Chapter Text
"Who are you messaging?" Max asked as he sipped on his smoothie.
"Carlos and Seb. Carlos is not happy that I kidnapped you, and Seb was wondering if I had seen Kimi anywhere." Fernando said as he put his phone away.
"Carlos wanted to take me somewhere before you came into the room. He didn't tell me where, though." Max said, looking up at the older driver. "But I don't know what happened to Kimi. My father didn't hurt him, did he?" He asked, worry in his voice.
"From what Seb said, he has been checked out and is fine. He has not been seen since the police questioning, though, so that is what Seb is concerned about." Fernando explained, sipping on his own pink smoothie. "He better not be dealing with your father. I had plans. A whiteboard of elaborate schemes."
Max frowned. He didn't want people heading to prison for killing his father. But he was also more concerned about the fact that Kimi was currently missing. Was he actually hurt and didn't want people to know about it? He dreaded the thought as he pulled out his phone.
Chat with Kimi Setä
April 15th, 2016 16:49
Max:
Are you okay?
Heard people can't find you
Kimi Setä:
I'm fine
Do not come looking for me
"Kimi says he's fine, but not to go looking for him," Max said with a raised eyebrow, showing Fernando the texts.
"Tell him not to murder your father. I want to hurt him first." Fernando declared, not faltering at the look the teen was giving him. "He hurt you, pequeño león. It is only fair he pays for it." He defended.
"You tell him yourself then," Max said as he put his phone away, going back to the rest of his smoothie.
Fernando smiled a little at that. He was glad to see that Max seemed to be out of his shell some more. The side he would often see during the driver interviews seemed to be showing, but in a more playful way compared to the aggression he showed towards interviewers (not that he blamed him for it. They still rub it in his face when he lost out on his 3rd world title.)
Their time was interrupted when Sainz came rushing towards them, slightly out of breath.
"I found you! Come on! I said I would take you somewhere!" Sainz said, wrapping an arm around Max.
Max flinched a little at the touch, but for once didn't pull away, and neither did Sainz. Carlos took this as a huge win for their growing friendship.
"Can I finish my smoothie first?" Max asked as he looked at Fernando.
"Go and have fun with your teammate. You can take the smoothie with you. I may need to confirm with the grid that I am not wanted for murder yet." Fernando said, ruffling both Max's and Carlos' hair as he turned to make his way back to the paddocks.
"Come on! I just styled that." Carlos frowned as he adjusted his hair.
"Where are you taking me exactly?" Max asked as he walked along with the Spaniard.
~~~
Max had not expected to be dragged around to get ice cream right after having a smoothie. Along with that, Carlos had dragged him to an arcade, where they spent a couple of hours having fun on the machines. He knew from the way people were staring at him that they were concerned about the stitches all over his face, but he didn't care. This was the most fun he had outside of racing in forever. They did stop once it got late since qualifying was tomorrow and the pain medication Max had been on had started to wear off by that point. So they exchanged numbers so they could finally contact each other and head back to the hotel.
Though when Max reached the floor of his hotel room, the air smelled different. Smelled very strongly of something minty that he couldn't quite figure out what it was from exactly. His instincts were screaming at him to find comfort within the scent or just run away every time it caught his nose. He powered through it as he walked to his room, covering his nose to try and block the smell. When he entered his hotel room, he could still smell it, though not as strongly and overwhelmingly anymore.
After he got cleaned up, making sure the stitches were done carefully and changed, he headed to the bed and built up his nest using all the spare pillows and blankets he managed to acquire from the front desk. This nest was sturdier than his other attempts, with padding inside it, so it was more comfortable to sleep in, and the plushies were in the centre waiting for him. He huffed a little as he climbed inside, holding the plushies close to his chest.
"God, I am such a child for liking these..." Max mumbled as he looked at the plushies.
But he couldn't bring himself to stop hugging them, not while his eyes drifted close.
And certainly not when he started snoring softly.
~~~
Loud banging on his hotel door startled him out of his sleep, and he peeked out of his nest.
"Who is it?" Max called out, his voice groggy with sleep.
There was no answer, just more insistent banging. The minty smell hit his nose once again, slowly drawing him out of his nest and towards the door. He had barely finished unlocking it when the door swung open, and he was pulled into someone's chest with a low growl. Max immediately panicked and tried to pull away from the person, snarling back.
"Minun pentuni." The voice, Kimi, growled, dragging Max back into the hotel room, closing the door.
"Kimi! Let me go! Rot op!" Max snarled, squirming and pushing against the alpha.
Max had never dealt with an alpha in rut before, except for his father, and that was often just far more aggressive beatings that he slowly became accustomed to over time. This was the first time he was dealing with one in rut that wasn't his father. And with the way this seemed to be going, he did not want to deal with one ever again. Especially with the way Kimi was growling whilst holding him with no intention of letting him go. At least until Kimi spoke again.
"Minun pentuni," Kimi repeated as he climbed into the nest with Max, curling up around him and purring.
He hadn't quite picked up what the Finn had said at the door due to the panic and how it was growled out. But now he heard it clearly, relaxing slightly. He would much rather be seen as a 'pup' to the alpha rather than a potential mate. It meant he was protected from other alphas if they did decide to try.
Still didn't mean he wanted this.
"Let me go and get out of my nest." Max snarled as he once again attempted to escape the alpha's grip.
Though all he had managed to do was grab his phone from the desk since Kimi was adamant about him staying within his arms and nest. There was no one he could message right now. No one else would be awake to come and deal with it. He sighed as he put his phone to the side of the nest so he could reach for it in the morning.
"Fine. You can stay..." Max yawned as he lay down in the nest.
All he received was a purr from the alpha as he reached for his plushies once again, slowly falling asleep once again.
~~~
Grid Pack Group Chat
19 Members
April 16th, 2016 8:24
Hamilton:
Okay, qualifying is held up due to two missing drivers
Massa:
Not that it matters
It'll be either you or Britney in first
Riccardo:
Which 2 drivers are missing?
Vettel:
Kimi is still missing from yesterday
I was looking all evening
Ferrari is going to kill me
And may even kill Jos themselves for causing Kimi to go missing
Alonso:
Oh hell no
I have already called first dibs
Rosberg:
You know I hate that nickname
And qualifying comes with all sorts of surprises
So it's kind of required for tomorrow
Sainz:
So, the other driver missing is Max
I checked around the paddock where he normally hangs around before qualifying
No sign of him
Hamilton:
Fuck
Button:
That is probably the worst combo of drivers to go missing after the video yesterday
Kvyat:
Both Red Bull and Toro Rosso have a search party
I am assuming Ferrari does as well
Hülkenberg:
Did no one else smell mint ice cream in the hotel last night and this morning?
Or was that just me?
Cause the floor I was on stunk of the stuff
Vettel:
SHIT
KIMI IS IN RUT
Hamilton:
I thought he wasn't due for another couple of days
Riccardo:
He wasn't
The shared calendar said he was due on Tuesday next week
20+ Unread Messages
~~~
Max Protection Squad
5 Members
April 16th, 2016 9:01
Vettel:
Obviously, we have a huge problem right now
Alonso:
Explains the messages Max got yesterday from Kimi
Told him not to go looking for him
Sainz:
Do you think the situation yesterday stressed him into rut early?
Vettel:
Definitely
Kimi, despite how he acts, does not do well with confrontations
They really stress him out
Rosberg:
So, if neither has been seen since yesterday
They are probably still in the hotel
I doubt Kimi would've dragged Max far
Sainz:
So, how are we doing this?
Wait, I just got some messages from Max
{A screenshot was posted:
[Max:
Help
Kimi won't let me leave my room
He is clinging to me]}
Alonso:
Operation: Rescate de cachorros is a go!
Meet me at Max's hotel room!
~~~
After getting Max's room number, the four drivers met outside the room, all wincing at the smell seeping through the door. While it was still very minty, there was a sharp hint of something else, indicating the protectiveness the alpha within that room felt.
"Talk about protective. I don't think Kimi's scent has ever been this strong before." Rosberg said, covering his nose.
"I have the suppressants," Vettel said, holding up a pill bottle. "I get the feeling he is going to need them this time around to even race." He said as he knocked on the door.
They all immediately stepped back when a low growl emanated from inside, followed by some swearing in Dutch (it was becoming increasingly easy to recognise Dutch swear words with Max). It was quiet for a few moments before there was stumbling and the door unlocking.
"I do not care what you do, but get him off me," Max said as he opened the door, and the sight was something that would be endearing under normal circumstances.
Kimi was standing with Max, holding the teen close to his chest and glaring at the group, fangs out and eyes completely slits. Even in his normal ruts, he was never this out of it. And his growls were constant.
"Uh. I have never seen Kimi like this with anyone on the grid before. Not even previous rookies." Vettel said as he moved slowly. "Is this because of what happened yesterday?" He asked.
"Probably," Max said as he reached out for the pill bottle.
Vettel managed to give it to Max without Kimi potentially pouncing on them for even coming close to the room. The mint smell wasn't quite as potent anymore, though. The alpha seemed to be calming down after sensing the 4 other alphas in front of the two were not going to even attempt to lay a hand on 'his pup'. It was still overwhelming to Carlos, though, who had chosen to hide behind the three older drivers, whilst Max managed to get the Finn to take the suppressants. Even then, it took some time before Kimi seemingly came back to his senses, his fangs retracting and his eyes going back to normal.
"Huh? Why am I not in my room?" Kimi asked, blinking slightly as he let go of Max.
"Take a guess, mate. You came banging on my door at 2 am." Max said as he rushed off to get to qualifying. "We will talk about that later!" He shouted before he was out of sight.
Kimi frowned a little before turning to face the 4 angry faces. "I am in a lot of trouble..."
"Seems to be the case. Ferrari is pissed off that you disappeared without warning. I am pissed off. The grid is concerned. And it seems like you pissed off Max as well." Vettel said as he walked off.
"Just to clarify, Jos is still alive, correct?" Alonso asked Kimi, who sighed. "Good. I have my fun first. Then we kill him." The Spaniard said as he followed after Vettel.
"I am also not happy. You are not allowed to kidnap my teammate again! I just managed to get close to him!" Carlos exclaimed, jabbing a finger at Kimi, now that he had some confidence to stand up to the alpha.
"I don't really have much of an issue. Though we really should get to qualifying before they deem you and Max missing and send search parties." Nico said as the three walked together.
This weekend really was not off to a good start. First, the situation with Jos and now his rut coming early? He had a lot of explaining to do with the group about what had happened after this. Though he expected that was going to be the case even without his rut hitting.
Kimi could not catch a break.