Little Maxie

Chapter 13

Daniel was sitting stunned at the table since Max left. The moment that Jos had come to take him away, he wanted to jump up and tell the man that Max wouldn't come, but the little had stood up so willingly to follow his dad, and Daniel knew that the only thing he would have achieved was to create a scene.

He looked at the rest of the occupants on the table, and saw their uncomfortable and unhappy stares, and he knew he wasn't the only one who felt like this. The silence between them stretched, making the other noise in the room seem abruptly loud.

"Do you think he'll hurt Max?" Lando asked his voice tiny, glancing at the rest of the table and biting his lip nervously.

"I don't think so," Daniel said hesitantly after a moment, trying to give a comforting smile to Lando and then looking at the other two caregivers who wouldn't meet his gaze. His smile fell. The other two knew that Max had been a little just a bit longer then he did, and the way they held their body didn't seem to mean anything good.

"I'm going," Lewis said suddenly, getting up from the table.

"Go, where?" Charles asked, looking at the man in surprise, not having expected the sudden move.

"To Horner of course," Lewis said matter of factly, "to let him know what's happening. He will want to know someone is sabotaging his driver,"

"Oh," Charles said, but Lewis wasn't listening anymore, already stalking out of the room, making the other three look at the empty seat.

"Do you think it'll help," Charles asked, looking at Daniel. Lando looked over at him as well, seeing that he had experience with Christian from his time with Red Bull. Daniel thought it over.

"I don't know," he answered, "but Christian really tries to get the best out of the drivers. He won't let it stand if it sabotages the changes of a win,"

Daniel saw the other two nod, trusting his words. It didn't make him feel any better though. Jos finding out that Max had been in his headspace in public was his fault after all. The little had told him he was afraid that his father would find out, and it had been him that said he was safe.

After all, not even once had they seen Jos in the dining room. The man always waited for Max in the lobby or in his room, and Daniel had reasoned that today it would have been the same.

But then the man had been there, and he could still remember the look of fear in Max's his eyes before the little hid it and followed the man's instruction immediately, no questions asked, no anger when the older man had insulted his use of words. Daniel's stomach still turned uncomfortable at the memory of the disgusted tone of Jos when he had told Max off.

He tapped his hand nervously on the table for a moment, before standing up suddenly, startling the other two occupants at the table.

"I'm going with Lewis," Daniel said, wanting to be sure that Max was taken care of correctly. He looked at Lando, who was still in his headspace "You can handle yourself?"

"Yeah, I'm coming out of headspace, so I'm fine," the little said, already looking a bit more sure of himself, his face just set a little different, on the edge of getting out of his headspace and ready for a day of work.

Daniel nodded, glad that he didn't need to leave Lando on his own when he was in his headspace.

"See you in a bit," he said, quickly walking to where Lewis had disappeared off to. Of course, the other drive was long gone, but that didn't matter because he knew where he was headed.

He quickly went to his car, and started the drive towards the paddock, hoping that he would be in time to intercept the conversation between Lewis and Christian, wanting to give his own opinion, and wanting to press on Christian how important it was for littles as small as Max to get taken care of properly.