"Hello race fans! Today we end the first round and eliminate a few drivers from the playoffs." "I am wondering who that will be?" "I wonder if Cal Weathers has another victory in him." "We will be finding out soon, but after some.. Interesting gossip. I'm more interested to see how McQueen drives today!" "Me too!"

Lightning sat in the Rusteze trailer alone. Eyes closed, sitting in the sim lit trailer. Bolt next to him still. He took a deep breath. In through the nose, out the mouth, slowly. Once more before opening his eyes and staring at the wall of photos he had across from him. Just an old pic of him.. Of him and Sally.. The gang back home, Mater and.. Doc. He stared at that photo. "I'm doing the best I can.." He said as he stared at it. He missed Doc so much. He needed Doc. At least, he sure felt like it right now. He looked away from the photo and at the Bolt. If he didn't get in the top eight.. He might be eliminated and then he'd never win this year's cup for Doc. Lighting took another deep breath, closing his eyes. "Okay.. Focus.. Speed.. I.. Am.. I'm.. I'm not okay." He mumbled with such a depression in him. He was falling apart. He needed help before this got worse. One more deep breath. "Focus.. Focus today, get your head in it.. Come on McQueen.. Speed. I. Am. Speed. I'm faster than fast, I'm.. I'm quicker than quick.. I am Lightning." He growled his name. Such broken anger and determination. He was going to win today at any cost. He looked back up at Doc's photo. His chest and heart hurt so much. Today would be one of the harder days he would face...

Lightning walked out to the track and up to his team where his coach, Leon was waiting. "You okay?" Leon asked. Lightning looked at him a moment before answering "Yeah, I'm fine." Sure didn't sound like it. Leon sighed then called out to the pit crew. "Alright! You five go and roll out the Bolt, Gary! Got those radios ready?" Gary nodded. Leon gave him the thumbs up. "Bring the helmet over." He ordered another crew member. The pittie handed Lightning's helmet to Leon who handed it to Lightning. "Are you sure you're good?" Asked Leon once more to his racer. Lightning nodded then put the helmet on. He wasn't, but he was at the same time...

The racers raced hard and did their best, but in the end as followed.

1. Jeff Gorvette

2. Bobby Swift

3. Rusty Cornfuel

4. Cal Weathers

5. Dale E Jr.

6. Davey Apex

7. Lightning McQueen

8. Winford Bradford Rutherford

9. Blamer

10. Rudy Oaks

11. Kevin Racingtire

12. Ryan Shields

Drivers eliminated:

13. Darren Leadfoot

14. Claude Scruggs

15. Lee Revkins

16. Todd Marcus

Lightning parked the Bolt into his trailer pretty quickly after the race. Leon rushed to the trailer and after Lightning. "McQueen! Wait up!" He called as he stepped in barely before Lightning pressed the button to close the hatch. "Eager to get home?" Leon chuckled nervously. Lightning stared at his coach with such a weird, angry, mixed expression of emotions. Leon swallowed nervously as he knew of Lightning's reputation with past coaches. All but Doc. "I need to get home and train." Lightning growled. Leon shrugged, replying "It's okay. You took a good position and no one expects the best out of you right now with everything that's.. Going on." That honestly just pissed Lightning off more right now. "And that's exactly why I have to be the best Leon! I can't keep letting myself feel because I.. I have feelings. No, I have to do what Doc said and keep the emotions off the track." Leon's concern grew. He reached for Lightning's shoulder and placed his hand on the racer gently. "Look.. I know Doc trained you to keep the.. Emotions I guess.. Off track, but you can't ignore them completely." Lightning shoved Leon's hand away and snapped with "Don't you dare tell me how to drive! I am the racer! I am the champion and I tell you what to do out here! This is my team! My race car and my career! Not yours! You are just here as a replacement temporarily!" "That's how it is huh?" Leon asked rudely.

Lightning and Leon stared at each other. Both furious, one of them hurting. Leon snickered and shook his head. "Doc told me, warned me.. You would get an attitude with me for the first couple of months after he passed away, but.. I'm not someone you can't just treat like that. I look out for you out there and I keep you from"-"Wrecking!? I'd love to say you are an excellent spotter Leon, but you're not! I have crashed more ever since you started taking over for Doc!" "I"-"YOU'RE FIRED!" Leon just stared at Lightning. Hearing those words, maybe he stood there to give Lightning a moment to re-think about what he had just said. Lightning looked away and mumbled in a growl. "I'm better off alone right now. Pack your stuff and get out." "Lightning"-"Go. You will still get paid for the rest of the month, okay. Leave before I change my mind about that." Leon sighed. He did want that paycheck. "Good luck out there Lightning... You're gonna need it.." Leon then pressed the button. The hatch opened awkwardly, slowly. Lightning didn't look at him, didn't say a thing. Once that hatch was open, Leon left for good. Lightning would never see him again...

Lightning walked into the office of the Cozy Cone to find Sally on the phone at her desk. "Yes. Yes, that would be great! Okay, thank you. I can't-We can't wait to meet you." That part made Lightning raise a brow. "Okay, bye." Sally smiled and hung up. Lightning walked closer and asked "Who was that?" "Your new agent." "Oh.." "She's going to deal with this stupid under age girl thing and come to town for her first paycheck and to meet us, meet you!" Sally exclaimed. LIghtning frowned a little. "What's wrong?" Sally asked. "I thought you would want the situation dealt with? This is a good thing Lightning." Lightning nodded, and agreed. "Yeah, yeah.. I wanted it.. Handled. But.. I just don't like agents all that much. You're not going to let her get all carried away with me? Are you?" Sally snickered , asking "What do you mean?" Lightning shrugged. "Agents can get a little.. I don't know? Trigger happy in a weird.. Agent-y way.." "That's not a word." Sally corrected. Lightning sighed. He just really didn't want the entire Harv thing to happen all over again. Not right now after.. After Doc had just passed away. Sally smiled reassuringly and said "Look. You need someone else besides me on your team for legal situations." "This isn't a legal matter." "No, but this can look like a scandal and it's the last thing you and this town need right now." Sally warned. Lightning brows lowered as he stared at his girl. "Are you more worried about the town?" Sally glared at him, answering "I'm worried about your reputation and I'm worried that because of you, the town will face some.. Whiplash." Using car terms there. Lightning nodded and understood. "Okay.." "Her name is Miranda, she sounds really nice." Sally added. Lightning shrugged silently. He just didn't like agents. Much less.. A girl agent... Lightning sighed and announced "Think I'm going out to the track.." "Okay." Sally replied. "But be careful. You don't need any more bad publicity. I'll try to dig and find out who exactly snapped that photo and started the rumor." "Thanks.." Lightning muttered before getting up and starting to walk out in a mopey way. Sally noticed and stopped him, saying "Hey, what's wrong? Is this about the race?" Lightning shook his head. "No.. No, it's.. It's nothing. Just having a bad day." He admitted before leaving. Sally hated seeing him so broken, but what could she actually do? She knew she needed to do something. He was getting worse...

Lightning drove the Bolt out to the old dirt track, Willy's Butte. He parked it right over the imaginary starting line then got out the race car. Staring at the track. It was so quiet. Wind blew lightly.. But the silence. The silence was like a knife. With the Bolt's engine cut off at the moment.. It was too quiet. "I miss you Doc.." He said aloud. He knew no one would answer, but he just needed to say it out loud. And this situation with this girl. What was her name? Lacey. That was a messed up one. Lightning's friends knew better, but the press was eating it up. It could really hurt his name if he didn't get this under control quickly. It could spread more and more rumors to the point he would lose fans, followers, sponsors and he worried more. What if he lost Sally over rumors like this? Could she really handle being the wife of a famous race car driver who had such horrible accusations against him? He wondered about that. His name would ruin Sally's in that scenario. He was truly worried about them over it...

Sally called the company that owned publishing rights to the gossip site that started these horrible rumors about Lightning. She'd Call.. "Hello? Yes, My name is Sally Carrera and I'm calling about the.. post about Lightning McQueen on your site. Yes, I'll hold..." Then nothing for way too long. She'd hang up and call a different number she'd find. "My name is Sally Carrera and I'd like to speak to the journalist who photographed Lightning McQueen and the girl? Yes... Yes.. I'll hold..." Hang up and another number. "Yes, my name is Sally Carrera, I'm Lightning McQueen's lawyer and"-They would hang up. Sally sighed and tried a different approach. "Hi, My name is.. Is Sally.. Um, I'd like to offer a job to the journalist who photographed Lightning McQueen and the girl. Yes.. Sally... Yes.. That.. That Sally.." Hanging up again. She would try and try and try, but wound up either hung up on or put on hold and hung up herself after a said amount of time. Hours went by of her trying and working on this. "I'm a.. Reporter for the.. RSN." Face palmed herself there. "Yes. My name? Dora.. Gates... Yes! Yes, I'd love to speak to your manager! I'll.. I'll hold, sure.." She waited on the phone until another person answered. "Hi! My name is Sss-Dora. Yes, I'd like to know who snapped the photo of Lightning McQueen and the girl at the drugstore. Yes. I understand that you aren't technically supposed to give me her or his name, but.. I want to offer them a job. Yes. Yes my name is Dora.. shit.. Dora Gates and my number is xxx-xxx-xxxx. Thank you so much! Tell them I will be looking forward to their call. Yes, thank you. MMhm. Bye." She hung up and let out a sigh. Hoping the person would call back as it was the best lead she had now.

Ding. Went the bell on the front door of the cone motel office. Sally looked over to see some young brunette. She stood and asked "Can I help you?" The brunette smiled, answering "Yes, I'm Miranda Wright." "Oh Miranda. That is great! I thought you might be later, but this is fine. Here." Sally grabbed a room key then walked up to the girl and handed it to her. "This is for you. It's completely paid for." "Oh wow. Thanks. You're? Sally, right? Mr McQueen's girlfriend?" "And lawyer." "Great! When can I meet with Mr McQueen anyway? I have a few ideas to clean this mess up." "Oh thank goodness! I've been trying to get a hold of the reporter who snapped the photo, but.. It's pretty close to impossible." "It can be difficult, but trust me. It's super easy to bait them out." "Bait them out?" Sally asked with confusion." Miranda nodded and explained. "All part of the plan. You hear about Ryan Renaults thing with Suzie Clair or Garth Boots and the entire orphanage problem?" "What? No.." "Than I did my job well." Miranda bragged with a smile. Sally snickered. Maybe she would help this go away. "Great." Replied Sally. "I'll have Lightning clear up anything he had planned for tonight and we can sit down for dinner and talk. Is that okay?" She asked. Miranda nodded and answered. "Of course, the sooner the better in these situations." "Great, I'll see you tonight at Wheel Well. What time works best for you?" Sally asked kindly. Miranda shrugged, answering "Whatever works for Mr McQueen. Just give me a ring and let me know." She then took the key and left for her room. Sally was so glad that she called this agent to help out and was really hoping this would work out in the end...

Lightning and Sally sat down at their table at Wheel Well. Waiting on this new agent, Miranda. Lightning still was not thrilled by the idea of a new agent, but if it meant less work for Sally, he was up for it. He sipped his drink, sweet tea, thinking about how his racing was going for the season. He stared at Sally. He should talk to her. Talk to her about what happened last weekend. How he fired Leon. And technically, he had to hire a new coach before the next race. Playoff rules state you must have a coach... And now he didn't. Sally cocked her head and asked. "What is it?" Grabbing Lightning's attention. "What's what?" "What's bothering you? Is it the agent? Miranda seems like a good one. I did my research on her and I wouldn't have hired her if I thought"-"No, no. It's not that.. I mean.. I don't really like agents, but it's not that." Sally reached across the table and grabbed Lightning's hand, resting next to his drink. "You can talk to me Stickers. You can talk to me about everything and anything." She assured softly. Lightning smiled a little. He just loved Sally so much and she was so perfect. It made him think about the ring, how he would ask her to marry him soon. "I love you." He cooed. Sally smiled and replied. "I love you too." A woman walked up to the table and introduced herself. "Hi, I'm Miranda." She smiled. Lightning and Sally looked up at her. Sally her hand away from Lightning's and sat up more formally before speaking. "I'm glad you made it. Hopefully it wasn't too hard to find." She joked. Miranda snickered then sat down in the added and empty seat at the table. "Not at all, but it was quite a drive." She admitted. She then looked at Lightning, put out her hand and "Hi, I'm Miranda, Your new agent and best friend when it comes to public affairs." She and Lightning shook hands as accustomed.

"I already have the name of the person who took the photo and the name of that fan in the photo and she is not underage at all. Just has amazing skin." Sally was surprised and asked "Wow. Really? It usually takes me a week or two to get a hold of the photographer!" Miranda nodded and explained. "It was easy. Just like I told you, bait them out. Anyways, I have my own reporter going out to interview the so called under age girl then we can publish that onto another gossip site that gets waaaaay more traffic." Lightning seemed impressed some, but asked. "What about the original photo and lies?" Miranda sighed. "Sadly, that's already out. I got it taken down from the site, but it's a photo and it's going around all over the internet." Lightning whined a bit and dropped his head to the table. Miranda stared at him a moment then looked at Sally and asked. "Is he going to be one of the dramatic types?" Sally nodded slowly. Lightning sighed and mumbled "I can sense your nod, I'm not dramatic, I'm stressed. There's a difference." Miranda crossed her arms, staring at Lightning. He sat back up and asked. "So who is the reporter that took that photo?" "We'll get to that, first, I have to know. Why were you even holding a pregnancy test? Are you pregnant?" Looking at Sally. Sally's eyes widened. "No!" She exclaimed. Miranda then looked back at Lightning and continued. "So why were you holding it?" "I was reading the back label. I didn't know if maybe it said symptoms of pregnancy or somethin and Sally was sick." Sally glared and corrected "I was hungover."

Miranda closed her eyes briefly and shook her head. She then slapped her hands on the table and firmly spoke. "Look. When you are as big a star as you are Lightning, people watch you and your every move AND that means everything your girlfriend does." "ME?!" Sally snapped. Miranda nodded and explained. "As your agent, I will also be dealing with your girlfriend and her fans." "Fans? Wait, I don't have any fans." Sally laughed. Miranda raised a brow and asked. "Do you not read news, tweets? Posts, blogs? You have a lot of fans! Team McQueen and Team Sally. There have been couples debates over petty fights that your fans have seen. Both of your fans. Some take his side, some take her side, it's an entire stupid and big thing." "Really?" Asked Lightning. Miranda nodded. "So to fix this issue that YOU have created." Pointing at Lightning there. "I see three options." "Okay, hit me." "One, sue the reporter. Said person loses their job, their rights of that photo and hopefully won't be around you ever again with a restraining order. Option two, you hire the reporter and with a firm hand, set boundaries. Let said person post about you, but you control what is said and therefore you make the rumors, you fake the photos and in turn, satisfy your fan groups. Or three, you could just ignore it. Make a statement to my reporter, botta boom, botta bing. It will eventually die off. Only thing is, it can take until the next season gets here to fully go away, but that's really with any of the options. No matter what you do, the photo is out there and the rumors have flown. So now all of these fans are looking at you for answers. If you continue to remain silent about it though, the rumors will get worse and you will lose fans and you will look like a pervy creep. So which option is best for you Mr. McQueen, Lightning Sir?" Miranda asked and stared at Lightning. awaiting his answer.

Lightning's brows raised. He seemed and kind of was, clueless. He looked at Sally and asked. "Which do you think?" Sally shrugged, answering "Well not option two. I mean.. The attorney side, lawyer side of me says option two, but.. I don't like it very much. Option one seems a little aggressive, but then again.. This is a serious rumor.." "iT IS!" Miranda exclaimed! "So option three? We want to try and let it die off with one statement to it?" She asked. Lightning and Sally stared at each other a moment before Lightning sighed. "Yeah.. Option three." Miranda grabbed out her phone and replied. "Great! So all I really need from you Lightning is a statement about the rumor and photo." Sally then asked "So who took the photo?" Miranda shrugged and shook her head. "Oh some woman named Kori.. Somethin else. Some reporter that used to work with RSN." Lightning's eyes widened. "Kori?" "Yeah." Sally stared with concern. "You know her?" Lightning hesitated answering that. "Well.. She worked with RSN. Of course I.. Know her." He stuttered. Sally's brows lowered. She was suspicious. She crossed her arms then asked. "So who is the current reporter for RSN at the races sense you know one of the women that USE to work there.. I would think you would remember the name of the one seen at every race for the past month at least." Lightning got defensive. "Are you kidding me right now? You want me to name some person that I barely talk to?" "You seem to remember Kori." Sally snarled. Oh Lightning hated this. Sally's fucking jealous side was coming out and she was trapping him. Lightning breathed slowly and heavily once before answering "I don't know who is the current reporter for RSN right now. I only remember Kori because.. Becaaauuusseee..." He paused, trying to think of exactly what lie to say to his obviously angry girlfriend. "I... I.." "You slept with her, didn't you?" Sally asked rudely. Lightning shook his head, but answered. "Way before I met you." Miranda's eyes widened. She just sat there quietly. Sally snickered rudely and looked away with disgust. Lightning quickly defended. "BEFORE YOU! I never even knew you existed at the time. Don't get jealous!" "I'm not jealous!" Sally shouted. Lightning only back with "Than why the fuck are you angry!?" "I'm not! I just can't believe you are such a man whore!" "I can't help it!" Lightning admitted.

Miranda quickly butted in with "With the current rumor going around, I don't think this is an argument that the two of you should be having in a public motel..." Sally only snapped "It's my motel and will not be told how to speak under my own roof." Miranda just stared. Learning her place very quickly and clearly by the attorney. The agent nodded and looked down. No eye contact with Sally Carrera. Lightning sighed and explained. "I slept with Kori before I met you Sally. Besides, your tits are way better. And she has the flattest ass I've ever seen." Miranda shook her head and rubbed her eyes as the stress began. "OH for the love of Chrysler.. Mr. Lightning McQueen.. I will.. Recommend.. You stop speaking now and don't even ever talk about another woman's body right now.. You have a motel diner full of customers and fans and you've already grabbed attention after someone called you a man whore." Sally blushed. Lightning swallowed nervously as he realized the eyes on them all. Miranda rubbed her eyes again. SO stressed and thinking about how to fix this. "I think option two is now your best option here.. Hire Kori, apologize for whatever happened years ago.. Control her posts." "WHAT!?" Sally snapped! "I already have had to deal with Mia and Tia, I will NOT deal with another woman that he has slept with." Miranda looked at Sally and explained "I'm afraid you really don't have a choice. You are dating the number one race car driver in America, he... Has made his... Whatever alp around with the ladies. He is a bit of a.. Girl crush and you have to deal with it if you wish to pursue the relationship. You knew what he was and what he is and.. This is part of it. You will have to make many sacrifices to protect his image Miss Sally. Can you do that for him? Or would you rather drag his name in the mud? Along with everything he has become and worked for. Because I don't know if you ever actually looked up his racing records and reports and jobs he's had.. But I can tell you that I have not seen many celebrities work as hard as this one to get where he has."

Sally looked at Lightning. A little hurt and a little embarrassed. What did Miranda mean by sacrifices? Hadn't Sally sacrificed already for him? Maybe? Not.. Not really as she thought about it. Sally frowned and nodded with a "Yeah.. Okay." Lightning didn't like that. He didn't like seeing Sally give up. Because that's exactly how it looked. It looked like she just gave up a little inside on something. "No." Lightning growled. Miranda was confused. "No?" "No. Option three. I give one statement about the situation and ignore all others. Sally has taken enough shit on the track. I will not bring that shit into my house." Miranda stared a moment and thought about that. All the best outcomes and worse before nodding and replying. "Okay. We'll do whatever you like Lightning. You're the boss."...

The woman on screen smiled at the camera and began to read off paper..
"It's taken out of context,'' says famous race car driver Lightning McQueen. A photo came up a few days ago of Lightning holding a pregnancy test alongside a very young lady. The photo was posted with the claim that he was buying a pregnancy test for his under-age girlfriend or mistress. Lightning McQueen made a statement yesterday about it, explaining what actually happened and even scolded the press for posting what he calls.. Slander. Lightning McQueen said

'It's appalling that someone would take the photo and start such lies for no reason. It hurts knowing that I actually have fans who would think I would ever be that kind of human being as well. I thought people knew me better than that, I thought I have shown them better than that. That young lady was a fan who approached me in a store while I just so happened to have the test in my hand. We had a light and.. Pleasant conversation and that was it. I never saw her again. I love my girlfriend and I am very dedicated to her and only her. I would never cheat on Sally and I would never sleep with anyone under-age. That is not okay for the press, the reporter, the photo to even assume. It is slander and things like that can and have ruined peoples lives. This did not just hurt me and my name. It hurt my family, my friends, Sally. And these people who take pictures like this and start these horrible rumors are lucky I decided not to sue. I'm better than that, but sadly.. Some people aren't. It's people like them that make me not want to talk to any press whatsoever. Which in turn, hurts my fans and my career. Next time this happens I will not be so kind about it.'...

Sally shut off the tv and let out a sigh with a frown. Lightning noticed as he walked in and sat next to her on the couch. "You okay?" He asked. Sally looked at him and apologized. "I'm sorry if I haven't been sacrificing enough for you. I.. I never meant to"-"Woah, hold on. You sacrifice plenty. IS this about what Miranda said?" "Yeah.. But.. She's right. You have worked so hard to get where you are now and this sort of thing could ruin you for a long time or make it hard to see you as a likable person and here I was more worried about seeing some woman that you slept with before we even met! I am so sorry I act like that sometimes.." She looked away with embarrassment. Lightning snickered with a half smile, then pulled Sally's face up to look at him directly. "Oh Sally. It's one of the things I love about you. You are just too crazy for me." "WHAT!?" Sally snapped in awe. Lightning leaned back in his seat and only continued. "Oh I get it, it's okay. It must be hard for someone like you to be around a man that is.. So famous and has so many fans and.. Stuff." Sally snickered with a raised brow. "You kidding? It's so easy being with you." She teased. "Really?" Lightning asked. Sally nodded. "Oh yes Mr. McQueen. If I ever fear you might be straying away from me, all I have to do is lure you into the bedroom." Lightning sighed, agreeing. "You got me there." Sally giggled then scooted up and snuggled into the side of her boyfriend. "I love you Stickers." She cooed. Lightning kissed the top of her head and replied. "I love you Sal. Always and forever."

So to any fans reading this or.. Random story readers. I was very depressed recently. Crying a lot.. I have not even read messages or emails in well.. Weeks! I not very proudly drank a few nights. But I am getting better and partly through writing. When I read some negative things, I spiraled for some reason. Not anyone's fault, but my own. I have three chapters I will be uploading today. After these three, I am going to take the weekend off and come back hopefully strong. I am not in college now. I dropped out.. Probably for the best at the moment. I may return in fall. I bought a truck. I have worked on it some as a distraction. I sold one of my other trucks. Why? Because I felt like it and was drinking. For 300.. Bucks.. yup I sold my chevy silverado for 300 bucks.. I'm stupid. I have been watching very sad tv shows with horrible, pervy, depressed characters so that my life feels a little better. It works for some time, but eventually.. My life sucks again. And I think. Hmm. This is who I am now. But it's not and know that. I'm just depressed. I have read a book to help me and it has some. But.. Then I got back into this and writing is nice. Not for anyone but me and I need the imaginary world of distractions. So.. After these three chaps, I am moving forward into cars 2. Focusing on L and S and him purposing (Did i spell that right) and of course as asked . Fran and Sally's little fling. Yes, I can write it even after my current situation. I want to write it. I want to have a character feel fucking loved and I want to make sally feel so loved and like such a desirable woman that she feels like a dam queen. So fuck you depression. You can eat my fucking ass and leave with my foot up your ass. Thank you and have a great day readers! :) :) :) :) 333