I gave Dad a smile, a few tears slipping.

That was me, racing with the Doc Hudson.

It hurt to swallow, thinking about his death.

"I never even got to say "Goodbye"..." I spoke, trailing off. Dad frowned a little.

"He would've been really proud of you, Alex." he responded.

"I would have been proud of him." I said.

I looked to him.

"Can you just...give me a minute?" I asked. "I think I just need to think, let this process..."

"Oh..yeah, yeah, sure," he answered, seemingly confused. "Take your time."

He drove out of the barn, shutting the door behind him.

I watched the sunlight slowly dissolve away from inside, then turned to Doc's old crash poster.

Stop before you get to the end, I thought back. Not when you're at it.

Turning towards the door, I closed my eyes.

"Speed." I whispered to myself.

"I. Am. Speed."

---

Jackson's P.O.V:

Our next race was at Salina Highbanks Speedway, in Oklahoma. It was the fifth race of the season.

I hadn't seen Alex around anywhere, and I brushed it off, thinking she'd be late.

I didn't realize she got to Salina before I did. I checked her pit, and there she was, with her crew.

Her dad was a different color. I gave his new, blue paint a smirk.

"Fabulous Lightning McQueen," I called to him, on his stand as crew chief for the McQueens. "I like it, Old Man!"

"Good." someone said.

I knew that voice.

Out she came, Number Ninety-Six. She was the same, navy blue color as her dad. Her number was painted in gold.

It's safe to say I was blown away.

"You like it?" she asked.

I couldn't speak.

"Wouldn't expect the Mr. 2.0 to be as fond of such an old style." she teased. I smirked.

"Good, 'cause I don't like it." I said.

She looked as if she'd seen a ghost.

"I love it."

---

Alex's P.O.V:

The new paint had been my idea. It was my tribute to Doc. After all, he had been the reason I loved racing, and I didn't want to forget him, ever again.

Red and Yellow were my home colors. I admit it, but Doc was a grandfather in my eyes.

He was an inspiration.

I gave Jackson a smile. For a minute, I thought he would diss me off for changing colors.

We met at the starting line, and I could tell that Darrell was excited for another race.

"Looks like someone got a new paint job!" he announced. "Is that Alex?"

"You bet it is, Darrell," said Bob. "And, after a week like this week, she's become more of an inspiration than anyone I could think of!"

"Why's that, Bob?"

"Alex may have been the only racer to speak what every other racer has been thinking for years," Bob informed. "Boy, did she take a stand to a good crowd of cameras and notebooks!"

"Shoot, she done deserved to!" Darrell exclaimed. "Everyone's been getting on her spoiler about her and Stormy Boy down there! He done been winning, since she came back to the tracks, after her nasty crash!"

"You got that right, Darrell!" Bob encouraged. "Let's start this race, folks!"

Jackson gave me a half-smile.

"Boy, did you take a stand to a good crowd of cameras and notebooks!" he jokingly mocked. I laughed.

"Careful who you mock, Stormy Boy." I responded. He smirked, but that smirk seem to quickly convert to a smile.

"I missed you, Alex." he said. I looked to the ground, looked back to him, and smiled.

"I missed you, too, Jackson." I said.

"I missed beating you in these races!" he exclaimed, speeding off, as the horn sounded. My jaw dropped.

"Copycar!" I yelled, racing after him.

All I heard was his laugh.

These races had become games between us.

We were the fastest ones on the tracks, anyways.

As Louise Nash said, they were drives in the park.

And, I loved them.

---

Jackson had won, this time. I didn't mind. It seemed that I couldn't be mad at him for anything.

I had decided to take him up to Wheel Well, when we got back to Radiator Springs.

However, we of course, raced up there.

We're race-cars. It's what we do.

As I had expected, the little "stunt" he pulled had been all over the news.

There were some embarrassing headlines on the TV screen, and I didn't bother watching, out of said embarrassment.

Jackson, however, thought the entire thing was funny.

Haha, Jackson.

I hated him.

Which is why I loved him.

Driving up there, he seemed a little caught up in the beauty of the waterfall. I gave him a smirk.

"Have you never seen a waterfall, before?" I asked.

Jackson stared at me.

"Wait," I said. "So...not even as a kid?"

"I was...so caught up in racing, and being cool, and popular..." he said. "...I never stopped to to take a look around."

I couldn't imagine what that must have been like, not being able to see nature, in its beauty. The thought that all you'd see is paparazzi, and red carpets, and trophies.

The thought that you would never truly live, until you chose to take things slower.

I wondered if the way that Jackson was feeling was how my dad felt, when he went on that drive with Mom. I stared at Jackson, as he focused on the waterfall.

He answered so many questions, from the time we met until this moment, yet he brought up more than he answered.

"Sterling once said that it was a relative of his that discovered you," I said. "Jackson...is that true?"

Jackson stared at the ground, looked to me, sighed, and looked back to the waterfall.

"She was something else," he said. "But, she was spoiled."

There had been someone before me.

"We had a thing, she lied right to my face, and I was stuck racing." he continued.

I heard a "tsk" from him.

"I think I started to love racing more than her." he joked, a slight chuckle, if you could even call it that, escaping from him. "I had no idea who anyone from Igntr even was, at the time."

I was silent, as he shared his story with me.

"I never found out, until she left," he said. "Didn't realize she set me up, just for an allowance, nothing like what I make for Igntr."

I could read the look on Jackson's face. I could tell that it pained him to tell this to some Porsche. I frowned a little.

"She never came back," he finished. "Didn't want her to, anyways. I was too mad at her to see two feet in front of me. Almost crashed a few times. Had to take a break, after that...Ray found me in an arcade, a few months later. Talked things out with him, and I started racing for Igntr..."

Listening to him trail off, I couldn't help but feel guilty, guilty of something that I'd never done.

"Still think about her, sometimes," Jackson added. "Just reminds me not to trust so easily, again...From that day on, I told myself that I'd never let anyone take advantage of me like that...not again..."

"Jackson," I said. "...Why didn't you tell me this?"

He turned to me.

"If I told you, you'd start trying to be like her." he said.

I was silent.

"Don't think I don't know you, Alex." he added.

He had been through as much as I had, and we were both rookies.

I couldn't be mad at him for a thing, after that.

I was so focused on being a racer that I hadn't realized there was a reason behind why he was always so calm about things.

He was forced to learn the hard way.

He didn't even ask for it.

He didn't deserve it.

I felt so bad for the guy, and the fact that he was able to put up with me, after everything we'd been through, proved something about him:

He was faithful.

---

Jackson's P.O.V:

Well, she took her turn to crash.

I knew sooner or later, it'd be my turn.

Alex led me up to Wheel Well. I told her my story, she told me hers, and the cars' before her. She told me about that interstate that cut through the route.

No wonder it took so long for Hillbilly Hell to get back on the map.

No one could find it after that interstate was built.

"So, Rookie," I said. "When was the restaurant built?" I asked.

"I think it was sometime after Dad moved into Radiator," she said. "Never existed until then, I guess. We don't have parties up here that often."

"Why's that?"

Alex gave me an expression as if she were saying, "Meh."

"They're hillbillies," she joked. "Their definition of a party never used to be sitting and talking in a restaurant. It was bombfires and racing in the woods; all that jazz."

"Now sounds like a good time for jazz, now that ya say it." I joked. Alex smiled.

I never told her aloud, but I enjoyed that smile.

---

Alex's P.O.V:

Our next race was at the Gallatin Speedway, in Belgrade, Montana. We had been racing for a while, and it was the eighteenth out of twenty races, the others being in New York (Yes, there's a speedway in New York), Rhode Island (East Providence, to be exact), and other states.

My favorite was in Las Vegas, Nevada, the eleventh race.

The Las Vegas Motor Speedway was incredibly huge, and I think Jackson was as impressed with it as I was.

I speak of Jackson a lot in this chapter.

That's because I wanted to be the happiest I could be.

I never reached that goal.

Because of today.

---

Jackson's P.O.V:

I never expected it.

I always thought it only happened if your tires went bad, or if you hit a wall.

No.

No, that wasn't the case at all.

I know what you're thinking.

Why should I care?

You never know when it's gonna happen.

The world just seemed to spin around me.

I used to think that I was invincible, that nothing could bring me down. I had a good crew, nice girl by my side.

I didn't think that, anymore.

It wasn't about the Cup, anymore.

In that moment, it was about my life.

More specifically, saving it.

---

Alex's P.O.V:

"Late as always." said Jackson.

I had been running late to the race, because I decided to explore around with Lena, ten minutes before the races began.

I gave my dad a smile, my mom a kiss on the headlight, and I sped on down to the second spot, behind Jackson.

"I was with Lena," I responded, a little snarky at that. "What was I supposed to do?"

"Oh, I don't know, maybe show up?" he asked. "And, why should I care?"

"Because, it's Lena we're talking about." I answered. He gave me a smirk. I smiled.

"Because, I'm your girlfriend." I added. His smirk faded, and was replaced with a small smile.

"You make a good point." he joked. I gave a small laugh, before speeding off at the sound of the horn.

We raced off, and it was easy speeding past everyone else. Jackson raced up next to me.

"Save your energy, Alex," he scolded. "We've got two hundred laps on this. Take your time."

"I like leading the pack." I confidently responded. Jackson smirked, again, and I laughed, speeding off.

"Oh, and off McQueen goes, leading in front, as usual!" Bob announced from above us.

"She done does it every time, Bob!" Darrell added. "And, every time, Storm comes in to snatch the lead!"

"Storm comes in to snatch the lead, Ally." Jackson joked. I laughed, watching him zoom in front of me.

A few hours later, we hadn't even been at the hundred-fifty mark, when it happened.

Jackson had begun to drive backwards, thinking he was being funny. I actually became more worried, than I did amused.

"You're in a race, Jackson," I scolded, stifling a small laugh.

Okay, it was a little funny.

"You're not supposed to act like a hooligan." I added. Jackson smiled a little.

"They tell you that you're supposed to race," he said. "They never tell you how."

I tilted my head at that.

"You make a good point." I said, to remind him of his starting-line joke.

I heard him "tsk". My eyes widened, as he continued.

I had noticed it coming, but had no time to warn him.

"It's not like I'm gonna-"

"Jackson, look out!"

That's when it happened.

That's when they crashed into him.

It's as if someone had hurt me instead.