The next morning, Monty accompanied Jesse into town, Radiator Springs. It was exactly how Monty imagined it, country as fuck. Their first stop was the local diner which doubled as a stock feed store. Flo's Diner recalled the lights and glamour of the fifties. Neon lights which looked stellar in the dark and waitresses wore vintage style uniforms. Jesse ushered Monty into a seat at the counter.

A friendly woman sauntered over, a pot of coffee in hand.

"You're with Jesse, aren't you sweetheart?" She asked. Monty flashed a small, closed lipped smile and nodded. "Hungry?"

Monty pursed his lips into a thin smile and shook his head, "don't have any money."

"I didn't ask that," she said in a matter-of-fact tone. "I asked if you were hungry."

Jesse said something about getting food in town, but he didn't know what food. Groceries, horse feed, breakfast? Sure he was getting hungry, they left the ranch early in the morning, but eating without permission? He couldn't do that.

"No, thank you," he mumbled.

"You sure, sugar?"

Anxiety rolled in his stomach. He couldn't do this, he couldn't stay here. There were too many questions he couldn't answer. It was easier with Elliot. 'Yes sir, no sir, sorry sir.' He knew which answers were the best.

But staring into the kindly woman's eyes, Monty had no idea what was the right thing to say.

So he bolted.

He shoved open the swinging doors and just kept running. All he knew was fear. It rushed through his veins so hard he didn't notice the intersection coming up and would have ran straight through if strong arms didn't grab him.

"Get off!" Monty shrieked and thrashed in the hold. He drove his heel into the man's boot but they were steel toe boots. With his mouth wide open Monty wrapped his teeth around the man's wrist. He cried out and loosened his hold enough to hold Monty at an arm's length.

"I'm not going to hurt you," he said softly. Monty scanned the man. He was huge and as wide as a door. The words were not reassuring. He noticed the fire department badge that was strung from his neck.

"Red!" A voice hollered from down the street. Monty and Red swung their gaze around to see Jesse running towards them. He slowed a few meters away, not to bombard Monty. "What's going on?"

"He almost ran straight through the intersection," Red explained.

Jesse sighed, "okay yeah, maybe just let him go. You're not gonna keep running, Monty?"

The teenager shook his head, he stared at the ground, cheeks and neck flushed. Red dropped his hands and stepped back, a kind smile on his open face.

"Sorry," Monty mumbled, not able to face either of the men in front of him.

"It's all good," Red assured. "Didn't want you to get hurt."

Monty shrugged and scuffed his toe awkwardly.

"Monty, this is Red, the local fire captain. Red this is Monty, he's staying with me for a little while."

Red watched Monty, his features fixed pleasantly should the young teenagers raise his head. He doubted it though, nor was he put out by it. When he'd first come to Radiator Springs, it was difficult for Red to speak, much less maintain eye contact. What he'd seen in the California fires had almost stopped him from returning to the job. These days, he was quite content to watch over Radiator Springs' and tend to the town centre garden.

"It's nice to meet you Monty." Red turned to Jesse. "I'll see you guys around." As Red walked away, Jesse placed a hand carefully on Monty's shoulder.

"You okay to head back to Flo's?"

Monty chewed his lip and nodded once, his blue eyes flickered up to Jesse's briefly. He was too adrenalised to maintain eye contact. They meandered back to Flo's, this time Jesse directed Monty to a booth and sat down with him. Flo returned, notepad in hand.

"What can I get for you boys?"

"Just two cook ups, thanks Flo," said Jesse, looking up at the woman with a smile.

"Absolutely, drinks?"

Jesse looked at Monty, "what do you feel like?" Beneath the table Monty fisted the legs of his jeans, he refused to look up, heat thundering in his chest. Jesse flashed a smile at Flo. "Give us a minute and we'll get back to you?"

"No problem."

Once she was out of ear shot, Jesse leaned forwards, hands crossed in front of him. "Talk to me Monty, what's wrong?"

He shrugged tearfully and wiped the back of his hand hard against his eyes. Jesse deliberated moving beside him but recalled how he felt about people moving into his space.

"Was it Red? Did something scare you and that's why you ran?"

Monty shook his head. "No," he said nasally. "It's… It's dumb."

Jesse feigned a look around the diner, "I love Mater, Monty, but I've heard my fair share of dumb things and dumb ideas."

He gave a half laugh and grabbed some napkins from the holder. "I didn't know how to answer Flo earlier, at the counter," Monty mumbled. "I didn't know what to say, everything was too uncertain. I didn't know what the right thing to say was."

"Kid," said Jesse softly. "The right answer is whatever you say. No ones gonna hurt you for what you say."

A tear slipped down the corner of Monty's cheek and he shook his head. "It was easy with Elliot, I knew what to say. There's always a right answer, y'know? And eating-eating...it's just, food has rules."

Jesse frowned, "do you feel like this back at the ranch?"

Monty shook his head and shrugged. "Not really, I dunno. I ate when you ate, there was a routine, ritual. There's no chance for deviation. Like 'this is when we eat and that's it.' Here it's just...I can't explain it. At home, it wasn't my food, so I know not to eat it. And Flo asks me if I'm hungry and I don't have money but she says that's not what she asked and I don't know how to respond. She wants me to order but I can't and I feel like I'm choking and I can't breathe and-"

"Monty," Jesse murmured firmly but kindly. "Breathe, in...out...in...out. It's okay. You're not in trouble. It's my responsibility to feed you, I wanted you to order something to eat. I'm sorry I didn't make that clear and put you in that situation."

He swallowed and finally swung his eyes to meet Jesse's, he nodded once before looking away. "I'm sorry I caused a fuss. I… I don't like not knowing how to respond. It's easy with Elliot, I know how to keep him happy." Jesse's frown deepened, Monty caught this and reeled in his openness.

"What?" He snapped.

"Nothing," Jesse said softly and sat up again, he tried to keep his voice neutral, and face calm. "It's not your job though, to keep your father happy."

Thankfully, Monty didn't respond defensively, if not a little confused. "But… It's good when he's happy. It's nice when he's happy."

"His happiness is not at the expense of yours. They are not mutually exclusive."

Monty didn't respond until one of the waitresses brought over their food. They ate quietly, the silence wasn't tense but neither found small talk successful. It was only once they returned to Jesse's truck that Monty spoke up.

"I'm not an idiot," he said. "I know Elliot isn't an ideal dad. But this is still an over reaction. I'm okay, really. Thank you for housing me, but I'm okay at home."

Jesse drummed his fingers on the steering wheel. He'd fostered kids who'd come from exhausted homes, whose parents were trying their best, no, this wasn't Monty's situation. He'd dealt with kids who had been pulled out of despicable homes, and reacted as you would think, terrified, scared. This wasn't Monty either.

Monty had come from a home that they were still investigating and he wanted to go back. He didn't want to even entertain the idea of change. Sheriff was right, he's too damn scared of what comes after.

Or maybe it's what happened before.

"Did Elliot ever say anything about going to CPS? Or have you gone into emergency care before and he's gotten angry?"

Monty stayed silent. Jesse had hit a nerve.

When he finally spoke, Monty talked very quietly. "Mom got hurt when I was eight. Elliot pushed her down some stairs and she fractured her pelvis. I called the ambulance. He got investigated and I went into care for a week or so. When I came out he kept throwing shoes at me, telling me to never go with CPS again. Warned me that if I went to CPS again he'd cut my tongue out."

Jesse was stunned. His knuckles turned white around the steering wheel. He had to speak very carefully when he finally opened his mouth. "Monty, I know you have a very...complicated background. But what's on the other side of this, if you push through, is a lot better than going back to him."

"But I know Elliot," he whimpered slightly. "It's normal."

"Monty, this isn't okay," Jesse persisted. He was filled with rage and knew he would need to pair Monty up with Mater as soon as they got back to the ranch. If he wasn't careful, he was going to snap at him.

"Maybe it's not!" Cried Monty. "But if I tell the truth, I get hurt."

"He's already hurting you."

Monty swung his head and cast a dark look at Jesse who was slowing down the truck. "Let me put it like this," he hissed. "If I tell the truth, he kills me."

"So you put up with it, figure out loopholes, just enough to stay alive?" Jesse questioned quietly.

"Exactly," Monty spat. "I'm not telling anyone anything, because I'm handling it. Okay? I've got it under control."

He brought the car into park on the side of the road. "You're mom wouldn't want you-"

"Don't bring my mother into this!" Monty shouted angrily. He sat tense in his seat, gazing out at the long and empty road. "I'm fucking fine! Why does nobody get that? I'm fine."

Jesse sucked in a long breath. He was hitting a dead end every time, he didn't know what to do. How do you prove to someone that they're being abused, that they don't have to put up with it.

"Even if you don't tell us anything, there's a good chance CPS is going to remove you from Elliot's custody and place you into foster care anyway.."

"No!" Monty cried. Gone was the anger and hatred from his face, in its place was fear. He scrambled to face Jesse and fought with the seat belt. "No, no, no! No you can't, they can't! He'll come after me! Jesse you can't let them take me."

Monty's voice broke as he thrashed with the seatbelt. His breathing increased, it became erratic. Quickly he became hysterical and finally freed himself. The teenager flung himself from the car and dropped on all fours on the tarmac. He sucked in air desperately and sobbed.

Jesse leapt from the car and ran in front of it before crouching down beside Monty. "Hey, hey, hey, it's okay. You're not going anywhere. I'm right here, we're in Radiator Springs. Remember?"

Monty lunged at the front of Jesse's shirt and begged, "don't let them take me! Don't let them take me! Please, please…" He collapsed forward into Jesse's chest, wrapping his arms around the older man. Sobs escaped his mouth, tears streamed and he cried harshly.

"Don't let them take me," he sobbed. It broke Jesse's heart. "He'll kill me if they take me, he'll kill me."