Author's Note: I'm Back! With another chappy! Hope you guys like it; I've been DYING to write this one! That's all I really have to say so...

Enjoy!

Oh! I don't usually ask this, at least lately I don't, but if you could leave a review, that would be awesome! I'm really curious as to what you all think about this chapter! Thanks! Okay, Onward!


Chapter 33: A Final Lap


Harley and Doc drove all the way to Wheel Well whilst talking about anything but racing or anything even closely related to it for that matter. Doc found it odd, but didn't want to bring it up anyway, so he continued to drive. Once to the old rest stop, Harley looked down at her home. Doc drove up behind her and couldn't help but notice the chrome 89 emblem she still wore a year after she first put in on. He smiled and parked beside her.

"It's a lot colder up here than it is in town." Harley said and she took a deep breath of the cool winter air.

"The wind is more prominent up here." Doc commented. They stood in silence until Harley spoke up.

"This is home, isn't it?" She asked, her voice sounded happy, but she only bore a small smile. One that didn't catch in her eyes. Doc took notice.

"Of course it is." He replied, not pushing much with her strange behavior.

"But it's not where we're from.." she said and continued to look at the horizon. The sun was beginning to set.

"No… it's not…" He asked and studied her.

"Sheriff told me why you don't like racing…" She suddenly changed the subject, confusing Doc even more.

"I figured as much." He admitted and Harley glanced up at him.

"You know I like stories… why didn't you ever tell me that one?" She asked.

"I didn't want to frighten you." He lied. Harley began to catch him, but didn't show any sign of her suspicions.

"I understand.." She said and looked away. "Could you tell me one now? About where you're from?" Doc smiled slightly and followed her gaze to the horizon.

"Sure.." He said and searched his mind for some kind of story about "Northwood," a gas station he once got stuck at after he left the racing world.

"Did you ever have a crush on anyone?" She asked, surprising Doc, but he chuckled at the question.

"Well, yes, of course." He admitted.

"What was her name?" Harley didn't wait to ask. Doc paused and thought for a second.

"Lo-, I mean, Lily… Lily Nathaniel." He said, making it up on the spot.

"Was she pretty?" She asked and looked at him again.

"Pretty sassy." He said and went on with looking at the horizon. "She was stubborn, strong-willed. Pretty with an attitude. A loud one at that.." He smiled sweetly, and it was contagious. Harley smiled, knowing that at least this much was true.

"And she was from Northwood?" She asked, Doc nodded.

"We grew up in the same town, one just a little bigger than Radiator Springs. And with much more trees, you'd like it. It was busy, but not too busy. I honestly loved it there. The weather was always nice, except during the window of blazing heat in the summer and freezing cold in the winter, but it never lasted very long.

"Lily was the reason I did a few stupid stunts. Stole some drinks from the bar, drove through the woods with no headlights, drive blind through town even with the cops on my tail." He shook his head and laughed. "Never do that stuff Harley, like I said it was stupid." He quickly asserted. "She was the highlight to Northwood, not just for me, but for many cars. She was the sunlight on a cloudy winter day." Harley smiled, but then dared to raise more questions.

"What happened to her?" She asked. Doc sighed and glanced down, his smile fading.

"Life happened. We grew apart after the crash. I moved on and left that town and found myself here." He said, and Harley took note of it.

"Then you met Dcoro?" She asked and he nodded.

"Then I met Dcoro." She paused as she sewed her words together in her mind.

"And you then became the doctor and judge here." Doc then furrowed his brows in slight confusion and looked back at her.

"Yes.. Harley, what are you getting at?" Harley shrugged her tired slightly.

"Nothing…" She lied, but didn't try to cover it up.

"Nothing, huh?" Doc asked "Doesn't sound like it…"

"I'm just trying to piece everything together…" she paused, then continued. "Do you ever miss her?"

Doc sighed and his expression slightly faded.

"Sometimes when I see Flo and Ramone, or whenever I hear Lizzie talk about Stanley, I wonder what could've been.." there was a pause and he smiles. "I miss my friends there… they were my family.." he glanced up at Harley who had just been soaking in the whole story.

"Do you ever regret leaving them?" she asked and he nodded. She then looked confused.

"What is it?" Doc asked, a simply half smile on his face.

"Nothing.. it's just...it doesn't add up.." She said, her smiled completely faded away.

"How so?" Doc asked, now confused.

"Your story doesn't make sense… the timing doesn't.

"Maybe I can clear it up, do explain." he started running through his mind trying to figure out if he slipped up.

"After the crash, your friend's crash, you came here and met Dcoro. You were 15 when the crash happened, came here after the crash. You were 15, came here and became the doctor and judge." her speech started to gain speed.

"Harley, Harley, I never said I left right after the crash-"

"Then there's a time gap, one where 'life happened' and you grew apart from Lily. And from your other friends I'm assuming. Why didn't you tell me that there was a time gap?" she asked, pressing for the truth.

"It wasn't relevant." Doc insisted.

"Sure it was." She continued on, "But that's not even what bothers me the most, you want to know what does?" there was a pause of silence and she slowed her words. "Where did you say you were from…?" she asked and Doc thought it over.

"Northwood…" he confidently said.

"Funny… because that sounds nothing like Thomasville, so a young version of me couldn't have possibly misheard you, right?" She asked, her eyelids narrowed.

"Thomasv…? Harley, what are you talking about?" Doc asked, worry tinting his eyes.

"A long time ago, I asked you what the word indigenous meant. I asked you where you were indigenous from. You told me Thomasville!" Doc suddenly remembered and realized his mistake. "Why would you lie about that?"

"I, uh, Harley, look, I was born in Thomasville, but grew up in Northwood." Doc struggled to come up with an explanation.

"Oh, is that right? Then why didn't you tell little kid Harley that?" she snapped

"Because, because…" in his panic, he failed to come up with another fake back story, "Harley, just hear me out, I-"

"No! I'm done listening to you!" she spun around and took off back to town.

"Harley!" Doc sped off to follow, but it had been many years since he'd gone so fast. "Harley!" he soon lost sight of her, but continued to follow. She was nowhere in sight once Doc got into town, Sherriff, Flo, and the others were at the café and looked at each other with questioning faces.

"Doc!" Sheriff called. "What's wrong with-"

"Where did she go?" Doc panted.

"What?" Sheriff asked confused.

"Where did she go!" Doc demanded again.

"Off towards the clinic. Doc, what's going on?" Doc began to dart off again.

"I'll explain later!" he again took off and soon burst through the doors of the clinic. "Harley!" He raced around, searching for her until it hit him as if he sped into a brick wall. "No no no no no no no….. Harley!" He raced out and quickly found that his garage door was opened. He inched towards it, the sun low in the sky. What he found was his worst fear realized. "Harley…."

"You lied…" She said and sniffed at the pages in front of her. "To this town… you lied to me..." Doc drove over to her, his spirits low.

"Harley…. Please understand, I did it for you." he tried to comfort her, but she only went away from him.

"For me? Okay fine…" she said the gestured a tire towards the window. "But what about them? You lied to everyone! They have no idea who you are…." she back away suddenly and looked him over, "and quite frankly… I don't know if I even know who you are…"

"Harley…" he said and moved towards her. "I just… I didn't want you to make my mistakes.."

"Why did you fight so hard to keep my in this stupid town?" she said quietly.

"I found you beat up by your stepfather-"

"How did you know it was Jeremy?" she interrogated.

"I didn't-"

"Then why did you just say you did?"

"I… I didn't… Harley, I assumed it was an adult who hurt you by how you reacted to first seeing me and the others." He explained, which wasn't a lie.

"I could have just been scared by all the strangers." She pressed on.

"That did not change the fact that you were alone and hurt when I found you!" Doc raised his voice, getting frustrated.

"You're a liar!" She snapped and revved her engine in anger and distrust.

"Harley! Just go to your room and forget this nonsense! You're acting ridiculous!" Doc said, refusing to let Harley over power him.

"No." she said she then drove out of the garage.

"Harley!" he called and followed her. She quickly made her way to the road and took a deep breath.

"I'm done being fooled by you…" she hissed and revved her engine once more.

"Harley… what are you doing..?" Doc asked as he slowly drove towards her as Sheriff, Flo and a few others came towards the ruckus of a heated argument. Something about it seemed different than all the others the two cars had had before.

"Harley, what's going on?" Sheriff asked as he looked at how distraught Harley's demeanor seemed. Harley shot a glance at Sheriff then looked at Doc in her side mirror with the angriest of glares.

"Ask him…" Harley hit the gas and kicked up smoke before taking off.

Harley!" Doc screamed, knowing exactly what she was doing. Harley raced up Route 66, up towards Wheel Well. Doc couldn't remember the last time he'd driven so fast. "Harley! Harley stop! Harley wait!" He cried. Sheriff was right beside Doc.

"Harley!" He called. "Don't do this!" Ramon and Flo were behind them, not wanting to lose what had grown to be their own child.

"Harley! Mija! Harley, para! Por favor, no nos dejes! " In his panic, Ramone cried out in Spanish, begging Harley not to go, but she kept going. Never slowing, never stopping.

"Harley, sugar, don't you run off! We can help you, honey!" Flo called, but nothing could stop her. Harley made her decision, and it was set firmly in stone.

Doc called out frantically,

Memories suddenly flashed.

Harley had hurt, angry tears in her eyes,

Memories forcefully faded.

Doc cried out in heartbroken yells, but Harley forced herself to hear none of them.

"Harley! Harley please! Harley, I promise, promise, that I love you!" Doc yelled out. The chase was headed towards the bridge with the waterfall flowing just beside it. Doc's engine started to overheat. Sheriff's exhaust pipe started to pop. The two old timers couldn't keep up.

"Doc, Doc!" Sheriff yelled, "Doc, we need to stop! We can't-"

"No!" Doc yelled back. "She's my-! I can't-! I can't lose her!" Doc choked out. He had tears running down his fenders, but he kept going. "Harley! Don't go!" He called in a cracked yell. They were halfway across the bridge, and time seemed to slow down.

"Doc…." Sheriff's voice faded away. Doc could only hear his own panting and a distance sound of rushing water. He only saw a shiny emblem on the back of the silver Cadillac just meters in front of him. Then he heard the sound of a bang, a pop.

His tire.

He swerved as his eyes widen in even more fear, he knew he had to slow down. But how could he just let her go? Soon, he started to slow, but not voluntarily. He couldn't continue on in this race even if he wanted to, and oh, he wanted to.

"Harley!" He screamed with pain, with helplessness. "Harley! Please! Don't go!" He cried in broken screams "HARLEY!"

But she kept going.

Doc watched as a small 89 emblem shining in the coming dusk and quickly became smaller and smaller. She could hear Doc's painful screams.

They hurt her.

But she kept going.

Doc was helpless.

Ramone, Flo, and Sheriff stopped with Doc. Flo said something about going to find Mater. Ramone said something at going to find Luigi and Guido. Sheriff said something about getting her back, said something about letting her go, said something about needing to stop. Doc didn't say anything.

He screamed.

Screamed for Harley. For his daughter. The one car he'd die for before letting anything hurt her. He screamed as he tried to speed forward, speed to find her, to get her home, but he just couldn't. He was stuck, and it was the worst feeling he had ever experienced. He sat there as the dusk settled in, never once silencing himself. Mater came and began to tow him away. He knew then that he would never be able to erase that memory from his mind, the memory of that moment.

The moment he saw the silver 89 emblem slowly vanish into the dusk.

The moment he lost the biggest part of his world.

The moment he felt as if he was no better that Jeremy.