Blood, Sweat and Tears Part 66
The air in Duo's lungs came out in a rush. Feeling the hand on the small of his back fall away, he instantly turned towards Heero just as his partner's knees buckled enough to make him fall forward. Easily catching the stunned quarterback and holding him close, he looked back to his agent and breathed, "W-what?"
Looking down to the cell phone in his hand, Quatre replied quietly, "Apparently Mueller had been out drinking pretty heavily before he got behind the wheel. He ran head on into a guardrail when he pulled into the wrong lane of the freeway while heading back to his apartment. It took time to determine who he was due to the extent of the injuries."
"Oh my God," Heero managed weakly, nearly green with nausea.
Carefully, his braided partner led him to one of the chairs nearby so he could sit. "H-he was clean for so long," he said in a voice that his friends had to strain to hear even though they were standing at either side of him.
Rubbing the quarterback's shoulders, Duo was at a loss as to what to say as consolation. While his own experience with Mueller was less than pleasant, he never wished any ill on him. Certainly nothing like this. But for Heero and the other Wolverines, they had worked together for years.
Traded away under bad terms or not, they still had that bond with him.
After a long moment, Heero was finally coming out of his mixture of shock and disbelief. "I don't even know who to start calling to see how they're taking the news, if they even know."
Violet eyes widening at the question, Duo knew the answer to that. With a deep frown, he responded, "Dorothy."
* * * * * *
When the team owner answered the front door to her large estate, her eyes were red and wet. At the sight of Heero and Duo standing on her front porch, Dorothy sobbed and crumbled into the latter's opening arms. Gently kissing the top of her head, the running back held her trembling form close. Together, the couple led the distraught young woman into her lavish living room.
Rocking Dorothy gently on one of the couches, Duo whispered, "Sshh. It's all right." Heero quickly gathered up the half-full box of tissues that had been sitting on the table. Sitting on the other side of the owner, he held out his offering when she slowly sat herself upright.
Her face drenched in fresh tears, she reached over with a broken, "Thank you." Tissues in hand, she started wiping her nose and the wet traces from her cheeks. "I swear that if I had any idea this would happen, I never would have traded him," she whimpered.
"This isn't your fault, doll," the running back reassured gently. "You did what you thought was best for the team. That's your job as the owner. No one questioned your decision."
Nodding, Heero rubbed the blonde young woman's arm and stated, "He's right. Mueller was the one who stepped out of line many times. You had no way of knowing that this would happen."
Dorothy sighed and dabbed her wet eyes with a clean tissue as the reason of their words started sinking in. Lightly rubbing her back, Duo told her, "The trade alone can't be the only reason why he took up drinking again.
"Obviously, he had a lot of other issues that pushed him to that. Someone that volatile would have gone back to their addiction eventually; and in his case that would have happen either here or in San Francisco." Heero nodded his agreement.
Taking a deep and shaky breath, the team owner nodded at last, "Yes. Of course." Slowly looking from one face to the other, she said sincerely, "Thank you." Dorothy took her time to rise to her feet and thought aloud, "I better get a hold of my publicist so that we can start working on a public statement."
With his head tilting in confusion, Heero asked, "Publicist? I didn't realize that you had a publicist."
"Ah," the young woman smiled sheepishly as she turned back to face her players. "I forgot that I had not mentioned my hiring Karen... for the new position. Who better to fend off the media than someone who worked for the press, herself?"
Both Heero and Duo smiled at the news. After all of her help in taking care of Gallow and pulling the plug on his story, they were both happy to hear that the journalist was able to land on her feet by working for their organization.
Clearing her throat, Dorothy shared, "I'll be looking into the details of Mueller's service. All that I know is that he'll be buried here in Pittsburgh, since his family is here. As soon as I know anything, I'll spread the word."
An exchange of thanks and well wishes later and the football players headed out to catch up with their friends.
* * * * * *
Early that evening, the usual group of six gathered at their table at Murray's. All sullen-faced, the lot nibbled at their snacks and sipped their waters and sodas almost mechanically. Of all of them, Wufei seemed the most taken aback by their former teammate's death. He had already briefly discussed the several personal confrontations that he had with the tight end prior to the trade.
At the end of his discussion, Wufei shook his head, "I wish that I could take back a lot of the things that I had said. There are a lot of ways that I could have handled myself without his leaving the team thinking that I hated him the way I'm sure he did."
Trowa replied, "We all could have handled ourselves better around him, Wufei. And the bottom line is that he could have conducted himself in a more constructive way, as well. As much as we all look at ourselves, we can't forget the trouble that he caused for himself and the team when he was still here."
Shaking her head, Duo stated, "I still can't believe that he and Alex were seeing each other without anyone noticing, but it sure explains a lot of Mueller's attitude towards my taking Denton's place on the team." He reached forward for a few peanuts and muttered, "Working for Treize couldn't have been easy on them."
Relena blinked in confusion and asked, "What do you mean?"
With all eyes on him, the running back answered, "Treize is one of the biggest homophobes I've ever known. He's always made it clear to his team that he by no uncertain terms would ever allow a 'faggot to play on his team'."
Heero and the others winced at the harsh remark. Biting his lip, Duo frowned, "Yet another reason I just 'loved' working for the guy. As far as he's concerned, there's no one lower than a gay person."
Sighing, the quarterback said, "Something like that could have been a big factor in Mueller's drinking." Whatever the reasons behind the tight end's reason to take up the bottle again were, the end result would remain the same.
Practice for the next two days had been canceled on account of the funeral that was to take place. With Christmas right around the corner, and to keep the media from invading their privacy as they grieved, Mueller's parents wanted the service handled as soon as possible.
Arrangements were made between the friends of where and when to meet up for the service before they taking their leave for the evening. On their way to the parking lot, everyone wished each other a safe trip home.
* * * * * *
The morning of the funeral was a somber one at the Yuy household. Just before breakfast, Heero and Duo entered the full dining room dressed in dark suits and ties appropriate for the service.
Ever mindful of their guardians' feelings, the kids kept to themselves to allow them time to handle the difficult situation. After all, they all had come to be acquainted death in some fashion.
When he sat at the head of the table, Heero blinked in surprise when Jamie quickly moved from her seat to crawl into his lap for a tight hug. Fighting back the tears that he knew would be in supply for a good part of the day, the quarterback smiled and returned the hug with a whispered 'Thank you, little one.' From his place at the other end of the table, Duo gave his partner a sad grin.
An hour later, the football players headed out to pay their respects.
* * * * * *
To say that things were a bit awkward at the funeral home was an understatement. The Wolverines stood on one half of the room while the Cougars stood on the other. Quietly making conversation with their own teammates, there were the occasional glances over to the other team to size them up. Dorothy, Zechs, Noventa and Treize were no exception to that.
At the front of the room, the marble casket bearing Mueller's remains stood amongst a large floral display. Pictures of the tight end from his youth to days before his passing were hung throughout the parlor in a sobering reminder of how short his life had been.
Everyone had taken the time to extend their condolences to the grieving family members spread throughout the space when Alex finally arrived, clearly shaken over the loss of his lover. Red-eyed, he moved to the front of the room towards the closed casket.
Standing before the grand display, he bit his bottom lip and fought a small whimper as tears tolled down his face. Head bowed, he gave his silent farewell before moving to give his regards to the family.
For a time, everything moved along peacefully. Members of both teams took up the casket when it was time to progress to the church for the actual funeral.
The service was an emotional one. Of all of the athletes, the Wolverines were clearly having the most difficult time over their former teammate's death in having known him for so long. Alex, however, remained the only Cougar the most affected. His new teammates and coach only saw that as being due to his own long history as Mueller's friend.
Throughout the funeral, the blonde running back would glare over to his biggest rival and his former teammates. Eyes narrowed thinly, he would stare at Dorothy Catalonia and her administration. Sickened by the sight of all of them, Alex stewed and bottled the rage that had been building within him until it was time to confront them all.
Mueller was gone because of all of them. They were the ones responsible for the events leading to his death. Everything would have been fine of Dorothy had just given Alex a chance to prove himself before trading him for that braided son of a bitch. Had it not been for that, his partner would still be alive.
By the time the service moved to the graveyard, there was a light mix of snow and sleet falling. The casket was lowered and more words and prayers were offered. More tears fell and heads were lowered. Finally, everyone was allowed a moment to say their last farewells before parting ways. Slowly, the large assembly began thinning out. Embraces and offerings of support were exchanged.
One of the last to leave, Dorothy stepped away on her own for a moment. Just when she reached her black car at the top of the hill and out of sight, the team owner gasped when she was suddenly spun from behind to stare into Alex's heated eyes. "I hope that you're happy with your decision to trade Mueller, Catalonia," he growled with tips their noses nearly touching.
Her ice-blue eyes wide as he gripped her shoulders, Dorothy sputtered, "A-Alex. I swear that I didn't know this would happen."
"That doesn't make you any less responsible for what happened!" the running back yelled in her face while shaking her trembling form. Before he do say or do anything more, a pair of strong hands gripped him from behind and pulled him away in a forceful rush. Back slamming up against the car, he peered into enraged violet eyes.
Duo briefly glanced over to where the team owner was being looked after by Heero, Trowa and Wufei. Seeing that she was shaken but safe, the braided running back growled at his captive. "Let's talk," he hissed darkly under his breath before pulling Denton behind him none too gently. Leading the way around a nearby live-sized statue of an angel with its wings spread, he finally came to a halt.
Roughly pulling himself free, Alex's rage focused on his long-time rival in their first face-to-face meeting. "You're just as responsible for Mueller's death as the rest of the team," he snapped. "I hope you rot in Hell for ruining what little was left of his life."
Unwilling to listen to any more, Duo raised a finger to the other running back's face and gritted, "You listen to me. Say whatever the hell you want about me, but don't you fucking dare threaten or blame Dorothy or any of the others for this. I care about everyone that works for this team like my family and I don't take well to anyone causing them trouble."
Slowly leaning close to the blonde athlete, the American snapped, "The blame for Mueller could just as easily fall on your shoulders, pal." Alex's eyes widened and his skin paled at that.
Pulling back, Duo straightened himself and stated in a low voice, "You were his partner and you didn't do a damn thing to save him from himself. Maybe you were the whole reason for him relying on the bottle to solve his problems."
Just as quickly as the fist flew to make contact with his face, the braided athlete's right hand snapped up to catch it just in time. Eyes shimmering, Denton's face reddened with a hissed, "Fuck you, Maxwell."
"You were the first one to step out of line," Duo retorted before releasing the trembling first in his hold. "I was just returning the favor." Violet eyes narrowing once more, he said, "I'm sorry for your loss. Now stay the hell away from my friends." Having said his piece, he turned on his heels and headed back to where the others were gathered around Dorothy.
Fists clenched at his side, Alex cried after him, "You go straight to hell, Maxwell, you son of a bitch! I'm twice the athlete and man you'll ever be!"
Ignoring the other running back, Duo walked around the statue and headed back up to the top of the hill until he was out of sight. Just when he was about to charge after him, Alex froze at the sound of a throat clearing behind him. Spinning, he found Treize and Noventa approached looking none too thrilled with him at the moment.
With a rough swallow, the blonde athlete bowed his head when they neared. Folding his arms, Treize stated calmly but firmly, "I know that Mueller was your friend, Alex, but you really should know better than to make a scene like this."
Noventa added, "We're all stricken by this tragedy. Losing someone as tragically as this is devastating, my boy. But, do you really think that Clayton would want you or any of us behaving like this at the sight of his burial?"
At that, Alex winced and shook his head, "No sir. I'm sorry." His head hung lower as he promised, "I'll do better to compose myself."
Resting a hand on his player's shoulder, the white-haired team owner winked, "I know you will. I know that it won't be easy, but the pain will eventually start to ease. Now, take some time alone to clear your head. We won't return to San Francisco until tomorrow, so you have the rest of today and tonight to unwind. You must have some pleasant memories of this city, so be sure to take them in to help with your grief."
More than happy with that idea, Alex nodded and quietly headed off for his vehicle. The moment he was out of earshot, Noventa smirked, "Damn near convinced myself that I really cared with that little speech."
"Very well handled," Treize chuckled. Looking over the field behind them to the sight of Mueller's open grave, the head coach commented, "If it wasn't for the fact that our absence would not have gone unnoticed, I would like to have skipped this whole trip. Clayton was not a contributor to the team, more of a side note in the broad scheme of things."
Shrugging, Noventa replied, "So we miss a couple of practices." A smile tugging his lips, he snorted, "It's not as if the team really needs it." Unable to argue that, Treize smirked and nodded. Patting his son-in-law's back, the old man told him, "Just look at this as a little vacation before we really have to settle in for our push to the Super Bowl."
The head coach grinned wickedly, "I must say that I like your thinking." Quietly laughing, they headed off for the parking lot together.
Dorothy seemed to be much better off when Duo returned to his friends at the top of the hill. Heero had a look of worry for his partner that was only relieved when he received a smile and small nod from him.
Wufei sighed deeply, "Well, I don't know about the rest of you, but I think it'd be best to get the hell out of here." There was no argument to the suggestion.
* * * * * *
That Sunday, for their last game of the season, it was a very quiet in the Wolverine locker room as they prepared to take the field. Quietly, the coaching staff entered to look over the team to see how they were fairing.
With a deep breath, Zechs smiled sadly when the eyes settled on him. "I know these are not the best of terms to be playing our last regular game of the year," he began. "And you may not have the heart to put much effort in this time around. But whatever you can give, let's dedicate it to Mueller. He would have done the same for any one of you."
Heads nodded and a few smiles even began to spread around the room. Extending his hand palm down, the head coach requested, "Bring it in, guys." The athletes rose to their feet to make a ring with all of their hands atop each others' in the center.
A quiet prayer was said for Mueller before everyone headed down the long corridor of the Oakland, California stadium.
In the end, while a win or loss would not have made a difference in their standings, the Wolverines defeated the Vultures by a landslide.
TBC...
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