Yeah… if this chapter feels like déjà vu…. .. Good!... lil' refresher chapter… thus… it feels like a "broken record"…. And honestly… this might be a lil' broken sounding… I've been ill… so… I can't really re-read very well… sorry….

Rings of fate

Chapter 10: A Broken Record… of a Memory….

The double doors creaked in protest as the hornet slowly rolled in to his well kept clinic, with a heavy heart, and a complex mind. Some things from his past…. He preferred to remain in the past… nothing was worth remembering…..

He rolled slowly past his equipment, the lift sat in the middle of the room… with monitors and wires…. And …

' a broken disfigured body staring back at her. The gashes, the melted parts, the dents, parts of her fender stuck out violently in weird ways, and that was only the first couple of glances. The paint color, she wasn't sure, the majority was exposed steel and metal stained with…oil. Her eyes swear that they could see hint's of blue, like ocean blue bits on the frame, but in this state she wasn't sure anymore. The front was crumpled and twisted, and the roof was dented… the only thing she can recognize on this strange body is the stunning, vibrant violet eyes that stared back at her. This disfigured body…that was Alice's.'

His eyes blinked furiously as they darted away from the lift, trying to keep his mind to the present… and his heart as whole as possible… as his eyes caught the working mirror…

'Grease covered his face in the oddest of places, as sweat beaded on the frame of his windshield…"Oh!" he gave out a hearty chuckle, "Well look at that", as a patched up Mustang chuckled warmly at his reaction.'

Doc lightly laughed at that memory and he found himself blinking back mindless tears… a broken little smile…. As he shook the memory out of his hood….

'Oh come on now Doc' he thought to himself, 'Enough with the water works…. '

He swallowed hard, and took a few breaths… today has just been eating him alive… he went to roll past his "working station" and go inside his personal quarters … like he normally does when he gets like this…. when something stopped him…. a photo… an old faded photo…. Of a cranky Falcon forcing a smile on his face with the lil' hornet next to him holding his first registration….

Doc paused…. And just looked at the picture…. That forced smile…. He never did like taking pictures…. That and being told what to do….

He found himself weakly chuckling at that as he un-hung the picture from the wall… getting a closer look at it… "Mr. Wattsmen…" a small smile grew, more so on the right side…. "My only friend."… His smile reached his eyes, as they went back and forth…. "Dang… has it been that long already?...Now I'm almost as old as you were back then." He found himself chuckling very weakly…. "My have the years flown…"

… "doc….?"

He's thoughts snapped out of his mind to the sound of the soft quiet voice at the other end of the room…

He rolled back a little to see a familiar face…. A small smile was on his face…. Until he saw the tears running from those violet eyes….

"Alice... what's the matter?"….. His voice crooked out….

Alice stood there, sniffling, her breathing coming as short choppy breaths…. Her mouth tried forming words…. … and then her voice barely kicked in, "i-i can't find mom…." She took in a shaken breath…. "I've looked everywhere…. …i… don't know what happened…. Or what's going on…."….

She gritted her teeth, closing her eyes... As she moved herself to the side…. Somewhat hiding her face…

Doc felt his tank tighten as he found himself drop the picture on the ground, and rushing over to her side, pulling her shaking frame close to his…. "I'm sure she's okay Alice…." He whispered his wish into her side… trying to not only calm her restless mind….

She leaned into him as her breaths were broken and choppy at Doc's side…. Doc swallows back his own tears… "She's strong Alice… She made it through all those years with Jack… I'm sure she'll pull through….I have faith in her…."

She swallowed hard, the broken choppy breaths slowly smoothed out as those calming words sunk deep in her mind… "…y-your right….s-sorry…"

Doc closed his eyes, nudging her slightly in encouragement, "Don't be, She's your mother… it's hard… I understand." He gently wiped a tear away with his tire… "Your fine…"

She nodded slowly as she looked over at Doc…. " Thanks."

Doc smiled a small smile "No problem kiddo….."

Alice leaned on him a little more…as her eyes caught the shimmer of broken glass… "Doc, w-what's that?"

Doc glanced up from Alice to look at the shimmering glass all over the floor with a wood frame face down, as he blinks in realization. He "dropped" it harder than he thought…. There is one memory broken…

He slowly rolled over to the broken frame on the floor… cautiously flipping it over with a tire… the old wooden frame fell apart in two pieces causing the remaining broken glass to fall out in itty bitty shards….the Picture was left, unharmed.

"Doc… is that you?" Alice quietly spoke from his side, looking at the picture over his fender…

Doc chuckled warmly and he pointed at the picture of the lil' hornet. "yeah, that's me… When I was… Maybe a lil' younger than you Alice... and… " He moved his tire, pointing at the figure standing next to the lil' hornet. "That, is my ol' Crew Chief. Mr. Wattsmen."

Alice looked at the picture with slight amusement, "Wow, he looks enthused…"

Doc chuckled softly at her comment, "Oh he hated pictures… He claimed he doesn't take pictures very well…."

Alice put a slight smirk on her face… "I'd say…"

Doc looked over at her, and gave her a playful nudge. "However, none the less, He had this picture on his desk for all those years…"

Doc smiled as he eyed the picture, remembering his Crew Chief….

"W-What happened to him? Where is he now?"

Doc paused as he let out a sigh… his distant eyes… zoned out too that day…. " You see…. I don't really know what happened to him…. I got into a fight the night before the big race….."

' "Hey kid, Do you even realize what you're getting yourself into?" The Falcon snapped at the Hornet stubborn youth. "I understand you love the girl, but come on! Marriage? Don't you think you're a lil' young for that?"

The Hornet sigh in frustration, "No, I know exactly what I'm doing. She loves me!"

"No, She's loves using you! Can't you see that!" The falcon Backed off, his oil boiled from the frustration that grew from within' … he'd wanted to ram some sense into him…. but that she-devil already sunk her claws on her pray…. "You are changing Hudson…."

The Hornet blinked, as he rolled back in shock… He never called him by his first name…

"W-why did you call me…" he paused… unable to finish his sentence… almost afraid…

The falcon sighed. "What happened to that lil' rascal that I first met?… You were smart, energetic, full of character… I tried my best to set you right…. And when she came in… She put a chain around you, controlling you, charming you… and you feel into her trap…" The Falcon paused, as a new fit of frustration flooded over him " Your changing! She's changing you. So much in fact I can't even tell who the hell you are anymore! That's saying a lot for someone who basically raised you!"

The Hornet rose on his tires in defense, " You didn't raise me! Heck, You didn't even care for me at all! All you cared about was Money and Racing! Why can't you just accept what is best for me, and move on with our lives…."

The wise Falcon eyes closed… which caused he protégé to snarl at him and dart out of his house…

It was quiet in the faded tan house, the only thing left on in the room was a single lamp… that lit up a picture frame… the falcon's eyes opened as he slowly rolled over towards it… His horrible face with that forced smile, next too at young lil' Hornet holding his first registration…. He felt a very small sad smile on his face. " I care for ya more than you know kid….I just wish that your wise enough to open your eyes…. And see your being toyed with…."

He rolled over towards the desk…. And stared off in the distance… wishing that Hornet would roll back into his house, and started the whole conversation over …. … .. .

But… it was taking too long… he should of turned around and come back right about now….

The sound of tires kicking up gravel caught the Falcon's attention…. He came back?... He came back…. The Falcon rose on his tires…. "Kid I gotta tell ya something…."

The Falcon raced to the door…when he stopped halfway…..

"Hey, what are you doing here? Don't you think you've caused enough trouble?" He hissed at the she-devil….'

"So…. So you got into a fight with Mr. Wattsmen? You went back and got it straightened out…right?" Alice asked Doc… almost in a pleading manner… hooked to the past….

Doc paused…. His eyes closed slowly…. "I've said too much…"

"No no! Don't stop it there… What happened?"

Doc froze…. His eyes growing distant…. …. "Well?" She asked...

"I raced back... wanting to apologies…. Wanting to fix everything…. But…. When I got to his house…. I couldn't take everything back…"

' The faded tan house barely stood out from the thick, willow trees with the dying sunlight of the day…. "Mr. Wattsmen!"…. The Hudson raced towards the house at a decent pace… guilt in his eyes…. As he rolled into the house and his chasse close to the ground in defeat…. "Mr. Wattsmen… i… I'm sorry for getting worked up before… it's just… this…" he's eyes rose up from the warn floor boards…. To the strange dark room…. Mr. Wattsmen always has a light on in the house…. Did he leave?...

"Mr. Wattsmen?" The Hornet asked again to the dark, creaky house….a shiver ran up his frame…. The house….for the first time….felt…. dark….

"H-He went to go clear his head… yeah… that's what "…. He looked out the open door, that was propped open with a metal/wooden milk create still holding 5 filled glass bottles…. His gut tightened…he wouldn't prop a door open if he was going out…..

"Mr. Wattsmen?..." He quietly rolled around inside the house….when his tire rolled over something…. He stopped, and quickly rolled back…. A thick, hard covered book got caught under his tire…. His most prized possession that he cherished... and cradled in his gentle tires like a newborn baby when he reads it …the Holy Bible….

The hornet was horrified… Mr. Wattsmen kept his Bible safe in the wooden box…. That…. Now laid cracked and open on the other side of the room…. Instead on his desk….

Hudson looked up at the once perfectly kept room…. And his fears… sickened…. His book self was knocked over, littering his knowledge all over his office…. His desk turned over on its side that he crafted himself with sweat and labor… and….. …

Hudson felt his tank lurch…

"Mr…. Mr. Wattsmen!" His voice cracked under pressure that his emotions was overwhelming …

The oil soaked floor felt sticky under his tires as he rolled over to his crew chief's broken frame….. Mr. Wattsmen…. One of the strongest folk he knows… was gargling… drowning…. …. In his own oil…. His grey eyes weakly rolled over to meet his crystal…. As he winced and choked… oil bubbling up in his lungs…. Oozing out of his grill…. "D-Dang!... I… I wish I could do somethin'!... " He rushed over to the phone… to hear someone talking on the other end... some female voice… "Umm.. Ma'am, I really need the line!" the Hudson Voice almost shouted at the women, panic thick in his voice… … There was silence on the other line "What's goin' on Sugar? You sound like your rattlin' right out of your tires!" Her Southern accent was thick on the line… "please... I need to get help, My… My friend…. h-he's hurt really bad…." ….. "Oh.. I hope it's nothin' too bad… I'll clear the line for ya…." And her line made a satisfying click…. … Hudson spun a few numbers on the phone…. And waited for "Operator…"

"Yes, Hi... Can't you please get help!... My Crew Chief Mr Wa-"

"Alright hon' hang on a second…"….

A muted sound was heard…. For a short time ….. then " Sparksville County Sheriff's department."

Tears ran down his hood….. ….. as his mouth couldn't form into words….. "Hello?... Anyone there?"

"Hi…." His voice sounded broken….. as he turned to face his crew chief… lying still…. "…. I'd like to report a brake in..…" his breathing became very broken…. As he watched the body not moving for a while now…. Too long….. "Someone murdered my Crew Chief!"

He dropped the phone…. As he fell to the ground… Sobbing….. at the cold side of his best friend…..'

If the phones confused you… Here's a lil' history for ya….. Phone lines where shared per streets…. So if someone was on the phone… you have to wait for them to hang up or ask for them to be able to use the phone. *smiles*