The steady beeping of the heart rate monitor had been the only thing that had accompanied Percy for the last few days. That, and the thick bandages wrapped around his hands and forearms.

It was a weird feeling, having scorched skin. He had poked at it before the doctors and nursed scorned him for doing so. It felt like baked plastic wrap, the kind you put your school lunches in.

He had been spacing himself from any outside news of formula racing, enjoying the silence of his sterile white hospital ward room.

He had of course contacted his mother, who had chewed his ear off over the phone for his driving - He had tried explaining it wasn't his fault, but his mother wanted to hear nothing of it.

His one irk with the hospital, was the food. It left a bit to the imagination. And by a bit, Percy meant a whole lot. Aside from the uninspiring food, there wasn't much else wrong with the ward, the luxury of the Arab emirates extended to its hospitals and Percy wasn't exactly surprised at the gilded gold accents in his room.

Just as he was about to begin the hourly hand exercises prescribed by the doctors his phone rang. Percy didn't have his business phone either, so it must've been a somewhat personal call, but no one came to mind when he wondered who might be ringing.

Groaning slightly as he leant over in his bed to reach his phone, he was perplexed when an unrecognised number popped up as the caller, but shrugged and answered the call nonetheless.

"Jackson speaking." His voice was still slightly raspy following the crash.

"Hello Mr. Jackson, My name is Sarah Pace, I'm calling on behalf of Dare Investments Group."

Percy stilled, Dare Investments. The international hedge fund was the owner of Dare racing, and in the racing world, had near bottomless pockets of money to throw at the team. As a result of constant investment they were a top team and a four time constructors winner in the last seven years, fostering 5 world champions in that same period.

"Uh, okay wow." Percy replied in a daze.

"Am I correct in believing that your contract with Corsair racing has run its due following the conclusion of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix?"

"Yes, I believe so."

"That's good to hear. Then I'd like to invite you to the Dare Team's factory in England for next weekend. Travel and Accommodation any other expenses will be covered by the team for the duration of your trip." Her voice was alarmingly neutral for such a big deal.

Percy choked on his breath at what he was hearing. After a moment, he found his voice. "It would be my pleasure to accept."

"That's excellent to hear. All further information will be emailed to you shortly, any other questions feel free to call me back." Percy didn't even get a chance to say thank you before the line cut off, and he was left in his hospital room.

"Holy fuck."


Three days later Percy was soaring above the clouds in a jet owned by the Dare group. It was unbelievable, never in his life did he think he would be flying god knows how high in such luxury.

The best part of the plane, in his opinion, was that it had wifi. It wasn't a thing he had experienced before and he was making the most out of it. He had watched two Star Wars movies, and eaten some of the food provided.

With a sigh, he finally opened the news. He had been avoiding it since he woke up, but thought it was finally time to take the plunge.

The first headline under the formula one tab was his crash. The thumbnail of this huge fire that Percy was still struggling to comprehend he was in the centre of.

The next was an edited photo of him standing in front of the blaze, fiery wings photoshopped onto him. The headline read: "Percy Jackson. The Phoenix. What next?" It was interesting, and he decided to give it a read.

Following his horror crash at Abu Dhabi, and the conclusion of the both the Formula 2 season and his contract with Corsair racing, many fans have begun asking questions about Jackson's future.

The possibility for a future in Formula 1 still remains, as many teams still have not announced their second driver lineups for the next season. The most notable of these being the Dare Racing Team, who have a history of taking up younger drivers.

Along side this, rival team Tri Point Racing, owned by the Triumvirate conglomerate has not announced their second seat either.

The rest of the article was mostly other speculation about him possibly retiring or moving to another motorsport. As he clicked back off to the home page, a breaking news alert popped up, Jackson spotted boarding plane associated with Dare Investments Group.

The article featured a picture of him stepping into the jet from the tarmac, and was not a flattering angle by any means. It has clearly been sniped by some sneaky paparazzi who was apparently hiding in a bush by the runway.

Another headline popped up, this one more fleshed out than the original, however it still used the same picture.

Horror crash survivor Percy Jackson has reportedly been seen boarding an aircraft owned by the Dare Investments group, at a nearby private airstrip.

This comes in the wake of both the finale of the F2 season and that of Mr Jackson's own contract with his original team Corsair racing, who's other driver has recently been banned from all motorsport but the FIA due to causing the horror crash which left Jackson in a burning vehicle.

Underneath the first section of writing, a video was linked, titled: F1 Driver react to horror crash! The thumbnail was some massive fireball on a track.

The video was three minutes long, and was a mid-interview clip of the Dare Team's other Driver, Luke Castellan. There was obviously a TV screen off camera, as his eyes switched to it. A low "Holy shit." Was heard, before the video cut to the helicopter view of the crash.

Percy sighed and closed everything down, going for some shuteye as they approached England.


He stepped out of the plane onto the tarmac, an entourage of cars and gentlemen in suits wielding umbrellas waiting for him.

"Mr Jackson."

Percy took the umbrella offered to him, "Yep, How far is the journey?"

"25 minutes."

"Brilliant. Let's roll."

During the car ride Percy came to two conclusions:

Number one: the English country side is beautiful.

Number two: it rains a lot in England.

In the final five minutes of the journey, the rain came to a halt, leaving only grey skies and water filled potholes.

Percy wasn't really sure what he was expecting in regard to the teams factory. He definitely want expecting perimeter fencing and checkpoints at the entrance to the compound.

The building was magnificent to say the least, a sleek glass design around an artificial lake, a helipad sat in the middle of it.

The car pulled up to the front door, and Percy climbed out, taking in the facilities before him. Entering the lobby, the team displayed all their championship winning cars, the last 20 years they had as a team. The wall opposite was a ceiling high trophy cabinet.

"Mr Jackson." A voice called.

Percy turned to find the team principle walking over, smiling cordially.

A former racing driver, Grover underwood had an accomplished career before he turned to being a team principal. Since joining Dare Racing, they had seen a dramatic uptake in results so it made sense he was their longest serving principal.

"Mr Underwood, a pleasure." Percy replied, shaking his hand.

"Come, follow me, I'll give you the tour." He offered.


In short, their facilities were out of this world, and Percy was blown away by the technology and sophistication on display throughout the premises.

At the end, they returned to the lobby, Underwood turning to him. "I hope you've enjoyed today Percy, but we have one more surprise for you."

Percy cocked and eyebrow.

"Follow me."

The pair approached the helicopter outside as it begun to spool up, climbing inside as it left the helipad.

The grey sky still hung overhead, dulling the vibrant green country side.

After a short trip however they began to descend, and Percy looked out the window to spy a racing track.

"Welcome to Silverstone, Percy." Came over his headset. "We've got last years car ready for you to test drive."

Percy grinned in anticipation.

Touching down, he was herded by a mechanic into a makeshift drivers room, where there was a Dare Racing racing suit hung up for him, alongside a blank white helmet.

He suited up, and headed for the main garage, where a small team of mechanics waited, a formula one car sat in the middle.

Nodding in approval, Percy made his way over, and lowered himself into the cockpit, taking the offered steering wheel and fixing it on.

Two engineers leaned in the fix his harness, as another started the engine. The hum of the V8 behind him soothed this thoughts, as he mentally prepared himself.

Plugging his headphones in, tested the throttle whilst the car was still off the ground. It revved to life, filling Percy with childish anticipation.

He gave a thumbs up and was lowered to the ground by the jacks, before being signalled out the garage by the front mechanic.

He teetered in the throttle and move the car out, moving down the pit lane at the required speed.

As he approached the pit exit, his radio came to life.

"Radio check, radio check." Came a female voice.

Percy thumbed the button on his steering wheel and replied, "Loud and clear." As he accelerated onto the track, taking the corners smoothly.

"Okay Percy, we want to see some good timed laps, so take this lap to warm up and get used to the car." Was the instruction.

"Copy."

He weaved the car up and down the track, pressing heat into the tyres. As he came out of the last the corner he stood in the throttle, the engine roaring to life as he lay down the power.

He blew by the grandstand on the straight, plowing the car into first corner. He had his line planned out and was stuck to it like glue.

The staff in the garage watched his lap on the tv, thoroughly impressed with the skills being demonstrated, many of them running out to the pit wall to see him drive past to begin his second lap.

Back in the car, Percy only seemed to be getting faster. His radio chirped to life again. "Okay, great lap. Let's see if we can get faster."

The engine continued to roar, with Percy getting more aggressive with each corner. On his seventh lap, he felt a judder, and keyed the radio. "Felt a pretty bad judder, can you check the car?" He asked.

"Affirm, we'll get back to you."

The garage burst to life as technicians and engineers began flicking through different technical screens. Underwood went and sat on the pit wall, flicking on his screens.

"Anything?" The voice of Percy came over the radio.

"Nothing so far, looks all good." The race engineer replied.

The car definitely felt off, and as Percy went round a hard and fast corner, he lost it.

The cameras the team had set up captured the moment perfectly, and most were watching as the back left tyre burst open and flew off the rim.

The car was sent into a harrowing spin at 210 miles per hour, sparkes being thrown into the air, followed by gravel as he slid into the gravel trap.

Percy had his hands of the wheel and was quick into the brace position, the nauseating speed at which the car was rotating forbade him from focusing on anything.

Gravel rapped against his helmet and visor as he entered the gravel trap, the barrier fast approaching. As he slammed into it, a suspension spring flew loose of his wheel, impacting him straight in the visor and knocking him unconscious.

The team in the garage, watched on in horror at the crash, fires of outrage and shock. Immediately, a medical car was deployed, racing anti clockwise around the track to reach the scene.

A second car pulled up at the garage, as some mechanics piled in to assess the car and help with recovery.

The two cars pulled up simultaneously, occupants clambering out and running over the gravel towards the car. Medical staff began to assess Percy, quick coming to the conclusion that he was unconscious but still breathing.

Back in the garage, Underwood's radio buzzed, he keyed it before replying. "Underwood."

"This is the medical team, we're going to need to cut him out of the car, and there's an air ambulance on the way." The paramedic informed him.

"Yep, make sure he's okay." He replied; before terminating the call. He tapped his foot, god knew what the media were going to make of this. He made another call on his phone, "We're gonna need damage control, our rookie just had a tire blow out and crash." The head of PR nattered something back, but he had already ended the phone call.

A noise of a helicopter began to make itself known, as their driver was being prepared for an airlift to the nearby hospital. The in-garage tv screens showed the medics sawing the top of the car off, opening it like a sarcophagus.

They carefully raised him out, steadying his helmeted head, the long spring still embedded in the visor.


"How is he?" Underwood asked.

"Surprisingly fine, he has a very minor concussion and that's it."

"What, really?"

"Yep."

"Wow, okay. What about the media?"

"We've had some rumours and everything, as usual, but nothing official yet."

"Do we have a statement ready?"

"We do, but PR is holding it for if it goes mainstream."

"Okay, very good. See ya around." Grover hung up the phone and sat at his desk. On the screen in front of him, he has all the information about Percy's test run, and it was very impressive considering he had never driven an F1 car before.

He looked down at the papers in front of him, a ready made contract for Jackson to sign, welcoming him to the team for a one year deal. Whilst one year wasn't great, it was a vital entry point for the rookie that was sorely needed.

The door to his office opened, and Jackson walked in, much to his surprise. "Aren't you meant to be in hospital?"

"Maybe, but I don't like sitting around." Came the cool reply.

"Well, good thing you're here. You impressed a lot of people with your test run, myself included. Here." He praised, passing the papers.

Percy, to his credit did his best to control his jubilance, and read through the contract before taking pen to paper, officially signing himself for Dare Racing next year.