Somewhere I Belong

[ebonyviper]

SOMEWHERE I BELONG

DISCLAIMER: Cars and everything, such as the characters, setting, plot, and story belongs to Disney Pixar. Ebony and Tony Blitz belong to me. Nowhere in this fanfiction am I making money out of this, nor is there any copyright infringement. This is just for fun.

SUMMARY: Ebony is on the run from the car who had hurt her and comes upon a small town in the Arizona desert along an old, forgotten stretch of Route 66. She manages to get herself into more trouble than she had expected and doesn't expect it to end well for her. Little does she know that her trouble is just beginning.

Chapter 1

The small desert town below seemed tiny from her vantage point up on the ledge. So insignificant and so abandoned like she had been... and also how she felt right now.

She was alone with nobody around whom she could seek comfort from. All of the emotional turmoil that plagued her life, she kept inside herself, never wanting to let it out again for fear of experiencing the pain again.

The young, black Dodge Viper female had left the city that she had grown up in behind due to the unforeseen, unpleasant circumstances that had changed her life forever. She could never go back to that old way of life that she had known since childhood as it was ruined and no longer reachable.

It had already been a few weeks since her encounter with that Toyota Supra who called himself Tony Blitz and she was still feeling the repurcussions of those awful events. She felt guilty for letting herself be manipulated like that and for letting it reach more intimate levels. She ended up being raped by Blitz and now she was paying for it.

Ebony gave a sigh and looked down at the town again, wondering she'll be safe there. She would be a stranger and surely nobody would treat her with disrespect as some other towns had done to her in the past.

All I want is for a place where I can be loved and where I can belong, she thought sadly as a stray tear rolled down her side, And where hate and discrimination is only a dream...

The beauty of the desertscape, which was a gorgeous, panoramic view, was lost to her for the moment. She was too focused on her own problems. Nothing could ever make her happy again. Not even the view.

Right now, the big question for Ebony was how she was going to take care of herself now that she was on her own? All she had been doing since she left Nitropolis was constant driving with barely a chance to stop and rest for a bit.

She couldn't do that, however, because she never felt safe anywhere. Ebony was always afraid that Blitz would catch up to her in an unguarded moment and finish what he had started with her. Perhaps he might even end up killing her. Death was beginning to sound more appealing to her. What good would it do to still live and be in constant pain for the rest of her life?

Maybe that wouldn't be a bad thing, she thought, Maybe I do deserve to die. That might be better than living with the nightmares.

She glanced up as the morning sun began to rise up from the eastern horizon and the pre-dawn fog began to fade away. It was about time for the inhabitants of that little town below to wake up and go about their daily routines.

But the morning meant to Ebony that she had to stay hidden durning the daytime, as she usually traveled by night, so that she wouldn't have to run the rist of exposing herself for fear that he might find and harm her. No, her safety was her main priority and she neeed to find shelter quickly from the hot sun and before anybody could catch sight of her.

Looking around cautiously, Ebony shifted into gear and slowly backed away from the ledge. She returned to the road and followed it slowly, hoping that it'll lead her to safe shelter.

*****

Twilight.

Ebony woke up with a gasp, afraid and, at first, unsure of where she was at the moment. She blinked blurry, emerald green eyes for a few minutes before her vision came back into focus and took a look at her surroundings, which turned out to be solid rock walls that were cool, yet rough, to the touch.

A cave...? she thought wearily, When did I get here...? How did I get here...?

She stopped for a moment as she remembered something, Ah, now I remember.

A memory flashed into her mind...

Earlier that morning on that same day, the Viper hadn't been driving long when, on a whim, she turned onto an old, abandoned access road that looked like it had not been used in years. As she drove on it, overgrown grass that had taken root between the cracks tickled her undercarriage. The feeling made her shudder involuntarily. She kept going, though, intending to ignore the tickling.

After a few minutes of driving, Ebony soon came upon a sign that warned her that the road that she was on was a dead end. She couldn't go any further.

Ebony looked around at the few trees that lined the side of the road for any type of shelter that she could use for the day. She could find none. But then, her attention was drawn to the rock face of the mountain that was beside the blocked-off road. An opening presented itself and, with nothing to lose but a little sleep, Ebony made ehr way in, trailing her antenna along the rocky walls.

When she had gone as far back as possible into the cave, she figured that she was safe enought during the daytme and went about putting together a makeshift bed out of an old blanket she carried with her and lay down on it. It wasn't long until she had fallen asleep.

Now, it was early evening and it was safe for Ebony to come out of her hiding place. The night air was cooler and her health didn't suffer as much as it did durning the day, thank Chrysler.

The Viper, shivering a bit and feeling the hunger pangs in her empty tank, crept slowly to the entrance and peered out at the stars. She stood there for awhile, hesitant and reluctant to go any further, swiveling her mirrors in every direction to see if she could pick up on sounds that didn't fit in with the usual sounds of the night.

Like a car's engine. Though she could differentiate between different makes and models just by scent and sound, the whine of one particular engine of one particular make and model would fill her with fear if she heard it. She was very afraid of him and she knew that if he found her, he would hurt her even more. She didn't want that to happen to her.

More cautiously than before, Ebony emerged from the entrance and made her way to the nearby road that led to that desert town that she had seen earlier that morning. With her tank being empty, however, she could not make her engine turn over, no matter how much and how hard she tried, but she was so hungry, that, despite the internal rumblings, the Viper came up with an ingenious plan of movement.

*****

It took about an hour for her to tirewalk slowly down to the foot of the hill and right outside the small town. She paused as if she were debating whether or not she should just go into town. What if the inhabitants see her? She was afraid of getting caught and punished because of her tunerish appearance. What if they don't like tuners?

Those were questions that whirled around inside her mind, but she then decided to circle outside of the town. The Viper girl was still hungry and her nervous mind was already forming a solution to her problem as she approached from behind a place called the Cozy Cone Hotel and hiding behind one of the strange cone-shaped hotel rooms to observe the diner, called Flo's V-8 Cafe. She could see that the town's entire population, all eleven of them, gathered there.

Great, she thought, I guess I either have to wait until their attention is all turned elsewhere or when they finally leave and head to their homes to sleep.

She sighs and settles in to wait, ignoring, for the time being, the hunger pangs in her tank.

*****

After two hours, Ebony was roused from a short catnap when she heard the distinctive sounds of engines leaving a designated area. She got up and watched the townspeople leave the diner, including the old Mercury cruiser, and head toward their homes. The Viper crouched down as a blue Porsche and a red mixed-breed Racecar passed close to her hiding place, say goodnight to each other, and go into their cones.

She waited a while longer, but heard no other sounds. Ebony crept out of her hiding place and skirted around the hotel, crossing the street toward the darkened diner, her mind a veritable dizzy fog from hunger.

Ebony went to the back and found a stack of cans sitting right there untouched and offered her a chance to take one of them and run. She reached for it, her tank rumbling with hunger. Just one... I'm so hungry...

"Hey!" a gruff voice made her jump, "What do you think yer doing?!"

Startled, Ebony yelped and pulled her antenna away, then turned around to see the police cruiser, the same one that she saw from the diner earlier, glaring sternly at her and by the markings on his side, he was the local Sheriff. Ebony shrank back.

"I-I wasn't gonna steal anything!" she promised, "Honest! I was just looking." Have no money and starving too, she thought to herself.

"A likely story," grumbled the Sheriff, who then proceeded to boot her and call a tow truck to take her to the local impound lot to spend the night until her trial in traffic court tomorrow morning.

What am I do now? I'm trapped and stuck in here until my trial, the Viper thought sadly, I'm scared. I hope the judge is easy and sympathetic with me.

Ebony sighed sadly and settled back with a whimper. She was still hungry, but there was nothing that she could do about it now. She figured that she should get what little sleep she could for that dreadful morning and cried herself to sleep.

To Be Continued...

[Evangeline]

Awww, poor Ebs...

[ebonyviper]

I know, it's gonna get much worse for her...

Chapter 2

DISCLAIMER: Cars and everything in it belongs to Disney Pixar. Ebony, Tony Blitz, Samantha Etheridge, and Mariatti Giavonni belong to me.

A peaceful, full-night's rest was something that Ebony could not have. She lay on the hard, cold, uncomfortable ground of the inpound lot trembling and whimpering in her sleep.

It was the same nightmare, the one which would often snap her out of a restless sleep. She was always terrified and wouldn't be able to go to sleep again. This had negative affects on her health, causing the illnesses that she now frequently suffered from.

"No..." she moaned plaintitively, "Don't... Please..."

She struggled, even with the boot on, to get away from an imaginary enemy that apparently only she could see in her nightmare. But only she was suffering from the horror that had happened to her. She believed that she was the only one to experience the pain she was feeling. Anyone watching her could only feel pity.

One such vehicle that was watching her was a rusty, old tow truck, the same one that had brought her in earlier, felt more than pity. He felt sympathy for the young Viper.

Gosh, she musta done been all alone fer a long time, he thought, She prolly dun have a friend in the world ta talk ta.

It was then that he had an idea. Mater's face lit up and he gave a buck-toothed grin, I know! I'll be her friend. I'll be the one she kin confide in when she's feeling lonely.

Yes, it was the best, smartest idea that the rusty, old tow truck had ever come up with yet. Mater felt really proud of himself.

* * * * *

It was early the next morning that Ebony had to go to her trial. She had been up since before dawn, unable to go back to sleep because of the nightmare that she had last night.

Mater had kindly given her his can of fuel for breakfast, seeing as how starved she was. He had watched that once the can was pushed in front of her fender, she had fallen upon it eagerly as if it were the last can on Earth. The Viper girl growled at him, not wanting the can to be taken away from her. So Mater politely stood off until she was finished and he could take her to the courthouse.

A little later, Ebony wasn't all that surprised that her trial didn't last very long. Sure, it was misdemeanor charge of attempted shoplifting and a $1000 fine, but the judge, a dark blue Hudson Hornet, mustlve seen something in her that made him decided that she shouldn't spend 6 months in jail as a crime like hers would have usually called for in Arizona, but instead he sentenced her to six months of community service.

I guess survey work is okay... Ebony thought resignedly, It'll give me a chance to explore the rest of the town, though I don't know why the judge wants to know if those condemned businesses are salvagable... I don't see any point to it... They're just empty, old buildings that need to be torn down anyway...

Ebony let herself be led away by the tow truck, whose name she learned was Tow Mater. He was very friendly, but a bit too friendly for her tastes, so she was a bit wary of him. But Mater kept talking to her and she couldn't help but listen to what he was talking about.

"Ya know, yer not so bad fer a tuner," said Mater, "I could tell that you were tellin' the truth ta Doc."

"How can you know that I'm telling the truth?" Ebony asked, who was curious about just why this tow truck felt the need to be friendly with her.

"Oh, well, because you looked all lonely there in that there impound lot," Mater replied, "I jes' thought ya'll needed someone ta talk to."

Ebony snorted, "Lonely? That's the story of my life, but I don't want to talk to anybody about anything. Nobody'll listen to me or understand anyway."

Oh, I dun know about that," said Mater, "How kin ya know that fer sure? We're purdy friendly in this town. There's sure ta be somebody here that'll listen ta ya. That is, iffen ya'll let them understand where ya'll are comin' from."

"I doubt it," Ebony rolled her eyes and gave a sigh, "Now I don't wanna waste any more time. I wanna get started on my community service. Tell me what I supposed to do, alright?"

Mater paused for only a few seconds, looking upon the Viper's determined face, then he nodded, "Sure, no problem. Follow me."

* * * * *

Ah, my little black Viper, a dark car thought, So, you've come all this way only to end up in trouble. How unfortunate for you to be stuck here now.

His name was Tony Blitz , a black tuned Toyota Supra with a sadistic personality and an apparently unstable mind. With his abusive behavior and knack for terrorizing unsuspecting innocents, he had managed to acquire the nickname, 'The Highway Menace' because of his reputation for being a road bully.

Tony also had a peculiar, unsavory taste for females, especially the young ones. He believed that these were the easiest to control and that he coul do whatever he wanted with them, even if that meanting giving them beatings severe enough to lead to their deaths. None ever got away from him alive.

Except for one. The Viper had been one of those fiercely independent, no respect for authority, distrustful of strangers kind of car. She was also a tuner. Tony had to work a bit to earn her trust and get her usd to having him hanging around her. As an added bonus of letting her know that she can trust him, he had told her some of his life story.

Tony Blitz was born Anthony Etheridge in a small apartment in Brooklyn, New York and had a twin sister named Samantha. Both grew up on the meager lifestyle and almost non-existent salaries of their parents, who had a difficult time trying to make ends meet.

At about the age of 13, both Tony and Samantha lost their parents to a road accident, which left them with nobody to take care of them. Fearing separation if they were taken to an ophanage and then to different foster homes where they would never be able to see each other again, Tony took his sister and himself to the streets to live instead. They lived like that for a few year until one day Tony met a car by the name of Mariatti Giavonni.

Giavonni, a slate gray Chevrolet Corvette with a few faded scars on his fender, offered Tony a job which would give him and his sister a better way of life. Tony eagerly took the job, but Samantha refused as she didn't like it and left to try to pursue a more rewarding career.

This had hurt Tony. It was the fear of separation all over again and he couldn't take it this time. He threw himself into working for Giavonni as much as possible to forget the pain. But then he began to drift away and found himself becoming interested in females that had the same eye color as his sister. Emerald green. He thought that Samantha had died somehow and was haunting him now.

And that was when he ran into the Viper...

That was the story he had told to Ebony to earn her sympathy, but he had left out a few things. In truth, he had wanted her complete compliance and obedience to him.

When he got her where he had wanted her, cornered and nowhere to run, he had not realized that she had spikes. She had fear in her eyes as she flicked out these unique weapons and thrust them into Tony's fender. They went in deep and he was in great pain, but she escaped, despite being badly beaten herself.

Eventually, Tony recovered from his injuries, but he immediately followed the Viper's trail once he was back on his tires. What was now frequently on his mind that the Viper was going to pay for injuring him. And he had given her something else as well. Something that she was going to have to deal with soon physically.

You won't get away this time, Darling, the Supra thought as he drove along toward Radiator Springs.

[Evangeline]

Ooh, nasty, nasty Tony! Hope Ebony can get herself straightened out before she has to face him again.

[ebonyviper]

Chapter 3

DISCLAIMER: Cars and everything in it belongs to Disney Pixar. Ebony belongs to me.

The next several dys had become routine for Ebony. Early in the morning, she would wake up and get her daily fuel ration then recieve her work instructions for the day.

Ebony proved to be a very hard and dedicated worker and very detail-oriented. She was able to mark down which of the buildings could be saved as well as what needed to be changed or replaced indefinitely.

But then, she began to grow ill, feeling hot under the hood and very dizzy. Of course, the Viper didn't tell anybody. Why would they care? It just wouldn't be worth it.

She continued to work as if nothing was wrong, trying to get through her daily chores and trying to hide how ill she was felt and looked. But she couldn't hide all of her symptoms.

As she was working, she began to feel weird in her tank, like her daily fuel ration wasn't agreeing with her. She stopped suddenly and made a sickening sound in her throat. Up came the contents of her tank, an oily, greasy mess mixed with anti-freeze.

"Erg..." the Viper groaned, staring at the mess for a moment before shaking her front slowly, "Must be comin' down with something..."

"Hey, Miss Eb'ny," Mater startled her out of her thoughts, pulling up next to her and seeing the mess, "Are ya feelin' okay?"

"M'fine..." Ebony mumbled, "Just queasy, that's all... It'll pass soon..."

"Ya sure?" asked the tow truck, showing concern on his front, "Why not go see Doc or somethin'? He might have somethin' fer ta help wit' the queasiness."

Ebony blinked for a moment, considering Mater's suggestion, but she shook her front, "No, thanks. Besides, what good would it do? I'll be fine on my own, okay?"

Mater paused, then nodded, "Okay, your choice." He had learned that it wasn't his place to persuade Ebony to do anything that she didn't want to. It was her decision.

The tow truck backed off to let Ebony continue her work, but after an hour, the Viper halted again. She was beginning to feel that queasy feeling in her tank again, only this time it was stronger.

Ebony threw up again, feeling twice as worse as before. She realized that something indeed wasn't quite right with her. Something was terribly wrong as the queasy feeling was not normal as she thought it was.

"Maybe I do need to go see Doc..." she groaned, "Mate, where's the clinic...?"

It's down that way," Mater said, pointing an antenna down Main Street, "It ain't that far. Jes' go past Flo's and turn left. Ya can't miss it."

"Thanks..." Ebony nodded slowly and shifted into gear to head toward the clinic.

* * * * *

"So, you say that you've been having this queasy feeling for how long?" Doc asked, glancing at the downtrodden Viper who sat on a lift.

"Uh, six weeks, I think..." Ebony said, giving a slow nod, "Usually, when I got sick like this, it never lasted this long..."

"I see," the Hornet said, taking out a stethoscope and pressing one end gently against the Viper's side, "Cough for me, would you, please?"

Ebony did so as Doc listened to the sounds inside. The Hornet hmm'd for a moment, trying to pinpoint the cause of the Viper's mysterious illness.

"I need the check your underside if that's alright with you, young lady," Doc said as he pressed down on the pneumatic floor lever to raise the lift up.

"It's alright with me..." Ebony nodded slowly as she didn't want to get even more dizzy, "I just wanna know what's wrong with me..."

The lift rose up and Doc pulled in underneath, tapping lightly in various places on the Viper's underside. Ebony gasped sharply as the Hornet poked and prodded her.

"How does that feel?" Doc asked her.

"Sore..." replied Ebony, shuddering again.

"Where at?" asked Doc.

Ebony hesitated for a moment, unsure how she was going to say this. She spoke slowly, "It's it's near my back tires... Mostly..."

It is, eh? I think I might know what your problem is," Doc said after a moment of thought and turned toward a nearby cabinet to take out something that looked like a testing kit.

Doc then proceeded to take oil samples from the Viper and put them through the required tests. After a few minutes of waiting, the color line change from dark green to light violet, a definite indicator of what the Hornet had been suspecting from the moment he learned of Ebony's symptoms.

He turned back to Ebony, "The test show positive, Ebony."

"What is it..." the Viper asked, glancing up.

"You're in term," said Doc.

"W-what...?" Ebony stammered, confused and afraid, "B-but that's not possible. How could I be in term...?"

"You don't remember how it happened?" asked Doc.

"No..." Ebony shook her front, saddened, "I-I've never been with any guy for as long as I can remember..."

"I see," Doc nodded sympathetically, though he tried not to let his emotions get the better of him.

Ebony gave a sad sigh, then spoke again, "Doc...?"

"Hm?" Doc glanced up at the Viper, "Yes?"

"Can you tell how far along I am...?" asked Ebony.

"Well, from the signs, you're about a month and three weeks already," Doc replied, "Are you sure you don't remember what you were doing at that time?"

Ebony shook her front, "No... If I knew, I'd tell you... Is this gonna affect my community service...? Am I gonna have to make up days I lost...?"

"No you're not," Doc shook his front, "Those days that you can't move because of the term will be counted as part of your service. You don't have to make those days up."

"Oh, thanks, Doc..." Ebony sighed with relief, "But what can I do now...?"

"You'll be given a place better than the impound to stay in," said Doc, "But, right now, you're still ill, so you need to get some rest for now. That'll help you get better along with these antibiotics I'm giving you."

Ebony whimpered and shrank back, "I hate needles..."

"It's alright," Doc said soothingly as possible to calm the nervous Viper, "You'll only feel a pinch, then it'll be over and you can sleep."

Doc slowly lowered the lift, took a fresh, sterilized needle with Ebony's medication in it, tapped the Viper's side to desensitize the nerves there and injected the needle in. Ebony squeaked but the pain didn't last very long because at that moment, the Viper grew sleepy and drifted off.

The Hornet quietly left the sleeping Viper's room and went to fill out patient reports in his office.

Ebony lay asleep on the lift, dreaming.

[Evangeline]

Awww... being in term and in trouble is no place to be.

[ebonyviper]

Chapter 4

Ebony never had peaceful dreams. Hers were always filled with fear and pain and these have been going on for more than a month now. As she was sleeping, she was having a terrible nightmare and she just couldn't seem to wake up from it at the moment.

It always started the same way. She would be asleep on a blanket and then out of the darkness came a bright, blinding light. Looking up, she would see a silhoulette of a car, but her vision would be so blurry that she could not make out any features.

The car would come forward and gently caress her sides, making her involuntarily flinch in response. She was terrified of this car, but she wasn't able to move due to being tied down with chains.

She struggled, but it was just in vain as the car's ethanol-laced breath hit her face. She wrinkled her nose in disgust, but could not do a thing about it. She could only wonder what she had done wrong to deserve such an awful fate.

Ebony could hear the car chuckling evilly and saying her name as if she were a pet. His pet. She shuddered and whimpered as his tongue slid down her side seductively down to her back bumper, encouraging her to raise it up and stimulating her into a passion that she didn't want.

Then he mounted her and she lost consciousness.

She came out of the dream with a scream, struggling to get off her lift, upon which she was tied down so she wouldn't hurt herself, trying to get away from the imaginary monster car. The Viper snapped awake, her eyes full of terror, looking around frantically and breathlessly.

G-gotta get outta here... the Viper thought as she started to look for a way off the lift, I-I can't stay here... He'll find me...

She glanced down to see where the lever was that controlled the height of the lift, but then her mind began to swim like crazy and her vision blurred. She felt a bitter taste in the back of her throat coming up. Ebony threw up an oily mess on the floor. The Viper moaned weakly and fell back on her lift, shaking uncontrollably. She had never felt this sick before. When was she going to get better?

Then she grew so dizzy that she slumped down and fell into a restless sleep. She didn't even notice anyone coming into her hospital room and cleaning up her mess as she was so out of it.

But the nightmare seemed so real to her...

* * * * *

It had taken Ebony the better part of the three weeks that she had been in the clinic to recover from her fever, since it was so bad. But now she had been released, though she was now two months into her term and feeling awkward and slow. Sally Carerra, the light blue Posche 911 who owned the Cozy Cone motel, gave her a room free of change. At least that would be much better shelter than the impound was.

She had been persuaded to visit the diner to get something to eat since she was now fueling up for not only herself, but for her baby as well. She was, however, a little uneasy about her current condition, but was reluctant to talk about it.

She took a stall that didn't put her particularly close to the other townspeople as she was still a bit anti-social. They respected her need for privacy, fortunately, so Ebony was glad for that.

"What would ya'll like, Hun?" Flo asked, coming up to the young Viper.

Ebony looked up with tired eyes at the seafoam green Motorama showcar, but she didn't smile. "Just the usual..." she said quietly, "Nothin' special..."

Flo gave Ebony a sympathetic smile, knowing of the girl's current condition and knowing that being in term for the first time was very scary for someone as young as Ebony. The showcar had gone through this herself 20 years ago, but now her children, twins, were now full-grown and on their own, running a body shop in Las Angeles. She knew what Ebony must be suffering through.

It seemed to the showcar-turned-diner proprietor that Ebony needed guidance and help building her confidence and self-esteem. Girl has some emotional baggage to deal with right now on top of being in term. She needs someone whom she can lean on.

"Okay, Hun, if that's what you want, then I'll get it for you," Flo said gently, "Just sit tight. I'll be right back."

Ebony watched Flo leave then turned her attention back to the pebble she was absently pushing around with her foretire. Boredom wasn't so great to deal with in her condition. But she also didn't see any point in expressing how she felt about it to anybody.

It doesn't matter... she thought to herself, Nobody really cares about me... They're just being nice to me because they feel sorry for me...

When Flo came back with Ebony's order, she noticed the Viper's withdrawn attitude. Ever the den mother, Flo set down the can in front of the Viper and settled down next to her for a moment.

"Hey, what's wrong, Hun?" Flo asked, "You look like you're carrying the whole world on you hood and not looking very good either."

"Huh...?" Ebony blinked and looked up at the showcar for a moment before looking away, "It's-It's nothing..."

"Now, c'mon," Flo said, being persistent, "It's alright. You can talk to me. I won't judge you."

Ebony was quiet for a few long minutes, looking away so that she could make sure that nobody was nearby and listening in to this conversation. Then, after she was sure that it was safe to talk, she gave a sigh.

"Nobody's ever said that to me before..." Ebony said quietly and hesitantly, "I've always been judged all my life... It's hard to believe that I'm not gonna be judged here because of what I am... a knocked up tramp..."

"You're not and you ain't gonna get none of that here, Honey," Flo told her, "We won't do that to you, so you can relax. Ya'll been so tense lately for all the weeks that ya'll been here and it's not good for your little one."

Ebony sniffed and took a long drawn-out breath. "I-I dunno if I can get used to all the... kindness... of if I ever will... It's hard..."

Flo gave the girl a gentle nudge, "Of course you can, Honey. Just give yourself time."

"Alright..." Ebony said with a slow nod, figuring she didn't have that much to lose anyway, "Thanks, Flo..."

"Anytime, Hun," Flo replied with a smile, "I'm here if you wanna talk if you want."

Ebony nodded and went back to her fuel while Flo returned to serving other customers that were coming in that morning. In the distance, a car was approaching the town at a moderate rate of speed. Who that car was only Ebony knew...

[Evangeline]

Aww, she's finally getting some love...