#aota

For the better part of her first month on the job, Elena wasn’t allowed to touch the car. She was an intern, so it didn’t matter how long she had been working in garages or on karts, she had to earn hands-on work here in the 3.5 series before she could hope to get to F1. 

She had finally gotten the metaphorical green light, “Elena, when they pull the car in after practice you are going to handle the brake ducts, yeah?” 

It was a dirty job, the parts were awkward and fiddly and it was always a mess, but it was the first time Elena had been allowed to touch the car without being hovered over. The engine died as they rolled the car into the garage and she yanked on a pair of work gloves while the driver got out. Carlos took his helmet off and wandered towards the bench with his water bottle as he spoke with the lead strategist. The chassis was still slipping on occasion through turns, it was too twitchy. Something they had been trying to fix for nearly a week. 

Immediately, once the driver was out the machine was swarmed, mechanics all knowing exactly what their responsibility was in disassembling the car. Elena waited for a lull in the movement then stepped in, crouching down before taking a knee. Lining up the socket wrench with the first of four bolts on this side, she leaned her weight on it to loosen the bolt, she huffed something out under her breath in greek “Ελευθέρωσέ με, ηλίθιε” The bolt finally came loose, allowing her to move on to the other three, which were thankfully easier to loosen. 

Prepping her hands on either side of the carbon duct she tugged, but it was stubborn. Carlos lingered, watching the intern, who looked to be around his age struggle with the part. “Stupid thing-” She muttered, yanking harder,  her arms starting to shake. 

Feeling his eyes on her she glared over her shoulder for a moment, “I can feel your judgment you know.” She grumbled, twisting her shoulders to try to get the piece off by working one side at a time. 

“Well, if you keep pulling like that you are going to snap it in half.” 

“And if you keep talking, I’ll snap you in half. I know how to deal with these okay? This one is just stubborn.” Elena growled, giving one last pull with the force of her full weight. The duct popping off with a satisfying crack, hauling into her chest, but the momentum rolled to her onto her back. She kept the piece close to protect it, and after a brief moment she got up, placing it in the storage before moving to the other side of the car. 

Carlos followed, almost as if he was entertained by the whole situation. Drinking his branded redbull bottle from a straw that looked completely unnecessary without the helmet on. 

The second set of bolts didn’t put up as much of a fight, instead sliding off with minimal effort. As she yanked at this side duct she let out a grunt, which Carlos laughed at quietly. Well, quietly for a Spaniard, at least.

Elena whipped around to scowl again, Does this boy really have nothing else to do but judge my handiwork? “You interested in helping at all or are you just enjoying the show, pretty boy?”

Carlos’s eyebrows shot up, thick and dark, he was obviously amused. He took another sip from the long straw and wandered a step closer “My job is to drive the car, my job is finished.” A pause, then instead of walking away like he wanted to he turned back, “Was pretty boy supposed to be an insult?” He let out another scoff as she rolled her eyes, “How is pretty boy an insult? I am the prettiest damn boy on the track.”  

Elena turned back to the brake duct to hide her feathered smile, rolling her eyes as she yanked the second one off. Turning to place it in the storage container she could see Carlos lingering again, not as close, or as blatant this time. It looked like he had joined a conversation happening in the back of the garage, but she still felt his eyes linger on her.

He was watching, so what, it wasn’t for any reason in particular. He just couldn’t imagine if his life had gone different, it made him wonder if he was on a different path perhaps he’d be this young working on the car instead of driving it? He watched as the girl shifted the ducts in the boxes till they fell into place properly. He let his mind wander some, she clearly knew her way around a car, he hadn’t seen any of the other interns touch that car yet, so maybe she had a background? It didn’t matter because now he was curious, interested, he wanted to know more. 

“We are thinking if we try with intermediates during tomorrow's laps the grip may balance the chassis until we figure out how to fix it.” There was a pause in the small circle of conversation, before the eyes turned to the young driver and his strategist spoke up again, “Carlos? How does that sound?” 

Merida, you’ve been caught lingering, say something. He cleared his throat, focusing back on the group, lowering his voice subconsciously to sound more serious, “Oh, yes that sounds like it should work.” 

“Wonderful, let’s finish clean-up for today and then we can work on adjustments.” 

The group dispersed leaving Carlos back to his own devices, so he floated, if that was something Carlos could even do… more swimming, through crowds. He picked up his helmet, moving to his locker to take his suit off, the fireproofs being retired for the evening. He switched them out for some joggers and a collared team shirt under a branded jacket, tugging his hat down over his sweaty hair. Then he returned to the simmering chaos of the garage. 

The girl was no longer just packing the ducts, it seemed as if she finished that long ago, instead she was trying to haul a cover onto a stack of tires. She was too short to get it up and over the top to sit right. The tires were almost 9 feet so she had to be… well, he couldn’t tell, he was bad at those sorts of estimates, but she was shorter than him and he was 5’10 so it couldn't have been an easy job to be tasked with. 

Reaching up he grabbed the edges, he pulled them taut over the stack before he yanked the zipper down slowly. Elena peeked around the tirestack for a moment, Who the hell is messing with my tire cover? Oh it’s him… “I could have done that myself-” 

“You asked if I was going to help, or just look pretty, well now I am doing both.” Carlos shot the woman a glance and a charming smile. “You are an intern, yes?” Now he was prodding for information about her, conversational, just wanted to keep her talking. 

“I am.” Elena hummed moving onto the next tire stack, tossing the top of the cover over, Carlos once again pulled on the other side to help, “Going on two months now, it’s a five month program, but I’m sure you already knew that.” 

He shrugged, “Maybe I did, but I don’t mind you telling me again.” Carlos leaned against the stack once the zipper was pulled down, “I never have heard your name?” He asked, trying to pull more details once again. 

“Elena Vasilakis. I’ve been working garage for two weeks so they finally put me in charge of something. Part of the internship deal is that they show us every aspect of a formula team. So some days I’m in the garage, some days are logistics, but the garage is where I prefer to be.” 

Carlos hummed, his lips quirking into a slight grin, “Ah, a hands on person, I like it. It is nice to meet you Elena, I am-” 

“Carlos. I know who you are. Practically, the DAMS team’s golden boy.” Elena raised her eyebrows at him and smirked, as if to tell him she had done her research on the team before interning.

He looked a little dumbfounded at her interruption, instead he cleared his throat, determined to put the smart ass in her place. So you think you know me at all? “That wasn’t what I was going to say, a new introduction deserves my proper name, I am Carlos Sainz Vázquez de Castro.”

“Oh is that all?” 

“My full name is longer, but I decided I would rather not leave your head spinning. Carlos is fine.” 

Elena huffed quietly, Stuck up driver, “Well, Carlos. Should you not be more focused on your post track duties?” 

He couldn't tell if she was brushing him off or teasing, instead he offered her the next cover for the stack, helping toss it over the top. “I can handle them after we cover all the sets.” He pulled the side down, “So, you have a passion for driving precision vehicles too, yes?” He asked as they circled the stack to ensure it was properly covered. 

“Well, there's more to them than just driving. I’m interested in fixing them, making them faster, just not driving them. I’ll leave that up to you boys in the cockpit.” She hummed gently “Hopefully this internship will lead to a position, maybe a sister F1 team, even if I am just running the jackstand it is still a step in the right direction.” 

Carlos nodded as they finished the last stack, “So you have dreams of Formula 1, I do as well. What is your end goal? It is not as simple for you as it is for drivers no? Drivers all want the same thing, to be on top, to be world champion. What do you want Elena?” He stepped forward towards her to hear her answer between the stacks in the noisy garage. 

“Head of Vehicle Dynamics or Lead of Strategy. Right now I’m studying mechanical engineering at the UoB.” She paused for a moment seeing the confusion for a brief moment on his face, “University of Bath.” 

“So you are a very smart girl, I will have to learn to keep up.” Carlos’s slight quirk of the lips had turned into a toothy smile, confident and sure of himself. 

Elena rolled her eyes, a small smile present on her lips, “Well then I suppose I will see you on the F1 grid if I don’t see you tomorrow at work.” She teased, “I have other duties I have to do, not all of us can linger as much as a driver. It was nice speaking with you Carlos, Good luck with everything.” 

Carlos lingered where she left him, tucked between the tire stacks and the noise of the garage, helmet still dangling from his fingers. He told himself he was only curious, that he just wanted to see how an intern managed, that maybe he could learn something about the car by watching how she handled it. But it wasn’t just that.

He wanted to know what she was thinking when she frowned at a part, wanted to ask what she saw that he didn’t. It unnerved him, that pull. Normally he floated in garages, detached until it was time to get in the car. Now he found himself wanting to stay. Wanting to know what tasks they would throw at her next. Wanting to offer his hands again, even if she would just bite at him for getting in the way.