Disclaimer: I do not own Oban Star-Racers. If I did, Eva and Jordan would have ended up together.

You know, for as amazing as today should be, it really isn't, Rick thought to himself.

Rick Thunderbolt, ex-champion star racer pilot and potential Oban hopeful, was now a mechanic at the Wei racing team garage. It wasn't really what he wanted to be doing, but since his injury prevented him from actually driving the racers, working on them seemed the next best thing. He's understood most of how the star racers were constructed, and when Don Wei returned from the Great Race, he'd been happy to give Rick a job. Sure they still got into fights, and every now and then Don would "fire" him, but for what it was worth it was a good job.

It should have been great, since a drop-dead gorgeous woman had brought her car in to get fixed. Now, it wasn't customary for anyone to get their car fixed my star racer mechanics, but Rick had known the woman and offered to fix it for her. Though he couldn't for the life of him remember her name.

Oh, she'd flirted with him, and now stood next to her car chattering away while Rick worked on the undercarriage. He'd taken notice that she'd chosen the wear a skirt, and at any particular time he could have a very nice view.

But he couldn't bring himself to do it. Mostly because she hadn't stopped talking since she'd pulled her car into the garage. He banged around the pipes and screws, hoping to drown out the noise, but it hadn't worked. So now he just hoped he could fix it fast enough and have her be on her way.

She laughed suddenly, which caused him to bang his hand and drop the wrench he'd been using. He cursed, the frown becoming deeper as he reached for it. The woman just would not stop talking, and now she was drumming her fake red nails against the door.

He almost told her to quit it when three pairs of legs bolted inside the garage door. They disappeared behind some oil drums, and that's when Rick felt the thundering in the ground. He shook his head and smiled. The three brats had somehow managed to entangle themselves with the police again and were hiding out in the garage. Only problem was, the police had figured out that's where they hid most often, since none of the other garages ever wanted them anywhere near their property. He went to push himself out from under the car when a pair of tennis shoes stopped outside the garage. The black boots of the police skidded to a halt nest to the tennis and were probably talking to the owner. He shifted, the left foot pointed further down the row of garages that lined up in a row. The boots took off, the thundering dimming until it couldn't be heard anymore.

Well that was interesting, Rick thought, pulling himself out from underneath the car. He stood up and brushed off, peering from the corner of his eye at the figure in the doorway. The figure seemed to be watching the retreating officers before he headed inside.

As it turned out, the he was in fact a she, and she had long black hair tied up and away from her face in a pony tail. Rick turned to face her, and took notice of her green eyes and long oval face. But what really got Rick was how tall she was. Far away, she looked to be about average height, but up close she was nearly as tall as he was. That gave her the appearance of being very lean and athletic. At least, he assumed she was athletic, since she was wearing a long sleeved shirt and jeans. She walked over and smiled at him.

"Hello. Is this Wei racing?" she asked. She was quiet, not necessarily shy, but definitely quiet. Rick could feel the heat radiating off the car owner in waves, but chose to ignore it. In fact, he smiled at the young woman, which made Miss Red Nails stomp her foot.

"Yeah. And you are?" She opened her mouth to reply, but Don did it for her.

"Ah, Bethany, you're here. Glad to see you made it alright. I see you've met Rick Thunderbolt, one of my best mechanics."

"Mr. Wei, a pleasure to finally meet you in person. Yes, it seems that I've interrupted Mr. Thunderbolt's work and making this lovely client very impatient. If you could show me where I will be staying, I can get started right away."

"Yes, yes. Follow me." Don turned and headed back up the stairs towards his office, with Bethany about to follow. Before she did though, she turned to Rick.

"You may want to take care of those misfits behind the oil drums before the police come back," she whispered, and followed the manager to his office. Rick watched her walk off, a small smile creeping up his face. This one would be very interesting to watch. Very interesting indeed.