Red, White, and Blue Chapter 4
#4 of Red, White, and Blue
UPDATE Y'ALL: After a long process of deliberation, I've decided to essentially disown the sex scenes from the original run of RWB, because 1) they sucked; 2) I don't think they ever really helped the story; and 3)did I mention they sucked? Because they did. Anyway, this chapter is otherwise unedited from its original version. I'm also keeping the Sex Pistols reference in the blurb up here, because it's bitchin'.
But never mind the bollocks, here's Red, White, and Blue.
Like I said. Bitchin'.
Chapter 4: Run This Town
Alexei couldn't remember the last time the bell had sounded so sweet, like pure auditory ecstasy permeating his ears and putting his mind on a high. His mind was in shambles from two weeks filled with such a curve in personal loss and gain. He still struggled at times with his father's death, but things seemed to be taking such an upturn, he felt he could almost make it past that. More important than anything at the moment, though, was what today meant. It was a Friday. More than just a Friday, it was the Friday of Central Washington's bye week, the one day during the entire football season when he had no responsibilities. No three to four hour practices, no films, no games, absolutely nothing. It was pretty amazing.
Alex meandered to his locker and to the central courtyard where his group had gathered so often in years past. Waiting for him was almost everyone; Kurt, Dex, Jay, Tony, Leah, Kim. All were present, except for one. As he approached the group, seated on benches (all but him and Kurt wearing jackets on the cool October day), he was seemingly assaulted by a quick moving shape that came out of the shadows. He breathlessly looked at his assailant, remarking, "Hey Stephanie. You wanna not give me a heart attack next time?" Though his friends laughed at the joke, only Kurt knew to what extent Alex was acting. He knew the husky had seen the cat long before she struck, and let her get him, partially because he didn't want anyone to catch on to his trained reflexes and senses, but mostly because who fights off their girlfriend? Come on.
"Now where's the fun in that?" Stephanie asked playfully, kissing him squarely on the lips and leading him to their reserved bench. "Hey, what's black and white and red all over?" Dex began to jest, "Alex whenever his new girlfriend's around. I think I have to say it again, buddy, I told you so." "Ha. Ha. Funny," Alex responded, giving Dex a disapproving look, "and where exactly is your girlfriend, Dex?" "Hey, I'm still looking for the perfect lady, ok? Not too many chicas can handle the Dex, you know?" the coyote tried to defend himself. Jay chimed in, "Cool it, Don Juan. I'm sure girls can't get a grip on various parts of you, and not just your machismo." "Ouch," Kurt commented, "I can feel the heat coming off that burn from here." The benches were arranged in a rectangle of sorts, all facing inward, with 2 members of the group each taking up one bench. The couples each took a bench, with the odd two out, Kurt and Dex, claiming the last one. Leah, previously seemingly oblivious to the conversation, joined in suddenly, "Hey! All the couples are together! That makes Dex and Kurt look really gay!"
Tony slid his head into his paw, cursing the innocent stupidity of his significant other. To remove the awkward air from the situation, Jay exclaimed, "Aw man, what a great day! It's such a wonderful day to be able to experience freedom; I could just sing." "You suck at singing," Kim interjected. "Thanks, babe, that's why I'm the singer of the band," the annoyed hyena replied. "That's only because everyone else is worse than you. Except for maybe Dex. Hey why aren't you the lead singer, hombre," Kim wondered, accenting the last word with air quotes. "I play another instrument you see," Dex explained, "and that relegates me to backup vocals." "Oh, please," Tony shot in, "you play rhythm guitar, that doesn't even count. Compared to what Alex is playing most of the time you could practically be picking your nose up there." "And this coming from the bassist," Kurt muttered. Alex, not one to let a compliment go unreciprocated, came to Tony's defense, "So you're saying the bassist is useless? That might be the case for bands where the drummer does not request that the band play Chili Peppers, Kurt. Flea's basslines are hard as balls." They jokingly bickered over which band member was the most useless for a few more minutes, until they all decided to just go home and enjoy the weekend, resolving to meet up again on Sunday.
Last to leave from the benches, Alex took Stephanie's paw and helped her off, retaining his hold on it as they set off for their neighborhood. "So," the white cat began as they left the school premises, "this is what it's like hiking home from school. I don't know how you do it every day." Stephanie was dropped off and picked up by car at and from school, in her quite wealthy parents' Escalade. Alex somewhat disapproved, but also understood where she came from, and was beyond OK with whatever made her comfortable. Besides, not everyone was as in shape as he was, and if she wanted to go to Central Washington she had to get there somehow. "Relax, the subway gets us within a mile of the neighborhood. It's not too far," Alex relayed to her. "I still don't trust the city much," Stephanie mentioned, squeezing the husky's paw a little tighter. "But you trust me, don't you?" he asked. She announced her affirmation, and Alex added, "Then you shouldn't have a problem."
As they boarded the unusually uncrowded train out of town, Alex wondered how much longer he could keep everything together. It would be easier once football ended, he thought, unless that meant Shadowstep would make him train even more. Regardless, combat training was significantly more interesting than practice, and he was kind of happy his team had practically no chance of making the playoffs. In addition to athletics, he would still have school, music, and (hopefully) a girlfriend to manage, maybe two even. No, Alex quickly corrected himself, Elise is just a friend. In fact, I should tell her about Stephanie tomorrow as a conversation point! The stress might have been getting to Alex more than he was aware.
At the moment, though, Alexei didn't care much about the taxes his life levied on him. Stephanie wasn't just going back to her neighborhood with Alex; he was taking her to the Shadowsteps', where they could have the whole evening to themselves. This would be the first time since their relatively brief date on Saturday night when they could really be together for an extended period of time. The walk from the station to Alexei's current residence seemed incredibly short for the husky, but not so much for Stephanie, who struggled to keep up in the last parts of the journey. As Alex felt the grip on his paw lessen (it hadn't been broken since they left school as far as he could recall), he finally noticed the cat's plight. He apologetically asked if she wanted to stop for a second, and offered to carry her things. She obliged on both counts, tiredness and agitation on her face slowly subsiding. They made better time to the house with Alex handling twice the burden, and upon reaching it Stephanie's expression had become amiable again.
They entered the house, and Alex hefted the deadweight he was carrying up to his room as Jessica and Mandy greeted Stephanie. He dumped the bags on the floor, silently wondering if his girlfriend was keeping a WMD in hers. It was the only way he could think of that would warrant the weight. As he finished getting rid of the stuff and whispering something about a hernia, Stephanie walked into the room and called his attention. Alex walked over to her as she closed the door and said, "Well, Alex. We've got all day. What should we do first?" She took off her jacket, discarding it on the ground, leaving a tight black shirt to go with her similar black pants. She placed her paws on Alex's chest and moved them slightly upwards as she pressed herself closer. "Whatever you want to," the grinning husky countered. Stephanie shifted her tail back and forth as her arms slid up and around Pavlov's neck, and she tossed her straight, yet almost flowing dark hair to the side. Moving her head closer to his she began, "Oh, you know... We don't have to, but I thought we might start out with just a little..." She moved closer and whispered in his ear, "movie."
"Uh... Movie, right," Alex stuttered. Stephanie looked at him teasingly, "What did you think I was going to say?" "I knew you were going to say that the whole time," Alex blatantly lied. The cat eyed him skeptically, remarking, "Sure you did." She kissed him and asked what they were to watch. Alexei's grin returned to him, and he stated, "You know, it's getting close to Halloween, and if it's Halloween it must be Saw." Stephanie promptly let go of him, "You're kidding, right?" The husky chuckled, "Yup. How 'bout a comedy?" She told him that was a much better plan, and asked where exactly he would be getting the movie from, as she saw no cases or discs for films in his room. He explained he could get Netflix over Xbox Live, and he would get the movie from there. Stephanie was nodding her head in understanding when suddenly Alex surprised her by stepping to her side a bit, placing his right paw on her back, and sweeping out her legs with his left, culminating in him carrying her quite helplessly. He walked her over to the couch and set her down on it, taking a place next to her and flipping on his TV and game console. "You mind telling me why you did that?" the stunned cat questioned. Alex explained that they would have to move to the couch anyway, and instead of taking unnecessary time to tell her this, he simply and literally took matters into his own hands and moved her there. She replied that she didn't really mind it because she trusted him enough and knew he was more than strong enough to carry her, but just wished he would give her a warning next time.
They spent the next several hours doing nothing much but sitting on the couch, talking, watching movies and TV, and holding each other. Alexei wondered how his friends would perceive his spending of a day off, but then realized he didn't care. He had more than enough excitement to deal with, and just getting a relaxing break like this was proving extremely beneficial for his psyche. It was getting pretty late then as the last movie had just ended. Stephanie struck up conversation, "So why exactly are you staying here, Alex? You gave me a copout answer last time I asked." Alex regretted internally speaking too soon, and felt the stress begin to creep up on him again. She saw him tense up and nuzzled his neck, stroking the fur at the top of his chest with a paw as she asked what was wrong. Alexei knew he couldn't tell her the truth, but didn't want to leave her with nothing again, so he claimed, "My dad had to return to Russia for work, but I had to stay here to finish school. He was friends with Bronco Shadowstep, and he put me up here for the time being." Sympathy began to fill Stephanie's eyes as she asked about his mother. Figuring his friends all already knew that story and she would find out eventually, he told her the truth on this matter. She wrapped her arms around him and squeezed tightly, more for her emotions than Alexei's, and said that she had no idea how he could deal with all that. If you only knew the whole story, Alex thought, remaining steadfast in his decision not to get her involved.
Alex noticed Stephanie's tail flicking around a little more excitedly than usual. She smiled at him, "I know you have a lot to deal with, but I think I might have some ideas to take your mind off that a little." She swung a leg over his, then twisted herself around so she was facing him, straddling his lap. She ran her paws up his chest and began to kiss him on the lips as well as dropping to his neck at times. Alexei reciprocated, returning the affection and placing his paws on her hips before slowly moving them up, coming to a stop at the cat's slightly below average, but still supple bust. Stephanie reached down to Alex's waist, pulling his shirt up to his neck. He briefly removed his paws from her chest to allow her to pull the shirt completely off, and she slid her paws over his cut abs and pecs as they continued their embrace. Alex moved his paws down to pull a similar maneuver on his girlfriend's top, but heard a buzzing noise coming from the other side of the couch. Stephanie broke off and reached for her phone, her mood worsening a little as she saw her mother was calling her. She slacked up a bit, sitting on Alex's legs as she answered the phone, talked for a minute or so, and then hung up. She explained that her parents were probably going to kill her if she didn't return home right away, and Alexei responded with one word: "Buzzkill."
The cat sighed, getting off of Alex, putting on her jacket, and gathering her things to get ready to leave. Alexei alighted from the couch, retrieving his shirt and offering to take Stephanie home. She accepted the offer, and they left the Shadowsteps' together, quickly making their way down the street so Stephanie wouldn't have to stay out in the cold of the night for very long. After a few minutes, they reached the Hemingway residence, at which Stephanie apologized for having to leave so suddenly, and they embraced briefly before the cat retreated to her home, and Alex journeyed back to his current abode.
*****
Saturday morning and afternoon passed by uneventfully, with Alexei relishing in the lack of excitement. Bronco had moved the day's H.U.R.T. training to the night to simulate actual temporal conditions of most of their missions, though the actual exercise would still be indoors at the firing range. Alex was eager to get to training that day, as he would be meeting the two new members of his squad. He was sitting idly in his room when Shadowstep knocked on the door and said they would be leaving soon, and Alex walked out, already ready to go, but questioning why they were leaving at that time. Bronco laughed a little, "Thought you might want to get there a bit early so you could walk around HQ some." Alex raised an eyebrow, "Uh. What?" "Really? There's nothing you want to do before we start? Or no one, should I say?" Bronco wondered, leading Pavlov to his point. He finally got through to the husky, who contested, "Okay, I see where you're going with this, but I thought you didn't approve of it." "I don't," the black cat began, "partially because you're starting a little office romance, which is never good, but mostly because you're attempting two-timing before you can legally vote. As I said, I'm not a fan of this, but that doesn't mean I won't try to help you out. You see, the trick to maintaining two girlfriends is to not forget about one of them. That's generally considered bad form." "I'm not involved with Elise. I therefore have one girlfriend, so you're point is irrelevant," Alex argued.
"Bullshit. Look, son, I don't care what you think of it. Take it from Stephanie's perspective. If she hypothetically found you two doing whatever the hell it is that you do, how would she feel about it?" Shadowstep interrogated Alex. The husky stared blankly for a few seconds as revelation struck him like a ten-ton brick, "That... Would not be good. But I still don't really see me and Elise as a couple. Does that mean there's a different standard for us? Or am I just in denial?" Bronco put a paw firmly on Alexei's shoulder, "Son, I can't answer that; it's something you'll have to figure out for yourself. I can tell you this, though: we're heading out now, and you're gonna go talk to her and see what's up with you two. Then, you're gonna come to the firing range, and do all the important and meaningful stuff." Alex smirked, some of his humor returning, "I'd like to hear you tell your mate that romance is neither important nor meaningful." "Romance won't shoot you in the face if you mess up," Bronco said flatly. "Really? You don't think Elise would shoot me?" Alex asked. Shadowstep laughed openly, "Statement retracted. Let me put it this way: generally, romance won't kill you. Unless you're fucking an Australian, in which case it's about a 1 in 5 shot." Alex made a face of mock worry, "Those aren't good odds." Bronco shook his head slightly, "Then don't mess up."
The ride to HQ was a talkative one, and Bronco and Alexei discussed miscellaneous topics, joking and laughing. Once they got there, they got in separate elevators, with Alexei going up to the ground floor and Bronco descending to the training ground. Pavlov walked down the corridors until he reached the familiar office and knocked on the open doorframe as he ventured inside. He was confused, however, when he found that the secretary's desk was unoccupied. He inspected the workspace, and found no notes or memos mentioning where she might be, and he mentally ruled out her not being at H.U.R.T., as Bronco had made them come earlier for this very reason. He stood staring at the room like an idiot for a few seconds, then smacked himself in the face when he realized where she probably was. He took the elevator up to the tenth floor, and found the stairwell used to access the roof.
He stepped on to the top of the building, and noticed a very recognizable figure leaning against the railing near the edge. He approached the figure, singing the titular lyrics of the song "Blonde, Bad, and Beautiful" to the world in a sort of parodying tone. Elise tossed her head, looking back at her knight in shining -er- new friend. The dingo had faced a mountain of internal conflict in the past week over what to do about the striking new addition to H.U.R.T. She told herself day in and day out that nothing was there, and that any prospect of entering a steady relationship with the husky four years her junior was purely imaginary. Yet something always lingered in the back of her mind, wondering if this was the case, why she needed to beat it into herself to stop thinking about him. She resolved to subtly drop hints about moving their friendship beyond occasional snuggling, and she decided she had to do that tonight.
"What are you doing up here without layers again? Do you enjoy freezing?" Alexei teasingly asked her as he came to a stop directly behind her position. She reached back and took his paws wrapping his arms around her waist and dragging them up to her stomach. She leaned back into him and responded, "Why bring layers when I have 200 pounds of husky to keep me warm?" "Hey, I'm not that heavy," Alex said, feigning offense. "Close enough," Elise corrected, closing her eyes and resting her head next to his, "Alex, why don't you have a girlfriend?" Elise was honestly trying to be subtle. She was horrendous at it. Unfortunately, the only thing less impressive than her subtlety was Alexei's inability to pick it up, as evidenced by his rebuttal, "I actually do have a girlfriend." Elise's eyes shot back open and her contented smile faded. She threw away all her qualms and prayed to several deities that he was talking about her as she asked who she was. When Alex said "A cat named Stephanie Hemingway", Elise felt a Liberty Bell-style crack form down her heart, and the practical side of her brain seemed to be mercilessly tearing down her emotional side.
Alexei noticed her change in facial expressions and instantly knew he had screwed up. He attempted to go into damage control, but the stress had sufficiently hampered his sense of tact, and he asked Elise if she saw them as being together. Elise didn't exactly take the question too well, and was kind of miffed by it. Actually, she was more like a raging she-devil straight from the bowels of Hell. His inquiry had sent her over the edge so suddenly that she violently pushed him away and ranted, "Relationship? Us? You've got to be shitting me! We haven't done anything, and you have the nerve to ask that right after you tell me you're with someone else? Who the fuck do you think you are?! We haven't slept together; you haven't even kissed me! You think I'd settle for a goddamn teenager because he hugged me? Why don't you just go shove yourself up your stupid fucking cat's cunt and get the hell away from me?!" Alex tried to reach out to her, "Elise, I'm sorry, I-," but she cut him off, smacking his hand away and veritably screaming, "LEAVE ME THE FUCK ALONE!" Alexei left the roof wondering why she flipped out to that extent. He didn't think anything he said in and of itself was that harmful, and chalked it up to something else he probably would never understand. Elise struggled to use every fiber of her being to bite back her tears until Alex was gone. She sat on the cold rooftop, hugging her knees and wondering how he could have been so ignorant as to not understand what he was doing to her. Elise was emotionally crushed; she had seen Alex as someone different, someone who could break the mold of every other heartless loser that had passed through, but that all changed now that she was broken in the cold watching him walk away, silently hoping that he wasn't too far gone.
Sometime later, Maynard Carlisle and Kristoff Zimmerman entered the firing range locker room to find the husky already dressed in his equipment and staring off into nothing. "Hey, Alex, you OK, chief?" asked Zimmerman. Alexei assented and reassured them that he was fine. Carlisle looked at Pavlov for a few seconds and then inquired, "Elise?" "Huh? Oh, yeah. We're through," Alexei answered. "She dumped you?" Maynard further questioned. "There really wasn't much there, and I think the actual split was mutual," Alex said tersely. "So she dumped you," Kristoff concluded, "Look, Alex, it sucks, I know. But we're here for you, and we need to get you back on your feet so you can successfully run today's exercise. There's a lot riding on it. Also, as an aside, from here on out, I'm Kris and spots over there is Manny. We're on a first name basis now, capisce?" "Yeah, I got it. Thanks, both of you. Speaking of camaraderie, though, where are our two noobs?" Alexei asked. "Waiting for us in the firing range's mock briefing room with Shadowstep and Mansfield," Manny explained. "Mansfield? Shit. What's going on tonight?" Alex wondered. "You're gonna find out real soon," Kris smiled, as he and Manny finished getting suited up and led Alex to the briefing room.
Pavlov took a seat at a desk in the room, and observed the two others already sitting down. One was a slim raccoon who looked at him with an unimpressed expression on his face, and the other was probably the most built corgi he had ever seen. He assumed he had quite the Napoleon complex. Looking to the front of the room, Alexei saw the black cat and Rottweiler standing up to give the briefing for the exercise, and it appeared Mansfield was to be doing most of the talking.
"Good evening," the Rottweiler began, "the five of you in this room have a most unique opportunity. H.U.R.T. operates with various divisions and specific teams, but you have all been selected as being some of the very best in your field for a new combat team. As Strike Team 13, it is the utmost hope of our organization and the governments of our composite countries that you will be one of the, if not the most effective tactical strike group in the world. Your exercise tonight, gentlemen, is a make it or break it test that will decide if your squad becomes immediately active. The H.U.R.T. training course has been modified to represent a forest at night, and Shadowstep will give you the particulars of the mission parameters. Go on."
"Thank you, sir," the black cat said, taking his cue from the director, "the scenario laid out for you this evening consists of locating and neutralizing an opposition encampment in a forested environment. OpFor patrols will be present in several undisclosed locations throughout the forest, and it is your job to either evade or eliminate the enemies as the operation permits. En route to the encampment, you are not to be detected by any enemy patrols, but once you reach the base, you may reveal yourselves, so long as you are not hit by any targets. After the encampment has been knocked out, you will proceed to the opposite side of the course from where you began, and exit at the EZ at that location. Are there any questions?" The operators all shook their heads "no", and Shadowstep continued, "Alright then. Pavlov, you're in charge of the team, get them set up and work on a strategy. Maps and intelligence are available on the table on the right side of this room. Mansfield, myself, the President of the United States, and the Prime Minister of Canada will all be watching from an observation area, so I strongly advise you not to make any mistakes. Good luck, and remember, we're all counting on you."
Alexei couldn't help but snicker at the Airplane! reference as he led his squad to the table where they would plan out their operation. His usual grin had returned to him, the heightened pressure of having his nation's leader spectating his examination vastly overpowering his sadness from his earlier encounter. Nothing made Alex happier than a gross amount of pressure; it stimulated him, gave him the fuel he needed to get things done. The raccoon scoffed at his apparent good mood despite the importance of the situation, and made this known to Pavlov. The husky lightly responded, "Don't worry about who's watching. If you know what you're doing and trust in your own abilities, Jesus Christ himself could be breaking your performance down and it wouldn't matter. Personally I love the pressure; it clears my mind. But even if you don't, you can't tense up and fret about it too much or you're bound to fail. Just relax a little, and let's start with some introductions."
The raccoon stated that his name was Blake Tannehill, and he worked as an FBI sharpshooter before coming to H.U.R.T., and claimed that he wasn't much of a fan of Alex because of what he saw as an unprofessional decision in his selection of Elise for his sniper a week ago. He diluted his complaint by saying he'd still follow orders to a tee because he felt the team could still be really strong if they bonded together. Alex mentally branded the sniper as a paradox as the corgi introduced himself as Sam Gilchrist, formerly of Los Angeles SWAT. He was much more humorous than his appearance gave him credit for, including one instance where he declared himself jokingly as "Straight outta Compton", referencing the classic HWA (Hyenaz wit Attitudes) song. Manny cracked up at this, and Sam went on to explain that he heard about the trio's skill, and was totally committed to working with them. Content that he had one joker and one guy that needed to loosen up both completely on his side, Pavlov gained more confidence as he outlined the plan of attack.
The encampment was located near the center of the area, and Alexei assumed the targets had been set up to guard the most direct routes first. For this exercise, targets moved on tracks on predetermined paths but had a laser that swiveled around, and if this caught movement, the target would rotate and fire on the offender. Alexei proposed they travel single file on a more roundabout path that would avoid the highest concentration of targets, eliminating any stray patrols they encountered. Upon reaching the stronghold, simply a collection of tents, he, Kris, and Sam would go inside, and eliminate targets, taking care to avoid any alert from sounding. Though the objectives did not state that being detected in the encampment itself constituted failure, Pavlov understood that if stealth wasn't maintained as much as possible, the exercise could go downhill remarkably quickly. Blake and Manny would stay at a raised vantage point just outside, acting as overwatch to notify the others of any threats and intervene if necessary. After clearing the camp, they would leave the same way they came in, just heading in the opposite direction. Pavlov remarked as a disclaimer that the strategy was easy to come up with, and good on paper, it would just be a matter of execution. He added that execution was probably the whole point of the task.
Fully equipped with suppressed C8's and sidearms (Blake carried a C14), the team filed in front of the gate to the training ground before it opened, allowing them into the area. Gilchrist led them in, followed by Zimmerman, Pavlov, and Tannehill, with Carlisle watching their six. Hanging around the perimeter of the zone, Alex mentally kept track of the center. As they came almost perpendicular to the most direct line to the camp, Pavlov directed the squad in a sort of zigzag pattern, throwing off any predicted method of entry that could have been programmed into the targets. As they came nearer and nearer to the camp, Sam heard something moving ahead and signaled the others to stop. Alex went up by him and asked where he heard the sound from, and Gilchrist gestured to the front left of their current position. Pavlov ordered the team to move directly left to flank the patrol. After a quick walk, they encountered their first patrol, three targets moving only about 15 yards ahead of them, and took cover behind some fake shrubbery. He called Kris and Manny to his position, and told them to each take one of the side targets, while he took the middle on his mark. Like a well-oiled machine, the trio popped up from behind cover and laid synchronized bursts into the enemies, downing the patrol without a sound and allowing them to continue unimpeded.
The camp came in sight after having to eliminate only one other patrol, and Pavlov used the landmarks he could see in the site to maneuver the team to the point where they were to begin their assault. Blake and Manny set up at their vantage point, while the others trekked toward the camp. Pavlov ordered Zimmerman and Gilchrist to stay close to him as they entered the encampment and check the closest tent to them. They swiftly eliminated the targets (which were in a sort of "sleep mode") inside, and moved toward the second tent of four. From the vantage point, Carlisle spotted two targets moving around the camp that were on a track to come up behind the team, and he told this to his companion. Tannehill fired two shots in quick succession, flawlessly taking out the adversaries.
Pavlov and company easily dealt with the next two tents as they had the first, but encountered a problem on the last. Three targets guarded its entrance, out of sight of the sniper team. The squad couldn't take them out in the open without raising awareness or potentially losing a man. Alexei looked at his surroundings and came up with a possible solution. He picked up a smallish rock from the base of the third tent, and chucked it past the eye lasers of the nearest guard, causing it to turn toward the projectile, allowing Kris to hit it in the back. Taking cover behind the near side of the tent, Sam peeked around the corner, hitting the second. Alex moved around the front and knocked out the last one before helping the others clear out the inside of the tent. With the encampment eliminated, Alexei, Sam, and Kris returned to the vantage point, reunited with Blake and Manny, and headed back toward the perimeter the same way they approached the camp. Staying along the outside edge of the area, they encountered only one four-man patrol guarding the path to the extraction zone. Alexei directed Manny to continue guarding their rear, and assigned the others a target. On his count, they all fired and "killed" theirs simultaneously, giving them a clear path for exfiltration through the second gate, completing the exercise.
After a pleasant stroll back to the atrium of the firing range, the squad made their way back to the briefing room for debriefing. They were greeted by the smiling pair of Bronco Shadowstep and David Mansfield, who congratulated them on an excellent job. Apparently, Strike Team 13 had not been detected once during the course of the exercise, and the operation flowed without a hitch. The members of the team congratulated each other in various ways as the director of H.U.R.T. went on to say that the squad was clear for operations effective immediately. Alexei couldn't believe it. He had never expected to be given command of anything so soon, and he openly wondered if their sudden activation meant a real mission was imminent. Shadowstep responded that while no mission existed as of yet, the team needed to be on standby for anything that might come up, especially involving Igor Kossenko. With the creation of the team formally declared, the members were dismissed, and Shadowstep privately told Alexei that they were leaving in twenty minutes. He scrambled back to the locker room and changed back into his street clothes; he knew where he had to go. Sauntering back to the locker room, Blake Tannehill asked to no one in particular, "What's up with him?" Manny responded dryly, "Crazy Australian girlfriend." "Yikes," Blake and Sam said simultaneously.
*****
Elise McAlester sat at her desk with her head down, a recently emptied shot glass next to her head. She couldn't think straight, and after a while, she realized the tequila wasn't helping. She considered how much hell she'd be in if Mansfield caught her drinking on the job, but she didn't need to worry about him. He was down watching his little golden boy Alexei Pavlov try out for captain of the varsity killing squad. Alex... He was why she was doing this to herself, that jerk. All she wanted was one person, someone who could actually understand her, and she thought she had him. She didn't understand why; she had only known him, what, two weeks? It was just that he seemed so perfect, so unmistakably flawless. He was different from anyone else with her. She told him he held her in ways she hadn't been in years. That was a lie; she hadn't experienced them, period. It all seemed to be going so well until he held her and told her he preferred someone else, and a feline no less.
Part of her hadn't given up, though. She imagined him barging through the office door, telling her that the cat meant nothing, and whisking her away to Bermuda or someplace where they could escape everything, have seven pups and live happily ever after, like some sort of crappy internet-posted action/romance. Her fantasy was so baseless, however, that the practical side of her mind worked to completely annihilate the pro-Alex side. Logic made her believe that she was simply looking for love in the wrong place, and that she made up her feelings for the kid because he was nicer than other people. Her emotional side contested that she had found someone perfect, and that he would lead her instantaneously to better days. The truth lay somewhere in the middle, cowering in a corner while the mental battle raged on above it.
Meanwhile, Alexei Pavlov stumbled out of the elevator, tired legs struggling to keep up with the rest of him as he hustled down the ground floor corridor toward the director's office. He still didn't see himself as being romantically involved with the dingo, but he did like her, and he didn't want to lose a friend. He reached the open door panting and knocked per custom on the doorframe. The blonde Australian looked up, normally beautiful brown eyes bloodshot from alcohol and tears, and politely told Alex to get the fuck out. He disregarded the order and moved in closer, "Elise, you look like hell, what happened?" "I'd probably look better if you didn't send me there," Elise hissed back coldly. Alexei leaned against the desk in front of her, "I don't understand! What did I do?" "You can't possibly be that stupid," Elise retorted. "Elise-" Alex tried to start. "Don't 'Elise' me," she shouted over him, slapping him across the face hard enough that Alexei felt the metallic taste of blood in his mouth, "leave me the fuck alone." Alex shook his head and obliged, leaving her in the office and wondering why every time he becomes friends with an attractive female, they run away from him.
Elise stayed put, pissed at herself for assaulting Alexei in that manner. Not just slapping him, but the yelling, the expletives, the whole nine yards. It occurred to her that to an extent he didn't know what he was doing and how it was affecting her, and that maybe he was trying to make it better. Even more frustrated than before, she reached for the bottle of tequila, this time skipping the glass and taking a strong gulp straight from the container. She contemplated whether it was really Alex that was deserving of her wrath, or herself.
*****
Several days later, Alexei sat in last period history, wondering if suicide would be worth it. There wasn't much time left in the class, but the fat basset hound teacher's incessant ramblings and digressions always put him in a bad mood. His only consolation was that he sat behind Kurt off to the side of the room, where they were mostly free to discuss what they wished, which often included questioning what type of injuries jumping out of a second-story classroom window would cause, and what the ramifications of curbstomping a teacher would be. The last bell finally rang, saving Alexei from thinking about killing himself any longer.
Like most of the other stressful events in his life, Alex's spat with Elise had faded away from his immediate consciousness, but he had felt like a complete idiot when Kurt explained the reasoning behind Elise's breakdown. On Sunday, Alex had called him to tell him about the incident (and his promotion to certified Ding Chavez), and Kurt had offered the following response: "Dude, you're lucky stupidity isn't a crime, or you'd be facing 25 to life right now. When she said 'girlfriend', she meant, like, her. Not someone else. I know you considered it just a friendship, and she probably did too. She probably was getting attached to you, but thought she had a monopoly on you, and was just testing the waters to check if you were interested. Getting that far off from the expected response short-circuited her brain a little, and your added idiocy at the end by asking her feelings about the 'friendship' sent her over the edge, and caused her to go nuclear. You get it now?" On the other side of the line Alex had stared at his wall as realization struck, uttering only, "Ffffffuuuuuuuuccccckkkkk..."
Back in the present, Alex had forced Elise out of his mind, instead focusing on more pressing matters. For example, it was Friday, but not just any Friday. Tonight was Central Washington's Homecoming game, and their school's head football coach and athletic director, seemingly missing the point, scheduled the hardest game of the year on this date. He spent most of the day waiting in anticipation for the game, as it would be a great test for him, as well as because he had more than just one fan today. In the past, generally only his father went to games to support him specifically, as his friends all played with him, but for this game he would have Stephanie, Bronco, Kris, Manny, and even young Nathan attending, and that cultivated the pressure he coveted so much.
He met up with his friends in the school courtyard, where they were passing away the thirty minutes they had before they had to be in the gym locker room. All of the guys wore their game jerseys, as custom for game days. The black athletic shirts with thin red lines that went from the neck across the shoulders and down the sides distinguished the players from the rest of the student body, attracting quite a bit of attention, not all of it wanted. There was small red lettering on the front that read "Demons", Central Washington's team nickname, and larger white type on the back that indicated the surname of the jersey's owner. Alex loved this little feature; most high school teams didn't get named jerseys, and although the nametags were just stuck on, it still felt pretty cool.
He plopped down on a bench, slinging his arm around Stephanie and greeting his usual companions. The topic of conversation among the group wasn't about the game, but about the dance that would happen the following night, and more specifically, how neither Dex nor Kurt had a date. Kurt had explained that he really didn't care whether he had one or not, and everybody believed him; it had been his philosophy for a very long time. Dex tried to serve up the same excuse, and everybody believed he was full of shit. Stephanie thought about a friend she had that had mentioned Dex's name a few times and politely suggested, "Hey, you know Kelli doesn't have a date either. You could ask her." Dex raised an eyebrow, "Kelli Prso? I thought she was a lesbian." Stephanie's eyes widened, "What? No! I talk to her all the time, she's straight." Leah decided the conversation was badly in need of her input and interjected, "Hey! Dex! You look gay, Kelli looks gay, you should go to the dance and look gay together!" The group fell silent, and Jay spoke up first, "Question: Is it still a burn if the intent was there, but the speaker is too dumb to understand humor?" Tony's normally orange face flushed a deeper red with embarrassment as he told his girlfriend, "Leah, if this continues you're gonna have to ask permission before you can talk." The retriever hugged the tiger and squeaked out, "I'm sorry, honey, it won't happen again." Tony rubbed his forehead and said, "That's what you said the last four times."
After several more minutes of awkward conversation, Dex brought up the fact that they should probably head to the gym, and the others assented. He and Kurt set off while the other three had one last moment with their significant others. After saying his goodbyes to Stephanie, Alex noticed Tony aggressively kissing Leah to the point where she bent over backwards. Jay walked up next to Alexei and said, "Yeah, no. That's disgusting. Could they not do that in public?" Pavlov laughed, but internally he still marveled at the pair's ability to regroup after a misunderstanding so quickly. He wished he could have something like that, as maybe he could have prevented everything with Natalya from happening. Now he was confused. He hadn't thought about Natalya in weeks, but for some reason she was reappearing now. He suppressed the thoughts as Tony broke off from Leah and joined him and Jay to catch up with Dex and Kurt.
On the way to the gym, Jay as usual broke the silence, "So, Tony, you're whipped." The tiger looked at the hyena, questioning, "And why do you say that?" "I don't know, it's just like no matter what she does you never really get mad or anything. And she does some really stupid stuff," Jay explained. "I don't get mad because I know she doesn't mean anything bad when she messes up, and she's not completely stupid. She has all kinds of solutions for personal problems, and she's actually helped a lot of her cheerleading squad. Plus she's a great lay and I love her so there," Tony defended himself. "Easy on the last part, man," laughed Jay, "you gotta remember Sled Dog McVirgin Alarm is here with us." "Funny, Jay. It's not like Kurt or Dex have gotten anywhere either. Also, Tony, you keep saying you love Leah. Are you two contemplating, like, y'know...," Alex sighed then inquired. Tony finished for Alex, "Getting married? It hasn't really come up, but I guess maybe I'd like to. It's just that it's probably way too much responsibility coming right out of high school like that, so it's most likely not going to happen." Desiring to revert the conversation back to Alexei's embarrassment, Jay mentioned, "Y'all know Dex has gotten, uh, somewhere, right?" Seeing his friends' confused faces, he expounded, "Tabitha Morgan, this past summer." Alex and Tony made similar faces of repulsion at this, agreeing that they would rather say they were romantically hopeless than admitting to doing anything with the grating Yorkie.
Alex and company passed by several hours uneventfully, briefly going to the school cafeteria for the team dinner (he didn't understand how it was possible to screw up pasta, yet somehow the dinner's providers managed to every week), and mostly relaxing in the locker room talking and watching film of tonight's opponent. Eventually though, the six o'clock bell rang, and the team started getting ready both physically and mentally for the contest ahead. Alexei ran through all his plays in his head as he removed his jersey and jeans and put on a purple, sleeveless, fur-tight Under Armour shirt and his girdle, which included his hip and thigh pads. The shirt was lucky; Alexei had worn a purple sleeveless undershirt on every game day since his Freshman year. The girdle wasn't lucky; it was mandatory equipment. He slid his kneepads into the slots allotted for them in his tight uniform pants, black with a thin red stripe going down the side, matching his jersey. He put the pants on over his girdle, tying the drawstrings at the waist and fastening his belt, and changed into his game socks (black, obviously). He stretched his jersey over his shoulder pads, red number 50 lying straight, draped across the backplate. Lastly, he put on a pair of black gloves, slipped on his black cleats, making sure to double knot the laces, and tucked his helmet under his shoulder pads so the facemask protruded from the neckhole. The purpose of this was to make it easier for the player to carry his pads, and they needed to carry them on this night because while it was technically a home game, it wasn't exactly at home. Because their school was in the city, there wasn't enough space for a football stadium, so a few of the schools in the area played at one field in a park nearby, and this meant Central Washington still had to take the bus to home games.
The bus ride was quiet, most of the players focused in on their challenge. Once they got to the stadium however, they started pumping each other up, cranking their adrenaline up to 11. There were two pseudo-locker rooms at the field where each of the teams could make last minute preparations and go during halftime. Here Alex pulled his shoulder pads over his head, tightening the straps on either side and tucking in his jersey. Once he saw his friends had done the same, he joined them on a pair of benches and they talked about the game until the defensive coordinator, a big badger, told the team it was time to go out for warm-ups. Alexei put on his helmet and walked out to the field, the stadium PA system playing Jay-Z's "Run This Town", which always got him fired up. Pavlov advanced through his linebacker pre-game exercises, getting further and further into the zone. Every tip drill and form tackle walkthrough taking away any anxiety he had, as he concentrated on performing everything perfectly. They ran a light team scrimmage period to go over plays, and Alexei directed his defense without a hitch. Though he felt confident in his team, especially his linebacker corps (made up of Kurt, him, and Jay), he recognized that once the other team stood in front of them, things could change very quickly. Finishing up their pre-game set, the Demons engaged in their team chant before heading into the locker room one last time before kickoff.
*****
As the team was running off the field, Bronco Shadowstep was meandering to the top corner of the designated "home" bleachers, where he would be watching the game. Sitting down on the cold aluminum, he took pleasure in the few moments of peace and tranquility he had. Nathan was off sitting with some other kids that had come to the game, mostly relatives of players, Jessica was off talking with Stephanie, and would be heading to the student bleachers behind the west endzone with her, and Zimmerman and Carlisle had yet to arrive. Just as he thought that last part, however, he spied the cheetah and Doberman laughing at the bottom of the bleachers, and waving to him as they started their ascent. Manny was decked out in a big Nike hoodie, with flashy track pants and running shoes on the bottom, while Kris wore simply a Calgary Flames sweatshirt and a pair of faded jeans.
"I'm sorry Zimmerman, I'm afraid you'll have to leave," started Shadowstep, "I can't associate with you if you're wearing hockey apparel that is not of the Caps'." The big black dog laughed it off, familiar with the bickering about whether the local team or his hometown team was better, but Manny looked on completely confused, as he didn't understand hockey at all. The pair sat down, with Kris next to Bronco and Manny next to him. The cheetah elected to change the subject to something they could all discuss, football, and struck up conversation by inquiring into Alex's position, "So what exactly is our boy Alex going to be doin' this evening?" Shadowstep explained, "He's the starting middle linebacker. His school's defense is pretty solid, but the offense makes me want to cry. I don't cry." Manny nodded his head in understanding, "So he's at least fairly good then. That's more than I could have managed if I had to do what we do now while still in high school." Kris shifted his view from side to side, and sheepishly asked, "What's a linebacker, exactly?" The felines stared at him blankly for a couple of seconds, slowly remembering that although he greatly enjoyed watching it, Kris still didn't completely understand football. Unsure how to define the position succinctly, Bronco said, "He kinda stands in the middle of the defense, and watches both the run and the pass and... You know what? We'll just point him out to you once the game begins."
Seeing that Zimmerman was satisfied enough with the response, Shadowstep turned and asked Carlisle if he ran for many touchdowns in high school. He indignantly responded, "What? Just because I'm a cheetah, you assume I was a running back? Typical." Kris raised an eyebrow, "Were you a running back?" Manny sighed, "Yes, but that's not the point." The three squabbled for a few minutes, pausing occasionally to enlighten Kris on the workings of the sport, until Manny eventually relaxed and said, "You know, it's actually nice that we can take a break from our "work" and just watch the Wonder Boy play some. Even better, it's just the three of us, and not that jackass Tannehill or anyone else." At this comment Bronco cycled through all the people he told about the game to make sure they WERE the only people that were going to be there. He invited Kris and Manny, obviously, and the other members of Strike Team 13 and Mansfield. The Rottweiler was too busy with H.U.R.T. junk, Sam had something to do with his wife, and Tannehill was, as previously and correctly stated, just a jackass who didn't want to go. That's all of them, he thought, unless... No one could have overheard, right? And even if they did, who would care? Yeah, it's just us. He squinted off into the distance, thinking for a moment he saw someone familiar. Nah, it can't be... Is it really... Oh balls. I really hope that's not who I think it is.
Meanwhile, Manny had once again turned the conversation between him and Kris to a less meaningful topic, "One thing I don't like about this whole 'high school' thing is that there isn't much eye candy here. Sure you have the cheerleaders, but they're all, like, fourteen, and the other females are mated mothers." Kris rolled his eyes as Manny continued, "It's just so boring when there's nothing to watch before the game- Ho, mama, what is that?" "Whatever you're selling, I ain't buying. There is no way I'm turning my attention to whoever you're talking about right now," the Doberman countered. "Look man," the cheetah said, "I'm just sayin'. I can't see her face, but she's got the hair, and the legs, looks like a nice tight sweater on, and I could really go for some of that tail. Some kid's making a pass right now, and she's saying something to him. Now he's in a state of shock and his friends are all laughing at him. Girl's got a 'tude too!" Kris sighed exasperatedly, "Manny, just stop talking." Carlisle only looked more intrigued, "Nah, bro, I think she's turning around now. Come on, baby, let me see the front of you... Aw, here she comes... Oh SHIT." Kris replied skeptically, "Alright, I guess I'm looking now. I hardly believe this person is that attract- Well, then. 'Oh shit' is in fact a very apt description."
"Kris, please switch seats with me," Manny pleaded. The Doberman thought it over, "I'll do it if you give me your Maserati." The cheetah looked at him incredulously, "I ain't givin' you my damn Maserati!" Kris shrugged his shoulders, "Well then that's that. Good luck soldier, you're just lucky I won't tell her any of the comments you made." "And what comments were those?" a voice that seemed to drip sulfuric acid through a thick Australian accent interrogated from the open edge of their arrangement. "N-no comments! There were no comments! Please don't kill me...," Manny begged. The new female addition scowled, "You're a fucking ranger, what're you scared of me for? Pathetic." The cheetah regained some of his composure, "Look, lady. I ain't the one comin' to her ex-boyfriend's football game. Am I that wrong in assuming you have a weapon on you right now?" "Ex-boyfriend?" the female raged, sitting down on the bleachers next to Manny, much to his lack of enjoyment, "We weren't involved. We just had a little disagreement is all. I'm here to see a friend's game. This is just like rugby, right?" Kris stood up, looking to escape the situation, "Hey I'm heading for the concession stand, anybody want anything?" Manny glanced at the Canadian, "They don't sell holy water do they?"
As Kris laughed and descended from the stadium, Manny inquired, "So... If nothing happened between you two, how come you're here right now, and how come you got so pissed at Alex last weekend?" "As I said, I'm here to watch my friend play. I'm willing to move on from one bad experience," Elise began calmly, but slowly edged toward anger again, "And last weekend, I thought I might just suggest turning our friendship up a notch. Then he told me he was interested in somebody else, and a feline no less!" Manny chuckled, "Hey, once you go cat you can never go back. But really though, he told you he was double dipping? It's a good thing he's physically gifted, 'cus from that piece of information I'm surprised he can tie his own shoes." Kris was just returning as Manny and Elise continued their bickering about the state of her and Alexei's "friendship", and Shadowstep sat leaning against the railing, pretending the cheetah and dingo didn't exist. As soon as the Doberman sat down, a sort of banner went up, blocking the line of sight to the gate that led to the locker rooms behind the visitors' stands, the visiting team took the field, and a voice came over the PA system announcing the captains and officiating crew for the game. People all around took their seats as the contest was about to begin.
*****
Alexei Pavlov stood behind the black banner which bore the logo of their school, a stylized "C" superimposed over a "W" with the edges made to look like devil horns, anxiously waiting for the beginning of the game. He held his black helmet, with two red stripes down the middle, the logo on both sides, and red facemask, in his left paw, while his right lay over his heart as he faced the American flag during the national anthem. Once the song ended, he put on the helmet, buckling his chinstrap and falling into a row, his arms around the shoulders of two teammates, Kurt on the left and Dex on the right. The multiple rows of players started swaying in unison from side to side as the song "Battle Without Honor or Humanity" started playing over the PA system and the announcer said his lead in. At the point in the song where the trumpets first blast (it might help to look the song up. Everyone's probably heard it at some point, but not as many know what it's called) the players split up and broke through the banner, a cannon firing a blank shot simultaneously. The team members ran across the field to their sideline between two lines of cheerleaders on either side of them as the announcer loudly spoke, "And here come your Central Washington Demons!"
Alexei and company reached the sideline, some yelling and pumping their arms, others acting more stoically. He looked up at the nearby home bleachers and saw Bronco, Kris, and Manny in the top left corner, and he thought he saw... No, it couldn't have been. He quickly turned his attention back to the field before he had any more hallucinations. Alex took a spot next to Jay and Tony on the sideline while the kick return team was sent out on to the field since the Demons elected to receive. Dex checked his helmet as he ran onto the field, taking his spot opposite an ibex (horned species often cut their horns for convenience, as the purposes they were derived for for ferals do not apply to them. In this case, the horns were cut to prevent someone from impaling another, as well as making it easier to put on a helmet), the senior running back, at the kick returner positions. Kurt lined up ten yards from the tee in the middle of the field for his blocking role. With bated breath, Alexei watched as the opposing kicker sent a booming kick straight to the ibex. Picking up a few decent blocks, he ran along the sideline until he was soundly knocked out of bounds all the way at the Demon 40 yard line. The offense took the field, led by scrub quarterback Leo Fortuna, as Dex, Kurt, and the other special teams players returned to the sideline.
The offense seemingly got off to a good start, running the ball consistently and picking up a first down. Unfortunately, however, the offensive coordinator decided that they should try to build on their momentum by throwing a deep pass. Taking the snap, Leo looked all around the field, trying to find an open receiver. Fearing imminent pressure, he took off running from side to side, not getting anywhere and in serious danger of getting sacked. Tony commented from the sideline, "The fuck's he doing? Just throw the ball or something!" In a horrible mistake for the Demons, Fortuna did just that, chucking the ball to nowhere in particular, and in a chain of events that surprised nobody, the wild throw was intercepted and returned for an easy touchdown after a long run. "You just had to open your big mouth, didn't you," remarked Jay to Tony as the extra point was kicked and the kick return team prepared to take the field for the second time in two minutes.
Once again, Dex lined up as a returner, and much to his excitement, he detected the kickoff coming his way. Trapping the ball securely, he sprinted between the hashes and the sideline, dodging and weaving around a couple defenders while a German shepherd defensive lineman delivered a heavy hit on another pursuer. As the coyote rapidly approached midfield, only two adversaries remained. At the first, he momentarily stopped, made quick cutting moves with his feet, and spun around him. Realizing the last defender was the kicker, he ran full speed into the poor sap, lowering his shoulder and knocking him back two or three yards without skipping a beat. All that was left was open field, and Dex hustled into the endzone for the tying score, returning to the sideline in a veritable mountain of celebration.
After the ensuing kickoff, downed for a touchback, Alexei and the others finally got to take the field for defense. He lined up his defense, then stood in front of them and called the play before they split up and got lined up. The opposing offense did not look to be fully in synch yet, and they were quickly stopped on three consecutive plays, forcing the punt. Once the offense took the field again, they couldn't do much better than the opposition, and also faced a three-and-out situation. This same pattern continued for the entire first half, with neither team really gaining an inch, and the half ended still deadlocked at 7-7. The team ran off the field into the locker room, where the head coach and offensive staff were screaming at the offense to get something going, while the chill badger defensive coordinator told his players that they were doing a great job, and to just relax and keep it up in the second half, and something would happen. He talked to each member of the defense individually and gave them pointers for slight adjustments they could make to maybe turn the game, and made sure to keep the morale on his end high by avoiding any screaming or unrestrained frustration. The players responded well to this, and made sure their teammates heads were still in the game before they would retake the field.
*****
While Alexei and the others attempted to hold on to their composure, Stephanie Hemingway sat in the bleachers with a few friends, half-paying attention to the cheerleaders' halftime show. A grey female lynx with a quite underdeveloped bust and short brown messy hair commented on how fake and useless the cheerleaders were, and how football players were just as shallow and immature. Stephanie rolled her eyes, "Gee, Kelli, is that why you have a massive crush on Dex Dos Santos?" "Yeah, don't call football players shallow if you're looking to get into one's tight spandex pants," Kim Jamison added, possibly unnecessarily. Kelli Prso scowled at the two other cats, hissing, "He's different. He doesn't count. You don't understand how perfect we'd be if only he could figure it out." Stephanie thanked the universe that Leah was with her cheerleading squad and not up with them where she could say something stupid, then suddenly Jessica Shadowstep's voice interrupted, "Hey Stephanie, didn't you say Dex straight up refused to go to Homecoming with Kelli?" Stephanie's eyes shot open, "JESSICA!" Kelli's eyes similarly widened as she announced in an angry tone, "WHAT?! HE DID WHAT?!" Stephanie and Kim eventually managed to calm the lynx down, when the white cat noticed a popular red fox with her head in her black paws.
Stephanie leaned over to Kim, "Hey, isn't that that Natalya girl over there? She looks really down. I know we don't really talk to her, but shouldn't we at least see what's wrong?" The panther gave a skeptical look to her, "Look, there are several things wrong with that statement. First, we don't talk to her for a reason. She's a frickin' whore. She probably just took it up the wrong hole or something. Not something you'll get into an intellectual discussion about. Second, your deeply beloved boyfriend has been practically in love with her since he was, like, three. My advice would be to keep her as far away from his life as possible to prevent any regressions." The white cat sighed, "Okay, so, as far as Alex still liking her, I don't believe that much. He's with me now, isn't he? That's enough proof I need. And I also don't believe every single rumor that flies by me, Kim. I bet Natalya isn't half as bad as she's made out to be, and even if she is, maybe someone stepping in could help change that." Kim shrugged her shoulders, "Fine, talk to her if you insist. Just remember, caveat emptor."
Stephanie tentatively approached the vixen, shyly stating her name and purpose for talking to her. Natalya responded tersely, "Aren't you Alexei's girlfriend?" Stephanie nodded. "Then why are you talking to me?" The cat crossed her arms, "Hey, I know you and Alex have a past, and I don't care. What I do care about is that someone is upset, and I want to know why." She cringed slightly under Natalya's piercing gaze as the fox said, "I'm feeling 'upset' for reasons you couldn't understand. Reasons that involve Alex. Do you ever wonder where he is all that time he's gone on the weekends? I know." Jesus Christ, thought Stephanie, she's batshit insane. She tried a new tactic, "If you're mad at Alex, why don't you talk to him?" Natalya's mood was not improving, "I'm not mad at Alex. And I can't just talk to him because the matter can't be publicly discussed, and I also haven't honestly talked to him in two years. It's just not how it works." The white cat gave up, "Fine. You don't want to talk to me. I get it. But eventually, you are going to have to confront Alex about whatever your problem is, and until you do, it will just keep devouring you from the inside out." Leaving Natalya in a sort of stupor from the last comment, Stephanie returned to Kim, and the panthress remarked, "I told you so." The white cat sighed, "She seems crazy, but I think there's something else beneath that. I'm almost sure of it. I think there's more to Natalya Romanova than meets the eye."
*****
Alexei Pavlov ran onto the field, somewhere in the middle of the pack. The instrumental instant classic "Lux Aeterna" played in the stadium to announce the return of the Demons. Alex could see people cheering, but he almost couldn't hear them, he was too far into his zone. He could hear his heartbeat somehow reverberating through his helmet as he took the field to start the second half. Observing his surroundings, he fed off the pressure of the inspired crowd, surging forward on a blitz, ripping through an offensive lineman, and taking the opposing quarterback down for a sack. Amidst the congratulatory yelps and helmet slaps, he called the next play, which resulted in Tony Stryker flying off the edge of the line and crushing the running back for another loss of three yards. Continuing on the momentum Pavlov had started, Kurt Blackfoot blitzed off Stryker's shoulder on the ensuing play, violently wrestling the quarterback to the ground for the second sack of the drive. After a brief stint on the punt return squad, Alex ran back to the sideline, taking in the surreal moment of cheers from both the stands and players.
Offensively, the second half played out much like the first, with the Demons barely advancing the ball, but the game was prevented from becoming a blowout by the impeccable defense, who by near the end of the fourth quarter, had not given up a single first down in the entire half. Unfortunately for Central Washington, time was running short in regulation, with the opposition gaining possession of the ball on their own 40 yard line with only 15 seconds to go. The Demon coaching staff and players greatly feared overtime, as they didn't believe their offense would ever be able to score, so the defensive coordinator had unusually solemnly informed his players of the severity of the situation. The pressure had turned Alex into a machine. He had one singular objective; he had to lead his defense to get not only a turnover, but a score as well. The defense lined up in soft coverage, with the linebackers standing further back than normal. After the snap marked the beginning of the play, Alex watched the quarterback's line of sight until he noticed it locked on to a tight end crossing the field. Following the quarterback's vision, he broke on the tight end and jumped just in front of him with as perfect timing as possible, and felt the round leather projectile stick in his gloved paws as he came back to terra firma. He hit the ground running, wasting no time in sprinting along the sideline at full speed, blazing past slow offensive linemen until there was only one threat left, the quarterback himself. The QB had taken a surprisingly good angle on Pavlov, and the husky feared he might not make it, when suddenly an imposing gray mass crunched the opponent with a block that could seemingly be heard for miles. Now in the clear, Alex scrambled the last few yards into the endzone, greeted by numerous excited teammates. After the defense went back to the sideline and the extra point was kicked, all that was left in the game was one last kickoff, a squib kick that was caught by a slower player who was promptly isolated and tackled, ending the competition with a Demon victory.
The players hurried through the mandatory high-four line and stampeded over to the student section, their tired bodies rejuvenated from the adrenaline of the last minute win. They struggled to keep themselves on the field, and the fans found it difficult to stay off the field. The coaching staff quickly regained control of the situation, however, and called the players to assemble in a sort of circle around them, while telling the students to stay in the stands for a few more minutes while the head coach gave his final talk with the team. Alexei, like many others, didn't listen to a word he said. The coach droned on about nothing, and Alex was too psyched about the win to pay any attention. The coach eventually stopped talking, allowing the players to come together for one last chant before lining up in front of the student section, linking to one another with their arms around their shoulders, and singing the school's alma mater in unison. After this, the students were allowed to take the field, and Tony quickly found Leah, literally sweeping her of her feet. Jay and Kim shared an unusually close and happy moment, and Kurt and Dex wandered off somewhere to talk with classmates in attendance. Alexei almost began to get worried when Stephanie appeared out of nowhere and slung her arms around his neck. He grabbed her and kissed her passionately, taking his time before ending the embrace. They broke apart when he saw his H.U.R.T. teammates and Nathan walking up to greet him. Pavlov crouched down and gave the kitten a high-four before standing again to familiarly shake paws with Kris and Manny. Bronco congratulated him on an amazing game, and the group talked for several minutes before the males left and Alex and Stephanie came together one more time before the husky had to return to the locker room.
Meanwhile, a blond, Australian dingo watched the occurrences from afar, uttered one word, "Fuck," and walked away to go home.
*****
It was the Saturday night after the game, and the Homecoming dance was coming to a close. Alexei had spent the night practically glued to his feline date dressed in a black, short, fairly tight strapless dress that accented her natural coloring and made Alex quite thankful their school had a relatively lax dress code. By the time the DJ had announced that they were two songs away from the end of the dance, Alex's feet were in pain from hours of standing in uncomfortable shoes (he hadn't left the dance floor all night), but was still somehow having the time of his life. Every dance, every movement, almost every breath drew him further into the moment, releasing all of his inhibitions. In his mind, nothing could put a damper on this blissful night, not H.U.R.T., not school, not football, and most certainly not any individual.
Unfortunately, the life of Alexei Pavlov was not that simple. No sooner had he thought that, both he and Stephanie witnessed a vicious slap to the face from Natalya to Leo Fortuna, leaving the cowardly lion dazed and confused. The vixen, garbed in a purple dress much more revealing than Stephanie's, stormed away from her date, causing many others around to become momentarily stunned as well. Alexei was perfectly okay with just letting the incident go and moving on with his life, when shockingly Stephanie told him to go see what was wrong. Alex was befuddled. He wondered why his girlfriend would urge him to go be with some other female, and vocalized his confusion. The white cat explained her and Natalya's exchange the previous night, and recalled how she mentioned something about Alex. Remembering that the DJ had claimed the final two songs to both be slow songs, Stephanie explained that there would be no better time to "find out what the hell was wrong with that girl". Still hesitant, Alex wondered aloud, "Okay. I guess I can go over to Natalya. But you said the songs were slow songs right? I don't mean for this to come out wrong, but if I'm over there, what are you going to be doing over here?" Stephanie made a face of mock offense, "I think I can survive without being held by the holy biceps of Alexei Pavlov, Male of Density -I mean destiny- for five minutes. Seriously, though, Kurt's been dating the wall all night. I figure while you're with the psycho I can get the gentle giant out on the floor for once in his life."
Feeling this logic was sufficiently sound, Alex cautiously headed to Natalya's location, unconfidently saying her name to get her attention as he approached. She spun around so fast, Alex believed she must have broken the sound barrier as her long, flowing red hair swung around her shoulders. She walked up to him, almost in disbelief, stuttering out, "...A-Alexei?" Seeing that his presence alone had taken most of her edge off, Alex more convincingly asked her to dance, and she readily agreed. She took his paw and led him back to the dance floor, and while she was looking at the crowd, trying to maneuver them into a good spot, Pavlov was shamelessly staring at her rhythmically shifting posterior. Meh. Stephanie flat out gave me permission to dance with another female, Alexei thought, I don't see what the problem with some harmless looking would be.
Once Natalya had found a suitable area, she stopped, unlinked her paw from his, turned around, and slipped both arms around his neck, pressing herself up against him and resting her head under his. Even through his shirt and tie, Alex could feel the warmth of her soft fur and body emanating through him, and he struggled to stay focused amidst the swaying as he wrapped his arms around her lower back, stroking the fur that her dress left exposed. She began to murr in his chest before commenting quietly, "I miss this, I really do." Pavlov couldn't stop himself from responding, "Then why did you leave?" She squeezed tighter around Alexei's neck as she suddenly switched from speaking English to Russian, "I had wished we wouldn't have to talk about this so soon. I speak in Russian so others can't understand what we're saying." Alex showed signs of confusion, but replied in equally fluent Russian, "Why is it so important that no one hears about it?" Natalya continued to nuzzle her snout into Alexei's neck, "Do you want people to know you're a killer?" Realization dawned on Alex like a hit on the back of the head from a baseball bat wielded by Hank Aaron. "Oh my god," the husky stammered out, "it all makes sense now. But why didn't you talk to me about it then?" The red fox shifted uncomfortably in Alexei's arms, "I was going to. But then there was the fight, and I got scared, and... And I guess I just ran away. Um, Alex, I can explain more later, but our time now is limited. Your girlfriend told you we had a... discussion, yes? I do have to tell you something urgent. I found that your father's disappearance was a little... suspicious, and I sort of broke into papa's office to see if I could find anything about it."
Natalya sensed Alex's mood change after she felt his shoulders droop, and she grabbed him so tightly, Alexei thought she was going to break his neck. The vixen almost sobbed out, "Alexei... I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." Pavlov strengthened his hold on Natalya as well, fighting to keep composure and prevent himself from trembling, "There was nothing you could do. Natalya, be honest with me. You found this in your father's office. Did he have anything to do with it?" Natalya briefly hesitated, "Nyet, not that I know of. I have names, information... but this song is ending, and you and I both know we can't stay together much longer. Meet me in the school courtyard early Monday morning, I will tell you everything. Now, let's make the most of this moment and just finish out this song, yes?" After a close, wordless minute, the song ended, prompting Natalya to stand taller and softly kiss Alexei on the cheek, reminding him, "Remember, Monday morning. I will see you there, knyaz." Alex pressed his own snout down to the top of her head, between her ears, before pulling back and uttering, "I wouldn't miss it for the world, knyaginya," reciprocating the endearing names they had called each other since the second grade.
Alexei broke off from Natalya and walked back over to Stephanie, standing with her arms crossed and an eyebrow raised. Alexei tried to defuse the potentially dangerous situation by saying that Natalya just wanted to catch up and tell him some information she had on his and her fathers' business. Stephanie sighed and replied that she understood, but also made it clear that if Natalya ever tried to kiss Alex again while they were together, she would personally slit the fox's throat and shove her into a wood chipper. Amply intimidated by the surprising threat from the normally peaceful cat, Alex promised to stay away from Natalya romantically, and joined with Stephanie for the final dance of the night.
*****
As Alexei began to dance with Stephanie, Cuauhtémoc "Dex" Dos Santos still thought about the husky's previous dance. He guessed that if Alex could strike it that rich with Natalya just by picking up a damsel in distress, he could too. He spied his target, a cute arctic fox he recognized from some of his classes. He spoke to Kurt, who was sitting next to him, "Hey bro, you see Jennifer Megami over there? She looks like she's in trouble. I think I'll go over and talk to her a bit." Kurt shot Dex a disapproving look, "That's low, even for you. Besides, aren't you supposed to dance with Kelli at least once tonight?" Dex responded indignantly, "Low? Alex just pulled the same stunt on Natalya and it worked out great. And about Kelli... would you mind filling in for me there? You really haven't even done anything except for one time with Stephanie like 30 seconds ago, and that's just because Alex was indisposed." The wolf still maintained that Dex was an idiot, "Do you really not think there's a difference between Alex and Natalya and you and some female you haven't had a real conversation with? Come on, man. You know what? You go try that plan out, and see how it works, and I'll stay over here and make Kelli not feel like she's a waste of space."
Dex sauntered over to the pretty fox, recovering his swagger even though he was still a little perturbed by the wolf's comments. The coyote walked over to the chair where Jennifer sat, and he gently placed a paw on her back, just under her lightly messed up jet black hair. Dex collected himself as she turned her head to face him, shocking green eyes almost piercing past him into his soul. He finally spoke, "Hey Jen, um, I know we don't talk much, but I couldn't help notice you just sitting here alone. I haven't really been very successful tonight, but it would honestly make me happy if I could have this last dance." She sat up and extended a paw, "I would love to." Dex took the paw with one of his, bent over slightly and brought it up to his snout and kissed it, causing the vixen to blush considerably under her snow white fur. She stood up and led him out to the dance floor, her royal blue dress shining even without much light, representing a beacon of opportunity for Dex. The coyote pulled her in close, entranced by her every motion. He had almost forgotten his initial reasoning for coming over to her; he didn't even care anymore. He was completely thunderstruck. They struck up light conversation, and Jen told Dex about how her date had unexpectedly and inexplicably ditched her, leaving her alone off on the side of the dance, and how her spirits had been lifted by Dex's appearance. The two rapidly grew more comfortable around each other, and by the time the final song had come to a close, the coyote didn't want to let go. He didn't really comprehend what he felt; she was smart, beautiful, kind... but there was something else. Something far beyond what met the eye, but he had no clue what it could be. She asked him if he was still interested in her or if it was just one dance, and Dex scrambled to ask her to be his girlfriend, as there was no way he was letting this one go. She smiled and accepted, and as they split Dex thought two things, I just met the most amazing female at Central Washington and Seriously, fuck Kurt.
*****
A while after the dance had ended, Alexei was driving a borrowed black SUV back to his neighborhood with Stephanie in the passenger seat. It was a rare opportunity for Alex; he almost never got to drive, as it was more of a pain than a convenience in the Washington area, but tonight it was easiest to take a car instead of his usual walking/subway combination because of his girlfriend's presence. Having already discussed the encounter between him and Natalya, Alex brought up the subject of Stephanie and Kurt. Stephanie described Kurt as being a sort of unfortunate case, as he was really a great guy; it was just that he was far too reserved. "He's not taking your place any time soon, though," she added. The husky laughed and said he was happy about that as they continued their journey home.
Once in the neighborhood, Alex pulled into Stephanie's driveway, thanking her for a wonderful night and telling her this was her stop. They both leaned partially across the center console, meeting somewhere in the middle for a long kiss, but once they broke apart, instead of departing as Pavlov expected, Stephanie continued to lean toward Alex, playing with some of the fur on his neck. She told him, "You know, I've been thinking. Who said the night had to be over? Do you want to stick around here for a little bit? My parents are asleep already." Without taking more than a second to realize where she was going with this and to make a decision, Alex succinctly replied, "Yes. Just let me tell Shadowstep so he doesn't think I'm dead."
Alex fiddled with his phone, fingers trembling from excitement as he managed to call Bronco. The black cat picked up at the other end and said hello. Alex said, "Hey Shadowstep, I'm staying at a friend's house tonight, I'll be back in the morning." Further down the street, Bronco sighed and shook his head, "Alright, bud, I'll tell Mandy you're at a friend's house if she asks. Let me tell you one thing, though, son. Do not get her pregnant. You understand?" Alex replied hurriedly, "Yeah- Wait, what?" "I'm not that stupid Alex," Shadowstep explained, "I was your age once too. I know exactly what's gonna happen next. As I said, I won't tell Mandy, or Elise if that matters to you at all, but just don't do anything stupid. Also, I can see your headlights in her driveway down the street." "Thanks, Shadowstep, see ya later," Alex said, quickly hanging up and turning off the car before following Stephanie into her house. They quietly snuck up the stairs to Stephanie's room and opened and closed the door silently. Stephanie instantaneously kicked off her heels, and Alexei used the time to do the same for his uncomfortable loafers.
After this was done, Stephanie turned to Alex, grabbed him, and began kissing him ferociously. Time passed, with various items of clothing scattered over the floor, and the couple settled in for a very, ahem, memorable night spent under the cat's covers.
Elsewhere, Bronco Shadowstep rubbed his temples while still holding his disconnected phone, wondering if that kid was really worth the trouble after all.