Blood, Sweat and Tears Part 45

The Baltimore, Maryland Colony Stadium was packed despite the inclement weather. Since morning, the dark heavens opened up to a steady fall of rain and a chilly gust of wind coming off the Chesapeake Bay. Shielded from head-to-toe in brightly colored ponchos, the crowd grew in anticipation as the last minutes of their wait for the game ticked down.

Under the shelter of their tunnel below the stands, Zechs turned to his team and ordered, "I don't want a damned one of you taking any unnecessary risks out there. The ground is nothing but mud right now and you're going to be sinking into it the moment you set foot. We don't need any torn muscles or broken bones just to keep up a winning streak."

Darren readjusted himself on his crutches as he smirked, "Yea, don't anyone be an idiot like I was!" His teammates chuckled deeply and Howard rubbed the top of his assistant coach's head while muttering a fatherly, 'Knucklehead.'

"And now, please welcome the Pittsburgh Wolverines!" the announcer's voice echoed through the stadium. To a mix of cheers and boos, the starters secured their helmets on and readied themselves to take the field.

Throwing on the hood to his clear poncho, Zechs smiled, "All right! Let's go!" With his players right behind, he led the way out to the heavy rainfall.

*   *   *   *   *   *

For the first two quarters of the game, the score was neck-and-neck thanks to the wind and weather making it difficult on both teams to score. The kickers had a hard time getting the football through the goal posts even at a close distance while anyone handling the ball struggled to get a good grip.

After the first half of the game, it was 14 to 10 in favor of Pittsburgh.

With the rain pelting on their helmets, Heero and his teammates huddled to make the call on their next move. "We run it this time," the team captain stated. "With our facing the wind to try and score, it's too much of a risk to throw the ball in."

There was no argument from the other athletes as they nodded firmly and broke their huddle. Quickly taking their line, they dug their cleats in deep for better leverage when it came time to push off.

"Set!" Heero called down both sides of the line. "Set!" Extending his arms, he cried, "Hike!" In less time than it took to blink, the ball was in his hands and he was spinning to hand it off to Duo. Carefully shielding the slick football against his chest with one arm, the running back charged for an opening that was narrowing by the second.

Somehow managing to break free, he did not get far before a pair of arms wrapped around his waist from behind. His attacker slipped in his attempt to bring the braided athlete down, but held on in an attempt to slow him down at the very least.

Growing deeply, Duo dug his feet deep into the mud and drug the added weight behind him with his eyes still on the end zone more than ten yards away. A few steps more and he was roughly taken down by two other defenders that caught up. On his way to the ground, the running back's eyes widened in feeling the football slipping from his grasp.

His efforts to try and grip the ball were lost when he did crash to the ground. Between the blow to both sides and the slam to the wet earth, the air in Duo's lungs went out in a grunted rush. The ball sprang free of his grasp in the midst of his trying to regain his breath.

Adam's eyes widened at the sight of the loose football and cried into his microphone, "Fumble! Now who is going to recover?"

Players from both teams sprang and dove for the ball, wrestling for it so that their team would gain possession and the chance to score. Watching the struggle from where he lay prone on the ground, wheezing, the running back silently cursed himself for the slip.

The referees ran into the scene and began pulling members of both teams from the pile that they made over where the ball landed free. Anxiously, those pushed aside waited until the last two players-one from each team- remained.

It was one of the Baltimore Roman in his gold-and-brown uniform that had the ball in his hands. Jumping and cheering, his teammates celebrated their important victory in that turnover. They charged off their sideline so their offensive side could take the field as the Wolverines headed to their own benches sluggishly, their shoulders slumped.

Still struggling to get a good breath, Duo tried to push himself from the mud on trembling arms. "It looks like Maxwell was a little shaken up after the brutal hits from both sides that had to bring him down," Tim frowned in worry. "You hate to see anyone get hurt in these games. Hopefully, it's nothing serious."

Heero was running up to his lover, crying his name in concern. Sliding to a stop on his knees beside the fallen athlete, he removed both of their helmets as he asked almost frantically, "Are you all right?" Sally was suddenly with them, medical bag in hand as she waited from some response from the running back.

Just barely managing a full gasp, Duo nodded, "Fine... Wind just... knocked out... pretty good" Both sighing in relief at that, Heero and Sally each took up an arm and carefully aided their friend to his feet. Slowly, they headed off the field together to the cheers of the spectators that had been holding their breaths.

Alex whistled through his teeth and grinned, "Well, anyone lesser would have been down for the count after a takedown like that, but then few players have the heart that Maxwell shows in these games. It's good that he's walking on his own accord, most likely he just needs a moment to collect himself."

Once she helped the American sit at the bench, Sally opened her medical bag for an oxygen mask hooked to a bag of fresh air. Hading it over, she urged sternly, "Take deep, slow breaths. Even if it hurts. If the pain gets worse, I want you to tell me immediately."

His face splattered with mud that had kicked up in his fall, Duo nodded as he pressed the mask over his mouth and nose. As commanded, despite the burning in his lungs, he took a few drawn out breaths while the young woman pocked and felt around his rib cage for any possible bruised or broken ribs. Much to her satisfaction, her patient did not cry out or whimper during her careful examination.

Heero, Wufei, Trowa, Zechs, Howard and Trent were gathered around the closest with the rest of the team looking on in concern.

Several breaths in, the pain in the running back's chest began to subside and he was able to breathe normally again. Removing the mask, he told the physical therapist kneeling before him, "It's starting to pass."

Just hearing how much stronger his voice was, Sally knew that his words were true. "Good," she smiled. "Keep the mask on a little longer just to be sure."

Nodding, the braided athlete covered his mouth and nose once more. Relieved grins and sighs were down the sideline as his coaches and teammates took in the word that he was going to be all right. Heero took a seat beside his lover and rubbed his back in what could not be consider more than a friendly gesture.

Their defensive team was already on the field and taking their line to keep the Romans from scoring on their newfound possession.

Inwardly fuming over the fact that he was responsible for their lost chance to score, Duo replayed the scenario over and over in his head to think of any possible way that he could have prevented it from happening.

Maybe if he hadn't been so insistent on getting those five more yards while dragging that first defender. Or maybe he should have been holding onto the ball with both hands when he heard the others approaching from behind.

There were a lot of 'ifs' and 'maybes' playing in his mind. But, the bottom line was that these sort of things happened. While it was as rare for him to cause a fumble as it was for Heero to throw an interception, it just plain sucked when it happened. Turnovers like those often made the difference between winning and losing.

And to know that it was your fault...

Finally comfortable enough to breathe on his own, Duo handed the mask back to Sally and frowned to the faces watching him, "Sorry for losing the ball back there, everyone. I tried to hang onto it."

Howard shorted and shook his head in amusement, "If you did hold onto that thing, you would have come out a lot worse the way it would've jarred your ribs in that fall, kid. We'll deal with a loss of possession over not having you for the rest of the season any day."

Smirking, the old man rubbed the top of his charge's braided head. "You're a pretty tough son of a bitch to have drug that bastard for five whole yards like that," he complimented. 'And I appreciate the effort that took."

Duo's shoulders eased at that and grinned, "Thanks, Pops."

A deeply relieved Heero took a seat beside his lover and, without thinking, placed a hand on the running back's leg. Quickly realizing how high his palm was, his cobalt eyes widened and he pulled it away as if it was burnt. Duo snickered at his partner's sheepish grin and shook his head in amusement. Luckily, no one around them noticed now that all attention was focused back to the field.

Trent folded his arms as he watched his defensive team and grumbled, "Wish to hell my guys had half that kind of heart right now, Maxwell. They're falling apart right now. This goddamned weather just isn't cutting us any breaks right now."

Unfortunately, that remained the case for what was left of the game. After scoring thanks to that fumble, the Baltimore team regained the momentum they needed to seal the deal.

Having to work in the mud, wind and rain took too great of a toll on the players that were not conditioned to deal with them for a whole game. Despite the fact that the Romans were having their own problems keeping the ball where they wanted it to go, they could endure the elements far better.

In the end, that was what won them the game with a seven-point lead at 21-14.

At the final whistle blow, handshakes and friendly words were exchanged between the two teams as the Baltimore stadium continued to erupt with cheers and cries from the crowd gathered. Their hometown team had taken down the undefeated Wolverines.

It was a very different Pittsburgh team that headed back to their locker room. Sullen, aching and exhausted, they quietly shuffled under the shelter of the tunnel below the stands on their half of the field.

Tilting his head to the side as he watched the players walking off the field, Alex commentated, "Well, folks, it looks as though the Cinderella story of the year may be coming to an end. The Wolverines were one of the last three teams to be undefeated this far into the season. They are now 5 to 1. Only time will tell whether or not this loss will affect them for the remainder of the season."

As his team settled themselves in the locker room, the starters and second-stringers that saw action splotched with mud, Zechs took a deep breath and began, "You have nothing to be ashamed of, guys. You did everything you could out there today. It just wasn't our game to win. And we all know that you can't win them all."

Several heads remained lowered in disappointment. After the streak that they were on, it was expected for them to be a little disheartened by the defeat.

"We don't have a game to prepare for next weekend. Take the time to shake this off and get your heads straight," the head coach stated. "The season's far from over and I want you to be fresh when we start practicing next Monday again." That said, he turned and left the room alongside Howard and Trent.

One-by-one, the athletes rose from their benches to gather up their shower items and clean clothes. Without a word between any of them, they shuffled out for the showers. When they were the last two remaining, Heero looked over to his despondent partner and asked softly, "Are you all right?"

Sighing deeply, Duo shrugged, "Yea. Just wish that I could have held onto that damned ball. If they hadn't scored from that fumble, we would have been able to keep them from winning."

"No one blames you for the loss," the quarterback reassured. "Like Zechs said, it just wasn't our game to win. Remember, they did score again even after that touchdown, so they would have beaten us regardless."

The running back nodded, "I suppose." A sly grin slowly tugged his lips as he finally turned to meet the cobalt eyes locked on him. "Any chance that I could get some sympathy sex when we get back to the hotel room? I have a funny feeling that'll make me feel better."

Laughing loudly at that, Heero leaned in and kissed his lover's temple. "I'm pretty sure that I can accommodate that," he smirked.

*   *   *   *   *   *

Later that evening...

In his expansive estate, Nathan Gallow was rewinding footage from that day's earlier gave of the Wolverines verses the Romans. One particular bit of recorded frames particularly captured his interest-enough so that he reviewed and rewound it several times for a closer review for well over an hour.

His living room only lit by the glow of his wide, flat-panel television, the dark-haired journalist took a long drag from the burning cigarette in his hand. Leaning forward in his leather chair to reach for his glass of brandy, he lounged back and focused on the paused image of Heero Yuy and Duo Maxwell on the screen.

Remote in hand, he rewound the footage to where the quarterback ran to his fallen teammate to remove their helmets. Sally Po entered the scene as the two athletes exchanged words.

Nothing out of the ordinary there, the same could be said about the deep concern in Yuy's eyes as his mouth formed the words 'Are you all right?' The angle that the camera angle had been facing the scene, one could not see Maxwell's face for a response as Sally Po ran up with her medical bag.

Fast forwarding to when they were back on the sidelines, Nathan leaned forward with his cigarette in one hand and glass in the other. Heero sat beside his teammate when the physical therapist rose and moved away after giving a favorable diagnosis.

Then it happened.

Something so subtle and quick that anyone else watching would have missed it, or never thought anything into it. But then, Gallow always did have a keen eye for things of this nature. It was what made him the best in the 'sleazy' realm of journalism that he took such pride in.

It was a hand high on a thigh that seemed so natural. Then, in almost a blink, it was pulled away in a flash of panic. Pausing the screen on the two young men as they smiled to each other after, the quarterback with a sheepish look and the running back with one of amusement, Nathan smirked to himself.

More than convinced of his theory, he lowered his glass on the table beside him and reached for his standard telephone. As the speed dial imputed the number requested, he placed the receiver to his ear and waited for his colleague to answer in her pleasant tone, "Clarkson."

"Karen, Nathan here," the wiry young man grinned. "I'm sending you to Pittsburgh on assignment in a couple days. I want you to keep an eye on Heero Yuy and Duo Maxwell. See what leads you can get to follow them around when they're not at their homes. See what you come up with."

The sly grin was heard in his partner's tone, "I take it that you found something that will make it worth our while?"

Nathan finished off his cigarette and replied, "Call it a hunch. Even if it doesn't pan out to be what I am hoping it will, something is bound to come up that we can use to spice up our sports headlines."

"I'll be ready to fly out on Tuesday for when they get back to Pittsburgh, then," Karen said. The call disconnected at that and Gallow lowered the received back onto its cradle with a satisfied grin.

Gazing back to the frozen image of the two football players, he chuckled deeply, "If a story won't come to me willingly, you just have to get to the story."

*   *   *   *   *   *

Back at their hotel room, Duo and Heero were lying on the bed that they had been sharing, the other bed's sheets and blankets in disarray to give the appearance that it had been slept in. Between them on a pillow was the running back's cell phone.

The last to say good night to her father, Camille's voice said over the speaker, "Don't worry about the f-fum..."

Duo grinned, "Fumble, sweetie."

"Right, fumble," his little girl replied, grin heard over the line. "You're still the best to us."

Blinking in surprise at the sweet sentiment, the braided athlete suddenly felt the weight of his guilt instantly lifted. Smiling lovingly he replied quietly, "Thank you, Camille. You just made me feel a whole lot better. Good night and I love you."

The child smiled, "Good night and love you, too, daddy. 'Night, Heewo!"

Heero chuckled, "Good night, Camille." As lover reached up to close the cell phone with a soft sigh, he reached over to cup the side of his face. "All better?" he asked softly.

Nodding, Duo leaned into the touch and breathed, "Yea."

"Good," the quarterback smiled before brushing their lips together. He reached over to turn the light out while the running back set the cell phone aside.

Climbing under the covers and curling into each other's arms, their eyes drifted closed to mark the end of their physically and emotionally draining day.

TBC...

 

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