Human!Lightning McQueen x Reader (Title TBD)

Confronting Doc

2/3/24
(A/N: Someone wanted some angst, you're getting some angst! Enjoy!)

After staying up in the mountains for about a half hour more, an encounter of mostly silence with very little small talk thrown in at random, you and the rookie finally headed back down to town. It was sunset by this point. The ride was also fairly calm and silent as well, neither of you not really knowing what to say. At the very least, a few jokes were cracks and a few smooth maneuvers were pulled to keep the mood light.

However, the current state of Radiator Springs was the exact opposite of the peace and quiet, for the two of you arrived to an insane amount of ruckus. Cows were running amok, stampeding throughout the small town and messing with everyone's businesses and livelihoods.

"What in the world is going on here!?" You shouted in alarm as you leaped out of your car in an instant. McQueen got out too, though much slower than you as he was less full of alarm and instead more incredulous.

"Mater!" Sheriff could be heard yelling out in a very angry tone.

"I wasn't cow-tipping!" Mater replied frantically, his voice trembling from the Sheriff's deep boom of a voice. He was running around with a lasso swinging above his head as he ran after a cow or two.

"Then where did all these gosh darn cows come from!?"

"Aw, rats." You groaned as you ran further into the heart of the town, ready to help out. McQueen's presence was completely ignored by you at this point, which was understandable as you had far more pressing matters to deal with.

McQueen chuckled at the scene unfolding before his eyes, and he started to jog after you until a lone wayward cow caught his eye. "Hey! Hey, guys! There's one going this way!" He called out, but everyone was far too occupied with the countless other cows stampeding around the town to notice. "...I got it!"

McQueen followed the cow around for quite some time, far out of the town and into the more deserted expanse of the valley towards Willy's Butte. He was trying his best, but since he was not a natural born country boy and had no lasso of any sort to boot, there wasn't much McQueen could do. In fact, he was a little scared of the cow. He knew they could turn from gentle to rough, powerful beasts in seconds, and at one point it seemed like the foe was ready to trample him into the ground when he had gotten too close.

"No, no, no, no, come here." McQueen quietly, and very patiently, pleaded with the cow as it continued to trot further away from him. "What are you doing? You're not supposed to go wandering off all-" The racer came to an immediate pause when something caught his eye, letting the cow continue to run off freely. Down the bank of Willy's Butte, sitting on the dirt track, was Doc with his old blue car. He was fiddling with the front passenger side tire. "-alone..." The racer finally finished his thought.

Upon closer inspection, he saw the tires were far from average. They were old, but reminded him of the Lightyears on his race car. Those tires were definitely racing tires, though of a different age and purpose than his. "What are you doing with those old racing tires?" McQueen muttered to himself, crouching down to better conceal himself in the thin shrubbery on the bank.

He watched Doc slowly rise from his kneeling position, take just a second to inspect his car, and cautiously climbed into the driver seat. The old man raised his hands to the wheel, but made no further moves. He didn't even turn the car on. All he did was sit there, staring down tiredly at the dirt path ahead of him.

"Come on, Doc..." McQueen whispered to himself, eager to see his idol, the racer of legend, give him even the slightest peak into his former self. "Drive!"

As if hearing the rookie's pleas, Doc finally started the engine. The car weakly trembled to life, sounding older than McQueen was himself and making a lot of unfortunate-sounding clunks, rattles, and sputters. A concentrated look appears on Doc's face as he floored it, his car speeding down the dirt path at a much faster speed than one would expect from his old car, especially with how it sounded starting up just seconds before. Talk about whiplash.