Title: Champion of his Heart

Summary: When cheering on his team at the Motocross of Nations in Germany, Kimi Rikknen runs
in to his long-time crush.

<em>"Can KTM's Charlotte Hendrickx win it for Belgium?"</em>

Kimi let his eyes wander over the newspapers behind the counter. He certainly hoped she could. He
was a big fan of the double world champion MX1. Grabbing his triangular sandwich and can of Red
Bull, he made his way back to the car. Just a few more hours to drive and he'd arrive in
Teutschenthal, where the Motocross of Nations took place that weekend. He was going there to
cheer on his Ice One Racing drivers, and the Finnish team of course. Maybe he would secretly cheer
for her, too.

His team manager and good friend Antti Pyrhnen met him at the entrance and showed him where
their team's home for the weekend was. He dumped his bags inside the team bus and went off in
search of a cup of coffee.

"How was your drive up here, not too much traffic?" Antti asked.

Kimi talked to him for a little while until Xavier, one of his riders, walked in.

"Oh hey boss, didn't think you'd be here already. I thought you said you'd arrive tomorrow morning.
Anyway, it's good that you're here now. Stefan Everts has been meaning to talk to you about
something."

Kimi nodded and got up from his chair. He tossed his empty cup in the bin, said his goodbyes to Antti
and some of the mechanics hanging around and made his way to Stefan's KTM garage.

It was true what Xavier said, he hadn't planned to arrive until tomorrow morning but that was before
he met Charlotte at Stefan's fundraiser. Well, he didn't actually meet her that day. He was talking to
Stefan's son Liam when she came over to them to ask the boy something. He had always admired her
from a distance, she was a beautiful girl, talented too. And smart, sweet, liked motocross, a true
petrol head like him ... All in all she was his dream girl. She flashed them a smile as she made her way
over and it had hit him like a sledgehammer. Never had he seen a smile so gorgeous in his life. Blood
rushed to his face, and other regions. He became sweaty and it felt like his insides were giving him
their best rendering of a Cirque du Soleil act. He just stood there nailed to the floor, barely managing
to stutter a shaky 'hello' to her.

Smooth, Iceman! You're such a lady killer" Liam laughed when she walked away.

"I totally promise this stays between us," he added as he left Kimi, who was left wishing the ground
would swallow him up.

"That was never going to happen again," Kimi thought to himself. "Next time I'm gonna walk right up
to her and ask her out. Girls should be fighting for my attention. I'm Kimi Rikknen, a Formula 1
world champion. I'm the Iceman, for God's sake!"

He could see Stefan standing outside his garage in the distance and confidently strolled in that
direction. A plan started forming in his mind. He was going to talk to Stefan about whatever it was he
needed to see him about and then he would casually bring up Charlotte and get Stefan to introduce
them. He would use his icy cool attitude to blow her off her socks and secure a date. He mentally
patted himself on the back. Nothing could go wrong with a solid plan like that.

As he neared the KTM garage, Charlotte just walked out of their bus and started talking to Stefan.
Kimi panicked. That wasn't according to plan, his hair looked like a mess and he was fairly certain his
shirt was a bit creased after the long drive this morning. She couldn't see him like this! He ducked
into the nearest garage and waited until she went back inside their tent, meanwhile ignoring the
incredulous looks the mechanics in the tent were giving him. He peeked between the tent flaps to
see if she was still there. She was, her copper hair shone in the warm sunlight, along with her bright
green eyes. She was wearing a pair of fitted blue jeans and a tight white top that made some dirty
thoughts enter his mind. Time slowed and it seemed like she stood there forever.

When the coast was clear, he gingerly padded the tent sail, "Nice design ... great colour scheme too,"
and quickly stepped outside, leaving half a dozen gob smacked mechanics behind.

He needed a new plan.

"Ah Kimi, there you are! I've been meaning to talk to you. Listen, remember that thing we talked
about ..." Stefan immediately started talking to him.

Kimi was standing right in front of the garage and could see Charlotte inside, working on her bike
with her mechanic. She had a little smear of motor oil on her forehead. He found that strangely
endearing. A sharp elbow to his side brought him back to his conversation with Stefan.

"Huh, did you say anything?"

"Did you hear anything of what I said? Or were you too busy checking out my driver?"

Kimi thought it was best not to answer that.

"Never mind, don't forget there's a BBQ tonight, everyone is going to be there." Kimi nodded and
went back to his own team garage, after secretly looking at Charlotte one last time of course.

The rest of the day went by quickly and Kimi found himself spending an awful lot of time getting
ready for the BBQ.

"Hey Antti, do you have any cologne laying around?" Antti gave him a weird look.

"Did I bring some fancy cologne to a motocross event? Let me think about that. Uhm ... no, I did not.
Why would you need that here?"

"No particular reason, maybe I just want to look good. Make a good impression, you know, as a team
owner." Kimi answered, trying to come of casually.

"Oh I see, good impression, sure." Antti teasingly said, "Come on then, wouldn't want to be late. That
would make a very bad impression." Antti continued, with a big smile on his face.

Yet again Kimi found himself admiring Charlotte from a distance. She was talking to her teammates
and wearing a tight blue dress that showed off just enough of her curves. He could hear her laugh,
like little bells chiming and made him feel warm inside.

"What are you looking at?" Someone whispered in his ear.

Kimi jumped at the voice and dropped his plate on the floor with a bang.

"Sebastian? What are you doing here?" Vettel smiled.

"This is a Red Bull party, and I was in the neighbourhood. Plus I heard you'd be here, thought I'd
come and say hi."

"Don't ever scare me like that again, Vettel, you hear me?" Kimi responded.

"So what were you looking at, or should I say who?" Sebastian inquired. "Come with me, I have found
a hidden stash of vodka, your favorite brand!"

Kimi found himself getting dragged to a store room at the back and pushed inside. He looked around.

"There's no vodka here, Seb."

Then he heard the door getting locked. He banged on it and get Sebastian to open the door.

"No no, you need this Kimi, I'm not letting you out!"

Kimi sighed and sat himself down on a wooden crate in the corner, knowing Sebastian this could take
a while. Why did he need to be in here, he didn't understand. Kimi kept himself entertained for a few
minutes, coming up with quite a number of ways to get even with Sebastian.

"It's on one of the top shelves, I can't reach it myself."

"Okay Liam, but what was it you needed, again?"

Kimi heard voices on the other side of the door. It opened again and someone walked in the room. It
was Charlotte.

"No, don't let the door close," Kimi heard himself say.

It was too late. Someone slammed the door shut behind her and locked it again.

"What the ... Liam, open the door!" Charlotte yelled at him.

"No, we're not letting you two out."

She remembered Kimi was in there too and turned to him.

"Why are you here, do you have anything to do with this?"

Sebastian answered in his place.

"Kimi's an idiot. He has been in love with you since the first time he saw you. He dreams about you,
the two of you together. He's even named your kids already."

Charlotte didn't know what she was hearing.

"What are you talking about? Kimi, is that true?" Kimi turned bright red.

"What? No, definitely not! Well ... yes ... maybe ... kind of ... I mean, I really like you and ..."

A soft pair of lips cut him off and set his blood on fire. Blood rushed to his face and he was seeing
stars behind his eyelids. It was exactly as he imagined it a thousand times. Charlotte pulled back.

"I really like you too."

The door opened. Kimi pulled her back into a kiss.

"Eww, that's gross!" Liam made a disgusted face.

Sebastian giggled and pulled him away from the kissing couple and back to the party. Kimi and
Charlotte followed a little bit later.

"So just out of curiosity, what did you name our kids?"