You Might Think

These are supposed to be a continuation of "Our Town", and what happened after. It shows that it took quite some time for everything to go back to the way it was before, explaining the stuff that happened in the sequel. And once again, there will be spoilers for Cars 2 in later chapters.

Normal

As Lightning groggily pried his eyes open, glancing tiredly around his designated Cone Number One, he realized something. Not only was he awaken by the usual sound of a trumpet playing, but also an electric guitar rendition of Star-Spangled Banner, the same sounds he awoke to every morning in Radiator Springs, but there was the detrimental lack of arguing, particularly from Fillmore and Sarge. The music continued to drift through the town, seeming void without the constant bickering that followed it. Lightning looked out his window with a sigh. He knew that after the loss of Doc, it would take a while for things to get back to normal.

Replacement

"I mean, what're we going to do, we need a doctor," Sheriff muttered grudgingly. It was later in the evening at the café, the town's residents gathered around the police cruiser. "but no one could eva' be a better doctor than Doc hisself!" Mater protested proudly, hood rising.

"We know that, Mater, but fact is, we need a doctor," Sally explained. "Heck, I could be doctor!" Ramone cried suddenly, rising up on his axles. There was a moment of silence before the Sheriff spoke again, "you know, that might not be such a bad idea,"

"What, really?"

This time Sally cut in, "yeah, after all, you're already familiar with all the tools and procedures." Lightning spoke suddenly, a large smirk on his face, "plus, you can give all of your patients a paint job when you're done,"

Will

"Ya found his what?" Mater queried incredulously, eyes wide as hubcaps as he looked over at the paper held under Sally's tire. "His will," the Porsche murmured, gaze locked on the pristine white paper. She quickly scanned over the paragraphs of writing in a few minutes, when she stopped abruptly and tore her eyes away, looking up at the stock car next to her, "Stickers, you might want to read this,"

Lightning slowly reached out a tire and took the paper, bringing it towards himself, a quizzical look on his face that immediately disappeared once he began reading.

I can safely assume that Sally was the one who started reading this, so if you could turn this over to the kid. Anyhow, in case you aren't here when I finally croak, I just want to say that you'd better not quit racing. If that thought so much as crosses your mind, I'll cross back over and put you over myself. You keep on racing, kid, and make sure that no one else wins a Piston Cup.

Once he finished reading, Lightning slowly looked up from the paper, a distant look on his face that slowly turned into a determined one. He would win those Piston Cups, there was no doubt about that now, and make Doc proud. And he knew that those trophies weren't for him, nor would they ever be.

Highway

Lightning drove down the stretch of road, seemingly endless in the great expanse of dirt and sand surrounding it. There were no streetlights or stop signs hindering his speed, and once he left the outskirts of Radiator Springs, he accelerated tenfold, until he was going far beyond the speed limit. These drives became more and more common as the days past, one of the only ways the stock car was able to clear his head, and simply let go. His worries would fade, at least for a while, until his drive ended several hours later. The residents of Radiator Springs were aware of these sometimes daily drives, and didn't comment on them. They all had some way to cope with their loss, and left the race car to his own.

Manage

In the few weeks following Doc's death, the town of Radiator Springs changed, though not many would notice it. Luigi stopped pestering people to buy his tires, Guido didn't obsess over the one tire that kept moving every time a sign touched it, and both Sarge and Fillmore didn't fight (at least not noticeably) for an entire week. Red became even more silent, if that was possible, and Mater didn't go tractor tipping for a while, two weeks actually. Flo seemed to lose her cheer, the Sheriff his gruff, disciplinary attitude, and Ramone even lost the will to paint himself every morning. Lightning took long drives in the middle of the night, taking hours to return home. Lizzie remained relatively the same. Yet they all managed, and soon things were nearly back to the way they were, the tourists visiting Radiator Springs hardly noticing a thing.

I'll update as soon as I can, so until then….review please!

~oh, and special thanks to everyone that reviewed and favorite-d "Our Town"

~I am required to say that I don't own anything~