Once again, Doc glanced up at the clock on the wall. It was Nearly midnight, and Lightning still hadn't returned. Doc had alternated between watching the window and watching the clock, growing more and more anxious as the hours ticked by. His knew that Lightning was pretty steamed, and that the kid would want to take some time to himself, and under any other circumstances he would have accepted that. But Lightning was still recovering. He had only just begun to take short drives around town, and now he had decided to disappear without a trace. There was no way to contact him because there was no way no know where he had gone. If the kid had gotten in trouble, then he was on his own.

Mirroring his mood, the weather began to change for the worse. Raindrops started to smack Doc's windowpane, carried by the harsh wind. Making up his mind, Doc left the clinic with a sigh, and began to head for Sheriff's house.

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Doc, Sheriff, and Sally had all gone down the highway to search for Lightning. At every exit, they would search the town for the bright red race car. By the time they had searched the 5th town, Doc's anxiety was reaching a critical level. He was worried out of his mind. Surely Lightning wouldn't be so foolish as to stay on the highway all night while recovering from a serious injury.

"Maybe he's gone back home?" Sally asked anxiously. She had to shout to be heard over the thundering rain. "We could have easily missed him going the other way while were checking out the towns."

Sherriff nodded. "Sally's right. I'm sure that he's either turned in at a motel or made his way back to Radiator Springs. I know Lightning's a little headstrong, but only a complete idiot would be driving out in this weather."

At this point all three cars heard the telltale rumble of engines working at full power. They looked up eagerly, only to let their faces drop in mutual disappointment at the sight of who Sherriff called "The Delinquent Road Hazards" heading towards them. The four brightly Neon colored cars were driving all over the road at top speed, blasting music at such a volume that it could clearly be heard over the storm.

Sherriff rolled his eyes. "I rest my case. You two go on without me, I've got to make sure these folks get registered in Sarge's next boot camp." With a grumpy grumble, Sherriff turned on his sirens and chased after them.

Doc sighed. "All right. I don't much fancy trying to drive back in this weather, let's head to the next town and see if we can find a place to stay for the night. We'll try to call the diner and see if Lightning made it home safe. If not, then we'll have to wait until tomorrow." Sally quickly agreed, and the two managed to rent two rooms for the night at a nice-looking motel called "The Comfy Cadillac".

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It was a restless night for everyone. Doc had called Flo's twice with no success, Lightning hadn't come back. When dawn finally came and the storm had let up, Doc and Sally decided that it was time to go back home.

Doc was silent the whole trip, only offering the occasional grunt to Sally's frequent reassurances that Lightning must have found himself a motel to stay in as well, and surly he would be back in radiator springs before they got back. He hoped that she was right of course, but he was far too worried to share her optimism. By the time the two cars passed the sign for Radiator Springs, Doc's worry had worked itself into frustration. He understood that Lightning was upset and needed space, but that didn't mean that he had to take it out on the rest of the town. Doc wasn't the only one worried about him, after all. Sally was chatting herself into a nervous frenzy, trying to distract herself from her anxiety for Lightning. He had told her and Sherriff about his past on the drive there, and neither had spoken a word about it yet. Doc was just grateful that they hadn't left him to continue the search party on his own.

Doc drove sally to the door of the Cozy Cone, thanked her for her help, and agreed that if Lightning didn't show up by noon, they would head out again and continue their search. However, that proved to be unnecessary.

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Just as he had promised, Chick had given the reporters a juicy story to work with.

"That's tight Darrel, I can hardly believe it myself!" exclaimed a sleek blue Ferrari "World renown race car the Hudson Hornet has been revealed as a world renown MENACE!. Is this the kind of image that up-and-coming- Lightning McQueen wants to have associated with him?"

"I honestly don't know if McQueen even knew about Hudson's past," the car named Darrel commented from Doc's television. "I mean, If I did, I certainly wouldn't have him as a crew chief, let alone a mentor. Who would want to be seen with a car that had a criminal background like that? I don't care what the court records say, what that car did was aggravated assault, plain and simple. I might even go so far as to call it attempted murder!"

The screen had cut to an old newspaper image of a young Farley Rae, pre-accident. The headline only said "Rookie Rae Out for the Racing Season Due to Unfortunate Accident" The text of the paper was too small to read, but Doc already knew the story it told. Less than a paragraph was devoted to Farley and how his racing career had been put on hold while he was in the garage for the season. The paper never mentioned how severe his injuries were or how he had obtained them. His father had seen to that. Judge Hudson had somehow managed to muzzle the press regarding the incident; undoubtedly by means of intimidation or even bribery. Anything to protect his boy.

Doc groaned inwardly. He had reluctantly turned on his small television set once he'd come home, knowing that the sooner he found out what he was dealing with, the better. He had, perhaps foolishly, still clung to a small piece of hope that Chick had been bluffing, or that the media might not run the story. He knew that he didn't deserve any such graces, but he couldn't help but wish for the impossible when his world was suddenly so unsteady.

"All I can say is if the boy did know, this would be the end of his career as a racecar. Ever since Mr. Hicks announced his story to the press last night, we've had reports that the National Raceboard has been receiving phone calls demanding the immediate resignation of Doc Hudson as McQueen's Crew Chief. Nobody wants this car anywhere near the track. We've even had a few phone calls into the studio this morning suggesting that Lightning should resign as well, in case he's been corrupted by Hudson's influence. I mean, who knows what this car has been teaching him?"

"I think it's pretty clear that some of the Hornet's attitude has rubbed off on his young protégé," the Ferrari said enthusiastically, "just look at this footage taken mere hours before Chick confronted Lightning and his crew about his concerns."

Doc couldn't help but cringe as he watched Chick get slammed into a wall by Lightning when the kid ordered him to get out of town. If it weren't for him, Lightning's actions wouldn't be all that noticeable to the public. After all, put two competitive hot-headed athletes in the same space, they're bound to show aggression, to see how far they can push each other and rattle the competition. This was standard in the racing community, and Lightning's little shove against the wall was hardly newsworthy. But coupled with Chick's story about Doc nearly murdering Farley Rae, the video looked pretty bad.

Doc had seen enough. He began to turn off the T.V,. intending to take a couple laps around Willy's Butte, when he heard a noise from behind him.

Doc turned, and a rather muddy red sports car met his gaze.

Lightning was wearing a pained expression, but didn't look away. Forgetting the reporters for the moment, Doc allowed the relief he felt at seeing Lightning sweep over him. He may be treading dirt and grime over his floor, but he was alive, and as far as he could tell, he wasn't hurt. Not sure where they stood at this point, Doc waited for Lightning to take the lead.

But Lightning didn't seem to be able to speak. The stood, silently, for nearly two minutes before Doc broke the silence.

"Are you alright?"

"I'm fine" Lightning answered quickly. He then cast his gaze to the floor. A pause.

Doc tried again. "Have you let Sally know that you're back yet?"

"Not yet." Another pause.

"Well…if you'd like to talk, maybe we could do it after you let her know that you're alive? Poor girl's been worried sick all night." He tried not to let any anger leak out into his words. If only he had let her know where he was going, then he could have stormed off wherever he pleased. He knew that Lightning was angry, but his actions were very unfair to Sally.

Lightning cringed. "I didn't meant to…I promise I'll talk to her in a minute, I just need-" Lightning drew a deep breath and closed his eyes. "Doc-, Doc I'm sorry. I shouldn't have run off like that."

Doc raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Lightning, you had a pretty dammed good reason to want some space. I deserve every scrap of anger that you throw at me, and I'm not the one who needs your apology."

Lighting was finally able to meet Doc's eyes again. "Yes, yes you do. You and Sally, and anyone else that I worried with my little stunt. It was stupid, really stupid. I wasn't thinking about anyone but myself."

Doc tried to interrupt, but was intercepted by Lightning. "I asked you to come to me if you had any problems, and at the first test of loyalty I abandoned you. I know it's no excuse, but I was just so shocked, I lashed out.

Doc's guilt began to eat up at him with a vengeance. "Lightning, I really don't need you to apologize, not to me. Not after what I've done, and-"

But Lightning interrupted firmly, "You aren't that same car any more, and that's why I can forgive you. Look, Doc, I know...I know that it isn't easy…confessing, especially when it's something so bad. And it was bad, but it doesn't change who you are to me now. I don't want to fight, and I want to be here for you once the press gets a hold of this. And…I'd hope that if our roles were reversed, if I ever did anything stupid like that, that you would stand by me too."

Doc went quiet. He didn't let himself begin to hope that Lightning was sincere, and not just speaking out of guilt for running away. Perhaps it was selfish, but he just wanted a little more time, just one last night of peace between everyone closest to him before his past caught up with him, and the world. He wouldn't argue with Lightning; wouldn't tell him he was wrong to put so much faith in him. While there wasn't anything that he wouldn't do for Lightning, it was definitely past time for him to step back from him and his career. Maybe he could still help him train, just not publicly. Those people on the news were right, he couldn't afford to be an active part of Lightning's life anymore, not if he wanted to keep racing. But that conversation could wait.

All he could do was shake his head before leading Lightning to the door. "Come on," he said. "Let's let Sally know you're not dead in a ditch."

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Doc had let Lightning face Sally in the Cozy Cone alone, and as he heard her shouted swearing get more and more creative from the parking lot, he could tell he made the right choice. Leaving the area with a grimace, Doc began the short drive to Flo's.

The diner was empty except for Sherriff. Doc parked next to him and told him the news about Lightning's return.

"But he doesn't want to come back home with you?" Sherriff asked quietly.

Doc shook his head. "Naw, Sally offered him a room at the Cone and he couldn't accept fast enough. I don't blame him. Heck I wouldn't be surprised if he wanted nothing more to do with me. Come to think of it, I wouldn't be surprised if you didn't wasn't anything to do with me." Doc let out a huge breath. "I really blew it this time, Sherriff. Ain't no turning back now"

Sherriff gave Doc a gentle smile. "Hey, he came back, didn't he? It'll take time. People have a tendency to get upset when they discover their hero isn't perfect.

Doc snorted. Some hero he turned out to be.

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The next morning, Doc woke up to Sherriff pounding at his door. He knew it was Sherriff because nobody else in town was bold enough to disturb Doc at six am on a Sunday. Not fully awake yet, Doc Grumpily made his way to the door to let him in. The expression on his face let Sherriff know he had better have a good excuse for the intrusion.

Sherriff was practically gasping. "Doc, have you seen the news about Chick?

Doc cringed. "Yup, last night. So I suppose the whole town knows by now, eh?

"Last night? No Doc, this just came out this morning!" Sherriff barked with exasperation, "Doc, this isn't about Farley, this is worse. He's gone missing! Nobody's seen Chick in two days!"