Due to the fact that this seems to be a kinda popular story for me personally, I decided to go ahead and put it through the acid test of 'fanfiction.net' with its anonymous reviewers. LOL… ;) Feel free to review.
Title~ High-Speed Stakes (1/?)
Author~ Cristal
Email~ Talis13@yahoo.com
Rating~ PG13
Disclaimer~ All character names belong to the WWE and their respective selves. The rest really does belong to me. ;)
Distribution~ Interested in hosting this fic? Please ask permission. ;)
Notes~ Totally AU (yes, that was your warning lol)
Summary~ This is rather difficult to explain without giving away the story I have in mind. ^^;; Just think of your favorite characters in fast cars and doing illegal things around the board. =D
She tucked the wrench into the back pocket of her coveralls as she took a final look through. Ducking her head she waved back at the man at the control panel of the lift positioned at the front. His head bent down as he played at the controls, hearing the groan of metal as the big block engine was hoisted from the car's body. He flashed her a grin as the engine came cleanly from the old car as he halted the lift, then lowered the engine down to where they could see everything.
She whistled as she looked down on an intricate balance of metal in front of her. He came over, standing next to her as he cracked a bubble from the gum he was chewing. She looked over. "You look like a little garage redneck when you do that."
He grinned again. "I could switch over to tobacco and rename myself Billy Bob if you want."
She made a face and he laughed. She shook her head with a shudder. "I don't think so. Besides, you're too blonde for a Billy Bob I think…"
He watched as she started poking around all the intricate wires of the engine. "Did they have anything in there besides the engine?"
"No, that's why I got a half decent price on it." She yanked a frayed wire out with a frown. "They totally stripped everything else and dropped this 350 in it."
"So, no air conditioning, no smog control no-"
"Anything, right. But, see, this is a high performance racing engine sweetie. And it doesn't need a whole lotta work."
"Maybe not…" he stepped over to the car, looking into the body where the engine once sat. "But they yanked out everything! Look, wipers aren't hook up, no air conditioning or anything…"
She shrugged. "It's cool. Besides, I was more worried about getting an engine to drop in here. But, things look really good so far."
He nodded before shrugging. "Hey, it's your baby."
"I know." She grinned over at him as he smirked. "Mine, mine, mine, mine MINE!!"
"Down girl!"
"Hey!"
"Seriously though, are we doing a full restoration on this thing or what?"
She nodded as she continued her prodding. "Yeah. I want things working but we're keeping the racing stock on it. And I want to replace everything I can with racing stock parts too…"
He tucked his hands into his pockets as he watched her before she turned. "Take a look and see what the interior looks like!"
He ambled over to the driver's side door, getting a good grip on the handle. The plated silver handle was a little odd in that it actually sat on top of the door right at the window. He yanked, the door easily swinging open before he peered inside. "It looks like shit!!" he laughed before moving as she flung the wrench at him, narrowly missing the fiberglass door.
"It does not!! It just needs…a little work! That's all!"
He continued to laugh before sitting in the seat, hands coming to rest on the wheel. The interior was in pretty rough shape…not only did the former owner strip the engine case they stripped the interior too. The radio was gone and the passenger door's fronting was sitting in the seat. He was looking out the windshield in thought. The inside needed to be repainted, but the seats were still all right. The old black leather bucket seats looked comfortable and they might have been the originals in the car. You sat low in the seat, everything within reach of the small cabin of the vehicle. "Feels just like a 'Vette…"
"That's good since that's what I was aiming for." She replied dryly.
"Why a Corvette though…? I mean, these things are seriously high maintenance." He smiled. "Kinda like a woman."
"Oh, that was classy Billy Bob."
He just laughed as he got out of the car. She was looking at the underside of the engine now. "Well, I think we can have everything together in about two weeks. You?"
"It'll take that long?" she sat up, cracking her head on the underside of the engine. Colorful swearing left her lips as she ducked, hand held to her head.
He stepped over, making sure she wasn't bleeding before sitting down next to her nonchalantly, arms wrapped around his knees. "What's the hurry?"
She stopped cussing long enough to pull her hand away with a scowl directed at the large heavy engine. "The competition is in two weeks. I want to be done and entered before the day of." She paused, looking over at him. "The next one isn't for another six months unless they get a big enough purse beforehand. Do you think you and I working on this can get it done…?"
He sighed. "Probably, but I want to make sure everything's safe on this thing before you go screaming out of the garage in it."
"Well?"
He sighed again. "If we work constantly on this, probably."
"Excellent!"
He held a hand up. "We gotta clear this with the boss. We don't just have your car in here to work on you know. There's no guarantee he'll even let you keep it in here."
"I need to ask him. He wanted to see it you know…"
"I know but he does have a business to run-"
"Which you and I DO run and run well you know! We're the best at what we do and he knows it!! Besides, I think he might even be willing to sponsor me."
He snorted. "That's a bit much. Let's just stick with asking about using the garage right now."
She pouted with a nod. "Fiiiine." She wrinkled her nose before turning back to him. "What would this garage do without me?"
"Make more money? OW!"
She held her hand up again, taking aim. "What was that?"
He held his hands up. "You really are a redhead. Glad you're usually on my side."
"I'm not right now." She waved threateningly as he back up slightly.
He smiled at her. "The Lovely Lita: every car jock's living dream. I can't complain where I work at least…lot of guys keep wanting to get jobs here you know…"
She looked over dryly. "I'm glad Mark hires based on knowledge rather than hormones and testosterone."
He was quiet a moment, looking up. "I feel like I might have just been insulted with that whole 'testosterone' comment thing."
She yanked playfully on his long blonde ponytail as she smiled. "I didn't mean to. At least this time."
"Thanks." He stated with arched eyebrow before shrugging. "Besides Taker hires people he knows can do the work and would happily work overtime without getting paid to do what they love."
"Guilty." She chimed with a dreamy smile before turning serious once more. "I can't believe I used to hate you."
"Was it my good looks or my charm?" he smiled charmingly at her, popping the gum once more just for annoyance.
She wrinkled her nose again. "I can't complain about your looks so it must have been that utter lack of charm Christian." She drew out his 'name' to annoy him.
He pouted. "Why do you give me a hard time about my name?"
"What kind of racing name is 'Christian'?"
"What kind is 'Lita'?" he countered before she tackled him, laughing.
"I'm sorry Jay. But you know I'll always call you Christian because that's what I always knew you as when we met. And you swept me off my feet with your lovely charm."
He smiled at her again: actually it was more grin than smile. "You act like a drunken ballad to your bad driving after that one race turned you off."
"Surprisingly enough, it did!" she started laughing as she let him up.
"Well at least-"
"Kids, get the hell in here! We got a bunch of people in right now!"
Both scrambled up, cleaning up a little at the sinks before practically sprinting into the sale area. If they wanted Undertaker to let them borrow his garage for a while, staying on his good side would be a good idea. They hastily made their way towards people as Taker directed.
About an hour later, filled with conversations about glass packs and hydrous noxide down to striping on sporty numbers, all three sat silently in the showroom of the business. Christian was buffing one of the newer Honda's that they had bought and souped up: he had a prospective buyer for the car even though he wasn't a big Honda fan himself.
Lita looked over at her boss with a smile. He arched an eyebrow as he filed some paperwork. "What do you want now Red?"
She pouted. "Do I always have to want something?"
"When you look at me like that, YES." He smirked. "That's the look that should be reserved for a guy closer to your own age."
"Like me!"
Lita flipped off her blonde friend, still smiling sweetly. "I'll keep that in mind. Hey! I got my car! It's back in the garage!! You should see it: it's awesome!!"
He nodded. "Yeah, wanted to do that when we closed tonight…" he trailed off before looking expectantly back at her.
Lita ducked her head slightly as she played with the edge of one of the parts books on the counter. Um…well, what I was wondering was if Christian and I could work on the car."
"It's your car: of course you can."
Christian hid the snort of laughter as the redhead glared at him. "I know that. Can we work on it here? All the tools are here and everything-"
He nodded again. "Of course you can. You know the only rules I have are ask in advance and replace anything you two hooligans break."
She rolled her eyes before sobering again. "The comp is in two weeks."
He looked up interestedly. "Yeah, I heard! I was gonna see if either of you two were entering this time."
Christian nodded with a grin. "Hell yes! I'm practically ready to go!!"
"Practically?"
Christian shrugged sheepishly. "Hey, I gotta find a sponsor you know. I covered my last race but totally wiped my savings for repairs afterwards."
Taker nodded as he sat on one of the stools behind the desk. "Yeah, I was there while you were cussing everything in the garage when you brought it back, remember?"
Christian grinned with another shrug. "How can I forget?"
"How can anyone forget?" he mumbled before shaking his head and turning towards Lita. "Now what about you? You haven't been in for a long time. You think that car'll be ready in time?"
She sighed deeply as she propped her head on her fist. "That's what I wanted to talk to you about. What I was wondering is if you'd let Christian and I work on it, on the clock that is…"
He looked seriously at her a moment, glancing over at Christian who was quietly waiting for the verdict as well. He bit his lip as he cleaned up the desk as best he could. He couldn't ask for better workers: they knew what they were doing. A little risky and crazy sometimes, but they knew their shit. And they always worked on restorations for his customers long after quitting hours. Maybe giving them a couple of weeks would be worth it… he sighed again. "Well…I was thinking about sponsoring this time around…"
Both looked up in surprise. He chose his races carefully: men and women begged for him to sponsor their races but he usually turned them down. Once in awhile he wouldn't but he hadn't sponsored in a long time… Christian shook his head. "A couple? Are you serious?"
He couldn't help but grin at the twin looks of shock on their faces. "I guess my image proceeds me."
"You could say that…"
He chuckled. "Tell you what. I'll lay down the terms of my sponsoring your races: like how much of the costs and what my take will be if you win."
Both were shocked speechless. Lita snapped out of it first. "Wait, I don't have my car yet. Are you talking about Christian?"
He nodded. "I'm talking about both of you Red. You'll both get your sponsor as long as you two get that car of yours in working order in a week and a half. You get your garage time and your sponsor if you want it."
"HOLY SHIT!! This kicks ass!!!" she jumped up hugging Christian who was also beaming. "We won't let you down!! We'll get it together!"
"One of us will win the damn thing too!!" Christian added as he held onto his bouncing friend.
Undertaker smiled. "Why do you think I'm sponsoring you both? If I didn't think one of you could do it, I wouldn't have bothered…"
Both beamed at him before running out to the garage, leaving their boss to gather the contractual sponsorship paperwork. They had some serious work to do…
End Chapter 1Author's Rambles~ Like I said, very AU. ^^ If you need any explanations on what I'm talking about during this fic, please ask! ^^