A/N: I watched Cars 3 for the first time this Holiday season and it reminded me why I liked the first one so much. I rewatched the first one and this little baby popped up. It refused to let up so I figured if I wrote it down hopefully it would let go of my brain so I could work on some of my other stories.
Summary: When Lightening rolled into Radiator Springs, he found something he had given up looking for a place to call home. AU Humanoid.
…
It was after the race, Lightning was sitting in the Rust-eze tent, leaning back as he watched Doc talk to two girls. He frowned; he recognized the one with dark hair as Stormy Hudson, a racer who made her debut in the racing scene the year before he did. The other girl was red-headed, and Mack had off handedly mentioned could past as his sister. Why were they talking to Doc?
Lightning was contemplating getting up and wondering over to Doc. He never really talked to Hudson; she never made it to the top ten, and had, therefore, until recently, hadn't been worth his time.
Lightning ran his hand through his red hair before forcing himself to stand up and walk over to Doc. Just because Doc had came all the way from Arizona to be his crew chief didn't mean he wanted him back in his town. Besides it hadn't been hard to figure out that he was the one who called the press.
He slowly wandered over to Doc who greeted him with a gruff, "Hi Kiddo."
"It wasn't hard to figure out that you were the one who called the press." Lightening accused.
Doc glanced down, almost as if he felt guilty about it, until he looked up with that smirk of his on his face, "Well Kid's not as stupid as he looks. How'd you figured it was me?"
Lightning smiled wide and gave a laugh, "You were the only one trying to convince me to leave. Everyone else was trying to get me to stay."
Stormy Hudson looked him in the eye, for the first time since meeting her at the beginning of the season he noticed that she had piercing blue eyes just like Doc Hudson, "Doc's your father, isn't he?" he asked.
Stormy laughed, "I don't get it, he basically disowned me when I started racing, and you came along and dragged him with you." She smiled broadly, "You gave me back my dad, just wish that I could make him proud, but I haven't even ever got in the top ten."
Doc placed a hand on his daughter's shoulder, "The problem is girl, you won't take risks," Doc nodded towards Lightening, "While this Hot Rod takes too much risk. Maybe this off season I'll train the two of you and next season you'll both make me proud." He turned to the red headed girl who had so far remained quiet, "There's always room for one more you know Sunny."
Sunny shook her head, her bright blue eyes gleaming in amusement, "No thanks Dad, somebody needs to know how to patch them up after they crash."
Doc nodded, before turning back to Lightning, "I saw you talking to a interviewer out there, what was that about?"
Lightning scoffed his toe, "They asked what I was doing in Radiator Springs. I told them I was looking for a place to set up a Racing headquarters. You know someplace to go in the off season."
Doc clapped him on the back, "Good, because Mater brought his truck to tow your fancy car back to Radiator Springs if you refused to come peacefully."
…
Sally never thought that she would have to tell someone that the Cozy Cone hotel was booked solid, and that they might want to try Wheel Well, which was having a grand reopening on the weekend that they wanted to come up.
"What is the likely hood of us seeing Lightning McQueen?" the customer on the phone asked.
"It's a small town, I'm sure you'll run into him at least once. Just don't crowd him. He comes here to relax and enjoy the off season with his friends." Sally insisted before hanging up with a smile. That last question was probably the most popular question that all customers asked either as they check in or make their reservation.
Sally looked up as a lady in a business suit entered the lobby, "Hello welcome to the Cozy Cone Hotel, how may I help you?"
"Yes, I am looking for Sally Carrera." The lady stated all business like.
Sally smiled happily, "That's me, what can I help you with?"
"I understand that you are Monty McQueen's attorney. I have some important paperwork for him pertaining to his inheritance."
Sally frowned; Lightning never mentioned his real name or his family but that was the only McQueen she knew, "Lightning's out training at the moment," she said, "but if you come with me to my office I can set up a meeting with him."
…
Lightning was just pulling up alongside the Hudson Hornet after losing to him yet again, "You should totally race again, Doc, you still got it." He stated as he climbed out of his car and stretched.
"Did you see that Dad?" Stormy called out as she climbed out of her car, "I totally smoked Lightning."
"I would have won if Doc here hadn't driven off the track." Lightning grumbled as he took his helmet off.
"If you were paying attention, Lightning, you would notice that he didn't spin out, he drove off the road on purpose." Stormy pointed out, much to Lightning's annoyance.
Lightning rolled his eyes, Stormy was better at seeing little details like that, but he wasn't, besides, he had been next to him when it happened, not behind him like Stormy. He pulled out his phone, which had been vibrating for the past ten minutes with an unread text message.
Doc snorted, "No wonder you lost Hot Rod, next time you come out here I want you to leave that device at home. It's a distraction, even if you don't answer it."
Lightning nodded sheepishly, he hadn't thought of that, "Okay Doc, will do." he said with a mock salute.
…
Sally looked up as Lightning entered her office, his black and red racing jacket on despite the risk of heat stroke.
"I got your text, what's going on?" he said as he pulled up a chair, nodding a greeting to the woman next to Sally.
"I am Mrs. Carmichael, I'm the attorney dealing with your parents estate after your father's death last winter." The woman replied.
"He was my stepfather," Lightning muttered under his breath, before accepting a file that contained what looked like very important information and paperwork in it, "What's this?" he asked aloud.
"Some paperwork that came up while dealing with the estate, there's also a letter from your mother with instructions to give it to you on your eighteenth birthday, but apparently he never did."
Lightning looked through the papers, handing them over to Sally for review; she'd understand them better than he did. He soon found the letter Mrs. Carmichael mentioned, and carefully opened it.
The first time he read it, he forgot how to breath, the second time, the world started spinning, and half way through the third time through, he passed out.
Sally gasped as she crouched down next to Lightning, "Come on Stickers, wake up." she patted his cheek in an attempt to wake him up. When that didn't work she glanced up at Mrs. Carmichael, "Stay with him while I get Doc!" she ordered as she jumped up and headed out the door as quickly as she could.
Sheriff watched as Sally burst out of the Cozy Cone in a flurry, "Where's the fire, Sally?"
"Lightning passed out in my office and won't wake up. Where's Doc!" Sally exclaimed skidding to a stop in front of Sheriff.
Sheriff frowned, stroking his mustache, "I thought I saw him at Flo's with Sunny."
…
Stormy was coming out of her house after showering after training when she froze, The King was heading up the walk. "Mr. The King, what can I do for you?"
"I ran into your father down at the café he told me I could find you here. Mr. Tex is holding a charity race and I was wondering if you would be interested in participating."
"I've never won a race before, heck I never even placed top ten. My sponsor is probably one of the smallest sponsors you can find. Why would you want me to race?"
"Lightning posted the other day that you beat him at a street race." The King stated, arching an eyebrow at her.
"Dad's been training me hard, and I've came along way. Haven't been able to beat him yet, but neither has Lightning, so that's okay." Stormy shrugged.
"How does your dad know so much about racing? He was Lightning's Crew Chief, right?"
Stormy nodded, "I'm afraid that secret is one that Dad guards quite closely; you'll have to ask him. Just don't be surprised if he bites your head off." She headed down the path, pausing as she passed The King, "Why don't I treat you to lunch at the Café, and you can tell me more about this charity race that's happening."
…
Doc and Sunny were sipping on their drinks at the café when Stormy and The King entered the building. Flo smiled as she hurried over to them, her graying blonde hair coming loose from her braid. "Hi Sug, who's your date?"
"Flo, this is Strip Weathers, you probably know him as The King." Stormy stated, "Mr. The King, this is Flo, a family friend."
Soon they walked over to the table where Doc and Sunny were sitting. Doc looked up, "You made a quick recovery," he stated shaking hands with The King.
"Thank you Dr. Hudson," he turned to Sunny, "You must be Lightning's sister, you look just like him."
Sunny started to choke on her drink with that, "No, I'm Stormy's twin sister, we're just fraternal."
The King looked surprised; the young lady had looked so much like the rookie that he had assumed they were related.
Just then, Sally burst into the room, blonde hair flying, "Doc, Lightning collapsed!" she yelled, not caring about the dozen or so of tourists that jumped at the name of the famous race car driver. Doc leaped to his feet and rushed out the door with Sally, barking questions as fast as he could think them, and for a former race car driver that was fast and Sally couldn't keep up as she lead him back to her office at the Cozy Cone.
Doc crouched down next to him, "When did he collapsed?" he demanded as he started to check for a pulse.
"About five minutes ago," Sally stated, "When I couldn't revive him, I went to get you."
Doc nodded as he started to take the rookie's jacket off, "Foolish kid he'll die of heat exhaustion wearing this all the time." He muttered to himself, "Sally, get some ice."
Sally rushed off as Doc removed the jacket, only to discover an angry looking scar on his arm, "I'm supposed to be his doctor and I didn't know that that was there." He scolded himself.
Sally returned with an ice pack from the freezer near the front desk, heat exhaustion was a major problem during Arizona summers, so she always was prepared to treat it.
Soon Lightning was sitting up with Sally's help, sipping on a Gatorade. Doc checked him over to make sure that he wasn't going into shock before asking, "Can you tell me what he was doing when he passed out?"
Sally picked up the letter that Lightning had dropped and handed it to Doc, "He was reading this letter, I think it upset him."
Doc grabbed the letter and read about two lines of it before he suddenly grabbed the side of Sally's desk and announced, "I need to sit down."
Sally looked at Doc in alarm, and grabbed the letter. She quickly skimmed it. This couldn't be right.
…
A/N: Cliffy. I'm mean like that. So what was in that letter to Lightning? I tried to write them as Cars but I felt almost like they were wooden so I switched to humans.