Radiator springs

(So I'll make this au, where Doc is still fully alive and were with McQueen throughout the cars 2. and after the movie, this place took 4 years. in a race on California. McQueen didn't lost, he win 2nd place. but well he didn't care about it and seemed proud, the others were cheering for him. which is all of the radiator springs town. his family.)

The drive to Harv’s Los Angeles office usually took about five hours in Mack’s sleeper cab Mack Trucks, but today every mile felt heavy. Lightning stared out the rain-streaked window, his jaw tight. He had just come off the biggest disappointment of his early career: the race on the california. He had missed the Piston Cup lost by a fraction of a second Piston Cup. But 2nd place was a podium finish. It was something to build on. but McQueen didn't mind at all, he seemed happy. while his family cheered for him, even Doc seemed proud.*)

Harv didn't see it that way.

"The agency is taking a forty percent hit on endorsements because you choked, kid," Harv had barked over the phone two days ago. "Get your rear end up here. We need to restructure."

Lightning shifted on the leather bench, the dull ache of the race still in his muscles. In this human AU, Radiator Springs had become his sanctuary, and Doc had been his anchor. Back in the sleepy desert town, the whole town had been the only one who didn't look at Lightning with pity or disappointment. The old mentor—who, in this timeline, had survived his health scares and remained a grumpy but fiercely protective figure—had tried to put his foot down.

Doc and Sally the only one who seen the bad side of Harv, the way he treated Lightning, it was too harsh.

"He's a two-bit manager, Lightning," Doc had growled, leaning on his cane on the porch of the clinic, his eyes sharp and assessing. "You don't jump just because he whistles. Let him come to us instead."