Disclaimer- Hello everyone, this is a companion piece to my story 'Language of the Track,' though you do not have to read it for this story to make sense. This story also takes place after Cars 3 and does contain spoilers, so you have been warned. Along that line, I do not own Cars or any of its characters. Lastly, this story is unbetaed, so any mistakes are my own...hope you enjoy!

Cross Your Heart

Lightning breathed trying to get his RPMs down a little bit…he wasn't having a whole lot of success. The race car was currently parked just outside his new boss's office, and he could even muster the courage to knock on the door, let alone have a conversation with him. It was not that Lightning was afraid of Tex Dinaco. The billionaire had been nothing but kind to him in the past, but the oil magnet wouldn't have insisted that Lightning fly down to the company headquarters in Austin, Texas if it was going to be a simple conversation. Reflecting on the last month and a half, McQueen had to admit to himself that he probably knew what the bed news was going to be.

"Take all of the time you need, Son." Tex spoke, and McQueen's timing belt skip a few teeth…which seemed to amuse the older car. He smiled and then rolled back into his well-appointed space. "Join me whenever you are ready."

Exposed, Lightning gulped down a bit more air then unlocked his breaks. Rolling gingerly into the office, he was instantly surrounded by an office that was completely different from what he had expected. Though, after a bit of thought, McQueen realized that the only owner's office he could compare it to was Sterling's. Tex's style was completely different from that of the mud flap magnet. Instead of a chrome filled edifies that smelled of cleaner, Tex owned a cozy office that was filled with the comforting smell of wax with an amazing view of the city.

Lightning didn't realize that his mouth was open until the billionaire had nudged him a very expensive can of oil. McQueen took a moment to sip it in an attempt to calm his nerves, while the car across from him settled a little lower on his tires. After a few moments of companionable silence, Tex started the conversation.

"So, I think it is time that we had a chat."

McQueen gulped and tried to face the problem head on. "If this is about my paint job, I can arrange for Ramone to…"

"I think that paint job suits you just fine." The Texan's drawl interrupted the racer mid-thought.

"Cruz…" Lightning breathed, dreading the answer.

"I think that you two make an incredible team. And I will admit that I am incredibly pleased that Dinaco is going to returning to the winner's podium."

"Please don't tell me that this is about my legacy." McQueen couldn't keep the bitterness out of his voice.

"No, I want to talk about your future." Tex spoke softly, and Lightning actually got the courage to look his new boss in the eyes. "Listen, McQueen. While you may no longer be competitive on the Stock Car circuit, you still have a whole lot more to give. And in a way, I think that the current situation as a gift. While you had a good run with the Piston Cup, I don't think that the paved ovals ever really pushed you to show your true potential. I think it is time to change that."

"What do you have planned?" The racer asked, the unexpected turn chasing away the last of his fears and leaving him curious instead.

"I have arranged with the transportation authority to have your designation switched." Tex nudged a stack of papers towards the racer. "McQueen, you are no longer a Stock Car Racer. You are now Rusteeze very first exhibition racer. Now the question is will you take this tractor by the horns and get out there and race?"

"Yes."

"I had a feeling that you would say that." Tex grinned and nudged a new stack of papers at McQueen. "Your first event is in two weeks."

"Two weeks!" Lightning couldn't help but yelp. He was thrilled to learn that he was not going to be asked to give up his Lightyears, but two weeks of prep, to learn a completely new style of racing seemed a little extreme. "What about my team? What about training?"

"Your team had been taken care of. As for training? I have rented the track for the next eight days so you will have unlimited access to the surface. The rest is up to you."

When Tex had said that he had taken care of his team, he hadn't been kidding. Apparently, the reason that he had insisted that Lightning fly was so that Mac could get a new paint job. The Truck now proudly announced that he carried the Fabulous Lightning McQueen on the side. The oil magnet had also flown in his entire support team, as well as, what felt like half of Radiator Springs. With all this backing, McQueen was feeling a bit more comfortable facing down his first challenge…the key word there being 'a bit.'

"Don't worry Stickers; you are going to do fine." Sally said as she leaned into him. The purr of her engines comforting against his side. "This type of racing seems to lend itself to your strengths."

McQueen couldn't argue with her there. The first type of racing that Tex had arranged for McQueen to take on was Autocross. It was a style where cars had to race through a series of cones set out on an old airstrip. While this form of racing didn't allow for the high speeds that Lightning had become accustomed to, it did force the vehicle to push their limits of maneuverability and control. Due to the complexity of the track, they only allowed one car on the track at a time so that each racer could focus on not running into the various fences and flags instead of spending energy jockeying for position. Race winners were determined by having each car race a clock and then adding penalties for missed maneuvers.

Overall, Autocross was simple to understand on paper, but after the first day on the track, Lightning realized that this form of racing was incredibly challenging. By the first day, his tie rods ached with the all the sharp turns that he had been making, and it was clear that his breaks had never gotten such a workout. Still, after hours of practice, McQueen was still running into some of the obstacles which was pretty depressing.

"You are doing just fine." Mater tried to cheer him up. "You still have another week and a half to make it perfect."

The tow truck's attempt didn't work…

"I am speed." McQueen chatted to himself in the shelter of Mac's trailer, trying to calm down a bit. The format of Autocross was really starting to stress him out. He had always had nerves the day of the race, but he usually had a couple of qualifying races to distract him from the worse of it. In this racing style there was literally nothing to keep the nerves at bay, and those nerves were slowly starting to bubble up into panic.

"Are you ready to go?" Mac asked opening the back door.

"Ready as I will ever be." The racer shrugged.

"Good, because it is time for you to make your debut." The truck rolled out of the way, allowing McQueen to drive out into the evening sun. He paused, hearing the crowd cheering as the contestant in front of him finished his circuit. As if Mac could sense how uncomfortable McQueen was with the situation, the truck gave him a nudge towards the starting lineup. "Well, the worse you can do is crash, so get out there."

McQueen actually giggled at that. Autocross was probably the safest type of racing. Really, as long as he didn't spin out, the worst thing he could do was run over a couple of rubber cones. "Thanks, I will remember that."

The racer gave one more nodded towards his transport and waited on the edge of the course while a group of tugs worked on getting all of the cones back into place, (it seemed like the car in front of him got sloppy on the second half.) Then McQueen was waved into place, and a cheer rose up from the crowd in the bleachers. Revving his engines Lightning braced himself for what was to come.

Then McQueen learned that it didn't matter what type of racing it was when the flag dropped, nothing existed but the track.

McQueen drove off the track less than five minutes later…It had been one of the longest five minutes of the race cars life.

He had had a dirty run. The racer had clipped two cones and knocked over one other. Still, his raw time was significantly fast than any of the cars that had competed so far. So much fast, in fact, that even with the penalty from the cones he was at the top of the pack. For a few brief moments, McQueen actually thought he might make it to the winner's podium. Then the professionals took to the track and left Lightning in the dust.

When the dust had settled, and the scores had been tallied, McQueen placed 5th in the competition. An incredibly impressive showing for someone new to the sport. If McQueen would have been considered to be a newbie, he would have gone home with a trophy…but none one was going to put the former Piston Cup winner in the beginner category. So Lightning was ranked against the professional autocross racers, which meant his performance was good, but not quite good enough.

That didn't stop the media from being interested in McQueen's latest racing adventures. As soon as the winners were announced, the dark blue race car found himself surrounded by a jostling crowd. They shouted questions at such a quick succession that he struggled to process what was being said.

"What did you think of your first race?!" The words of a pink fiat finally made it through the racer's mental fog, and McQueen started to relax. He knew how to talk to the press.

"Well, Autocross takes a different type of concentration than the oval track…that said it was a lot of fun."

"Do you think you will come back?" Another car, a green pickup truck asked.

McQueen paused for a moment as though he was in thought; then he let his face break into a huge smile. "Of course I will, and next time I will have more than two weeks to train, so all you autocross cars out their better watch out!"

Author's Note- Hurrah! You made it to to the end. Now a quick factoid about Autocross. Autocross racing is considered to be the safest form of car racing out there. Known as Solo or Auto Solomum, this sport's one car on the track at a time nature makes it great for beginners while complexity of the turns provide enough of a challenge to keep the racers coming back for more. Well, that is a wrap. I hope that you will join me for the next chapter where Lightning will take on an ice track.