-1Pony's POV:

"The trans cooler is busted," Steve called from under the hood of the '47 Chevy we'd been working on all morning. "I'll get the car jacked up. You can start taking the cover off the radiator and just drop the cooler down the side."

I nodded and switched places with him. I'd just gotten the cover off the radiator and was about to start taking out the trans cooler when Steve came around to the front and suddenly knocked my hands away from where I was about to start working.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" He demanded. "You looking to kill yourself?"

I blinked at him, confused. Steve rolled his eyes and tapped on the battery, which was still connected.

"You might want to think about disconnecting this before you start working," He suggested sarcastically. "Unless you want to get zapped."

I sighed. I was always forgetting things like that, and Steve was always snapping at me for it. I set to work disconnecting the battery as Steve was digging a few brackets out to support the cooler.

We worked silently for a long time. It wasn't until we were about to attach the outboard hose that he spoke again. A car had just pulled in out front and was waiting for gas.

"All you have to do now is reassemble," He told me, then added, "Don't mess up, okay?"

I gritted my teeth, but just nodded. Steve hesitated for a minute, like he really didn't want to leave me of all people in charge of this job, but finally stalked off out front.

It must have gotten busy out front, because Steve was tied up for a good while. Long enough for me to put the car back together anyway.

When he came back into the shop from out front the seemed shocked that the car seemed to be back in order.

"You finished it?" He asked scratching his head and I nodded.

He circled the car a few times, looking for anything that was obviously out of place. Then, finding nothing, he turned to me again.

"Alright," He nodded shortly. "Drop the car and I'll check for leaks."

I hurried to the back of the car, releasing the jack and letting the car return to its rightful place on the ground as Steve climbed into the driver's seat and started it. I decided to stay well out of Steve's way while he was checking my work. I'd learned at least that much since I'd started working with him.

"Looks good kid," He finally called slamming the hood shut.

I grinned. "You mean I actually did something right?" I asked and he elbowed me jokingly.

"Yeah, well don't let it go to your head," He half-smiled back. "I'm sure you'll mess something else up real soon."

I settled for rolling my eyes at him instead of shooting back something smart about the Dodge he'd practically destroyed when he'd first started working.

With no customers and the Chevy taken care of, we wound up sitting on the pumps out front sipping on icy cold bottles of Coke.

"You know Soda's birthday is coming up pretty soon," Steve said after a while. "We ought to do something nice for him."

I nodded in agreement.

"That's not to say you don't already do a lot for him though Pony," He said quickly and I looked up at him. "I mean it. I know you hate working here."

"I don't-" I started to deny it, but he stopped me.

"You were made for more than this place," He said quietly. "I know why you're here every day. I get it."

We were both silent for a minute before Steve slid off the pump and stood with his back to me, looking down the road towards the lake.

"It's just good of you to do it," Steve finally said hurriedly. "Soda means a lot to me--to everyone. It's nice to know you've got his back is all."

I smiled to myself. I wasn't doing it for the praise; I was doing it for my brother. But it was still nice to hear something like that once in a while though. Maybe it would make coming back to the DX every morning that much easier.

"C'mon," Steve said gruffly as he started to walk up the drive. "Get back to work."