Blood, Sweat and Tears Part 53
The ride to the hospital was made in silence with Heero at the wheel, Duo in the passenger seat and Trowa and Wufei in the back. When they arrived at the facility, they all but ran to the reception area in the mordancy room. First to reach the wide-eyed nurse behind the desk, the running back greeted, "Hi, we're looking for-"
"With all of the technologies that we have this day and age, you people still can't come up with robes that cover a person's ass! Where are my pants!?" a familiar voice bellowed from down the hall.
At the sound, the football players smiled in relief and chuckled. "There's Pops," Wufei smirked. Nodding in appreciation to the giggling nurse, the quartet headed down the corridor to find a very amused doctor stepping from the room at the end.
To the eyes on him, the tall man in the white medical coat grinned, "Ah. Mister Marquise said to expect a few members of the team. The coach and his wife are in the room with Mister and Misses Reeds now."
Heero bit his lip before asking, "How is Howard?"
Laughing, the doctor answered, "A bit peeved at the moment. But other than that, just fine. Nothing more than a bad case of indigestion that his wife fears might have been the start of a heart attack. But for his age, Mister Reeds is in excellent health."
Their shoulders sagging, the four athletes sighed deeply before slowly falling into chuckles at the scare that turned out to be nothing. And they all knew just how 'peeved' Howard must have been over the whole situation, indeed. Thanking the doctor and letting the man on be his way, the group headed into the room.
Inside, Zechs, Noin and Trent were fighting back laughter as they kept their backs to Howard while the old man finished buckling his black pants. Norma Reeds, her hair just as white as her husband's and just as slight in frame, was glaring at him with her arms folded. "You should take these sort of things more seriously," she warned. "You're not a teenager anymore."
Snorting, Howard retorted indignantly, "I think I know the damn difference between a heart attack and indigestion! All I mentioned was my chest was tight and I couldn't catch my breath! Next thing I know, you're on the phone calling for a damn ambulance when it's your fault with that cooking of yours!"
With a sharp gasp, the old woman gave another verbal lashing as Zechs and Noin spotted the four in the doorway.
A smile on his face, Zechs told the group approaching, "As I'm sure you know now, things were not nearly as bad as we had thought, thank goodness. I'm glad to see that you all could make it here." Trent and Noin continued to choke and giggled in their attempt to refrain from full laughter as the arguing continued behind them.
Finally, before long, it appeared that Norma had won the fight just as she always did. She was the only one who could put Howard in his place when needed. His head lowered, the old man muttered some sort of an apology to his wife and an affirmative to whatever she had just said before looking up and grinning widely.
"Hey, boys," he waved while heading over to the lot. "Come to see the dying man?" He shot a raised eyebrow and a smirk to Norma in a way to say 'That's another point for me.' His old lady just sighed and rolled her eyes.
Snickering, Duo walked up first to exchange a firm handshake with the offensive coach. "You gave us one hell of a scare for a moment. Good to see that you're still with us, Pops," he winked. Heero, Trowa and Wufei all gave their own handshakes and one-armed hugs with their relieved greetings.
Arms folded, Zechs met the old coach's gaze and stated, "Well, one thing that the doctor would like to see is you finally enjoying retirement as opposed to holding a stressful job like you are now.
"Some time this week, we'll have to sit down and discuss our options for a second offensive coach that will take up the reins when you do decide you've had enough. Last thing any of us want is for another scare like this to be the real thing."
Howard huffed and placed his hands on his hips. "First off, I am not as old as I seem. And, as the doctor informed, I am in top shape so I'm not going to be croaking anytime soon." Norma cleared her throat and fixed her husband with a glare that rivaled Heero's when he was angry.
Gulping, the offensive coach turned to Zechs and relented, "Well, maybe a full-time assistant wouldn't be a terrible idea to take some of the pressure off."
More than pleased with that, everyone in the room smiled and the head coach nodded firmly, "When Dorothy returns from her business trip, I'm sure we could work something out that will make everyone happy."
Lightly patting his old friend's back, Zechs suggested, "Let's go home. Everyone knows how crabby you are at practice if you don't get a decent night's sleep." Heero, Duo, Trowa, Wufei and Trent all muttered their agreement to the sentiment.
On their way out the door, Norma looped her arm through her spouse's and grinned, "Well, since you're in such good shape, dear, perhaps you can clean out the garage this weekend instead of putting it off the way you have been for months now."
"Are you crazy, woman!?" Howard cried. Placing his free hand on his chest, he huffed, "I'm an old man! I could croak at any second and you want me to exert myself like that!?" As another battle of words began, the others just shook their heads and smirked in amusement.
* * * * * *
Rubbing his temples against the headache that was building, Nathan sighed, "You really couldn't find anything on Maxwell? Nothing at all?"
Karen's dark-circled eyes narrowed from the other side of the desk. Holding up the file in her hand, she replied in a short tone, "Like I already told you, any personal files on him are under lock and key with security around. All that I was allowed to get my hands on were his high school yearbooks. I made a copy of every page with his picture on it."
She tossed the file onto the desk. With the copied images spilling out haphazardly, the young woman stated clearly, "That was all that I could get my hands on. I'm sorry for thinking that there would be more out of my trip, but sometimes hunches are wrong. I'll be more than happy to continue to stake the Yuy household out, but you could not pay me enough to go back to that rat's nest of a city."
Nathan smiled that sly smile of his and held his hands up. "All right," he spoke soothingly. "All right. You've made your point. So we've reached a dead end. We'll just find another angle for another story."
Waving his hand, he said, "You know what, take the next two weeks off. I'll see that you're still paid for the time. It'll give you a chance to collect yourself after all this stress that I've put on you."
Her dark eyes blinking in shock, Karen commented, "Well, I suppose that I am due for a break. Thank you, Gallow." Rising she gathered up her long, black coat and smirked, "Sometimes I wonder how people have such a bad impression of you."
"It's a mystery to me," Nathan chuckled with a shrug. "When you return, I expect you to be ready to go after that great story." Winking over her shoulder, Karen stepped from the office without another word. There were no other words needed. Gallow knew that she was his best in digging things up.
Sighing deeply, the young journalist took up a few of the pictures spread out on his desk.
Most of the pictures were of Maxwell in his blue, white and gold high school football uniform either in action on the field or in a group shot with his teammates. There were several images of the running back with Quatre Winner in the midst of having lunch together or posing with bright smiles and their arms around each other's shoulders.
Holding one such picture close, Nathan sneered at the faces grinning back at him. "You win another battle," he growled deeply. "But the war is far from over."
* * * * * *
Laughing as he jumped into Heero's arms, Duo threw his helmet off and let out a loud cheer. "Touchdown Pittsburgh!" Adam exclaimed. "That's another one for the power team of Yuy and Maxwell! Looks like they're going to seal away another victory, folks! What an amazing season this has been for the team!"
On their sideline, the Cincinnati Hawks reacted in a variety of ways - none of them being a very happy response. Now down by two touchdowns with half of the last quarter to go, their chances of recapturing the lead were slim to none.
The stands had a mix of boos and cheers as fans for both teams filled the Cincinnati stadium. All around, there were almost as many red and gold football jerseys as there were black and deep green.
Considering how few fans they were used to seeing outside of Pittsburgh, it was a sight to behold for the Wolverines.
Tim shook his head with a smile. "Well, even in this cold snap of only ten degrees, the Pittsburgh team hardly seems affected at all. I don't think they even notice just how bitter it is out there the way that they've been performing today."
"Fuck it's freezing!" Duo cried once he and his teammates reached the sideline, helmets in hand. Shifting from one foot to the other to keep moving his breath made puffs of vapor as he chuckled, "Nothing like a day like this to wake your ass up!" Those in earshot snickered and nodded their agreement.
Darren was talking with his fellow receivers, coaching the stringers that had been filling in for him and patting them on the back for their good work. Adjusting his crutches, the assistant offensive coach worked his way further down the line to work up the third-string receivers in preparation for their shot at taking the field.
Keeping in mind the lead that they had, Zechs made the call to have a lot of the supportive players have their shot at playing again. It would keep the first string starters fresh and safe from injury. And it gave the nod of appreciation to those back-ups for all of their effort.
Howard watched Darren from his post beside Zechs and Treize. Arms folded, the old man's lips curled up in a small smile in witnessing just how good the young man was at what he did. For one who had never coached before, the injured receiver took to his new role as though he had been doing it for years.
At the sense that there were eyes on him, the old offensive coach turned to find Zechs and Trent watching him with smirks on their faces. It was pretty obvious that they were all thinking the same thing. Sighing deeply, Howard tolled his eyes. "All right, all right," he huffed. "I'll talk to him about taking up a more permanent role with me."
Trent walked around the head coach to pat his friend's back. "Good man," he replied. "I think the two of you will make one hell of a team." Wincing, he added, "So long as we can get him to accept. He might still be looking forward to returning as a starting receiver come next season when he's well enough for it."
With a wave of his hand, Zechs halted any further discussion and warned quietly, "We'll all sit down and talk about it after the game. Now's not the time with so much going on. But, I do have to say that I like the idea." Smirking, he nudged Howard in their shoulder. "And we're not trying to kick you out the door, Pops," he reassured. "We're just looking out for you so you can spend a lot more time with us."
A wide smile spread on the old man's face at that. While he knew how much Zechs and Trent cared about him and respected his role on the team, it was always nice to hear. Touched by the sentiment, he suddenly started to feel pretty good about the decision to let someone else take up some of his responsibility. 'Maybe a change wouldn't be so bad in the end,' he thought to himself.
Clearing his throat, Howard muttered sincerely, "Thank you."
Suddenly, the crowd got to their feet with an eruption of cheers and boos once more. Quickly looking back to the field as their sidelined players celebrated, the coaching staff saw the Cincinnati quarterback on the ground, ball in hand. Two of the Wolverine linesmen jumped and slammed chests in midair in celebration of their sack.
Thrusting his fists into the air, Trent shouted, "That's my boys! Waahhoo!" Zechs and the rest of the team applauded the defensive line as they returned from their successful run at holding the Hawks back from another score.
Famously known for his tantrums when his team was not faring well, Coach Browning was amazingly calm on his side of the field. While not the perfect picture of happy at the moment, he also did not look ready to punch the first person that dared to speak to him in the face.
There was a reason for his relaxed mood. While his Hawks did not have the best standing in the division, they were well secured in second. So long as they could hold up in that position, they were posed to make the playoffs. A loss to the leaders of the pack was not going to worsen their standings at the moment. Better to not push his team to the point of risking injury.
At this point in the season, every game would be handled like a chess piece on a checkered board. Some would need to be sacrificed for the better of the whole. The trick was knowing which games those were and when to strike hardest. One wrong move and it would be check mate against any chance for a championship.
With the clock rolled down to the last minute of the game, the Hawks quarterback took a knee when the ball was snapped into his cold hands for the last time that day. A roar from the stands filled the air once more. Most of the stadium was cleared by then with the majority of Hawks fans wanting to beat traffic knowing that there was nothing more for them to see.
But those Cincinnati fans that had stuck around until the end rose to their feet along with the rest of the crowd and applauded the efforts of both teams. Though their home team had not taken the victory, it was still inspiring to see the heart of the Wolverines in this being their huge breakout year. Everyone loved an underdog story.
Handshakes, laughs and well wishes were exchanges between the players of both teams in midfield. Being the team with the youngest lineup in the league, the Pittsburgh athletes once again felt like kids in a man's game when they were approached by their competition. Many of those seasoned players complimented the youthful group on their abilities and growth.
Coach Browning smiled to Zechs as the two met to shake hands. "I have to hand it to you," the Cincinnati coach began, "You've been doing one hell of a job with this team of yours. Glad to see that they're coming into their own. I always did like a challenge."
Laughing, the taller head coach replied, "Coming from you, Ian, that's quite the compliment. Thank you. With any luck, we'll be meeting up again postseason. Good game." They exchanged a firm pat on each other's backs before moving on to greet the players of the opposing teams.
Back in their booth, Tim and Adam smiled for the camera. The later stated, "Well, folks, there are only six games left in the regular season. Looking at the match-ups to come, now it would be safe to start talking about the playoffs and who has the best shot at getting there.
"While San Francisco and Green Bay are the heavy favorites to move on in their division, the biggest shock of all is this Pittsburgh team that we just had the pleasure of watching again today. Not only are they in heavy contention to make the playoffs, they are still the leaders in their league."
Nodding, Tim continued, "No one would have ever believed that either of those feats would have been possible for the Wolverines prior to the pre-season. While they had never been a bad team, they just never got the momentum that they needed. This year, they found that momentum and they're still running with it."
His own team finished with their earlier game, Treize watched the television report in his living room. Eyes narrowed on the screen, he listened in on the praises sung of the Pittsburgh establishment. Despite all of his hard work, his Cougars remained in the shadow of another team. And not just any team, but one that had previously been all but a joke up until then.
The fact that he knew Maxwell was loving every minute of his team's success had the head coach's blood boiling.
"Enjoy it while it lasts, boys," he said quietly. "You won't be able to keep this up forever."
* * * * * *
Later that evening...
Duo stepped out of the shower, his dryer-blown hair dried and loose, and collapsed into the bed in exhaustion. Curling up to him, Heero chuckled quietly while pulling him close. Dressed only in their boxers, the couple pulled the covers over themselves and got into a comfortable sleeping arrangement for the night.
It had been a physically taxing day for the two of them, but it had been a good day as well.
Gently kissing the top of his lover's head, the quarterback breathed, "Thank you."
Blinking his violet eyes in confusion, the running back looked into the cobalt watching him. "For what?" he mumbled.
Heero shrugged simply, "For everything."
That simple phrase warmed Duo's chest as a loving smile spread on his own face. Leaning up, he kissed his partner's lips gently. He pulled back only enough that their mouth still brushed together when he whispered, "I love you, Heero Yuy."
"I love you, Duo Maxwell," he team captain replied in kind. The light was switched off and they settled themselves down for a peaceful sleep, both looking forward to what the next day held for them now that they had someone to share it with.
TBC...
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