Work Text:
Hayden and Caitlin were in the pits of Raceway Park working on each others cars for tomorrows race there, it's gonna be route 3, a mix of high speed and complex corners and it'll be 2 laps. Hayden was tuning his car for the race, a white Camaro Z28 with his team's iconic livery and wheels along with blue neon underglow, he thinks the bigger engine will help win while Caitlin after her pinkslip defeat from you decided to get herself a Skyline R34 as well with her signature black and red pearl paint, skull livery and red neons. They decided to both tune at Raceway Park so they could leave their cars there and bring them out for the race next day like everyone else will, they each brought their own team of mechanics, one of the perks of being a semi-pro racer of the Velocity Racers and 200 Club.
"So Caitlin, why the sudden change of brands? Your sponsors fluke on you after you lost you old car?" Hayden decided to being up Caitlin's car change since it was unexpected of her to choose a Nissan brand when she's been using Mitsubishi and Dodge cars. Caitlin rolls her eyes on that but still smiles "well it's more because I wanted to try something new from other Japanese brands and they say this car is one of the fastest on the road and track," with that she went back to help with the tuning, Hayden does the same thing on his Camaro. While they were doing this half and hour later they can hear a car approaching the pits, upon hearing the familiar engine sound Caitlin smirks while Hayden looking at this narrows his eyes, a few minutes later you arrive in a blue Skyline R34 into the pits, you rev the engine abit then turn it off and exit your car, Caitlin smirks while Hayden is neutral. Your car is alot different than the last time Caitlin raced it, it's now blue with a new set of white wheels, a new livery and new bodywork, You dumped all your winnings into this car, most of it came from betting with Caitlin and Lucia 'B' who are big betters. "Hey you two, havin fun?" You say smiling as you walk towards them and their cars. Caitlin meets you halfway, still wearing her iconic 200 Club jumpsuit and blonde hair untied, hands abit dirty from working on her car "Hey hotshot, we're both doing fine" She thens leans in to whisper in your ear "but it'll be more fun with you here" pulling away with that signature smile. You take a deep breath and greet Hayden, "Hey Hayden whats up?" Hayden looks at you before saying "I'm good here just fixing my car up for the race" before going back to work. You take it as a sign to leave him alone and you look at Caitlin's car smirking "Well well Princess got a new car huh, what happened to the old one?" Hayden silently looked up from the engine bay, Caitlin shakes her head "You very well know what happened hotshot or do I need to remind you because I remember it very well." Hayden nearly dropped his wrench when he figured out what that implied.
Their talk was cut short when Lucia arrived in her Dodge Viper of all things in her teams orange body color and neons, we all knew she was rich but damn was this abit overkill. In all her regalness she steps out of her car "Hello people, the Queen has arrived" with everyone looking shocked, she then turns to us three "Humans" then walks away from the pits letting her crew handle her car. "Well that was something" Caitlin says before turning back to me but before she can start talking another car rolls in Nina in her Evo 8 sporting the flaming skull livery that represents the Power Junkies with yellow paint and neons. Most people confuse Nina with Lucia due to their nearly similar crew designs, Nina steps out and happily greets us "Hey people what's cracking?" "Hey Nina" both me and Caitlin talk at the same time, Nina just smiles while Hayden just rolls his eyes but still greets Nina "Hey Nina". She surveys the competition and asks "Where Lucia go?" "She left after she dropped off her ca, probably couldn't be asked to socialize with us "lower life"." That brings a giggle from Caitlin. a silent laugh from Hayden and a chuckle from Nina. "Well she missed out anyways lets talk shop, Caitlin you rocking a Skyline? Where'd you 3000GT go?" Caitlyn just smiles "I took it from her" You answered while Nina just raises her eyebrow "Care to elaborate man?" You gladly answered while smirking "Oh we had a good ole pinkslip, Princess here was too slow and lost her baby to yours truly -" "And then-" Caitlin interrupts you with a smirk of her own "Hotshot invited me to dinner, showed up in my own car no less, it was a great night in Chinatown, wish you were there Nina. To top it all off we had a little wager about who was actually faster in my own car." Nina was just dumbfounded while Hayden was silently fuming 'He's gotten farther than me in his advances? He hasn't even done much!' His thoughts were interrupted by Nina
"So who won?" curious to the results. "She did". You answered before Caitlin could. "Hah I guess she does know it best, so what did she want from you wager?" Caitlin goes to answer, everyone tense even Hayden "a makeout session, God it was hot. Hotshot here knows how to treat a fine lady." Nina face goes red with shock while Hayden drops his wrench, everyone looking at his direction. Furious he heads over to the group "Seriously Cait? What does this guy have that I don't, I've been trying to hit on you for months now then he comes in for a few weeks and blows you away? What's so special about him?!" No one has ever really heard Hayden snap and he's not wrong, you've only been in the scene for a few weeks but you were quickly gaining respect from everyone even the Queen Lucia herself. You never really understood why Caitlin accepted your date offer, people always assumed her and Hayden were a thing.
Caitlin, furious snaps back at Hayden "What he has is heart and the spirit to race, he's not afraid to take big risks, even if it means putting his whole life at risk! He's a MAN Hayden and tomorrow everyone will see that he's better than you've ever been!" Caitlin storms away while Nina attempts to follow her, seeing the tense air you try to defuse the situation "Look man I don't know what's going on between the two of you but you should let her make her own decisions, move on and let her be-" You didn't get to finish before getting socked in the face by Hayden, the force stumbling you back. "You don't get it, everything was fine till you showed up. Now all she talks about is you and your driving. You, a nobody who waltzed in here with nothing yet she finds you more interesting than another pro racer." Before he could land another punch Nina and Caitlin arrive and quickly defuse the situation. "Stop it Hayden! Hotshot did nothing wrong, go and cool down why don't you?" Hayden was fuming that Caitlin decided to tend to you but relented less to create a scene. "You ok sweetie? You look hurt." Caitlin put on her motherly tone as if she's a concerned mom looking at an injured kid, the kid being a guy who races cars, "I'm good just a bruise". Nina interrupts "What the heck is that guys problem?" "Leave him, let's just focus on the race" With a sigh Caitlin gets up and brings you up, "Nina can you help him out? I gotta go get this mess sorted" "Sure go ahead" Nina replies and helps you to your room in the pits.
RACE DAY
Next day, everyone is preparing on the start line. The grid positions are Hayden at P1, You at P2, Lucia at P3, Caitlin at P4 and Nina at P5, you couldn't care less thanks to 4WD you can launch ahead easily so can Nina and Caitlin. Before the race started Caitlin saunters up to you "Hey hotshot, you ready?" "Hey Princess, as I'll ever be" You answered with a shrug, Caitlin smiles "Good and if you win you'll get a special treat from yours truly" You swallow "I'll be sure to win then Princess." She just winks at you before going back to her car unbeknownst to you both Hayden was watching the interaction which fueled his fury more but before he could act on it the race was starting with everyone getting in their cars.
Everyone starting and revving their cars waiting for the lights to go green. When the light hit green everyone launched off the line, particularly you, Caitlin and Nina thanks to 4WD before she got blocked by Lucia. First corner everyone handled it fine even Lucia who's still blocking Nina, after turn 1 you lead the pack followed by Caitlin and Hayden close behind. Two turns later Caitlin goes abit wide and Hayden passed by her but he doesn't get much distance due to her having more traction making her recovery faster. The full power straight came and you floored it, Hayden was right beside you neck and neck but then the turn came along, not wanting to crash you let him pass you thinking you'll be able to catch up in the corners, during the uphill you managed to catch up with Hayden with Caitlin behind you in the slipstream, Nina finally broke through Lucia after she got spooked and wiped out, effectively ending her race unless she caught up in time.
You managed to pass Hayden before entering the speedway section of the track but Caitlin was blocked by him. Seeing his opportunity for revenge Hayden goes beside your rear wheel and slams into your car, putting you in a T-Bone position with your car losing control and Hayden passing you. Your car spun at speeds over 180mph and hit the sand, the friction causing your car to roll over multiple times violently before slamming into the wall. Caitlin and Nina, scared about you immediately stopped their cars near the wreck and went to your wreck, even Ice Queen Lucia stopped. Everyone stopped except Hayden who kept going, knowing he succeeded. Thankfully your car didn't catch on fire and you had a reinforced rollcage but even those have limits. Caitlin and Nina scrambled to get you out of your wrecked car while Lucia was busy calling emergency services (who knew she had a heart).
Player POV
You don't know what happened but all of a sudden you got flung and rolled multiple times before smashing into the wall. Everything in your body hurts, thankfully the rollcage and harness saved you from taking the brunt of the damage but you're slipping in and out of conciuisness due to the huge impact your head had with the steering wheel. You try to get yourself free but you're pinned down, you can still feel your legs so thankfully you aren't gonna be paralyzed but your hands are stuck. You're about to lose hope when you hear someone shouting "HOTSHOT!" It's Caitlin, you try to look and see a blur of blue rushing towards you and another figure close by probably Nina. They scream and try to pry the mangled door open with some effort it finally opened, once you see the light you can see them more clearly, their faces filled with fear and joy knowing that you survived but also might not if not taken care of.
Caitlin's POV
Once you gotten the harness off and pulled him out you almost cried at the state of him, badly injured, alot of bruising and possibly some broken bones but you know your Hotshot wouldn't let those stop him from continuing racing, you made a small chuckle then with the help of Nina moved him away from the wreck. You then laid him down, putting his head on your lap while tending to his minor injuries. Lucia approaches the two of you with concern written on her face "They're on the way, how bad is it?" You face her while trying not to break your voice "Pretty bad concussion, bruising, probably some broken bones here and there but otherwise he seems fine though I don't know." You then angrily remember seeing Hayden T-Bone your car and just kept driving off "Where's Hayden? That piece of work has some questions to answer!" Lucia chimed in "My people told me he went back to the pits, got his crew and bolted. Guess he couldn't face what he did." You nodded while still cradling Hotshot's head, Nina gives her two cents in "Why would Hayden of all people do this? He seems like a chill guy?" You have a guess but you don't want to assume too quickly.
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As the ambulance came and took you away and also giving them Caitlin's contact number, she was talking with Hayden's team and sponsors about what happened while Lucia decided to help by talking to her contacts about Hayden's history, Nina decided she was going back to Chinatown to break the news to everyone else including your crew. With nothing left to be done Caitlin and Lucia headed back to the pits while the crew helped recover your car and bring it back. Lucia decided to head out first while Caitlin decided to stay with your wrecked car waiting for the news though eventually she did go home with your car sent to your crew's headquarters.
----------------------------------------7 Days Later---------------------------------------
Things have more or less gone back to normal, Caitlin finally got a phonecall from the hospital saying you were fine and doesn't have anything important broken they then asked who was paying for his hosptial bill Caitlin volunteered and paid it herself calling it an investment for the future. In the racing scene things have gotten abit chaotic, once news dropped that Hayden intentionally caused you to crash and ran off he was pretty much shunned from racing but that hasn't stopped him from continuing his run in Angel City. His team and sponsors told Caitlin that 'unless there was physical proof, Hayden couldn't be responsible and just chalked it up to accidents in racing rather than malicious attempt.' She wasn't happy but she couldn't do much about it, You were always visited at the hospital particularly by Caitlin who helped you whenever she could, the other crews even Lucia came and gave you well wishes but when you asked about your car Caitlin sadly said it's beyond repair. You accepted this since racing nothing is forever and moved on, saying you'll build a better car. Caitlin offered to help financially but you rejected, saying you have enough for a new car after all the big bets you made. After that Caitlin visited more often just to talk about her life and the news on the track, saying Hayden was never booted off his team and still racing but he's pretty much disliked now by everyone.
----------------------------------------12 Days Later--------------------------------------
You were finally discharged from the hospital, breathing in the fresh air of the outside world. Smiling you hear a car horn and see Caitlin roll up in her Skyline "Hey hotshot, need a lift?" You nod and get in, she asks where to and you just say "Wherever you want." With a smile she heads to her home.