Author's Note: Well, here we are. The sequel to Staying Strong. I have to warn you, the first few chapters aren't happy. I'm working on chapter 9 at the moment, and it's still depressing. It's likely to total 17 chapters overall, 18 at a push. I'm having to take a lot of things out of this one from the original, so it might be a bit shorter. The only thing I can say at the moment is have the tissues handy, maybe not for the first few chapters...but it's highly likely they'll be needed in a bit (particularly if Doc is one of your favourite characters).

Disclaimer: Nope, still don't own Cars. I do however own Jason Brooke, Skye Armstrong and Alissa Armstrong.

Holding On

Chapter 1

A solitary figure sat atop the cliff gazing absently into the beautiful valley below. The sunlight glinted merrily on the small town, mocking the glum mood of the residents within.

Sheriff stared at the tiny rock formation in the centre of the dirt track. Over the last few days he had spent most of time at the currently empty Wheel Well motel; the atmosphere in the town was too much for him to bear, and he found he desperately needed the time alone.

Only four days had gone by since they were forced to evacuate the town for the third time that year, each evacuation for the same reason; tornados. While the latest hadn't done nearly so much damage as the first (the second missed the town altogether), it was considerably worse emotionally. Admittedly, when the first one had hit, four of them were missing, but the town had needed repairing and rebuilding that time, a distraction great enough for them to notice the missing four so much. This time though, all but one escaped. For the last four days, nobody had seen Doc.

They were all affected by it, but one car more than the others. While Skye was among the cars that escaped, she also shared a close bond with Doc; she was his only daughter, and all the more dependant on him since losing her mother two years previously. Sheriff knew Sally had been to visit the young Daewoo a few times, but the news she came back with was never good. At least after the first tornado, when Doc was missing then as well, they found before calling Skye.

With a heavy sigh, Sheriff headed back to the town and his friends. He needed to make a phone call to an old friend, and a car that had lived in Radiator Springs for some years.

Lightning too was sitting outside of the town. He had gone to Willy's Butte earlier in the day to do some training, but when he got there he found he couldn't face training alone. Strip and Lynda Weathers were in Phoenix, trying to sort out a few things for Lightning and Sally's upcoming wedding. Lightning wasn't sure he wanted to go ahead with the wedding just yet; he wanted Doc to be there. He wasn't even sure he wanted to race on Sunday, or if there was much of a point in going without a crew chief.

"Hey, Stickers." Sally appeared at his side. "Do you want to take a drive?"

Lightning shrugged. He didn't really know what h wanted to do.

"Anywhere in particular?" He asked, though not feeling remotely curious.

"Sheriff asked me to go to Kingston to meet Jason Brooke."

Sally had met Jason a few years ago, after Doc had called him in to help Skye, who was very sick at the time. For Lightning though, knowing Jason only went back a few months to the first tornado, when Sheriff had called the old doctor back.

"Sure, I'll come. It's away from here." He didn't need to say any more on the subject, they both knew what he meant.

Jason studied the town slowly. In the few years since he'd been away it had changed little. Lightning's presence in the town appeared to have little effect on it. The doctor hadn't pictured returning to his old home in this way again. He wanted to come back to happier times, not when he was needed to take up medical duties there again because a friend had gone missing.

When Sheriff called him earlier, he agreed to return for as long as he was needed, and was pleasantly surprised when the young racecar and his fiancée met him part way back to the town. They gave him a further update on the situation, including a warning about the gloomy atmosphere.

"I can cope. I've been through some rough times before." He muttered, heading for Doc's clinic. It was true that the atmosphere was miserable, and until they got some news on Doc, good or bad, it looked likely to stay that way.

The clinic had grown a little since he'd last seen it. There was now an annex joining the clinic and garage together, and the garage itself seemed to have been expanded as well. The main clinic looked pretty much the same inside, the annex going along a very similar décor. The main difference was the much tidier garage, now transformed into a small home for two vehicles.

The equipment in the clinic was still laid out around the walls in an organized way, much as it had been before, though it looked like Doc was very behind on his paperwork. Jason drove over to the desk to examine the pile of papers, spotting an old photograph in the process. From the prominent place on the desk, he decided it was a much-treasured picture.

Wow, Doc looks young, he thought, studying the image, I wonder who the AMC is?

Movement in the corner of his eye caught his attention. A small, silver car had appeared in the doorway to the annex. The moment she saw him watching her, she retreated into the shadows, letting the doors swing shut behind her. He was trying to decide whether or not to follow her when the main doors opened, revealing a pale blue Porsche.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't know you were in here. I kind of assumed you went with Sheriff."

"I wanted to check on supplies."

"Oh. I'll leave you to it then." Sally drove across the room and into the annex.

Jason watched her go curiously, wondering what she was doing back there. He didn't have to wait long to find out. She was back a little over ten minutes later looking troubled about something.

"What's wrong?"

"It's nothing. I'm a bit worried about Skye is all."

"I think I saw her a few minutes ago. She seemed quite shy."

"She isn't usually like that." Sally laughed lightly. "She's really quiet fiery."

"She's been quiet whenever I've seen her."

"What can you expect after what she's been through? She's really missing Doc. All she's done since we got back is hide in there, and she won't talk to any of the others. It's not like her."

Skye looked up at the window. She kept the curtains closed all day, preferring not to see the sunlight. She appreciated Sally visiting her, and the few minutes when they would talk, but Sally wasn't the car she wanted to see. Her thoughts drifted to the old car in the clinic. She'd seen him before; once when she was sick, and again in LA. Her father had told her he was an old friend from many years ago, and a doctor as well.

She crept back to the doors into the clinic and peeked through a small gap. There was nobody there. She scuttled across the room to the door leading to the street and peered into the darkness. They were all at the café, including the doctor that had been by Doc's desk earlier.

Author's Note: The AMC is Skye's mother, for the record. There's a brief description of her appearance in Per Chance, though that was a few stories back.

The next installment of the story is coming up shortly.