Chapter 8. – Phoenix –

Four long and very boring hours later: Lightning rolled out of his trailer stiffly. Sally slowly followed him out. Immediately, they were surrounded by reporters. Lightning was used to it, but Sally's eyes were large. For the first time in her life, Sally felt very intimidated and she huddled close to Lightning.

"No questions please!" Lightning called out "I just want to get to the pits."

He pushed through the crowd and into the restricted section. There, Kori Turbowitz came up to him.

"Hey Kori!" Lightning greeted "How are you?"

"I'm fine!" Kori said smiling "How are you feeling?"

"Pretty good." Lightning said, getting tired of the question "A few bumps and bruises, but nothing to complain about."

"That's wonderful." Kori commented "You don't mind if I quote you on any of this, do you?"

"Not at all." Lightning replied "I have nothing to hide."

"That's what I like about you, you're always so open." Kori said "What are your feelings towards Chick Hicks?"

"Pretty fucking pissed off." Lightning said frowning "He caused a huge accident on purpose."

"Lightning language!" Sally scolded "Remember, we're not at home."

Lightning smiled at Sally.

"There was no excuse for what he did." He said "I'm definitely angry. Personally, I'm glad he's suspended."

"Who is this?" Kori asked, gesturing to Sally "If you don't mind me asking."

"This is my girlfriend, Sally Carrera." Lightning said "I met her when I got dumped out of my trailer and ended up in Radiator Springs."

"Did you hear that?" A reporter said from the gate of the restricted section "McQueen is really dating a Porsche!"

"Sorry." Kori said "You weren't trying to keep your relationship a secret, were you?"

"No, it's fine." Lightning reassured her "Don't worry about it."

"Okay." Kori said, closing her notebook "Thanks for the information."

"No problem." Lightning said "I want to show Sally around, so I'll see you later."

"Racecars please make your way to the track!" the loudspeaker called "Racecars please make your way to the track!"

Absent mindedly, Lightning started moving towards the track, but when he felt his axle begin to throb, he stopped and winced. Lightning watched longingly as his fellow competitors lined up on the track. He sighed and turned away.

"Are you okay?" Sally asked "Do I need to get Doc?"

"I'm fine." Lightning said sadly "I should have told Doc I wasn't up to coming."

"You'll be back to racing before you know it." Sally reassured him "You'll get a Piston Cup."

"Yeah, not until next season." Lightning said, discouraged "I don't want to be here."

"Do you want to leave?" Sally asked "Where do you want to go?"

"I don't care." Lightning said "I want to be anywhere but here."

He saw Doc across the parking lot and drove over to him.

"Hey Kid." Doc said "What's up?"

"I don't want to be here." Lightning said unhappily "I don't want to see all these cars doing what I want to do while I'm stuck on the sidelines."

"Okay." Doc said "You kids can take off. I'll call you when the race is over."

"Sounds good." Lightning said, thankful to be able to leave. He turned around and drove back to Sally. "Doc said to go into the city, we'll figure out what we're doing later. Come on let's get out of here."

Ignoring all the reporters, Lightning drove out of the gate and into the city with Sally right behind him. Once they were out of the stadium, Lightning pulled into a nearby parking lot. He pulled out his cell phone and dialed Doc's number.

"Hey Kiddo!" Doc said through the receiver "What do you need?"

"We're out." Lightning responded "As far as I can tell, no reporters followed us."

"Good." Doc said "Why don't you and Sally stay in the city for a couple of days, go have some fun; Mack can wait here at the track."

"Seriously?" Lightning asked "Just me and Sally?"

"Yeah." Doc replied "You don't really need any more monitoring, so just go have fun. I'll see you in a couple of days."

"Okay." Lightning said happily "I'll see you later."

Lightning hung his phone up and turned to Sally.

"Doc says to stay in the city for a couple of days and have some fun. Mack is going to hang out at the track and wait for us."

"Are you up to it?" Sally asked "I don't want you hurting yourself."

"How could I hurt myself?" Lightning asked happily "I've been cooped up in a hospital room for three weeks. Now I can actually go places!"

He then led the way into the city for a day of fun.

Late in the evening: "Where are we going to stay?" Sally asked "It's going to be dark soon."

"We'll find a nice hotel." Lightning said, looking into the sunset. "I think we need to find one soon."

Thirty minutes later: Lightning and Sally rolled past the 'Take a Brake Five Star Suites'.

"Do you want to stay here?" Lightning asked "I've stayed here before. It's very nice."

"It looks expensive." Sally said apprehensively "I don't think…."

"Don't worry about it." Lightning said cutting in "You can be my guest for a change."

Sally laughed

"Sounds good to me." she said "And I would love to be your guest."

Lightning opened the door for Sally and drove in behind her. Fifteen minutes later: Lightning and Sally got keys to their suites. Lightning drove into his suite and directly onto the bed. He took his heavy brace off and sighed as his axle throbbed painfully.

A half an hour later:

"Are you okay?" Sally asked as she drove into his suite "You were driving a little funny."

"Yeah, my axle was starting to bother me." Lightning said "Have I told you that you're beautiful. You're gorgeous as a rose, more flawless than a diamond and has an amazing personality… My Diamond Rose."

"And you're handsome… No, check that. You're sexy." Sally said as they kissed "How do you feel? You look a little tired."

"I am." Lightning said "This is the most I've driven around since my accident. I need to regain my endurance."

"You will." Sally said "Do you want to stay in for dinner?"

"That would probably work out the best." Lightning said "After a race, all of the restaurants are usually packed."

"That's understandable. I'm going back to my room for a quick shower." Sally said "When I'm done, I'll come back and we can order something."

"Sounds like a plan to me." Lightning said "I'm just gonna lay here and watch some TV."

As Sally rolled out of the room: Lightning turned on the TV. He flipped through the channels and found a funny animal clip show. Once that show was over, Lightning started flipping through the channels again. He stopped on the RSN channel and was surprised to see himself on TV.

"Lightning McQueen made his first appearance at a track since his horrific wreck two months ago. He introduced his girlfriend, Sally Carrera to the racing world. McQueen did not stay long at the track." the reporter said "Kori Turbowitz got a brief interview with McQueen's crew chief, the Fabulous Hudson Hornet, Kori…"

The image cut to Kori.

"Doc, why did Lightning leave right after the start of the race?" She asked "You would think he would stick around and watch."

"There was no point in him staying." Doc said gruffly "He misses being on the track, and it just depresses him to watch other cars do what he wants to be doing."

"Lightning looked great." Kori said "Do you think he'll be back later in the season?"

"No, Lightning will not be back until next year. He might look great, but he's nowhere ready to start racing." Doc said "He's gonna need months of rehabilitation before we can think about getting him back into shape. Not to mention, Lightning still needs an engine replacement surgery… He'll need time to recover from that. I'm not rushing his recovery."

"Wow! I didn't know that." Kori said "Right after the accident, what were his chances of survival?"

"About fifty percent." Doc replied "I personally want to thank all the first responders and medical staff that helped not only Lightning, but everyone who was injured."

Kori shook her hood dramatically.

"Thank you for the information." she said, Kori turned to face the camera "Those comments were from Doc Hudson, Lightning McQueen's crew chief. I'm Kori Turbowitz, we'll return right after these messages."

The television started showing commercials and Lightning sighed.

"What's wrong?" Sally asked, rolling back into the room. "I heard that sigh from way over here."

Lightning jumped in surprise.

"It's nothing." he said "It was a sigh of contentment."

"If you say so." Sally said, not looking reassured "Do you want to order room service, or have something delivered?"

"Room service, it'll be faster." Lightning said, reading over the room service menu. "What do you want?"

Sally looked at the menu.

"A cheeseburger, fries and a Pepsi." She said "For dessert I'll have the chocolate cheesecake."

Lightning looked at her surprisingly.

"What was that look about?" Sally asked "I'm hungry, besides today is my 'cheat day'."

Lightning grabbed his phone and called in their order. Sally's order than his. He ordered a super deluxe pizza, cheesy bread, a bag of potato chips, a Coke, and a bottle of wine.

"Doc would have a cow if he found out you were pigging out on pizza and junk food." Sally scolded "You gave me grief about what I wanted."

"I'm on vacation, besides he told me to go have fun." Lightning pouted "Eating junk food, is having fun."

Thirty minutes later: A hotel employee brought the food up to Lightning's room.

"Thanks." Sally said, accepting the food "You got a bottle of wine, on top of everything else?"

"Sure, why not." Lightning said "We need something to toast with."

Sally eyed Lightning nervously

"You're not acting like your obnoxious self." Sally said "While I'm enjoying it, it's also scaring me a little bit."

"Well two months ago, my life kind of took a nasty turn." Lightning said glumly "I think you'd act differently too if you gone through what I've gone through."

Sally sighed and didn't say anything else.

"Sorry if that sounded rude." Lightning said a few minutes later. "I've been in a bad mood lately."

"With good reason." Sally replied "Just ask if you need any help. Don't be embarrassed."

"I would ask, if I needed it." Lightning said defensively "I'll never get better if you're constantly hovering over me."

"You don't have to bite my hood off." Sally said as she popped the cork on the bottle of wine and pored two glasses. "It's just hard for me watching you struggle. *She leaned against him gently.* "This is nice… being able to get away. I love Radiator Springs, but sometimes it's not private enough for me."

"Yeah, I would have to agree." Lightning said "Especially with Mater."

"And Flo." Sally said "She gossips more than Mater does."

Just then, Lightning's cell phone rang.

"Hello?" he asked, seeing that it was Doc "What do you want Old Man?"

"Are you settled in a hotel?" Doc asked "It's getting late."

"Yeah, we found a place." Lightning said "My axle was bothering me so we ordered room service for supper."

"Good. I don't want you driving around too much." Doc said "Sapphire won the race today, at the rate she's going, she'll win the cup."

Lightning's stomach lurched

"Oh, that's nice." he said uncomfortably "As long as it's not Chick, I'll be happy with whoever wins the cup."

"You'll be back racing before you know it. Speaking of Chick." Doc said, his voice turning dark "Have you heard the news?"

"No I haven't." Lightning said "Do I really want to know?"

"Chick filed an appeal. This morning, he went before the Disciplinary Board and told them that he didn't see you coming up on the outside. To make a long story short, they believed him." Doc said angrily "That mother fucker will be back to racing next week."

"What, no!" Lightning groaned "I can't believe this! How could the board believe him?"

"Who knows." Doc said "But don't worry…"

"This means Chick will win the Piston Cup again." Lightning said cutting in. "I don't believe this!"

"I don't think Chick can win the cup, he's too far behind Sapphire in points." Doc said glumly "I'm filing a law suit with the Correction Committee challenging the ruling. It's the only committee that can override the Disciplinary Board's decision. Tell Sally when you get home, we need to have a meeting. For now, just enjoy your vacation. I'll see you when you get back."

"Okay, thanks Doc. See you in a couple of days." Lightning said as he hung his phone up "Chick starts racing again next week."

"What!" Sally cried "How did he manage that?"

"He told the disciplinary board he didn't see me." Lightning said glumly "And the board believed him." Doc is filing a law suit with the Correction Committee challenging the ruling. He wants to meet with us when we get home."

"If I have anything to say about it, Chick won't be racing for a long time." Sally said angrily as her face turned from a deep frown to a sly, almost satisfied grin." "I think…"

"What are you thinking?" Lightning asked, utterly confused "Come on. Tell me."

"It's nothing." Sally said in a singsong voice "I think I just thought of a way to win the law suit."

"How?" Lightning asked eagerly "It better be good. That son of a bitch can talk his way out of anything. Tell me, now… please?"

Sally thought for a moment.

"Nah." she said grinning "I'm going to make you suffer, besides I don't have it all worked out."

Just then, Lightning's cell phone rang.

"If that's Doc again, I'm going to throw my phone out the window." He said, not seeing who it was before he answered "Hello?"

"Lightning?" asked an all-too-familiar voice over the phone "Is that you?"

"Yes it is." Lightning said "Who is this?"

But he already knew who it was. It was his mother who he had not spoken to in years. The entire McQueen family was incredibly rich and resided in Beverly Hills.

"It's your mother." Bella said "Honey, I've been trying to get in touch with you!"

"Well here I am." Lightning said "What do you want? I'm very busy and I don't have time to talk."

"Oh Honey!" Bella said "I was torn up when I saw your accident! I had to find out if you were okay."

"So it took you months to get up the nerve to call me." Lightning said angerly "Gee, thanks Mom."

"I've been trying to contact you since the accident." Bella said "You're very hard to get a hold of. The hospital you were taken right after the accident, refused to acknowledge you were even there. Then when you transferred to the other hospital, it refused to let me talk to you. I called your headquarters and after convincing them who I was, they gave me this number."

"Okay." Lightning said "What do you want?"

Lightning thought that his mother didn't watch his races, but that thought was squashed when Bella said she had seen the wreck.

"I saw the interview with your crew chief." Bella said "Is it true you need an engine replacement?"

"Yes." Lightning sighed as he glanced at Sally who gave him a quizzical look "I don't know when Doc is planning on doing it, but I'm guessing it'll be soon."

"I have to be there!" Bella exclaimed "Are you still living in Radiator Springs?"

"Yeah, but I won't be home for a few days." Lightning said "You really don't have to…"

"Of course I do." Bella said "Where are you?"

"I'm in Phoenix." Lightning said "I'm staying for a couple of nights and then I'm going home."

"Are you by yourself?" Bella asked "Because if you're alone, someone could hurt you."

"Relax Mom." Lightning said "I'm with Sally. She's my Diamond Rose."

"Who's Sally?" Bella asked edgily "Why haven't I heard about her?"

"Sally is my girlfriend." Lightning said, rolling his eyes and smiling at her "I've been trying to keep our relationship quiet. You know how the media will react once they find out."

"How long have you been seeing her?" Bella asked "You haven't been having sex with her?"

"Uh…" Lightning said, thinking back "We've been dating for almost a year now, and it's none of your business if we been sleeping together."

"Well I want to meet her." Bella said "Chelsea will be disappointed."

"I've gotta go." Lightning said, not wanting to think about Chelsea "Room service just brought me dinner."

"Well okay." Bella said "I'll call this number in a few days. I want to see everything when I visit."

"Okay, bye Mom." Lightning said as he hung the phone up "I haven't talked to her in two years."

"Why?" Sally asked, looking shocked "I talk to my parents at least once a week."

"My family… are not the easiest to get along with." Lightning said "Take me a year ago and multiply it by ten."

"They can't be that bad." Sally said "Your parents love you, they just… might have a strange way of showing it."

"My mom is a viper and my dad is a hummer." Lightning said "I get my horsepower from him and my build like her, just bigger and heavier. They probably won't like you. No offense… it's a long story."

"I'm listening." Sally said, rather flatly "If you don't tell me I'm going to be upset."

COMMENTS:

Guest 2

My foots all healed now. I just don't think about it otherwise the memory comes back.- That's good. Because my knee has so much scar tissue, it's not wanting to heal correctly. I dread the thought have having surgery on it.

Balance and take your time with your stories. There's no pressure or deadline on updating and releasing. Good that Lightning's feeling better from the surgery and a benefit in Ramone's qualifications as a body artist.- While I don't have a tattoo myself, I have a friend that has quite a few. He has a dragon tattoo that wraps around and runs the entire length of his arm. It's beautiful, but I don't think I could stand the pain of having one put on. I choked when I asked how much it cost… I think he said it was around $1,000.

Flo has a sharp motherly nature by that sudden scolding but she looks after everyone. Doc's on big money here for a crew chief and doctor but it all makes sense. I like his fatherly love and support of Lightning. Funny over the sex talk but it's a man thing.- You know how guys are.

Sally better watch Lightning as he can get carried away sometimes but she loves him. It's not a surprise on how much racers make every year as of what they do on the track and how much merchandise they sell. Please add in some more little sweet moments between Lightning and Sally. Lightning knows what he gets being a racer but at least he lives decently- Most professional athletes are always giving back to their communities, so I figure that Lightning would do that too.

I have an idea for you for sometime after Sally meets both Lightning's parents. You don't have to use it but you might like it. I'm thinking a karaoke night where Lightning sings 500 miles if you know that song. With the words modified. 'And I would drive 500 miles and I would drive 500 more. Just to be the man who'd drive 1000 miles to breakdown at your door'. See what you think- That's a cute idea. I'll just have to find a place for it.

Just a little reminder. You don't have to upgrade but I thought I'd point out. You forgot about the part where Lightning tells Sally she's beautiful and she responds with how attractive and sexy he is then they kiss. You can save it for another chapter though if you use it- I found a place for it in this chapter. I just modified it a bit.

Lightning and Sally bringing out the happiness they hold between each other is what makes them inseparable. They just don't feel the buzz with others like they do with each other. They'll never betray each other in terms of love. All the motivation Sally knocked in to Lightning and Lightning being as decent as he is is indescribable. Other stories written about them just stink and make you feel sick. I know you wouldn't read them but I'm just pointing out how much of an insult it is- I agree.

I've found a pet name for Sally. She's as gorgeous as a rose, more flawless than a diamond and has an amazing personality. Diamond Rose can be her pet name. Maybe have Lightning describe her that way and give her that pet name.- I worked that part in too.

I don't know if you would but would you use Lightning's real name Monty? According to Lightning's description Monty is his birth name. Lightning is his racing name for how fast he is. Kind of a similar thing to a stage name like Ringo Starr from the Beatles who's real name is Richard Starkey. Celebrities do that coz they keep their birth names personal- I know that celebrities use a stage name, but I don't like the name Monte. That's why I changed Sally's fathers name.

I know in your old story Lightning didn't have a sister til some time later throughout your saga but would you maybe add in Lightning having a little sister who he hasn't seen as much as his parents or his older thug loser of a brother who he defended her from? Just ideas. You don't have to use them. I won't offer too much as I don't wanna sound like I'm trying to write your stories. I'll review as normal but won't offer an idea after every chapter. I like your stories however you write them. You know how to work the magic ;)- I've actually have been kicking an idea like this around for a while. I haven't got it all worked out. She'll be talked about in this story, but won't make an appearance until Distractions. I almost have a name picked out for her. Either- Eibhleann (English: Eileen, Elaine) meaning: "pleasant, beautiful, radiant." "Eibhlin a Ruan" was a 17th century love-song composed by the harpist Cearbhall O'Dalaigh who used it to persuade his beloved to elope with him on her wedding day and it is still a popular piece of music at Irish weddings. - Or Fidelma (English: No translation) meaning: "beauty" or "constant." The name goes back to ancient times and has been held by six saints. One Fidelma, a daughter of the High King Conchobhar Mac Nessa, was known as Fidelma Nichrothach "Fidelma The Nine-Times-Beautiful," and a warrior of note herself. Or lastly – Rionach (English: Riona) From rionach meaning "queenly." In legend Rionach was the wife of "Niall of the Nine Hostages" (read the legend) and as such is the maternal ancestor of many of the great Irish family dynasties. That's about all I have worked out so far.

I do not own Cars or any of its characters. PIXAR AND DISNEY CLAIM THAT RIGHT. READING ENJOYMENT ONLY

Please read and review! I need criticism and encouragements! Rated M for language and sex.