Arianna's POV

In the three and a half weeks since getting El Diablo, Arianna had been pretty pleased with her work. The dents were pulled out of the passenger door and gashes had been welded/mesh weaved shut. The paint was still not done but she had ordered a gold metallic paint similar to the original but with more of a shiny finish to it. She had looked under the hood more closely and found that while the fluid covered components looked bad, it wasn't all that bad. Some punctured hoses and a little bit of metal that was bent where it shouldn't be but for the most part, the fixes should not take any longer than another week or two of work.

As it was, the welds that she had put into the car's metal were already looking smoother but she had a sneaking suspicion that James was coming in and cleaning up her work. Welds don't smooth themselves after all.

On the topic of cars though, Arianna had spotted a red version of El Diablo quite a few times passing the shop. It passed three times a day, never stopping, but always around the same time. She wasn't sure what was up with that but it was still nice to watch the car go by each day. She had given herself a little smile while thinking that the Diablo in her garage would be out there one day like the red one that passed them daily.

The mechanic leaned back in her chair slightly as she waited for the day to wind down. It was 5:43 with just a little over fifteen minutes left of the work day. She had cleaned up her work station and filed her 'paperwork', which wasn't anything more than the inventory she used that day and the customers she used it on.

"Princess, close up the gates." The shop's owner yelled out from the office area. She sighed and hauled herself up for her chair

Arianna walked out to the front of the shop lowering shop doors on each section. Behind her she heard a roaring engine pull up behind her. As she turned she found the bright red sports car that had started passing recently. The black haired woman waited patiently for the driver to step out of his car. He was a tall, tanned young man. If she had to guess his age she would put him around 25 years old. He had long bright red hair tied into a bun behind his head and intense blue eyes. He wore a leather jacket, black with white seams, jeans and a tee-shirt with an angular face...a very familiar looking angular face.

The man looked at Ari with a sweet smile that didn't meet his eyes. Not those eyes were exuding a sort of desperation. "Hello, are you guys closed?"

"Yeah, we open at 8 am tomorrow if you need something."

"I kinda need someone now." The red head scratched the back of his neck awkwardly, that smile tugging at his lips making him look boyish despite his sharp features.

"Well, sir. If it is just a consultation. You could just tell me what is wrong and I can give you a recommendation." She said, knowing this was not the answer he was looking for as his smile slipped slightly. Maybe it was because he wasn't used to hearing no or maybe it was because of her casual rejection but either way he moved a bit closer.

"Look, I just need to talk to you about my...car." He hesitated and placed a hand on her shoulder. It was a tactic Arianna was familiar with. A gesture to ease and to initiate a more intimate conversation.

His eyes darted behind her to the left. A quick look behind her showed that James had at some point arrived and was standing against the door with large arms crossed over his chest. He looked all the world like a great big guard dog.

She would have laughed at the old man's intimidation tactic but she knew that to everyone who didn't know him he was a rather large and grim looking man. "What's so bad that it can't wait a little over 12 hours?"

He smiled once again but it still wasn't meeting his eyes. He looked like whatever he had planned was going up in flames and it made Ari feel a bit bad for it. She stepped to him angling her body away from the older man. "Are you okay?" She asked him lowly. He looked down at her with slightly wide eyes.

"I need to talk to you." He whispered, glancing over to the male outside the shop. "Just not here."

The girl looked into this unknown man's face. She just knew this was a bad idea, but the man looked like he was pretty desperate for her to talk to him. She wanted to roll her eyes at her freaking bleeding heart. "Alright look. There is a clearing about ten minutes that way." Ari took his hand off her shoulder and pointed towards the road leading away from town. "I'll meet you there in 30 minutes. I am going to text my friend your information, so you know don't try to kill me or anything. Seeing as we are strangers and all."

The startled look on his face almost made the girl laugh. He looked so confused, like none of this had crossed his mind, maybe he thought she was crazy for the precaution. Nevertheless, she was cautious.

"Smart femme-ale" The red head nodded after he hastially corrected himself. "My name is Sideswipe, by the way."

"Arianna."

"Well, I guess we aren't strangers anymore." Sides grinned goodnaturedly. The tension that had lined his body since he first stepped out of the car eased some. She looked over the man before gesturing back to the still looming figure in the background.

"Let me talk to James and get changed. I can meet you there."

"I'll wait for you here and we can go together, Princess."

Ari wasn't sure why he had called her that but it sang of a familiarity that he shouldn't have. One more thing the man would have to answer for when she got him talking. She didn't want to seem too paranoid. For all she knew he could just be flirting with her. "Don't call me Princess." Was all the woman said though as she walked over to the older man. "Old man. I've got a date tonight so mind if I ship off?"

"Whose he?" The greying man jutted his squared chin at the new comer. "You ain't' talked about him before."

"Just an old friend. I'll tell you about it later...but in case something happens..."

"I got ya a purse ready in the shop. It has some pepper spray in it and a knife." James gestured vaguely to the desk where a purse that wasn't hers sat. "By I, I mean I gave the things to Starr and she put your purse and outfit together."

"And you were both so sure I was going to go with this man because…"

"He's got long hair and a fast car." The man shrugged. "Starr figured ya were gonna hit him up either way. We didn't know ya wer old friends."

"I'm glad I'm predictable." Arianna sighed.

"Predictable enough that Starr has gotten his license plate already."

The dark woman smiled softly. "Where would I be without you two?"

"Dead in a ditch somewhere." The man answered without hesitation.