Chapter 3:

When Chase and Jenna came back around the scrap heap, Chance and Jake were still crowded around the car, taking turns moving from underneath, to under the hood.

Jake waved his wrench when he saw them. Jenna waved back – Chase growled under her breath about "ignorant toms who think they know everything," glaring daggers at Chance.

"Ready?" he asked when they were close enough. "It's a long list."

Jenna nodded. Chase made a snarling noise in Chance's general direction. He snarled back. Jake elbowed him in the ribs.

"Here we go," he started. "The most minor problem is the oil leaking – I mean, it's not a minor problem, but compared to the rest of your car, it's pretty minor."

Chase winced. She had a feeling this was going to be expensive.

"Any way, your wheels are misaligned, which is why your car's vibrating; and the back axle's coming loose. Your battery's pretty eroded – close to dead actually. That'll need to be replaced. The coil wire's got some small cracks in it, which we may be able to fix – "

"Don't hold yer breath," Chance snarled.

Jenna ignored him; Chase clenched her fists and growled low.

Jake ignored them both, but positioned himself between them, so it would be harder for them to get at each other's throats. "We need to replace the fuel filter, it's pretty clogged. Your shocks are shot and your break pads are completely worn through. It's a miracle this thing's still in one piece, not to mention running," he finished.

"Holy cr – "

"How much is this gonna cost?" Chase asked, turning most of her attention away from the hostile tom at the dented and paint-less hood.

"Well, it's gonna be about fourteen thousand," Jake said, wiping his greasy hands on his pants.

Chase nearly had a heart attack.

"Wow," Jenna said.

"Yeah," Jake replied. "It might be better just to buy a used car. You can take off about seven thousand if you find a good deal.

"Wow," Jenna said again, in shock.

"So are we fixing this thing or what?" Chance asked angrily.

"Cool it, man," Jake said. He turned back to the girls. "Do you still want us to fix it?"

"I guess we're selling the telly," Chase muttered.

"Um…yeah, I guess," Jenna replied.

"You sure? You don't wanna just buy a used one?" Jake asked.

Jenna looked at Chase and nodded. "This was my mother's car," she said, staring over his shoulder at the car.

Jake nodded. "Okay then," he said. "We'll get to work on it right away."

"Thanks," Chase said. "How long do you think it'll take?"

Jake shrugged. "It depends on how many underlying problems there are."

"More problems?"

"Maybe," Jake replied.

"Can't be helped I suppose," Chase replied, staring at the other, newer cars.

"We'll give you a call when we finish," he said, pulling a crumpled form from his back pocket and handing it to Jenna. He started patting down his jumpsuit for a pen. "Just need you to fill that out…. You got a pen, Chance?"

"Not one for her," he snarled.

Chase ignored him and pulled a pencil case shaped like a horse from her bag. Some women never went without their lipstick and mascara; Chase never went without her doodles and a deck of cards.

"Thanks," Jake and Jenna said simultaneously.

"Don't mention it," she replied, handing Jenna a red pen.

Jenna filled out the form in elaborate cursive, a little too fancy for that crumpled mess of paper. "What's our number?" she asked.

Chase pulled an out-dated mobile from her pocket, flipped through it, and handed it over. Jenna scribbled the number down quickly, then the address.

"It's 419," Chase said.

"I know it's 419," Jenna muttered, signing her curved signature.

"Then why does it say 479?" Chase asked.

"It's a one, not a seven," Jenna retorted.

"Looks like a seven to me."

"Well it's not."

"Looks like it."

"What does that look like to you?" she asked Jake.

"Uh…" Kat fights were not on his list of things to jump into headfirst.

"Looks like a one," Chance said, coming up next to his partner and taking the form.

"You're only saying that cuz you hate me," Chase snarled.

"So what?"

Jake snatched the form away from his burly friend. "Okay! We'll call you."

"Thanks," Jenna said, grabbing Chase's wrist. "Let's go!"

"Why do you have to be such a jerk?" Chase snapped. "What happened to 'the customer's always right?' "

"That's Jake's job, not mine," he snarled back.

"Then what the hell are you doing out here? If that bloody thing would start I'd take it somewhere else!"

"What's stopping you? You're so strong, you can probably push it there!" he said sarcastically. "I know I could!"

"Bullocks!" she shouted, stamping her foot at each word. "Bullocks, bullocks, bullocks!"

"Maybe I'll do it. At least we won't have it uglying up the place."

"YOU LIVE IN A SCRAP DUMP!"

"AT LEAST I HAVE STANDARDS!"

"GAH!" Chase yelled in frustration, throwing herself at him.

Jenna just managed to grab hold of her tail and yanked her back, bringing her crumbling to the ground, while Jake shoved Chance into the car.

"What the heck did you do that for?" he asked. "I was gonna take her!"

"I know! She's a girl!" Jake replied.

"So's Turmoil, but that never stopped us," Chance growled under his breath, too low for the she-kats to hear.

"What the heck is wrong with you?" Jenna whispered angrily.

"He's an arse!"

"So are you! You guys should get along great!"

Chase glared at her.

"Oh stuff it," Jenna growled. "Sorry! We'll go now!" she called to Jake, shoving Chase in the general direction of the exit.

"Yeah, me too!" Jake replied. "Sorry, I mean. I'm not going anywhere, cuz I have to work…"

Jenna laughed, battering her friend away with her hips. "See you soon then?"

"Yeah!" Jake replied.

They turned around and walked back down the entrance ramp, Jenna waving and Chase fuming silently.