EEL

Chapter 4: Car Fumes

By Relena Maxwell

Disclaimer: *rolls eyes*

AN: Please read, try to enjoy, and for the love of monkeys, REVIEW afterward! \^O^/


*******************

A day later, 6:00 PM

For some reason, the gods above believed that after being in a car crash, yelled at by his cousin, and disgracing his aunt, Duo needn't see Heero when leaving the hospital. Going by the ever talkative Sylvia Noventa, Heero, Trowa, and Wufei, all left soon after waking up (although Trowa was in crutches, Wufei had a bandaged arm, and Heero had billions of scrapes).

But, reality was still surrounding him, in other words, going by Hilde, "Go fix my baby, or you'll have more injuries than all your little pals put together."

To top it off, as he was leaving the little hospital, he met the two officers who had found the three vehicles. They're names were Lady Une and Treize, and from them he was rewarded with a HUGE fee (which Uncle Stuart paid off, but Duo will have to do loads of work for his entire life... ;-), some community service charges (first task was to ask for forgiveness from the truck driver Gary Lodum, and do millions of odd jobs for him), and a strawberry filled, sugar coated doughnut out of pity. Yes, life sucks, but hey, it could have been worse (AN: but he got a yummy doughnut! ^_^).

Then a though quickly struck Duo, /How in the heck am I going to get to an vehicle doctor or whatever it's called, if the car's too trashed to even move?!/

As if on cue, Uncle Stuart turned to his nephew and said simply, "The truck was taken to Merquise Mechanics by the Pink Foot Towing Company (AN: There really is one named that too!). That's walking distance from here - seven blocks. So you'll manage."

Upon hearing this, Hilde's eyes got a weird glassy look to them and she fake swooned while saying in awe, "Yeah.... (drool) I heard there's this really cute older guy that's in charge of it. His name's Zechs and he has wicked cool long hair... Whata babe... Ahhhhhhhh..."

Aunt Ginny looked at her daughter with a risen eyebrow and said, "And how old is he, exactly?"

Hilde automatically was brought down from "Cloud Nine" and said while starring at the pavement, "24..."

Aunt Ginny rolled her eyes at her daughter then turned to Duo and said, "While you were getting dressed in the hospital I called Mr. Merquise, he said you can come down tomorrow at around two o'clock and for you to look for his assistant Eel."

"Alright then, two o'clock, I'll be there!" said Duo eagerly as he thrust a fist into the air.

Hilde's eyes grew wide and she said, "Not without me you don't! I want my baby treated right! N' I wanna see Zechs, and this Eel person sounds pretty hot too! "

She then latched onto her cousin's hand as they started marching off, while Uncle Stuart and Aunt Ginny headed home in their car.

~

Duo rose his eyebrow as he looked at Merquise Mechanics. It was your basic Car shop, with a check in center inside, and five garages, with four filled - one with Hilde's, "Baby". And connected to it separately, was a two story house that he assumed was where the owner lived. But, everything looked quite shabby, almost as if it had been around since the dinosaur ages, yet no one bothered to sparse it up.

"Looks kinda... You know... Trashy."

Hilde turned to him and scowled. "Don't be so negative! Be thankful they have low prices! This is coming out of *your* college fund, buddy boy."

Duo laughed nervously, and scratched the back of his head.

Hilde then dropped the mean look, and perked up. "Well! Let's go inside then!" She swiped Duo in her right arm, and then charged to the door. Right when she was about to open, it burst from the inside - sending a Domino reaction with poor Hilde and Duo.

A tall woman with short blue hair and purple eyes stomped out, and had her blouse slightly unbuttoned and disheveled, a hickey on her neck, and her jacket in her arms. And in her rage, she didn't even notice the two cousins.

A male voice called from inside, "Noin! Come back!" And a man with long pale blond hair, ice blue eyes, wearing a white tank top, and baggy blue pants. He was stained all over with oil, even his face - which was also covered in lipstick marks.

She turned around with fiery eyes, although watery, and yelled, "Never Zechs! We are over! You hear me?! OVER!!!"

"Please? We can work it out! I didn't mean to say that! Serious!"

"The day I believe that is the day you wear a tux!" Noin went to the bike rack, got her big purple two wheeler, and sped away.

The man yelled in frustration, "Dammit!", and was going to thrust his arm in the air in anger, but just as Duo stood up to dust himself off, Zechs accidentally punched him right in the stomach.

Duo sucked in his breath, and said meekly, "Yow!" and fell to the ground.

Zechs stared in shock at the fallen boy, and then looked at Hilde in confusion. "What? Where'd you kids come from?"

Hilde practically had stars in her eyes. /Whata freakin' BABE!!!!/

Completely ignoring her in pain cousin, she stepped over him and looked at Zechs with dreamy eyes. "Hi............."

"Uh...?"

The man's weird look at her forced her into reality, and she shook her head. She thrust out her hand to shake his and said, "Yo! I'm Hilde Schibecker, and this tub of lard," she pointed to the cringing Duo, "Is my shameful cousin who speed races, and like to trash cars."

Zechs, entirely forgetting the earlier drama brightened and looked at Duo while offering a hand to help him up. "You like racing?"

"Uhhh... Kind of." /Who CARES?! I just get outta the hospital, to get punched in the gut?! GOD!/

"Awesome! Eel and I do too!" he glanced at how Duo was holding his stomach, "Uh... yeah. Sorry 'bout that."

"Don't worry, I'll be ok."

When Duo stood, Zechs gave him an arm, and helped him into the small room known as the "front desk".

"I'll be right back, I'll get ya some ice, meanwhile, just relax." He left to go to the back room, and when he did, Hilde gave Duo the Evil Eye.

Duo flattened his eyes on her, "What's that look mean?"

"I'm supposed to be the one he's interested, not you."

"Hehe... Well personally, I think he digs that Noin chick more that both of us."

"Grrrrrrrrr...."

From the doorway, Zechs tossed an ice pack towards Duo, "Here ya go!"

"Eh?"

*SMASH*

"My nose!!! Waaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhh!!! It's the ice pack from Hell!!!!!"

Hilde patted him on the back as Duo started to rub his nose, and fake cry. "It's ok Duo, your nose still looks fine. It doesn't ruin your features."

Duo smiled and said, "Good!" (AN: Isn't it amazing how he "heals" so quickly? *^^*)

Zechs just looked at them both oddly and said, "Yeah... Riiight... I have ta call a bud o' mine 'bout getting some new car parts, so you two can go into the garage where the car is n' talk ta Eel."

"Ok, let's do that Hilde." said Duo enthusiastically as he got up carefully, holding the ice pack against his stomach.

Hilde gave a quick glance at Zechs, and then whispered to Duo, "Nah, I'm gonna stay here. You go see this 'Eel' person."

Duo lightly punched her in the arm teasingly and said, "I thought you had to watch your, 'Baby'."

Hilde kept on staring at Zechs and said in a daze, "I know, n' that's what I'm doing."

/Ok.... I've lost her./

He smiled at her and said, "Ok, then."

~

Duo walked into one of the five joined garages. He was met by the sound of clinking, and every once and a small grunt.

The braided looked around, but no one was in sight.

/Probably under one of the cars or something.../

"Uh... Hello?" asked Duo skeptically as he walked around, looking under every car.

There was a deep clunking sound from the most distant car (a blue Civic that Duo didn't recognize). Duo walked over to the Civic, just as two legs in tight jeans were sliding out from under the car. Then a small green eel tattoo curling around a belly button, a tight bare stomach, with little smears of oil here and there, and then hands, then a tight red.... BRA?! (AN: Like one of the ones Catherine wears.)

"Y-you're a girl?"

"Yeah. So?" came a voice that was like music to Duo's ears from under the car.

And out slid the face of a golden-haired girl with aquamarine eyes, soft pink lips, and lightly tanned skin - smeared with oil.

He just pointed at her... Stunned.

/Am I looking at an angel? Well.... Maybe a more sexier version of an angel than I expected, but hey, I have no complaints! She's.... Hoooooooottttttttttt...../ (AN: Sorry if I made him seem a bit... Perverted there. Keep in mind, he IS a teenage boy.)

The girl came off her roller-board that she had been laying on, and stood up. Her hair was in a frizzy ponytail, and she took it out, shaking her head side to side, sending her golden locks about her head, then ran a hand through her hair to flatten in out.

"So what were you saying about me bein' a girl? Is there a problem with that?" she asked studying his eyes.

"Uh... I was just surprised.... I guess."

She laughed lightly and said, "Yeah, most dudes that come in here are."

She looked at him, and Duo blushed as her eyes looked him up and down. She then came back to his face, and she smiled a smile warm enough to make his heart melt like an iceberg to the sun.

The gorgeous girl reached out a hand for him to shake, and he was about to when he noticed her gloves that were so covered in the black liquid that they shinned in the light above them iridescently. She saw what he was looking at, smiled in understanding, and then threw them to the side carelessly.

He took her hand and said, "I'm Duo Maxwell, that... thing over there," he nodded to the beat up piece of metal known as, "Baby", two cars away, "Is why I'm here."

She gave him a seductive look and said, "I'm Relena, aka Eel. I'm here -always-," she nodded to the front desk room, "'Cuz my bro needs the help. He can ride a car, but can't fix it. He only works with The Motorcycles."

Duo held onto Relena's hand longer than needed, and blushed when she looked at him oddly. He let go and asked, "What do you mean, 'The Motorcycles'?"

"Well, we race motorcycles in races that come around now and again, and he's like the guy in charge of it. His bike is the Silver Crow, n' I, going my name, have the Eel. We also do racecars, but not that often." she explained as she walked over to a shelf where she got two different sizes of wrenches.

"Oh..." said Duo as he watched her go over to the Civic once more, pop the hood open, and began to work on who-knows what inside it. (AN: Can you tell Duo doesn't know that much about cars? *wink, wink*)

He stepped near her as she worked, and asked, wanting to keep the conversation going, "So... Why do people call you 'Eel'."

Duo heard her sigh, as if before saying a practiced speech, and said, "'Cuz I can slick into any vehicle, and ride it like lightning." (AN: Yi-Yeah! I love that saying I made!)

She winked at him cutely while putting a strand of her hair behind her ear and said, "So you're the kid that totaled some guy named Heero's car, right?"

Duo didn't really like her calling him, "kid", but he lived with it anyway and said, "Uh... Kinda... How'd ya know that?"

Relena chuckled and said, "Look at the car one space away from the entrance." Sure enough, there was Heero's red Ferrari.

Duo looked at her and said, scratching the back of his head, and looking at the ceiling, "Yeah... Well, him and I aren't the best of friends."

She smirked and said under his breath, "Heh... The bastard deserved it."

"What?" /Had she said, what I think she said?/

Relena nervously laughed and said, "I said, 'This car's base is tarred and it's owner should learn from it.'"

"Riiiiiiiiiiiiiight, I bet. " he said jokingly as he looked at her warmly.

"Uh-huh, that's what I said."

"The day I believe you said that is the day your eyes stop sparkling." /Wait. Am I flirting?!/ Duo blushed pink at his own antics.

She laughed and pointed her wrench at his nose and said, "You're sweet, ya know that?"

The two starred into one another's eyes, until Relena broke away with a cold face and started to busy herself tightening something.

Duo wanted to ask what that cold reaction had been from, but reminding himself that they had just met, he though better of it. Then he spotted Hilde out of the corner of his eye as she popped her head through the doorway leading to the entrance area.

She said in her cheery voice, "Mom called. We gotta go, you know, dinner."

Duo waved to her, and said, "Ok, be there in a sec!"

He turned to Relena and said, "Um... So do you have any papers for me?"

She replied in a harder voice than earlier, "Talk ta Zechs about that."

Duo looked at her somewhat hurt and said, "Ok."

He left the room, with Relena looking back at him with sad eyes. /Maybe I shouldn't have been so rude... Nah. All men are the same./

And with that last thought, she slammed the hood down, threw her wrenches to the side, and turned off the lights.

~

Duo came up to the counter where Zechs was sitting, looking through a car design magazine, and asked, "So... Any forms for me or Hilde ta fill?"

"Yep." Zechs opened a drawer in his desk, pulled out a big wad of papers and leafed through them. When he was satisfied, he handed to the braided boy and said, "Here they are, n' come over here tomorrow and drop 'em off. Until ya fill 'em in, Eel can't work on your... Um... Truck."

Duo laughed and said, "It's all right if you diss the ride. It isn't mine, it's Hilde's. But if you insult it in front of her... Beware the consequences."

Zechs cracked a smile and said with a twinkle in his eye, "Speakin' of that girl, I think you might wanna get her some fever medicine. She keeps on goin' red and getting this distant look in her eye..."

Duo smiled knowingly and said, "I think it's somethin' about this car joint getting to her."

The older man looked thoughtful and said, "Probably the car fumes..."

Duo took the papers in one hand, mock saluted with the other, and said, "Maybe..." and left with a wave.

He walked out to see Hilde waiting him a few feet from the curb. "What took ya so long?"

"Had to get the papers."

"Oh..."

And with that the two walked off. But Duo gave one last glance at it and thought jokingly, /I suppose the "car fumes" get to me too..../

~

Back inside "Merquise Mechanics", Relena pocked her head in from the dark garage and whispered to her brother, "Are they gone yet?"

Zechs rose an eyebrow and said, "Well yes. Why?"

Relena let out a sigh of relief as she sat in one of the old leather chairs by the door and said as she thought of Duo, "Just not wanting to get caught up in anything..."

Zechs knew what she really meant, and said, "Yeah. I think the 'car fumes' were getting to them, so they had to go."

Relena looked at him with wide eyes and said, "That girl likes you?"

"Car fumes" just happened to be code for anything having to do with "love". It was like code, developed out of an inside joke between the two siblings when the oil was stinking up the garage so much one hot summer day two years ago, it got Relena all loopy and she started acting like an in lovesick pup.

"Just as much as Duo likes you."

Relena huffed at him and said, "Shut it. You know I'm not into that lovey-dovey crap."

Zechs dropped his smile and said rather seriously, "You really have to get over that, Eel."

Relena looked out the window behind her wistfully and said, "Until I'm proven wrong, that men aren't jerks, I'm gonna keep on thinking what I want to."

She turned back to Zechs and said devilishly, "And anyhoo, you aren't the one to give advice, Mr. I saw how broken you really were when Noin stomped outta here."

He put his feet up on the desk and leaned back saying, "It doesn't matter. We'll hook up later, we always do."

"She seemed *really* pissed."

"When I wear a tux, all is gonna be forgiven."

Relena laughed, and got up. She took the office keys out of her jean pocket, and said, "You're too desperate."

"No," he said as he got up, "I'm in love. And you will some day be too."

He walked out before her, as she locked the door. He ran towards their house next door, and headed in ahead of her. Relena looked up at the stars and thought, /He can say all he wants, but Zechs's still wrong. My heart's eternally broken. N' that's how it's gonna stay./



*******************

AN: I actually did it! How long has it been since I've updated this story? 8 FREAKIN' MONTHS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Well, at least I finally go to it, ne? Well, anyhoo! Tell me whatya think about Relie-chan! Kissies!