First Date
Hi everyone! Welcome to the next chapter of A Thousand Miles! Morgan and Mere here to bring you another chapter of this exciting story! And yes, yes we are insane!
Sorry that this chapter is late, we meant to have it out on Wednesday but Morgan was in the ER Tuesday night and Mere had epic writers block.
Disclaimer: we do not own any recognizable characters, those are the rightful property of Disney and Pixar Studios. We only own the characters that you do not recognize!
Words: 2,373
(this is set before we revealed a bit of Doc's past.)
"I win! And you say you're as fast as lightning, Stickers." Sally said as she and Lightning pulled into a pump.
"Well, if it was up to me, you would be starting training tomorrow." Doc said, who was idling at a pump on the opposite side.
Lightning groaned, "But Doc..." He whined. "I just got back."
"What's that got to do with the price of sushi in Japan, Rookie? When I was racing, I began training the day I got back." Doc said.
"Is that why you're all work and no play, Doc?" Lightning asked, causing Sally to giggle.
Doc eyed the red racecar and spoke in his gruff voice, "Two weeks, and don't make me regret it."
"YES!" Lightning cheered as Doc gave a moan.
What did I do? Doc thought to himself as the two young cars drove out of Flo's and over to the cozy cone. The sun was beginning to set, casting the small town in long shadows and bathed in a beautiful orange glow.
"I'm glad your back." Sally said, the two cars were currently idling in the back of the lobby. Lightning smiled and took her tire.
"Me too." Lightning said as Sally leaned on him.
"Look! A shooting star!" Sally said, lifting her hood to look at the sky. "It's beautiful." She sighed as she stared up into the starry sky.
"Not as beautiful as you." Lightning said, causing the blue Porsche to blush.
"So Sally. Me. You. Lunch." Lightning asked.
Sally laughed, "I guess, you do owe me a date. It's a date." she said, smiling.
"You guess?" Lightning asked, staring down at his girlfriend.
"It means it's a yes, Stickers." Sally said, giving off a small giggle.
"Just making sure." Lightning said.
They stayed like that for an hour before Sally let out a yawn.
"Looks like someone is sleepy." Lightning said in a mocking tone.
"I had a long day." Sally said.
"You should head to bed, Sal." Lightning said.
Sally smiled, "I really should." she said, facing Lightning.
"Goodnight, Sal." Lightning breathed as their lips came closer together.
"Goodnight, Lightning." she whispered back.
"McQueen and Sally parked beneath a cone! K-I-S-S-I-N-T!" Mater shouted as he drove backwards around the two cars and then drove off.
"He's my best friend, what're you gonna do?" Lightning said with a cheesy smile.
"Goodnight, Light." Sally said before driving into the lobby.
Lightning smiled as he drove into Cone Number 1. He settled down on his tires and with a few minutes, he was out.
The Next Day
Lightning awoke the next morning to his alarm clock going off. He yawned and stretched out his axels. Yawning he opened his garage door and slowly rolled out of his cone.
He made me was towards the lobby and found Sally still asleep at her desk. Lightning smiled before reversing out and heading across the street to Flo's.
"Morning Flo." Lightning said as Flo brought him a hot caffeinated fuel.
"Morning, hun." she said as Lightning took a grateful sip of the beverage.
"WILL YOU TURN THAT DISRESPECTFUL JUNK OFF!?" came the shout of Sarge from down the road.
"RESPECT THE CLASSICS, MAN. IT'S HENDRIX!" the Hippy Volkswagen van shouted back.
"Have they done that every morning?" Lightning asked Flo.
"Yea, they're always at it with each other. They fight like an old married couple."
Lightning chuckled as he finished off his fuel.
"Hey Flo, can I get another can to take to Sally?" Lightning asked.
"Sure thing, Hun." Flo said as she drove into the Café and came out with a hot fuel.
"Thank's Flo." Lightning said as he opened up the compartment in the upper part of his tire. Using the special program that was installed in him, Lightning counted out the money he owed Flo for the drinks and produced it out of the opened area. He handed the money to Flo.
"Thanks, sweetie." Flo said as Lightning drove off towards The Cozy Cone.
When Lightning arrived he saw that Sally was already up and staring at a photograph. She sighed deeply as she gazed upon it.
"Sally?" Lightning said.
Sally jumped as the sound of her name. "Stickers." she said as she put the frame in a drawer at her desk. She drove towards Lightning. "What brings you here?" she asked in a quiet voice.
"I come bearing a hot caffeinated fuel, my lady." He said in a knightly like voice as he produced the can of steaming oil to her.
"Aren't you the best boyfriend ever?" Sally said as she gladly took the can from Lightning.
Lightning smiled and placed a small kiss on her cheek. Sally smiled and the two drove out onto the lot.
Sally leaned against his frame as she took another sip of her fuel. Lightning smiled as he reached for her tire.
"What were you looking at before I came in?" Lightning asked, hoping not to sound intrusive.
Sally sighed, "A picture of my parents and brothers." she replied after a moment.
"You have brothers?" Lightning asked the Porsche.
"Yea, the little twin devils named Fred and George." Sally said.
"Really now?" Lightning asked.
"They are! Those two were always getting into trouble and I always had to watch them when my parents were working." She sighed.
"What exactly did they do?" Lightning asked.
"Well, they put fishing wire on top of the ramp going down stairs and when I had to go down there to get something I ended up toppling to the ground." Sally said.
"Ouch, that had to hurt." Lightning said. "My sister, Thunder, was like that. Always playing jokes on me, but then I'd get her right back." Lightning said.
"So you have a sister. Named Thunder." Sally asked before bursting out into giggles.
"Yea. We're twins. I'm older than her by seven minutes." Lightning replied.
"Wow." Sally said, after catching her breath. "I find that quite funny." she said.
"Everyone always does." Lightning replied.
Sally smiled up at him while Lightning checked the time at the courthouse.
"Come on," Lightning said, "I'll order us something to eat from Flo's for lunch."
"But lunch isn't for a couple of more hours." Sally said as she followed her boyfriend across the street.
"We're not eating it now, Sal." he said as Sally stopped next to Doc who was filling up. "Wait here." Lightning said as he drove inside of Flo's.
"When are you gonna tell him?" Doc asked in his gruff voice. When Sally had broken down in Radiator Springs, Doc had ran her VIN numbers and found out who she really was. He agreed to keep her secret, have shared a history similar to hers.
"I was going to tell him this afternoon when we went on our date. He already knows my parents, he just doesn't know that." Sally said as her voice became distant.
Doc nodded his hood in understandmeant with what the young car had said. He never knew how Sally's dad could balance the life of a family and a racing career. Doc had tried with his first wife, Heather, but she ended up leaving him after a year since he was hardly ever home. But when he went to Medical School and met Harper, things were easier to work out. He wasn't gone months at a time and he was able to start a family. They moved to a small, bustling town called Radiator Springs. Here they raised their three children, twins Harold and Hermione, and their second son Hudson, or Junior.
Their life was perfect as it could be. The kids were home schooled by Harper while Doc worked the day shift at the hospital. The three Hornets grew up fast, both literally and rhetorically. They had a love for racing up and down the streets and causing mischief in the town. The three would often go Tractor Tipping with Mater, who was only about 15 years older than them.
The twins soon went off to college. Harry went for a medical degree while Hermione went for an Earth Science degree, leaving their little brother with their parents.
Everyone knew that Hudson missed his older siblings, so Doc decided to take him up to visit them after his wife had convinced them to go and she would take over the shift for the day.
They were already at the campus when Doc's car phone rang delivering him the worst news someone could ever receive. Their was a shooting at the hospital. A deranged car who had lost his wife came storming mad into the hospital wanting Doc, but instead found Harper. Claiming it was an eye for an eye, he shot and killed Harper.
Harry placed the blame on his father and his brother sided with him. Leaving only Hermione to still be in touch with her father. Harry had taken Hudson in, using the money they got from their Mother's Social Security check, Harry paid for what Hudson's scholarship couldn't cover. Hudson became a judge. That was the last thing he had heard about his sons from what Hermione could find out from their friends.
"Doc..?" Came the voice of the rookie as Doc jumped, looking at the two cars whose gaze was transfixed on the old race car.
"Yea, Rookie?" Doc asked as his oil pressure calmed down.
"Nothing, you just sorta spaced out and we were worried about you." Lightning said. "Everything all right?" he asked.
"Yea. Just thinking. Now you two go along and have some fun." Doc said as he drove out of Flo's and to the direction of the clinic.
"I hope Doc's okay." Lightning said as the two cars drove in the direction of Wheel Well.
Sally looked over at her boyfriend, butterflies fluttering in her engine. She knew she had to tell him the truth. But how was the thing she wondered about.
"Sally?" Lightning asked as they came to a stop at Wheel Well, parked in their spot.
"Huh?" Sally said, looking up at Lightning.
"What's wrong?" he asked as he opened the container that held their lunch, giving a can to Sally and one to himself he looked at his girlfriend in worry.
"It's just..." she said, drifting off... "There's something I have to tell you. About my parents." she said.
"Okay." Lightning said, motioning her to go on.
Sally took a deep breath and closed her eyes and spoke, "My last name isn't really Carrera. Its my moms maiden name. My real last name is Weathers. Only daughter of Strip and Lynda Weathers." Sally opened her eyes to look at Lightning who was staring at her with his eyes wide.
"Lightning?" she asked quietly.
"Yea, Sal?" Lightning responded.
She tilted her hood, "Are you okay?" she asked.
"Yea, I'm fine." Lightning replied. "So what happened to make you come here?" Lightning asked.
"Well, as you know, it was my dad's final year as the Dinoco Racecar. I could race just as well as he could, but I was already living my life as a lawyer. Mr. Tex and Dad tried to talk me into becoming the new Dinoco Racecar. I can't tell you how much I pondered it. A part of me really wanted to, but a part of me didn't. I wasn't really happy while I tried to make my decision. So I ran away. Then I drove and drove." Sally said as Lightning held her tire.
"Then you broke down here." Lightning said.
"Then I met you." Sally finished as their lips came closed and closer...
"McQueen and Sally parked beneath a tree! K-I-S-S-I-N-T!"
The two cars groaned in annoyance as they looked behind them to see Mater smiling at the two cars.
"What do you want, Mater?" Lightning asked his best friend.
"I was just wondering if you two wanted ter come tractor tipping with me." the energetic tow truck said.
Sally and Lightning exchanged a glance and Sally nodded her head in approval. "Of course we'll come with you, Mater." Lightning said.
"Woowee!" Mater cheered. "Now don't be late you two!" he said before he began his drive back into town.
"Your best friend is always ruining our mood." Sally said playfully in an accuseful tone.
"He's my best friend, what are you going to do?" Lightning asked with a chuckle.
"Lock him in the impound and throw away the key." Sally replied in an austere tone with an evil smile on her lips.
"Sally Weathers." Lightning said with an equal playful evil grin, "That is a great idea. I love the way you think." he said as she giggled.
The two cars broke out into huge smiles as they both broke down laughing (HAHAHA! They 'broke down' laughing! You get it!? Hahaha)
"Let's start heading back to town before Mater finds us again." Lightning suggested. Sally nodded her hood and together the two cars drove back down the curvy hill and towards the glowing lights of Radiator Springs.
Wowee was that a long chapter, eh? And for those of you who read my other story, Small Town Lightning, you will recall how The Kings daughter was missing... Yea, it's Sally.
So please review! It will really make our day!
A first date leads to the first step,
Morgan and Mere