AN: I know this was getting requests, and I'm happy to know everyone likes it! If I don't post an arc series quickly it's because I don't like to update unless I'm at least 90% happy with what I've just written. Hope I don't disappoint!
It felt like they'd been in the trees for hours, but he'd take anything over being stuck on the side of that cliff. He had actually dozed off there for a while.
"When are they taking us back?" Lightning asked, looking up from his prone position to where Doc was sitting beside him.
"Not sure." He replied, looking out toward the ledge the boys had fallen from before glancing back toward Lightning. "Want to make sure everyone's stable before making you sit on an ATV."
"Hmm..." He was silent a few moments, just wanting to get back to town. He didn't care if it was early afternoon, he was ready to sleep for the next 8 hours.
He broke the silence again, only after looking in either direction and folding his arms behind his head.
"Hey, Doc?"
"Yeah, Hot Shot."
Lightning stared up at the sky through the tree limbs. "Remember a while back when I had all those cactus tines in my arm."
"Uh huh, and I'm starting to sense a pattern-"
"Well." Lightning paused for dramatic effect. "I had this interesting conversation with Mater-"
"As all conversations with Mater are-" He could hear the underlying get on with it, Rookie, as if Doc had actually said it.
"And, well, he happened to impart some information I thought was extremely interesting."
Lightning waited for a response, allowing the silence to stretch for quite a while because he so wanted Doc to react. He wasn't patient enough, though.
"I was told-" He looked around again. "That you told him about cow tippin' when he was a kid."
The only visual reaction he got was the flash of the aviator sunglasses when Doc turned to look at him fully. "Excuse me?"
"You told him!"
"I most certainly did not.
"Mater wouldn't lie to me."
"Ohho and I would?"
"If the shoe fits."
He watched with a smug grin as Doc shook his head, looking back over the logging road. Lightning had closed his eyes again and was somewhat startled to hear his voice when he spoke.
"I did not tell him about cow tipping." Doc repeated seriously. "I may have at one time told him that a cow could and possibly would fall over if he was sneaky enough to startle one without it noticing him beforehand."
Lightning stuttered briefly. "That's-...that's the same thing!"
"No it isn't." He stood and brushed his jeans off before grinning smugly at the kid.
"That sounds an awful lot like a lawyer's dodge."
"Where do you think judges come from?"
The boys were finally deemed healthy enough to make the trek back out to the main road, hitching a ride on the back of each of the quads that had been sent out in search of them. To their dismay, camera crews and reporters were lined up against the caution tape, waiting for the moment they could corner any one of them to get a comment. With some handy maneuvering on Red's part, though, engine #99 was suddenly blocking the view of the racers from the rest of the world.
Sally ran forward as they all stood together behind the engine, asking if they were all ok and apologizing for the fiasco. She turned fully toward Lightning and swatted his arm sharply. "And you! I can't believe you'd wander off into the middle of nowhere without telling anyone! What if you hadn't even been able to use the internet? You'd still be out there!"
He raised both hands appeasingly. "Sorry, Sal. I wasn't expecting-"
"Well...they would've seen my truck eventually..." Bobby muttered in an attempt to help.
"I'd stay out of this one..." Jr cautioned, looking away and deciding that just about anything was more interesting than the irate girlfriend of Lightning McQueen.
Before too long, the boys made it back to town and were set up at Doc's clinic. The first responders wanted to make sure there were no concerns before finally giving the group the green light.
"I ever tell you I don't like needles?" Lightning asked, staring at the wall.
"Little late now." Doc replied as he taped down the IV port.
Dusty was in the 'room' beside him, though Lightning couldn't really call it a room considering he could just pull the curtain down if he wanted to see the other.
The pilot was feeling 100% better, and knew that everything at this point was just precaution. He'd dug through his bag and found his phone charger, making a face when the phone turned on and immediately started to chime incessantly with notifications.
"Who's blowin' up your phone, Crophopper?" Cal asked from the other room, pulling the curtain back.
"Uh- hah...everyone." He frowned in apology. "I have a lot of calls to make..."
Cal shrugged, holding up his own phone. "Me too."
"Yeah..." Dusty scrolled through the missed calls, figuring he should start at the top. He tapped the number and listened to it ring, sitting cross legged on the bed.
"Hey Sparky, yeah yeah everything's fine. Hey could you give the phone to- oh-... Skip! I just-"
Lightning flinched, looking toward Doc with a frown. "Ow! What'd you pinch me for?"
"Checking for dehydration." He deadpanned, looking up at the IV bag. "And it's rude to eavesdrop."
Sally had checked to make sure everything was running smoothly at The Wheel Well before returning to The Cozy Cone. Pulling in to her reserved space she spotted Lightning walking across from the clinic. She met him around the back, at the door to the apartment built off the back of the lobby.
"Stickers."
"Hey, Sal."
She threw her arms around his neck, just needing the reassurance of his presence and was comforted when he put his arms around her. Leaning back, she cupped his face in her hands, her eyes welling with tears.
"I've never been so scared- you're ok?"
"I'm ok." He replied with an exhausted smile as she fussed over him.
"-and you're all sunburnt. Are you hungry? I can-"
He cut her off with a quick kiss. "I'm fine, Sal. I'd just like to get some sleep."
"Yeah, ok..." She nodded before finally releasing him. Unlocking the door, she pushed it open and turned the air on, looking over her shoulder as he collapsed on the couch.
"Any special instructions I need to know about?"
"Just to take it easy." He replied drowsily.
She huffed, rolling her eyes as she went to leave the apartment again, wanting to let him get some sleep, peace and quiet.
"A Piston Cup racer taking it easy. Right."
It was hours before Lightning woke. Sitting up in a daze, he searched for the nearest clock and groaned when he saw the time. 10:25, no wonder it was so dark. He washed his face, and looked himself over in the bathroom mirror. Sally was right, he had gotten pretty sunburnt. With a sigh, he left the apartment and started down the main drag of Radiator Springs. He figured everyone would be at Flo's by now and wasn't disappointed when he saw everyone under the canopy at one of the newer outdoor tables.
"No! I'm tellin' ya's! It was there!"
"What is he talking about?" Lightning asked, coming up beside Sally.
"Who knows." She replied, threading her arm around his. "But your friends love it."
Mater's story was cut short as Fillmore pulled up with the bus, leaning out the window. "Hey, does anyone want a ride down to the Butte?"
Sheriff checked his watch. "It's only 10:30. Fireworks start at midnight."
"Yeah man, but we're a popular place now you know. It's getting crowded down there."
As if to confirm Fillmore's comment, Sheriff's radio went off requesting more traffic control and if there was more space to start an overflow parking lot.
"Keep them off my track." Doc stated, getting up from the table. Sheriff was barely able to get his radio unclipped to respond when everyone else had stood to leave the table as well.
Mater, Bobby, Cal, Jr and Dusty all climbed up into the van. Jr turned around to see if Lightning wanted them to try to make a space for him and Sally but Lightning only shook his head.
"We'll walk." He shrugged and smirked.
"Just don't trip and break an ankle." Dusty commented out the window as the van passed them.
The couple walked in companionable silence, the moon just bright enough to light their path. Lightning glanced toward Sally once and raised a brow. "Is that my jacket?"
"No, Cal's." Before he could comment she bumped his shoulder with her own. "Yes, it's yours...I got cold after the sun went down."
He put an arm around her, grinning faintly. "Looks good on you."
Hearing animated chatter behind them, Lightning glanced over his shoulder to see Luigi and Guido walking down the path some distance back. Sheriff's cruiser had stopped alongside who he thought might have been Doc, most likely deciding where to set up an overflow parking lot. A long line of headlights waited behind the cruiser and silhouettes of tourists could be seen walking down the path even further back. He looked back to Sally.
"So much for a small fireworks show, huh..."
"I told you the town would go down the drain when that racing headquarters was built."
They caught up with the rest of the group, suddenly realizing they hadn't brought anything with them to sit on, or even drink.
"I can go back." Lightning suggested. "It's not even quarter of yet."
"No need." Bobby said, coming up beside them. "There was enough packed in the van for everyone to use."
They laid out a few blankets and set up a cooler between them. Before sitting down, Lightning took in the surroundings of the bluff and down below them. Groups of people dotted the landscape, some with grills and coolers and many of them with radios. He caught sight of Sarge's jeep at the bottom and realized he must have been the one in charge of the event. Finally sitting beside Sally, he leaned back against the front tire of the Volkswagon bus.
Some years ago, as a Piston Cup rookie, he'd been asked by his agent to give twenty names for tickets to a race and hadn't been able to come up with one. Looking at the group sitting with him, as his racing friends were trying to get Mater to move the antenna of the radio just right, as Luigi and Guido caught up to them, as Flo and Ramone brought another cooler to the group, and as Sheriff and Doc discussed how close tourists were permitted to the display, he could only take it all in with a smile.
The crowd hushed abruptly, as it was apparent the first fuses had been lit. Sally glanced over her shoulder at him and tilted her head questioningly. "What is it?"
He only shook his head, grinning widely. "Nothin', I'm just really happy."
LightningMcQueenOfficial: Thanks for the well wishes! We're all fine!
The next post was a series of images, of the group on the blankets, of the fireworks, multiple selfies of himself and Sally or others, and a group picture of the racers together.
LightningMcQueenOfficial: Taking in some fireworks with the family. #RadiatorSprings #Fireworks #LightEmUp #Kachow
AN2: I had wanted to ask this before but forgot to! What hashtags would you all have used for this little escapade?