Work Text:
Sometimes on the track, racers liked to ram each other. But after three years, Jackson had never actually tried it. The issue wasn’t the fact that he didn’t do it, it was the fact that he didn’t know the unspoken rules about it when it came to particular track’s. .
He didn’t realise that when you wanted to bump another racer; you should never do it against the viewers gate, the reason for this was that sometimes the track curved upways and it was a flipping hazard; not always, but usually on banked curves.
That is exactly what happened to Montgomery- Or better known as lightning McQueen. When Jackson tried to ram him, Monty had lost control of the wheel, having not expected it or been paying attention. He tried to break himself so he wouldn’t flip, but inevitably turned the wrong way, causing him to get hit by another racer behind. The car had flipped so high, it ended up landing on the grass patch in the centre. The sound of him hitting the ground was so loud that it almost sounded like an explosion. The car quickly lit up in flames, laying upside down and wheel’s still spinning- Monty hadn’t tested the brakes before the race. Quickly, everyone rushed out of the stadium; except for jackson.
Jackson pulled up nearby, not caring about the fact that Monty's car was now an impending explosive. He undid all of his buckles and threw off his helmet, running over and tearing open the door; ignoring the fact that between barely being able to see from the smoke and his inability to move fast enough because of his whole body heating up, and hands burning, he was struggling to get to monty.
It had been a heart pounding struggle. He barely prevented monty from landing on his neck as he finally got the buckles undone, he was already unconscious as it was- he didn’t need a broken neck too…although that was a severe possibility already. Jackson picked him up, holding him over his shoulder. He panted a bit from the heat, trying to run but doing more of a jog. He wasn’t going fast enough, and he could feel blood coming out of Monty's helmet. Jackson barely got away before the car actually exploded, the gravitational waves sending him and Monty forward. There was a crack as monty hit the ground, thankfully it had just been the helmet itself. Jackson however groaned, vision blurred from hitting his head on the ground, but he knew he had no time to lose! The waves were probably going to keep coming, and he’d dropped monty when being thrown forward.
Jackson dragged himself forward at first before finally being able to half run, half limp his way upto Monty. His ankle aching as he picked Monty up for the second time. Jackson had tears in his eyes. He wasn’t heavy, Jackson was just running out of adrenaline quickly, he was so tired from…well, all factors. He felt like he was going to throw up too!
The second wave sent him back once again, but he ran back to monty anyway, seeing the stadium itself catching fire. At that point Jackson could have just as easily left, it wouldn’t have been hard, after all this was his life we are talking about; there was no rule saying he had to save Monty, especially since they were keeping up this act of hating each other….and the two men had actually fallen for one another- they wouldn’t dare say that to each other's face though.
But he didn’t leave Monty- he could never do it. He cared too much about him. Not only that- he would rather die than live knowing there was the chance he could have escaped. So he put in what little energy he had left, screaming as he dragged monty; the explosion as well as fire was only growing. At this point they were circled. He didn’t know why he screamed, but somehow it helped him pull Monty. . . But he was also scared. He himself had tears in his eyes, he was ready to collapse. But he was so close! They were so close.
The door’s were still open, but it looked like the entrance sign was about to fall.
Jackson only just got inside before it did fall, now all he had to do was get out before something else fell and they both died.
Thankfully, Jackson got out, barely escaping with both of their lives as thanks to his intuition, everything started falling in that short hallway just as they got out; an ambulance and a few firetrucks waiting outside. Everyone surrounded Jackson, asking a bomb of questions on it’s own. They’d cut him off from the ambulance as they took Monty.
It took a lot for Jackson not to scream at them. He just left, trembling and barely able to stand as he went to his car, he had driven himself that day. Quickly he drove off before people could circle the car. Part of him wanted to follow the ambulance to the hospital- but in all honesty he didn’t feel the most welcome; which was a thought of his own and without any cause. On top of that, there would be reporters and journalists everywhere.
So he drove outside of the city, just to the beach; the same one where Cruz and Monty were training, the same time when Jackson first arrived to the prix.
But when Jackson pulled up, he just kind of stared off. His head and hands both hurt, they were filled with pins and needles. He swallowed thickly, tears stinging at his eyes as he began sobbing. He tried to make it stop, trying to wipe them away from his eyes, but he just couldn't! It only came on harder. He quickly put his head against the steering wheel, crying harder than ever before.
Jackson had never been so scared in his life either, and if not for Monty’s helmet, Monty would have died that day too.
Hell, if not for Jackson's love for him, he might have died that day as well….but Monty didn’t know that.
The accident had temporarily paralyzed Monty, and for about six month’s he was forcing himself to work towards normality so that he could get back on the track. But with how hard he was pushing himself forward, he was actually hurting himself more. Monty felt like his career- no his entire life was over. He’d spent thirteen year’s working on this only for it to all be thrown away; he was so scared that even after all of this work he wouldn’t be able to get back on the track.
He was at a point where he was alone all the time now, he didn’t have any family around, he’d cut them off almost a decade ago for their abuse, and his friends? well…that was something he had given to himself as he had quite literally told everyone to fuck off…it was a mistake, one which he regretted; but he was too proud to try and fix it. Basides, he didn’t need anyone to boss him around right now…
Monty looked in the mirror, he did have a burn scar, it was on his shoulder.It was a triggering reminder. Every single time he saw it his head became clouded. That was really all though in terms of wounds, the shoulder scar wasn’t extreme either. A lot of people were labelling him as a survivor but he really just wished he was dead. He sighed quietly, leaning on a crutch as he took his antidepressants. He had music playing in the background, but he was so out of his head that it sounded muffled, like it was buried under a mountain of blankets; or rather like he was in a club bathroom.
Monty sighed, taking two from the bottle, sitting them in his mouth and running the tap, cupping some water in his hand before shoving it in too just to swallow the purple pills. He sighed quietly, but then his eyes were drawn to a blue razor sitting on the sink. It was the one he used to shave his face just the day before… and it gave him a dark idea. He picked it up slowly.
He took it to the living room, opening his laptop, then opening his twitter.
‘I just want everyone to know that I am so grateful for all of the support I have received over the years. And i would also like to thank @Jackson Storm.twitter for saving my life 6 months ago…but i really fucking wish you had left me to die. Unfourtunatly i don’t get the luxury of time travel and stopping you, so this is my suicide note. I just know twitter is going to eat this up just like everything else,
To my friends i am sorry for abandoning you,
And to my dad? I hope you burn in hell you sick bastard.’
Monty didn’t spend long on the note, and it seemed angry, but in real life he had tears running down his cheeks. He’d spent so much time in his life wanting to say those things and now they were about to be his famous last words.
He sighed, pressing post and shutting his laptop, before going back to the bathroom. If he was going to kill himself he could at least make it an easy clean up, he already caused enough burden in people's lives.
Jackson had been in the middle of practice when he got the post notification. He hadn’t heard from Monty since the crash! It felt like actual hell not knowing how he was. In fact he was really hoping that it was something about returning to the track!
A man could only dream though.
His heart sank as soon as he read it. Monty’s comment section was blowing up, fast.
“No- no fuck!” he went through them all, before finding mater’s twitter. He hadn’t commented, but he had liked it by accident. He wasn’t Monty’s biggest fan at that point in time so when he saw the post he didn’t read it, he just liked and scrolled past. Jackson followed Mater’s account and quickly found his website details where he found his number, then calling him.
“Yellow! This is maters tow service. How can I help you on this fine day?” He said in an upbeat tone, his accent thick as usual.
“H-Hey! This is jackson. Jackson storm! uh- j-just wondering, you don’t happen to know where Lightning lives, do you?” He asked desperately.
The conversation was short, and Jackson did have to fight him for it, but he eventually got the address. Despite road laws, Jackson got in his car, calling an ambulance and giving them Monty's address. He got to monty’s house with a cop car on his trail due to speeding but he didn’t care. At least he was quick. He ended up breaking into Monty's house by barging open the door. He ran upstairs, shouting his name as he looked in every room.
In the end, he found Monty laying on the upstairs bathroom floor, wrists open and bleeding everywhere. He froze, ringing filled his ears. The cop followed Jackson ready to arrest him, but screamed in horror seeing the sight that he did. For that, they saw Jackson's reasoning behind speeding.
Jackson eventually stumbled over, he was crying as he scooped Monty up in his arms.
“N-no, no no no no please-” He sobbed. “God please Monty, please wake up! Please” He choked out. “Please don’t die on me! I never even got to tell you i loved you!” He was shaking him, but with no response Jackson only broke down even harder, embracing Monty’s body. He buried his face into Monty's hair, letting out heartbroken wailes.
“Fuck you, fuck you for doing this to me, fuck you for leavng me, h-how could you- god” He was shaking, cradling his body in the most protective way possible. Some fans had followed inside too, having spotted everything going down from the street, But Jackson didn’t even care that he was being recorded.
When the ambulance arrived, they had to peel him off monty, Jackson screamed and protested the entire time, but monty needed urgent help.
So what happened in the end you ask?
…well…. Do you see more lines?