Fifth Light (Sebastian Vettel)

Chapter 5: Thief

Casey wiped her brow on her sleeve, smearing the grease on her face even more all over the place than it was before. Her knees were aching from crouching and she was tired. They were almost finished with the second practice session for the Malaysian Grand Prix and Suzie was in the garage after Seb reported a balance issue. She vaguely appreciated that the problems that were beginning to arise from the RB10 were not her direct responsibility, but she also felt a natural nagging desire to want to help fix them. Sebastian was still strapped in as the technicians and engineers poured over the front wing hurriedly, hoping they could improve it for him before sending him back out.

She absent-mindedly readjusted the tyre warmer she was holding in place and looked up at the ceiling for a few moments. Brand stood to her right, holding the fan into the cockpit to keep Seb cool while his personal trainer, Heikki, kept doing runs for bags of ice which he would dump into Seb's lap every so often.

Her eyes wandered around the room as she observed her teammates scrambling to figure out what had to be done. She looked to Evan who was chatting animatedly to a guy named Jacob, a technician who was so on his tire changing team for pit stops. Jacob might have sensed her gaze as he looked up and shot her a quick smile mid-sentence without skipping a beat. She smiled back, although his eyes had already shifted off her as he leaned in towards Evan, trying to hear him over all the noise. Jacob was similar in age to Evan, they even looked a bit alike, though Jacob's dark features contrasted Evan's light ones.

Casey's mind idled as she eyeballed the two boys opposite her, though only briefly. Suddenly, she felt a bitingly cold sensation against the back of her neck and let out a sharp yelp. Her hand flew up to rub the spot and she twisted around to see the perpetrator, only to find a huge grin on Heikki's face as he twiddled a piece of ice in his gloved hand. Casey's mouth dropped in a melodramatic manner and she squinted at him. He looked awfully pleased with himself and shrugged, motioning that he 'dropped a piece'. She shook her head and looked over at Seb, and although he was mostly hidden under his helmet, it was clear in his eyes that he was just as amused as Heikki.

"Prats," Casey mouthed, opting not to shout over the noise.

She continued to rub the spot on her neck, pouting a little. Still crouching, she swivelled slightly so as to keep Heikki, who was busy smirking, firmly planted in her peripheral vision.

Sebastian watched Casey and Heikki as they kept each other in strategic view. He should have been completely focused, but it was too hot, and he'd been sitting motionless for too long. He was quite simply, well, a bit bored. Frustration was seeping into his mood again. Another problem with the car. He poked at his latest melted bag of ice as it slipped towards his knees. A wasted session. This wasn't the way the season was meant to start.

He looked up from the cockpit again, towards his front left tyre where Casey remained attentively perched. He had never had a female mechanic in his pit crew before. There were plenty of women in the team in other roles, just never usually crouching next to his tyre playing ice wars with his personal trainer. Now completely distracted, he watched a bead of sweat trickle down the side of her neck as she stared warily toward the back of the garage.

Sadly, the session ended without the team managing to release Sebastian for any further lap attempts.

Casey trudged along next to Brand back to the minibus after they had finished packing up. Everyone from their side of the garage was looking and feeling a bit disheartened as they slumped into seats on the bus. Casey slipped into a window seat and kicked her backpack under the seat in front. A moment later, Evan slipped in beside her and patted his own shoulder. She gratefully took up residence, resting her head under the nook of his chin and closing her eyes, almost instantly dropping into a half-conscious state as the bus purred to life beneath them. Evan leaned his cheek on top of her head and closed his eyes too.