The Team // A Formula One AU

Lewis

The summit had better be worth it.

I can hardly breathe, trailing towards the back of the slowest bunch of teammates. I have no idea how Weird Old Phil is still running so quickly. I know he's our fitness coach, but I always thought he was all theory and no practice. Boy, was I wrong.

"How much further?" Alex gasps, trainers scuffing beside me on the uneven dirt track.

"I don't know," I pant in reply and the stitch in my side gets even worse. I'm decide to limit my communications to sign language from now on.

The path ahead curves outward so I see the rest of my teammates up ahead. Max and George are at the front making use of another opportunity for a friendly battle, followed by Kimi and a couple of others I can't make out. Most people are in the second group and not taking it quite as seriously as those up front. They chat and kick rocks at each other, Seb turning around to jog backwards as he teases Fernando.

Then there's us: sweating, swearing, dying.

"Do you think the volcano is still active?" Alex asks. Nikita snorts behind us but I try to remember my geography lessons in school. I'm pretty sure there are volcanoes in California.

"That would explain... why it's... so warm up here," I gasp.

It can't be much further. My fitness watch tells me we've run over four kilometres, all uphill, all in the warm Los Angeles morning. Surely we're nearly there. I can't take much more of this.

The view is pretty astounding though. Mountains in the hazy distance, the city on the other side with its skyscrapers and the ocean just visible on the horizon. We woke up earlier than ever before to get a good parking place, hiked up to the observatory and now we're running to the Hollywood sign. It isn't far, but it isn't easy when we're all carrying two litres of water and our lunch.

The sign comes into view and I know there isn't much further to go. I hear people cheering as they reach the top and Lance speeds up ahead of me using the final scraps of his energy.

"Finally joined us?" Esteban asks him as I come over the final hill. He ruffles Lance's hair in what at first appears to be a friendly gesture, but then it comes off far too rough. Valtteri shoves Esteban backwards, then I make it to the top, drop my hands to my knees and finally stop running.

My legs collapse beneath me. Before I know it I'm spread eagled in the dust and I pull my cap low over my eyes to block out the sun. As my chest rises and falls heavily the panting around me gradually turns to low chatter and people head down to look at the sign. There's a scuffle beside me then I'm hit in the chest by something freezing.

"Woah!" I jump up.

"Sorry!" Daniel brings his hand to his forehead in shock. "I thought you were Lando, I wasn't looking!"

I look down at my shirt and see the splash of water growing on my chest, then look back up at Dan.

"It's alright. It's actually quite refreshing."

"Well there's more where that came from if you–"

"No! No, thank you."

Daniel laughs and heads back towards the real Lando. I decide to open my backpack and start drinking some of the water I dragged the entire way up the hill. I close my eyes as I tip my head back towards the sky and gulp thirstily. I do feel pretty good now the run is finally over.

"Are you okay?" Kimi asks, coming to stand beside me.

"Yeah," I sigh, lowering my bottle. "Shall we go and look at the sign?"

"Actually there's something else you'll probably want to see first."

I furrow my brow and stand up. Kimi leads me across the flat area of the summit towards where Daniel has re-joined his group who are all crowding around something. Charles spins around as we approach before making a space for us to join them.

My jaw drops open.

"Is that..."

"Yes," Charles answers me.

"Did you guys find it on the run?"

"No, he's had it for four days."

"I've had him for four days," Lando corrects. I peer into his cupped hands to get a better look at the animal. It seems happy enough, flicking its tail as it gnaws on a walnut.

"You ran the whole way up here with a squirrel in your bag?"

"No," Lando says, "he was in my front pocket for safety."

"Safety," Mick repeats, shaking his head. "Well I think it's time to release it, it'll like it here in the wilderness."

"He's a he," Lando complains, "his name is Valentino. And I can't just release him, he needs me."

"Why don't you put him down on the ground and see if he runs away?" Kimi suggests. Lando bites his lip at him. "If he stays then that means he's still hurt."

"Yeah, he probably wants to be doing squirrel things not motorsport things."

"Well... Okay..." Lando nods slowly. He kisses the animal's furry head and I wrinkle my nose.

"Goodbye, Valentino," he sniffles. "I'll miss you."

He bends down to the ground and opens his cupped hands gently. The squirrel lifts its head and sniffs the air a couple of times before hopping out of his hand.

"Don't scare him," Lando murmurs. We all stay still as statues.

Valentino hops away into the undergrowth and makes his escape down the hill. I watch him disappear then look over at Lando. His eyes are full of tears.

"It's okay," I rest my hand on his shoulder, "you gave him a good home when he needed you, but now he's better off in the wild."

Lando nods and wipes his eyes with his t-shirt. "He was a good squirrel."

"The best," I nod solemnly.

"Twenty minutes for lunch then we'll start heading back to the bus!" Weird Old Phil crows across the mountainside, breaking us out of this surreal atmosphere. I lift my eyes to the LA skyline once again.

"Sit here, Lewis," Lando tells me sadly and I nod my head, sitting down beside him. He opens his lunch box and I reach out a hand to stop him.

"Don't you think you should wash your hands?"

"Oh... Sure."

Daniel pours out more of his water and we both wash our hands in the stream. Lando picks a walnut out of the box and sighs wistfully before throwing it towards the place where Valentino disappeared. We both watch the spot for a moment and then a little hand pokes out from underneath the bush. Lando gasps.

"See?" I say. "He'll never forget about how you helped him."

Lando nods. "Thank you, Lewis."

"No problem, Lando."