razorblade | sebastian vettel ✓

chapter 20 | the last time

a/n: this is literally 8k words i'm sooo sorry sdkjfsdf also if you've read one of my things before you know i live for the dramatics so i apologise in advance hahah

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[ Final Chapter ] 

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Brazil, 2012

«I think I've seen this film before.»

"Where's Cassandra?" He asked, the sound of his voice muffled by his own helmet.

Britta looked at him. Engineers and mechanics tried to rush him into his car. "Seb, I'm sure she's around. You need to get ready."

He hesitated for a moment but nodded, climbing into his car. The morning had started alright, he saw her and she said she'd catch him at the circuit, that she had to do something else before the race. He didn't question what would Cassandra had to do in Sao Paulo thinking probably tourist stuff or something. That was the last time he saw her. She said she would be there. Sebastian understood why she had been avoiding getting closer to anything Red Bull that weekend, but he assumed she was around, at least.

Now he was getting worried. Because she was supposed to be there.

"Head in the game." His team principal said over the radio. "This is the title decider, Seb. Head in the game." He repeated.

Head in the game. He took a deep breath.

The race had started awful to say the least. He lost places and then spun around, sending him to the back and causing damage to his car. In a title decider. Head in the game. It was fine. He was recovering positions. He had to. Christian kept talking, instructions, he was thinking about the race and other stuff. Every single move, pit stop, overtake, everything felt like a rush, but Sebastian remained collected. There were reports about what the Ferraris were doing, about holding position and whatnot. It was fine, he was recovering. Then there was the pit stop, it had lasted more than it should have because his radio had failed and the team wasn't ready, and he could already picture people saying that was it. But he continued. That was his championship.

It was raining, and he was recovering positions, and suddenly a Mercedes let him take sixth position. His heart was beating really fast. There was a safety car deployed, and that would be the end of the race. He knew the Ferrari had taken the podium, but it didn't matter because he had scored more than the necessary points to even have a few extra ones. The sounds coming from the radio as he passed the checkered flag were a mixture of everything he wanted to listen to.

You're the man. You're the triple World Champion. It was all coming from the radio. Then obviously he burst into congratulations and excitement, and probably a few strong words too. It was the high of the moment. The question slipped out in the middle of all the babbling. A quick 'is she there?'. But obviously, there was no answer because there were only celebrations, and he wasn't even sure he was being clear enough and they were listening to him correctly over the radio.

There were hugs and congratulations, and he was being passed around as soon as he got out of the car. Everything was loud and wet under the Interlagos rain. The high of the moment was too much, but he still searched with his gaze. Nothing. Britta hugged him in congratulations and when she pulled away and held him by the shoulders he looked at her and she looked at him, probably knowing what he would ask next.