Blood, Sweat and Tears Part 32

Dorothy brushed down the front of her black, knee-length skirt and stole a deep breath before entering the locker room at Howard's nod to her that the team was decent. Everyone watched her as she placed herself in the middle of the space. Slowly turning her head to meet all of the eyes watching her, she smiled, "Good morning, everyone."

Many heads nodded and other players quietly returned the sentiment. "Well, I wanted to inform you before you get underway with your practice this morning that there has been a change in our schedule for the pre-season match-ups," the owner began. Taking a deep breath, she announced, "The league officials decided that our last game will be played against the San Francisco Cougars."

Duo's violet eyes widened along with his teammates' gazes. His jaw nearly dropping, he looked around to the widely grinning young men that he had forged a camaraderie with over the months. Swallowing roughly, he focused back on the team owner.

"Now I know that you will be feeling a lot of pressure considering how many people will most likely be following that game," Dorothy said quietly, "But whatever the outcome, I'll continue to remain proud of you so long as you just give your best, just as you always have. This change in the schedule only proves how much of a buzz you've all managed to help create amongst your competitors and spectators alike. I'll leave you to practice for tomorrow's game."

As she turned on her heels, the young men of her team were already talking excitedly amongst themselves over the news. "We're really going to show them," Wufei smirked as he nudged Trowa with his elbow. "I've been itching to get a chance to square off against those smug bastards." Similar conversations were going on throughout the locker room.

Heero smirked to his partner, "Looks like we're going to get our wish after all."

Forcing a smile, Duo nodded and rose to his feet. "I'll be right back," he muttered and quickly left the locker room before the quarterback could respond. Turning the corner, he found the team owner walking off towards the elevator. "Dorothy," he called, jogging to close the distance between them as she turned to face him with a deep frown.

"What the hell were you thinking when you agreed to this!?" the running back whispered harshly. Pointing back to the locker room, he shook his head, "We don't stand a chance against the Cougars with what we have! We're going to get massacred out there!"

Dorothy met his violet gaze without so much as flinching. "I know," she replied. "But it's not as if I had a choice in the matter. It's not as though I can tell the Vice-President of the NFL that I don't like their suggestion for the game."

Rubbing the back of his neck, Duo sighed deeply, "You're right. I'm sorry. It's just..." He shook his braided head and frowned, "It's just that the guys are so damned excited from that first game. It would have been nice if they were able to get into the regular season on a high note, but that won't happen with a loss against the one team they really want to beat."

As he paced back and forth, the running back continued, "As much as they want to prove themselves, they'll never match up to the team that Treize and Noventa formed. Those bastards are ruthless on the field. They'll take any cheap shot they can if they know they're not being watched. Not to mention that more than half of the guys there are fucking giants!"

Biting her lip, Dorothy lowered her head a bit. "I understand your concern, Duo. But some things are just out of our hands. All that we can do is hope that if it does turn out as we fear it will that they'll be able to pull themselves together for when the wins and losses do count."

Suddenly pausing, Duo's violet eyes widened as a sudden though came to mind. Spinning on his heels, he told his friend, "Well, we still have one ace up our sleeve with my being able to catch now. What better chance to make that known that at a game against the same coach that threw the gauntlet down first? If I am able to pull it off, it would make a hard loss feel more like a wash since we managed to get one over on them."

A wide, relieved smile brightened the team owner's face as she thought to herself, 'Very good, Duo. I know you would figure it out.'

His brow creasing in confusion at the smile, the American realized aloud, "You had that in mind all along?" Shaking his head, he growled deeply, "Why the hell didn't you just come out and bring it up yourself? You had me sweating bullets here!"

Dorothy's grin spread further as she shrugged, "Because I didn't want to be the one to put that sort of pressure on you. I wanted you to be the one that suggested it as showing that you were up for the challenge. It is as important to keep the morale of the team up as it is to actually win games. Not every challenge will end in a victory, but if the drive to win is lost then we all might as well stay home."

Chuckling deeply, Duo smirked, "You make one hell of a team owner, doll." Now feeling the weight of his responsibility settling on his shoulders, he nodded firmly, "I'll do everything that I can to pull this off when we need it."

"I know that you will," the young woman winked. "So long as you do that, whatever the outcome may be, there is no need for disappointment on either of our parts." That said, she turned and continued on down the hall for the elevator.

Heero slowly appeared from around the corner. Duo turned to him without so much as a startle, knowing that his partner wouldn't have stayed behind in the locker room. "I was afraid that it might be as bad as you said," he commented with a small sigh. "The team's come a long way from the last few seasons, but there's still a way to go if we want to beat a team like the Cougars."

Taking a deep breath, Duo replied quietly, "Yea. It's going to be a damned bloodbath."

As he neared, the quarterback asked in a quiet, concerned tone, "And you're all right with the pressure that you just put on yourself? A few catches during practice are far different from catches during an actual game against blockers and defensive men like theirs."

Lightly chuckling, Duo and opened his arms a bit and stated, "I have to be all right with it. There's no other way to keep the game from becoming a total disaster. Normally I don't have a problem with handling pressure because I usually don't care what happens on the field." He bit his lip and looked to the ground as he admitted softly, "But I care now."

The quarterback felt a sad smile tugging his lips as rested a hand on his teammate's shoulder. Squeezing gently, he inquired, "Is that such a bad thing?"

Snorting, the running back smirked, "No. Except at times like this, when so many people are involved." He shook his head from those thoughts and met his housemate's cobalt eyes. "Mind working with me after practice again? I know we have a couple weeks, but I'd really like to make sure I have this catching bit down."

"Of course," Heero grinned warmly. Briefly wrapping his arm around the other athlete, he told him quietly, "Come on. We better finish getting ready for practice."

Allowing himself to be led back around the corner, Duo raised a finger while adding, "And make sure you're wearing those black spandex shorts that I like on you so much. I need to see if I can keep focus with distractions around me."

With a bright laugh, the team captain vowed, "Anything that you think will help, Duo."

*   *   *   *   *   *

"Well, men," Treize began as he folded his arms and smirked to his team in the locker room. "With my old man away on business trips, I received a call from the Vice-President of the NFL. We're going to be facing off against the Wolverines at their stadium as our last pre-season game."

Alex's eyes widened as he looked up from finishing with his shin guards. All around, his teammates were nudging each other with sinister grins. His heart hammered in anticipation at knowing that he was going to be able to show Maxwell up at his own hometown field.

The head coach raised a finger and warned, "This changes nothing for the next two games. We go in to win just as we always do." His smirk darkening, he chuckled deeply, "But don't just settle for winning the way you did this last game. I want that team shaking by the time we meet after they've seen what we're capable of. Then we finish them off."

Laughing and cheering, his men were nodding and high-fiving throughout the room. "Now, let's get out there so we can make our flight in a few hours," he ordered.

His team jumped to their feet and stormed from the room. Nodding to Alex when the running back was the only one left, he stated, "I don't need to tell you that your performance needs to be flawless that day. A lot of people are looking to make a comparison between you and Maxwell. If you don't want to embarrass yourself or me, you best be on your A-game." [1]

"Sure thing, coach," Alex grinned. "You can count on me. I'm not about to let you down after everything that you've done for me."

Grinning in satisfaction, Treize replied, "Good man. Now go join your team." As the running back headed out, he muttered to himself, "For all of our sakes, I certainly hope that you don't."

*   *   *   *   *   *

On a chartered plane heading for Tennessee to face-off against the Warriors the next afternoon, Heero and Duo took their seats beside each other with Wufei and Trowa beside them across the idle.

Silently, the braided running back was dreading that night of sleep in a hotel room. 'More like attempted sleep,' he thought to himself as he opened his pint-sized back of peanuts.

Whenever he slept somewhere new, those nightmares came back. Years of moving from place-to-place in his early years, sleeping in one bed and then another constantly, was most likely the reason for it. Strangely enough, the only time that those dreams didn't come when he settled into new surroundings was when he moved into the Yuy household. He slept lake a baby there every night.

"Are you all right?" Heero asked quietly, a look of concern in his cobalt eyes as he regarded his teammate. Slowly leaning in, he commented in a low whisper, "You seem pretty... tense. The last time you were like this was on our first trip to Chicago together."

Not even aware of it, Duo was rubbing the gold cross pendant that was always around his neck and under his clothes with the fingers of his right hand. If he was nervous, he fidgeted with his braid. If he was downright scared, he was fiddling with his pendant.

Having only seen the cross charm when his partner revealed his scars, Heero quickly picked up on just how unsettled his partner was. Slowly reached out, he wrapped his hand around Duo's holding the pendant. As if waking from a dream, the running back looked down at their hands with wide eyes at finally realizing what he had been doing.

"What's wrong?" Heero asked a bit more urgently, the worry creasing his brow.

Lightly sighing, Duo thought to himself, 'I never tell a lie.' Knowing that he couldn't just blow off his actions and tension as nothing, he muttered, "It's complicated. I'll tell you when after land. Just... not here."

Squeezing the hand in his own, the quarterback nodded firmly and released his hold. He turned his head to gaze back out the window beside him to enjoy the view of the sunset from their elevation.

Carefully hiding the pendant under his orange shirt once more, Duo looked over to see that Wufei and Trowa were sound asleep in their reclined chairs. A quick look ahead and behind showed that no one else was stirring about. Even the stewardess had taken her seat in the back to enjoy a book.

As he settled into his own chair once more, Duo reached over to hold onto Heero's hand. Looking away from his view, the team captain smiled to his teammate and gave another light squeeze. They remained joined like that until the pilot announced that they were preparing for decent and the cabin came to life once more.

*   *   *   *   *   *

At one of the finer hotels in town, room keys were handed out and the team parted ways for their two-bed arrangements. Once they entered their room with their luggage, Heero and Duo allowed the door to close behind them. "Do you want the half closer to the window or the bathroom?" the quarterback asked before lowering his bags.

Without hesitating, the running back was already heading to the bed of choice as he answered, "Bathroom." With a sigh of relief at losing his heavy luggage, he sat on the edge of the mattress and removed his sunglasses to rub his tired eyes. Already, he felt like he was about to jump out of his skin knowing what he was in for that evening.

Heero began unpacking his uniform and other belongings as he watched the back of his partner. "So what has you so wound up?" he questioned gently while unfolding one of his neatly folded T-shirts.

"Nightmares," Duo answered. "I always have them when I'm sleeping somewhere new. Must be because of my moving from place-to-place early on in my foster home days. They get pretty nasty sometimes."

Pausing in his chore, the quarterback frowned deeply. Looking over his shoulders so their eyes could meet, his teammate said, "I used to demand my own room whenever staying in another town while I was on the other teams. But you know the rougher patches in my life, so you wouldn't need me to explain anything if I wake up in a cold sweat or need to run to the bathroom to hurl."

Slowly lowering the clothes in his hands onto his bed, Heero moved to sit beside the braided athlete. Running the fingertips of his right hand over the gold chain that was barely peaking out of the collar at the back of the slender neck. "I could tell that it was something pretty bad when you were fidgeting with this," he said gently.

Duo bit his lip and just nodded. Pulling the charm out of its confinement, he shared, "This belonged to Sister Helen. She was the one that found me in that dumpster that I was left for dead in. She stopped by to see how I was every night after and more or less adopted me. She got me caught up in my classes and enrolled me into the high school where I was discovered."

He swallowed roughly, his fingers rubbing the gold metal of the pendant in with a reverent gentleness. Clearing his throat, Duo's eyes looked forward and lost their focus. In almost a breath, he continued, "All the while she acted like a mother to me, she was fighting cancer. I was with her when she passed and just before, she gave this to me."

With a deep sigh, Heero shook his head. Silently marveling at how strong his partner was after everything that he had gone through, he couldn't help the ache of sorrow that he felt for him. Suddenly, his own loss and his own struggle over the loss of his parents came rushing back after hearing of how the running back lost the closest thing to a mother he ever knew.

And yet... as difficult a thing as that was, Heero almost felt guilty for feeling sorry for himself from time to time. Duo had all the reason in the world to do that and never did. In fact, he was taking his experiences and using them to improve the lives of the children that he was adopting so they wouldn't have to endure as much as he had.

Blinking, the running back returned to the world of the living and gazed down to the cross in his hand. "I better take a shower," he thought aloud and rose from the bed without looking back at his teammate. Stripping his shirt on the way into the bathroom, he closed the door behind him.

Heero remained on the bed for a moment before slowly rising to finish unpacking.

*   *   *   *   *   *

Sweat running down his face, Duo panted heavily as he ran. Without looking back over his shoulder once, he ran as quickly as he legs could carry him. From out of nowhere, a pair of large and strong hands gripped him from behind. Slamming the braided youth's back against a stone wall that materialized out of nowhere, the attacker growled deeply.

The impact from the blow had the boy's teeth hurting and his ears ringing. With a strangled cry, Duo's large eyes widened up to the tall man looming over him. The attacker chuckled deeply and bent at the waist until his stubble-peppered face and long nose were inches away from his prisoner's.

Those brown eyes that always seemed to follow the child bore into him once more as that deep voice smirked darkly, "Always running. You'll never be able to run fast or far enough from me, boy."

Raising one of his arms, the man's fist was suddenly gripping the lone belt that he had transformed into his favorite torture device. With a whimper, Duo shook violently and squeezed his eyes closed just as the arm came down on him.

"No! Please don't!" the running back shouted. The arms on his shoulders gripped tighter as he shook his head back and forth. Curling into himself, he was suddenly aware of something wrapped tightly around him.

Finally, another voice that had been just a shout in the distance was yelling just over him, "Duo, wake up! It's me!"

With a sharp gasp, the sweat-covered athlete opened his violet eyes widely. As his senses came back to him, Duo realized that the bed sheets were all but cutting off circulation they were wrapped so tightly around his body from thrashing in his sleep. The last to come into focus was the worried pair of cobalt orbs watching him.

Gently cupping the side of his partner's soaked face, Heero's deep frown relaxed a bit in seeing him coming back from the nightmare that had gripped him. "Its all right," he whispered, "He can't hurt you anymore." Whimpering, Duo threw his arms around his neck as if it were his life line.

The quarterback wrapped his teammate in his own arms and carefully shifted so they were lying on their sides. After a brief eternity, the trembling calmed and Heero lightly kissed an exposed temple. "Are you all right?"

Swallowing roughly, Duo looked up at him and nodded shallowly. "Stay?" he begged in a small voice.

Heero readjusted the sheets to cover them as he vowed quietly, "I'm not going anywhere." Sniffling, the running back settled against him, resting his braided head on a strong shoulder. Like two pieces of a puzzle slipping into place, so did they.

Before long, a peaceful, dreamless slumber claimed them for the remainder of the evening.

TBC...

[1] Slang for be at your best. I know not everyone has heard of that one.

 

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