Disclaimer: All recognisable characters belong to Pixar. All OCs belong to me.

Chapter 21

Beep! Beep! Beep!

Groaning with annoyance, Lightning slammed his wheel down on top of the alarm clock. Then he settled back down to hopefully sneak in an extra five minutes of sleep. He didn't have much luck. Less than thirty seconds after the alarm had gone off, Doc was banging on the bedroom door.

"Get yourself up, kid!" Doc growled.

Lightning groaned again. He could tell from that tone that Doc wasn't in the mood for games or excuses this morning. Doc banged on the door again.

"All right! All right!" Lightning snapped. "I'm awake," he added with a yawn. He stretched a bit before leaving his room. Doc was waiting in the foyer with Aunt May, who'd decided to come along to watch Lightning's training session.

"You actually got him up before noon?" Aunt May asked Doc with surprise.

Doc just smirked, making Lightning cringe. He knew what that look meant. It meant Doc had a hard training session in store for him.

Sure enough, he did. As soon as Lightning's tyres hit the racetrack's asphalt, Doc started the training session.

"Do two warm up laps, and then I want you to floor it," Doc instructed as he mounted a crew chief stand.

"But Doc…! It's still dark!" Lightning pointed out. "I won't be able to see out there."

Frowning, Doc flicked a switch. The floodlights instantly came on. "Got any more excuses?" he growled.

"Uhh…no…" Lightning replied. Spinning half a doughnut, Lightning headed out onto the track.

"Floor it, kid!" Doc shouted over the radio a little later. Lightning was now racing around the track, but he clearly wasn't giving his best effort.

Doc glanced down at the computer in from of him, reading Lightning's statistics. Aunt May strained to see the computer too, so Doc moved over a bit for her. He momentarily switched off his radio.

"What does all that mean?" Aunt May said, asking the question Doc knew was coming.

"This computer system can tell me exactly how Lightning's running," Doc explained. "You see, he has a tiny computer connected to his engine and other systems which sends a wireless signal back to this computer, so I can see exactly what's going on inside of him at any given moment. This dial here is his speed, and…" Doc paused so he could switch his radio back on. "You're slacking off, kid! Redline it!"

"Doc, this is supposed to be practice, not qualifying!" Lightning snapped back.

"And you wonder why three crew chiefs left you last year?" Doc growled.

Scowling, Lightning accelerated. Doc and Aunt May watched the dial on the computer screen. The red needle slowly climbed up to 180mph.

"Take it to a hundred and ninety," Doc instructed. He watched the needle climb up to 190mph. "Good! Now stay at that speed for ten laps. I'll add on an extra five laps every time you drop under one-ninety."

Lightning's groan was clearly audible to Aunt May. Doc switched off his radio.

"Aren't you pushing him too hard?" Aunt May asked with concern.

"Nope. If anything, I'm not pushing him hard enough. His first race is just two weeks away. If he's not fit for it, he won't race well. Anyway, where were we? Okay, so that's the speedometer. This dial here is his RPM. I'm glad to see he's in the red on that. It means he's trying hard. This dial is his torque. This one's his engine temperature. This one is tyre pressure. This one is for fuel and oil. And this panel lets me know if and where he's sustained any damage."

"It looks very complicated," Aunt May mused.

"This one's just for practices," Doc replied. "You should see the one we use on race day."

Aunt May's eyes widened in surprise. Doc turned his radio back on, and he returned his attention to Lightning.

Fifteen minutes later, Doc called an end to the training session. Lightning pulled gratefully into pit row, panting heavily. He stopped in front of Doc, who was just getting down from the crew chief's stand. Doc frowned with concern.

"You did five warm down laps," he pointed out. "Why are you still winded?"

"I don't know," Lightning whispered wearily. "Guess it's the smog. I'm not used to training in a city."

Doc continued frowning. He wasn't too sure about that. From his experience as a doctor, he could sense that there was something a little bit, well…off with the kid. He made a mental note to keep a close eye on Lightning. They packed everything up, and headed back to the Daimler building.

About half an hour later, Lightning, Doc and Aunt May arrived back at the penthouse to find Sally and Gracie already having breakfast. They joined them at the table.

"How did training go?" Sally asked Lightning.

"Good," he replied casually, earning a frown from Doc. He quickly looked down at the table and sipped on a can of hot oil.

"Mrs McQueen is being released at nine o'clock," Sally told Doc. "We'd better hurry up so we can be there when she's released."

"Most of the family is meeting here to celebrate her release," Aunt May added. "They're arriving at nine-thirty."

"I think Lightning should stay here," Doc said. "After all, someone other than the servants should be here to receive the rest of the family."

Aunt May nodded slowly and Lightning shrugged.

"I don't care what I do," he murmured. Just then, his mobile phone rang. "Hello?"

"Hey, kid!" Harv's voice rang out so loudly, everyone else could hear it. "Whatcha doin' in New York?"

"I'm just visiting my family."

"And you didn't tell me?"

"Correct me if I'm wrong, Harv, but you're my racing agent. What I get up to in my limited spare time is none of your business."

"You're missing the point here, kid. If I'd known, I could've got you on the Today America show, or a photo shoot with Sports Cars Illustrated. Ya really need to get in on the publicity, kid-."

"Harv! Stop it! My public image is your problem. Right now, I have some personal issues to sort out with my family, and I emphasis the word PERSONAL. I don't want the press following my family around everywhere the way they do with me. It's not fair on them, so I'm trusting you to keep this to yourself."

"Bu-but, Lightning!" Harv whined.

"Harv! I can't deal with this right now! Please, leave me alone. I'll phone you when I'm ready to talk." Lightning hung up before Harv had a chance to reply.

"And that, kid, is the fastest way to lose an agent," Doc said.

Lightning shrugged. "It'd be worth it. He's not that good anyway."

"Then why do you keep him as your agent?" Aunt May wondered.

"He was part of my contract with Rust-Eze."

"Oh."

"We'd better go now if we're going to get to the prison in time for Mrs McQueen's release," Sally said.

"You're right," Aunt May agreed. She, Doc and Sally headed towards the foyer. Sally turned back to face Lightning.

"Will you be okay?"

"Yeah. Sure."

Sally didn't look like she believed him, but Doc gave her a gentle nudge.

"Let's go, Sally."

Sally reluctantly followed Doc and Aunt May to the lift. Lightning watched until the doors closed on them. Gracie joined him, and she pushed a can of oil in front of him.

"You didn't finish your breakfast."

"I'm not hungry," Lightning sighed, and he headed off towards his room.