Chapter Text
Sunday, July 31, 2022
"All right, Bronze."
Lucy Bronze hastily finished pulling her jersey on and looked up at the interruption. She groaned. Captain Leah Williamson was standing there, flanked by Jill Scott and Ellen White. Jill would be waiting on the bench, but the other two were in the starting eleven with her.
Which means ... She groaned as she saw what Leah was holding.
"Come on, Williamson, you weren't serious."
"Wasn't I?" Leah asked, raising her eyebrows.
Lucy eyed the white paddle with the emblem of the Three Lionesses emblazoned on it. "Williamson, we're wearing our home kit." Her cheeks flushed at the thought of their all-white jerseys and shorts.
"And?" Leah gave Lucy a knowing smirk. "Makes a difference to you, does it?"
"Out in Wembley Stadium, in front of god knows how many fans?" Lucy protested.
"Well, I'm not giving you your smacking out there," Leah snorted.
"Red's an England colour too," Ellen supplied, eliciting a shriek of outrage from Lucy. "Hey, little one, don't you start having a paddy now," Ellen cautioned. "We know how to deal with kids having tantrums."
"You're wasting time," Jill said sharply, looking at Lucy. "That's enough, Bronze. Drop them and over." She nodded to Leah, who had already braced one leg on the bench. Lucy's face flushed in embarrassment.
"But, Leah--"
"The only but I want to hear about is your arse getting in position. On the double or I'll smack you double," Leah said sternly. Shocked by the tone, Lucy scrambled to obey the younger girl, still blushing.
When she was in position, Leah's arm wrapped firmly around Lucy's waist, keeping her in place. Leah's hand cracked down on her bottom, making Lucy squeal in surprise; she would have kicked if Jill hadn't been holding her legs still. Leah's hand continued to pepper her bottom with sharp smacks, bringing out a deep pink colour before long.
Lucy had tried hard not to let tears fall, but Leah's hand was unrelenting. Soon she was sniffling. Only then did Leah pause, running her hand over Lucy's hair and cooing mockingly. "Oh, is that too much for you, Luce? Maybe you should have thought about not lying to us then." She picked up the paddle and brought down the first sharp smack on Lucy's right bottom cheek, followed by one to the left.
The smacks wrenched a sob from Lucy, and as the onslaught continued, she cried helplessly over Leah's thigh. The Captain continued paddling Lucy until her whole bottom was a proper England red, from her bottom cheeks down to the tender spots where bottom met thigh. Leah did, however, spare Lucy's thighs themselves; she didn't want to harm her teammate, or risk some of the colour showing below Lucy's shorts once they were pulled back up.
"S-sorry, sorry, sorry Leah!" Lucy sobbed, and Leah nodded, gently lifting her teammate up and pulling her clothes back into order. Then she stood up properly and took Lucy into her embrace, letting Lucy cry on her shoulder.
"Okay, Luce, shhh, I know, I know, I've got you," Leah murmured. "Breathe for me, it's alright."
Lucy shuddered in Leah's arms, but clung to her Captain, doing her best to steady her breathing. She accepted a water bottle from Ellen, and took a few grateful sips. "Sorry," she whispered again, and the older girl nodded.
"Alright, love. You just settle now, Sarina's almost ready for us."
Lucy took a steadying breath.
It was nearly time.
She'd do her best to prove she deserved her place - with a hot, glowing reminder never to deceive her teammates again. She carefully pressed her hands to her bottom, giving a careful rub through the seat of her shorts, and winced at the warmth radiating through there. "Is it....bad?" she asked hesitantly. "Can you...see anything?"
"No one will be able to see anything out there," Leah promised.
That didn't quite answer her question, but Lucy wisely kept quiet.
Moments later, Sarina was calling down the tunnel. The Three Lionesses, England's pride, hurried to take their places.
They could defeat Germany. It had happened before - just never in a Euro final.
But there was a first time for everything.
"Let's keep it home!" Leah called, and the Three Lionesses took the field with a roar.