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"What the-" You feel your mouth drop and without even realising it you've reached out and grabbed Michael's arm, your fingers digging into his skin as you watch the screen in front of you, waiting until you see Dan move before you turn to your best mate, "Did you hear that?!"
Michael nods but doesn't say anything and you know it's because he doesn't want anyone to overhear him. He'll vent later, away from his colleagues and whoever else might rat him out to management, when it's just the three of you and it's no longer the heat of the moment.
It's probably best if you follow his lead but you've never been good at keeping your emotions in check for too long and so you can't help yourself, "What an absolute-"
"Taff-" Michael puts his hand on yours and shakes his head. He leans a little closer then, "Not here."
You let out a frustrated sigh, knowing he's probably right. It might be better for Dan if you keep from making a scene. That doesn't mean you don't want to say something, do something, anything to help let your frustrations out but there's nothing you can think of that would help with that except maybe for one of those breathing exercises Michael showed you a while back and so you try that.
It helps. Sort of. Enough to keep you from hurling insults at Dan's race engineer anyway. Instead you're focused on the screen in front of you, where you can see Dan out of the car and giving the thumbs up to the medical staff. He sets out in a jog then, making his way back to the pitlane with his helmet in one hand and holding on to his earpieces with the other. He looks calm and there's enough colour on his face to let you know it probably looked worse than it was.
Still, it's a relief to know he's ok.
"I'll go meet him," Michael says as he takes off his headphones and hands them to you. "Be right back."
"Yep," you nod once before you turn around and watch him as he walks outside to wait for Dan. As you let your eyes wander across the room you spot his race engineer on the other side of the garage and it's a good thing he's got his back towards you because you for sure are shooting daggers at him right now. What an-
You hear Max's voice from somewhere behind you then and when you glance at the screen from over your shoulder you see the replay of him driving past where Daniel ended up in the barriers and asking GP, "Is he- He's alright, yeah?"
Even though you're still pissed you can't help the smile that tugs on the corner of your lips at Max's concern, even more so when you hear GP tell his driver, "Yeah. Daniel's out the car," in that calm, soothing voice of his, and you make a mental note to send Max a message later.
From the corner of your eye you see Daniel making his way into the garage and even though he heads straight for his engineers he shoots you a wink to let you know it’s ok. You smile back at him and watch as he goes over the data with his team, laughing and joking even though you can tell from the way he keeps running his hand through his hair that he’s still a little shaken and this is just his defense mechanism getting put to work.
***
Dan’s already back in the paddock by the time FP2 comes to an end, making his way around the media pen, grinning widely and cracking jokes as if what happened is no big deal. As if he’s already forgotten about it. You know he hasn’t from the way his smile keeps disappearing in between answers. And while everyone else might think he’s ok he’s definitely not fooling you.
And so you’re still fuming.
Michael really should have let you vent, should have let you get it out of your system, even if it was in hushed whispers somewhere in the back of the garage, because now- Now, your anger has been brewing somewhere inside for too long, making you into this tiny little pressure cooker that’s about to go off.
You heard the discussion the mechanics had, where they decided to have dinner first and start working on Dan’s car after, the possibility of an all-nighter hanging heavy over their heads, and as a result the garage is almost empty now except for someone from the FIA, checking the car and taking note of all the damage, and Tom.
A quick glance to the screen behind you shows Dan’s still talking to Sky Sports and you figure you’ve got at least another five minutes or so before he gets back and so you stalk over to where his engineer is still looking at the data.
“Tom?” You wait until he turns around before you continue, “Could I have a word?”
“Sure.”
You haven’t really thought this through, haven’t really figured out what you wanted to say or how to say it, but you decide to just go for it. Let’s see what happens, you think before you throw Tom your best fake smile, “It would be great if, next time Dan crashes into a wall through no fault of his own, you ask him how he is first and ask about the car second.”
Before he even has a chance to reply you pat his shoulder, “Thanks, Tom. I really appreciate it,” the venom seeping through your voice and walk back to your little corner of the garage, hoping Dan won’t take much longer.
***
Instead of Dan it’s Michael who comes up to you about five minutes later, looking extremely worried, “Zak wants to see you-”
“Ok,” you draw out, hoping Michael will give you a little more to go on even though you have a pretty good idea what this is about. When he doesn’t say anything else you shrug, trying to act as if it’s no big deal, “Is he in his office?”
“Yep,” Michael nods. He furrows his brows then and lowers his voice, “What did you do, Taff?”
“It’s nothing,” you reply with a wave of your hand, mostly because you don’t want him to say anything Dan before you’ve had a chance even though you know he will. “Tell Dan I’ll meet him in his room, ok?”
“Taff-”
“Talzo,” you counter in the same tone of voice. “Don’t worry about it.” Without waiting for a reply you set off towards Zak’s office, which is situated above the garage, the layout of the paddock and garages in Monaco always a bit different than at other Grand Prix.
You announce yourself with a knock on his door and wait for Zak to tell you to come in before you step inside and walk up to his desk, “You wanted to see me?”
Zak nods and points to one of the visitor’s chairs, “Please, sit down.” He waits until you do and then leans back in his office chair, fingertips of both hands pressed together in front of his chest as he studies you for a few seconds before he leans forward and puts his elbows on his desk, “Tom told me what you said to him.”
You’re not surprised, “Ok.”
“I take it you understand there’s a certain etiquette in the garage?” Zak eyes you intently and doesn’t continue until you nod, “There are clear guidelines on the communication within the team-” he narrows his eyes at you, “-which you are not a part of.”
"No. I'm not," you easily agree, hating the absolute roundabout way he uses to of tell you you were out of line.
“Good,” Zak replies as he leans back in his seat, “Glad we’ve got that cleared up.”
“However, I am Daniel’s wife-” you tell him with a deadly smile, the fingers of your right hand playing with the wedding ring on your left absentmindedly. “So I really could not care less whether or not his car is ok after a crash. My first priority is Dan. And he should be yours as well.”
“Of course he is. Tom didn’t have eyes on Daniel at the time, only the data to-”
You scoff, “That. Right there.”
Zak looks at you with his eyebrows furrowed and shakes his head, letting you know he doesn’t understand.
“You’ve just summed up the entire season so far,” you answer. When Zak starts to say something you hold up your hand to let him know you’re not finished yet, “The team has lost sight of Dan, Zak. And it’s not just Tom, it’s everyone. You and Andreas included.”
Zak starts to protest but you don’t want to hear it.
“I get that Lando is your golden boy, and I get that he is the future and you want to build your team and your car around him, but your blatant favouritism is really getting out of hand.” You take a deep breath, not afraid it’ll mess up your momentum because now that you’ve started it’s hard to stop. You’ve been biting your tongue for months but fuck it, not anymore. Still, you try not to raise your voice as you continue, “Why did you tell the media that Dan’s not meeting the team’s expectations? Who does that? Who in their right mind would turn on one of their own like that? Do I need to remind you that you’re the one who lured him in? Promising power unit upgrades and a car that would suit his needs better than the Renault- A team that’s more like a family than any other team on the grid- You promised him fuckin’ heaven on earth, Zak, but you keep kicking him back into hell.”
“Do I need to remind you-”
“I’m not part of the team?” You shake your head and get out of your seat, knowing you’ve overstayed your welcome long enough, “No, Zak, you’ve made that perfectly clear, thank you.”
“Then I think we’re done,” Zak says and gets up as well. He walks past you and puts his hand on the door handle, ready to escort you out no doubt, the door already slightly open when he turns to you and says, “Don’t forget who got him where he is now.”
“Is that a threat?”
Zak shrugs, his eyes cold when he says, “Do you want it to be?”
“Unbelievable,” you mutter quietly and take another deep breath but before you have a chance to say anything else you see Zak taking stumble back because the door is being pushed open from the outside.
Dan steps inside then, pointing a finger at his CEO, “Don’t you ever talk to my wife like that again.”
Zak seems a little taken aback and doesn’t say anything right away and so Dan inches even closer.
“She is as much part of this team as I am,” Dan says and you realise he’s heard more of the conversation than just that last empty threat. When he reaches his hand behind him for you to take, you intertwine your fingers with his and stand next to him as he continues, “I told you we were a package deal when I signed and I mean it. Promise me right here and now that this won’t have any consequences and so will I, but so help me God if this comes back to haunt her-”
Zak’s quick to hold up his hands in mock innocence, “I’m not sure I know what you’re talking about, Daniel. Your wife and I had a nice little chat, that’s all.”
Daniel narrows his eyes as if he’s trying to decide whether or not to trust Zak but then he nods, “Good.”
“Glad we got that cleared up,” Zak says, echoing his words from earlier. He nods towards the door, “I’ll see both of you tomorrow.”
“Yep,” Daniel replies, his voice clipped. He tugs on your hand then and makes you follow him out of the room, down the stairs and to his driver room, the silence between you charged in a way that you’re sure could make sparks fly.
***
“Holy shit,” Dan breathes the moment he locks the door of his driver room behind you and gently backs you up against it, “that was fuckin’ hot, babe.”
You look up at him and bite your lip, a wicked grin playing on your mouth.
Dan cups your face and closes the space between you, pressing himself against you as he kisses you, hard. It’s- It’s almost possessive, as if he needs to remind himself you’re really his, his tongue licking into your mouth as you tilt your head back ever so slightly to give him better access.
You let out a strangled moan when he drags his teeth across your lower lip and have to pull back then, have to catch your breath. You let your head rest against his shoulder, “Just how much did you hear?”
He lets out a laugh, “Enough.” He puts his arms around your shoulders then and pulls you in for a hug, “When Michael told me what happened. That Zak wanted to see you-” he presses a kiss to your temple as you wrap your arms around his waist. “I don’t know, I just- I ran up there, fully prepared to barge in and give Zak a piece of mind but when I heard you tell him how Lando is his golden boy and how his blatant favouritism is getting out of hand-” he pulls back a little and grins at you, “I was a little intrigued.” He winks then, “And a lot turned on.”
You scrunch your nose at him, ignoring his second comment because you want to make sure of something first, “Do you think I overstepped?”
“Nah,” he shakes his head and smiles. “To be honest, I was waiting for something like this to happen. You’ve been on edge ever since that DNF in Jeddah and-” he presses a kiss to your temple. You can feel him smile against your skin, “I guess they don’t call you Mrs Honey Badger for nothing, huh?”
“And,” you try, even though you’re not sure he’ll catch your drift.
You’ve been married for eight years. Of course he does, “And?”
“You love me for it,” you say as you push yourself up on your toes.
He dips his head and lets his lips ghost over yours, smiling against your mouth, “That I do.”
“That you do,” you whisper.
“Always.”