She could drive a car.

As long as nobody asked her for her license.

Or asked any questions.

Really, just go with it.

She could drive.

Just...wear your seatbelt.

She woke up, already excited. Also tired. She knew she'd stayed up too late last night. It had just been too much fun practicing singing with Zara. Could Reese help it that signing was fun?

She practiced her spellings as she went about making herself breakfast. Zara watched with a flat look. Reese made sure to sign in a way that looked sassy. Zara wouldn't know how sass sounded, but damn Reese if she couldn't convey it.

She was figuring out the letter 'z' when she heard the stomping of feet. Reese tensed only when she caught sight of the man, who plopped himself into a chair at the table. She glanced at Zara, who was relaxing on the counter.

Don't let her out

Reese quickly signed 'hide'.

Zara continued to stare.

Mr Martin made a scoffing noise, maybe more of a cough. "I'm gonna be busy today. So I don't want to see you around, got it?"

"Yes sir." Reese replied. She hid the urge to look towards Zara again. There was no telling if Mr Martin would notice. His parental style was one of neglect, that didn't mean Reese was ready to see what happened if she broke one of the few rules he had.

He grumbled, waving his hand at Reese. "What are you standing around for? I said go!"

Reese winced. She picked up the small bowl of her breakfast, walking out of the kitchen to avoid Mr Martin. She had no chance to grab Zara. Her only hope was that the snake would soundlessly move.

==W&R==

She walked to the Flynn-Fletcher house. She ignored her own racing heart, ignored the tiny little voice in her mind fretting about what would happen if Mr Martin found Zara.

She was 71. She had to stop stressing like this. Was her heart that old? Reese thought she'd have a heart attack with how fast it was racing. She could smell toast! Wait no that had been Mr Martin's crisp breakfast.

A car was zooming on the road. Reese had to run to cross the street to avoid one of the fast reverses of the car.

She ran up the sidewalk. The car zoomed by a few more times as she walked to the two brothers.

"Hey, Ferb. What's the red button for?" Phineas asked.

Ferb pushed the big red button on the car. The car made a loud humming noise before blasting upright. Reese followed the car sight

"MOOOOOOOOM!" Candace screamed. She dragged her mother out from the neighbor's house.

"What is it? What do you want me to see?" Mrs Flynn-Fletcher asked.

"Quick!" Candace yelled.

"Hi, Mom!" Phineas waved to his mom.

The car was still in the sky. Reese was actually impressed with that.

"Hi, boys!" Their mother greeted. "Well, if that's all, I'll just be getting back to the game." She walked back inside the neighbor's house.

It's only when the doors closed that the car landed back on the pavement.

"Good thing we've beefed up the suspension." Phineas remarked.

Reese held out her arm. "Could I try?"

Ferb handed over the remote. It took Reese a moment to get the controls. When she did, she set the car along the short road in lots of drift style turns and quick turns.

"Woah! Awesome job, Reese!" Phineas cheered. "How'd you do that?"

Reese hummed, bringing the car back. "Played a lot of car video games. Got the top score in the arcade." That, and a lot of toy race cars races against her two baby brothers. Those two were chumps. Heck, she'd even driven hover cars that were faster than those remote pieces of garbage.

She added a little spin before stopping the car.

"Woah! What else can it do?" Phineas asked.

Reese and Ferb exchanged looks. Ferb's was flat, his usual expression. Reese had a knowing grin. If the car needed a few upgrades, Reese would most certainly deliver.

Like she said, hover cars were an option.

Isabella walked over. The commotion with Candace catching her attention. "Hi, Phineas." Isabella greeted, practically standing there with heart eyes.

"Oh, hi, Isabella." Phineas greeted back- without heart eyes. Seemingly having no idea what heart eyes even were.

"What'cha doin'?" Isabella asked.

"We're entering The Swamp Oil 500 today." Phineas explained.

"Aren't you gonna need a pit crew?" Isabella asked.

"Do you know a pit crew?" Phineas countered.

"Well...I know a few people who work well together." Isabella offered.

"Great! You're hired! See you at the track." Phineas requested. He turned to Ferb. "Hey Ferb, Reese, where's Perry?"

Ferb and Reese shrugged.

Don't run back home

Don't run back home

Zara is fine.

She's fine.

She's smart and he's slow so she's fine.

You have to believe she's fine.

==W&R==

They were in the stadium. Reese was so excited- she was practically shaking with joy. She was adding touch-ups to the car to make turns easier. She could hear Isabella instructing the Fireside Girls on the engine, along with Reese and Ferb's touch ups.

She was still ignoring the impulse to run home. To just hop in the car and rush over to the Martin house to check on her snake. It would be easy, and quick. The race was gonna start any minute but Reese figured she could make it.

"...and in the 3rd lane, the newcomers Team Phineas! Now is it just me, or does he look a little young to be behind the wheel of a 700 horsepower racing machine?" One of the overhead announcers noed.

"Yes. Yes, he does." His co-announcer agreed.

"And look, he's already got his own screaming fans!"

The big mega TV shifted from an image of Phineas to an image of Candace. Reese smirked as the image started to scream.

"Hey, Candace is rooting for us!" Phineas cheered.

"Yeah!" Reese yelled. She slapped down the engine. "Okay. She's all good to go."

Ferb held up a thumb at Phineas.

The other cars started to move out to the starting line.

"Come on- we gotta move." Reese stated. "Good luck, Phineas!"

"Thanks Reese!" Phineas waved them goodbye.

==W&R==

"And with the race about to start, there's the Doofenshmirtz Evil Incorporated blimp!"

They were at the race track by then. Reese and Ferb were high up in the sky. Reese could see the whole racetrack down below. They were high enough that she couldn't hear the loud murmurs from the excited crowd. Still, the breeze would come by to let Reese smell burnt rubber.

Reese loved it. All the best parts of a racetrack without the bad parts of it.

And she could drive a car. Again, best parts without worst parts. All she had to do was not kill Phineas. Easy peesy.

Reese had on a headset. That was cool. She had it turned down so she could hear the announcers.

She and Ferb sat quietly above the stadium. They had moved there after the last few touch-ups on the car. Reese thought the car was gonna be cool even after they took off the racecar aspects.

All of it was keeping her calm enough to forget about her snake.

Then the race itself began.

Reese began to drive. While Candace can make fun of this race, saying that all they do is take left turns, it wasn't all that. Reese had to maneuver Phineas through the crowd of cars without crashing him or anyone else.

Just a very life action version of Mario Kart.

Reese rocked at that. She kept herself focused on the game, watching the other drivers and moving Phineas accordingly.

She was having fun.

Like any normal kid.

"And on the fast on the inside lane is Number 42, Team Phineas!"

The phone rang. Ferb answered it, holding it up so Reese could hear too.

"Hey, Ferb. Does Reese have anything that'll give us more power?" Phineas asked.

Ferb raised an eyebrow.

Reese nodded. She handed him the remote, then reached in her bag. She was able to find something. There was a car battery- purely for experimental purposes. She plopped it down on her side. Ferb held up a set of jumper cables. Reese grinned.

"I mean, I know it's just a battery. But I was thinking-"

Ferb popped out the batteries. He attached the cables to the remote. Reese took the control back.

"Let's open it up and see what this puppy can-Uh, Ferb? We're actually slowing down now. Ferb? Hello?"

"Hold on!" Reese warned. She flipped a switch, sending the car forward.

"OH YEAH! NOW THAT'S WHAT I'M TALKIN' ABOUT!" Phineas shouted.

Ferb held up a thumb. Reese nodded, grinning. Ferb hung up. Course, it rang again.

"Hey, Reese, Ferb." Isabella greeted. "We should bring Phineas in for a pit stop."

Ferb nodded to Reese. She moved the car into the pits.

"Hit it, Reese." Isabella reported.

Reese set the car to drive again.

"Did they give it a bow?" Reese asked.

Ferb shrugged his shoulders.

"It's a nice bow, I'll give 'em that." Reese praised.

Then she got back to racing. Yeah, the track started falling apart cause of the Doof Blimp. Reese ignored those. She'd had blue shells thrown at her- she could dodge some shit on the road.

Even when all the other cars were crashing into each other, Reese was able to make her car dodge them.

"The Team Phineas car is avoiding every obstacle! It's like he can see the whole darn track at once!" The announcer noted.

"I won't tell if you won't." Reese winked.

Ferb winked back. "It'll be our little secret."

Holy shit that was the Ferb Line.

Reese laughed, moving the car around another crashing one.

Music began to play from the stadium. Reese began to hum. "Go Phineas. Go, go Phineas. Go Phineas. Go, go Phineas."

She moved the car again. More cars were crashing, Reese wouldn't let them get in her way. They would all win this race, dammit! Luckily everyone in the crashing cars was okay. Otherwise Reese might be feeling guilt.

When Reese drove Phineas over the finish line, she shouted over the roar of the crowd. Ferb clapped.

==W&R==

She'd won a race.

Reese Martin had won a race.

Hell yes.

Reese didn't even mind when Doofenshmirtz and Perry crashed down into the stadium. Doof making off with the remote and the car.

She didn't mind.

She'd won the race.

"Hmm. Looks like we're walking." Phineas noted.

Reese couldn't care less.

==W&R==

She walked back into her home, walking on air. She'd been on this high since they got back from the stadium. Reese had won a race car race. How awesome was that!

The house lights weren't on when she got home. Not that she expected them to be, it was only just after 5pm. Reese had gotten some snacks from the Flynn-Fletcher house, enjoying them as she opened the door of her home.

All of a sudden, all the worry from throughout the day came crashing back to her. Reese choked on a gasp. She ran to the kitchen first.

No snake. But that didn't mean all was well.

Reese let out a harsh breath. She ran to her bedroom. Zara's cage was there, the heat lamp shining a bright red. Reese was beginning to look red as she ran, as that high from victory gave way to worry and concern.

She checked the bathroom next. Reese had seen most of the mice coming from the bathroom. If a hungry snake had gone off someplace, Reese reasoned it would be there.

No sign again.

Yep. Reese was starting to panic now. A panicking Reese was never a good thing. She made dumb choices when she was panicking.

She ran out to the living room. She made a mental checklist of all the places her snake could've run off. Well not run, Zara didn't have legs.

Reese yelped. Where could Zara go without any legs?!

Then she heard a noise. The noise immediately made Reese deflate. The tension in her shoulders fell, like a puppet losing their strings. With heavy steps she walked into the living room.

To her endless (but in real life more likely until tomorrow) relief, Reese saw Zara on the couch.

"You silly thing." Reese chided. Unclear if she was scolding the snake or herself, Reese walked towards her. We must remember, mind you, that the snake was deaf.

She lifted Zara up. The cobra wasted no time in draping herself over Reese's shoulders.

"Come on. Let's get you to your cage before he gets home." Reese let out a relieved breath. "It's a miracle he didn't notice you this morning."

Zara, silently, knew it hadn't been a miracle. Moreover, Zara had thrown a spoon with her tail. Mr Martin had gone off after it. When he was gone, Zara easily made her getaway. It had been a close one.

But Reese was safe another day. Zara considered that a win.

And if a day were to come where Mr Martin did notice Zara out and about...well Zara had a way of fixing that.