Disclaimer: Sill don't own Cars, Pixar, or any of the characters, (except Dr. Verte, but who'd want him anyways?).
"What the hell do you want, Verte?" Doc growled.
"Like I said, Hudson, I'm just calling to check up on my patient. I saw that terrible accident on the news, and wanted to make sure that his little spree never caused him any lasting damage."
"Accident?" Doc spat, "That car nearly got blown to pieces because of you!"
"Me?" Doctor Verte chuckled. "If I remember correctly, McQueen left my custody in exchange for yours. I had nothing to do with the whole unfortunate event. After all, who was the fool who let him speed so soon into his recovery?"
Beneath Doc's boiling anger, he felt the already-present pain of guilt tug at his insides again. He could have stopped Lightning from taking that lap around the track. He could have forbidden him to leave the clinic, or chased off the reporters before they could push him any further. And if that had failed, well, he could have just got Sherriff to lock up the hotrod in the impound. But instead he had let Lightning loose, and they had both paid the consequences. Verte may be responsible for Lightning's malfunction, but Doc was responsible for Lightning. He should have taken better care of him.
Doc shook himself out of his somber thoughts and focused on the situation at hand. "Lightning made that decision himself, Verte. The only reason he felt confident enough to drive that lap was because you let him go before he was ready." Ignoring the uncomfortable feeling that he was justifying his actions, Doc continued, "None of this would have happened if you had repaired him properly. You're incompetence nearly cost that boy his life, and I'll make sure that you pay for it."
Dr. Verte laughed bitterly. "That's right, you and the rest of the world. I can't tell you how many threatening messages I've gotten in the last week, so believe me when I say that yours doesn't intimidate me any more than the last one." There was a brief pause on the phone, and then Doc heard Verte let out a sigh. "Look, Hudson, the public might not be on my side right now, but the tide will turn soon enough. Till then, I think you should seriously reconsider where you're shifting all of this blame."
Doc's eyes narrowed dangerously. "The only thing I'm reconsidering is a lawsuit that could clean out that pretty little garage of yours," he growled.
Dr. Verte simply gave another chuckle. "Oh-ho, Hudson, I'd just love to see you try. However, I don't have time to play your little games at the moment. Which brings us to the main reason for my phone call."
"Oh?"
"You're going to announce that McQueen suffered no lasting damage in a press conference, and call off the public from harassing me."
"Like Hell I will!" Doc snarled.
"Oh yes, you will, that is if you care about Lightning's future. If you think that the only thing that can keep you boy from racing is a few busted tires then you're in for a wakeup call. I can have him off the track as soon as I make one phone call."
A surge of rage and panic shot through Doc at the mention of Lightning. While he normally would have dismissed a threat like this completely, Doc wondered whether a figure as rich and well-connected as Doctor Verte would be able to put everything that the kid had worked for down the drain. There was more at stake than his own reputation at the moment. "Threaten me all you want Verte, but leave Lightning out of this. You've already caused him enough damage to last him a lifetime." Doc kept his voice steady, but let the tone carry his own threat.
Dr. Verte Ignored him. "Hudson, either admit that this was all an unfortunate accident or I'll be forced to defend my career with a violence that McQueen won't be able to recover from. You have two days to get the public announcement on the road." And with that statement, the convertable ended their conversation.
Doc took a deep breath and closed his eyes. There was no reason to worry. Doctor Verte couldn't touch Lightning; there was no way that he could make good on his threat, and certainly not with one phone call. Verte was just using theatrics in an attempt to scare Doc into doing what he wanted. Sighing to himself, Doc turned around to face the door, planning on driving a few laps down at the Butte in hopes of relieving some of his frustration towards Verte. However his path was blocked by a frowning police car.
"And just what was that all about?" Sherriff asked sternly.
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After two hours of talking about the situation with his friend, Doc was exhausted with the subject. "I'm telling you, Sherriff, there's nothing we can do right now."
"Well why the hell not?! Sherriff practically yelled. "This was blackmail, plain and simple, and his character is already under suspicion with the medical board! What he did was illegal!
"Because," Doc said wearily, "we have no proof. It would be my word against his that the telephone call was anything other than a 'friendly checkup'. The accusation wouldn't hold up in court, and we'd lose the case." Sherriff growled and revved his engine until black smoke began to cloud up Doc's kitchen. "This is ridiculous! He's going to destroy that boy's career over a mistake that he made!"
"That ain't gunna happen". Doc said with confidence. "I'd be willing to bet my garage that Verte's bluffing, otherwise he wouldn't have called in the first place. He needs to get some control back, and he thought he could scare me into doing it. With the position that he's in now, he can't do diddly-squat to Lightning."
Sherriff shook his head. "I'm not sure if I would take that bet. Verte's on the fast track to losing his whole career, and that makes him desperate. I've seen more decent cars then him do some pretty desperate things in my time, and I don't have any trouble imagining what kind of levels he would stoop to in order to get his way."
"It won't come to that" Doc said stubbornly. "I'm telling you that car's all out of tricks, I'd-."
"Yha, yha, you'd bet the garage on it," Sherriff said impatiently. "But are you willing to bet Lightning? I don't understand why you won't swallow your pride and take every precaution!
"Because that lousy excuse for an automotive deserves every line of bad press that he gets!" Doc snarled. "I'm not going to take away the one punishment he gets just because he tosses a few empty threats around!" He had taken a harsher tone than he had intended, but let his rage pour out. "Right now, the only car that Verte has a problem with is me, not Lightning, and I'm going to keep it that way. I'm not ignoring him to prove a point; I'm doing this to make sure that Lightning gets just a little bit of the justice that he deserves after the hell he's been through!"
Sherriff looked offended at his friend's outburst, but lowered his voice all the same. "I'm not suggesting a complete surrender," he started cautiously, "just cut him a little slack so that he'll back off."
Doc snorted. "What kind of example would I set for the rookie if I rolled over every time someone gave me a little push? We need to stand up to him!"
Sherriff sighed. This isn't about rolling over, Doc." Then his eyes narrowed and he let his frustration get the better of him. "It's about weighing your options and using that thick hood of yours! Yes, Lightning expects you to make certain judgement calls, and sometimes that means giving up what you want in order to protect something more important!"
Doc glared at Sherriff. "I am protecting what's important. Verte will take responsibility for his actions one way or another, and Lightning won't ever have to worry about that block head again. The only time that Verte will ever see the inside of a garage after this is if I send him there as a patient. Case closed, end of discussion." Without another word, Doc drove out the door. He could hear Sherriff leave after him, cursing and grumbling as he headed towards the station.
Just as Doc was about to make the turn for the Butte, he saw Sally and Lightning heading up the road towards him. His argument with Sherriff must have taken longer than he'd imagined if the young couple were already returning. "Hey there Warden!" Sally said brightly. "Were you about to come collect the prisoner?"
Lightning laughed, but Doc could only manage a half-hearted smile. "Actually I was about to take a little drive. Thanks for bringing him back, Sally, glad to see he hasn't spontaneously combusted yet." Sally let out a light chuckle, gave Lightning a quick kiss on his hood, and then said good night to the pair before driving off. Lightning had a dreamy look in his eye that only appeared when he was around Sally, or his Piston cup collection. Snapping him back into reality, Doc gave him a nudge towards the clinic. "Come on Hot-Shot, time for some rest. No snacks and no T.V, just straight to bed." Lightning rolled his eyes but began to drive, only to turn back when he realized Doc wasn't following. "Uh, Doc, the clinic's this way, right?" He asked with a smile.
"Indeed it is, so why aren't you already there?" Doc answered patronisingly.
"Well I couldn't help but notice that you're not exactly heading in the same direction"
Now it was Doc's turn to roll his eyes. "I wasn't aware that the crash made you lose your hearing, kid. I said that I was going for a drive, remember? Now scoot, before I decide to tell Sally that you still watch 'Buggie Babies' every Tuesday." Lightning's eyes widened in genuine fear before wishing Doc a hurried 'good night' and dashing off to the clinic as fast as his newly repaired motor would allow him.
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It was nearly midnight before Doc left the Butte, out of breath and nearly out of gas. He had spent all of his energy tearing into the dirt, imagining that it was Verte's face he was crushing instead of the tiny pebbles and sticks that littered the track. Even though he was exhausted, he wished he could go around another lap to relieve all of his anger. However he had left Lightning alone long enough, he needed to make sure that the kid wasn't still having trouble sleeping without his pain medication.
Driving up the hill that would take him back to the main road, he quickly realized that he would have to change Lightning's prescription to something stronger. Or at least have Sherriff put a car-boot on him.
"I thought you said that you didn't need to be supervised all the time?" Doc growled. "Did I or did I not tell you to get some rest, McQueen?"
Lightning smiled sheepishly. "Well, technically I've been resting up here for hours, haven't budged an inch, and I didn't eat any snacks or turn on the T.V, so really I didn't break any rules". He drove up to where his mentor was. "It's kinda late for training, Doc. Something on your mind?"
Doc glared at his apprentice, trying to intimidate him into giving up and dropping the matter. But Lightning just stared right back, and waited patiently for an answer. Eventually, Doc sighed and decided that Lightning should know about the empty threat anyways.
"I got a phone call today". He started out, and then paused for the wise crack Lightning was bound to make about his surprise that anyone would bother to call a grumpy old race car. However Lightning just nodded and waited for further explanation.
"It was Doctor Verte," Doc continued, watching as Lightning cringed. "He's asked me to make a public statement that he had nothing to do with your gas tank exploding so that the press will stop attacking him, and the medical board will stop threatening to revoke his licence."
"Asked?" Lightning said sceptically.
"Well, pretty much demanded. He basically said that if I didn't, he'd end your days on the race track." He expected Lightning to insist that he agree to these terms right away, but was pleasantly surprised by way he continued to look at him with complete trust and accepted these events.
"Right. So we're going to…?
"I'm going to handle this. You're going to stay out of trouble, and keep away from the public's eye for as long as possible. Verte's threats might be just made of exhaust fumes, but it wouldn't hurt to be cautious." Now that he had calmed down somewhat, Doc began to regret his words to Sherriff earlier. He wasn't going to give in to Verte's demands, but he was at least going to make sure that Lightning didn't give him any ammunition to attack them with.
Lightning gave Doc a small grin. "Hey, if that's the plan, that's the plan." The pair began the long drive back to the clinic, watching as the stars began to fade into the town's bright lights. "Hey Doc," Lightning said suddenly, "Thanks for doing this. I know that I can be a real pain sometimes, but-"
"Try all of the time"
"But, it's nice to know that you have my back when I need you. You're always there to clean up whatever mess I've made and help me become a better racer, but I want you to know that I think you're also helping me become a better car as well. If it weren't for you, I never would have thought that I could go back to racing after my crash. You pushed me until I got back on my tires, and you stayed with me even after I was an idiot and set myself on fire." Lightning never looked at Doc through this whole speech, but kept moving forward. Doc was forced to keep up with him, though he had stalled in shock for a moment. "I just wanted to thank you for everything you've done for me, especially the last few weeks. I've never had anyone look after me the way you do, and I really appreciate it. I know that it's not saying much, but you need to know that it's not just a one-way street. If there's ever anything you need, I'd like to think that you'd come to me first. So if this Verte guy is causing you trouble because of me, I'd rather that we talk about it rather than have you out past your bedtime driving ruts in the ground." Emotions were all fighting to escape Doc's tough exterior. Surprise, gratitude, affection, but most of all a fierce pride was welling up inside of him. Lightning's words meant more to him than he could say.
"All I want," Doc said slowly, stopping their progress so that Lightning would look at him, "is for you to get back to doing what you do best. Get rested up so that you can get your rear back on track, literally. And if after all this you decide that you hate racing and want to work at Ramone's, then I want you to do that. I just want you to be happy kid, whatever it takes."
The two cars shared a small smile before Doc gently nudged Lightning back towards the clinic. After a moment, Doc continued, "And of course it'll soon be time for you to settle down, so I'll be sure to tell Sally that I want lots of grandkids as quickly as possible-"
Now it was Lightning's turn to stall. "Gr-Gra-Grandkids?" he sputtered, the affectionate moment between them completely broken.
"After all, if I'm old enough to have a bedtime set by the likes of you, then I'm certainly old enough to have a few little tykes riding around. Not getting any younger, McQueen, better get a move on."
Doc drove ahead with a smirk plastered on his face, leaving a stunned and stuttering Lightning behind him.
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Author's Note: Hey folk, sorry it took so long to get this chapter up, I've just started a new job recently and it's been taking up a lot of my time. Poor Lightning still has some drama to go through before I'm done with him though, so stay tuned and please keep reviewing to see more of this story! Thanks for reading!