Summary: "Son, we need to talk." Vert's POV, obviously post Ultimate Race. Kinda turned into a strange sort of father/son fic. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: For as much as I love AcceleRacers, I'm sad to say I own nothing.

Author's Note: I'm writing this myself because I'm beginning to doubt if we'll ever see it anywhere else. Where, oh where, is the next installment?! I watched all four AcceleRacers movies this past weekend, just to torture myself again with that horrible cliff-hanger, and this little snippet of what might hopefully be to come was the result. So please enjoy, even if I am just writing this for sheer personal satisfaction.

The Talk

I was not about to be destroyed - really and truly not about to be destroyed!

My mind a blur, I wandered in a daze through the meandering halls of violet and silver. It all looked the same, and I knew I would never be able to find my way back out unattended, so I followed closely behind the familiar blonde head of the man I knew so well. Or thought I knew so well. Upon first seeing him, part of me had wanted to run up and hug him unashamedly. Another part had simply wanted to hit him. And since those two conflicting desires still warred within me, I opted for something more or less in between.

"Ya know, Dad, if I'd known all along what you really did, I swear I would've done a better job of keeping my room clean. And taking out the trash. And turning my music down when I come home late."

"Vert." The taller man in front of me stopped and turned. He was smiling, the expression full of patience, affection, and maybe even fatherly pride. I couldn't be sure; perhaps I just wanted to believe I saw it there.

"It's all right, Son." He resumed walking.

I followed, bristling and anything but patient. "Why didn't you tell me?" This, of course, was the true issue at hand.

Major Wheeler did not stop walking this time, but he still deigned to answer me, however vaguely.

"I wasn't allowed to tell you - or anyone, for that matter. Not even your mother, when she was alive, knew what I really did."

I flinched. Mother. The word still hurt, more than I'd ever admit to anyone. Especially in the hours of lonely darkness when all I wanted was to hear her voice or feel the caress of her hand against my cheek just one last time. And I wonder if my father, for all his talk of "duty," sometimes feels the same.

"You told me now."

"Yes, but there didn't seem much use in further secrecy at this point, did there?"

More walking then, more silence. Until I tentatively cleared my throat.

"So, Dad...is this why you wanted me to quit earlier? Back at the house?"

He glanced back at me, one golden eyebrow raised. "You mean because you and all of your friends were almost killed? Yes."

He stopped then and when I had come up beside him, laid a firm but gentle hand on my shoulder.

"I already lost your mother. I didn't want to lose you, too."

His voice was earnest, intensely so, but I could only swallow hard and drop my eyes. There he was, bringing her up again. Did it always have to be so complicated between us? So awkward?

I moved my feet without thinking when my father started walking again.

He went on, "I told Peter two years ago to leave you kids out of his crazy experiments. You may have wondered why he wouldn't respond to any of your requests for fuel later on, or why he didn't call you in to race for him until he was most desperate."

I, for one, was taken aback. Naturally, we had all wondered about that. "You actually threatened him?"

"More or less. I reminded him that there were professionals for such things."

"Professionals like you?"

A pause. "Yes."

"So, you and Tezla already knew each other?"

The older man chuckled. "Believe me, Vert, the end of the World Race two years ago was not the first time I met Dr. Peter Tezla. He knows me well - which would explain quite a bit."

"What do you mean?" I asked, frowning.

He regarded me rather quizzically. "I mean how else do you think Peter knew to recruit you - a sixteen-year-old boy who had only that same day gotten his drivers' license - for the World Race? It was because he knew driving was in your blood, and that you would excel at it."

I took a moment to let the truth of that sink in; it all made too much sense. Then, suddenly, I remembered something else.

"What's this button do?"

My father blinked, evidently confused. "What button?"

"The button in my Deora II that day you found me at Tezla's old headquarters," I refreshed his memory with a broad smile of my own. "You asked 'What's this button do?' and then pushed it."

"So?"

I hate it when he evades me like this. "So, were you really wondering what it did, or did you really know all along?"

He shrugged, and I could have sworn I saw a glimmer of something akin to mischief in his eye.

"I may have suspected. But I can tell you that it was my first time ever inside Highway 35."

"Your first time?" I could hardly believe that. "You mean you guys weren't infiltrating the World Race, too?"

"At the time, we didn't have the technology to access the track. All we could do was try to keep as close an eye on Tezla as possible. Do you still believe it was any coincidence that my squadron was called up at the same time Peter was setting things into motion for the World Race?"

"Oh. I suppose not." Dang. I hate it when he's right, too, but this time I had to admit: it was rather convenient. "I guess I'd just never really thought of it like that before. Whoa, wait a second - does that mean you like took apart and studied my Deora II?"

Considering how horrified I was, my eyes must have been as big as saucers while my mouth hung agape. It didn't help at all that my father's answer was rather sheepish.

"You could say the Deora II and I spent some...long and lonely nights together."

Recovering quickly, I rolled my eyes. "Aw, man, I can't believe this!"

"But you never could tell there had been any tampering, could you?"

"No," I admitted grudgingly. "I guess not. So did you really steal technology from Tezla, like he said, or was it the other way around?"

"Some of both," he conceded. "Peter used to be a Silencer, you know. Until he stole a car, a GIG, and quite a bit of other highly secretive technology. But we've followed him closely ever since, and I suppose he has returned the favor. Things would never have progressed this far without his independent research and innovation. What I'm not sure I can ever forgive him for, though, is dragging my only son into the whole ordeal."

I nodded, more hidden pieces finally falling into place, and I wondered if the others knew about all this, as well. "And that was you back at the Acceledrome, wasn't it? The Silencer who helped me get past the drones and onto the track so I could race Gelorum?"

"Yes, it was."

The next words were difficult, but they needed to be said, for both our sakes. "Um, thanks for that. I really did need the help then. But I'm surprised you didn't follow me. I thought you would've wanted to give the Silencerz a chance to win it all, too."

"I was needed more at the Acceledrome. Besides, I knew the race was in good hands."

I couldn't help smiling. There was definitely pride in his voice this time.

But by then we had stopped, having arrived at a door that apparently marked our destination. Whatever that might be.

He addressed me again, "I don't know how long it will be before we can get you reunited with your friends, Vert; but in the meantime, I trust you won't be too lonely."

He opened the door to reveal a spacious room where three men sat seated together over a game of cards. They all looked up at the interruption, and once again, my jaw dropped. Would the surprises today never end? For I knew each of these three faces very well indeed, and one in particular went back long before the others.

"Alec?" Still reeling, only then did I realize how much I'd missed him.

"Dan?"

All of them.

"Banjee!"

Author's End Note: And yes, this is the end because that's the way I want to end it, lol. I have no idea how the Silencerz managed to recover these three whom we'd all thought lost, but since this is my own little AcceleRacers world, I'm saying that they did. I guess I still just can't accept that they're really gone. Especially Banjee. Thanks for reading!