Protecting the Racers

by Dawn

Part Six

Trixie eyed the door to the hospital room the brothers shared with mixed feelings as the minutes rolled past. On the one hand, it seemed awfully mean to interrupt such a long-delayed reunion. On the other hand...

Well, the family was coming.

A while ago, the Inspector had called Elena to inform her that he'd gone himself to pick up the rest of the Racer family and deliver them to the hospital. Trixie thought this was terribly brave of him, considering the kind of mood Pops was likely to be in.

The hallway wasn't exactly an appropriate place to discuss secret identities, so she and Elena had mostly just been exchanging delighted grins and watching the clock. Trixie had always wanted a sister, and Elena was the very best kind: someone who shared many of her interests but wasn't rude or condescending about anything. And a secret agent on top of it!

Plus Trixie kind of thought Elena had maybe always wanted a sister, too. And that made them fit together nicely. A good thing, since Trixie couldn't imagine not marrying Speed.

Since Elena was the secret agent with all the experience handling Alex/Rex/Racer X or the identity of the day, Trixie left it to her to decide when to go in. The timing was just about what she would have done, anyway.

Trixie couldn't help smiling at the sight of the brothers, now laughing together in honest joy. It was quite a change from the stoic agent Alex had tried so hard to be all week.

"The other members of the Racer family will arrive at the hospital any minute," Elena announced briskly, closing the door behind her. "Alex, giving your parents heart attacks would be a poor greeting. You'd better figure out what you're going to say."

At this reminder, the man looked rather like a deer caught in the headlights of a very fast car. "Pops is going to kill me," he muttered.

"He will not," Speed contradicted at once. "He's really gotten better about not saying things he doesn't mean. Ever since--" He stopped rather suddenly.

It was a little too clear what the end of the sentence would have been, though, and Rex grimaced.

Elena held up one finger. "Alex, the Inspector has authorized me to give you permission to tell your family what happened ten years ago at Casa Cristo. I think you should begin there."

Rex nodded slowly. "They should know," he agreed, "but I don't think...I can't..."

"I can tell the beginning," she offered. "But you're the one they will need to hear in the end."

"Yeah," he sighed, gritting his teeth as though he were preparing to plunge into boiling oil.

Speed looked worriedly at his newfound brother. "It really will be okay," he said in reassurance.

Feeling that she had to second that somehow, Trixie put in, "Pops really doesn't stay mad for very long. It'll be fine." Alex's expression was so torn that it felt like she were intruding on something she had no right to see. "I'll wait outside for them," she volunteered.

The hallway hadn't gotten any more interesting since last time. It wasn't very long, though, before she heard the approaching thunder of the Racer family at their highest setting.

Pops led the brigade, and the inspector had almost kept up with him, which was impressive. Behind came Mom, Sparky, Spritle, and Chim-Chim.

Trixie made her smile very bright to begin the long process of calming them down from full panic mode. "Speed's just fine!" she said. "He woke up a little while ago, and he's got a cut in his leg, but the doctor says he'll only need crutches for a couple days."

It didn't slow them noticeably, but it did soften the worry on their faces. She opened the door for them.

"Speed!" Spritle exclaimed, leaping for the bed. Alex only just prevented the child from landing on Speed's injured leg. "I was so worried--and we would've been here sooner but they looked at Chim-Chim's papers three times before they would let us in--"

Chim-Chim was registered as a handicap-assist and was therefore permitted into the hospital, as long as his companion showed papers certifying that Chim-Chim was well-behaved and that if he caused any trouble, it was entirely his human's idea. Allowing the whole group in at this time of day, though, had probably taken some string-pulling by the Inspector, Trixie thought.

"It's a good thing they don't ask for Spritle's papers, or we'd never get in," Sparky muttered, to which Spritle protested loudly.

The Inspector had hung back, standing just inside the door, beside Trixie. There were shadows of guilt on his face, and Trixie realized he must be all too aware that his efforts to uphold justice had very nearly cost this family two sons.

"Alex is going to tell them," she whispered to him as she closed the door, feeling he had a right to the warning. "Speed already knows."

A relieved smile creased his face. "Good," he breathed.

The confusion of greeting Speed and making sure he was really alive and well had finally begun to calm when Speed announced, "Alex and Elena have something they need to tell everyone. It's about Rex."

Alex looked somewhat less than well-prepared for the undivided attention this brought, but Elena squeezed his hand. "It's time you all heard everything that happened at Casa Cristo ten years ago," she said. "Please, sit down."

"Inspector?" Pops rumbled questioningly.

The Inspector lifted his hands. "This story belongs to Alex. I could not tell it for him."

Everyone found a seat somewhere, though there weren't nearly enough chairs and Sparky ended up on the floor. Trixie was too nervous to sit, and the Inspector didn't look it but she thought he felt the same.

"After Rex Racer testified against Benelli," Elena began, "the C.I.B. took an interest in his safety, and two agents who were also mechanics were assigned to watch for any sabotage. Myself, and Alexander Ryder. We became good friends to your son, and prevented several attacks of one kind and another. Then came Casa Cristo."

The silence in the room was deafening, as Elena looked at her husband in genuine sorrow. She went on, "It was Alexander's turn to guard the car that night. We don't know who was responsible for the sabotage, but whoever it was, they killed Alexander."

Stunned expressions turned to Rex, who shifted uncomfortably. "Elena found the sabotage," he said. "A bomb, timed to blow about when the leaders would be in the Maltese Ice Caves, and the Quick-Save disconnected. Most people wouldn't have seen it, but she was determined something had to be wrong." He was talking to Speed now, and the rest of the room was paralyzed, waiting; but he didn't continue.

The Inspector quietly picked up the thread of the story. "We realized Benelli's people were not going to give up. And there had been threats against Rex's family, even though he had made the split between you very public."

"It was the only way to keep you safe," Rex whispered. "The only way. I left Ryder's body in my car, redid the sabotage Elena had fixed, and triggered the bomb." His eyes were haunted. "I took Ryder's name. Got a new face. I couldn't tell you. If you'd known, they would have noticed. I couldn't risk it. Couldn't risk you. Not for me."

"Your family buried Alexander Ryder in that coffin, Mrs. Racer, Mr. Racer," the Inspector said, gently. "Your son is alive. And I hope you will believe that I have never wanted to keep him from you."

Their mother drew a deep, gasping breath, and flung herself into motion, crushing Rex to her with the strength of ten years' impossible longing. Rex wrapped his arms around her with equal fervor, and the tears in his eyes made Trixie realize her own cheeks were wet.

Sparky followed, more slowly but as though drawn by an inescapable force. "Rex?" he asked uncertainly, searching the man's unfamiliar face for the boy he'd known.

"Hey, Sparky," Rex greeted him, letting go of his mother with one arm to reach for the mechanic's hand. Trixie couldn't see the handshake, but something about it made Sparky light up, all his doubt gone.

Pops hadn't moved. Rex raised his head, a deep self-doubt visible in his eyes. "Pops," he began, "I--I know you said if I left, I shouldn't...I'm sorry I've been deceiving you."

Trixie crossed her fingers so tightly it hurt, hoping Pops would do something to chase that darkness from Rex's face.

An incredulous smile crept its way up like a sunrise. "You're alive," he stated, sounding more than half worried it might be a dream of some sort.

Mom shoved Rex in the appropriate direction, since he apparently wasn't moving on his own. Pops wrapped him in an unbreakable embrace. "As long as you're alive, I can forgive anything," he rumbled, and the tears spilled unashamedly down his face.

"Now don't you get any ideas!" Mom hastily warned her troublesome youngest, under her breath. Trixie grinned.

For once in his life, though, it didn't look like Spritle was considering any mischief at all. He sidled over to Speed. "That's Rex?" he demanded.

Speed nodded. "That's Rex. He's your oldest brother."

"He's a secret agent!" Spritle exclaimed. "That is so cool !"

Denied the room to embrace her son again, Mom hugged Elena in an overflow of affection. "And you've brought us a beautiful daughter-in-law!" A thought visibly occurred to her, and she paused. "Do I have any grandchildren?" she asked, sounding hopeful.

Speed burst out laughing, as Elena regretfully informed the family that there were as yet no grandkids.

Trixie flung an exuberant arm around the Inspector, feeling that he needed to be in on the affection somehow. "Everything's going to be all right now," she proclaimed, and ducked with some difficulty through the crowd to hug Speed, too.

"You need to keep calling me Alex," Rex reminded everyone seriously. "No one outside the family can know about any of this."

They could never afterward remember exactly what was said that made it obvious to the family that Alex was also Racer X, or who said it. After the first tremendous shock, this second hardly caused any noticeable stir, except with Spritle. Apparently if the Harbinger of Boom was his brother , and a secret agent , then it just made him more awesomely cool! Or so Trixie gathered.

"We'll set up the study as a bedroom for you two," Mom announced eventually, in tones that people regretted trying to contradict. "A cot and the couch is all very well for a little while, but we're going to want you to come back to visit. Often! You'll need your own room."

"Inspector?" Speed asked quietly, while the inevitable protests began. "What about my testimony, sir?"

The Inspector smiled. "Taejo Togokhan has agreed to testify," he said. "After he heard that your helicopter had been shot down, he contacted us and made arrangements to give his deposition immediately. The prosecution assures me they have all the evidence they need to convict Royalton on many, many counts."

"If you need me," Speed said, "ever, then I want to help."

A commending hand rested on his shoulder. "You're a brave man, Speed. Just like your brother. If there's a need, I'll contact you. But I think you've both earned some time with your family."

Trixie smiled at the man. "Thank you," she said softly. "I don't think Rex ever would have come back if you hadn't sent him."

"A family like this deserves a little extra protection," he murmured, and Trixie was glad to see the guilt had lifted from his face as he slipped away unobserved.

"No, Speed and I are going to drive back in my car," Alex was saying, sounding more comfortable now. "I need it. Soon as he's better, we're having a race, me and him."

Trixie prodded Speed with one finger. "So? Who do you think's going to win, you or your--I mean Alex?"

Speed blinked at her, with a slow, contented smile. "It doesn't matter."

"Doesn't matter!" she repeated, in shock. Since when did Speed Racer think winning didn't matter?

"Well, I mean, it does matter, of course," he corrected himself hastily, "because I hope it's me. But it doesn't really matter. You know?"

She was usually pretty good at interpreting him, but this one escaped her. "I don't understand, Speed."

"It doesn't matter," he said, looking at her with indescribable joy in his eyes, "because there's always going to be another rematch."

end!

Notes:

While this story is complete, there is some possibility of a sequel. It would have a great deal of Alex/Elena backstory, if I do write it, as well as further reactions to Rex's revelation. It will also come out a great deal slower than this one. I've never written so fast in my life and I don't expect it to happen again.

If you want to hear more about Elena, please tell me so! And if not, I'd like to hear that too. She's so much my own development from what little the movie gave us about her that I'm nervous about giving her more of the spotlight.

If you'd like to use any concepts I came up with in a fic of your own, please just let me know.