"Flo's?" Doc calls behind him.

"that sounds pretty good." Lightning said. Doc watched him head back to his room, grab his boot and head for the living room. he sat on the couch and strapped it back on. "ready when you are." Lightning said, pulling his shoe on. Doc rolled his eyes, the kid only had one speed.

"let me get clothes. geez. I wanted a cup of coffee." Doc muttered, heading towards his room. he felt Lightnings eyes on his scar covered back, but that wasn't unusual. when anyone saw them they stared. Lightning had seen them dozens of times, but still his eyes were always drawn to them, with an almost sad look. it was fascinating how much the human body could handle and still function. he'd have to take the chance sometime in the future to see Lightnings scars. the younger had been doing his best since he started walking again to keep them hidden and had done a pretty good job at it. Doc didn't want to push him. he knew little scars here and there were no big deal, but when your whole body went from being a beautiful blank canvis to a mess of red and purple healing nasty scars, it was hard to adjust. the kid didn't want anyone to see them just like Doc hadn't wanted anyone to see his back in the day.

Doc shook his head and grumbled, pulling on a shirt. when he came back out of his room, Lightning was on the phone.

"yeah, Doc says it'll come off probably next week or so, but not sure about the boot." Lightning said. "don't worry I'll be ready." Lightning muttered, hanging up the phone. Doc gave him a questioning look. "Strip." Lightning said. Doc nodded.

"wanting to know when his agent can watch you do a test drive?" Doc ask.

"no actually, he was checking on me. said he was out of state with Lynda and wouldn't get a chance to stop in for a few days. he just wanted to see how I was doing." Lightning smiled. Doc nodded.

"come on, lets go to Flo's." Doc said, grabbing his keys and phone. "I need to check on Ramone's arm anyway.

"shouldn't he have gone to the hospital with a wound like that?" Lightning muttered, following him to the door.

"nah. I fixed it up. the hospital probably would have used something different, but it's whatever. he'll be sore as hell for a while." Doc shrugged. Lightning nodded shutting the door behind him.

"Lightning!" Mack shouted, running over. he scooped up Lightning and hugged him tightly as soon as the smaller stepped off the steps. Lightning sight a little, but let him.

"hey Mack." Lightning muttered. "buddy, it's way too early for this." Lightning chuckled, giving Mack a tired smile. "and my hair is still wet from my shower so now its all over you." Lightning added.

"do you think I care? I thought you killed yourself!" Mack shouted hugging him.

"I'm okay Mack. I made a stupid decision, but I'm okay I promise." Lightning assured, patting his arm. Mack carefully put him back down and Lightning dusted himself off. Doc stood there looking slightly amused. they continued on their way to Flo's until two arms wrapped around Lightning tightly from behind and squeezed. he squeaked and struggled. "h-hey! who is that? put me down! let me go!" Lightning shouted, struggling with the person holding him.

"Red." Doc chuckled. Lightning took a deep breath, reminding himself to be calm with Red. he stopped struggling and tried to turn his head to look at Red

"put me down Red." Lightning said firmly. Red sat him down, turned him around and glared into his face.

"are you stupid?" Red hissed, looking annoyed, in a voice just slightly louder than normal. Docs eyes widened and he stared at the man.

"Red." Doc warned softly.

"no Red I-" Lightning started.

"stupid." Red insisted. Lightning frowned at him.

"no Red, I was just-" Lightning tried.

"stupid." Red repeated.

"Red thats not-" Lightning tried a third time.

"stupid." Red said, more firm this time, jabbing Lightning in the chest. apparently harder than he meant to because Lightning stumbled back a little and his eyes widened, before gently steadying the younger. Lightning stepped back from Red and turned, heading for Flo's. he didn't need this. especially not from the usually sweet and calm Red. he knew he fucked up, he didn't need everyone telling him. Red stared after him, looking horrified at his own actions. he looked over at Doc, who was watching him looking concerned. Red stepped away and turned to go back to the fire station, looking guilty. Doc blinked and headed after Lightning. Mater was hugging Lightning when he finally got to Flo's, and Lightning was looking more than annoyed. did everyone have to hug him? he made a dumb decision, but that didn't mean everyone had to point it out to him.

"Mater let me go. I'm not in the mood today." Lightning snapped. Mater stepped back, looking shocked but not upset at the outburst. he let him go hesitantly.

"you okay buddy?" Mater ask confused. Lightning grumbled and walked past him. Doc followed after him.

"he just got his ass chewed out by Red. he's not having a good morning." Doc said walking past Mater. Mater nodded a little, watching the two go and sit down. Lightning dropped his head on the table.

"fuck!" he hissed, sitting up to hold his bruised nose. Doc gave him an amused look. Lightning shot him the dirtiest look he could manage, before carefully dropping his head back onto the table, making sure not to hit his nose. Doc reached across the table and ruffled his hair, before standing when Ramone came in.

"hey Ramone, hows it look?" Doc ask.

"ugly and red." Ramone glared. Doc nodded and reached out. Ramone held his arm out and let Doc look it over.

"the swelling will go down in a few days. you'll be fine." Doc assured, heading back towards the table.

"kid better feel lucky." Ramone grumbled. Doc looked over and silenced him with a dirty look. he'd told Lightning that Ramone had been working on his own personal car, when he'd really been working on Lightnings. he wasn't some high grade mechanic, but he was pretty sure he could put the car back together. Doc was not going to let Ramone just come flat out and say that it had been Lightnings fault.

"watch it kid, I'll pump you with so much pain med garbage, you won't be able to tell your pinks from your blues." Doc warned. he sat back down and looked across at Lightning. the younger still had his face buried in his arms on the table. "let me see your nose kid." Doc said. Lightning simply flipped him off. Doc frowned. "you better put that finger away before I break it." Doc warned. Lightning huffed and folded his arm back under his head. he lifted his head to give Doc a dirty look. "geez kid! you're nose is bleeding everywhere!" Doc snapped getting up. Lightning gave him a confused look.

"what no it's...." he trailed as he reached up and felt his nose, immediately he jumped up from the table. he headed quickly for the bathroom, left hand cupped under his nose to catch the blood. he hadn't felt that blood dripping down his face at all. he did his best not to leave a blood trail, but was more focused on getting to the bathroom. he leaned over the sink, letting his blood drip. he blinked dizzily and leaning against the sink harder. Lightning felt like he was about to start puking. he heard the bathroom door open.

"kid?" Doc ask. Lightning groaned slightly, wincing. Doc walked over to him quickly, wrapping a secure arm around him with a frown. "okay come on kid." Doc murmured, helping him back wards the table. the kid was trembling and stumbling, Doc was basically carrying him to the table.

"Doc? is he okay?" Flo ask.

"think his blood sugar is low." Doc said. he sat Lightning in their booth, leaning him against the window. Flo walked off quickly, coming back with an orange juice.

"here Doc. see if you can get this down him." Flo said. Doc nodded and took the cup.

"hey I know you can hear me. drink this." Doc said, holding the cup out to him. Lightning turned away from him.

"just let me go home." Lightning mumbled.

"drink this and I'll let you go home." Doc said. Lightning looked at him tiredly. there was dry blood smeared on his face. he looked ready to just pass out right there.

"if I drink that, I'm going to puke." Lightning murmured. Doc frowned. he pushed the cup closer to him.

"fine, but we're not going anywhere until you drink it." Doc said, sitting back on his side of the booth. Flo had set his plate down, after Doc had cleaned up the blood. Lightning let his head drop back against the window. he looked at the cup, before looking at Doc. Doc took a bite of his food, looking over at Lightning. he met the younger mans weaker gaze and watched him a moment. Doc frowned gently and nudged the cup over to him. "drink it kid." Doc said. Lightning mumbled and reached forward picking up the cup. Doc watched the smallers hand tremble as he lifted the glass to his lips. he sipped the drink before sitting it down on the table. Doc ate his breakfast, watching Lightning drain the glass silently. he looked over at Doc, looking exhausted. "just give yourself a few minutes kid." Doc assured. he caught a glance of something out the window and frowned.

"Doc?" Lightning mumbled.

"stay here." Doc grumbled getting up from the table. Lightning watched him go, confused. he slowly sat up and looked out the window. he froze, Chick was standing outside with his crew.

Doc walked over, arms crossed over his chest.

"why are you here?" Doc ask.

"just here to check on my dear old friend McQueen." Chick replied with a smile. Doc huffed at him, narrowing his eye's.

"Lightning isn't excepting any out of town visitors." Doc said. "and no one would ever believe that you're his friend." Doc added.

"oh well I just wanted to see how he was recovering. rumors are going around he's going to come back in next season." Chick said. Doc sneared at him, putting his hands on his hips.

"why don't you turn your car around and find out on the track like everyone else." Doc glared. Doc was an intimidating person for the most part, but Chick had never really been bothered by him. Mack walked over and glared at Chick. he wasn't intimidated by Mack either, but he didn't want to leave Doc alone.

"Doc." Flo said poking her head out of the diner. Doc looked over at her.

"I'm busy." Doc said. he paused realizing Lightning was walking over to them. "kid what are you doing?" Doc ask. Lightning winced a little, putting all his weight on his bad foot.

"listen here you fucked up scarp of garbage, get out of my town and away from my friends." Lightning hissed, glaring at him. Chick got in his face.

"just here to check up on you." he smirked. "better watch it McQueen, that was pretty nasty accident, be a shame if you didn't walk away from the next one." Chick grinned. surprise and fear flashed across his face.

"you slimy son of a bitch!" Lightning shouted. "you tried to kill me!" he hissed, punching Chick hard in the face. immediately he screamed and held his arm.

"you idiot! if you're going to punch someone don't do it with your broken arm!" Doc hissed, walking over quickly to check on his arm. Chick held his nose and growled lowly. immediately his pit crew stomped towards Lightning.

"thats a bad idea." Mack warned, getting between them with his arms over his chest.

"get out of the way!" one of them hissed.

"we're not scared of you." a second glared.

"oh no, you don't need to be scared of me, though I can be pretty scary. you only have to worry about Red. big guy is a softy, but if you put your hands on Lightning..." Mack warned, motioning to Red who was watching not far away. his water hose clenched in his hands, pinching off the water and staring at Chick.

"whats he gonna do?" Chick hissed. Red released the hose, pressing his thumb to the end in just a way to angle some high pressured water at Chicks face. "HEY!" Chick shouted.

"come on idiot." Doc said, leading Lightning back towards the clinic. the younger clutched his arm, leaning against Doc. "alright we're gonna take a look at that under the cast, hopefully you didn't do too much damage." Doc muttered. Lightning whined quietly and held his arm. Doc set him up at the x-ray machine he had. "what did he even say to you to piss you off like that?" Doc ask.

"he threatened to make me wreck again and kill me." Lightning said. "I knew it. I told you he was trying to kill me. I told you and you wouldn't believe me. Chick used illegal spikes to-" Lightning said. Doc easily silenced him by kissing him. he pulled back with a smirk.