AN: This arc is a lot of fun.
He understood that they were done traveling for the day, or at least for the time being. Storm knew truck drivers could only drive so many hours before being off the road for a certain amount of time. So they were stuck at this truck stop for at least four hours. He was not going to be able to sit there that long. McQueen had apparently found something to bide his time.
Jackson only looked him over briefly before going back to his own devices. He flipped through the apps on his phone idly while glancing back up at the cover of the book McQueen was reading.
DRIVEN TO WIN: How Dirt Track Racers Shaped Piston Cup.
It was an image of vintage cars flying across a beach somewhere, down in the right hand corner there was a small blurb; Forward By: Lightning McQueen.
Huh...
He glanced back up to see him reading intently, his head rested against his free hand and he scratched at the side of his head before reaching forward to turn the page.
Storm had better things to do than sit around waiting for them to hit the road again. With a huff he stood from the dinette and went in search of his headphones. At least he could get a good run in. They may have been in the middle of Podunk Nowhere but he still had a schedule to keep.
Two miles down the road and he realized he'd forgotten his fitbit, he hadn't even been around McQueen a full two days and he was already losing it. With a frustrated sigh he stood holding his phone up in an attempt to get a decent signal as he downloaded the first running app he could find.
It was a surprisingly good run, better than he'd had in quite a while. Hills were something he was going to have to work on, that last one getting back to the truck stop hadn't been that steep but he'd hit the wall and his overall pace took a beating for it. That wasn't something he was used to.
Jackson would have to figure in some outdoor runs, who knew.
He was breathing a little heavier than usual as he came up to the trailer, hands braced on his sides. He ignored McQueen sitting outside the trailer but could tell he was on the phone and had apparently wanted a sense of privacy in the Skype call if the headphones were anything to go by. Not that he was interested in whatever conversation the Rust-eze driver would be having. It was hard not to overhear some comments, though, as he worked through his usual post run stretches.
"I dunno, what would you do?"
McQueen's huff of amusement had him a little curious and a quick glance at the screen showed him at least who McQueen was talking to.
That tow truck driver. How McQueen had patience for him, Jackson would never know. He ignored the rest of the conversation until Lightning stood up quickly.
"Mater you're a genius!"
Ok that was a stretch. Jackson rolled his eyes and went in to the trailer for a water. He stared out the windows at the gathering darkness, swigging from the water bottle and stretching his neck this way and that. He was definitely going to feel that run in the morning.
He nearly dropped the water bottle in surprise when McQueen burst in to the trailer, the door swung open and closed loudly. "I need to find Smokey."
Jackson juggled the half empty water bottle before staring at him darkly for a moment. "Smokey as in, only you can prevent forest fires? Aren't you a little old for that? And what does that have to do with-"
Lightning groaned and grabbed the book he'd been reading from the shelf beside the sofa, flipping to the middle where there was a collection of images. He turned the book toward Storm quickly.
"No. Smokey! Team owner and crew chief to The Fabulous Hudson Hornet."
Jackson hadn't seen the other move that quickly...well...ever, as Lightning hit the intercom for the truck cab and said something to the driver.
Jackson only continued to stand where he was with a look of faint shock as the other rushed about the trailer.
What...had he just missed?
"We're doing what..."
"Making a detour." Lightning commented as he dug through a cabinet in search of an atlas. He threw it on to the dinette table and climbed up in to the seat. "It's right along the way."
"What is right along the way?"
Instead of replying immediately, Lightning grabbed the book he'd been reading and flipped to a page with an image of a track. "There."
"And there is...?"
"Why are you so difficult?" Lightning rolled his eyes and pointed to the caption. Thomasville Speedway.
He set the book aside and started flipping through the atlas.
"That's three hours out of the way." Jackson commented dully, staring at GoogleMaps.
"Well it's not like it's hurting you any is it? As long as you're in Florida by the end of the week."
Jackson leaned back in the dinette and let his back hit the cushion roughly. He knew this was going to be a trying week but he'd never expected a field trip.
He'd stopped enjoying field trips in ninth grade.
Like when McQueen was what...twenty-nine?
He had a track to get to, in Florida. Yet there he was, stuck with some washed up retiree attempting to relive the glory days. Jackson almost felt sorry for him.
Almost.
He might as well humor him, allow McQueen his fun before the end of the week and reality set in. He was stuck in that truck anyway.
"You're right, it's not hurting me." He finally replied flippantly before turning his attention back to his phone and sifting through Google Play Books.