Chapter Text
"It's over, Ruby." Yang slammed her hands down on their kitchen table. "It's…I'm sorry. We gave it our best shot, but there's nothing more to give."
Ruby looked up at her sister from her seat as her shoulders slumped. She could feel the wetness coming to her eyes. "I…I never thought you would be the one to give up."
"Yeah, well…sometimes, a dream has to die. It was…it was great while it lasted. But we can't go on like this, barely scraping by race to race." She let out a sigh and Ruby saw her eyes scanning their bare cupboards. It was true. She held out as long as she could, but…there was simply nothing more they could do. "We…we can barely afford to keep ourselves together. We can't afford to maintain Crescent Rose anymore, and it shows. She's lost her edge. Further behind she falls, bigger the pit grows."
She knew. She knew as well as anyone. Crescent Rose was her baby, and she was falling to pieces. A car that was winning races just three years ago was a backmarker now. Even a top ten finish was a big deal. But still, she hated the idea of leaving now. Not after last time. That…that wasn't how she wanted to go out.
"What about…what about the Patch Classics 6 Hour? If we win, it'll be enough to keep her going for another year." She sighed. A win? That was a long shot at best. But it was six hours, anything could happen. And even though they'd raced in a bunch of categories, her heart was always in endurance. "We both know that track, we'll have a home field advantage."
"If we win, outright. That's a damn big 'if', sis." She shook her head, still looking down at Ruby. "We can barely make the entry fee. We'd have to run with one less set of tires, which might as well be a guaranteed loss, and let's not forget we need to make rent."
"I…know, Yang, I know, okay? I just…I don't want to leave it like this. I know we won't win. I…want to go out on a high note, y'know?" Ruby let her face sink into her hands. "I don't want my last memories of all this to be getting shunted into dead last because some jerk put on slicks a lap too early."
That seemed to make Yang relent. Ruby couldn't see it, with her face buried in her palms, but she could feel the shift. A deep sigh, and her voice softened. "I…didn't think of it that way. Okay. Okay. One…one more go. One more race we can be proud of." Another sigh. "If we're really doing this, we'll need our favorite pair of redheads."
Her head shot up and she wiped the tears from her eyes. "Really? You mean it? I'll…I'll call Penny! Think Blake'll help?" She was already fumbling for her scroll in the pocket of her hoodie before getting an answer.
Yang let out a soft chuckle. "Yeah, she will. She'll be glad it's the last one, though."
"So you'll do it?"
Penny's voice came in, loud, clear, and cheerful. She was always with them. Even when things got bad, even when they couldn't afford to pay her anymore. "Of course! It is always a pleasure to engineer a race for you, Ruby! I am…sorry, about the circumstances. But that is all the more reason why I want to be there."
"I-…I'm glad to hear that. Wouldn't be the same without you." And Ruby meant it. Penny had always been their secret weapon. She'd devise strategies that simply shocked other teams, and that was a big part of their success, in the early days. She hoped, after this was all over, that Penny would stay in touch, even as she moved on to bigger, better things. But there was still the matter of the third driver… "And…what about Nora? We, uh, we really kinda need her too."
"She says that she does not understand why you think she would ever want to drive your, quote, 'bucket of bolts' again."
"…I'll make pancakes?" There was a pause as Penny apparently mentioned the half-joke of a bribe to her partner.
"Your offer has been accepted." Ruby let out a snort. Some things never changed. It was nice, at least, that her closest friends were on that list.
Ruby couldn't help but smile as she pulled up the garage door. Even in this state, even as the Lien dried up, even as she lost her shine, Ruby would always be proud of Crescent Rose. She entered the garage and ran a hand along the red and silver livery. It'd been almost a month since the last time out, that awful last-place finish, and they had just about that amount of time to prepare for the 6 Hours. And then…Ruby didn't know what would become of her. She preferred not to think about it.
The race might have been called 'Classics', but the entry criteria were pretty loose, all things considered. A lot of the little, one off races they ran were like that. In this case…the car had to have a 'classic' body and make the weight and power limits. That was it. Good thing, too, because the body was about the only thing 'classic' about Crescent Rose anymore.
Sure, she might look like a 1968 Mustang with some fancy paint, but there was so much more to her. They'd ripped out the original engine and in its place sat a modern Coyote V8 - still technically a 302, Ruby loved to note! - which nearly tripled her net output for roughly the same weight. All that power went to a fancy sequential gearbox - Yang insisted that a standard six-speed wouldn't do - and then on to a limited-slip differential and the rear wheels themselves.
The suspension was a whole 'nother thing. There was only so much she could do with a solid rear axle, but it had to stay that way for some of the old muscle car races. Still, bars to stiffen everything up, coilovers to get the ride height down, and modern control arms went a long way to getting her cornering speed tolerable.
When it was all put together, Crescent Rose had carved out a niche, a class of her own, that let them compete in a lot of classics races and even some 'modern' ones. And for a while, it worked. For a while, podiums were common, a few wins came, and they could get by. But to keep her running that well took a lot of maintenance, and damage built up too. Soon, the winnings weren't enough. So they let some things slide, and the car got slower. And then they won less, and the car got slower. They'd been in that spiral for two years, and now they were at the bottom. They had to choose racing or survival. Ruby opened the driver's side door and sat behind the wheel, idly running her fingers along the dash. One way or another, in a month, this part of her life would be nothing but a memory.
"…And Blake thinks Sun and company will be up for rounding out the pit crew. It's really happening, one last hurrah." Yang finished rattling off the list of their cobbled-together team. They really were lucky with the friends they'd made. Maybe, on some level, knowing it was the last go helped.
"Thanks, Yang. It…it really means a lot. We always knew this would come but…didn't think it'd be so soon." Ruby rolled out from under Crescent Rose, trying in vain to wipe off some of the grime on her face. She'd need a long, hot shower after this. "Transmission fluid's done. Old stuff didn't have too much metal in it, gears are probably still okay."
"I know, Rubes. Let's not think too hard about it, 'kay? Let's enjoy it while it lasts, and we'll pick up the pieces after." Yang went over to the workbench and started flipping through old paper charts. Carefully tabulated data from the Patch track, Ruby knew. She wasn't lying about the home field advantage. "I was looking at our setup for Patch. It's been down to a science for years, but I don't know if her suspension can take it anymore. Was wondering if maybe Penny had any bright ideas."
"If I had any bright ideas about what?" The sudden arrival of a third voice practically made Ruby leap out of her coveralls, and that made Yang double over with laughter. For a three hundred pound former military gynoid, Penny could be surprisingly sneaky.
"Penny!" Ruby recovered quickly and bounced up from the floor and over to her friend. She just barely managed to stop herself from squeezing the redhead into a hug. "Uh. Right, covered in grease, don't want to get it all over you."
"Hm. I do suppose topical application of grease would not be a particularly effective way to lubricate my systems. My customary hug will have to wait." The wink that followed meant Ruby knew she was joking, and her lips split in a wide grin. Penny had come so far from the girl who took everything very literally just a few years ago. "Salutations, Ruby! I hope you are well. You too, Yang!"
"I'm…okay. Yeah, okay. Excited! Glad we're doing this." It wasn't a lie, not exactly, but it wasn't the truth. She knew this had to end, this had to be the last race, but she wanted so much more. For…various reasons, they'd always gone solo. Competed in one-offs. But no one had ever been interested in sponsoring them for a season, or giving them a seat on a team. Not even during their run of podiums. And now, it seemed, the majority of the paddock would get their wish, that the Rose-Xiao Long sisters would disappear altogether. "Hey, where's…"
"Nora?" On cue, the other redhead burst into the garage and threw an arm around her girlfriend's shoulders, bombastic as always. Her other arm made a fist in front of her face. "Are we ready to win this thing or what?!"
Ruby shook her head, and put on a knowing smirk. "We're not gonna win, Nora, we just want a top ten to go out on." She looked back at Penny. "Yang wanted you to take a look at our suspension setup. She doesn't think the Patch numbers will work anymore with the car's…state."
Penny pried herself out of Nora's iron grip with a smile, and marched over to the workbench where Yang still stood. Meanwhile, their third driver pulled Ruby aside, out front of the garage and out of earshot of Yang. "Are…you sure about this, Ruby? I mean, calling it quits after this?"
"We…we don't have a choice. We can't afford it anymore." At this point, every paycheck was a debate: pay off some bills, or put it into the car. It had stopped making sense to ever choose the car six months ago, the last time they managed to recoup even a fraction of their expenses in winnings. They couldn't pretend anymore. "After this…we're probably gonna have to go back to Dad's place for a while. I…I know Yang only agreed to do this one for me. It was stupid to even enter."
"It's just…this was your dream. You and Yang both. You've never wanted anything else." Nora put a hand on her shoulder, then reconsidered and pulled her into a hug. Grease be damned, apparently. "I'm sorry it's ending this way. Me and Penny, we're always here for you, you know that? Always."
Ruby sighed into Nora's shoulder, and then sobbed. "I…thanks, Nora. I- I think I'm gonna need some time away after this is over but…I don't want to lose you two. You're…you're like family, y'know?"
"Don't you dare even think that. You're stuck with us, whatever happens. And hey, crazy things can happen, right?"
"Heh. Maybe, Nora. Maybe."
"Alright, girls, time to talk strategy. We know CR isn't what she used to be. We know we're gonna be running one less set of tires than everyone else." Ruby slapped her hands together in the little meeting room at the back of the pit garage. "But our dearest race engineer, here, has pulled one last trick out of her hat, that she thinks can get us in the top ten, maybe even top five if we play everything perfectly. Penny?"
"Ruby is correct. I believe we can turn our perceived disadvantage into an advantage, of sorts. Because we will need to manage our tires longer, we can stay out on track longer. If we can cut out one or ideally several pit stops, we will gain track position. This means that we will need to run fuel heavy, and manage our fuel well, but my calculations show that the losses from that will be outweighed by the gains of not stopping. Ideally, we would only stop twice - when we switch drivers and tires. Additionally, I am not, at present, wearing a hat." Penny was met with silence and stares. Even Ruby was a bit taken aback. A two stop strategy? In a six hour race? It was insane. It was…probably impossible. Penny never let them down, but this seemed…extreme. "That last part was a joke."
"Yeah, Penny, we got that." Yang's eyes were narrow and she seemed…off put. Not that Ruby could blame her. "We're…supposed to stay out for two hours without stopping? You've never led us wrong before, but…but this doesn't seem like a good idea."
"It…is not. But it is my only idea. I have been considering and simulating options for the whole month. This strategy consistently produces the best results." Penny looked Yang straight in the eye, pleading with her to understand. "You and Ruby each have more experience on this track than any other driver in the race, by a wide margin. You will know how to save where they do not, how to gain where they do not. We only need to reach ten gallons per hour of fuel consumption. It is possible. Yang, I am asking you to trust me."
Blake spoke up next. She put a hand on Penny's shoulder as she stood next to her. "You were right, Yang, we had to soften up the suspension on the car. She…can't take the old setup anymore. But that'll reduce tire wear, and she's hit that fuel use number plenty of times before. I don't like it any more than you do. I probably like it less. But it's the only real option we have." Her voice reduced to a near whisper, and Ruby knew these words were really meant for Yang and Yang alone. But they resonated with her, too. "You know I'm glad that this life is almost over. But…but I don't want you to regret your last race. I want you to be proud of it."
Yang rose from her seat, but kept her palms flat on the table. Ruby could see the gears turning in her head. Could see she was fighting between a desire to get this over with and a desire to win. "…Fine. Fine, we'll give it a shot. Driver order?"
Penny brightened, and so did Ruby. They would make this work. They had to make this work. "Nora, Ruby, Yang, as per usual. If Nora is able to jump a few positions at the start as always," - Ruby caught the wink Penny offered her girlfriend - "then we will be in much better shape for the whole race. And Yang…no one finishes a race like you do."
Qualifying had been kind to them. Penny was right - familiarity with the track made a big difference. For a while, Crescent Rose even held a fastest middle sector, where Ruby had gained over a tenth of a second in a turn she knew to carry more speed through than it seemed. In the end, that very lap got them tenth on the grid. To make their goal…they only needed to hold position. Nora sat in the driver's seat, preparing for race start, and Ruby stood alongside. Before the door finally closed, Nora looked over at her. "Ruby? I won't let you down. I promise."
"I know." Ruby smiled wide. Maybe this was the last time. Maybe it wouldn't go to plan. But, deep down, she was happy she was here for that last time. Happy it could be a long race. Happy it was on Patch. Happy that her red and silver baby would get the send off she deserved.
In a private box above the grandstand, a white-haired woman looked down at the proceedings as vehicles lined up in their grid positions. She idly flicked through screens on her scroll. Driver profiles, race histories, statistics, car information. One of these teams would do. Surely one of them would do.
Ruby watched the race start from the pit wall, alongside Penny, who was now truly in her element. Picked out the roar of Crescent Rose's engine among the twenty four others. Watched as the lights counted up, then went out. This was it. One way or another, Ruby Rose's racing 'career' would be over in six short hours.
Nora exploded off the line as she always did. As Penny expected. And when the dust cleared from turn one, when her hearing returned to her as the thunderous mass of cars had faded into the distance, the timing tower confirmed it: Nora had jumped from tenth straight to seventh. Maybe, just maybe, they'd get that top five.