A\N This chapter does contain Mick being out of character. Just a heads up just in case you are caught off guard by the way that I have written the chapter.

It has been a couple of days since Morgan and I went out and we are currently walking through the paddock on our way to the garage. As per usual the paddock is busy. I find myself instinctively reaching out for Morgan's hand. The first thing I notice as Morgan takes my hand is the fact that some curious VIPs are staring. I wish they weren't but I realise that they would be curious and there is nothing that I can do about it. After a five minute brisk walk, we made it to the garage where Morgan and I part ways for the moment. I head to my small driver's room where I quickly get some things organised for FP1. After a few minutes of gathering some things, I exchange my normal clothes for my race suit. With all that stuff done I head to the garage where I am met by Morgan. She offers her hand to help me into the car. It is something about this little routine that makes the idea of what I am about to endure a little more bearable. With her help, it doesn't take long for me to get comfortable in the car.

"Radio check?" The voice of my lead engineer comes over the radio.

"Loud and clear," I give my standard response. After a second long pause, Morgan gives me the go-ahead to start the first free practice session. Ok, this is the one race that I know for a fact that I can't screw up. I get to work on getting the car around the track. I wince at how close I get to the wall on some of the corners. After thirty minutes of relative calm disaster strikes. I get around turn one to find Nikita in the wall. Despite my best efforts, I feel the front left tire contact the back left tire of Nikita's car. Honestly, there was not enough room for me to manoeuvre around Nikita's wreck of a car anyway.

"Sorry guys," I apologise over the radio.

"It's alright Mick. I should have warned you," my lead engineer responds. The truth is there is one person that I can get mad at and even then it was a combination of factors that brought us to this situation. I just need to trust in the fact that Morgan and her team can get the job done. After what feels like an eternity I am able to leave the car. I glance over my shoulder at Nikita who is staring daggers at me. I don't know why when it is his fault. I guess I will have to talk to him later. That is if he wants to talk. It has been ten minutes since the incident and I am currently watching over Morgan and her team. I am hoping that her team can get the car ready for at least FP3. It is not looking likely as the damage was worse than we thought. This is odd because the car was going relatively slow.

"Mick, you should find a spot to relax," Morgan remarks as she gets to work on finding one of her tools.

"I'm happy watching or helping. If you would let me," I responded. The thing is I know I am capable of helping. Plus it would put less pressure on Morgan to rush. I move out of the way as Morgan moves towards the spot where I am standing.

"Look Mick I promise that I have this under control," Morgan tries to reassure me. I'm not entirely convinced but I know that I can trust Morgan. It has been a couple of days since then. Honestly, there was not much that can be said about qualifying other than the fact that it revealed more issues with the car. It was something I was expecting. I'm just glad that there wasn't much in the way of drama for me. However, there was one thing that changed. Nikita managed to outqualify me for once. I personally reckon that his lead over me won't last long. Oh well, whatever happens, happens. At this point, I just want to get through the season with minimal drama. Right now I am relaxing in the hospitality suite. To my surprise, the only people that are there are Dmitry and a couple of his guests. I have chosen to ignore them as they give me a nasty feeling. As if Nikita has convinced them that I am poison. I am soon pulled out of my thoughts by Guenther and Morgan. Both of them look concerned.

"Look, Guenther, Yuri and I had a conversation but there is nothing wrong with the other car and I did check it to make sure," Morgan responds to what was said before. Guenther is not convinced. The pair turn their attention to me as if they are asking for my opinion.

"The issue isn't the car, it is the driver," I respond vaguely even though it is obvious to anyone that I am referring to Nikita. I can feel frustration starting to set in. It is looking like our relationship as teammates is going to get rough. Just so long as it remains off track there is no point in letting it bother me.

"Thank you, Mick. I'm glad I am not the only member of Haas that is drawing attention to the issue," Morgan responds. She seems almost relieved about me coming to the same conclusion as her. Besides, if we compare Nikita and me, it would seem that I am the luckier driver.

"There is nothing I can do. It is looking like this season is going to be crap. Anyway Mick try your best to finish the race," Guenther concludes his conversation with Morgan. After a brief conversation with them, I have decided to get ready for the race. Thankfully there is not much that I have to do as I am already in my race suit. I head to the garage. I am about to enter the area that belongs to my car however I stop short. My attention is grabbed by something that I should not be hearing.

"I don't care, Yuri. You need to improve the car," It's Nikita. He is yelling. It is as if he snapped and his true colours are showing. It just adds to the long list of reasons why I dislike Nikita as a teammate

"Look Nikita, I did everything in my power," His lead mechanic seems anxious about his predicament. It seems as if he knew that this was going to happen. With that, I step in.

"Nikita, you need to stop blaming others for your mistakes. You also need to treat your mechanics with more respect," I demand. Again Nikita is staring daggers at me. I can tell that he wants to use his power as a paid driver to do something. Something tells me that I am going to regret this later but it has to be done.

"Says the one dating his lead mechanic," Nikita retorts. A switch flicks in my mind. I can feel myself getting angrier.

"At least I don't blame her when I do stupid things and I give her the respect that she deserves," I take the bait. I really want to punch him. He is lucky that I have my helmet and gloves in my hands otherwise I would have done it by now. I am quick to storm off as I have decided that it will be better to do the talking on the track. Hopefully, no one on my side of the garage asks about my anger. I am quick to reach the garage. Morgan soon notices that I have made it and she can tell that I am angry. Before you can ask, it is out of character for me to be overwhelmingly angry but Nikita is a douchebag and that is putting it mildly.

"Mick are you alright? You seem pissed off," Morgan checks on me.

"It's nothing I can't handle on my own," I deflect the question as there is no point in getting Morgan involved even though she is technically involved already.

"Ok just let me know if you need help," Morgan responds. Her response seems to calm me down. With that Morgan helps me with the last little bit of preparation. I am just going to treat this race as a fresh start. After ten minutes of waiting the time has come for the race to start. A single red light comes on to signify the start of the formation lap. Ok, I just need to focus on my race. There is nothing that I can do about the off-track drama. I push those thoughts out of my head as I get around the track. It doesn't take long for me to slot into the last position. After what feels like a long time the last of the red lights comes on. Lights out. I stomp on the accelerator to get the car going. To my surprise, I was able to get the jump on Nikita. Well, he is the only driver that I am probably going to overtake. With that, I get settled into a rhythm. It doesn't take long for the pace of the car to start dropping. The fact that we are in Monaco doesn't help anyway. It doesn't take long for disaster to strike. Nikita is alongside me in the tunnel. What he does next horrifies me. He forced me into the wall. I try to take evasive action but there is nothing that I can do except ride the impact out. The next thing I know I have the voice of my lead engineer in my ear.

"Mick are you alright?" He is frantic. That means I must have blacked out for a few seconds. With that, I come around to the reality of the situation.

"What the hell was Nikita thinking?" I ask. The frustration is oozing from my voice.

"I don't know but whatever it was he is gonna get a race ban," My lead engineer responds. After a pause, I am let out of the car. It is at that point I notice that in my attempt to take evasive manoeuvres Nikita spun as well. The only thing I see is red. I leap out of the car to confront Nikita. As soon as he sees me Nikita goes on the defence.

"Look Mick, it was an accident. I didn't see you," He defends himself. It wasn't. I know that for a fact. You can look at the data and it will show that I had the right line.

"You must be blind not to see the car right next to you," I snapped.

"Are you sure you're not the blind one?" Nikita nails the last nail in his coffin. Deep down I know that I am going to regret this but Nikita deserves what he gets. I landed a blow on his chest. It is at that point that the martials intervene. They struggle to pull me away from Nikita. In my case that is a good thing otherwise, my rage would have completely overridden any sense that I had.

"You need to try harder," Nikita directs another blow toward me. I try to break free but the martials have a good grip on me. It has been ten minutes since then and I am currently going through routine medical checks. For some reason, I am embarrassed that I let my anger take control. Thankfully the only thing of note was the fact that my knuckles are red from punching Nikita. As soon as I am given the all-clear I make a beeline to my small driver's room. After spending five minutes alone there is a timid knock on the door.

"Who is it?" I ask even though it will be Morgan or Guenther.

"Morgan," Comes the response. As soon as I let her in the mood in the room grows tense.

"I'm sorry you had to see that happen," I break the awkward silence. Now that she is here the full weight of the situation comes crashing down on me. I screwed up. Big time. I take a seat in one of two chairs. Morgan pulls the other so she can look me in the eyes.

"I haven't come to judge you. I've come to make you feel better," Morgan responds. I can hear an almost sisterly tone in her voice. It gives me some comfort knowing that she will be on my side whatever happens. A sigh falls from my mouth.

"I'm sorry. I should have told you sooner about my problems with Nikita. I didn't want you to get involved," I say. The look on her face tells me that she was already involved in some way. What she does next makes me feel a lot more relaxed. She perches herself on the arm of my chair and wraps her arm around my neck in an awkward side hug.

"I was already involved. Yuri told me that he had some issues with the way that Dmitry and Nikita were treating him. The only reason why he told me was so that he could get it off his chest. Besides, I'm here to make you feel better, not to judge you. After all, we all make mistakes. Plus judging you is Guenther's job," Morgan explains. Oh crap. I forgot about that little fact. That makes my shame worse. After ten minutes of gathering my thoughts the time has come for me to talk to Guenther. It doesn't take long for me to find him. I notice that he is grilling Nikita about what he did. The coward has gotten what he deserves. It doesn't take long for Guenther to turn his attention to me. Well here goes.

"Mick are you alright?" He asks.

"I will be but I need to apologise for lashing out," I find myself apologising even though Nikita deserved what he got. Before you can ask I am only going to apologise to him if he apologises to me. I notice a subtle look of surprise.

"It's over so long as you don't let your anger get the better of you again," Guenther says. After two hours of various press commitments and a meeting with the stewards, the time has come for everyone to leave. I am quick to find Morgan who is packing up her tools. Both her and her team look exhausted. Honestly, it has been a long day for all of us.

"I won't be long Mick," Morgan remarks, having noticed my presence. She is getting good at it. As promised it doesn't take Morgan long to pack up the last of her tools. We soon began the short walk to the car park. I find myself holding my hand out for her again. She takes it and I gently pull her closer

"Look Morgan I need to thank you for calming me down," I suddenly feel the need to thank her.

"I'm just happy that I could help," Morgan responds. It turns out that I am lucky to have someone like Morgan on my side. If I didn't have her on my side things would have been a lot worse. There is one problem. I know for a fact that things are going to get worse. A lot worse between Nikita and me but so long as I have Morgan by my side I should be able to weather the oncoming storm.