That is All I Ask For: Chapter 24: What Comes After

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The rain came softly in the days that followed.

Not a storm, not a downpour—just a gentle hush that fell across the city like a sigh of relief. The world seemed to finally exhale, and for the first time in weeks, the Zero Eclipse garage didn't echo with tension. There were no shouted arguments, no covert glances, no fear of betrayal crawling under their skin. Only the sound of engines being tuned, metal being welded, music humming low, and lives slowly stitching themselves back together.

Micah sat cross-legged on the floor near the tool cabinet, sorting out Allen keys and torque wrenches with practiced ease. Rai knelt beside him, grinning ear to ear as he reassembled a brake caliper with messy hands and stubborn determination.

"I never thought I'd be doing this again." Rai said, voice full of disbelief and joy. "Fixing something just because I want to."

Micah smiled, tightening a bolt before tossing Rai the next piece. "We finally have something worth fixing."

Across the garage, Meredith perched on the hood of a spare frame, configuring new telemetry modules while Daniel recited outdated statistics from memory, completely ignoring the fact that his shirt was smudged with axle grease and half-torn.

"You do realize no one cares about lap times from ten years ago, right?" Meredith teased.

"It's historical context." Daniel argued, dramatically wiping his brow. "Know your roots."

From the upper deck, Juno shouted, "You guys planning to build a car or a spaceship?"

"We'll fly either way." Meredith replied with a smirk, and laughter rippled through the garage.

It felt like home again.

Later that afternoon, someone plugged in a speaker near the back wall. The playlist that followed was unmistakably from Silas’ old archives—a mix of lo-fi, old-school synth pop, and garage rock. Daniel danced horribly in the middle of the floor, Rai joined him with even less coordination, and Meredith rolled her eyes but couldn’t hide her grin. Even Micah’s head tilted slightly to the beat as he watched the members be themselves.

Juno wheeled over a takeout feast across the garage floor—boxes of noodles, dumplings, fries, and curry bowls. They ate with stained hands and wiped their mouths with clean rags, talking over each other and arguing about who had the worst taste in snacks. Juno sat on the hood of the spare car, legs swinging, telling a dramatic story.

Micah leaned back against a crate, watching them all with a quiet softness in his eyes. He didn’t say much, but he didn’t need to. Just being here—among them, unguarded—was enough.

"You know what this feels like?" Daniel asked, mouth full of noodles.

"A potential food poisoning case?" Meredith muttered.

"No." Daniel said, swallowing and looking around. "Like we actually made it."

"You did." Meredith replied without looking up.

Daniel shook his head. "No. We did."

They all looked up at that.

Even Micah.

Later that night, Dante found Micah alone on the rooftop, exactly where he’d been the night before the final.

But this time, the silence didn't weigh heavy. It floated, like the clouds above.

Dante leaned against the railing beside him, shoulder brushing shoulder.

"Do you feel it?" He asked.

Micah glanced sideways. "The peace?"

Dante nodded. "It's... strange, isn't it?"

Micah's fingers brushed the edge of the wristband. "I spent so long running. Hiding. Waiting for someone to rip this away. But now..."

"You stayed." Dante said. "That's what changed everything."

Micah looked at him. "We all did."

There was a long, quiet pause. The wind rolled over the edge of the roof, soft and cool.

Dante turned to him, searching. "You okay?"

Micah gave a small smile. "For the first time in a long time... yeah."

The next morning, Dante and Micah were in Micah's office at the Eclipse Building, huddled around a spread of race schedules and notes, deep in discussion about which circuits to take next to build their momentum. The energy between them was calm, focused—strategic planning instead of survival mode for once.

A knock came at the door.

One of the staff stepped in with a letter. A sealed envelope, heavier than most. It bore the insignia of the International Racing Alliance.

Micah's eyes narrowed the second he saw it. He reached for the envelope slowly.

"I know that seal." He murmured.

Dante raised an eyebrow. "What is it?"

"My mentor, Alastor Vale, showed me once. It’s from the IRA—when they send an invitation to represent your country on the international circuit. This... this is that."

Dante took the envelope, carefully peeled it open, and scanned the contents. His eyes widened with each line.

"You're right." He said, voice a mix of shock and excitement. "Micah, they want us to represent the country."

The two of them stared at each other, stunned.

Then, without another word, they bolted. They didn’t walk—they drove straight to the Zero Eclipse garage, barely remembering to lock up on the way out. They knew exactly where the others were: Meredith, Daniel, Rai, Juno, and Silas were all together, working in sync, exactly as they'd been the day before.

They burst in like a thunderclap.

One by one, the team turned.

Meredith already looked suspicious. Daniel bounced on the balls of his feet. Juno peered down from the mezzanine. Rai ran in last, towel around his neck, hair still damp from his shower.

"What's going on?" He asked.

Micah raised an eyebrow. "We're going international."

The room froze.

Daniel blinked. Meredith stared. Juno's tablet slipped from his fingers and clattered to the floor.

Rai's jaw dropped. "You mean... like world circuit?"

Dante grinned. "We’re in."

Cheers erupted. Daniel whooped and spun in a circle. Meredith laughed—really laughed—for the first time in weeks. Juno picked up his tablet, already muttering, "I need new tires, I need a new keyboard, I need at least three new processors—"

Even Micah let out a laugh, shoulders shaking, head tipped back toward the sky.

They had earned this.

Not because they were perfect.

But because they survived everything that tried to break them.

That afternoon, they celebrated the only way they knew how—by getting their hands dirty. They stripped down one of the old chassis, debating whether to turn it into a simulator or repaint it for fun. Daniel sketched a ridiculous logo on the frame and declared it "Operation Global Domination."

"You're not naming anything." Meredith deadpanned.

Micah chuckled. "Let him dream."

Rai added a small doodle beside it—a phoenix rising from a gear.

No one asked what it meant.

They didn't need to.

The sun was just beginning to dip when they all gathered outside the garage. The air was cool, tinged with the scent of oil, ozone, and something inexplicably hopeful.

Sunset painted their faces in gold.

Micah looked at them—this strange, beautiful mess of a team.

Rai with his hopeful eyes. Meredith with her grounded fire. Daniel with his impossible optimism. Juno with her chaos and heart. And Dante with everything Micah never dared ask for, and somehow still received.

"We're not just Zero Eclipse anymore." Micah said quietly. "We're what comes after."

Dante stepped up beside him and nodded.

"No more looking back."

And just like that, the past loosened its grip.

Their next race wasn't about revenge.

It was about freedom.

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