Thicker Than Oil - Chapter 7

Chapter 7 – Wait, What Mission?

After that night, Rod and Roseanne began to see more of each other. Whenever they had breaks in their busy work schedules the two would meet. Whether it be over dinner or casually drinking at the bar, the two Gremlin's began to greatly enjoy each other's company and the awkward gap that was first between them was starting to close. Roseanne had become more open towards Rod than any other car, and when it came to keeping secrets or keeping her safe, she had Rod's trust.

One night after work, Rod had decided to have some alone time in his room. Out of costume and with the shades pulled down, he was watching a movie, having a smoke and eating some cheddar popcorn. This was one of the foods that every time he saw, he always succumbed to eating it.

Suddenly he heard a small beeping, not sure what it was at first, then he realized. Is that Pete trying to send me a transmission? He quickly activated his transmission system and tried to answer the call.

"Hello?" Rod answered in a whisper.

"Hey Torque, it's Pete! How's it going? Haven't heard from you in over a month, just wanted to check up on you. You got any new information gathered?"

The mission. He had totally forgot about the mission these past few weeks. He had been so busy with Roseanne and work that he forgot the reason why he was actually living amongst Lemons. He didn't get any information as to who was potentially behind the operation, but he got a better understanding of Lemon life more than he ever thought he would. He sighed, knowing he couldn't lie to his director but he had to say something.

Finally, he knew what to say. It was a little stretched but it was the truth. "No, no new information. I'm sorry Pete, its just…so hard to get info here. I'm still a lower ranked Lemon and information is hard to come by without looking suspicious. I've only learned more about Lemons and how things work around here as a business, but that's all I can tell you."

At first Pete did not respond. Then he replied, "Well, that's alright Torque. Thought you might have had something by now, knowing you. But I can understand that, I mean, I don't want you to get caught."

"No, that wouldn't be good. But really, I think information here is just hard to come by for anyone, Pete. I'm friend's with the Professor's two henchmen and weapons designer, and they don't even know what's going on sometimes."

"Aw see, there you go! Your friends with the top cars working with Z, that's something! You said they don't know anything?"

"No, not from what I have heard. But I can tell you; I am getting a feeling that a lot of the Lemons here think the Professor is their leader. I know its not, especially after doing that background check on him. He doesn't nearly have enough money to pay all these cars plus run an entire oil field."

Before Rod left for the oil rigs, the CIA did a brief background check on Professor Z. He was indeed a professor but due to his design, like the rest of the Lemons, he was deferred from many jobs and didn't have a lot of money. He was an intelligent weapon designer like Roseanne and had a lot of potential, but was never seen for it. Well, it seemed someone found him, and were now using him to run this operation. And whomever this car was they had to have had a lot of money, truckloads of money, in order to run this show.   

"Very true Torque. And also I wanted to ask you, you're a low ranked Lemon?"

"Well…kind of. I was when I first got here, but I think the Professor really likes my work ethic so he has been giving me some more complex jobs. Also his two henchmen have been talking about me moving up in the ranks, probably to their level. So we will see…if I can get up to their level, I will defiantly be able to get you some more information. They might not know too much as to what is really going on, but they probably know more than the Lemons I'm working with now."

"Well, that's good. Well hey, keep on truckin' Torque, ok? If there is anything suspicious you notice or you get any information, report it back to me. Alright, signing off, Torque."

"Sounds good, Pete. Signing off." Rod ended the transmission and went back to watching his movie and eating his popcorn.

Although the movie was playing, he was far from paying attention. Pete calling him was like a wake up call; he knew he had to get down to business and start collecting information. But as he had told his director, there was only so much he could do within his rank, and he could only hope that the Professor would allow him to work with him, Roseanne, Grem and Acer.

Just then his cigarette died out, and Rod grabbed another one and lit it. He was only going to smoke one tonight, but with stress put on him to pick up his tires and do his job he needed a stress reliever.

Suddenly there was a knock on his door. Caught off guard, Rod quickly transformed into his costume and cautiously went towards the door, not expecting anyone to come by and see him tonight. He knew Grem and Acer were off doing work with the Professor, and he was sure Roseanne was back in her room by now.

As he opened the door, he was surprised to see that it was Roseanne waiting at the door.

"Hey Darrel, sorry if I came at a bad time…." she started.

"No time is a bad time, Roseanne. What's up?" Rod asked, curious as to why she was there.  

"I know its kind of late now, but I forgot the mess hall is having an ice cream social tonight. Would you like to go?" Roseanne asked, seeming a little shy when she did so.

"Of course. Come on, let's go before all the others get to the good ice cream first," he joked, and the two left for the mess hall.

As they headed for the mess hall, Rod was starting to see that Roseanne was getting more confident and comfortable around him, and he knew that now it was time for him to start making the moves. After tonight he was going to start taking her places and asking her if she wanted to do things, since before if he had asked her to do anything she would have become suspicious and run away. But now that she trusted him, he knew she had no reason to be afraid.

As the two drove along chatting, Rod could feel that Roseanne was very close to his side. Curious to see if he could get any closer, Rod slowly inched a bit towards her. Roseanne giggled softly and inched closer towards him, and before they knew it the two Gremlins were touching each other's side. At first for the two of them it felt a little strange, but the awkwardness shed off quickly as they drove along side by side.

Even though Rod had come all the way out on this mission for the CIA, he found himself putting it on the backburner. Even though he was there to demise the Lemons and collect information, it was something he far from wanted to do. He realized that making Roseanne feel happy and safe had now become his first aim, and his new mission.