#harv

“Hey, baby, you know where–? Hey, what’s going on?” Ramone rounds the side of Mina’s truck, concern burrowing into his dark eyes. 

“Nothing you gotta be ruining that pretty face with a frown over, hot stuff.” Flo releases Mina with one last squeeze, turning to greet her husband. It is almost magic, Mina thinks, the way the two of them love each other. Like it lights the world itself. Ramone cracks a smile as soon as Flo looks at him, presses a kiss to her temple and pulls her flush against him as she approaches. “What were you after, papi?” 

“Oh, yeah, the cowboy was looking for you, tiny.” The comment comes offhanded, as if he’d forgotten he’d ever come out here for a reason that wasn’t just finding Flo. “Apparently you’re staying with him tonight?” 

“Apparently, I am,” Mina agrees, dryly, and Flo laughs. “I’ll go find him, thanks Ramone.” She pauses, before she turns the corner, glances back. “And… thank you, Flo.” 

“Anytime, honeybee.” Flo offers her a gentle smile. “Good luck.” Mina leaves the couple behind her to head back into the Rust-eze tent in search of Tex. 

“There you are!” She doesn’t have to look far, because he glances up from his conversation with Doc and Sheriff as soon as the tent flap opens. “You wanna come by the hospital with me? Lyn says he doesn’t need surgery or anything, but they’re keeping him overnight for observation.” 

“No surgery? After that–?” 

“What do you mean you’re sticking with these two idiots?” The furious demand cuts off Mina’s question – and every other voice in the room – turning all eyes to the man in a gaudy blazer towering over Lightning. Lightning, who ducks like he thinks he has to dodge the raising hand. Mater, who hasn’t left his side since the end of the race, steps to the side, tucking the smaller boy behind one labour-heavy shoulder. 

“Y’know, rookie, I was wondering where you got the bad behaviour.” Tex doesn’t even try to stop Mina as she cuts into the crowd, slipping past him, past Rusty and Dusty, even past Doc, Sheriff, and Sarge, who have all snapped to alert. “You must be Harv.” Lightning winces when she says the name, recognises the dripping disdain for the insult it is. 

“And who are you?” The question comes as if he expects her to believe he hasn’t seen the race footage. As if he hadn’t watched with dollar-sign eyes as his rookie dragged two lost legends back into the spotlight. Mina folds her arms at the same time as he extends one to greet her. She wonders what the rest of the crowd sees. The residents of Radiator Springs, who know Mina – scarred and steel-spined and sarcastic, but kind. Rusty and Dusty, who knew Lumina Laurel – reckless and razor-sharp and ready to fight as soon as race. Tex, who has known both of those and more. Lightning and Harv and the rest of the racing world, who don’t know anything but what remains on decade-old race recaps. “Uh, hello?” 

“We can get you a better agent, kid.” She doesn’t shift her gaze from Harv, despite addressing Lightning. 

“Uh, no. We have a contract.” Not a very good one, if the way Harv’s hackles have raised is any indication. “Signed him on four years ago, still got another six to go.” 

“That’s interesting.” Mina tilts her head. “‘Cause Lightning here is 21, right, hotshot?” It’s fascinating, honestly, how quickly red rage pales at the words. Some absent part of her brain that sounds a lot like Doc suggests such a sudden change in blood flow is probably bad for him, somehow. 

“Right?” Lightning frowns up at her – up, the only one around besides Lizzie who’s still shorter than her, though Mina can already see that changing once Flo and Doc get their hands on his diet. 

“Which means… huh. Did you know contracts with minors ain’t legally binding, Harv?” Not without a parent or guardian, and if the cigarette scars and belt buckle brands Mina had spotted beneath his shirt mean anything, Lightning didn’t have one of those around. Not a good one, anyway. Harv splutters. “Makes me wonder, y’know, what you’ve been doing with all the money the kid was making. I ain’t no lawyer but sounds to me a lot like wrongful enrichment. What do you think, Sheriff?” 

“I think Miss Sally would be mighty interested.” Mike shifts so that the badge on his belt glints. Harv swallows.

“She is a lawyer, see,” Mina tells Harv, bright and smiling. “Never lost a case, that kid. She’s real thorough.” 

“Why you uppity little–” 

“I’d choose your next words pretty carefully if I were you, son,” Doc warns, stepping out of the crowd alongside his husband. 

“I don’t know who the hell you think–!” 

“Hey, Tex?” Mina doesn’t have to look back to know he’ll answer, so she gets to see the full effect of Harv’s quailing courage as one of the biggest names in racing steps out of the crowd, draping an arm around Mina’s shoulder. “You’ve been in this business a long time. You wanna tell our friend here what happens to agents who get caught trapping kids in shitty contracts?” 

“Mr Dinoco, I–” Harv straightens, tugs on the too-expensive blazer he’s wearing.

“Well, I reckon the whole world knows what happened to the last one you caught,” Tex offers, eyeing the agent with an unimpressed kind of interest, like he’s committing his face to a mental blacklist. 

“Mr Dinoco, she has no idea–“ 

“I know y’ain’t gonna look me in my face and tell me Lumina Laurel don’t know the kind of shit folks pull on kids in this industry,” Tex deadpans, slicing through Harv’s panicked protests. “She was the youngest ever to win the Piston Cup. Ain’t no one knows scumbags like you better than her.” 

“Sir, I–“ 

“Ain’t no “sir” gonna save you now,” Tex dismisses, “It’s her you gotta worry about.” 

“Here’s what’s gonna happen.” Mina waits for Harv to realise Tex isn’t going to save him, to look down at her like she might very well be his doom. “You’re gonna walk outta here and go back to whatever hell hole you crawled out of and wait. We’re gonna go back to enjoying our evening. And if I ever catch you so much as looking sideways at a rookie again, I’ll make sure you can’t look at nothing at all.”

“Is that a threat?” Somehow, he finds some kind of audacity within himself and puffs right back up to loom over her. 

“A threat?” Mina snorts, and the bravado crumbles under the weight of his confusion. “I only threaten people I like. No, what you heard just there was… well, it weren’t even a promise, really. More like a… let’s say a statement of fact.”

“Lightning– come on, kid, I made you!” Finding no quarter in the retired racer or the sponsor at her side, Harv turns back to the kid. Or as close as he can get to the kid, given the wall of desert-hardened muscle Sarge, Sheriff, and Mater have formed between them. “It’s you and me forever, right, superstar?” 

“Don’t touch him.” Doc shoulders into his path, scowling. 

“Oh, come on, old timer, I’m not gonna hurt him!” Harv dismisses, trying to brush past. Doc doesn’t even budge when the agent pushes him, just glances down at the hand on his shoulder like it’s some kind of inconvenient stain.

“I think you already have,” he rumbles out, unflinching. “I think you’ve been hurting him for your own gain for a long time.” 

“What, is that your medical opinion, Doc?” Harv spits back, drawing himself to his full height as if he can compete with everything Doc has seen. 

“Yes, it is.” Doc puts his weight into the shoulder he’d grabbed – not quite shoving, just pressure, enough to force the agent to take several stumbling steps back. “But I think you’ve got enough trouble coming your way without me bringing my medical opinion to the court.” They’ve all seen Lightning’s ribs, after all – protruding from skin drawn thin beneath that red fire suit. It’s nothing as damning as bruises or breaks, but Mina would put good money on performance clauses and diet controls written into the poor kid’s contract. Especially with the way Harv retreats, hands raised into the air. 

“Alright! Alright, have it your way!” He makes one last attempt to jab a finger at Lightning, but the entire town of Radiator Springs has closed in around the kid. “You’ll regret this! I made–“ 

“–a hell of a lot of money off exploiting a kid,” Mina interrupts, again, sharp-tongued and fiery-eyed. “I’m letting you walk outta here, you creep, but that ain’t gonna be an option forever. Go’on. Get!” Behind her, she hears Mater whisper – or, close as he gets to a whisper, which is just about normal talking volume – something about disobedient cattle dogs and it earns a wet little laugh from Lightning. The grin that cracks across her face is the last straw for Harv, who scrambles out of the tent with his stupid blazer flapping behind him. 

Silence returns. 

Then, Tex snorts. 

“One day back on the tracks and you’re already starting scenes.” She raises an eyebrow at him, but he just grins back, returning his arm to her shoulders and pulling her in. “Welcome back, spitfire.” Around them, the rest of the tent relaxes, quiet celebration resuming as Lightning is quickly distracted by the next of Mater’s shenanigans, under Doc’s watchful gaze. 

“Hospital?” Mina inquires, looking up at Tex.