopped him.

"You may act like a total jerk, but you're not such a bad guy. You care about everyone."

Brian sighed, "It's way past your bedtime, get going."

Lightning laughed slightly before turning to leave. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yeah yeah..." Brian said, shutting the garage door.