Alpha Male

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Summary: This is my kingdom, even if I do rule it in secret.

AUTHOR: Catw00man
EMAIL: catw00man@cryptoffic.com
RATING: PG-13
CHARACTER: Chad Knaus w/ mention of Tony Eury Jr, Chad POV
COMPLETED: December 23, 2007
WORD COUNT: 1,118
DISCLAIMER: I own NOTHING and am affiliated with NO ONE mentioned here. Not the drivers, not the teams, no one. This is all fiction and fun. In other words...NOT REAL, NOT REAL, NOT REAL. ;-)
DEDICATION: This for for Shelly or “dreaded_destiny” for Christmas. I have no idea if this is what you were looking for hun but I found you some Chad all for you. I hope you enjoy! My Chad always turns out a little strange. Merry Christmas!
AUTHOR'S NOTE: This fic was done my request for Christmas 2007. The premise? Some fic about Chad!
AUTHOR'S NOTE2: Thanks to Zippit for the awesome beta on this.
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24/48 Shop Hendrick Motorsports, December 24th, 2007 - 8:15pm

I’m glad he’s not in our shop.

I really, really am, but it’s not like I can make that public knowledge.  I haven’t even told Jimmie, and I tell him most things.  It would cause trouble, tensions that don’t need to be in an organization like Hendrick Motorsports.  But I’m still glad he’s not in our shop.

Steve I can deal with.  He’s been here as long as I can remember.  Even though he’s not useful for anything more than swilling coffee until 8am, I can handle Steve.  He doesn’t try to tell me I’m working too hard or pushing too much.  To be honest, were it not for Steve, I’d probably have run off at least half a dozen indispensible crewmen.  But is it really wrong that I expect perfection?  It’s not like I’m demanding they come at 6:45am and stay after 7pm like I do.  I’m not even asking them to do half as much as I do.  So what’s the big deal?

The big deal is no one else is as dedicated as me. 

Do they really think the reason Jimmie has won back to back championships is due to nothing but his skill alone?  Hell no.  Jimmie is on top because I put him there, just like Ray did Jeff. 

Jimmie listens to me and because of it we have more wins than Tony Stewart, not that anyone seems to realize it.  I’d do absolutely anything to make him shine.  I have, and I’ve paid the price.  But I’d do it again if it means another shiny, silver cup to add to the pair we already have.

Jimmie is my driver and I will make him the best.

That’s why I can’t deal with any distractions, like another new driver or crew chief.  It’s bad enough they have to reorganize things for Casey again, but to add a crew chief who can’t even seem to drag his ass out of bed until after 8:30…I don’t need that.  So I’ll just keep my mouth shut and let Steve play nice for the both of us.  I’ll give him enough notes to make it worth his while.  I’ll give him whatever he wants as long as Jimmie’s the one on top at the end of the year.

Sometimes I still have a hard time believing everyone buys the HMS propaganda.  Sure we share shops and team members.  Sure we swap notes before the race and debrief after.  But anyone who thinks I’m not holding something back for my driver has to be out of their mind.  And now it’s all about to get worse.

Darian I could handle.  He was my car chief after all and he knew better than to question me.  Alan was so busy dealing with Kyle half the time he didn’t even have time to check up on what I did and didn’t share.  I could deal with him too.  But Eury…Eury I don’t trust as far as I can throw him, and that’s not very far.

I saw the look in his eyes when he first showed up and toured the shop.  He was like a kid in a candy store, only, this is my candy store.  I could see the wheels turning in his head and I knew instantly what he was thinking…and it wasn’t how to make HMS a better “team.”  He was trying to figure out how to make his driver the best, by playing with my toys. 

And I don’t like it.

He may not be the workaholic I am, but I can spot someone else who’s only out for themselves a mile away.  I’ve spent years here making sure I’m the only one.  But now there’re two of us and I can’t even begin to know how it will play out.  I just know if he gets in my way, if he jeopardizes Jimmie in any way…he’s going to have trouble.  He and his “rock star” cousin.

I’ve heard what the media is saying, that Junior’s going to get six wins next year.  Where the hell do they think those are coming from?  Not Jimmie’s that’s for sure.  I will not let him walk in here and tear down everything I’ve spent five years building.  I will not let him pretend to be top dog when that place is supposed to be Jimmie’s. 

Jeff’s a champion, I’ll never deny that, but he’s yet to beat Jimmie and that has to mean something…not that I can really voice any of this.  I do tell Jimmie he’s the better driver on the radio all the time, I just don’t know if anyone realizes that I really do believe it.

I heard Junior’s finally back from Australia.  That’ll probably mean he and Eury will both be back here sniffing around long before I’m ready for it.  I’ll just have to hold my special secrets a little closer to my chest than I ever have before.  We’re not going to slip, not even a little bit.  I’m going to make sure of it.

Feel my phone buzz at my side and reach down to send it to voice mail.  I probably should be going.  It is Christmas Eve after all and I’ve been the only one left in the shop for hours.  I just wanted to go over some of the new seven-post testing results before anyone else got their grubby hands on them.  I’m going to find the next “new” thing.  I’m going to give us the advantage, and just like this year I’m going to make it sound so “out there” Jeff’s too afraid to give it a chance. 

There’s an advantage to having your driver trust you completely…you don’t have to explain yourself when you know you’re going to have the final say.  I’m just worried that the Redneck might be more perceptive than people give him credit for.

If he is…I’ll just find another way to give Jimmie the edge.

Put away my notes and lock them in my desk before pushing up and heading out of my office.  Walk through the shop, giving everything a once over the way I always do at the end of the day and shut the lights off one by one.  I love being the last one out of here as much as I do being the first.  Shut off the final light to the shop and look back over the dark shadowed cars.  My cars.  Even in the dark I can tell you which one’s a 24 and which one’s a 48…even though we aren’t supposed to do that.

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Catw00man - catw00man@cryptoffic.com