⌞ the chain ⌝

⌞ thirty-five : risk ⌝

"Whatever it takes you have you join our family."

_ 

And I was back in England, this time without letting Lewis know and that was slightly scary. I would have to tell him when I left the factory and that meant explaining why I was in England again. I could maybe make it without having to explain, just letting him assume that it had something to do with McLaren. But that felt like lying and I didn't want to lie to him. 

The car parked in front of the building and I thanked the driver, getting out to see a familiar three faces looking at me. Christian, Max, Jem and... Dani. That face. I wasn't expecting him to be here. I hadn't told him and he must have found out this morning. Great, that meant everyone else had to know by now. 

"Miss. Bianchi-Leclerc, welcome!" 

I shook his hand as he held it out for me, not looking over at Dani. I couldn't bring myself to. "Mr. Horner, pleasure." 

"Oh, please. Call me Christian. And it's our pleasure to have you here." 

"I didn't spend all season playing nice not to build a good teammate relationship." 

I rolled my eyes as Jem walked up to me. He was giving me that familiar smirk as I was pulled into a hug. "Long time, Wright." 

"You know you missed me, princess." 

Max was next and I was surprised that I got pulled into a hug after the handshake. He hadn't seemed the most physically affectionate person when I had met him or in the times we had talked since the news had come out, at least within the Redbull garage. 

"Glad we could finally get you in navy." 

"I folded." 

He snorted, ruffling my hair. "Nice cut, kid." 

But next was Dani. I just stood in front of him. He looked down at me and I could see he was fighting with the joy and disappointment he felt. I was doing what we talked about but I hadn't said a thing. And for some reason, I think he was more disappointed that I had gone with the team that was giving him nothing. 

"Come on, you're not going to hug your goddaughter?" 

"Piss off, you little rat." 

I couldn't help as I was pulled into a hug, not realizing how much I had missed spending time with him. My other godfather, a term I had chosen for him since he was around almost as much as Jules and now. He was the only one I had left from that time in my left. It felt kinda poetic to have him join me in this one. Doing it together. 

_ 

"You already have a suit for me?" 

"Of course, we do." 

Christian shrugged as he gestured to the navy suit hanging from the hook in my locker room. It was beautiful but I kinda missed the white from McLaren. It was beautiful and yet, it felt completely different. And my helmet. Navy as well.

 "I don't get to design my helmet?" 

"Oh, you can. But this is just the one we had made for you." 

I nodded and suddenly felt kinda claustrophobic. I forced myself to breathe because this wasn't the wrong step. This was the next one. I had to make the choices for myself and I needed to be okay with change. It was a suit and a normal helmet. I was going to settle in, it was just my first day. 

"Right, well. You'll come back tomorrow for the signing and we'll officially announce it." 

"Sounds good. Cameras? I'm assuming." 

"Lots." He nodded. "People are excited for this, you've been a favorite." 

"I didn't realize people actually liked me." 

Max snorted. "You've been a topic in F1 already, kid." 

I raised an eyebrow as I sat on the edge of the bench. I didn't expect that. I guess I had been lost in the small world that was F3 and now that I was moving up, there were lots of things that would be new. Not just the cars and tracks, but having more eyes on me. F2 was bigger than F3 and so it made sense but it was still a bit overwhelming. Adjustments for sure. 

"Relax, lilyvine. You'll be just fine, focus on racing." 

I smiled up at Daniel and nodded. Jem, Max, and Christian took that as their sign to leave and I made room for Dani to sit next to me. He nudged me softly and I rested my head on his shoulder. I felt like the little girl who would always sneak away so I could walk around his garage while he did whatever and now we were on the same team. How time seems to fly. 

"You know you need to tell Lewis." 

"You haven't told anyone?" 

"It's not my place. But you'll need to do it before the signing tomorrow. They deserve to know." 

"I know." I sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose. "I just... I don't want to disappoint anyone." 

"You're not going to disappoint anyone, love. We just want you to be happy and chase your dream. And this is the next step. You've got to work your way up somehow, don't get complacent because you feel safe somewhere." 

"So you're happy?" 

"Kid, I have never been more proud of you." 

I felt like crying. There had been so much anxiety about coming here. Jem and I were probably not going to be the best of teammates, we were too alike. We were both fighting for the same dream with the same mindset; win or die. And to push against each other, it was just going to be so much tension. But maybe that was a good thing. 

It would give me the competitive edge I needed for F1. I would have to fight against people I cared about, including my brother. He was going to be there and we would have to go wheel-to-wheel. And I needed to be able to do that. There were friends but no one was worth it on the track. 

"Just breathe, kiddo. You'll do great, like you always do. Just race." 

________________________________________________________________________________

a/n: dani content, i know you love me for it. aha. anywaysssssss, as always. love it or don't :p