Technical Delays (Sequel to Technical Difficulties)

Little White Auto Shop, Little White Lie

Chapter 4: Little White Lie, Little White Auto Shop

Cisco pulled up into the parking lot of an auto shop before shutting the car off. I flipped open the mirror in front of me to wipe away any evidence of tears and to get rid of the mascara that had smeared along the trail of hot water. I glanced once more at my reflection, decided it didn't help at all, sighed in defeat and closed the mirror.

"You okay?" Cisco's small voice asked from beside me.

I looked over at him, giving him an unconvincing nod of the head. "Yeah." I ran my hands over my hair to pull-back the fly-aways before I asked, "How do I look?"

He looked taken aback for a second as if unsure on how he should reply to that question. I didn't realize why until an awkward pause of silence.

"N-nevermind, actually. Don't answer that." I felt my face flush immensely as I looked out the window at our destination. It looked like an oversized garage and less like an auto shop... But what did I know about cars?

He nodded his head. "Gotcha." I sighed once more before I heard him speak again, "Hey, Leah?"

"Yeah?"

"Chin up."

I looked over at him once more, surprised to see him giving me such a soft expression. "Pardon?"

"Chin up, head held high." He said.

"That just looks silly." I told him.

"Come on, chin up."

"You do it."

"This is supposed to help you!" I felt as though some pressure disappeared from inside my chest when he chuckled. It was a genuine kind of laugh, one that I hadn't heard in a while.

I missed that so much....

My cheeks burned once more but I lifted my head up exaggeratedly to hide the color from him. "Like this?"

"Looks like you're going to break your neck."

"You suggested it!" I laughed, dropping my head into my hand to express how ridiculous we sounded.

We laughed for a bit until it got silent again.

"Ready?" He asked once the atmosphere had gone still around us.

"No." I answered honestly before taking a deep breath and opening the door, stepping out onto the parking lot.

I held my breath the whole time as we walked inside the auto shop. It smelled of gasoline and I could just barely hear the sound of some old eighty's song playing in the background, behind the sound of metal clanking and tools hard at work. However, none of the people there looked like Jackson Jefferson. I jumped slightly at the sound of a bell until I looked over to see Cisco messing with one that was atop a counter next to us.

When he noticed I was looking at him incredulously, he stopped. "What? It usually gets people's attention... It got yours, didn't it?"

I did my best not to smile again, but I failed. However, I added a little bit of an eye roll to let him know how ridiculous he was. It didn't keep him from smiling too.

"You like that? I bought it last week." A voice called out. We both looked over to see the face of the boy we had been searching for. He wasn't much taller than me with dark skin and large hands that he was wiping off on some rag he had fetched from his pocket. "I thought it went well with the shop."

"You're not wrong," Cisco agreed.

He went to open his mouth again, probably to discuss how the lab should have one too, when I interrupted him, "Jefferson Jackson?"

"Jax, just Jax." He said before tilting his head curiously. "Have we met before?"

"Uh, n-no. I'm Leah Ram—Raymond." I stuttered, holding out my hand. He was as hesitative as I was when we shook hands. "And this is my frie—uh, colleague, Cisco Ramon. We work— use to work together at S.T.A.R Labs."

"Nice to meet you," Cisco stated as they shook his hands. Due to how nervous I was, I didn't notice how the happy tone he had sported just moments before disappeared.

"Uh... Yeah. What can I do for you guys?" Jax asked, dropping Cisco's hand as his eyebrows raised further up his head.

"We heard you've been hit by the particle accelerator..." I started. However, I hadn't thought about what I was going to say and I closed my mouth as the words left me.

Thankfully, Cisco then spoke up. "We'd like to help you."

Wait, what?

Jax's face immediately fell. "Not interested." He stated before turning back to the car behind him.

Cisco leaned against the hood of the car. "I read your file. You really busted that knee after being hit by the explosion."

"Tore my ACL," Jax grumbled, "It happens."

"So, that's why you quit football..."

Jax stood up straight then, tossing the rag down on the car and crossing his arms over his chest. "What's your point, man?"

"We have ways to help you at STAR Labs." Cisco informed him.

"STAR Labs did this to me."

"And we want to make it up to you."
This seemed to have silenced Jax as he shifted his weight onto his other foot, his eyes never leaving Cisco's. After several long minutes, when he didn't say anything, Cisco sighed and fetched inside his left pocket, pulling out a small square paper.

"Here. In case you change your mind... I hope you do."

He walked away, placing a hand on the small of my back to follow him out the shop.

"Since when does STAR Labs have business cards?" I asked him.

"Since now." Cisco chuckled as he held open my car door for him.

When he climbed into his seat, I waited for him to shut the door before I asked, "You think he's going to contact us?"

"Hell no. He blames us for ruining his life."

"Well... It was the particle accelerator that injured him and caused him to drop out of his full-ride to college, so... We kind of did.... Didn't we?"

Cisco didn't respond, his chocolate colored eyes stayed fixed on the shop in front of us and that's when I noticed that maybe I had said too much. I sighed quietly before settling back into my seat. It took him a bit longer, but eventually, he reached over and snapped his seatbelt in before turning the car on and driving out of the parking lot.

I watched the auto shop disappear in the side rearview mirror somewhat disappointed and somewhat relieved. I couldn't explain either feeling.

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