Klaus opened his mouth wide and let out a yawn. He looked towards the dark green numbers on the stove's clock; five forty-five in the morning. He waited for his coffee to pour into his chosen mug, hoping the sound of the old machine wouldn't wake up Skye so early. He walked towards the window, and just between the leafy branches he could observe the lingering starry night sky with a hint of green on its horizon.

It was too late for that, for her footsteps against the tile floor had alerted him that she was awake too. He hoped and prayed that he wasn't responsible for her being up so early, but his fear quickly turned to curiosity when he saw that she was reading a small book. "Good morning," he spoke quietly as if to preserve the calmness of the early morning. "Whatcha got there, if I may ask?"

For as much as she wished nobody spoke to her before she was fully awake, she repressed the urge to let him know her wish and made sure to soften her expression if it weren't already. "It's my planner. It's how I keep track of customers' appointments and transactions I can write off for tax purposes." She calmly explained.

As Klaus's coffee was finished pouring into his mug, he went to add a spoonful of sugar when a loud tone cut through the silence. Skye groaned and produced a small, black flip phone from the pocket of her sweatpants. She could barely open her eyes to the blinding white screen; she put it to her ear. "Hello?" She paused.

Klaus could vaguely hear the sound of someone on the other side of the older phone. Skye turned away and walked out of the kitchen to talk somewhere privately. The person on the other side sounded frantic; her protege quickly assumed that anyone would seldom be calm when their car has a major problem, and that this might've been business as usual.

Taking his coffee to the living area, he sat down on the leather couch and retrieved the television's remote from the round coffee table. After waiting less than a minute for it to show what was on, the local news was the first thing he saw.

A stern voice came from the television set perched on the table against the wall. "We're getting some breaking news from last night. We've received word that there was a deadly car accident involving four teenagers and an elderly woman leaving a Spring Break party. Another car was hit during the incident, but those inside that car are expected to be okay."

During the commentary, Klaus took in all of the pictures of the aftermath. The news anchor's voice was an overlay to the clips of police cars surrounding a destroyed vehicle, blue lights flashing in a prerecorded video.

The vehicle in question was perpendicular to a road with ditches and trees on both sides. The vehicle in question was in a condition where repairs would be impossible, even for Skye's expertise.

The last shot showed the vehicle being towed away via flatbed. It wasn't like the car was unrecognizable, but for a nineties car, bent tires and a crunched in rear end would be enough to total the car.

The camera cut back to the news desk as the anchor topped off the story with, "the cause of this accident is still under investigation." Klaus couldn't believe his eyes as they peered over the rim of his steamy mug the whole time the story was reported. He set it down to contemplate the news story.

Maybe it was an unfortunate case of intoxication if they mentioned a Spring Break party. That was often the reality with many college students especially in Rouxland.

"Hey, did that car look familiar to you?" Skye inquired, leaning over the back of the couch. It seemed like she was done with her phone call, but Klaus couldn't fathom why that car would be familiar to him. Like any other city, Rouxland wasn't a small town comprised of people who knew each other well, but of tourists during the summer and residents that belonged to the military; therefore, a constant turnover of visitors and residents alike. Knowing that, it would be impossible to run into the same car or person more than once without living with, learning with, or working with them.

Klaus re-emerged from his deep thoughts and caught Skye with the remote in her hand. Klaus was given a second helping of the sight of the presumably totaled car, and heard a sniffle come from Skye. "Are you.. crying?" As soon as he asked, she wiped her face and shook her head. "Did you figure out why that car looked familiar? Did it remind you of a friend who owned one of those cars?"

"Sure, you could say that." Skye couldn't think of a true human friend who drove that kind of sedan, but she could think of an old travel companion she totaled in the same way. A no truer companion than a small bug car she knew as a child. It didn't take much effort to recall the name she chose; Mister Bug.

As for her protege, he wasn't too sure how to respond, but he didn't have to deal with the oppressive silence for too long before Skye let out a deep sigh of frustration. "So I got a call earlier from this customer who was freaking out about his car. Said he drove a sedan and got into a bad accident."

Klaus let out a small chuckle. "Think this is the same car we just saw on the news?"

"Maybe, maybe not. We'll probably see it later this morning. The appointment's at ten o'clock, so there are things we have to do." She dropped a folded piece of paper in Klaus's lap.

While he groaned, he opened it. It was a list of parts he needed to buy from one of the parts shops down the road. Included with the paper was a card with numbers and a small pocket knife individually taped to the shopping list's surface. "What's with the knife?"

"Well, we don't have a car of our own to use, so my invaluable assistant has to protect himself from harm, doesn't he?" Skye explained. "Use my card for only the stuff you are supposed to buy. If you can't find the exact part I want, don't buy any alternatives without calling me first. Anything else you buy that isn't what we need on this list comes out of your pocket, so unless you don't want to or can't pay me back, I suggest sticking to this."

Klaus sighed. So much for buying a snack of his own; he probably didn't have a dollar to pay her back with. "Isn't there anything in the fridge we can eat then?" He asked, hoping his growling stomach wasn't too loud.

"There was, but somebody ate it all." Skye reminded, causing her assistant to sigh in defeat. "Now get dressed and be back soon. Given how freaked out he is, we could probably milk some cash out of him. Cruel, but I'm starving."

"Maybe your cruelty comes from not having anything to eat." Klaus mumbled as he looked over the list. He heard her clear her throat and look down on him with a questioning glare. "I-I mean I'll take care of this right away! Call me if you need me for anything!"

She watched him get up from the couch to attend to his duties, which made her expression soften. She had her own tasks to do even with help around the house; dusting and vacuuming the living area, making sure she could use what few of the snacks she had to provide for the customer, and being sure there was enough coffee supplies for him too.

Skye might've preferred to charge her customers a little more than most mechanics in exchange for her quality of service, but her service didn't just extend to her expertise in fixing cars, but she also prided herself in being a quality hostess. If she was going to charge her customers up the nose, she may as well set up a homely environment for them to wait in to keep them comfortable enough to make them always want to come back.

She entered and left the kitchen with a disinfectant wipe, and slid it across the surface of the ebony coffee table to bring out its rich color that now wasn't hindered by a thin layer of dust, and instead reflected the light coming in from the sunroof overhead.

The pinkish carpet still had vacuum marks from the previous day, but there was always a crumb or several to clean from a messy customer eating the snacks laid out for them. That, or leaves tracked in from foreign shoes with loose dirt here and there.

With how much cleaning she did in a month alone, she often wondered if she could charge them for the mess they leave behind and for the labor they put her through, but she twice as often decided against it. She did, however, contemplate making Klaus her maid at one point. As funny as it would be to her to put him in a maid's dress, it was simply an idea that was too much for her wallet.

~ ~ ~

With the carpet vacuumed and free of debris and every smooth surface wiped of dust, the finishing touch was a woven basket of bagged and plastic wrapped snacks. Cookies, chips, crackers, and it all came with two spare white mugs big enough for medium sized coffees. She was sure to leave out sugar packets and a small bottle of chilled vanilla creamer.

Klaus came back home safe and sound with supplies overflowing from his backpack. "Good news, they got everything you wanted. All for three hundred dollars." He sat his backpack down on the tile floor; the clanking of metal indeed confirming that he at least went to the shop.

"Only three hundred? Must've been a sale. I'm impressed," she smiled warmly. That was a hundred dollars less than the last supply run.

"So, what's this customer's issue? Oil change? Minor fender bender? Actually I don't think you do those." Klaus quickly corrected himself, then his face turned pale. "Is it another engine swap?"

"After that one, I'm not taking another for a while." She felt around her aching lower back. Maybe she could hire a chiropractor. "As for accidents, as much as I'd love to fix cars outside aesthetically, Jennifer is the only with experience in body work. She could weld frames just as instinctively as breathing."

Skye sighed. "He didn't give me many details but he said his car was jacked up. No kidding, I'm gonna put 'er on jacks when she gets here." She let herself laugh. "Whatever it is, I'm sure it's not that bad."

- - -

"It's really bad." Klaus commented as he and his mentor stared wide-eyed at the car in their garage. The car before them was an older sedan reminiscent of those made in the early 90's, but this order made an engine swap look like a cake walk.

The front bumper was contorted and bent inward on one side, forcing the rest of the front bumper to bend outward sharply, twisting it beyond recognition. The bonnet couldn't close either, thus the mechanic and apprentice got a full view of the insides; hoses were dislodged and some parts were missing or damaged beyond repair, namely the radiator and the battery.

The tires were bent outward, showing signs of severe suspension damage around the front, but the rear tires were otherwise okay. The driver side door couldn't close thanks to the frame that kept it closed being bent. The front and rear windshields as well as the side windows were cracked, but the driver side window was shattered as told by jagged glass edges.

Klaus couldn't take his eyes away from the car. He felt sorry for the old sedan, and wondered just what went wrong for this to happen. His focus was divided between making heads or tails of the car before them and Skye's video call. While she didn't use it much, she kept an old tablet lying around for the rare video call with a customer.

"Sir, I'm a mechanic, not a car refurbrisher. I don't think even I can fix this. I'm sorry, but there's just no fixing her, sir." She broke the news to him.

The customer frowned, brushing aside his blonde hair. "Oh, but you must! I'll pay you handsomely! What you have to offer, I can pay more."

Skye thought about it. If she could get Jennifer on board, pull money from her many accounts, start with replacing the body work, she could get somewhere. This was her first real project car in years, but fixing this car would require taking everything apart and slowly putting everything back together. This would take months, and she still had future appointments to keep up with.

She sighed. "Look, it can't be done no matter how much you pay me. Your car is inoperable and can't be repaired. Besides, you need the money more than I do." She worked to gently decline his service.

He scoffed. "Why's that, Miss Rose?"

"You're in the hospital!" She nearly screeched. "Don't look so confused! I can see you're in a hospital gown, sitting in a hospital bed, and there's a nurse changing your IV fluids right next to you!" The customer looked to his right to see the nurse do as Skye pointed out. He smiled as if to thank her. "Can't you just buy a new car with all the money you claim to have?"

He sighed. "You're right. I'm sorry to have wasted your time with this. What are you going to do with the car? I don't really want to see it again with the condition it's in."

"I'm gonna call someone and turn her over to a junkyard. I'll mail you a disposal bill in the coming weeks. I hope your recovery is swift, sir. I'm sorry that I can't help you much further." Skye laid out the plan before him.

He nodded solemnly. "It's quite all right. It was worth a shot. I've already collected my belongings when the accident happened so do as you want with her." He abruptly hung up.

"Well this was just a giant waste of time. Now we've got to pay a flatbed to go to a junkyard? We could've spent our time doing literally anything else other than-" Klaus watched Skye run to the car and lift the hood up as if rummaging through the engine compartment. "H-hey! What're you doing?"

"We can salvage some parts from this car. She could have donor parts or parts that can be sold for a fortune - this car's from the nineties, Klaus. Do you realize that there are some old Kaunda parts in here that aren't made much anymore? We could probably afford a proper grocery trip at this rate!"

He could only watch as she rummaged the engine compartment. She knelt down at the front bumper and touched the badge that managed to hang on. "I'm sorry I can't fix you, but rest assured the parts we can save can go to those that need them. Otherwise I would have loved to get you back out on the road. You seemed like a tough cookie until the end."

Skye couldn't help but smile. She had resolved to help others with this car's donations even if she couldn't help when too much damage was sustained. She had her fair share of customer cars being rendered inoperable to this extent, but that didn't make it any easier when she had to accept the reality that there was nothing she could do.

As she knelt, Klaus watched the scarf he gave her glow. He looked up to the LED bulbs in the ceiling; under better lighting it seemed like it was more reflective than he thought. Skye petted the hood as best she could without cutting her hand on sharp, protruding metal, as if trying to reassure it that she truly was sorry.

Her hands quickly clasped her head as it was overcome by a searing pain while her vision clouded. Her ears rang and buzzed, causing her eyes to close so tight they squeezed out tears. She ground her teeth and winced in the stabbing pain.

She fell onto her backside as she took on the fetal position. "Skye?" Klaus questioned. From her point of view, the car in front of her had an unnatural aura in a deep, violet hue. "Skyla! S-should I call someone?!"

All the while, her scarf seemed too reflective even for the LED bulbs. Even Klaus tried to remove his focus from it because of its brightness.

From Skye's point of view, the aura surrounded the car like a flame bound to a candle's wick; despite the animosity of this aura, Skye felt compelled to approach the car again. The mechanic stretched an arm out and managed to touch the hood again. She had to reassure herself that this was just another severe migraine that'll pass soon.

Vertigo overwhelmed her senses as the room spun and her sense of direction faded. "Skyla? Skyla!" She heard her apprentice call out, but his echoing and fading voice couldn't bring her to her senses this time. "Skyla! Skyla, please!" He shouted.

Soon the pain was starting to taper off, but her body was heavy as her mind began to swim, lost. She was slipping, and eventually lost consciousness.

"Skyla!" He knelt at her side, but upon touching her scarf, it blinded him. He quickly covered his eyes to protect them. Fortunately, the blinding passed and he too saw the aura that surrounded the car. Before he could question the sight, he too began to slip.