"You can't buy this kind of publicity! What do you need me for? That's just a figure of speech, by the way, you signed a contract."
~ Harv, "Cars."
The man rubbed him the wrong way.
Of course, Doc couldn't deny he had become a bit biased before ever meeting this Harv fellow, if the last couple of days were anything to go by.
Even if he had the luxury of an unbiased, completely fresh start, Doc figured he would have formed this opinion all the same.
Harv was brash, quick-witted, and more than a tad on the arrogant side—and Doc hadn't spent more than five minutes in his company so far.
Despite the complaints, the excessive phone calls, and the non-stop texts, Lightning looked oddly excited at this man's presence. Almost as if he couldn't ever have dreamed of his agent actually showing up for one of these events.
A thought that also rubbed Doc the wrong way.
Mack, for his part, had drifted into the neutral zone, it seemed, waiting in the background until Harv decided to speak to him, which only happened once or twice.
"I'll tell you," the agent began, nudging Lightning's shoulder, "I'm still reeling from this kid's performance in Cali. We made history! His-tor-ry!"
"He definitely did," Doc replied. Apparently, Lightning hadn't caught the pronoun mixup.
But Doc had, and it just unsettled his gut even more.
Patience, old man. It hasn't even been ten minutes yet…
Meeting in the hotel lobby had been Harv's decision, and Lightning had readily agreed to it if it meant being able to see his agent soon after their arrival.
"The sooner the better. I just can't believe he's actually here this time."
Dinner would've seemed a more appropriate suggestion to a kid who had just traveled halfway across the country on someone else's whim, but maybe that was just Doc's opinion.
One that clearly wasn't shared by the man sitting across from him.
If the agent wanted to meet up two floors away from his comfy hotel room, what should it matter to Doc?
"So..." Reclining against the plush arm of the couch, Harv turned his attention to Doc. "You're the one who kidnapped my star, aren't you?"
"Come on!" Lightning heaved a dramatic groan, but his eyes were smiling. "We've been over this a million times. No one kidnapped me, I got lost."
"Lost in the middle of nowhere, right? And who's fault was that?" Doc didn't miss the subtle glare shot in Mack's direction. "I mean, do they even have cell service in..." Harv twirled his hand, searching for the right word.
"Radiator Springs," Lightning said, helpfully filling in the gap.
"Right." Spoken like someone who couldn't have cared less, Doc noted. "That place. Anyway... Enough about that. This interview tomorrow, it's going to be a little different than Florida." At this, Harv grinned, turning to the kid. "This one's gonna be live, baby."
If this bit of information excited Lightning, he certainly didn't show it.
At some point, Mack disappeared to take a personal call.
Lucky.
"And with your fabulous new crew chief joining you again—get what I did there?—there's not going to be a single person in the entire country who won't tune in to News4SA tomorrow night."
Doc wasn't going to roll his eyes—there was still that little thing called social etiquette to maintain—but that didn't mean he had to smile.
"Not everyone watches sports," he interjected, "as much as we'd like to believe they do."
"I forgot, you haven't been on the racing scene for, what? Like, an eternity? Anyway, you clearly don't realize how big this kid is right now. Trust me, you don't have to be a sports fan to want to keep up with Piston Cup news these days."
You just keep telling yourself that.
"Any questions about tomorrow night? No?" Neither Doc nor Lightning even had a chance to open their mouths before Harv moved on. "Good. It's going to be awesome, kid, and you're gonna rule the world. Hell," he added with a laugh, "he basically already does, doesn't he? Take the news and you take the world, am I right?"
Can't say I've heard that one before…
"Speaking of tomorrow, that's not the only reason I'm here. I had an appointment back in Cali, but I was able to switch things around for you, baby. Gotta make time for the world's champion every once and a while, right?" Another laugh grated against Doc's skin. "In all seriousness, we need to go over your contract. The new season will be here before any of us know it and we need to get a few things nailed down, you get me? Actually," the agent added, glancing at his watch, "we should do that now, while we still have time."
When the kid stifled a yawn, Harv didn't seem to notice.
But Doc did.
For the first time that evening, Lightning got more than a handful of words in edgewise, his voice holding the slightest twinge of hesitance. "Don't we have, like, all day tomorrow, though? I mean, if the interview's at night, why do we have to—?"
"You'll need that time to prepare. You know how television is, makeup and wardrobe and all that. Besides, I was hoping you'd be able to slip another phone interview in tomorrow morning. The radio stations just can't get enough of you, hotshot, and rightly so. Everyone's your biggest fan these days."
Harv paused for breath, nodding at Doc, who found himself aching to wipe the smirk off the man's face. "Hey, so real quick before we split: you're not gonna fire him like all the others, right? Because I think we can both agree you work better with a crew chief. You probably would've killed it at Bristol instead of giving us that tie if you'd had one. But hey, what am I talking about? That tie was the best news story since crustless bread, and then you had to go and one-up yourself in California! I mean, is there anything this kid can't do? Figure of speech, I still haven't forgotten Talladega, but who am I to bring up the past?"
Lightning had thrown about half a dozen partial answers into Harv's verbal stream of consciousness, getting cut off by his agent's newest thought each time.
Doc would be lying if he said it wasn't one of the most difficult things he'd ever had to watch.
"All right," Harv said, clapping his hands together and rising to his feet, "let's get this done, kid, that way we can go over stuff with your new crew chief tomorrow. Once we've got most of it figured out, of course."
Not for the first time that night, the kid looked Doc's way, conflict and uncertainty flickering across his young face.
Doc stretched, surveying the lobby. "Didn't I see a cocktail bar in here somewhere?"
"Uh, yeah," came Harv's distracted reply, his nose buried in his phone. "It's somewhere over there, I think."
"Mack's still taking his call," Doc told Lightning, giving the kid a reassuring smile. "I'll wait for him to finish up, then we'll wait for you at the bar. Take your time."
A wave of relief shook the kid's shoulders. As if he actually thought I was going to leave him here… "Thanks, Doc."
"Shouldn't be more than fifteen minutes," Harv said, glancing again at his watch.
Fifteen minutes to go over a contract?
Doc narrowed his eyes at the man, though he kept his smile intact. "Take all the time you need."
"Right, come on, kid. Let's knock this thing out and call it a night."
Fifteen minutes turned into an hour, as Doc had a feeling it would.
"To be honest," Mack said, nursing the last of his drink, "I wasn't sure he'd actually show."
"Harv?"
The trucker nodded. "He's developed a bit of a habit of being a no-show. But he sure made the kid happy and that's all that really matters."
When Lightning joined them at the bar later that night, he didn't really look happy. He looked two steps away from passing out, but like the trouper Doc was quickly discovering him to be, he ordered a drink and flashed a grin.
"I know you've already been here forever," the kid rushed to explain, "but I'll drink it real quick and then we can leave."
Doc's smile didn't quite reach his eyes, but he had to try, for the kid's sake.
How did he go from wanting nothing more than to get the kid out of his town to feeling the burning need to protect Lightning with his life? And all in less than a month…
"Like I said before, rookie, take all the time you need."
He didn't mention anything about the contract and Doc didn't ask. If the kid wanted him to know, he'd say something.
And Doc had always been a patient man.
He figured the kid would have crashed in his room the second they got back to the motorhome, so it came as a bit of a surprise when Lightning pulled out some leftover pizza and made himself a plate.
Seeing no reason to break his evening reading tradition, Doc opened his book and settled in on the couch. Besides it felt a little off to ditch the kid just yet...
For a few precious moments, all was quiet, however, an inkling of tension hovered in the air, matching the kid's stiff, hunched shoulders.
Or, maybe, that was the cause.
"He fired the first one."
Doc glanced up at Lightning, watching as the kid folded his arms across his chest and silently waiting for him to continue.
"My crew chief," the kid clarified. "I liked him, Harv didn't, so he cut him out of the team. I liked him a lot, actually..." Shaking his head, he cleared his throat. Doc didn't miss the way his eyes blinked a tad too fast. "The second one quit. The last one was about to, I could tell, so I fired him before he could."
Doc kept his tone gentle. It was clearly taking a considerable amount of effort for the kid to open up to him about this.
"Why not just wait 'til he quit? Sometimes, it's less messy that way."
"I..." Lightning swallowed, sparing Doc a quick glance before letting his gaze settle back on his half-eaten pizza. "I didn't want to be the one left behind again. So I left him first. I just..." The smile he was trying to achieve was so obviously forced. "I just wanted you to know that... That I didn't actually fire them all like everyone says. And... Well, I'm kinda hoping my new crew chief will stick around for a while."
"I'll ask him about it," Doc replied, a touch of humor lacing his voice, "but I don't think he has much else to do right now. And I don't think there's anywhere he'd rather be than right here."
"Really?"
"Like I said, kid, I can't be sure until I ask him." He shot Lightning a wink. "But I don't think I'm wrong."
"Thanks, Doc." The relief on the young racer's face was almost heartbreaking. "I'm really glad you're here."
"It's been an adventure so far, that's for sure. Wouldn't have missed it for the world."
"Harv's glad you're here, too." And, here we go... In all honesty, Doc had almost forgotten about the man. "What with the new contract and everything. I think it'd be good for you to go over it. You know, just as an extra set of eyes sort of thing? And I think there's some stuff in there that pertains to you…"
Doc started at this. "New contract?"
"Oh yeah, well," the kid fumbled, shrugging, "my old one's almost up. It was only for the one season, and since it was my first in the Piston Cup series, Harv wanted to make sure I was… Well, like, it was a performance-based thing, you know?"
Even as Doc nodded, Lightning's aborted sentence ran endless loops in his head.
Wanted to make sure.
He just wanted to make sure...
The unspoken words would haunt him forever, he was sure of it.
Harv wanted to make sure I was worth it… You know?
No. I don't know.
Doc closed his book, giving the kid his full attention. "What happened at Talladega?"
"Oh, that?" Lightning's face scrunched. "It was nothing."
"Doesn't sound like nothing."
A shrug. "I… Well, I spun out into the wall; totaled the car. Harv thinks I threw the race."
Ah. I see. Why isn't that surprising? "And you're sure you want another contract with this guy?"
"Yeah… Why wouldn't I? Harv's the one who got me into the big leagues." With a shake of his head, Lightning's resolve visibly strengthened. "I wouldn't be where I am without him."
"He just…" He doesn't seem good for you, son.
But one look at the kid's face told him he couldn't say that. Not yet, anyway.
Even after everything, Lightning still possessed this odd sort of hero worship for his agent. And like it or not, Doc was the new one here. Harv and the kid had something going that maybe he couldn't understand.
Can't understand? What, you don't know manipulation when you see it?
Don't try to fool yourself, Hud. What makes things less painful now will come back to swallow you whole later. Both you and the kid.
Right.
"Uh, Doc?"
Blinking, he focused back on the kid.
"I know he mentioned something about the contract to me, so I'd be happy to give it a look-over. If you're sure you want to stick with Harv, that is."
And for a brief moment, Lightning's resolve seemed to quiver as that same hesitation attempted to shove its way back to the surface of his emotions.
"He was the first person to take a chance on me." The kid shook his head. "Who else is there?"
Doc reminded himself to tread carefully; this conversation was rapidly drifting into deeper waters. "There are plenty of good, solid agents out there, and now that you're a well-known driver, I'm sure you wouldn't have any issues hiring another one."
"But I've already got one." Carding a hand through his hair, the kid began to close himself off, just like he had that final night in Florida. "I don't want to talk about this right now. Maybe tomorrow when I'm not so exhausted."
"Did you ever stop to consider why you're so tired these days?"
While gently said and kindly meant, Doc's question pushed the limits, he could tell by the way the kid abruptly stood.
"Goodnight, Doc."
He shoved down a sigh. "'Night, kid. Sleep well."
As he watched Lightning disappear into the back room, Doc made himself a promise: he wouldn't tell the kid what to do, and he wouldn't poison him against his agent.
But damned if he wasn't going to keep his eyes and ears open tomorrow, looking out for the kid's best interest. After all, someone had to, since both Harv and Lightning didn't seem up to the task.
Maybe you're just jumping to conclusions. Maybe Harv's a good guy who just had an abrasive personality.
Maybe…
It would take a miracle to convince him of this, however, and Doc wasn't sure they had enough time for that.
They only had until it came time for the kid to sign that contract…
… And unless Harv turned out to be some sort of angel in disguise, Doc wasn't letting Lightning get within five feet of a pen.