AN: Every time I hear the song Thunder by Imagine Dragons I burst out laughing because all I ever think of is thunder always comes after Lightning! Of course I hear it like every day...
Lightning had rushed through lunch and was grabbing his gear to head back outside. He kissed Sally's cheek quickly as he passed the front desk in the lobby.
"You're going back out there?"
"Yeah, sun's in a good place to get him right in the eyes as he comes out of the far turn."
"That's cruel, Stickers, even for you."
"Train in all conditions, Sal." He winked before pushing the door open and let his sunglasses fall from his brow over his eyes. "Don't wait up for me."
"Wasn't planning on it."
"Ooo, love you too."
"I still think the jacket's a little much."
He backtracked in to the lobby when he heard her comment and offered a winning smile. "Don't knock style, Sally. You're just jealous.
She only returned his look warmly and told him he'd lose that prime sun positioning if he didn't leave soon.
He tossed his stuff in to the car and headed for the Butte, pondering the last three months over his short drive and even after he'd parked on the bluff.
If he thought that week before the Florida 500 had been a whirlwind then the following three months had been a hurricane. They'd barely gotten started on unloading the trailer after a long drive home when he was inundated with offers on book deals, daytime talk show appearances, night time talk show appearances, movie pitches, and lists of actors who could possibly portray him if he did decide on a movie deal.
He was partial to Chris Hemsworth but he wasn't even on the list.
He'd seen a lot of those offers before, but not nearly with so much fervor. Not even after the shocking end to his rookie season.
Rust-eze had undergone an enormous overhaul. He barely remembered the conversation with Sterling, approaching him after the press had disappeared and telling him he had no specific answer for him yet. It didn't really matter, because before they'd even parted ways, Tex Dinoco had swooped in like a bird of prey and the last thing Lightning had seen was one of the oil tycoon's arms draped amiably over Sterling's shoulder as they'd walked off toward the Dinoco tents.
The next morning Lightning had received a very lengthy, very straight forward and to the point, email, explaining that Dinoco was now an umbrella company of Rust-eze. This was followed immediately with a phone call from Texas and a conversation that made Lightning feel lighter than he had in years.
A solid, and continuous, open invitation to continue racing should the notion strike him.
"But boy, seein' you up in that box and that kid on the track was sure somethin'."
IGNTR was not immune to money either. The parting between Jackson Storm and his first sponsor was not on bad terms. He was told time and time again that if he ever found himself without a sponsor, to just come back and he could pick up where he'd left off.
So there he was, in a new Rust-eze black and red Next Gen.
Lightning watched silently from where he was parked. The sandy loose dirt of Arizona was a far cry from the elite Rust-eze training center. Hot and dry and choking compared to the air conditioned setting of those stark cold hallways. The kid was still obnoxiously high tech but Lightning realized some of it had its place. He was struck suddenly with a thought and burst out laughing, sitting alone in the car.
He'd thought nothing of the designs the new marketing team had come up with until just then, looking back on his first thoughts concerning Storm at the training center.
Jackson sported the black and red now and owned it like nobody's business.
Lightning couldn't help but be reminded of his internal Kylo Ren remark.
He was still laughing when he opened the door and stepped in to the Arizona heat and only shook his head when asked what was so funny.
Lightning flung the headset around his neck and let the door close behind him as they discussed the next race and what Lightning wanted to work on the rest of the afternoon.
"I wasn't too concerned last week but IGNTR was still on your tail the majority of the race."
"Ramirez? She doesn't bother me."
"Sure, ok, but she took you off your line at least three times."
That was the other interesting development, a trainer from Rust-eze finding themselves as the new driver for #2.0. She was peppy, bubbly, and a ray of sunshine in a male dominated sport. Lightning was intrigued with how she handled herself and Jackson just saw another competitor. It didn't matter that she was wearing his former number.
He waved in the direction of the track. "Alright, let's get going. We're wasting daylight."
"Yeah, sure Mr. Ostentatious."
"You're all just jealous, and you're saying it wrong. It's pronounced fabulous.
Rust-eze wasn't the only thing to undergo a new look. The Fabulous Lightning McQueen seemed only fitting. The blue, white and yellow always seemed to compliment each other as much as he'd thought the red and yellow did. He couldn't be a cool mentor without looking the part.
He waited until Storm was in the Next Gen. It was probably the only one racing currently that had dirt coating the sides. In a few days they'd take it on a simulator, they still had to keep up with everyone else.
He watched and pulled on the headphones with the inscribed Hudson on the side before returning the aviators over his eyes.
Just because Jackson was dealing with a glaring sun didn't mean he was going to.
That wasn't his job anymore.
"While we're still young, Storm..."
He leaned back against the car with his arms crossed and only grinned when Jackson whined in to the headset.
Yeah, he liked how this had all turned out.
AN2: Now we are done! There may be some installments later down the road and I'm actually really surprised with how long this ended up being! I'm horrible with multichapter so this is like...literally the longest 'finished' piece I've ever done!
Cars 3 is soooo close! :D
