Despite the rather busy drive-thru, Finn had been able to pick up his food order relatively quickly. Japanese efficiency certainly had its perks on the customer side of things, though the silver coupe was well aware of the hard work those fast food employees were putting in.

As he took his order from the cashier, he extended a generous smile and many thanks before pulling off to the side where he could check the bags. His inspection turned up no inconsistencies in his order, and according to the clock he could see through the restaurant window, it had only been twenty five minutes since leaving the hospital room.

"Right on time." Finn said to himself as he put himself in gear and turned left out of the lot.

The roads were, as the drive thru line had been, rather packed. Traffic was moving at a relatively slow pace this evening, which is really what was taking up most of his journey right now. Straining to get a look ahead of the cars in front of him, he could see that there was a traffic light that seemed to be giving priority to the other intersections, leading to only a couple of cars at a time being able to pass through before having to wait another minute and a half or so for the light to cycle back.

Finn tapped his tire on the pavement anxiously; wanting to get back before the food got cold. He began trying to alleviate his boredom by doing what he did best: spying. He began car watching; subtly studying the body language of the cars around him. Finn always thought it was so interesting watching cars simply go about their lives, it was a chance to see what they did when they were alone with their thoughts. Could they be watching him too out of their mirrors? Where were they going? Were they happy or sad today? These were all things Finn tried answering to himself whenever he honed in on a specific car that caught his interest.

Finn's car watching clearly did the trick too, because before he knew it, he was at the front of the line of cars; he'd be next to go through this busy intersection. Focusing back on his driving, Finn eyed the red light above him; anticipating its sudden change to green. After about 30 more seconds, the light changed and the coupe was off, this time without any further delays before reaching the hospital entrance once again.

Once again upon entering the front doors, he took in the ambiance of the building. He found it significantly less nerve racking now that he'd had his first encounter with the American spy. He could now appreciate the building for its unique charm, and attempts to make patients and visitors feel just that much more comfortable.

Finn drove up to the front desk and re-checked himself in as a visitor. He was quickly allowed back in since the same staff was still on duty and simply waved him through with hardly an upwards glance. They simply offered him a kind smile and a nod of the hood to convey that he was clear to go.

Wasting no more time, Finn drove into the elevator and rode it back up to the fifth floor. It dinged after about fifteen seconds, and the doors slid open once again, allowing the coupe to drive off down the hall.

Finn passed a couple of nurses who each smiled at him as he passed. None of them said anything, and instead simply continued on to their own destinations. Once arriving at Rod's door, Finn gently nudged it open and slipped inside.

For the first time in days, Rod had stayed awake for nearly a full hour. To medical staff, this would, at face value, be seen as a positive improvement in his condition. To the muscle car himself however, there was nothing positive about it.

The entire time Finn was gone, Rod stared at the clock. Everytime a car drove by his room, he watched the light under the door intently, anticipating the little British sports car's arrival. The first fifteen minutes were, at least to Rod, just his boredom. Having someone to talk to besides nurses who had a job to do and no time to really sit and chat was nice. When Finn left, his mind was clearly just bored and wanted for that stimulation again. But after the twenty minute mark, Rod started to feel butterflies in his gas tank. He had to constantly stop and force himself to stop thinking that Finn was hurt or in trouble. Rod knew that Finn was fine, but that didn't stop his anxious mind from going over the dreaded "what ifs". Why was this happening? He honestly just assumed he must be that bored, and his mind was begging for interaction.

After the thirty minute mark, the time frame Finn had initially given him, had passed, he started nervously shifting slightly on his frame. His range of motion was extremely limited, but he needed to get this nervous energy out. He took advantage of any part of himself he had some muscular control over without sending a shockwave of pain through his body. This did little to relieve his nerves, and it wasn't until he saw the door begin to open again; his good eye fixed on whoever was about to come through.

Finn rolled in quietly and shut the door gently with his rear wheel. He spotted Rod looking in his direction quickly, and smiled as he drove up to him.

"The traffic out there is awful tonight, faulty traffic light." Finn stated as he popped his trunk open and brought the food out.

Rod studied the British car's body closely, inspecting it for any damage before settling his gaze on the food.

"American french fries as requested." Finn stated as he pushed the container towards the blue muscle car.

Rod eyed it for a moment before returning his gaze to the silver coupe, and drew in a few breaths before speaking.

"...Thanks."

Finn nodded his hood.

"Not a problem. I haven't eaten since landing, I was hungry too."

Rod nodded his hood back, and returned his attention to the food. He attempted to reach out for them, but quickly drew back as pain shot up through his suspension; he couldn't move like that anymore.

Finn looked up quickly upon hearing Rod hiss out in pain for a moment before setting back down and taking a few breaths. Learning from the last encounter, saying anything was the wrong thing to do, so Finn simply pushed the fries closer to the injured muscle car in the most casual way he could; drawing as little attention to the gesture as possible.

It worked it seems, as Rod didn't respond or acknowledge it himself, and simply leaned forward again to take a bite, this time without overextending his suspension.

Rod hadn't realized just how ravenous he'd become, and how much his body craved this junk food after being starved of any real flavor for weeks. He gobbled down what was in the container a lot faster than he or Finn had anticipated, good thing they weren't fine dining.

Finn still said nothing, instead enjoying his own food in silence. He was starting to feel a little lost on what exactly he should do next. He'd initially come here simply to apologize, explain what happened, and most likely leave right after. Making friends with other agents wasn't exactly common; the work was too dangerous. Respect was about as far as many agents allowed themselves to go, which included condolences, or congratulations depending on the occasion. But this time just felt different. Finn had seen injured cars before, but none were quite as wrecked as Rod was. What had happened to Leland was unfortunately not the first time Finn had seen a car… cubed. But a cubed car was a dead car, and Rod wasn't dead.

Rod's body had seen the very brink of what a car could handle before death, some might even say he should be dead. He certainly wasn't ever going to be the same again, and definitely wasn't going to be returning to the field. Finn had yet to see this in person before. Sure he'd heard about it in both civilian cars and agents alike, but this was the first time he was face to face with it. Worse still, why was he the only one here to see Rod? Did he not have a family? Many agents still had family in the form of parents but Rod was just… here alone. How could Finn just leave him here? Despite what Rod's bravado tried to do, Finn knew that this muscle car was scared, and that broke his heart.

He was staying. That's the only right thing to do, for both cars involved. If Finn left now and learned that Rod had complications and died alone, across the world from his home with no one there with him, he didn't know what he'd do. He needed to at least stay until Rod had made enough of a recovery that he knew he'd be alright. Finn decided he would reach out to CHROME in the morning and request either his time off, or to do his paperwork here in Tokyo. There was still a lot of logistics that needed to be taken care of to clean up the Allinol mess, and there was no reason why he couldn't do that remotely.

"Could ya… some water… please…"

Finn jumped slightly as he was suddenly pulled from his thoughts by the wheezy speech of the blue muscle car in front of him. He blinked a few times, regaining his bearings; first looking at Rod, then down to the empty water jug on the ground.

"...Sorry… didn't mean… to scare ya…"

Finn smiled and nodded his hood slightly.

"No, no it's fine. I'll be right back."

Finn pulled the jug towards himself, and then drove towards the small bathroom connected to the room and turned the faucet on. His decision to stay was becoming more and more cemented now, Rod needed care. Even if he didn't want it, or want to admit it, he needed someone to take care of his basic needs while he was immobilized. Nurses could only do so much before having to attend to other patients, while Finn could devote his attention strictly on Rod.

Finn finished filling the jug and brought it back over to the blue muscle car. He watched as Rod leaned forward and took a few gulps before pulling back again. He wanted to make sure he didn't strain himself again.

Rod noticed this, and raised an eyelid.

"...What?"

Finn's eyes met Rod's good eye and he cleared his throat. He thought quickly, he wasn't about to bring attention to his injuries again.

"Just thinking. Is the internet any good here?"

Rod studied the silver coupe for a moment. "Quick thinker." He thought.

"...No idea… haven't used it…"

Rod decided he would go along with it for now.

Finn nodded his hood and glanced around the room. He didn't have an internal computer himself, only a car phone that could send and receive text messages that would display on his wing mirrors. But maybe there was perhaps… one of those new internet connected televisions?

"...Why..?" Rod asked.

Finn again turned his attention back to the muscle car.

"I figure I can get some work done while I'm here. But I'll need a computer…"

Finn trailed off as he again started to think and look around the room for a potential answer.

Rod watched the coupe look around curiously.

"...You don't… have one… on you?"

Finn stopped again, but his eyes continued to wander instead of looking at the blue car.

"I'm too old for an internal one." He chuckled. "You kids get all the good hardware."

Finn smiled and looked back at Rod.

Rod grunted out his own small chuckle; the right side of his mouth again raising into a smile.

"...Mine's… busted… only my phone… works…"

Finn nodded his hood. Don't bring up the obvious, he thought.

"Shouldn't be a problem, CHROME or the CIA can have one sent over I'm sure of it."

Finn thought for a moment, perhaps there was still some work he could do without internet access.

"Perhaps you wouldn't mind if I asked you a few questions about your part in this operation? There's a lot of logistics, and paperwork to be filed. So we might as well organize the scope of our current knowledge."

Rod looked off to his side, his mind running through his entire involvement. He'd been chosen for the mission because of his flawless undercover track record. The CIA had gotten a hit on the oil platforms, and the types of cars being allowed onto them before Rod had become involved. He was simply approached about going in as an AMC Gremlin, and working on this oil rig to confirm whether or not something was going on. Information was scarce in the beginning, all they knew was that there were high numbers of "lemons" being hired to work on oil platforms out in the Pacific where GPS, Radar, and Satellite images were being scrambled.

Once he'd gotten hired, Rod was shipped out and placed in the shippings department. He'd be unloading and loading cargo, and taking inventory on who, what, where, and when on each item or car coming in. He quickly rose to become team lead, and thus began reporting directly to Professor Zundapp. Being so close to the Professor, he began joining the video conferences with the boss, which is where he was able to snap the photo of Axelrod's engine.

It was only a few days afterwards that he would watch Leland Turbo get turned into a cube by Grem Gremlin. A few days after that, he would be a part of the chase to catch Finn Mcmissle. For this, he was mostly at the back of the action, never actually seeing Finn much to his dismay. He had hoped that Finn wouldn't leave the platform so quickly, and instead choose to hide where he could then pass along his picture. Unfortunately, Finn had escaped into the sea and gotten away before Rod had a chance to get to him. That was when he contacted the CIA again and told them he needed to meet Finn in Tokyo, a call that was unfortunately overheard by Acer Pacer.

Rod chose to stop his trip down memory lane before getting to the Tokyo party, he didn't have the energy to get angry again. He'd already lashed out plenty of times over it, doing it again wouldn't change anything.

"Not… Much… to say…"

Finn shook his hood disapprovingly.

"Mr. Redline, that photo you took solved this entire case."

"...Rod… Call me… Rod…"

"Rod, yes. Rod, you solved this case!"

Finn spoke excitedly. He wanted this car to know just how important his role had been.

Rod scoffed and looked off to the side again.

"...The… tow truck… solved it…"

Finn smiled.

"Yes, because of the photo you took! He noticed the British Wheeland parts, the fact that it was an aluminum V8, and then recognized it as Axelrod's! But all that was because of the photo you took."

Rod looked back towards the silver coupe for a moment before again looking off to the side.

"...Tow truck's… ok then…?"

Finn nodded his hood.

"Mater is just fine. He had us fooled, thinking he was you. He did an excellent job."

Rod sunk low on his chassis.

"...They should… hire him…"

Finn's smile faded, and he too slumped down on his suspension.

"Don't say that."

Rod turned his good eye towards Finn again, keeping it settled on the sports coupe this time.

"What… do you… mean… by that..?"

Another bait. Not this time.

"What do you mean, Rod?"

"Right back at me, huh?" Rod thought.

"Well since… since he's… so good…"

"And you're better." Finn interjected.

Rod stopped, and simply stared at Finn.

"He used common knowledge any mechanic would know; any tow truck would know. He was good, for a civilian."

Rod continued to stare, refusing to break eye contact and back down.

After a few moments of this staring contest, Finn sighed and blinked.

"I'm not trying to make you angry, Rod."

Rod blinked, his eye still fixed on the coupe.

"...I'm not… mad…"

Finn chuckled sarcastically.

"Could've fooled me."

Rod's right eyelid formed into an angry glare as the right side of his mouth turned into a frown.

"Get… Out… if… if you're… just going… to…"

"To what? Acknowledge your injuries? I'm sorry Rod, but we can't ignore this forever. You can't pretend to be okay when you're not."

Finn cut in without much of a second thought. He could only drive on eggshells for so long without breaking a few. This car needed a reality check.

Rod drew in a quick breath. He gritted his teeth, all while glaring at the British coupe with as much rage and content he could muster. He didn't speak.

"I know you're scared, Rod. I know you're in pain, and you want so desperately not to be. I know as a man that it's hard to accept this, but you need help Rod. You need to talk about this."

Finn conveyed as much concern and care in his voice as he could. He'd seen cars go mad trying to bottle up their PTSD. It would kill Rod if he just ignored it forever.

Rod's expression began to relax, and return to a more neutral position before drawing in a breath. He blinked a few times, now refusing to look at the car in front of him.

"Go… away…"

His voice was shaky, Finn could hear it. He rolled forward slightly towards the blue car.

"GO!"

Finn drew back quickly at the sudden outburst. He stared at Rod for a moment but the car looked away from him again. This time, Finn didn't attempt to roll towards him. Instead he sunk low on his tires and turned around. Rod watched carefully as he drove towards the door.

Finn stopped for a moment. He turned back towards Rod who was still watching him. Without speaking, he produced a small card from under his license plate, and slid it towards Rod.

Rod looked down at it as the small piece of metal stopped in front of him, then back to the door. But there was no one there, Finn had driven off. Rod again looked down at the metal card, it had Finn's name on it, along with a phone number.

Finn drove silently down the hospital halls, ignoring the smiles of nurses as they passed by. He took the elevator back down to the lobby, and drove out the front entrance without a word, and made his way towards the hotel he'd last stayed at while in Tokyo; the hotel he started his operation with Holley and Mater at a month earlier.

He checked into a room, and quickly made himself comfortable on the tatami mat. He glanced out the window which had a great view of the busy city below. From there, he slowly began to fall asleep as he watched the lit signs produce beautiful vibrant colors that radiated his room in a comforting glow.

A sudden buzzing broke the serenity of the moment, and Finn shot up on his wheels. He looks around the room for a moment discovering nothing out of place, before realizing it was his phone; he'd gotten a text.

"Hey its Rod"

Finn stared at the message on his wing mirror for a moment.

"Hello Rod"

Finn watched the message send, and continued to look at the chat for a moment, waiting for a reply.

"Im sorry."

Finn again just stared at the message, but another came through before he could respond.

"Can you come back?"

Finn replied quickly.

"Of course."

Finn quickly shook his tiredness off, and drove off the tatami. His phone dinged again.

"Thanks"

Finn went to close the message but another came through.

"I dont wanna be alone"

Finn stayed parked at the door for a moment, just staring at the message. He thought about what to say back, if he should say something back at all. He finally settled on:

"I'll be right there."

Finn then closed the message and drove out the door.