Chapter Text
Doc hates this kid thats rolled into his town and destroyed it. he's been in the town angrily working on the road for an entire day, after scraping everything off it, by hand. Bessie had been modified long ago to be pulled by hand, which Lightning had to do since his car was locked away in impound. he watched the man from his clinic. he's angry and spouting curses, still wearing his bright red and yellow Rust-eze bomber jacket, religiously. it's nearing 110 outside and he's definitely sweating, but he refuses to take it off. he refuses when Flo offers him a cup of water or some sun block, despite the fact any exposed skin is burnt and redder than his fucking jacket. he's got boiling asphalt on his ankles, which would even bother Doc, but he doesn't even seem to notice it. he doesn't even seem to feel the small piece of cactus on his back. Doc snorts in amusement, when Sally gets Red to spay the man down with his water hose. Red looks smug, since the man killed his flowers, and Sally is giggling, but the younger man just looks, defeated. he looks like he knows he deserves this and Doc finds some amusement in that and is mildly impressed the younger seems to understand he's brought this on himself. a blank expression appears on the youngers face and he keeps working, purposefully ignoring Sally when she tries to talk to him. he ignores the snack she tries to offer him and eventually Sally walks away, looking upset.
"idiot kid." Doc mutters walking out of the clinic. he walks over to Lightning. "hey, you're going to get up in a hospital from dehydration and that fucking sunburn." Doc says. Lightning shoots him a silent and dirty look. he turns back to working on the road. "isn't it about time for you to stop so you can eat?" Doc ask. Lightning stares at him quietly, wincing a little when his stomach growls. Docs sure he'd been blushing darkly, if his face wasn't already so red and sunburnt. he ignore Doc and keeps working. "whatever." Doc mutters walking off, but he has a feeling something isn't right with the younger man.
"stupid fucking old man." Lightning mutters, but his voice sounds defeated and dry. he doesn't seem to care he's so dehydrated or sunburnt, like he deserves the pain. Doc hates to admit being worried, but the doctor side of him simply can't ignore something is wrong with the man. he heads over to Sheriff to get some information.
"hey Sheriff." Doc says walking over.
"oh hey Doc, whats up?" Sheriff smiles, glancing over at Lightning to make sure he's not causing trouble.
"you noticed anything odd about that kid?" Doc frowns a little. Sheriff hums in thought.
"a little bit yeah, but I think he's just afraid here or something. he doesn't sleep on his bed in there in the cell, he curls up under it." Sheriff mutters.
"has he been eating?" Doc ask.
"he's poked at the food I give him, but he doesn't eat much." Sheriff says. Doc nods a little. "he's not very good at staying hydrated either. most folks would be out there drinking gallons of water, I think he's drank maybe a bottle and a half of water." Sheriff frowns.
"hmm. so he's starving himself and not drinking anything." Doc says.
"he's probably trying to make himself sick so he can get out of here." Sheriff shrugs.
"maybe." Doc says, walking out. he and Sheriff both keep an eye on the man, though Doc watches from the clinic. he works from 5AM until about 3PM, when he flat out collapses on the road. Docs immediately alarmed and heads outside to check on him. "kid? hey!" Doc calls, kneeling beside the younger man. he's not conscious and a lot of the town comes over to see whats going on. "idiots gonna kill himself." Doc snaps. "Red pick him up. I better get him into the clinic and get him on an IV." Doc mutters. Red scoops him up carefully and follows after Doc, leaving Sally looking utterly guilty.
Doc gets Lightning set up quickly, double checking he's still breathing. Sheriffs watching him from across the clinic. he watches Doc walk over and pull the jacket off the unconscious man. he stalls a moment, frowning and rolling the man a little further onto his side to take a look at his back.
"something wrong Doc?" Sheriff ask.
"kids got some scaring on his back." Doc frowns a little.
"kid probably pissed off one too many of the wrong people." Sheriff shrugs. Doc nods a little and they decide to let Lightning sleep in the clinic, though neither of them go home, both stick around and watch him carefully.
Lightning shifts the next morning, looking pale despite his awful sun burn. he sits up and pulls the wires off him silently.
"you're an idiot." Doc mutters. Lightning blinks a little and looks over at him silently. he immediately gets up and, stumbling a little.
"sit back down city boy. no way in hell you're in the condition to work on the road." Sheriff frowns. Lightning blinks at him and mutters to him.
"I'm finishing that road." Lightning mutters. he snatches his jacket, pulls it on, and heads outside muttering to himself. he's angry and tired and kicks a can on the road hard. immediately there's a resounding crashing sound and his eyes widened, looking up to see it had flown into Docs garage. he swallowed hard and hesitantly enters the garage. he better clean it up before Doc finds out. he pauses a moment, eyes coming upon a trophy in the corner. "a Piston Cup?" Lightning ask quietly. he walks over shakily and moves the box, three Piston Cups?" Lightning mumbles.
"sign says stay out." Doc snaps. immediately Lightning swings around, stumbling backwards and bumping into the wall. immediately the shelf above him gives way and paint can thumps onto the younger mans head, leaving Doc shocked and Lightning dazed. he lays on the ground whimpering quietly for a moment, before slowly sitting up. he's trembling as he shakes his head a little, before looking up at Doc terrified. his head is gushing blood and Docs actually worried about him. "jesus kid are you alright?" Doc ask, walking towards him. Lightning immediately scrambles away, fearfully and Doc freezes. he's seen that look in a few of his patients from back when he worked in the hospital. its not just a fearful look, its a specific fearful look. like kid in front of him had been caught doing something wrong and was about to get a punishment far worse then what was deserved. things slowly click into place in Docs head. the dehydration, the starving, his refusal to take the jacket off, the sunburn, the ignoring of the town folk trying to be nice to him, the looks of knowing he deserves the humiliation and punishment of rebuilding the road, the self depreciating looks, the scars Doc had seen the night before on his back. this boy either was being abused or had been abused. "hey Lightning, are you okay?" Doc ask, carefully watching the man. Lightning winces and reaches up feeling his head. he pulls back his bloody hand. it hurts, Doc knows it hurts. the look on Lightnings face changes from fear to looking like he deserves this. like he's been expecting someone to physically hurt him, even if it had been an accident. he doesn't stay anything, he's silent. he looks so tired, exhausted, and older than he is. he looks up at Doc. there's a fear in his eyes, but also acceptance, he's waiting for Doc to hit him. he's waiting for his physical punishment form the older man. he's not crying, he's not upset and, despite the fear in his eyes, he's accepting. he's submissive and he's waiting for the older man to beat the hell out of him and send him back out to work on the road. "hey talk to me here kid, are you okay?" Doc ask. he's careful not to get any closer and, in fact, moves further from the man, giving him a perfect escape if he wants it. its quiet a moment more before Lightning drops his head.
"what are you waiting for? just get it over with already so I can get back to your stupid road." Lightning mutters quietly, tensing and turning away. those words have Docs throat tight and thick, like he can't swallow, and his heart throbs a little in pity.
"kid, I'm not gonna hit you." Doc assures gently. "I didn't mean to scare you like that. I just want to take a look at your head." Doc murmurs, hesitantly stepping closer. the younger tenses up more, is heaving and Doc can tell he's trying to decide his best plan of action. the kid decides to make a break for it and Doc suddenly understands why he goes by Lightning. the younger bolts full speed from his garage and into the town and Doc sits silently, trying to decide what to do.
Lightning dashes straight to the Sheriffs station and back to the cell he's been spending his nights in, slamming the door shut behind him and curling up under the little bed, hyperventilating. he pulls his knees to his chest and covers his head with his arms, burying his face in them with a silent sob. Sheriff, of course, comes following after him, looking at the blood trail all over the floor.
"hey are you alright?" Sheriff asks. he moves to unlock the door and he can almost physically hear the younger stop breathing. he curls up more, like the beds actually hiding him and he can't be seen. like Sheriffs actually out there hunting him down. "hey boy, you okay?" Sheriff ask. Lightnings silent, though he does shift his head a little, staring fearfully at Sheriff over his knees, trembling. Sheriffs personally never seen a fear like that and decides its best to leave the younger man alone. the road will still be there for him to fix tomorrow, so Sheriff heads back out to find Doc. he almost slams right into him. "hey Doc-" Sheriff starts.
"have you seen the kid?" Doc ask.
"yeah he's curled up in his cell under that bed bleeding everywhere. what the hell happened?" Sheriff ask.
"I scared the hell out of him. he was in my garage and I told him sign says stay out. he tripped backwards and a can of paint fell on his head. he freaked the hell out, thought I was going hit him, took off the moment he could get his feet under him." Doc mutters, following Sheriff into the station. there's a blood trail from the door to his cell, where his bloods pooling under the bed under his head. "I have to get him to the clinic." Doc says.
"he's not going to let you in there." Sheriff says. "he nearly lost his mind when I went to open the door." Sheriff says.
"I don't care, go get Red, he's gonna have to carry the kid." Doc says, snatching the keys from Sheriff and flinging the door open. Sheriff runs out and Doc heads into the cell quickly. Lightnings unconscious, so Doc reaches under and pulls him out from under the bed quickly. Red and Sheriff come back quickly. "you're gonna get a little bloody Red, but I need you to get him to the clinic." Doc says. Red doesn't even hesitate, scooping the younger man up and running off to the clinic with Doc chasing after him.
it takes Doc a few hours, but after fixing the younger up, he gets to work on putting a file together on him. marking down every old injury or new injury he could find. he removes the youngers bloody jacket and shirts setting them aside to wash them. his back and upper arms are covered in scars, awful scars. Docs got a file on him 10 miles long when he finally gets done writing things down and he's feeling more and more guilty about the accident the more he writes. the boy, even though Doc knows he's a racer he's bragged about it since he got there, is scrawny. his ribs are poking out in an unhealthy way, which is usually hidden by the jacket he wears, and Docs positive the boy skips more than a meal here or there. he's definitely malnourished and looks absolutely nothing like he usually does on TV, Doc looked him up to check him out. Doc sets about getting an IV and a feeding tube set up, before he works on covering the man in some aloe to help with his awful sunburn.
Doc finally decides the younger will be okay, for the night at least, and sits back to watch over him the rest of the day and all night as well.
the next morning Doc removes the feeding tube and heads to his office to wait, with a motion sensor in the mans room. the younger man doesn't even wake until about noon the next day. he slowly lifts his head, looking tired and confused. he tries to get up, but finds his wrists are cuffed to the bed. he groans lowly and drops his head back into the pillow. he mumbles to himself and stares at the ceiling. he looks over when Doc walks into the room.
"glad to see your finally awake." Doc says, frowning. Lightning looks at him silently and sighs. he can't even get up the energy to prepare himself for a hit or a beating. he just drops his head into the pillow and looks up at the ceiling. he can't tense up, he doesn't have the strength to prepare his body for the pain and its not like he could go anywhere, he's cuffed down and completely at Docs mercy. "I didn't actually think you were going to wake up for a while there." Doc says, watching him. Lightning flinches weakly when he walks closer, trying to pull his arm free, but its no use, he's stuck. he's not going anywhere. "you're not going anywhere." Doc says, as if reading the youngers mind. "not today at least. that road can wait another day." Doc says. "you however need to eat." Doc says, producing a small container of food from Flos, Lightnings to tired to know if he'd been holding it the whole time or if it had just appeared. he doesn't know. he winces a little, shifting. "wanna tell me who beat you like that?" Doc ask. its quiet again and Docs beginning to wonder if the boy was hurt worse than he thought, but Lightning finally speaks.
"everyone." Lightning manages quietly. his voice is hoarse and Doc frowns. he sits the bed up a little and holds out a drink to him. Lightning turns his head away silently. he pulls a little at the cuffs on his wrist. "s'better ways t' tie a person down y'know… m'dad used to use these on me. I know how t' get free." Lightning mutters. he knows how to get free, but knows he won't the fear of a beating stops him every time.
"I didn't want to tie you down kid, I just didn't want you going anywhere." Doc frowns a little.
"neither did he." Lightning mutters. Doc sighs and unhooks one of his hands, placing the box on his lap.
"you need to eat something." Doc says.
"m'not hungry." Lightning mutters.
"I can hear your stomach trying to eat itself." Doc says. Lightning turns his head away.
"m'not eating whatever you've put in that." Lightning mutters. he thinks Doc is trying to drug him.
"I'm not trying to hurt you here kid." Doc assures gently. the man is rocking silently, making him look like he's jerking but Doc figures is some sort of cooping mechanism. his lips have been chewed to the point of bleeding, alone with his nails, and the skin around his nails. Doc wonders if that has all happened since he's been in town or was already like that before he got there. Lightning doesn't eat. he does, however, lift his free hand to his lips to chew on his finger. "stop that." Doc says firmly. Lightning flinches and drops his hand immediately back to where it had been cuffed and doesn't move his hand away again. he keeps it there like its still cuffed the same why his other is. "kid you're gonna get yourself killed out there." Doc frowns.
"what do I care? better yet, what do you care?" Lightning huffs. "m'better off dead anyway." Lightning mutters.
"kid come on now, I'm sure thats not true." Doc frowns a little.
"you don't know anything about me." Lightning snaps. "no one cares. no one gives a fuck about me. Lightning McQueen maybe, he's got fans, but no one cares about Monty McQueen. no one's ever cared. don't pretend like you understand me or that you fucking care old man. let me up so I can finish that road and get the hell out of here." Lightning glares, pulling at his cuffed arm weakly. "I'll get the hell out of your town and you'll never have to see me again." Lightning snaps. he's back to rocking his upper body back and forth. he's looking nervous again and he's chewing his bottom lip hard. Doc frowns and gets up, immediately the younger man freezes, flinching slightly. his free arm instinctively moves half an inch, like he wants to cover his face, but Doc told him not to, so his arm stays put. he's staring straight ahead of himself and chewing his lip harder, its bleeding again. he doesn't move he stays still and Doc sighs walking out of the room. Lightning waits for the door to shut and immediately works at getting his hand free, which isn't hard because his wrists are so small the cuffs don't actually fit, and one of his hands is already free. he manages to get himself free and escapes out of the clinic room window. he needs to get the road finished and get out of here now. he doesn't even bother to grab his shirt or jacket. they don't matter anymore.
Doc heads back into the room with Sheriff and pauses.
"shit." Doc snaps. "he climbed out the fucking window." Doc grumbles. he and Sheriff head back outside as quick as they can and are met by Sally at the doors. "where's kid?" Doc ask.
"he's hooked himself up to Bessie and is working on the road, but he doesn't look too good. he looks kind of, I dunno, scared." Sally says. "plus, did you see his back?" Sally asks.
"god damn it that kids going to get himself killed." Doc mutters, heading for the unfinished part of the road. when Doc finds him, he's already working on the road and his back is already getting red from the boiling sun. he knows what sunburn on scars that bad feels like. "what the hell are you doing?" Doc ask.
"what you guys wanted. I'm fixing the road so I can get the hell out of here. I'm either gonna finish it or die trying and you aren't going to stop me." Lightning mutters. the machine strains his back and leaves marks on him. his ankles are already burnt again with fresh asphalt. he's determined now more than ever to get out of here, now that Doc knows everything, he wants the hell out of here. he does flinch a little when Doc gets too close, tensing up.
"you stop right now and get your ass back to the clinic." Doc warns. he sounds threatening, like he'll actually do something if the younger argues, but he won't. he wouldn't dare. he wouldn't hurt any patient, let alone one who'd been previously abused as severally as Lightning had. the younger man of course freezes in his tracks and looks at Doc. "don't move." Doc says firmly, before shutting the machine down. "if you're that determined to get out of here, first of all, you're going to eat something and second of all you're going to work at night. you're already so fucking sunburnt you have blisters, now get your ass back to the clinic now." Doc glares pointing towards the clinic. Lightning flinches back silently and heads silently towards the clinic, he misses the relieved look on Docs face, Doc had been afraid the younger would call his bluff, but thankfully he hadn't. Doc follows him to the clinic, watching him carefully turn his back from view if anyone happened to see or notice him. he retreats to the clinic like he was told to do and immediately heads for the room Doc had put him in, he's stopped by Sheriff thought.
"I don't think so boy. you're in that room now." Sheriff frowns, pointing. Lightning doesn't even look at him and heads into the new room, he immediately notices, with a slight panic, that there's not a window in the room.
"don't put him in there, you're just going to make him panic more." Doc snaps at Sheriff. he puts Lightning back in his previous room and the mans silent. he sits automatically on the bed and doesn't say a word as his wrists are cuffed to the bed again, tighter than before this time. Doc shakes his head and sets to work patching up the mans ankles. Lightning sighs and leans back, so much for that plan.
"why'd you take that cuff off him in the first place?" Sheriff ask.
"I thought I could get him to eat." Doc mutters. he grabs the bowl of food and holds a forkful of food out to him. "eat." Doc says. Lightning turns his head. despite Docs forceful tone, it appears this is one command Lightning won't follow so easily. "eat the damn food." Doc snaps. Lightning turns and stares at him, blank look on his face with his mouth held shut firmly. he's had worse drilling from his father, Doc won't make him eat until he some how magically guess the word his father would use to release him to eat. he was trained with a release word, like an animal, like a dog, and there was no way Doc would guess the word. Doc frowns a little and shakes his head. "kid come on. you have to eat or I'm putting that tube back in." Doc says. Lightning stares blankly at him.
"maybe if you guys didn't treat him like a prisoner and treated him like a person." Sally says, walking over. both Sheriff and Doc look over as Sally walks over. Sally has no issues getting the cuffs off him, Sheriffs not sure where she got the key, and Lightning rubs his wrists. Sally hands him his shirt and jacket.
"Sally." Sheriff frowns.
"come on, we're going to Flos." Sally says. Lightning pulls his shirt and jacket on immediately, looking slightly more relaxed. he doesn't trust her, but is slightly more compliant with her. he lets her lead him outside and glance quickly over at Bessie, like he's about to run over and get back to work, to get out of here as fast as possible, then glances at his car in the impound, he has a spare tire, he could easily get it free. Sheriff tenses, ready to grab the boy. "hey, come on." Sally says catching Lightnings attention. he glances over again, before following her quietly. he rubs his wrist, wincing a little, Sheriff had put those cuffs on too tight and now his sun burn hurts. he's silent and tense, sitting in a booth with Sally. she's talking on and on about something, but he's silent.
"hey, what can I get you guys?" Flo smiles at them. Sally gives off her food and drink order while Lightning stares at her silently.
"hey Stickers, come on, you need to order something, or Docs gonna shove that tube down your throat this time." Sally says. Lightning shrugs and mutters something, refusing to look up.
"I can't." Lightning mutters.
"whats stopping you?" Sally ask. Lightning heaves a sigh out his nose a little, like he doesn't want to tell her, but points to the allergins list on the menu he's been given.
"m'allergic t' nuts." Lightning mutters.
"oh honey I can work around that." Flo assures. "I know just what you need, do you have any other allergies?" Flo ask.
"not unless you have gingerbread back there." Lightning mutters.
"I've got you handled hon." Flo smiles at him. Lightning lays his head on the table, the cool feeling is nice on his face.
"you're pretty sun burnt there." Sally says softly. Lightning stays quiet. "why aren't you taking care of yourself?" Sally ask.
"I'm trying to get the hell out of here as fast as possible. that asshole won't let me out there to fix the fuckign road." Lightning snaps. he closes his eyes, for a moment but jumps up and jerks away when something touches the other side of his face. Reds standing there looking shocked. he's got a bottle of aloe in one hand and the other is coated in the aloe. Lightning reaches up to touch his face, looking confused. "what are you doing?" Lightning ask.
"he's treating your sunburn just let him help." Sally says. Lightning looks uncomfortable, but let Red rub the aloe onto his face, neck, and wrists. he doesn't cover Lightnings hands because he's obviously going to eat. Lightning looks up at him confused and uneasy, an odd look on his face. Red smiles at him and then uses his clean had to tuck a flower into the younger mans hair, before walking off.
"what the hell is wrong with you people, first you all hate me and now you're all being stupid." Lightning snaps. he's being defensive again, protecting himself.
"you're literally hurting yourself to fix our road." Sally says. Lightning snaps his gaze up at her.
"yeah, because you convinced Doc that I'd done everything on purpose." Lightning snaps. "I didn't for your information. it was an accident." Lightning adds, getting up. he's immediately shoved back down into the seat and pushed over by Doc, who plops down beside him. "what the hell do you want?" Lightning mutters.
"so you're talking to me again then hmm?" Doc ask. Lightning pulls away from him with a dirty look, tensing up again.
"what happened to your head?" Sally asks.
"one of the shelves in my garage collapsed and a paint can landed on him." Doc mutters, turning to look at the bandages on his head. "you getting him to eat something?" Doc ask, looking at Sally.
"Flo's gonna see what she can find." Sally says.
"what do you mean?" Doc asks.
"I have a peanut allergy and I'm right fucking here!" Lightning growls. there's an odd tone to his voice and Doc frowns. ignoring the younger man seems to make him immediately anxious and he immediately demands the attention to be back on him. Docs not surprised. he's been negleted and abused, he doesn't care what kind of attention he gets, good or bad, he craves it.
"relax there Stickers." Sally snorts. Lightning glares silently at the table.
"why are you shiney?" Doc frowns looking at Lightnings neck.
"Red covered him in aloe." Sally says.
"alright I got you covered kid." Flo smiles, putting plates on the table. Lightning stares at the sugar loaded plate a moment before looking away. Doc can immediately understand why the waffles could be unappealing, but he frowns.
"you need to eat." Doc says.
"it's all sugar. I'm not eating it." Lightning mutters looking out the window. Flo looks absolutely guilty.
"you're seriously not going to eat it? just because its sugar?" Sally asks. Lightnings head snaps over to look at her. he doesn't feel like explaining his eating habits, or disorder to her, so he glares.
"wanna see me puke on the table?" Lightning ask.
"not really." Sally frowns.
"then I'm not eating it." Lightning mutters. Doc sighs a little and shakes his head. he's got a pretty good feeling the kid just isn't going to eat in front of them at all. he figures its an eating disorder, he couldn't control his life, so he controled his eating habits. Doc shakes his head and walks over to the counter. he talks to Flo, who brings him a to go container of food, before leaving. Flo walks back over to them.
"you're not going to eat it then?" Flo ask.
"no." Lightning mutters getting up. he heads outside and looks over to where he'd left Bessie. the machine is gone and he scolds, before stomping towards the sheriffs department. screw it. if he wasn't allowed to fix the road, he'd lock himself up. Sheriff stops him at the door.
"Doc wants you to stay in the clinic, he wants to keep an eye on your concussion." Sheriff says. Lightning scoffs and turns, heading for the clinic. he flips Sheriff off before storming into the clinic. he heads back to the room and is shocked to find a small container of food on the counter, along with a fork. he bites his lip, it looks like someone has already eating a little of it. probably Doc. its probably the older mans lunch and Lightning knows he shouldn't but the food has obviously been eaten a little, so its clearly safe to eat and its in an area no one can see him. he walks over and grabs the fork, taking a bite, its some kind of omelette or something. Lightning doesn't care, and he certainly doesn't see Doc watching him from the door way carefully. Doc would get this boy into shape and get his road fixed and he doesn't care how much work it takes.