It was a nice, sunny day in radiator springs. A small breeze blew through the rocks and plains, rustling up dirt but cooling the grateful inhabitants as well. Visitors had slowed to an smooth lull and Flo sat back easily enough as few customers were coming in. Sally had time to spare too, it seemed to be a ghost town that particular day, with a few stragglers coming in around noon. Mater had taken off to tow some Lemon from the state line and Fillmore had decided to tag along while Red was lightly watering his flowers and dancing around. Luigi set Guido up outside their store with the arrow sign again despite the lack of visitors, and Sarge sat with Lizzie while she played some of her old records. Lightning and Doc had gone to the dirt tracks for practice, passing by a grumpy Sheriff who woke up without any coffee.

All in all it was a very peaceful day.

And then the car rolled in.

It was an expensive black Lamborghini painted with realistic lightning bolt patterns along its hood and side, the number 48 stood out on the black with bold red lettering across the side. As it shut itself off Ramone opened up his shop door and stared in awe, but to be fair they all did. This was an expensive car to have, but the race number wasn't familiar, so it was up for debate whether this guy(or girl?) was a racer of not. The door opened and a tall, statue of a man stepped out. He was at least 6'1 with a strong jaw line and thick shoulders. His hair was a burnt-out looking red and his eyes were brown, his eyebrows were thick and graying at the edges. He was wearing a beat-up Racing Jacket with 48 across the back with several sponsor logos on it. A pair of Dog Tags shone in the sun and his black pants and combat boots completed the look to give him a rather intimidating air. He headed into Flo's V8 Cafe and Ramone and several others followed in curiosity.

He had sat down at the bar and ordered a simple plate of french fries and coffee, and as she cooked it she took her time to size up the man. He looked a bit like Doc with his laugh lines and crows feet, but held himself with an essence of arrogance and superiority that dug at her nerves. He smiled and laughed at any jokes she made, and she supposed she had judged too soon. Keeping up her waitress smile she slipped into 'Detective mode'.

"So, where are you from? You look like you've traveled a long way." His slicked-back hair had begun to fall into his face and the light purple bags underneath his eyes suggested an all-nighter to get here, if not more.

He grinned easily. "Born and raised in Kentucky, moved to Oklahoma when I was young, recently I've been out in Wyoming." He raised an eyebrow, "What about you?"

She shot him a look as if daring him to comment on her dark skin, but answered anyway, "I'm from Nevada."

He nodded in acceptance and continued to nibble on his fries, the bells on the door rung as the others tried to stealthily sneak in. He didn't even pass them a second glance.

"You a racer?" she asked, staring at him while she wiped down the counter. It was obvious he wasn't going to tell until she asked.

He chuckled gently, "Yes, I've actually one a couple of Piston cups myself. Lightning McQueen lives here, right? He's a big racing name now a days."

Flo smiled fondly, "Yeah. Kid was a mess of a man when I first met him. He's really improved himself since, and gotten around to winning 4 Piston cups. He's a great kid."

He swirled his coffee around in his cup, "Got any idea where I could find him? I haven't seen the kid in what seems like years..."

She blinked in confusion, "You know him?"

"Well, yeah." He grinned, "It'd be weird not to know my own son."

She almost dropped a cup in shock, "You're Lightnings dad!?"

He puffed out his chest a little in pride, "The one and only. Taught him everything he knows."

Still reeling from his confession she smiled weakly, "Well, he should be getting back real soon. He and Doc went out to the dirt track to practice. You could join them...?"

He shook his head, "I'm fine to wait, but if you don't mind me asking, are you that Sally girl?"

"Oh, no. My name if Flo! You haven't seen any pictures of them together?"

He smiled sheepishly, "I'm not exactly the best with technology, and it's been so long since Lightning has answered any of my phone calls..."

She nodded in understanding, but confusion pricked at the back of her mind. She sympathized with the technology thing as her own mother called her at least two times a week to ask her how to turn the laptop on, but she was in the dark about why Lightning would ignore his own Fathers phone calls... but she supposed that Lightning could get a little self-centered and arrogant. He had blatantly ignored calls from Sally and Mater, so she guessed his father wasn't any different. She frowned, a little upset at Lightning. His dad obviously cared about him, and it was cruel of him to ignore him for so long.

She also happened to know that Lightnings Mother had passed away when he was fifteen, so to ignore his father like that? How many days had he spent alone in his house leaving voicemails to a son who didn't care enough to reply? She thought Lightning had changed, but it seemed he still had a heartless streak in him...

"So... Uh, do you have a name...?"

"Oh my! How rude of me! My name is Donahue McQueen." He inclined his head in greeting, "Do you mind if I ask you to Introduce me to my son's sweetheart? I've been wanting to meet her ever since I saw her name!"

Sally, who had joined the group to spy on the man, stepped up and offered her hand, "That would be me! It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. McQueen."

He clasped her hand willingly and smiled, "Please, the pleasure is all mine! You seem like a fine young woman! I'm sure my son is treating you right?"

"Of course! He's a great guy and a romantic, I'm sure he gets that from you?"

He laughed short and sweet, "Far from it! My ideal date was a package of Chips Ahoy and the Lord of the Rings trilogy! He got all his romance from his mother," a sad look appeared in his eyes, "She was the one to make all the moves!"

Sally nodded solemnly, aware of how much he loved his wife. She could tell the pain was a dull ache in his chest, even after all these years...

Mater chose that moment to walk in with a jingle of the bells, he smiled brightly before jogging up, "Are you the guy with that cool car out there!?"

"Yes, Mater," Sally said, "and he's also Lightning father." Maters eyes got as big as dinner plates.

He blinked a couple of times, "There has been something I have always wanted to ask one of his parents!" He locked eyes with the man, "Is his name really Lightning?"

He blinked, "...It was a family name."

"Well, shoot! I never believed him!" Mater grinned, "Guess I'll have to apologize!"

Mater smiled for a second, before jumping a little and glancing down at his watch, "Lightning and Doc should be back in just a few minutes!" He informed him, "Did you ever race against the Hudson Hornet? He's Lightning's coach now, and he's won three Piston Cups!"

"I wasn't born yet when the Hudson Hornet was racing, but my dad and him were acquaintances back in the day." He grimaced, "Then he had that horrible crash and disappeared... My dad never tried to find him or anything. Hope he doesn't find that insulting or anything..."

"Oh, I'm sure Doc doesn't hold a grudge!" Sally reassured him, smiling.

"How old are you?" Flo asked, Lightning was only twenty-one, so his father couldn't be that old.

"Forty Five," He smiled lightly, "And I should still be racing, but after Lilies passing... I guess I lost the passion. I did teach Lightning some basic mechanical skills, though."

"Lightning's pulled up, if you wanna go out and see him! He's checking out your car right now." Ramone said as he stood up, "I'm gonna go look at it too. It's a really nice car!" He stepped out.

Draining the last bits of his coffee, Donahue brushed off his pants and squared his shoulders before slowly making his way outside.

"...re's a surprise for you in the Cafe, go look!" Lightning turned around and locked eyes with Donahue McQueen. His Father.

A smile stretched across his face and he jogged over and into his fathers arms. Wrapping his arms around the Veteran Racer he squeezed tight. He had missed his Father no matter how many calls he ignored. Besides, even if he was angry at him he definitely wouldn't make a scene in front of people. His Father would be mad and he'd get in trouble, but there was no time for thoughts like that. He just had to enjoy the visit while it lasted! Detaching himself from his father he smiled up at him, making eye contact then breaking it swiftly, but in those twinkling brown eyes he could detect hints of hostility. It seemed that his good attitude was too good to be true.

His Father hadn't let go yet, but he did continue to squeeze until he heard the faint whine of pain. Then he released him quickly and patted him heavily on the shoulder. Donahue found it tiresome to keep up the loving family act, but knew that if people found out about the way he punished his child then they would turn the whole situation around and make him the bad guy. He huffed internally, he just needed to get him alone! Then he could properly be a father to his misguided son.

"Hey Dad! I didn't know you were dropping by!" Blue eyes carefully avoided brown ones, he knew he wasn't supposed to look his father in the eyes. That meant defiance, and defiance meant punishment.

"Well, you would if you had bothered to pick up my calls!" He may have sounded cheerful, but anyone within earshot would have heard the undercurrent of malice in his tone.

"Lightning...?" Doc called, making his way up to his racer, "Who's this?" He made to place his hand on the rookies shoulder but paused halfway when Lightning jerked away.

Surprise colored Doc's features and Lightning turned red, "Don't sneak up to me like that! You scared me!"

Doc had announced his presence when he had walked up, so how did he...? He felt a stirring in his gut, the one that told him something wasn't right... But Lightning's Father was a nice man, he introduced himself formally and shared stories of racing with Doc. There was no dark intent and he didn't ask Lightning for money, so what was the problem? He decided to ignore the feeling, he was probably just shaken up at how he had known this kids father-who turned out to be Sammy "the Studebaker." No wonder he had bad feelings, Donahue resembled the one who had knocked him off the track in '54. Strange how Lightning had never made him feel an uncomfortable as his Father.

Then Donahue asked Lightning if he wanted to ride in his Lamborghini, and they were off to who knows where. They didn't comeback until far, far later into the night.