Disclaimer: All recognisable characters belong to Pixar. All OC's belong to me.

Chapter 1

Late one evening in Radiator Springs, Doc and Sherriff were quietly talking outside Doc's clinic, reminiscing on the old days, when they heard the distant growl of an approaching engine. Sherriff frowned.

"If that's them delinquent road hazards, I'll impound them for a month!" He revved his engine, preparing for a chase.

At that moment, someone screamed. Then Mater raced over the rise coming into town, screaming like a banshee.

"It's gonna git me! Help! Someone!" And with that, Mater raced all around the town as fast as he could.

Seconds later, Lightning McQueen also raced into the town. "Mater! Stop!" he shouted as he skidded to a stop outside Flo's café.

But Mater didn't hear him. Panicked, he drove blindly, heading straight for Lightning. Lightning stood his ground, but at the last second, he ducked out of the way, leaving poor Mater to crash into a large pile of oil cans and one of the supports holding up the café's roof. Mater remained still, with his eyes closed, gasping for air. By now, the whole town had come alive, and everyone had gathered around to watch the scene. Lightning cautiously approached his friend.

"Mater? I'm sorry. I didn't know you'd believe me like that. I thought you knew that Frank can't escape out of his paddock."

Mater groaned as he pulled himself upright. "Then how comes I heard dat there fence breaking?"

"It was just me. I ran over a piece of wood." Seeing that Mater was okay, Lightning started to laugh. "You should've seen your face when I told you that Frank had escaped! Oh, boy! That was priceless!"

Doc approached the group. "Okay everyone. Excitement's over. You can all go back to sleep." He turned to Mater and Lightning. "Except for you two," he growled.

Lightning looked sheepishly down at the ground. Doc waited until everyone else had gone before he continued.

"At least I now know why you're always so tired in the mornings, Lightning. And here I was thinking that you were coming down with something. Get back to bed. Now!" Doc turned to Mater. "And as for you, Mater. You're not to go tractor tipping with Lightning ever again without my permission, understood?"

"Yes, Doc," Mater whimpered.

"I won't have you two scampering off in the middle of the night. What if Lightning crashed? It could put him out for a whole season. You need to start taking better care of yourself, kid, if you want to have any chance of winning your first Piston Cup. Well, why are you still standing around here? Go! Now!"

Lightning obediently hurried over to his home behind the racing museum. Mater gulped, before heading over to the junkyard that was his home. Doc returned to Sherriff.

"I'm going to turn in too," he said.

"Honestly, Doc, I don't know what we'd do without you; especially when it comes to them two. I don't know who else could keep them in line."

Doc sighed. "They both respect me. That's why they listen to me. Goodnight."

"'Night."

Early the next morning, Doc watched on as Lightning put in his morning laps down at Willy's Butte. The young race car hadn't been able to stop yawning all morning. Doc shook his hood. Unless the kid woke up properly, he could crash.

"That's enough, kid," Doc finally said through Lightning's radio. "Go and get yourself something to eat."

Lightning stopped in front of Doc. "I'm really sorry about last night, Doc," he said. "I didn't know Mater was going to react the way he did."

"That's beside the point. It may be your off season from racing, but you've still got to adhere to my schedule if you want to win this season. As punishment, you're going to bed at nine tonight."

"But that's way too early!" Lightning protested.

"Not for a racer, it isn't," Doc growled, just as Lightning yawned again. "Look at you! You can barely keep your eyes open as it is. Now get going to Flo's. I'll meet you there."

Scowling, Lightning took off towards town. Doc let out a long sigh. Lightning was a good kid, but he seemed to enjoy being somewhat rebellious. He frowned as a thought struck him. He was old, and he knew he wouldn't be around for much longer. Who would take care of Lightning once he was gone? The kid needed guidance and a firm wheel. That made him wonder something else. What had happened to Lightning's parents? He'd never mentioned his family, and it made Doc wonder if he even had one.

With these thoughts in his mind, Doc returned to town. Lightning was with the rest of the Radiator Springs' residents having their breakfast at Flo's. Doc headed inside his home behind his clinic, and he switched on his computer. It was time for him to do some research into Lightning's past. He wondered why he'd never done it before.

His search for 'Lightning McQueen' brought up more than a hundred thousand references. The first website was Lightning's official page. While it wasn't managed by Lightning, Doc knew there was nothing about his past on it – certainly not before he became the face of Rust-Eze. Doc decided to narrow his search. He added the word 'childhood' into the search engine after Lightning's name. This search brought up only twenty references. Doc's eyes widened in surprise. For someone as famous as Lightning, it seemed strange that his childhood was almost non-existent. He clicked on the first link.

The link brought up a copy of a newspaper article. The title read 'Multi-Millionaire Murdered'. Doc was about to click out of it, when he noticed the word 'McQueen' in the first paragraph. He decided to read the article.

Multi-Millionaire Murdered

19 May, 1998

Late last night, residents in the Daimler Building in Manhattan were awakened by the sound of a single gunshot. When the emergency services arrived at the penthouse, they discovered the body of Mr Blaze McQueen on the lounge room floor, with his ten-year-old son nearby. It is not known if Master McQueen witnessed the murder, but he was immediately taken to hospital suffering deep shock. It has since emerged that Master McQueen had just returned home from hospital that same day after undergoing a minor operation.

Mr McQueen was a well-loved member of the community whose fortune is estimated at 53 million dollars. He made his fortune in the stock market and real estate. His wife, Elinor, was not home at the time of the murder, but security footage showed that she did not leave the Daimler building at all that evening, however it is unclear exactly where she was at the time of her husband's death. As of this morning, the police are questioning Mrs McQueen. The police have not yet released the names of any suspects, but they are treating Mr McQueen's death as a murder.

Doc back up a little after reading that article. "Whoa!" he whispered. "No wonder the kid never mentioned his parents. How terrible for him!"

Returning to the search results, Doc took a look at the rest, but they didn't tell him anything else. They were all about the murder, but only one of them mentioned Lightning by name, no doubt to try and shield him from the press. Just as he was about to give up, Doc stumbled across another newspaper article with the heading, 'McQueen Estate Heir Sues Uncle'.

Doc clicked on the article.

McQueen Estate Heir Sues Uncle

9 January, 2003

The fifteen-year-old son of Mr Blaze McQueen (deceased) and Mrs Elinor McQueen, has reportedly sued his uncle and guardian, Peter Piston, for embezzling the fortune left to him by his father when he was murdered by his wife five years ago.

Mrs McQueen was found guilty of murdering her husband after he was found dead from a single gunshot wound in their penthouse apartment. Mrs McQueen has always denied any involvement, but was sentenced to ten years imprisonment. Master McQueen was placed in the care of his aunt and uncle, Mr and Mrs Piston until an incident two months ago, when Master McQueen discovered that his uncle had been embezzling his inheritance. Master McQueen has since been placed in the care of another aunt, Miss McQueen.

"The embezzling began five years ago, shortly after my client inherited his father's wealth and went to live with Mr and Mrs Piston," Master Lightning McQueen's attorney said to the press. "Mr Piston decided to start taking the money that had been placed in trust to him until Master McQueen's eighteenth birthday. I have been the McQueen family's attorney for almost twenty years, so naturally I was shocked by the events which took place once Master McQueen uncovered the embezzling. He is now safe in the care of another relative."

The case continues on Friday.

Doc shook his hood. "Unbelievable!" he muttered under his breath. "What a lot for him to have to go through!"

With a weary sigh, Doc left his office and he headed over to Flo's. "Sally?" he called.

The flashy Porsche turned to face him. "Yes, Doc?"

"Come into my office for a moment, please. I want to have a word with you in private." He saw Lightning start to follow Sally, so he gave him a cold glare. "Alone," he growled.

Lightning hesitated, before returning to his breakfast. Sally followed Doc inside his office.

"What is it, Doc?"

"I need you to put your lawyer's hat on for this one. Put all your personal emotions aside."

"Is this about Lightning?"

"Yes."

"Okay then."

"I want you to do a bit of digging and see if you can find out if you can track down any of Lightning's relations apart from his uncle, Peter Piston."

"Sure, but why?"

"I'm not going to be around forever, Sally, and I want to know that someone will be watching out for him after I'm gone."

"I can do that."

"I know, but he needs a father-figure in his life. Just for a few more years until he's fully mature. He still does silly things without thinking, and I'd hate to see him get hurt."

"He's more likely to get hurt on the racetrack."

"I know. But I just want someone else watching out for him, that's all. So, can you do it, please?"

"Sure, I suppose so. I take it you don't want Lightning to know about this?"

"Not yet. See if you can find either of his aunts, Miss McQueen or Mrs Piston, and his mother. She's in a prison somewhere."

Sally's eyes widened for a moment. "Okay then," she said, and she left the office.