"my arm is fine. I'm okay." Doc assures, kneeling in front of him. "what happened kid?" Doc ask softly.

"I... um... just freaked out I guess." he says, forcing a laugh.

"okay, I get it, you don't want to talk to me about it. I just want to know you're okay." Doc murmurs.

"remember when... when I told you I ran from my hometown?" Lightning ask.

"of course. your town forced you out because you're sexuality." Doc murmurs.

"I ran from more than that... " he mumbles.

"your dad right?" Doc ask softly.

"yeah... uh more like the abuse... so... you just... scared me a little... I, uh... only get like that when I get drunk..." Lightning mumbles.

"shhh. shhh. you don't have to discuss this with me. it's not your fault. come on." Doc murmurs, getting up on the bed and reaching for the younger gently. Lightning cuddles to him and lets Doc lay them down.

"I'm sorry I made you bleed." Lightning mumbles, curling up.

"kid you've hurt me worse before. remember that time you stabbed me with your pocket knife on accident? my wrist is fine kid promise. I got worse when I was a doctor. I had this one patient, she was like 8, got bit by a rabid dog. she took a chunk out of my leg when she bit me. I'm fine." Doc assures. Lightning curls up, smiling a little.

"big tough old man like you got taken down by an 8 year old?" Lightning ask.

"a rabid 8 year old and a slew of rabis shots." Doc huffed. Lightning laughed a little and cuddled him.

"sorry I bit you." he mumbles after a moment.

"not worried about it kid. just get some rest, okay?" Doc ask. Lightning nods and cuddles up to him. Doc shut the lights off and held him tightly.

he shifted waking up the next morning. he reached over for the younger, but found the bed cold.

"kid?" Doc mumbles, sitting up. the room is empty and the door is open. Doc grumbles getting out of bed and grabbing a pair of pants. after pulling them on, he headed out of the room. he looks down at his wrist, the bandage on it is red, soaked in dry blood. he sighs slightly, but heads for the kitchen. he pauses in the living room noticing Red and Lightning sleeping on the couch. Red is on his back snoring and sprawled on the couch with Lightning curled up against him clinging to his chest. Doc sighs and grabs the blanket off the floor from in front of the couch and lays it over them gently.

"you okay?" Smokey ask, leaning against the kitchen doorway.

"yeah." he mutters.

"what happened to your arm?" Smokey ask, an eye brow raised. Doc huffed and pulled the banaged off his arm. he tossed them in the trash and held his arm up to Smokey.

"kid lost his mind last night when I grabbed him to make him lay down so we could sleep. sank his teeth into my arm." Doc said. Smokey winced, it was a perfect bite mark. you could see each individual tooth nearly.

"damn he bit you hard." Smokey said.

"I scared him." Doc says, shaking his head slightly. "scared the hell out of him when I grabbed him." Doc added.

"what the hell happened Hud?" Smokey ask. Doc frowned slightly. he could technically pull doctor/patient privilege, but then again, this was Smokey and they'd be staying there a while. it might be important, considering Lightning didn't know him well enough to be comfortable.

"from what I gather, his dad used to beat the hell out of him, pretty bad. hospitalized him a few times. I'm gonna see if I can hunt his home town down and get access to his medical records. see if I can find out exactly what happened to him, keep this from happening again." Doc says, walking past him to grab a cup of coffee.

"wouldn't child services have records?" Smokey ask.

"no. got out to his town he was gay and beat the hell out of him. whole town turned against him. CPS wouldn't have done anything to help." Doc explains.

"he's an abused kid. dad didn't show him any love, town didn't show him any love... his mom?" Smokey asks curiously.

"divorced and dead from what I assume. he lost custody of the kid when he was like 3. kids mom died when he was five and his dad got full custody." Doc frowns.

"certainly explains why he clings to you like that." Smokey said. Doc shot him a nasty look. "don't look at me like that. he's seeking approval from an older man that he never got at home." Smokey said. Doc scoffed.

"yeah, and he gets that from every man in Radiator Springs. everyone knows he craves approval and attention, s'not hard to figure that out. he's been starved for it, generally goes to Red for it because Red's like a brother to him." Doc says firmly.

"so you're not worried the kid doesn't just want you because you're famous or give him approval?" Smokey asks. Doc turned and glared at his old crew chief.

"whats that supposed to mean? you don't think the kid actually loves me?" Doc ask.

"nothing like that." Smokey assures. "just want to make sure you know what you're getting into Hud." Smokey frowns slightly.

"I'm done with this conversation." Doc says firmly.

"kids making you soft Hud." Smokey teases.

"I'm old, I'm already soft. it happens when you get old. you should know that." Doc said, raising an eye brow. Smokey huffed.

"I'm not old. I am in my prime." Smokey huffs.

"more like your golden years." a voice mumbles behind them. the both turned to look in the direction the voice came from. Lightning was getting up off the couch, rubbing his eye. Reds still snoring away on the couch as Lightning walks over to Doc.

"hey, I'm in my golden years. Smokey over there is pushing 100." Doc said. Lightning snorts and snatches the coffee cup Docs hands, drinking it.

"thats a dangerous game kid." Smokey says.

"what?" Lightning asks, looking at him.

"stealing Huds coffee. good way to lose a hand." Smokey snickers.

"speaking from experience?" Lightning asks. Smokey snorts.

"if you want to call it that yeah." Smokey chuckles. Doc huffs and turns to grab himself a new cup.

"explain." Lightning says.

"we were out early one morning for training. kid rolled up with a cup of coffee. I joked I was going to take it from him and just about lost my life for it." Smokey snickers. Lightning smiles over at Docs back while he's pouring himself a new cup.

"bet you have all kinds of fun stories about him." Lightning says. Doc turned around quickly.

"don't even." Doc warns, glaring at Smokey. the older man laughs.

"maybe some other time kid." Smokey assures winking at Lightning. Doc huffed and looked over at Lightning, the younger was staring at the swollen bite mark on his wrist.

"its fine kid. I already told you not to worry about it." Doc assures.

"I'm sorry." he mumbles quietly.

"I'm not worried about it Monty. it'll heal." he assures.

"but I-" Lightning tries.

"I'm going to bite you back if you don't drop it." Doc warns.

"hey, bedroom stuff stays in the bedroom." Smokey says. Lightning clutches the cup in his hands tighter.

"he's picking on you kid. when did you get up last night?" Doc ask. Lightning shrugged a little.

"I dunno what time it was, but I got up and went to watch tv and Red was there. he couldn't sleep either I guess." he shrugs a little. Doc nods slightly.

"you could've woken me up." Doc says.

"I intended to, if I couldn't get back to sleep, but Red was out there. I figured why wake you up when Red was already awake." Lightning mumbled. Doc nods at him.

"makes sense." Doc says.

"whats the plan for today?" Smokey asks.

"there isn't one really. gonna call up Sally and Sarge to see whats going on there. then just stay around here all day." Doc shrugs.

"no plans?" Smokey asks.

"the plan is to lay low and keep him out of sight." Doc replies. Lightning looks away before shaking his head with a smile.

"no. you should go hang out with Smokey and your friends. Mack, Red, and I can just hang around down here. like Smokey said, can't really find this place on accident, 'sides you haven't been home in like 50 years old man." Lightning shrugs, smiling slightly.

"no way kid. I can't leave you here alone." Doc frowns.

"I won't be alone. Mack and Red will have my back. besides you probably need a break from me anyway. I'll go tell Mack he's spending the day with me, I'm gonna let Red sleep a little bit longer." Lightning says walking away quickly before Doc can stop him. Doc sighs after him.

"I guess I'm doing whatever you're doing." Doc says looking at Smokey.

"good." Smokey grins. Lightning rubs his face and stretches, knocking on Macks door.

"hmm?" Mack asks.

"can I enter?" Lightning ask.

"thats an odd way to ask. yeah, come on in boss." Mack says. Lightning opens the door. Mack is sitting on his bed in a pair of boxers with his hair standing up everywhere. "you okay? look tired." Mack mumbles.

"yeah, spent the night on the couch with Red... couldn't sleep. uh, Smokey's taking Doc out, mind if I just hang with you?" Lightning asks.

"sure. Red and I were gonna hang out on the couch and watch a movie anyway." Mack smiles.

"speaking of Red... you and he aren't actually like... a thing right?" Lightning ask.