S: Just something that wouldn't leave me alone. The concept came to me after I heard of Heath Ledger's death, a tragedy come far too soon. The story, likewise, is not happy, but I hope you will be kind.
Disclaimer: The movie Cars is owned by Disney and Pixar, I make no claim to it.
Warnings: NOT a happy fic.
MEMORIES ON A WALL
The silence within the museum seemed to echo through the rooms, resonating off the two cars sitting in the most recent wing.
Side-by-side, the two cars faced the photo-covered wall. The line of trophies on their shelf behind the glass threw glints of gold off their hoods. One of the cars, deep midnight blue, finally shifted with a heavy sigh.
"Eight Piston Cups in ten years. Rookie did a good job."
A dry chuckle, soft and weary, answered him. "All these years, and you still call him Rookie?"
"If I didn't stop after he broke my season-wins record, I doubt I'm going to stop now."
"Which time would that have been?"
A weak, rough chuckle answered that. "Any of the three."
A moment of silence rang between them, louder than their speech could ever hope to be.
"I would like to have seen what he could have done with more time," Doc ventured finally, when the silence became too loud.
Strip Weathers, eleven years off the track and away from his titular crown, nodded. "Ten years isn't long enough for a racing career."
Doc nodded this time, studying the photographs, a blaze of crimson and gold across the wall. The images of the last race where not there, of course, but the farthest edge of the wall was thick with newspaper headlines.
"Ten years," the Hudson Hornet whispered heavily, staring with exhausted eyes at the stark black print. "Not long enough."
The two cars slowly filed out of the Lightening McQueen wing of the Radiator Springs Racing Museum. The echoes of their engines faded once again into silence, leaving the golden letters atop the display crying their message to an empty room.
Lightening McQueen. Forever in our hearts. Rest in peace.