A pounding headache was what woke up Lightning from her slumber, though everything in her room felt...off. Her bed felt thin and the frame was making her body sore, the blankets and sheets felt ugly and scratchy on her skin. She sat up on her bed blinking her blue eyes several times before she really saw her surroundings. Dread seeped through her as her eyes darted around the room frantically wondering how she ended up in a small dingy white hospital room, she figured it was one with the cupboards with glass casings to show different types of medical bandages and so and there was a rack of heart monitors being unused in the corner. The wall paper was a faded white and pretty old that it was peeling. The amount of dust visibly floating in the air from the streams of sunlight that shone in through the thick old windows made her wrinkle her nose in slight disgust. The floor was grey cement with cracks protruding in random spots.

She quickly retraced her steps and her mind went hazy then blank. She couldn't remember how she could've gotten here. Speaking of here, at the wall opposite of her had a lighter shade of grey metal door, figuring she could get up and look for someone who could give her some answers as to why she was here. Lifting the blanket and pushing them off, she threw her legs to the side and attempted to stand up but she hissed in pain when something around her wrist tightened and kept her from moving forward. Lightning had to do a double take at the sight of the handcuffs locked onto her wrist and the bed's metal frame.

"Oh, boy. Where am I?" Lightning muttered absentmindedly, her voice was shaky and revealed how nervous she felt, she gently massaged her wrist to alleviate the pain the cuffs made.

"Mornin' sleepin' beauty!" An unfamiliar male voice chirped suddenly. Lightning let out a scream and fell back into the bed. She pushed herself back from the laughing man standing in front of her out of nowhere. He was tall, lanky, a messy haired brunet with brown eyes full of childish mirth. He wore old blue faded overalls and a murky brown shirt and ratty old tennis shoes. He gave out another bark of laughter at Lightning's expression. "Boy, I was wonderin' when you was gonna wake up."

Lightning watched the man cautiously, he must've been here this whole time watching her and she didn't realize it until now...she bit her lip in frustration. More questions kept popping up and none of them were getting answered.

"Who are you? Why are you here? Why am I here?" Lightning asked quickly in one breath. The man quirked a brow up with a smile gracing his lips.

"You're funny. I like you already. My name's Mater."

"Mater." She repeated.

What's your name?" Mater introduced himself. Lightning opened her mouth to introduce herself when she paused, could she trust this man? She had no idea where she was even at. If she was even safe here from Mater. Lightning was without her racing jacket, she didn't know where it was at and she felt exposed and naked, she pulled the covers back up to her chest and began thinking.

"You don't know my name? I'm Lightning. Lightning McQueen." Her chest swelled with pride towards her racing career. It took a while but she loved the thrill of racing and knowing that she was famous for her skills and age. When Mater didn't seem to know who she was Lightning felt ticked off but didn't blame him. Watching races wasn't everyone's cup of tea.

Speaking of racing, she had to get to LA Cali for the finals. Mentally she tried relaxing, she had time before the race, more than enough time. In fact she had Mac had left a week before the race. Lightning wanted to get there early to have time to practice and explore LA once again. After all, it had been years since she came back to her hometown...maybe she could try seeing her parents... No. It would be pointless thinking she could go back to them. She was fine without them, she didn't need to depend on anyone and that's the way it was.

"I need to get to Cali, I'd like to get there as soon soon as I can please. Where am I?" She questioned. Mater perked up happily.

"Where are you? Shoot! You're in Radiator Springs. The cutest little town in Carburetor County." Mater boasted, she blinked. That's an oddly car themed name for a town. She brushed the thought away and focused on the present.

"Well that's um, great. Really great." Mater grinned toothily.

"If you think that's great, you should see the rest of the town." He chatted, if Lightning didn't know any better she would've thought she'd think this was a normal conversation in a normal place. Not in some dingy clinic room where she still didn't have a clue as to how she got there. An idea popped into her head, Mater seemed a little gullible and perhaps she could get him to take her handcuffs here. There was a chance he could have the keys, otherwise why else would the man be there for?

"You know," She started, "I'd love to see the rest of the town! So if you could just let me out, and take these handcuffs off, you and me, we could go cruisin' and check out the local scene."

"Dad-gum!" Mater whistled.

"How'd that be?" Lightning hoped her coaxing worked. This room was starting to make her feel suffocated and trapped.

"Sounds cool." He took a few steps closer to Lightning when the grey door swung open and an older man in his late thirties walked in. His stance demanded respect and Lightning subtly sat up straighter. She noted that Mater did as well. The man, or policeman. He wore the typical dark blue police uniform with the hat covering his dark brown hair, streaked with grey from his age. He had a gruff voice, black eyes, and a large mustache that would put Chick Hicks to shame.

"Mater!" He barked, "What did I tell you about talkin' to the accused?" Mater rubbed the back of his neck and kept his gaze downwards to the floor.

"To not to." Mater muttered.

"That's right. Now come on, help me clean this delinquent up for his trial."

"Trial? I can't even remember why I'm here!" Lightning cried out, the officer met her gaze and sized her up from her spot.

"Joy ridin' and causin' hell at the crack of dawn, nearly killin' yourself too. That's what you did." The older man said, Lightning nearly scoffed. There was no way she would've done any of this. Her car was with Mac, and she didn't even know where Mac was. Just what even happened to land her here?

"I don't remember doing any of that."

"Well you did, we all saw you crash your car." Mater butted in, Lightning's eyes turned on him and she sighed heavily.

"My car shouldn't be here, I shouldn't be here. I don't even know where here is. How far are we from Cali?" The officer gave her an odd look.

"You look like you're sixteen kid, act like it too. You must've drank more than you could handle if you can't even remember the chaos you started."

"Drinking!? I don't drink. Ugh, nevermind. When is my stupid trial?" Lightning rubbed at her temples, the faster the trial the faster she could pay her fine or whatever she had to pay and she could leave this confusing place.

"Right now if you quit you're bellyaching." Lightning narrowed her blue eyes.

"Fine." She said, "Get me out of these cuffs so I can leave." She huffed.

Hope you enjoyed and please leave a review of your thoughts. Words that I pulled from the movie has been put in italics cause ya know I don't own Cars and all that and I don't wanna get sued. I'm going along with the movie now, but I want to add in my own scenes and make Lightning less cocky and outgoing. She's more introverted as herself but as McQueen then she'll be in her arrogant and cheeky self.

Thank you all so much for your support and kind words they mean a lot to me. I'm working on making the next chapter longer to make up for this really late and short ones. Until next time!