A/N: I really want to see the flashback of Don and Maya on a date dancing! But unfortunately I couldn't find it on YouTube and it'll be ages till TV shows that episode (cries), Damn terrestrial TV and all it's crapness!
Author: Yoru Ryu (Rainy Day)
Rating: K / PG-13 (Rating will most likely rise later)
Disclaimer: I own it, so what? Now you should grovel at my feet! I'm talking about the sweet in my hand, of course, and I'm going to eat it now.
Summery: Everything started when she signed up under the Wei corporation. The rest is history.
Listening to: One More Time -- Daft Punk
Warnings: Main pairing Don x Maya. Quite a large number of OCs too.
Our Champion
Chapter 2
Maya whipped around at the owner of the intruding voice with a glare. "Taylor, you jerk, you-"
The man stood behind the pair heaved a hearty laugh and clapped his hands jubilantly. "Donald, what are you doing to my star racer? No pun intended," he chortled.
"What?" Don looked at him confused.
The tall man in the blue pinstripe suit waved his hand. "Oh, you never got my humour, Donny."
Don frowned, "will you stop with the names?"
"Sorry, Donald. But you have to admit; it is a bit suspicious the manager of a rival team would be snooping around my top pilot," Taylor replied while straightening the handkerchief in his top pocket.
"Hey!" Maya pointed at her manager accusingly. "You are such an idiot! What would be the point in 'snooping around' when we're both out of the game anyway?"
She didn't exactly know when this 'Donald' had fallen out of the race, but if he were a manager and he were still here then it must've only been recent. Most teams who lost in the first half of the championship simply left of their own accord, while those who lost later tended to stay around to watch the rest of the proceedings. So this man and her were in the same league? She wondered which his team was.
"Ahh, Maya, Maya, Maya" Taylor tsked, shaking his head. "You really don't understand the mentality of a manager do you? No wonder you hate us all so much."
After that insult she was having trouble keeping her previous anger down. "I do not hate all of you… just you!" Pushing the tall man aside with her shoulder she stormed out of the hanger.
Don watched her go. "You certainly have a, um, interesting repore with your team."
Taylor waved the young woman off. "Ah, she's just disturbed by her loss. She hasn't lost in over two years before this, you know" he bragged. If Don were Isaac he'd be imagining the other man's nose growing larger…
"'Disturbed' doesn't seem a very nice way to put it. Granvil was certainly not 'disturbed' by his loss."
The arrogant man waggled his finger at Don. "And that, my friend, is what puts me in a whole other league to you. I have the ability to push my staff to their limits while knowing how to exploit their weaknesses to achieve maximum efficiency."
I'm not sure that's the sort of thing you should brag about, Don thought. "Maya didn't seem very efficient just now…" Ohh, bad move. Taylor did not look so cheerful anymore,
He walked over to the shorter man so Don glared up at him. "I'm not sure I like your tone."
Don's eyes widened. What was that supposed to mean? Did he think he was talking to a delinquent child!? That was unbelievable, but he wouldn't put it past the older man if he thought about it - not that he was at the moment.
"Well perhaps if you actually stopped to think before you spoke then the people around you would get on better," he growled, clenching his fists.
"Oh, that's rich! That's rich indeed!" Taylor howled. "Someone who placed fifth telling me how to treat my staff. Oh, it just doesn't get any better than this!"
"Unless you're so simple you can't count; fifth is only two places away from third in which you placed. A meagre two places hardly gives a person the right to act all high and mighty!" If he were thinking straight he'd feel bad that he was actually jabbing at the pilots instead of the intolerable manager stood before him, but he wasn't, so it didn't matter.
Taylor crossed his arm to use his height advantage better. "So it is I who is the simpleton here? You never cease to amaze me, Donald, never. What kind of manager allows his pilot to make a simple bearing error at such a crucial point of the competition, I ask you." He was referring to Granvil, of course.
Don lowered his head while glowering. He knew that'd come back to bite him. "You cannot expect to control every little aspect of the pilot's will! Racing is what they do, and I'm sure they understand it a lot better than we do!" Taylor always knew how to jab Don just right and insulting his skill at his job always did the trick. But to insult his team too? He was seething now.
"And I suppose you allow your staff to run around like savages?" Oh, he was really poking the bear with a sharp stick now. His smirk was insolent.
Throwing his arm out Don spat, "if that is what you call 'free will' then yes, Taylor, that is exactly what they do!" With a growl he marched passed the older manager barely resisting the urge to punch him in his smug face. That smarmy smile was even burning into the back of his head as he left.
Once he'd put some distance between himself and the offensive man he sighed deeply, sounding tired already. He wasn't even thirty yet, he shouldn't be feeling tired! "That didn't go well…"
"Hey there."
"Ahh!" Don jumped, patting his chest and turning around to look into the face of the pink haired Maya. "Oh."
Maya rubbed her hands looking sad. "Look, I'm really sorry about Taylor, but he's like that to everyone who he doesn't owe a peerage to. I really don't understand what drives him; he's insane or something!" She smiled slightly at her assumption.
"Oh, did you hear? Yes, I'm sorry too" Don replied with a neutral expression.
Flushing slightly Maya coughed. "I was, um, I was listening from round the corner." A sudden look of triumph lit up her face. "I've never seen anyone shout back at him, not even other managers, you're really something!"
If he weren't trying so hard to look refined he would've jumped back at that. Desperately he tried to hold back the red he knew would cover his cheeks and replied; "ah, it's nothing. He's always been like that since I've known him…"
"Oh, that's right! You're, Donald was it?" Maya smiled brightly.
"It's Don Wei actually."
"So Don's not short for Donald then?"
"No, it's not."
The man didn't seem to respond well to teasing Maya noted. "How did you know Taylor?" She didn't quite know why she was striking up a conversation with the other manager, but it was compelling.
After the little match both men had, had she'd followed him as he marched about to cool down his temper. Eventually she'd followed him all the way to the lake were he'd stood watching some of the teams knocked out of the race practicing in the wet conditions. He'd sighed, muttered something then made to sit down when she jumped up behind him.
"Oh wait!" She shouted, startling Don. "Don Wei! Taylor talks about you sometimes…" she trailed off in thought.
"Really?" Don asked, highly suspicious.
"Yeah, he used to say about when you were both at school how he'd tie you to the football goalpost with your own tie."
Apparently, this racer didn't quite have all the tact she probably could have. "Great."
After that there was a pause, and that pause kept on growing longer as neither of them seemed not to know what to say next. Maya moved forward to watch all the racers like Don had been doing before, and just when their silence was bordering on uncomfortable a gaggle of children came charging up the hill they were stood on.
"Miss Maya! Oh, oh, Miss Maya!" A particularly perky girl hopped up and down before them. "You were so awesome!"
Maya looked surprised. Awesome? But she'd lost miserably. Don smiled as he watched them.
"The way you landed your racer and helped Mr Alex away before it went BOOM! It was so cool! When I'm a star-racer I'm gonna be as good as you!"
Maya laughed and patted the child on her head. "Well then! When you're a star-racer I shall look forward to our race."
With that comment the small girl's eyes lit up unbelievably bright and she went back to her friends giggling and waving her arms wildly. The small group giggled more and whispered before the same girl came back over to them.
"Are you Miss Maya's boyfriend?" she asked Don.
The manager chocked on the air he was breathing. "W-what? Where did you get an idea like that!" He honestly didn't know what to say.
Maya's grin was truly evil when she looked at the children. "I bet it's because we're stood on this hill all alone watching the sky together." The girl beamed happily that she'd figured it out. "Well, you see, Don here has just saved me from my horrible overlord and master!"
The girl screeched giggling. Don was white as a sheet.
"It was a very brave and heroic deed!" Maya winked.
The girl bubbled over with excitement. Don felt like fainting.
"I'm gonna tell my daddy! He's a news-person!" And with that the group of children ran off.
"Aren't children great!" Maya smiled brightly, watching them go.
Don was still stuck on what the small girl had said. "Did she just say her father was a news reporter?"
Clapping her hands and smiling wide Maya laughed. "I wouldn't worry about it. Even if it were true I don't think her dad would believe an eight year-old, daughter or not."
Even if it were true? Don opened his mouth to voice his thought when a sudden jolt to his head knocked him clean to the floor.
"Whoa, sorry dude!" A deep voice called over.
Maya looked down to see a football laid next to the manager's head. Rolling up a fist she glared as the buff owner of the ball approached them. "Watch it next time! Someone could've been hurt."
Someone is hurt, Don groaned inwardly as he continued to lay on the grass in a daze.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa there little miss! It was an acci- Hey wait! You're Maya Sign!" He blurted in the middle of his apology.
"That's right," the pilot continued to glare.
"Dude, you were totally rockin' today."
Maya stopped, "what, really?" And she sounded more than a little confused. Why did people keep saying she did well when she'd clearly lost? "Well, ah, thanks."
"Yo, man! What's the hold up? Get the freaking ball back!" One of the man's friends shouted from a distance.
Flashing a wicked grin at the pilot, and ignoring his victim, the man turned to his friend. "Shut the hell up, I'm getting it!"
"No, it's okay, I've got it" Maya said with a devious smile. Picking the black and white ball up she tossed it between he hands, checking to see if the owner was watching, before throwing it high into the air, spinning on her heel and slamming the round object back into the match. The man watched as the ball soared across the field to finally nail one of the players successfully knocking him down. "Huh, don't know my own strength," she shrugged, turning back to Don. The man stared then left quickly.
Squatting down next to the man she waved her hand in front of his face. Sitting up groggily he rubbed the side of his head.
"Are you okay?" Looking up at the worried expression on the woman's face he sighed.
Then started laughing.
Maya looked about sharply. "Hey, have you got a concussion?" She may have only know him for an hour or so now, but this sudden bout of laughter already seemed out of character.
"No, no, nothing like that. But you've got quite a kick on you," he smiled.
"It's all the training I do. You have to be strong when you pilot a star-racer!" Her eyes seemed to light up as she spoke about racing, it really was a strong passion she held for the sport.
As she rose to her feet a sudden flash of pain shot across her features and she fell back down again, resting on her knees. Don jumped and moved around her, his hands hovering over her back.
"Maya, what-?"
The young pilot coughed and frowned. "I didn't think it would be this bad."
"What wouldn't? You mean the race?"
Hanging her head further she winced and covered an arm. "Yeah, it seems I didn't get away with it as much as I thought I did…"
"It was a serious accident," Don reasoned when a grimace crossed the others' face, "anyone could hardly hope to get away scot-free." He tried smiling and waited as she gathered her thoughts before lifting her up. "We should get you back to your dock and call a doctor."
Maya sighed in defeat, "Taylor's gonna hate this" she mumbled taking Don's offer and putting her uninjured arm around his shoulder. As she was now a little wobbly on her feet her arm brushed against the spot the football had hit his head making him wince. "Seems we're both in the wars," she smiled impishly causing Don to blush lightly before quickly turning his head.
The reception the pair got upon their return to the South's dock was not a pretty one. Taylor immediately began throwing accusations at Don which only ended up in another shouting match and enraging Don's headache even more as he marched off once again. Maya glowered at her manager as she limped past him to hold onto the stair-rail, ignoring his bombardment of questions and making her way to her room.
Not long after she'd thrown herself down onto the bed a knock sounded on her door. It wouldn't be Taylor as he'd just march right on in regardless to her predicament or even if she were in a state of undress, he'd just continue on as if nothing were amiss. It wouldn't be any of the mechanical team as there were probably off selling and buying rare parts for the racer they'd have to rebuild upon their return home. And if it wasn't any of them then it could only be Alex.
Sure enough the windswept brunette trudged into the room after her call. "Yo, Taylor's been off a bit today, no?"
Rubbing her face Maya sighed. "That insensitive… didn't he even care we nearly died?"
"A loss isn't a win, Maya" he stated.
After a lengthy pause the woman replied; "did he send you up here, Alex?"
"Yes. He wants to know how you got hurt out with Mr Wei…"
"That moron! We were hurt before I went out, he's just too heartless to notice or care!"
"Agreed," Alex nodded heavily. "Now he's got me as his head lackey since the mechanics are out though."
Pulling her legs over to rest off the side of her cot Maya moaned under her breath at the shock of pain through her arm. "I'm sorry, Alex. I know it's partly my fault too… but he just infuriates me! Why would he bother that we're hurt now? He didn't before."
"Oh, he's not bothered about me, Maya, it's you. He wants you to and I quote: 'regain some dignity' by performing outside to gather a crowd. Y'know, just to show that you've still got it."
"Still got what!? I'm still a good pilot; everyone has to lose sometime!" She thought back to the people who'd told her how well she'd done during the accident. At least they cared for her well-being and not just the position in the final.
Alex waved his hands in self defence. "Don't shout at me, I'm just a gunner!" He laughed trying to lighten her mood. "But you've gotta admit Taylor's a good manager."
Maya looked at her partner in disbelief. "What?"
"I-I mean, he may be crude and arrogant-"
"And pig-headed, and rude and a jerk and insensitive and oblivious and a jerk and… a jerk-"
"But he does push us to do our best and further, isn't that what it's about in the end?"
Maya glared. "Improvement is one thing but the morale he makes in the team is so nervous. Didn't you see how he made Lucy cry!" Lucy was one of the more fragile mechanics and awfully easy to upset, so it was hardly a surprise when she broke down, not that that made it right.
"But after that she finished the thrusters' modifications in record time!"
"I don't care!" The pilot shouted. "He still made her cry!"
"Maya, maybe you should-"
"Maybe I shouldn't! Get out, Alex!"
"Maya," Alex whined as he watched his partner storm out of the room despite after telling him to leave. "Mayaaaa…"
Each footfall down the dull metal stairs sent tendrils of pain across her chest and shooting down her arms, but she refused to show weakness to the man in the pinstripe suit as he glared at her silently. Brushing past him with hardly a motion that she knew he existed she turned out of the hanger and into the sunlight again.
"I've got better things to do then hang out with an idiot and his puppet" she huffed. Hadn't Alex always been her friend though, why was he suddenly acting as Taylor's lapdog? Surely the pressure wasn't getting to him…
"Whoa, Don, man. You've been gone for hours! What happened?" Granvil greeted his manager with when the man emerged in the racer hanger. He was shouting down from the cockpit of the team's star-racer; Gravity. He'd named it that of course.
"Yeah, you look bad, Sir" Isaac commented.
"Really? I don't feel bad," Don replied. He felt great - maybe he really did have a concussion. "But I did see some good looking buildings on the pier."
"You mean the amusements!?" Isaac was excited now. He'd wanted to go to those since he'd first seen them when they'd arrived but Don had never let him as they were too much of a distraction. "Can we go, Sir?"
Don tapped his chin. "I don't see why not. It'll be another day until it's the finale."
"Oh, awesome!" Granvil cheered. "I'm gonna beat all those high scores on the racer simulator!"
"Oh, you know about them already, Granvil?" Don asked in mock suspicion.
The blonde pilot stumbled over his words. "Ah, um… ya see, it's a big thing amongst us pilots here, and I er…"
Laughing Don waved the other man off. "Save it and hurry up. We should get there and be back before it gets dark. There are some shifty characters out during the night now."
"Yes, Sir!" Both the boys shouted.
A/N: Kids are annoyingly innocent. They can ask anything. Some slight Maya/Don interaction there.
Maya is definitely the one who wears the trousers in this relationship! I mean, when you see the flashbacks it seems she can convince Don about anything. It's quite difficult to write their characters actually. We know basically nothing about Maya and Don couldn't have made a complete personality turnabout.
Lets see if I get any reviews this chapter. I usually don't for second and further chapters so that's why I stop posting.