Disclaimer: I only own Aurora.

Author's note: My first attempt at a Cars story. Hope it's okay…

Chapter 1: Headlights

"Sheriff…"

Indistinct mumbling.

A grin from the red racecar.

"Sheriff!"

The police car jerked awake, eyes quickly opening as he backed up a few inches in surprise. "I wasn't sleeping! I was just… resting my eyes!" He turned to see the red #95 behind him, his eyes narrowing. "I should have known it was you, McQueen! For goodness sakes, boy; turn off your headlights- you'll give me away."

Lightning smiled good-naturedly as he obeyed, extinguishing his new headlights. "Doc sent me down to see how you're doing. Wants to make sure his repairs are holding up." Actually, he suspected that the older racecar had sent him to keep him busy, and simultaneously keep the Sheriff awake. Either way, it gave him something to do besides hanging out with Sally or Mater. Not that there was anything wrong with either of those.

"I'm just fine; Doc knows what he's doing," he grumped, his nap being disturbed.

"So, how's the traffic tonight?" he asked, peering down the dark road.

"Pretty slow. I thought your being here was supposed to bring in folks, not ward 'em off." The black and white vehicle returned to his post right behind the billboard.

"Don't worry," he assured. "I convinced Dale Earncar Junior to meet me at Flo's. His fans will come by the herd when they find out. And I think Tony Stewcart wanted to come check out Luigi's."

A grunt was the only reply he got. The Sheriff wasn't much of a racing fan.

Silence fell between them, and Lightning let his eyes drift along the ditch as he listened to the crickets. It was a fairly warm night, completely cloudless with innumerable stars overhead. A slight breeze made the sparse grasses wave. It was on nights like these he could imagine him and Sally sitting together on the cliff overlooking the valley, watching the moonlight play over the land formations, him scooting just a little bit closer to her when she wasn't looking-

Lights on the road ahead of them snapped him out of his pondering, the sound of a struggling engine becoming nearer. The lights came closer increasingly slower, beginning to dim.

"Must be drowsy," Sheriff murmured.

Soon the lights stopped advancing and were turned completely off. The engine killed.

This concerned the police car. He knew from experience that the engine usually stayed on when a car fell asleep on the road. Something was wrong.

"Something's not right…" Turning on his headlights, Sheriff pulled out and headed towards the car. Lightning followed.

It was a stunned silence that came over them as they both stopped, side by side, their headlights trained on the scene before them.

A Camry sat low on her tires, her eyes closed. She looked young- too young to be out on her own; perhaps fourteen. Judging by the numerous deep dents and almost crushed in roof, she had been in an accident and had rolled at least once. Oil dripped at a slow pace underneath her, leaving a sporadic trail behind her. Multiple scratches- some small, some huge- marred her pale paint. The largest one ran at an angle down her dented hood, taking off half the color. Lightning turned towards the direction she had come, lighting the trail of oil. It disappeared in the distance. She had gone quite a distance in this shape.

The police car rolled closer, gently nudging the unresponsive car. "Hey, kid! Can you hear me?"

A dull, unfocused eye cracked open. She didn't even seem to register his presence in the three seconds that passed before the eye closed again.

"Lightning!"

The racecar quickly turned towards Sheriff.

"Use that speed of yours- get back to town, send Mater, and let Doc know. We're gonna have to bring her right to him."

With a nod he took off, heading back full-speed to Radiator Springs.

A short time later…

"MATER!"

The tow truck in question looked up from his order Flo had just served him to see his best friend racing down the street towards him. He could tell from his expression that the reason he was coming was urgent and unpleasant. A bit worried, he set his drink aside and rolled forward. "Hey buddy; wut's goin' on?"

The racecar stopped in front of the café. "Sheriff and I found someone out near his post; she's unconscious and we need you to take her to Doc's!"

He straightened on his wheels. "I'm on mah way!" Looking towards Flo he nodded at his order. "I'll be back fer this." With that he sped off, going as fast as he could.

Flo glanced worriedly at Ramone, who sat nearby, before hurrying over towards Lightning. "What's going on?" she asked as her husband rolled up beside her.

"I'll explain later," he promised. "Right now I need to find Doc!" He drove off again, and the married couple watched him go, concerned.

It took him about ten seconds to near Doc's place, finding the lights on.

"DOC!"

The door opened as he pulled up, the dark blue racer coming out. He could tell it was serious by the tone of the younger car's voice and by the look in his eyes as he pulled up. He felt a rock of dread grow in his gas tank. Experience told him this wouldn't be good.

"What's wrong?"

He hurried into his explanation, beginning to lose his breath from all the running and talking he was doing. "Sheriff and I found a car near his post; looks like she was in an accident… I just sent Mater out to bring her to you!"

Doc opened the door and held it open. He knew that the younger racecar didn't handle panic well- what with how he reacted when he thought Sheriff was shooting at him- and knew that it would be best for him to take control of the situation… Starting with calming down Lightning. "Why don't you come on in and explain everything while I get my tools."

The next morning…

Azure eyes cracked open, squinting in the bright light. It took a few seconds for them to adjust. She ached everywhere. Where was she? The last thing she remembered was going down the road…

She felt a sudden stab of panic.

Where was he?

"Hey… How do you feel?"

The voice was female. And sounded gentle and concerned. Was he not here?…

Opening her eyes further, she found herself surrounded by five adult cars. One was an older dark blue car with wise blue eyes- he looked slightly familiar, but she couldn't remember where. Next to him was a police car about the same age. Next in line was an old, rusty tow truck; he looked rather goofy, with his hood missing and huge buckteeth. On the other side of the truck stood a younger, sleek red car that looked like he could be a racer- he had the number 95 on him in several places and what looked like a giant sticker of "Rust-eze Bumper Ointment" on his hood- and, like the dark blue car, he looked a bit familiar. Finally, at the other end of the line, was the only woman of the group- she was a pretty, sort of metallic light blue in color. All five of them were smiling at her gently. It freaked her out a little bit, but at the same time it reassured her.

She looked around. She was apparently in a garage; she was on a lift, but it had been lowered to the floor.

He was nowhere in sight.

She carefully rolled off the lift, stopping when the dark blue car spoke.

"You'll have to move slowly for a while," he cautioned. "You probably won't be able to do much traveling for a few days."

She blinked at him.

"My name is Doc Hudson, but most people call me Doc."

Accepting this, she looked at the others.

The tow truck was the first to speak. "Howdy! I'm Mater- like Tow-Mater!"

The red car beside him was next. "I'm Lightning McQueen. Sheriff-" he nodded towards the police car, "- and I were the ones that found you last night."

McQueen? That sounded familiar. Perhaps he was a famous racecar? She had always been compared to one; maybe this was him. But how did he find her when she was in the middle of nowhere?

"I'm Sally," introduced the female car. "I run the Cozy Cone Motel here in Radiator Springs. You're welcome to stay as long as you need while you recover."

She looked over each of them. Doc Hudson, Sheriff, Mater, Lightning McQueen, and Sally. And she was in someplace called Radiator Springs. Right. Maybe she was dreaming?

Sheriff suddenly spoke. "I'll need your name for the records."

She blinked at him, then looked around. No writing materials. This would be harder than she first thought. Turning back to the group, she half-shrugged- even that brought a sharp pain to her chassis.

Mater looked concerned. "Can't y' remember?"

She nodded, slowly.

Doc's eyes narrowed slightly in care and thought. "You can't talk, can you?"

Her eyes dropped to the floor and she shook her head. He had always used that as ammunition against her whenever he went on another one of his tirades. She almost expected the same from these strangers; she was so used to it.

"Poor thing…"

It was pure surprise at the tone that made her look up at Sally. Was that… sympathy?

"I'm sure we'll find some way to understand what you want to say," encouraged the racecar.

Mater suddenly grinned. "I know! Why dontcha just write down what y' want ta say? That way we can read it an' stuff!"

The other four brightened to varying degrees. "Great idea, Mater!" agreed Sally. "I can take her down to the Cozy Cone and get her a notepad."

"An' me an' Lightnin' can tell Ramone an' Flo she's here; since she'll need ta eat an' get her paint fixed."

"Give her a day or two before she does anything too exciting," reminded Doc. "She'll be sore where the dents were, so it'd be best to wait a little while for the paint."

This didn't seem to dampen the enthusiasm that had settled over the group. Sally backed up and drove around the group to pull up beside her. "Come on; let's get you settled in and find something you can write with."

At the Cozy Cone…

The drive down to the motel usually didn't take long, but it took Sally and the new girl almost twice as long to get there, since the injured vehicle had to move slower. Once they finally arrived the Porsche ran into her office, coming out with a notepad and pen attachment.

"Left or right?" she asked.

She raised her right tire.

The elder car attached the pen to the hub of the wheel and held the notepad for her as she wrote. Once she was done she rolled back a bit and let Sally read it.

Aurora.

"Aurora?" she asked, not comprehending.

The Camry rolled forward again.

That's my name.

"Oh! Aurora. That's pretty."

She shyly scuffed the pavement beneath her left front tire.

Sally smiled. She would have to introduce her to Red sometime. They'd get along great. "When you're ready to turn in for the night, I have cone number two all set up for you. Just let me know and I'll open it for you. For now, how about a trip to Flo's? She serves some great fuel!"

A slight nod with eager eyes was the response. Poor kid must have been starving; who knew how long ago her last stop was before her accident.

As they set out, Sally couldn't help but to remember back to when she had first come to Radiator Springs. She had been lost, hungry, hurt, and a little bit frightened. But the folks in the small town took care of her- they fixed her up, gave her some fuel, and found her a place to stay. They made her feel welcome and accepted; it was for those reasons she had decided to stay permanently. She had wanted to make sure that everyone that came to the sleepy town got the same treatment- that they felt taken care of.

Who knows; perhaps Aurora would end up making the same choice. Once she grew up, of course.

To be continued…

Author's Note: That's it for this chapter. Let me know what you think; I'll try to crank out another one as fast as I can.

And Tony Stewcart? Eh; what can I say. -waves "GO TONY GO" flag-