Archive of Our Own ^beta

Honestly, As Chase stared down at his own lifeless body slumped against the hotel bathroom’s jacuzzi, he should have guessed this is how it was going to end. No one had found him yet, but he was sure the room below would complain about the overflowing water before long. 

It was oddly comforting, watching from the counter as death took over his body. He was sure it would make headlines soon enough, a censored version of the image in front of him but in those few moments before hotel security would come pounding, it was nice to observe the body that had provided him with 29 years of support. 

His blue towel was thankfully dropped just over his lower regions, and his head was supported by the cold porcelain of the rapidly filling jacuzzi. If he were alive to witness the view in front of him, he supposed that he would be grossed out by the way his eyes were still open, but now, with only his spirit to witness, it was quite meditative to stare back at himself. 

It had hurt, he didn’t remember that but the way the blood ran down his neck and chest in thick dark streams showed otherwise. Whoever had attacked him had been skilled, hitting all the correct spots in mere seconds with the blade across Chase’s throat. It didn’t take long for him to die and end up here. 

Watching. 

It did not bother him, in that hour or so it took for the rest of his life to find out what had happened, he was treated like some measly unfortunate young man. As soon as the authorities had been informed that he was indeed Chase Elliott, the champion, they suddenly were much more mindful. He was no longer a daily inconvenience but instead a world wide headline. 

He liked it in an odd way, to be treated as if his life had been nothing. He knew it wasn’t, He had lived it for Christ’s sake, of course he knew that it was far more than nothing. 

Ryan was the first to find out, they had booked rooms just down the hall from one another. He was well aware when he saw the commotion whose room they were in. That had probably been the most painful part for Chase in this whole experience up to this point. Not being able to comfort Ryan as he all but wailed at the sight of his now dead best friend being maneuvered into a body bag. 

He wished he could tell Ryan that it was all okay, that he was still here. Yet, it was evident by the way the actions in front of him started to fray at the edges that his time to watch would be coming to a close before long. 

His teammates had been the ones to find Ryan, leaned against the wall, sobbing, and pulling at his hair. He knew that was probably for the best, if Bubba had found him, the man would not have been able to help Ryan. Yet if anyone else did, they wouldn’t quite understand the turmoil the slightly older man was going through. 

The second hardest part of watching his death was listening to Ryan be handed a random phone, and his dad’s devastated voice crackling through the speakers. Bill Elliott, his dad, a champion just like he was, but more importantly Chase’s lifelong hero. He had feared the day that he and his dad would be separated. Bill was already 40 years old when Chase was born, and as a racecar driver himself he knew that the years of racing his dad had done were taking time off their clock together. 

In his worst fantasies, it had always been his Dad who left first. He supposed it hurt more this way, listening in deep regret as the strongest man he knew sobbed into the phone. 

Ryan handled it as well as he could, his own sobs drowning out those of the Georgia native on the other line. They talked about flights while the authorities tried to move Chase’s body. He could tell that Ryan and Alex knew what was in the bag but thankfully, were more focused on Mama and Papa Elliott. On the other hand, he watched as teary eyed Kyle and William paced up and down the hall phone’s pressed to their ears. 

He supposed it was probably Jeff and Chad, perhaps Mr. H but he knew it was quite late. 

If he were in the position of calling about the murder of one of his teammates however, he would have said the time could be damned. 

It wasn’t unknown throughout the driver grid that certain drivers got more attention, positive and negative than others and while the eyes that were focused on Chase had always been portrayed as positive, it didn’t take a genius to realize that there were people on the other side of that spectrum. 

Some of them simply didn’t like that he performed better than their favorite and he couldn’t blame them for that. 

Others, however, had more of an obsessive hatred for the man. He had to receive his mail through his job now to ensure that the threats and violent memo’s were screened out. Hendrick’s supplied him with the best care they always had. 

Sometimes things slipped through the cracks. A computer screen left open too long or a quick glance at an envelope. Anything could tip off the person who attacked Chase- the person who killed him- what hotel room he was in that night. 

The fraying of the images in front of him continued to unravel, if he were alive he would say it was because of tears but in death he knew it was something pulling him away from the scene. 

He hoped he would be able to stay long enough to see his parents one last time, maybe even other members of the Cup Series, other friends and mentors. But the inherent tug that was aching in his back was apparent. 

He needed to go. He had seen what he was supposed to, and he had died, no way around it. 

Chase Elliott, 29, Murdered in Hotel Room. In all the awfulness of that statement, in all the truth, he felt surprisingly okay, slipping away from where he was watching. He wasn’t sure why, he knew there was supposed to be more for him. Yet, he knew he had some old friends waiting for him. 

He smiled softly at the last image, Ryan and Alex hugging each other as more and more bodies entered the now quarter sized frame. It would all be taken care of, his death, and he could all but hear the voice of his old buddy calling out to him. 

He felt a single imaginary tear roll, and he let it all clear away. He was home now. They’d join him eventually, a long time from now.