Blood, Sweat and Tears Part 63
The sun broke over the horizon the morning following the hearing. Sighing softly, Duo's nose wrinkled as the first signs of his return to the waking world. Violet eyes cracked open and blinked a few times to gain focus. Heero soon followed suit and smiled down on his lover, mumbling, "G'mornin'."
A wide smile spreading on his own face, the running back replied in kind before quickly kissing the quarterback. Sitting up, Duo peered around the room and breathed wistfully, "It's my last time in this room."
Heero sat up beside him with a low hum. His hand moving almost on its own accord, he rubbed soothing circles along his partner's scarred back. "Do you need some time alone?" he asked softly. "Over a year is a long time to spend in one place."
Meeting the cobalt eyes watching him, Duo grinned and shook his head, "No. I'll be all right. This was never going to be a permanent home, so I knew not to get attached in anyway. Besides, my kids are my home, not where we happen to be staying at any given time."
The quarterback smiled at that and nodded in understanding. Lightly brushing back the long bangs from those violet eyes on him, he suggested, "Well then, we'd better get dressed. We have a busy morning ahead." Not needing to be told twice, the running back all but jumped out of bed and headed to the dresser.
As busy as it was going to be, it was going to be a great day.
* * * * * *
Most of the things that could be packed already were by the morning thanks to Quatre, Hilde, Solo, Dorothy, Lady Une, Noin and Iria. Greeting the football players with smiles and breakfast in the kitchen when they emerged, they went over the few things that still needed to be tended to before the moving company arrived. Duo's jaw nearly fell off its hinges in learning at how quickly his friends had worked as he slept.
About an hour later, the moving company arrived with their trucks and the lot headed out to the airport with what they could carry. Iria said her goodbyes when they arrived to the closed off terminal to return to her law firm.
Wide-eyed and gasping, the children gazed around the inside of Dorothy's private jet when they were ushered inside. Even Heero let out a low whistle at the comfortable and yet lavish surroundings.
All throughout the flight, the children talked excitedly amongst themselves in anticipation of staying at the Yuy estate. Marcus took each of his smaller siblings for a tide in his wheelchair with him as he went up and down the aisles with his passenger in his lap.
His braided head resting on Heero's shoulder, Duo sighed, "At least Gallow had the decency to not post that story he had been planning, hopefully we won't be hearing from him again any time soon."
Across the aisle from them, Quatre looked away from the window and smirked, "Oh, don't worry about that. Iria and Karen are making sure that he stays out of everyone's hair from here on out." His eyes narrowing, he growled, "Though the time he's sure to be spending in prison seems hardly enough punishment. I really wish that you let me at him."
Duo snickered, "No way, man. I know how vicious you are when you get mad. I wasn't about to have you get in trouble for our sakes." Closing his eyes, he stated, "I'll be perfectly happy with a long prison sentence. At least when he does get out, he won't have a shot at a career like the one he's lost."
Nodding, Heero rested his head on top of the braided one resting on his shoulder and commented, "That in and of itself is enough for me. With any luck, he'll be made an example to other journalists who might think of pulling the things that he pulled."
The remainder of the flight went on smoothly. With a perfect landing, the jet pulled into the closed off hanger at the end of the field. Dorothy's staff greeted her and her passengers kindly when they stepped out. Hugs and thanks were exchanged between group before Dorothy, Noin and Sally parted their separate ways.
Using the two vehicles that Quatre and Lady Une had driven to the hanger, the remainder of the lot headed for the Yuy household. A quickly growing Mary wiggled excitedly in Flora's lap for the entire trip.
When they pulled past the tall gates leading to his household, Heero peered back to the children behind him and grinned, "Welcome home, everyone." At the wheel, Duo's smile grew as his family cheered and yelled.
It came as a pleasant surprise to the running back how smoothly things went. His children were so happy to be staying at the quarterback's home that they were more than eager to help with the unloading of whatever they could carry. The move in went by in practically no time with the bigger items due to arrive the next evening.
All but collapsing onto the couches and soft cushioned chairs in the living room at the end of the day, six adults caught their breath. Lady Une looked to her companions and chuckled, "I certainly hope no one minds if I just call in for pizza instead of cooking tonight."
Solo chuckled and shook his head, "You'll have no complaints here. I can barely move, myself." The children gathered around with Mary nodded their heads enthusiastically. They left with the young maid for the kitchen where she could take their requests.
Looking over to the telephone on the table beside him, Heero inwardly groaned at the blinking warning that there were messages waiting. He paged through the caller ID window to find that there were over a dozen calls from different journalists and stations. No doubt every reporter out there was hoping to be the first to sit one-on-one with Duo after the press conference.
Quickly figuring out what was preoccupying his lover's attention, the braided athlete threw his head back on the couch. Pulling an arm over his eyes, he groaned, "Great. More interviews. Just what I need right now."
"Don't worry about any of that," Quatre responded. "As your agent, I'll take care of them. Right now you just start resting up for tomorrow's practice."
Practice. The team. Suddenly sitting up with wide eyes, Duo turned to face his teammate and asked, "Where are we in the standings after that loss this weekend?" If anyone would have kept track of that, he knew that the team captain would.
Swallowing roughly, Heero hesitated before answering, "We're now tied for the lead with Cleveland. The wins and losses in the league worked out that we took a bigger hit than we thought that we would." He was quick to add before anyone started blaming themselves or thinking the worst, "But we're still at least in the top spot. We could always get it back."
Hilde grinned, "And I don't doubt that you'll all be able to pull off enough wins to make the playoffs."
'Down but not out,' Duo thought to himself. There was still a chance to get back the ground that they had lost. Now that his personal life was coming back together, he could focus on his work.
There was a twinkle in his violet eyes as an idea came to mind. Grinning, he looked to his lover and said, "I need to get a hold of Zechs."
* * * * * *
In the locker room the following morning, the team got to their feet with cheers and whistles when their star quarterback and running back entered. The relief clear on all of their faces, everyone made their rounds at welcoming the couple back. Mixed in with the banter were questions like 'How are the kids?' and such.
Trowa and Wufei stayed back to be amongst the last to reunite with their good friends. Lightly nudging shoulders and patting each other's backs, the four laughed and quickly caught up before Austin and Fellows entered the scene with sullen faces.
Extending a hand, the back-up quarterback said, "Good to have you both back. Sorry that we let the two of you down while you were away." Terry's head fell deeper in embarrassment from his display over the last game.
Heero shook hands firmly and smirked, "Are you kidding? You two held your own pretty well out there." The second-stringers' eyes widened as they looked to him in disbelief.
"B-but we lost the game," Terry sputtered, his head shaking.
At that, Duo gave them a reassuring grin. "Neither of you are responsible for that," he said. "New York needed that win more than we did. Even if 'Ro and I had been playing, they would have given us a run, too. We watched the game and you both did everything you could on each play. We wouldn't have done anything differently."
Nearly falling over, Brian cried, "Really!?" Both Heero and Duo nodded. Turning to his counterpart, the back-up quarterback exclaimed, "You hear that!?" Fellows beamed as he practically shook from excitement in hearing from two of the best that they performed well.
Zechs entered the room with his coaching staff. Reaching the center of the space, he ordered, "All right, everyone. Finish getting suited and let's hit the field! We have a long day ahead and there's a good storm blowing in later tonight. Let's get all the time in that we can."
Quickly changing, the team charged down the corridor and onto the field. When they reached the ground level and stepped outside, they were greeted with a round of cheers and whistles.
Looking around, the players found Duo's family alongside Noin and her boys. Duo grinned to his teammates and held an arm out to the bundled little ones in the stands. "Everyone, I'd like you to meet my kids."
The Wolverines' faces lit up with warm smiles as Hilde and Solo led their charges down to the field. There was a round of introductions as the start-struck children were brought face-to-face with the athlete that they had been watching.
Her eyes widening, little Carissa pointed up to the tall center and wide receiver gasping, "You're Twowa and Wufei." Instantly melting, the pair smiled and bent to their knees to introduce themselves.
Noin and her husband met up with a chaste kiss and turned to watch their own youngsters excitedly talking with the players that they had known from almost since the time they were born. Their son Gavin charged up to the braided running back and opened his arms, crying, "Duo!"
Laughing, the American scooped him up into a tight hug. Derek was right behind and received the same greeting. "Are you doing to need our help, today, Duo?"
With a wink, Duo answered, "You know I could always use your help." Leading the boys to the cart that they had used for the first practice that they visited, he carefully placed them in the back. More carts had been built since then and numerous heavy items were placed inside for the other players use for their training.
Heero gestured for Jamie and Abdul to meet up with him by a cart and helped them inside. Wufei led Hope and Sun. Trowa took up Hope and Marcus was carefully placed in the back with her. Last but not least, Tai and Flora each got into a cart of their own to be pulled by other members of the offensive line. At the head of his team, Duo signaled to Zechs that everyone was ready.
A smile on his face, the head coach blew his whistle to announce the start of their laps around the field. Hilde and Solo laughed at the sight of the little ones yelling and cheering behind the athletes pulling them along. Noin wrapped her arms around her husband's waist and sighed in content, "This is sure to be something they won't forget anytime soon."
Chuckling deeply, Zechs kissed the top of her head and responded quietly, "I know that I won't."
* * * * * *
Through the snow and bitter temperatures, the Wolverines conditioned and practiced tirelessly. When they were not training themselves on the field, they were working out in their home gyms or finding other means to prepare themselves for the next game.
By the end of their first week back following the hearing, Sally took up a temporary residence at the Yuy household to provide on-site care for Marcus. Placing herself in charge of the physical therapy that he would need over the course of the next few weeks, Duo knew that his son was in good hands.
It also helped to have the young woman on hand to keep an eye on the football players as well. Sally was not one to hold her tongue if she thought that Heero or Duo might have been pushing themselves too hard on their own time. It was good for them to have a constant reminder not to injure themselves by being foolish.
Quatre preoccupied his time with screening out the reporters that continued to call for an interview with his friends. It became clear that eventually, they would have to go forward once again to appease the growing public interest in them. Finally, after much consideration and a good number of turndowns, Tim and Alex had been chosen and a time was set aside for them to meet the following week.
The amount of letters and other tokens of support nearly tripled from its volume in the past. Many teddy bears and other gifts were sent to be given to the Maxwell kids from other players in the league as well as fans. At the overwhelming wave that the mail came in, Hilde and Solo were able to assist by writing personal thank you letters for Heero, Duo and the little ones to sign.
Finally, after a grueling week, it was Sunday morning. In their hometown for a face-off against Baltimore, they woke to a blustery day. Wisps of flurries danced in the air and the temperature dropped to a cool eighteen degrees.
The last time that they had faced off against Baltimore, Pittsburgh suffered its first loss of the season during a downpour. This time, however, they were playing in their element. Far more used to this environment, the Wolverines suited up anxious for payback.
Overhead, the packed stadium was alive with feet stomping and hands clapping to the beat of a song playing through the speaker system. Quiet discussions took place throughout the locker room as plays were suggested and weaknesses in the Baltimore lineup were brought up.
Sitting beside each other on the bench before their lockers, Heero and Duo remained silent with their arms lightly touching for an unspoken request and offer of comfort. Just across from them, Trowa finished taping his shin guards tightly into place as Wufei stuffed his hands into fingerless gloves.
Out of the blue, the players froze when there was en eruption from the crowd after a muffled announcement that rang out from the announcer.
Nearly running into the room with Trent, Howard and Darren right behind, Zechs panted heavily as the he raised his hands to end all talk. "Cleveland just lost their game," he breathed.
Faces paled, eyes widened, gasps rose and then a deafening stillness fell.
Cleveland lost. The Cincinnati Cleveland Hawks lost. The reality of those words took time to sink in.
The way that the cards had fallen up through the season, the wins and losses of every team in the league were riding much on these last two games before the playoffs. Being tied with the Hawks, it would only take one slip for a clear leader to be established.
And with only one regular season remaining after this against Baltimore remaining for the Wolverines, that only meant one thing...
Zechs took a deep breath before stating, "If we win today, regardless of what happens next week, we're in the playoffs."
Dumbfounded, the team sat with jaws dropped and stunned gazes. Breaking the silence, Howard grinned widely, "No pressure." It was just enough to break the tension in the room for the players to breakout into laughter.
"We'll give you all a chance to collect yourselves before we head out," Zechs smirked for the athletes' sakes. Nodding firmly, he turned along on his heels with the coaching staff and headed out quietly.
Left to themselves, the 'brothers' looked to one another. The fear, anxiousness, excitement, elation... the entire spectrum of emotions that could possibly run through them at that moment was in all of their gazes.
For a long measure, the silence continued before Duo bit his lip. "Y'all know I'm not usually one for this," he began, "but is anyone else in for saying a prayer?"
Instantly, his teammates rose to their feet and gathered into a circle in the middle of the room. Putting their hands into the center of their ring, they lowered their heads.
High up in the commentator box, Adam grinned widely to the camera, "Well, ladies and gentlemen, talk about a 'do or die' moment! This crowd has been listening to private radios and headsets all morning long for the results of the Cleveland game. Now that they know the Hawks have lost their game, they know what is at stake for their team winning today."
"That's right, Adam," Tim nodded firmly. "We all could be here in witness to the very game that puts Pittsburgh into the playoffs for the first time in over a decade. If that happens, this city will go absolutely crazy after their long wait! I can't even imagine the pressure that the Wolverines are feeling right now."
Shaking his head, the other commentator chuckled, "And what a team to have to defeat to reach their goal-the same team that dealt them the first blow in their winning streak this season! It's going to be a match to remember right here!"
A loud, pulse-pimping song filled the air through the speakers and once again the crowd clapped and stomped in time with it. "Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Patriot Stadium!" the announcer cried over the system. Roaring, the audience remained on their feet in their red-and-gold sweaters, makeup and jerseys.
Joined at the entrance of the tunnel on their half of the arena, the Wolverines stood with their helmets in hand. Looking out to the field, they waited patiently to be called out...
And waited for whatever fate had in store for them when they were.
TBC...
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