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The campus still hadn’t returned to normal come the Monday after the USC game, and even Neil was starting to get a little tired of all the white and orange; he also had a minor freak-out when he saw someone walking around with a modified Foxes sweatshirt with the number ‘13’ on it, though Nicky had been smug about that all day. It was frightening, to think that people looked up to him, and for something that he… well, it wasn’t like he had no control over his feelings for Andrew, it was just… they were just *there*. Immutable. Not going away. A fact of life. So why did some people make it out like what he was doing, coming forward with that relationship (not like he really had much of a choice, after the shit Riko had pulled, but not like he had meant to hide it, either), was something worthy of so much admiration?

“It just better not mess up your chances at Court, is all I’m saying.” Kevin frowned as he paused in eating his baked chicken for lunch. “So far the reaction has been positive, but you have to keep in mind what’s important.”

Neil stared in disbelief at his friend. “So you’re saying… what exactly? Break up if it looks like we’re not going to make Court?” Not happening.

Kevin shrugged as he stabbed at another piece of chicken, not seeming to pick up on how still Andrew had gone next to him. “You’re young, I’m sure that there’s-“ His eyes went wide as he slowly turned his head toward Andrew, whose right hand was now beneath the table.

“I believe we’ve had this conversation before, and I’ve told you to drop it,” Andrew said as he reached over for one of Neil’s fries. “All right?”

“Uhm, yeah.” Kevin gave a frantic nod of his head while Neil continued to glare at him.

“And I told you, fuck the Court if that’s what it costs to get in.”

Kevin appeared ready to argue for a moment, but Andrew’s hand remained beneath the table so he quickly reconsidered. After that it was a rather quiet lunch – at least, until Andrew brought up the Trojans, and then Kevin was rather happy to babble on about the team and their captain. For some reason, that amused Andrew.

Neil waited until they were up on the roof to bring up the subject, when he stretched out with his back against the wall and had Andrew lying down with his head in Neil’s lap. “So what’s up with Kevin and the Trojans?”

Andrew’s lips curled a little around the cigarette in his mouth, and he waited a moment until he exhaled a lungful of smoke to answer. “I think someone has a crush.” When Neil gave him a curious look, fingers gently rubbing along Andrew’s scalp, he elaborated. “Thea might need to worry about losing Kevin to Jeremy.”

“Huh.” Neil wasn’t very good at figuring things like that out – he didn’t know if it was because of his own nature or what, because he only really saw Andrew as worthy of attraction. “That’s… huh.” He squinted as he mentally tried to picture it. “So tall.”

“Annoying, aren’t they?” Andrew agreed. “And the *smiling*.”

Well, just when in front of certain people for Kevin, but yes, so much smiling. That too. “Probably be on an Exy court all of the time.”

Andrew reached up to yank on a lock of Neil’s hair. “Don’t go there, junkie.”

Neil smiled down at him and rubbed a little harder for a moment. “I’ve got you to balance me out. Exy court and bed.” Never too much exertion, when it came to Andrew. Well, something like that, he thought with a slight blush.

There was a knowing gleam to his boyfriend’s eyes as smoke got blown in Neil’s face. “Someone has to smack you down from time to time.”

“Such a burden for you,” Neil murmured before leaning in for a brief kiss, the taste of nicotine on Andrew’s tongue making him hum a little in pleasure.

“You said it, not me,” Andrew said when they broke apart.

Neil just smiled and continued to massage his fingers along Andrew’s scalp until a light rain drove them back inside.

Andrew resumed his revenge against Kevin by telling Nicky what the striker had said; Neil was certain that Kevin wouldn’t bring up their relationship and Court ever again. Nicky was a wonderful person, was fun and loyal and just wanted to get along with everyone… but there were certain things that he held dear, and if you threatened to mess with those things? Oh yes, one could tell he was related to Andrew. Neil was especially impressed when Kevin went for his bottle of vodka and found it to be replaced with sugar water – in fact, all of his stash had been similarly affected (Nicky knew better than to mess with Andrew’s whiskey stash, and Kevin wouldn’t dare touch it).

“Doesn’t he know better than to question true love?” Nicky said at practice on Thursday as he glared at the striker from across the court. “It’s just bad juju.”

Neil cringed a little at the mention of the ‘l’ word. “At the least, I would think he’d know not to mess with Andrew.”

“Hmph. Well, now he knows not to mess with any of us. We may be utterly adorable, baby bro, but we’re just as fierce. Rawr.” Nicky made a clawing motion as he roared, and Neil found himself smiling despite himself.

“Hemmick? What the hell are you doing? Put your damn gear on and pick up that racket! And Josten, get your ass back to where it’s supposed to be, dammit! This is practice, not a chat session,” Wymack shouted at the two of them.

Everything seemed to be all forgiven by Friday, though, in time for the five of them to head back to Columbia, though not until after Neil and Kevin watched the Trojans lose to the Ravens. They didn’t lose by much, in fact they played their best game ever against Edgar Allen… but it was too much to hope that they could have won. Just as Neil and Andrew had suspected, it would be the Foxes facing off against the Ravens in the championship game.

Also unsurprising was how Jeremy Knox took the loss, being all smiles on the camera and refusing to badmouth the Ravens, even though the team had knocked around the Trojans with the tricks that Wymack regularly yelled at Neil about doing on the court anymore. Instead, Knox focused on how close his team had come to winning, praising his fellow teammates and looking forward to the next year.

It was probably with that in mind that he commented on how the Ravens’ line-up felt different, what with Kevin and Jean not being out there for the game. A reporter seized on it, saying what a shame it was that Jean was out with an ‘injury’ at such an important time of the year.

That made Andrew huff and Nicky moan a little – yeah, right, an ‘injury’. Jean was still laid up in Abby’s house, though she estimated that he would be able to leave for California soon. His recovery was helped, lately, by the fact that he’d found a new team to play for, by having a new home and a new goal to aim for – in being a Trojan. In making good his new arrangement with Ichiro. Neil had stopped by that Sunday to talk to him a little, just to confirm that he was indeed accepting the Trojans’ offer, and while he was happy for Jean’s fresh start… he knew both of them would be more comfortable when Jean was in California. At the least, Andrew believed that Jean could have done more back in the Nest and wanted the ex-Raven gone.

Knox smiled into the camera and nodded at the reporter who had brought up the story about Jean being out for the rest of the season with a ‘bad sprain’. “Actually, I spoke to Jean earlier in the week and yes, he’s definitely out for the rest of the year.” His smile took on a bit of a sharp edge just then. “But he’ll be back in the fall, it just won’t be in black.” Before anyone could ask him to elaborate, though Neil caught a glimpse of one or two confused looks as the cameras panned a little, Knox continued. “I can announce it now that he sent us the signed contract yesterday and it’s all official, but Jean Moreau is transferring to USC for his senior year.”

Things were quiet for several seconds, and then loud murmuring broke out, with the one reporter speaking out above the noise. “Wait, you’re telling us that Jean Moreau is leaving Edgar Allen for USC?”

Now Knox’s smile appeared pleased. “Yes, I am. We went ahead and ordered his gear this morning, and he’ll be here soon enough to try it on.” He laughed a little while looking over at someone, probably Coach Rhemann. “Which is good, because we'll have to get him some sun this summer! He's a little pale to pull off red and gold right now." Considering how the Ravens fans were going to react to the news, as well as the rest of the Exy community, Knox didn’t seem too concerned at the moment. “Since his old number is already taken within the team, he’ll have to pick a new one, but I’ll leave it to him to announce what it’ll be when he’s ready.”

Someone finally asked a question that Neil was certain a lot of people were wondering. “Can you tell us why he transferred?”

Knox’s smile tempered a little. "I can't get into all the details because it's not my place to tell his personal business, but I can say we're very excited to have him.” He stared at the cameras as if to make it clear not to push the matter. “After everything that’s happened this season and the last two games especially, I think we have a lot to learn from each other.” Then his smile returned. “Next year is going to be amazing. I think you're going to see a lot of changes across the board. We've all got to take another look at what we bring to the court."

Andrew made a noise and got up to turn off the television at that point, so they could head out to Columbia.

“So Renee’s going to lose her sweetie soon, huh?” Nicky commented as they headed out to the car.

“Not soon enough,” Andrew grumbled.

“Eh, they can always visit each other, I guess.”

“Maybe Kevin can tag along.” Andrew shot the striker a knowing look. “He can go hang out with his idol, Knox.”

Kevin frowned at that. “You could learn a lot someone like Jeremy. Things like a good work ethic, dedication, sportsmanship-“

“Can your crush be any more obvious?

“Eh?”

Nicky clicked his tongue. “It’s so sad when they’re stuck in the denial phase. It’s all right, baby,” he told Kevin. “Come into the light. There’s a big, gorgeous blond waiting for you.”

“Oh my god, I don’t know any of you,” Aaron muttered. “Can we just get to the damn club?”

Kevin stared hopelessly at Neil, who refused to involve himself (besides, he felt that Andrew and Nicky had pretty much said it all), while Andrew glared at his brother. It was on that note that they piled into the Maserati, with Neil driving them off to Columbia as Nicky pulled up ‘helpful’ sites on his phone to show a trapped Kevin in the back, Andrew smoked cigarettes and Aaron tapped out non-stop messages to Katelyn as if his sanity depended on it (it probably did).

They didn’t stay long at Sweetie’s, just stopped by so Andrew could get some ice cream and pick up some cracker dust, and then they were off to the club. Since Andrew was driving at that point, Neil went with the others into the club while Andrew parked the car, and stood at the crowded bar, only a little unnerved by the press of people; Nicky hovered near him, as did Kevin, which helped a bit.

Nicky waved at Roland, who came over after he finished an order of drinks. “Hey, good to see you guys. Congrats on the game last week.” He nodded to Neil and glanced around, as if looking for Andrew. “Everything all right?”

“Yep, we’re here to celebrate us heading off to the championships,” Nicky told him with a wide grin. While he filled the bartender in on their last game, Neil felt a familiar presence at his back and let out a breath he hadn’t been aware that he’d been holding. Andrew’s left arm wrapped loosely around his waist and chin rested on his shoulder, and Neil noticed that Roland glanced over to smile at his boyfriend.

As if Andrew’s arrival was a signal, Roland began to assemble a large tray of drinks; Neil still felt a small spike of jealousy over the bartender, but he trusted Andrew.

Seeing that Andrew was there as well, Nicky decided that he’d go off to find a table for them, and Aaron tagged along. That left Neil, Andrew and Kevin at the bar, and Roland paused in assembling their order to pour out four shots. “So, the championships, eh?” He lifted one of the shots in an evident toast. “Here’s to you winning.”

Neil didn’t want to drink too much that night, but he accepted the shot, some sort of sweet-flavored vodka. Kevin downed it with evident desperation and then stared at the tray with longing. Andrew finished his and tightened his arm around Neil as he set the empty glass down on the bar. “Thanks.”

Roland laughed a little. “Show some more enthusiasm, yeah?” Then he shook his head. “Everyone here’s really proud of the four of you. We might have to open late the night of the final game, everyone wants to watch it.”

“It’s not going to be pretty, taking on Edgar Allen,” Kevin muttered. “They’re going to be coming after us with everything they’ve got.” He gazed at Neil while he spoke.

“Kevin, just shut up and drink, all right?” Andrew said, and while he couldn’t see his boyfriend’s expression just then, Neil imagined that it wasn’t very nice, especially when Kevin flinched and Roland hurried to finish making the drinks.

Kevin went ahead of them to the table, most likely to get away from Andrew, and then Neil was helping to clear the path for his boyfriend as he headed in the direction he’d last seen the other three go off in while Andrew carried a very full tray.  As soon as it was set down on the table and Andrew added the packets of cracker dust as well, the other three descended upon the drinks as if desperate for a buzz. Neil watched on with some bemusement, and waited until Nicky, Aaron and Kevin had left for the dance floor to reach for another drink himself.

Instead of one of the lime-flavored vodka shots, he toyed with a tumbler into which Andrew had dumped some of the cracker dust. “So what’s it like?”

Andrew was quiet for several seconds while he studied Neil. “A bit of euphoria, of energy. It’s not the strongest hit, but it makes you… it makes things stronger, for a little while.” He was quiet again. “Do you want to try it?”

Neil studied the tumbler for a little longer while he thought about his phone and Riko, about the calls that would resume again tomorrow – he got a bit of a reprieve for the day because of the game. “No.” He didn’t trust drugs, not really. Didn’t like giving up control, especially after what had happened at the Nest, after Riko had injected him with stuff that had left him helpless. Drinking was bad enough, but he trusted Andrew, trusted his boyfriend to not push things too far. Other than the one night, Andrew hadn’t and Neil could always remember everything. Could feel as if he had some say in his actions even when drunk.

Besides, it was more that he’d rather have something that didn’t make him feel, that shut him down, than made him feel more. That allowed him a reprieve from his thoughts and nightmares and memories. From his anxieties and fears.

When he reached to pick up one of ‘his’ shots instead, Andrew’s larger hand wrapped around his own. “Do you need me to get you something else?” His face was blank as he asked the question, his tone almost bored as he offered to get Neil drugs because… well, probably because Neil believed he needed them. Because Andrew wouldn’t judge something like that, not this once.

Neil smiled at him. “No, I’m all right.” He wouldn’t start down that slippery slope, not after seeing its effects on Aaron and Matt, not when just another couple of weeks and… and things should be better. Should be finished, one way or another. “I’m all right,” he told himself.

Andrew continued to watch him for a few more seconds and then let go of his hand. “Do you need to have more of those tonight?”

“No.” Neil finished his shot then shook his head. “Not tonight.” He didn’t want to drink that much, just a couple so he was somewhat joining in but still had his wits about him. “I’m fine tonight.” Then he smiled at Andrew. “Just happy being here with you.”

That earned him a bland look. “Don’t get sappy on me, Josten.”

“Hmm.” Neil smiled some more. “You look so sexy in these lights. Could stare at you all night.”

“You’re officially cut off,” Andrew said as he shoved his hand in Neil’s face. “And stop staring.”

Laughing despite almost being shoved off of his chair, Neil placated himself with water after that and having his chair tugged closer to Andrew’s ‘to keep him out of trouble’, where he could lean against his boyfriend while Andrew drank. They were quiet that night, content enough with each other’s presence that they didn’t need to talk, while the others came and went a couple of times for more drinks and the occasional update about what was happening out on the dance floor. When closing time approached, Neil drove the five of them to the house, then curled up in bed with Andrew.

That Saturday got off to a wonderful start, with Neil hanging around in bed until Andrew woke up, and then the two of them enjoying each other and the privacy of their room before Neil treated Andrew to a late brunch. It was toward the end of that when the texts started to come through, first ones on Andrew’s phone that made his bland but unguarded expression go too blank and then Neil’s phone going off. He reached for it with a sense of dread and saw several waiting messages from Wymack, Abby, Nicky, Renee, Dan and even Anna. Glancing over at Andrew for a moment, he tapped on the one from Renee, trusting her to get to the point of what was wrong.

‘Riko or one of his own posted this last night’. There was a link in the message, which Neil clicked on while his stomach twisted into knots, fearing it to be a video of… from his time at the Nest.

It wasn’t that, but it wasn’t good. It was a photo taken of him at some point while changing out for practice, with the bruises and stitches and scars photo-shopped out or minimized, but the raven tattoo in stark relief on his bare back. Riko, half-undressed as well, stood next to him, his hand reaching out as if to tuck back Neil’s hair in what was probably meant to be a friendly or ambiguous gesture (it had most likely been one of the times when he’d reached for Neil’s hair to grab it and yank him forward or to shove him down, in all reality).

Neil dropped his phone onto the table and shoved his fingers into his hair as he stared at the image, as he thought about how people must be reacting to it just then. To the sight of a huge raven on a Fox, a Fox who was going up against the Ravens, who-

“Neil.”

Why was his chest so tight? Was there enough air in the diner?

“Neil!”

He needed to… to….

“*Abram*!”

Hearing *that* name, and in Andrew’s sharp voice, made Neil’s head jerk up, made him draw in a deep, sharp breath. Andrew’s light hazel eyes gazed at him, and the way that they met his own, the way they didn’t judge him, made the tightness around Neil’s chest loosen. “Yuh-yeah?”

Andrew threw some money down on the table then snatched up Neil’s phone before sliding out of his booth. Once he was standing, he came over and all but dragged Neil onto his own feet. “Come on.” He didn’t stop moving until they were out in the parking lot, until Neil was pressed against the Maserati with Andrew’s solid weight against him and warm hand around the back of his neck. “It’s more of his fucking mind games,” Andrew hissed. “He’s going to do whatever he can to tear you down because that’s how he wins – by cheap tactics. He’s not good enough to win any other way.”

Neil nodded as he struggled to breathe evenly, his hands tangled in Andrew’s t-shirt. “I hate him. I *hate* him so much. I’m not going to let him win.”

“No, you’re not.” Andrew’s hand slid around to cup Neil’s left cheek, to stroke his thumb along the ‘A’ tattoo. “He’s not going to win.”

“Just a little longer.” Neil closed his eyes and canted his head into the caress. “It’s just… I’m so tired of this. I want it to be done already.” He didn’t want to wake up each day until the game and see what new fuckery Riko had in store for him – for him and Andrew.

“Just a little longer,” Andrew assured him. “Then we figure out a way to get him alone after the game and I slit his throat.”

“I don’t….” Neil frowned. “That’s your great plan?” Really? What the hell happened to not being caught?

Andrew frowned back. “You have a problem with it?”

“Too much blood. Try something that won’t leave us a huge mess to clean up.” Neil had seen a few slit throats in his time and yeah, messy.

Andrew stared at him for a couple of seconds then pushed away. “Get in the car, we need to talk about this somewhere that’s more private.”

Neil waited until they were in the car to speak up again. “I’m just saying, a couple of well-placed blows might be better than slicing arteries. Let him bleed out internally.”

“Why does everyone think you’re the ‘cute’ one?” Andrew griped as he shook free a cigarette. “Is it the curls? The big blue eyes? Because you’re just as fucked up as me, if not more so.”

“I’m just trying to save us a lot of hassle here,” Neil muttered as he tugged at his bangs, then reached over to snatch away the cigarette. Considering how much grief Riko had caused them, so what if he was giving the man’s death some serious thought? “You’re the one who’s been talking about killing him for how long now.”

“I’ll take it under consideration, and it figures that *now* you’re all for it.”

Yeah, well, apparently everyone had their breaking point, go figure. Neil ignored the beeps of his phone while they drove back to the house, and sighed when he found Nicky sitting anxiously in the kitchen. “Yeah, we saw it.”

His friend rose up from the table and came over to tousle his hair. “It’ll be okay,” Nicky said, his expression solemn for once. “You’ll see.”

Neil wished that he had Nicky’s faith, but he just plastered on a smile and nodded before going off to the bedroom, where he checked the rest of the messages. There were warnings about the image and words of support from his friends, but Wymack pretty much wanted him back on campus as soon as possible.

So much for a nice weekend away.

Aaron went to wake up Kevin, and within an hour they were back on the road, Andrew driving since Neil was too nervous to concentrate on the road. And of all the timing, that was when Riko called, voice dripping with smugness as he spoke Neil’s old name.

“You fucking bastard,” Neil said in Japanese, which made Nicky fall quiet and Aaron stop texting. “Why should I talk to you?”

“Because, dear Nathanial, it was a picture and not a video. I’ve kept my word, I’ve only shared that lovely footage with one other person.”

Neil shoved the fingers of his left hand through his hair and tugged hard on the strands; the pain helped to center him, to allow him to think through the rage. “We’re going to kick your ass on the court.”

“Oh, you can try, you and your pathetic Foxes. Two weeks, number four. It’s official, they’ve cancelled the other semi-final game since USC lost both of theirs, and then we’ll face each other on the court. Only this time, there won’t be any fair-handed tactics to save you. Those ill-bred dogs of yours will have to deal with *all* of my team, and your uncle will stand by as I personally lead you back to the Nest.”

“I don’t care how many Ravens you have, we’ll win,” Neil told the bastard. “Kevin and I will beat you.” Behind him, Kevin made a low sound, as if in pain.

Riko laughed at that. “I’m going to enjoy that defiance, I think. It’s going to be such fun fucking it out of you. Having you struggle beneath me – you know, I enjoy seeing you try to break free of the cuffs. There’s something thrilling in how you can’t give in to the inevitable. I’ve a special set made just for you, Nathaniel. We don’t want you to hurt yourself too much, after all. That’s for me to do.”

His chest growing tight again, Neil let go of his hair so he could wrap his fingers around his right wrist, so he could convince himself that it wasn’t bound, that he was only imagining the feel of metal biting into his skin. “It’s not going to happen. It’s not-“

The phone was snatched away from him by Andrew. “You’ve used up your time with Neil today, sorry. Do something constructive, like put your affairs in order, you prick.” Then he hung up the phone and threw it into the back seat. “Turn that thing off or it’s going out the window.”

Kevin fumbled for the phone while Neil’s fingers continued to twist around his wrist, at least until Andrew yanked on his left arm. “Stop that, I’m not joking about breaking your fingers.” When Neil choked at the warning, he dragged Neil’s hand down into his lap, toward the hem of his shirt.

Latching on to the soft fabric, Neil twisted his fingers in that instead as he closed his eyes, as he felt Andrew’s warm, calloused fingers skim up his left arm and along his shoulder until they threaded through his hair for about a minute. “Whatever you do,” he told his boyfriend in a trembling voice while speaking French, “make it hurt, dammit.”

“Of course,” Andrew said back in French as well before he returned his right hand to the gear shift.

Needless to say, it was quiet the rest of the drive back to campus.

Andrew dropped off Kevin, Nicky and Aaron at Fox Tower, then he and Neil continued on to Wymack’s apartment, where the man was expecting them. He opened the door on the second knock, dressed in torn jeans and a faded rock t-shirt with a glass of what smelled to be bourbon in his left hand. Right, good sign there.

“What the fuck did you do to Riko Moriyama to give him such a-“ Wymack’s eyes went wide and he nearly dropped the glass when all of a sudden Andrew burnished a knife in his face. For himself, Neil was just grateful that the coach didn’t have any neighbors since they were still standing in the doorway.

“I don’t believe that’s how you want to start this conversation,” Andrew said, the slightest of smiles on his face yet his eyes utterly cold. “Want to try again?”

Sweat ran down Wymack’s face as he closed his eyes for a moment. “Get your asses in here so we can talk about this latest ‘surprise’.”

“Better,” Andrew agreed; he lowered the knife but didn’t put it away.

Wymack went over to the coffee table where the bottle of bourbon stood and refilled his glass, while Andrew went into the kitchen to fetch a clean one for himself. He got an evil look from their coach when he snatched away the alcohol to fill the glass, but Wymack was wise enough not to say anything. Once that was done, Andrew joined Neil on the couch while Wymack sat down in the adjacent chair. “Okay, now to state the obvious – people aren’t happy about that picture. I’ve already fielded several calls asking just where your loyalties lie, Josten.”

“Really?” Neil rubbed along the right side of his neck and debated snatching the glass away from Andrew, even though he hated bourbon. “I’m a Fox. How many times have I said that?”

“I know that, kid, and I told them that they’re idiots. But they see you with a big-ass raven tattoo, standing next to *the* Raven, during a time when you practiced with the team. They hear about how you’re just with the Foxes because of Kevin, and how you’ll be with the Ravens officially starting this summer.”

Neil pressed his left leg against Andrew’s, needing that bit of contact just then. “I’m not joining them, dammit.” He couldn’t join them.

“Again, I know. We’re going to win.” Now Wymack’s expression was one of pity, at least for a moment. “We’re going to beat them when we face off in two weeks. I just heard from the ERC, and that’s when we’ll play the Ravens. There won’t be another semifinal game.”

“I know,” Neil admitted. “Riko called to tell me that on the way here.” He had passed that on to Andrew once it was just the two of them in the car.

“Huh?” Wymack frowned before he took a sip of his drink. “Bastard is awfully free with confidential information.”

“Because he’s doing this to rattle Neil,” Andrew stated. “He’s trying to fuck with Neil’s head, and how much you want to bet that he waited until last night to release that photo because it was *after* Knox told the press about Moreau? He’s hoping to divert some attention away from the fact that the Ravens lost another star player, another one of his ‘Perfect’ court. He can’t afford people asking too many questions so he’s throwing Neil at them, and he’ll be only too happy at the havoc it causes Neil and the Foxes.”

“You’re… dammit, you’re right.” Wymack muttered something beneath his breath then drained the rest of his glass. “I can use that to get a few people off of our backs.”

“Good. In the end, a fancy tattoo shouldn’t rate as high as Jean Moreau’s defection from Edgar Allen,” Andrew said as he urged Neil to stand up. “The prick won’t get his way.”

“There will be press around campus the coming week because of the championship game,” Wymack warned them as he reached for the bottle again. “Think of something to say that’ll help put this shit to rest and allow them to go back after Edgar Allen, all right?” He gave Neil a warning glare. “Something that *won’t* stir up more shit.”

“We’ll figure out something, or else he’ll be put back on a word quota.” Neil glared at Andrew at that, but his boyfriend ignored him until they were out of the man’s apartment. “What? I’m serious – we’ll come up with something that won’t create even more of a mess for once. Now is not the time to fan the flames, Josten.”

What Andrew said made sense, but… dammit. “I hate letting him take all the shots while I can’t do anything.”

Andrew gave him a cruel smile. “You beat him out there on that court, that’s what you do. Nothing will hurt him more than that.” Then Andrew thought about it a little. “Well, other than me shoving my racquet through his gut, but we’ll save that for afterwards.”

“Promises, promises,” Neil said as he smiled at his boyfriend.

They stopped for some coffee and ice cream before they returned to the dorm, and Nicky was happy to know that things had been mostly smoothed over with Wymack. The three of them left Kevin with his restocked stashed and went over to the girls' suite, where Dan, Andrew and Allison worked out what Neil could say to the press when they eventually tracked him down (Neil refused to be stuck with another 'word quota' any time soon, dammit).

Kevin sobered up after dinner, so they spent some time out on the court, which made Neil feel a bit better, and he went to bed exhausted that night. Sunday was treating Andrew to brunch again, and he was surprised when his boyfriend invited him to the weekly session with Renee. "Why?"

"To make sure you're not getting rusty," Andrew said as they headed back to the Maserati. When Neil arched an eyebrow at that, Andrew's expression turned even more blank than usual. "Because I am slightly displeased over the prick's attempt to force matters, last week."

Ah, okay, then that made sense. Neil could argue that Riko had to answer to Ichiro... but yeah, it made sense. "All right."

Andrew didn't show any emotion to Neil’s easy acquiesce, but he lit two cigarettes once they were in the car and his fingers lingered on Neil's when he handed over the one.

They rested a little when back in the suite, then changed into clothes they could fight in and wouldn't mind getting dirty or torn before they headed down to the basement level to meet up with Renee. She was already there, and smiled when she saw Neil. "How are you doing?"

"So-so,” Neil admitted as he removed his orange hoodie.

"Understandable." Her smile took on a sympathetic edge as she removed her zipped jacket. "So, how do we want to do this?"

Andrew seemed to think about it after he tugged his sweatshirt over his head, leaving him in a fitted tank-top and black arm bands. "Hmm, how about you two start out at first?" There was a spark of interest in his eyes despite his bored tone.

Renee looked at Neil, who just shrugged to show that he didn't mind, and then began to warm up a little, to stretch out his legs and arms. Renee did the same, and after a couple of minutes, they stood facing each other.

It was subtle, but Neil had spent too much of his life paying attention to things like that, had learned to watch the small details, to know when he had to brace himself for his father's attacks, for the hits from his father's people. So he caught the slight shift in Renee's left leg, the twitch in her right fingers and knew that she was going to move and then the knife was sliding into his palm, his arm was extending and his muscles were coiling.

It hadn't been like this with Lola, it had been sarcastic jabs and hair pulls and a little too deep scratches. With Renee it was sucking in air and reaching that much more and twisting away, was sharp smiles and quick flicks of the wrists because she was *good* and fast and flexible, just like him, was intent on landing the hits and kicks, would go for the kill if she could and had the advantage of reach but not speed.

Oddly enough, he realized that he'd missed this, that he'd missed sparring with her.

She landed a light swipe along his left shoulder, just enough to part the skin and draw a thin line of blood, but he got a hard stomp onto her right foot followed by a kick she just barely dodged, and as he went to follow through with a slice while she stumbled away, Andrew yanked on her shoulder to throw her further off-balance and came in swinging.

Neil back-pedaled fast, unused to the change of tactics, to the ferocity of his boyfriend's attack. He sheathed a knife to free up a fist and did his best to fend off Andrew, to block the blows and hit back, and knew that he'd have some bruises to show for it. As it was, Andrew had some scratches of his own, some rips in his top and even his jeans, but it was hard for Neil to get in for a 'clean' strike. Andrew was stronger and determined and when Neil went for a move that would leave him needing a new kidney at the least, found himself shoved against the wall with his neck held in an unbreakable grip and a knife to his own stomach.

"Not bad," Andrew told him. "Not great, but you're not a total failure."

"Tuh-thank you," Neil managed to choke out. "Ow."

Off to the side, Renee paused in sipping her water. "I told you, he's fast and sneaky."

"Yes, he is." Andrew nodded to Neil and finally let go of his throat. "Now sit down and watch the adults."

Neil gritted his teeth together as he forced himself to sheathe the one knife. "Renee? Do me a favor and kick his ass."

She smiled at him as she got up to her feet. "I'll do my best."

He ignored the heated look Andrew gave him before the two faced off and sat down on the floor, already feeling some of the hits that his wonderful boyfriend had dealt him really set in, and opened the bottle of water that Renee had set out for him. It only took a few seconds before Andrew and Renee were at it, 'practicing' in a style that was much more brutal than the one that Neil had learned. A style that reminded him a lot of his father, to be honest.

His mother had picked up on where Lola's lessons had left off, had drilled into Neil’s head the importance of not drawing attention, of getting the 'job' done and getting away before anyone around them noticed, before the *authorities* noticed. Maybe even before their attacker or target even noticed. Because it didn't do you any good to get caught, not by the person trying to hurt you or by anyone else. Sidle up, lash out, do the damage and move on. *Always* move on. So the strike had to count, had to hit something vital, because one could never linger. Couldn't give in to anger and brute strength and risk getting in close, like Andrew was doing just then.

Yeah, just a bit of difference in styles, Neil would say.

There were times when he wondered just what his mother had expected to become of him, of what she'd thought he'd go on and do, when all she'd ever taught him was how to run, to blend in, to steal and lie and how best to- yeah, great life skills, those.

It turned out to be a draw between Renee and Andrew, both of them getting their knives in vital parts and bearing bruises after about fifteen minutes of fighting. Renee apologized to Neil as they came over to fall down near him, Andrew next to him and Renee in front.

"That's all right. I'll just have Kevin beat him later on court," Neil teased, when Andrew let his head fall onto Neil's lap.

"Pizza for dinner tonight," Andrew declared, even as Neil began to run his fingers through his boyfriend's sweaty hair.

"Yeah, yeah." Neil accepted his punishment with a smile.

Renee beamed at them for a moment, before she sighed. "Jean's a bit better now that the paperwork is all signed. He asked me to go with him to USC when he moves out there."

Neil paused in massaging Andrew's scalp when he heard that. "Uhm, just to help him settle in, right?"

"Of course, he knows I'm a Fox." Renee's smile returned as she shook her head. "I think he just wants a familiar face to help him with the adjustment. I told him it would be fine, as long as it's after the championship game. I'll have the time then."

Andrew grunted at that. "Sooner he's out of our hands, the better. Would be nice not to see your annoying face for a bit, too."

Of course Renee knew better than to take offense at his words by now. "Perhaps the two of you can practice together while I'm gone."

Neil groaned at that, while a slight smile came over Andrew's face. "Perhaps," he agreed, which made Neil just shake his head.

They went upstairs a short while later, and after cleaning up, curled up on their bed to do some homework before eating (veggie lover pizza, of course) and letting Kevin drag them off to the court once again. At some point that evening, the ERC made the official announcement about cancelling the third semifinals match, which meant that they had an extra week to rest up before the final game.

Neil got some odd looks as he went around campus the next day, probably because of the damn picture, but he refused to say anything until the press finally pinned him down as he was about to head into the stadium for afternoon practice; they'd been all over campus, eager to talk to the Foxes about the upcoming game, and for the most part the Foxes were taking it well. They'd gotten the warning to be as polite as possible and for once were willing to leave off bashing the Ravens, who were under pressure because of Jean's transfer following Kevin's interview a couple of weeks earlier. With that in mind, all Neil did was give the woman asking him about his tattoo and the picture a bland smile. "Well, you know I was born in Baltimore. Let's just say that it left its mark on me."

"So it's not a homage to Edgar Allen? A sign that you're transferring teams this summer, like Tetsuji and Riko Moriyama have insisted for months?"

Neil took a deep breath before he spoke, mindful of what he owed the main branch. "I am a Fox and have every intention of remaining a Fox for as long as possible. I feel they're the best team for me and I'm very happy playing for them. Now if you don't mind, I have to get to practice so my team is ready to win our game against the Ravens." He summoned up a better smile before he walked off with Andrew into the stadium.

That seemed to - mostly - get the press off of his back. There were still some rumblings about just how much of a 'Fox' he was, on the chances of him transferring to Edgar Allen once the season was done, even if he was cheating on Andrew with Riko (what... the... *hell*...), but for the most part, people wanted to know what was going on at Edgar Allen, behind the closed doors at the Nest. That Jean wasn't saying a word and no one (well, almost no one) knew where he was, only fed into the frenzy.

Neil flinched every time he got a text, worried that another photo was going to be released as Riko attempted to divert the attention away from his own team and fuckups.

In addition to that, it wasn't helped when Wymack told them on Monday that the final game would be held at Edgar Allen, at Castle Evermore. It made sense, since that stadium was bigger than the Foxhole Court and the game was already well on its way to being sold out. That already put the demand for seats over Palmetto State's capacity... but Neil dreaded the idea of going back to that court. Of being that near the Nest again, especially when each day Riko called him to tell him what he'd do to Neil if (when) he got his hands on him.

So when Wymack finished up the discussion by saying that the Foxes were allowed to invite two people each for the 'friends and family' section behind the Away bench, Neil blinked in surprise at the thought of inviting anyone. Right away he came up with a blank, and watched as Andrew, Aaron and Nicky turned down the clipboard that Wymack passed to them so they could put down a name. Allison did the same, as did Kevin, and Renee only put down her foster mother, Stephanie, and allowed her other seat to go to Matt, so he could invite both his mother and his father, plus whoever his father was currently dating. That left Dan, who wanted to see how many of her 'stage' sisters from the club she used to work at she could invite. Even with the remaining fourteen invites, there would still be plenty of open seats.

Neil motioned for Andrew to come over as he went to talk to Dan. "So, you don't need all of those, right?"

Dan appeared surprised at first, and then she smiled. "What, you have someone to invite after all? You want your uncle to come?"

He winced a little at the thought of Uncle Stuart sitting between Stephanie and Matt's father. "Uhm, not exactly." He was certain that Stuart would be there since it was a Moriyama event, but more in the background, working. "There's a couple of other people I'd like to invite, if you don't use all of the seats."

"Sure thing!" Dan laughed as she tousled Neil's hair. "I'll get back to you as soon as I hear from the girls."

"Thank you." Neil smiled at her, and then at Andrew as soon as their captain left.

"What did I say about you trying to think, hmm?"

"Well, I was just, uhm, thinking," Neil's smile strengthened when Andrew's eyes narrowed a little more, "that wouldn't it be nice to see if a certain Exy-loving Fed might want to attend the game? We owe her so much, after all."

Andrew considered that for a few seconds. "Not bad, Josten."

They did owe Sonja Wolfe a lot, and she regularly checked up on Neil so it wouldn't seem too odd, him giving her the seats. It just might curtail Riko a little from doing something he shouldn't, if he knew that there was a federal presence there, watching Neil. Making sure that Neil got back on the bus to Palmetto State after they won the game.

He called her once practice was over and left a message, which she replied to when they were back in the suite after dinner, excited about the chance to attend the game with such good seats and touched that he'd thought about her. She said that she and Bryan would definitely take him up on the offer and laughed about how the rest of the agents in the Columbia office were going to be jealous over her good luck.

That taken care of, Neil hung up his phone and waited to hear from Dan about the rest of the seats before he did anything else.

Busy focusing on that and not Riko for once, he went off to the stadium with Andrew and Kevin... and was surprised to see Nicky and Aaron show up as they were getting ready for practice. He stared at the two as they went over to their lockers, Aaron with a bland expression similar to his twin's and Nicky radiating pure defiance as if he was expecting to be thrown out at any moment, then looked over at Kevin as he waited for his friend to do just that - to throw them out. Yet all Kevin did was study them for about a minute then nod before putting on the rest of his gear. Nicky's shoulders sagged in relief - relief which was short-lived once the five of them were out on the court. While Neil started his own warm-up, Kevin's 'evil task-master' persona came out to the fore and he put the two through their paces, working them from the ground up on the easiest of the Ravens drills. Neil kept waiting for one of them to snap, especially Aaron, but they both just buckled down and gave it their all.

They were exhausted and sore the next day, enough so that Neil figured that would be it. But they showed up Tuesday night again, and he thought he saw a slight smile on Kevin's face as he set them through the same drills, while Andrew just shook his head. The upperclassmen picked up on things Wednesday morning, on Aaron's exhaustion and Nicky's stiffness, so it didn't take very long for them to get the story out of Nicky (it never did - he was the weakest link, as Neil's mother would say. Neil didn't dwell on how his mother would handle someone like Nicky... or worse, his father).

So it wasn't that much of a surprise when the upperclassmen showed up on Wednesday night, even if Neil thought things were getting a bit ridiculous and made a mental note to stock up on the double-chocolate energy bars for Andrew if this was going to continue. He wasn't even sure what everyone was trying to prove - they had a week and a half left before the game with Edgar Allen, and *now* they were putting in the extra time? Now they wanted to learn how to play like a Raven? Yet before he could say anything, Andrew came over to him and grabbed him by the front of his jersey to pull him onto the court.

"What?"

"Just shut up and practice, all right?"

"Kind of difficult to do with all of them running around," Neil grumbled, and then scowled when that earned him a cool look. "Why are they here?"

"Because they want to win." The tone Andrew used just then clearly stated that Neil was an idiot.

"I know that," he snapped. "Just... why now?"

Andrew shrugged. "Does it matter? They're here now, and they don't want to lose. Now shut up and practice."

Neil sighed again, but in the end... in the end, he didn't want to lose, either. He couldn't afford to lose, come next Friday. Because it just wasn't the fact that Riko would get him, would make all those awful things come true, but that he would have to leave Andrew, would have to leave all of this behind. So he accepted that these people he'd acknowledged as his teammates, as his friends and even his family were here to help him win, to help keep him as a Fox and focused on practicing.

Because he'd been practicing so long with Kevin, he was used to how demanding the striker could be when it came to learning the drills, with Kevin's insistence on perfecting them. So he was also surprised to see the rest of the Foxes swallow the annoyance and anger they usually displayed during the afternoon sessions and put up with Kevin's patronizing manner as he walked them through the often complicated drills, as they worked hard to learn them in the limited time. Even Matt, whose temper often flared up the most when dealing with Kevin, could be seen swallowing his temper and putting his head down in order to better concentrate. Then again, Neil thought it helped that the backliner had picked up on the fact that Kevin was using his left hand at the night practices, something he never did during the day, a fact that made Matt grin when he pointed it out to the rest of the Foxes.

Kevin had yet to use his left hand during a real game, but Neil had the feeling that his friend was just biding his time.

They spent the weekend on campus so everyone could continue to practice, and were on the court for most of it. Wymack just shook his head and ordered in food for them, and yelled that he'd sign up any idiot who blew out their muscles for marathons all summer. No one went that far, but it was close a few times.

With all of the practice and being around the Foxes almost non-stop, Neil could only spare a couple of minutes for Riko's abuse, which was good, and steal away a little time for Andrew here and there, which was bad. They would often retreat up to the roof at night, sometimes to smoke together in exhausted silence, sometimes to wring what pleasure they could from each other's fatigued bodies before they stumbled back downstairs to collapse into their bed. The only benefit of it all was that Neil was often too tired to do much more than pass out and wake up the next day.

The week leading up to the game was finals', which was an added bit of stress. Neil's professors didn't make it mandatory for their students to show up for class, and after the first day, he gave up and retreated to the stadium, where it was quiet and he didn't have people staring at him, whispering about Foxes and Ravens and Butchers and numbers. Wymack gave him some speech about not failing, and after he got some studying in would let him watch old Ravens games so he could prepare for Friday, well aware what the game meant for Neil. The man had been the first to see him upon his return from Edgar Allen, after all.

Neil knew he was fine with two of his classes and that he should manage to at least pass his other two, so despite the importance of finals they didn't do much to distract him from Friday looming in the near distance. Of Riko counting down the days, the very hours until he finally got what he wanted. It felt as if there were permanent bonds around Neil's wrists, to the point that he jerked away from Andrew when his boyfriend went to grasp his left one on Tuesday morning, to check out the reddened flesh. Neil flushed and stuttered out an apology, only for Andrew to give him an even look while reaching out to touch the back of his neck until Neil slumped against him, needing that bit of reassurance, to breathe in Andrew's familiar scent and feel his solid warmth. But after that, Andrew made sure to keep Neil's right hand occupied whenever they were together, to hold onto his sleeve or affix his hand to the hem of his own shirt, to order Neil to massage his scalp or hand over a cigarette or... just something. Anything to keep him from trying to rub away the imaginary restraints.

And when Neil wasn't studying for his exams or taking them or looking at the Ravens' games, when he wasn't practicing or being distracted by Andrew, he was out on the court, doing drills or running laps or racing up and down the steps. Doing whatever he could to push himself, to make himself faster and stronger. Because he'd faced the Ravens twice before and knew what they were like, knew that Riko would be even worse than last October now that his pride was on the line after losing Jean and Neil defying him so much.

Neil had spent two weeks playing as one of them, having their style beaten into him, literally. And had spent months with Kevin perfecting that style, the impossible passes, the lightning footwork, the precision teamwork. He’d been driven to learn last summer, and it had become an obsession after Christmas break, but all of it… all of it didn’t matter in the end. He and Kevin could control the offense with a perfection never seen before, but it wouldn’t do them any good if their defense let them down, let the Ravens break through to score point after point. Especially since Neil and Kevin would be battering down a defensive line that would be renewing itself every so often, a defensive line that would put up one hell of a fight.

Neil wasn’t looking forward to dealing with Federov and Phillips and Atkins anytime soon. And he was willing to bet that Riko would assign them to him for the game. It got to the point that he almost felt sick, watching Riko on the screen, watching any of them.  Remembering their voices, their sneers, their hands and-

He jerked when the sound stopped and he realized that Andrew had turned off the television in the lounge. “What?”

“Enough,” Andrew said. “I think you know enough already.”

“No, I need-“ Neil drew in a breath when Andrew reached for and snagged his hands; he held both of them in his left one and then tugged up the sleeve of Neil’s left sweatshirt, to expose the band of red, swollen flesh.

“Do I need to call for Abby?” Andrew asked. “Have her wrap your damn hands in enough gauze that you can’t hurt yourself?”

“No,” Neil repeated, this time with less heat. “I just… they’re going to come after us with everything. They’re going to… they’re going to try to tear me and Kevin down.”

Andrew released Neil’s shirt so he could card his fingers through Neil’s hair instead. “They can only tear you down if you let them.”

Neil didn’t care so much about himself, but he worried about Kevin, and he worried that they might try to target Andrew again to hurt him. “Remember that. They’re just throwing out words,” he warned.

“Really? Somehow I don’t think it was all words, last Christmas.” Andrew twisted Neil’s wrists about to show off the scars. “But don’t worry, I’ve learned to bide my time.”

Uhm, that didn’t sound very good, did it? “Maybe you shouldn’t have skipped your session with Betsy today,” Neil told his boyfriend as he was pulled toward Abby’s office; Aaron and Andrew had forgone their day with the psychiatrist in favor of getting in the extra workout.

“Maybe you should have gone in my place,” Andrew muttered. “I swear, your issues multiply whenever my back is turned.” He all but shoved Neil through the door of Abby’s office, which startled the nurse, and all it took was one look at his wrists before he was sat down on the exam bed and ended up with both of them wrapped up *and* taped. In bright orange tape at that.

“Smug isn’t a good look on you,” Neil complained when Abby finally let him go after a lecture and too much fussing; she’d fixed them well enough that he couldn’t even figure out how to pick at the edges of the medical tape. Dammit, he’d have to have someone cut the things off, and he was willing to bet none of his teammates would do it, not once Andrew got to them.

“What, am I supposed to care?” Andrew reached over to smack the back of Neil’s head. “Stop being such an idiot for once, why don’t you?”

Maybe Neil would talk to Stuart about another date with Carlton – he might have been a bit too hasty in turning down the man. As if reading his thoughts, Andrew smacked the back of his head again. “What did I say?”

“Dammit, I can’t get a knife free with all this tape blocking things,” Neil ground out as he fought to get to his left arm band, at least until Andrew rolled his eyes and muttered about ‘drama queens’ before dragging him into the locker room to put on the rest of his gear so they could go out and practice on the court.

Thursday was a better (less homicidal) day, with Neil no longer watching the videos and Andrew sticking close by since his classes were optional as well. Having him there helped, both just with his presence and in having someone to practice with while the rest of the Foxes were busy.

It was a good thing that he had some sort of balance back by that evening, since Kevin all of a sudden announced that he had ‘something to do’ and that he wasn’t coming along to the evening practice, leaving it all on Neil to see the team through the drills for the night. He nearly had a panic attack over that, over being in charge and the thought of their last practice being ruined, but forced himself to deal with it, to walk everyone through the drills and to answer questions, to take the time to show Nicky and Aaron yet again the necessary steps, to correct Allison’s stance and move Matt on to a new drill. To say that his nerves were shot by the end of the night was an understatement, and not even Dan’s encouragement was any salve – especially when she called him ‘captain’.

They didn’t finish up until one that night, putting in the extra time since they would be spending a good bit of the day traveling to West Virginia. Despite his exhaustion, Neil waved off Andrew and Nicky as they crawled into bed, needing a little longer to clear his head, to still his thoughts in hopes of being in a good enough place to not have nightmares. Part of him desperately wanted to grab his shoes and go running, but Andrew really would throttle him for taking off that late at night – and before an important game – by himself, and he needed to get some rest before he pushed himself too far.

He was still standing by his desk when Nicky came back into the living area. “Hey, you all right?”

Neil summoned up a smile for his friend’s concern. “Yeah, just thinking too much.”

Nicky shook his head. “Okay, well, just so you know, there’s a grumpy bastard beneath my bed sending out all these bad vibes, waiting for you to snuggle up next to him. Don’t keep him up too long, all right?”

Neil’s smile strengthened. “All right.”

“Hmm. Hard to sleep with him like that,” Nicky complained as he went back into the bedroom.

Neil stood there a little longer, his fingers skimming along the taped bandages around his left wrist, until the thought of Andrew alone in their bed outweighed all the others in his head. He had just started to go to the bedroom when the front door opened up to admit Kevin – a very drunk Kevin.

That wasn’t too unusual occurrence, Kevin drunk and reeking of alcohol, but as Neil went to help his friend to bed, what with the way Kevin staggered about, he stopped short when he noticed the bandage on Kevin’s face – on Kevin’s left cheek. On the same spot as Neil’s ‘A’ tattoo, the spot that had always bore the number ‘2’ in some form or another in the time that Neil had known the striker.

Kevin somehow managed to slam the door shut behind him, and the loud sound made Neil jump and move again. “What have you done?” Neil asked as he helped Kevin stand more or less upright since he was beginning to slump down. Once Kevin was propped against the wall, Neil dared to reach up to peel at the bandage, which Kevin didn’t stop.

After getting on his friend for so long to stand up to Riko and Tetsuji, to make a damn stand and prove to them that he wasn’t their puppet anymore, that he was willing to leave Riko’s shadow and prove to everyone that he was indeed the best striker out there… Neil’s breath caught in his throat and he felt a rush of emotions, of what he thought might be excitement and hope and pride when he no longer saw the ‘2’ on Kevin’s cheek. Instead, a black chess piece replaced it, finely inked over the number. “You did it. You finally did it,” he said with a trembling smile. About fucking time, but he kept that to himself.

“Let Riko be the king,” Kevin slurred as his left arm came up to flop onto Neil’s shoulder. "Most coveted, most protected.” He made a rude noise after that. “Bastard will sacrifice every piece he has to protect his throne. Whatever.” There was another rude noise and Kevin slipped down a little more. “Me?" He gestured again, and nearly hit Neil in the head, he was so drunk. "I'm going to be the deadliest piece on the board."

“Queen,” said Andrew from behind them, and that time Neil wasn’t surprised, not when Kevin had made so much noise coming in, not when Nicky had said that Andrew had been waiting up for Neil and was a light sleeper if he’d given up on that. He came around them to study Kevin, to reach out and hold onto Kevin’s chin to better look at the new ink and the slightly red skin around it. “What happened to him being furious, hm? Aren’t you worried that he’ll kill you?”

“Fuck him,” Kevin said, probably trying to glare but appearing more cross-eyed than anything. He began to slide down the wall, and Andrew pulled Neil away rather than let Neil continue to prop him up. “Fuck them all. Waste of time to be angry. They should be afraid. I’m not gonna let them hold me back anymore.”

Andrew scoffed a little at that. “Hell hath no fury, huh?”

Kevin just shook his head before he motioned toward Neil, who leaned in enough to put the bandage back over the tattoo as gently as he could, only too familiar with how much they could ache when they were fresh. All the while he smiled, as excited about this turn of events as Kevin being able to play with his left hand. “No more second place,” Kevin slurred. “Never again.”

When Neil stepped back, he noticed that there was a slight, pleased smile on Andrew’s face as well; Andrew had been after Kevin to ‘grow a spine’ for just as long, if not longer. For the striker to break off the shackles that Riko and Tetsuji had put on him, that held back on his full potential. Because it really didn’t matter what hand Kevin played with if he didn’t think he could beat the Ravens, if Riko still held that psychological edge over him.

Now it was gone, and Riko was in for a rude awakening tomorrow. Would be playing a Kevin he’d never seen before out on the court.

“Now it’s getting fun,” Andrew said, letting Neil know that they were thinking the same thing.

“Finally,” Kevin mumbled, appearing rather fed up at the moment. “Took… took you long enough.”

Andrew scoffed again. “Look who’s talking,” he said, but he reached down to drag the drunk onto his feet. Neil helped a little as well to get Kevin to bed, and laughed when the striker grabbed onto the stuffed fox and seemed to pass out once he was on it.

He wasn’t surprised when Andrew led him out of the bedroom, and smiled when he was pushed against the wall only to be kissed a moment later. “Happy now?” Andrew asked when he pulled away after a few seconds, his hands tight on Neil’s hips.

“Tell me you aren’t,” Neil murmured while his fingers tangled as much as possible in Andrew’s short hair. “I’ve been after him to do something like that since June, but you… it’s been even longer, right?” Since Andrew had agreed to watch over Kevin, all for Neil.

Andrew didn’t bother to answer him, but Neil didn’t need any words, not when Andrew’s fingers tightened around his hips, when Andrew’s mouth was even more insistent on his own. He pulled his boyfriend closer to him and enjoyed that rare moment of peace, uncaring about the lack of sleep, just wanting however much of Andrew he could have to bolster him through the day to come.

*******

It was a long ride to Edgar Allen, and Andrew did his best to sleep through most of it; did his best to ignore the noise and the other idiots on the bus. The morning started out loud with everyone crowding around a hung-over Kevin because of his tattoo, and it took a few threats (promises, really) to get everyone to quiet down enough and stick to the front of the fucking bus if they wanted to talk so Andrew and Neil could curl up in the back seat and get some sleep. Making out most of the night might not have been the smartest thing to do… but Neil was a dead weight against Andrew’s chest, his face peaceful and hands curled up on his lap, fingers off of his damn wrists for once, so it was worth it. The memory of Neil’s lips brushing along his neck, hands in his hair and on his shoulders, body rocking against his own… yeah, it was worth it.  Andrew shifted a bit more comfortable against the window with both of their jackets serving as an impromptu pillow, and managed to get some sleep.

It wasn’t until the last couple of hours of the trip that Neil really woke up, finally shaking off the exhaustion from pushing his body so hard the last several days, and Andrew had to put up with him and Kevin going over the finer details of the Ravens’ line, of their offense and defense. The rest of the Foxes huddled around as best they could to listen in, and the talk was about nothing other than Exy when they stopped for something to eat.

The last few miles to Edgar Allen took forever because of the traffic, and everywhere they looked it was black and red, was some show of support for the university and the Ravens. Kevin’s expression became grim as they reached the campus, much like a soldier prepared for battle, while Neil’s went blank.

“You’ll be seeing these gates soon enough,” Andrew told his idiot in French. “When we drive through them again tonight.”

Neil remained quiet, but he summoned a slight smile for Andrew and nodded.

By the time they reached the huge Evermore stadium and parked the bus, it was about an hour before the game would start. The parking lots were organized mayhem, all the spots full and people swarming about, the majority of them Ravens fans in black and red but also a large section of media and some VIP guests, considering the horde of bodyguards swarming about in the crowd. Andrew wondered how much ‘family’ business was being conducted under the guise of the game and if Ichiro was on hand at all, but kept the thought to himself since Neil and Kevin were under enough pressure already.

The Foxes and the Vixens approached the stadium, with Katelyn quick to take her place at Aaron’s side, the two of them holding hands like the proper ‘friends’ they were. Nicky stood between the couple and Neil and Andrew as if some sort of buffer and glanced all around at the circus, though probably more out of curiosity and not to check out any potential danger, like Andrew was doing (at the first sign of a riot, they were out of there). Renee was busy praying, of all things, Dan and Matt were standing side by side and refusing to look intimidated, while Reynolds managed a rather contemptuous look as if she saw better extravaganzas all the time, even as she tapped her heel against the asphalt in a tell of nerves.

Surprisingly, it was Kevin who appeared the most defiant of them all, ready to charge into Castle Evermore to take on the Ravens singlehanded, if necessary – even Neil was back to being blank-faced, probably in an effort to give away nothing at the moment. Andrew wasn’t sure just what had prompted a sudden growth of spine in the coward, if it was seeing Jean move forward to USC (and maybe steal away his man-crush), Neil struggling so hard to face his own demons despite all of the shit Riko kept heaping on him or the rest of the Foxes stepping up at the last minute. Maybe it was all of it. Maybe Kevin realized that Andrew really would send him back to the Nest along with Neil if the Foxes lost the game tonight and knew he had to give it his all if he wanted to remain free of Riko. Whatever. All that mattered was that the coward… wasn’t so much a coward anymore. Finally.

Wymack stood next to his son with an expression of pride on his face, while Abby kept looking over her shoulder at the rest of the Foxes as if to make sure that everyone was doing all right; Andrew noticed the way that her gaze lingered on Neil each time.

A few officials finally came over to them so they could get into the stadium, with a couple of women leading the Vixens away (Andrew rolled his eyes when his brother kissed Katelyn before she left), and four security guards came to escort the Foxes into the stadium, with more of them waiting once they got into the damn thing. Andrew noticed how one of them got a bit too close to Neil and glared at the asshole as he pulled Neil more into the middle of the group.

He also noticed all of the cameras going off around them, and the way that Kevin smiled at them as he walked past. It shouldn’t take too long for someone to realize that Kevin had changed his tattoo, which was good – let Riko obsess about something other than Neil for once. In fact, he could tell when some bright soul had figured it out, because all of a sudden people started booing the Foxes and more flashes went off, while people began to call out ‘Queen’. During it all, Kevin held his head up high and refused to be intimidated. Or refused to show that he was being intimidated.

They finally reached the Away locker room, which was huge and black – all black. Andrew couldn’t understand why anyone would go with such a fucked up color scheme, and he could tell that Neil’s nerves were beginning to fray the moment he walked into the room. A room much too similar in style to the bedroom in that fucking video. So he grabbed the idiot by the back of the neck and forced Neil to look at him. “What are we doing tonight?” he asked.

Neil blinked a couple of times before he breathed out. “Winning.”

“And after that?”

“Leaving.”

“Right.” Andrew gave him a gentle shake before letting go, while around him the rest of the Foxes threw their bags and coats around as if to try to break up all the fucking black. With bright orange. It was like some fucked-up Halloween color scheme all of a sudden, which really didn’t make it all that much better.

“I know the color is slimming, but what the fuck,” Nicky proclaimed. “This is why some people should always hire an interior designer. It’s called ‘color wheels’, Tetsuji! Even I know that.”

“Because the guy at the one store we went to so you could buy paint for your bedroom was ‘hot’,” Aaron reminded his cousin with obvious disgust. “We got stuck there for a damn hour waiting for you to pick out an off-white color just so you could drool over him for that long.”

“Eggshell,” Nicky corrected, his tone highly offended. “I went with ‘eggshell’, and complimented it with ‘terra cotta’ and ‘Bombay blue’, you heathen. Color wheels, I’m not joking.”

“Oh, that sounds lovely,” Renee remarked as she dug through her bag for something.

Nicky smiled at her. “You need to come by and see it one weekend!”

“Wow, an invite to the fabled monster house? Count me in,” Reynolds said as she handed Renee what looked to be some shin guards.

Nicky’s smile grew wider. “We can have a proper party that way!”

Normally Andrew would be annoyed at Nicky’s antics *and* inviting people to his house like that, but the banter seemed to be putting Neil at ease.

Before Dan and Matt could invite themselves along as well, one of the guards cleared his throat and gave what sounded to be a rehearsed spiel about the stadium and towers being sold out, and that the West Tower hosted a good bit of Exy officials, including some representatives from the pro and major leagues who were not to be approached unless one of the players were invited to do so by a member of the Ravens’ staff. They were also told they would have access to the inner ring of the court for the next half an hour, until the Ravens came out and then would be restricted to just half of the court until the official start of the game.

In other words, same old, same old, basically, just a bit more special with it being the championship game.

Nicky asked about who was in the eastern Tower, since the guard hadn’t mentioned that one, but Kevin spoke up to say that it was reserved for the Moriyamas – for them, their guests and business clients. Neil twitched a little upon hearing that, and Andrew wondered if he’d heard anything from his uncle yet that day.

When no one else spoke up, the guard gave them a polite nod and left.

Once the man was gone, Dan burst into a huge grin as she looked around at everyone. "All right, this is what we've been waiting for, right?" It was clear she was trying to stir up some enthusiasm in the team.

"Let's do it," Matt agreed, as always willing to follow her lead.

Nicky let out an excited whoop as he followed them out of the locker room, and Andrew gave Neil a slight push as everyone left their gear behind to go out into the inner ring; he noticed Neil's slight hesitation and had to wonder at what memories stepping out onto the court were being stirred up just then. But they needed to be faced, and better when the idiot was surrounded by his teammates, by friends and people he trusted. Neil had told him about those 'practices' which were more along the lines of torture sessions, were more attempts to break him down when the Ravens en masse piled on the abuse under the guise of Exy.

So he kept his hand on the small of Neil's back as they stepped out there, mindful of the tension in Neil's muscles, and murmured 'idiot' into Neil's ear to make those muscles relax. He got flashed a grateful smile, allowed himself a moment to drink in that sight, and then took in the wall of black and red that surrounded them. Yeah, he'd say that by far and away the crowd was supporting the home team, but there were still small patches of orange and white here and there to indicate that some of the Foxes' fans had made the trip to come support their team. The Foxes, especially Nicky and Dan, made a show of waving to those fans, which prompted a lot of cheers and waves in return. Of course the Ravens fans did what they could (which wasn't difficult, considering their numbers) to drown that out by booing. Class acts, all of them.

They even had people who coordinated waves in parts of the stadiums, which made Andrew roll his eyes and Nicky produce a gagging sound. Once again, Andrew was reminded of a friggen cult, one he was determined to break apart by showing their main idol as being oh so fallible that night. And if he could bust those clay feet? Even better. Shatter them into tiny motes of dust.

"Jesus Christ," Nicky muttered, sounding utterly disgusted by the display put on by the Ravens fans. "I think I'm going to be sick if I have to watch this all night, it's utterly ridi- what the, is that Erik?"

It was about time someone found out about the surprise that Neil and Reynolds had arranged for the pest. His mouth agape but not spewing nonsense for once, Nicky dashed past Neil and into the stands, toward the section behind the Away team where Erik was showing a guard his ticket. Somehow Erik must have heard Nicky (probably used to that high-pitched shriek after so many years, though *why*? - maybe it was like Andrew just knowing when Neil was about to provoke someone into trying to kill him) because he turned toward the court and leaned down to give a flailing Nicky a hug.

Andrew nudged a smiling Neil in the side. "He's going to be unbearable for the rest of the night, you do know."

"Like you complained when I suggested it," Neil huffed. "Come on, it's his early Christmas present. And he's so happy." Then his smile faltered a little. "He'll play better, now that Erik's here.  He'll want to make him proud."

Andrew doubted that was why Neil had done it, or the only reason Neil had done it, considering how close his boyfriend was with the pest, but if it made Neil feel any better about his chances for the night, so be it. Besides, Erik had wanted to come to see Nicky, Neil and Reynolds had just helped out by paying for his airfare and getting the flight arranged at the last minute.

While Nicky continued to publicly grope his boyfriend, the rest of the Foxes' guests arrived, since they'd traveled from the airport together in a van Wymack had arranged for them. Wymack waved the team off for a few minutes to greet everyone, his words gruff even though there was a slight smile on his face, and Matt went running towards his mother and Renee for Stephanie. Andrew gave a bland look at the four statuesque women wearing white sundresses who fussed over Dan, and then he came to a halt when he noticed the four people headed toward him and Neil. Two he'd been expecting, a grinning Sonja Wolfe and her boyfriend Bryan, but right beside them were an obviously excited Anna and Kelci decked out in Foxes jerseys - Kelci in Neil's and Anna, the bitch, in Andrew's.

"What the *hell*?" All right, the word quota was being extended to texting, as of today.

Anna laughed at him as she leaned over to give Neil a quick hug. "I know! Who would ever think that we'd be here like this?" She followed the hug with a kiss to Neil's forehead. "Mwah, you did good, kid."

"Thank you," Neil told her with a smile. "I'm glad you could make it, both of you."

Kelci gave him a hug, too, just as quick. "You passed everything, right?"

Now Neil's smile slipped a little. "Yeah, maybe not the greatest grades but I passed. Might need your help again with a sociology class next semester, hear there's a lot of essays for it."

"You have my number, Red." Kelci smiled as she tousled his hair. "All my undergrads are amazed that I'm tutoring a famous Exy player!"

Such a shame he'd be dead soon. Andrew latched onto the loose sleeve of Anna's jersey and pulled her aside, which allowed Wolfe a chance to fuss over the idiot, and frowned. "Again, what the hell?"

Anna shook her head at that. "Oh don't even, Andrew." She folded her arms over her chest while Kelci came to stand next to her in a protective manner. "You know we've stayed in touch with Neil, that we like the kid. Is it so hard to believe that after helping him out and everything for so long, he's like a little brother to us?"

"A little brother who can't keep his tenses straight for the life of him," Kelci joked. "Too many languages, I think."

"So yeah, when he asked if we wanted to come today, we said yes." Anna's jaw jutted out and she swiped her hand down the jersey. "Believe it or not, we wanted to see *both* of you play and win. It's... I'm happy for both of you, you know. It's... it's good, seeing you get your life together, to make something of it." For a moment her expression hardened, and then she smiled as she looked over at Kelci. "To know that at least two of us got out of that place and are proving them wrong."

Andrew stared at her, his hands clenched into fists as he fought with the long-interned doubts, the thoughts that no one did anything for just the hell of it. But he'd squared any debts with Anna a long time ago, and he had to admit that Neil had a way of inspiring a type of stupid loyalty in people. "Don't even dream to think that you can hit us up for money once we go pro," he warned. "We're blocking your number long before then."

Anna laughed at that. "Go ahead and try, you little shit. Neil's too much of a sweetheart, he'll be giving us free tickets and goodies forever, which we'll be able to hawk for cash." She gave him the finger before her and Kelci headed off to their seats.

He went back to a certain oblivious idiot, who was being wished by Wolfe to have a good game that night. "You too, Minyard. Best of luck to you both."

"And that's not just because there's a ridiculous pot waiting for us when you win," Bryan joked as he waved goodbye to them.

"Nice," Andrew commented while Neil waved back. "So, that wasn't a pleasant surprise."

Neil sighed as he tucked back his bangs. "Anna commented that she wished she could be here to cheer us on, and since there were still some seats available... I figured why not? She's helped us out so much and it's been a while since I've seen her."

"She helped us out because she got something out of it," Andrew reminded the idiot.

"No, not always," Neil argued. "Not the last couple of years."

That... was technically true. She hadn't asked for anything to help track down Costanzo, and then there was Kelci helping Neil with his papers. Unless it was all part of Anna's long range plan to latch on to an Exy player, which Andrew wouldn't put past the sneaky bitch. He'd have to pay more attention to things in the future.

It was around then that Bee showed up, so Andrew figured that he'd return the favor and dragged Neil along as he went over to greet her, while the idiot hung back and kept picking at the tape around his wrists.

"Bee! Have a nice flight? Tired of the color black yet?"

"Andrew! The flight was fine, and... well, yes, it's a bit overwhelming, isn't it? It does work well as an intimidation factor, I have to say, but I do wonder about the effects on their own team, to be subjugated to it day in and day out."

Ah yes, good old Bee.

"Somehow, I don't think they're worried much about the mental effects on their own team," Andrew said, which made Bee frown.

"They should be, but, well, I'm not here to criticize another team's practices. Are you ready for the game tonight? It should be very exciting, yes?" She smiled at him and Neil, not that the idiot was looking at her.

"I think 'exciting' is an understatement."

Bee seemed to catch something in his voice just then and eyed him up and down, then Neil. "Well, you've been working so hard for it all season. There's been a lot of build up because of the team making it this far, on you facing off against such a vaunted rival."

She sure did try, didn't she? But before Andrew could say anything, a guard approached the three of them - approached *Neil*.  "Neil Josten, a Stuart Hatford would like to see you," he told a cautious Neil.

Oh, would he? Andrew gave Bee a curt nod as he reached for Neil's left arm. "Let's go see Uncle Stuart, shall we?" The guard went to shake his head at Andrew, but Neil started walking forward in a clear sign that they both were going to see Stuart.

The guard caught up with them and took over leading the way, toward a wall which separated the inner ring from the stands. Stuart waited on the other side of it, dressed in another of his fancy suits, his arms folded on top of the wall and a cigarette dangling from his lips. He dismissed the guard with a curt nod then turned his attention on the two of them, a slight smile when he looked at Neil which thinned when he took in Andrew. "Well, at least you're sticking close to him," he muttered as he tossed the cigarette aside.

"Nice to see you, too," Andrew said as he watched Neil go over to the limey prick to be hugged; Stuart caught at Neil's right hand for a moment to gaze at the taped wrist, but let it drop without saying anything.

"You here for the game?" Neil asked as he shoved his hands behind his back.

"More or less." Stuart's expression smoothed out as he looked at the two of them once more, for some reason lingering on Andrew more than Neil. "The little lord is here, so make it good today, all right? Watch yourselves."

"That goes without saying." Andrew reached out to pull Neil a bit closer. "He pay his brother a visit?"

"No, hasn't even seen Tetsuji, from what I've heard." Stuart once again gazed at Andrew as if trying to pass on a message. "I also hear that the Home locker room's not a fun place to be right now."

Neil's breath hitched at that and he shook his head. "That... no, I imagine not." He could probably imagine a lot of things happening in there right now.

"Thanks so much," Andrew said in a sarcastic tone as he rubbed along the back of the idiot's neck. "Anything else?"

"Just do your best to win - there's a ton of guards ready to move the moment the game's done if those bastards win," Stuart warned.

"They better be prepared to deal with an upset crowd when we beat their precious Ravens," Andrew said as he tugged Neil away; Stuart shook his head as he vanished into the crowd, probably to go guard the 'little lord'. By the time the two of them reached the rest of the Foxes, Neil's expression had returned to the smooth mask similar to his uncle's which he used to hide things away, and Andrew allowed Dan to wave them over to introduce them to her 'sisters' and then Nicky to hug the idiot in gratitude before Wymack yelled at everyone to go get ready.

Once in the locker room, everyone rushed to change into their uniforms, especially Neil, and then they were back onto the court so they could warm up by running laps around the inner ring. Andrew flashed Anna the finger every time he passed her, until Neil sighed and smiled, just a little.

"Just admit it, you like her."

"It's a bit early for those hallucinations, Josten. I haven't thrown any balls at your head, *yet*."

"How long am I going to be making this up, hmm?"

"I think a few days of a word quota, several donut runs and enough veggie pizza to make you sick just might cover it. Oh, and detailing the car," Andrew mused while Neil's brow became more and more furrowed. Ah yes, someone was so amusing when they were all offended, and that temper was so much better than anxiety.

At least Neil's temper lasted until the crowd began to roar and stomp their feet, loud enough to make Andrew's head throb from the noise and bones ache, and signal the arrival of the Ravens. He noticed that Kevin's shoulders slumped just a little, but the coward still kept his head held high and his expression haughty, while Neil's grew shuttered as if he was tamping down on everything. Andrew tugged on a handful of auburn curls while he gave Kevin a questioning look and got a slight nod in return, and had faith in that at least one of them was taking Riko's appearance in stride.

He flicked Neil in the side of the head as they stretched out beside each other in the locker room. "Are you giving up?" he asked in French.

"No, just preparing myself for whatever shit he's going to pull," Neil admitted. "If I think up the worst, it can't be so bad, right?"

"Have I mentioned yet that you're an idiot?"

"Hmm, not sure." But now he didn't appear so hopeless anymore.

Done stretching, they put on the rest of their gear, Neil helping Andrew with all of his padding, and then went to meet up in the main room, which was also black. Huh, a bit of a theme going on there. Wymack just looked them over and nodded. "You've got this," he told them before they headed outside once more, where they had to wait for the Ravens to be announced before they could be introduced. Andrew sneered at the ridiculous amount of players while Kevin did his stoic impersonation and Neil just stared at nothing.

Hearing the Orange Notes play the Foxes' music cued the team that it was finally their turn, and Nicky reached out to pat everyone on the shoulders before they had to line up in proper order and then they were out on court and headed to their Away section.

Dan met Riko out on the center court and won the coin toss so that the Foxes would have the first serve. After that, they only had a few minutes before the game would start, so Andrew braced himself for one of Wymack’s terrible speeches. The man, as always, didn’t disappoint.

"I suck at this pep talk thing,” he told them as they huddled around him, “but Abby threatened me with a gruesome death if I didn't make some sort of effort tonight.” Oh yes, off to an inspiring start right there. Andrew let out a heavy sigh, only to have his foot stomped on by Kevin. “This is what I've come up with after an hour of hard brainstorming.” Maybe Andrew should cut back a little on the alcohol if this was what he had to look forward to in the future. “I haven't rehearsed it yet, so you'll have to pretend it's something polished and encouraging. Deal?"

Of course morons like Dan and Matt nodded, while Andrew did his best not to fall asleep.

"I want you to close your eyes and think about why you're here tonight,” Wymack continued after a slight pause. “Don't tell me 'revenge' because you've already gotten it just by being here tonight.” Oh no, not quite. ‘Revenge’ was snapping Riko’s neck, in gutting the bastard and laughing in his face. Someone needed to look up the word in the dictionary, apparently.

 "This isn't about Riko anymore," Wymack said. Again, wrong – this was all about Riko, in taking the prick down, in taking everything away from him, just like he tried to take everything away from Neil, from Andrew and Kevin. "This isn't about the Ravens. This is about you. This is about everything it took for you to get to this point, everything it cost you, and everyone who laughed when you dared to dream of something big and bright. You're here tonight because you refused to give up and refused to give in. You're here where they all said you'd never be, and no one can say you haven't earned the right to play this game.”

An hour? For that? A rehash of every sports movie ever?

"All eyes are on you. It's time to show them what you're made of. There's no room for doubt, no room for second guesses, no room for error. This is your night. This is your game. This is your moment. Seize it with everything you've got. Pull out all the stops and lay it all on the line. Fight because you don't know how to die quietly. Win because you don't know how to lose. This king's ruled long enough— it's time to tear his castle down."

Pretty words, and while it looked like some of the Foxes – Dan and Matt and Reynolds – might buy into them, others like Kevin and Nicky and Aaron knew what this was really about. Knew that it was a long-owed payback to a certain King, was about ripping off Riko’s crown and spitting on it, about making him pay for all of the slights, all of the taunts and attempts to hurt them, all of the pain the prick had heaped on them over the years. Even Renee got that, understood that there came a time when you had to cut the cancer out rather than allow it to spread.

It was time to take Riko down. That it was also time to show that the Foxes weren’t a joke anymore? Icing on the cake, so to speak.

But in the end, Andrew only cared about one thing, really.

A bell going off to signal that it was about time to head out onto court cut Wymack off before he could ramble on any more, which was fine by Andrew. “Let’s go,” Wymack told them, which was all Andrew had needed in the first place.

“Foxes!” the team shouted, even Neil, and Andrew watched as the starting line-up headed out onto the court.

Riko was called out, of course, then Kevin and Neil soon after that. Judging from the anger on the prick’s face and the way he spat Japanese at Kevin, Andrew would say that he’d heard about the new tattoo and wasn’t pleased. Andrew was just satisfied that it deflected the attention away from Neil for a short while, and that Kevin didn’t buckle under the abuse.

At least, it deflected Riko’s attention for a minute or two, but he paused to say something to Neil, something that made Neil’s face smooth out but his chin jut out in a manner that Andrew was all too familiar with, that he knew meant that Neil’s temper was flaring even if he didn’t show it otherwise. Good. Let Riko piss off the idiot. Let him deal with that temper.

It was clear from the start of the game that the Ravens were pissed off and determined to take it out on the Foxes, on what they probably saw as the source of their many woes that season – on whom had brought negative attention down on them because of their rabid fans, on who had taken away first Kevin and then Jean, on whom Riko had fixated. The pathetic loser team who had taunted them, who wouldn’t go away. Who dared to face them in the championships, who came back only stronger after everything. So yes, Andrew had to sit there and watch closely as the Ravens used all of those nasty tricks he’d seen his boyfriend sneak onto court the last few months, that he’d seen in October and in all the videos, to slam about his friends and family and teammates. To slam about his boyfriend. Because just like Neil had predicted, Riko had assigned Phillips to him, and the man was taking great delight in shadowing Neil, in hovering too close, to checking him and slamming him against the wall and floor every chance he had. When Phillips was pulled… Federov was even worse. All the while, Riko and Engle sneaked by the Foxes’ defense to score points on Renee, which Andrew observed with care. Neil and Kevin did whatever they could to score points, but it was just as Neil had feared – there was only so much they could do while the Foxes’ defense broke down under the Ravens’ assault.

Andrew watched it all, studied the Ravens and bided his time. If he saw a slim figure in grey across the court, he ignored the man.

When half-time came, the team was a mess. Nicky was so worn out and stressed that he was dry-heaving, enough that Abby went to take care of him first before she checked on anyone else. Renee radiated a palpable menace as she clutched at her racket, and Andrew left her alone because he didn’t want to hear her ‘sorries’ or excuses, not after their agreement earlier. He’d known going in that having her take the goal for the first half of the game was a risk, but he needed a chance to watch the Ravens in action from outside of the game – it wasn’t the same as watching a video. Now he had a feel for them and could do what it took to catch up the four point spread. So instead, he went over to Neil to make sure that his idiot was okay, and pulled him off to the side.

“What did they do to you?” he asked as he handed Neil a cup of sports drink.

Neil’s bandana was soaked with sweat and his eyes were shadowed, but he managed a slight smile for Andrew. He was quiet as he drank down about half of the cup, and then he sighed. “It was… nothing new,” he said in German. “Brought up stuff they did in the past. What they’ll do in the future.” He shuddered a little as he closed his eyes. “Still hoping that Riko will give me to them.”

“And what did you say to them?”

That got Neil to open his eyes, the darkness chased off by a familiar fire. “That I’ll gut them if they ever try. That I’ll never call him ‘king’ and that we won’t lose tonight.”

“That’s right, we won’t.” Andrew stole away Neil’s cup and finished off the sweet drink. “We’ll kick their asses, just watch.”

Off in the background, Kevin was arguing something with the backliners, with Matt and Aaron and Nicky, but Neil just gazed at him, a slight smile on his face and something ridiculous in those big eyes of his, something that might be faith. “I can’t wait.”

“Just don’t get cocky out there,” Andrew warned. “I’m going to be pissed off if I have to leave my goal because of you.”

“Because you’re lazy,” Neil said as his grin grew wider. “Some day I’d love to see you actually have to run around for a game.”

“I run around enough taking care of your ass,” Andrew complained, which earned him a laugh – Neil didn’t debate that fact, though.

Soon enough the half-time break was over, and it was Andrew’s turn out in the goal. As he settled in, he noticed that Kevin was holding his racquet in his left hand, and a slight smile came over Andrew’s face. About time, dammit.

The second half was completely different from the first – the Ravens seemed overwhelmed to deal with Kevin back in rare form, confident and in full control of his talent, shouting out to Neil in French now that Jean was gone from the team. As for Neil, he was a blazing streak across the court, digging deep into his reserves to pull out that amazing speed of his, twisting about and dodging Bautista and Atkins with an ease that was almost uncanny – putting to good use those two weeks he had spent with the Ravens, obviously. Putting to use that knowledge, just like Kevin did, to help Kevin even up the score, and even score a goal himself.

Andrew knew that losing goals like that would piss off the Ravens and so braced himself for the oncoming assault, and put Renee’s ‘sacrifice’ to good use. Matt and Aaron did the best they could to hold up against the Ravens strikers, but when the bastards eventually broke through, Andrew was ready for them, was ready to block the shots and send the balls flying back, which only added to the Ravens’ desperation.

It got bad enough that when the score was within two points and the second half seventeen minutes down, the Ravens’ dealer Reacher actually threw a punch at Kevin when he managed another goal. Not only did the bastard throw a punch at Kevin, but he kept at it, until all the players on the court except the goalkeepers got involved, either to fight or to break it up.

Matt and Kevin got yellow-carded, but Kevin managed a foul shot for it, and the game continued. The Ravens seemed determined to target the defense after that, but even Andrew was stunned when at one point he was slammed into by a Raven, Williams, when he went after a rebound shot that ended short of the goal. One moment he was scooping up the ball, the next he was slammed into the goal post by the asshole, the goal lighting up as it mistook the force of his body slamming into it as a ‘point’ landing.

What was even more surprising was finding Neil there to spin Williams into the floor when Andrew shoved the asshole away and then stood with his gloved hands on his knees while he struggled for breath. He heard Matt yell at the idiot, and then Neil took a step closer to the goal, concern evident on his face; Andrew remembered Neil telling him about being worried over the Ravens targeting him and Kevin, about them saying things. Evidently, the idiot had feared that they were moving beyond ‘saying things’.

“I’m fine,” he said while he waved Neil aside. “Go score a damn point.”

Neil remained still for a moment, then smiled. “Okay. Move faster next time, why don’t you?”

“Fuck you,” Andrew huffed.

Neil got a baleful look and an earful from the one referee, but didn’t get carded for anything, probably because Matt stammered out an apology. Of course Tetsuji used the excuse to sub out Williams and a couple of other players who had been red-carded, to bring in rested players against the Foxes.

Andrew considered what was coming down on them and looked over at their battered defense, then at Neil. “It’s too slow,” he said.

“Eh?” Neil frowned at that. “What, the defensive line?”

“Yes,” Andrew agreed, then he looked over at Neil, who still seemed in decent shape. “Are you tired yet?”

Neil opened his mouth at first, then seemed to consider the question. “I’m all right,” he admitted. Considering how much practice he put in and all the running, he should still be fine.

“Good.” Andrew turned toward Matt and pointed at Neil. “Then this is what we need to do. Dan’s going to come in to sub for Neil, and Neil will take your place.”

Matt stared at him for a couple of seconds. “What? Are you crazy?”

Andrew didn’t bother to answer that. “You’re limping,” and not much help at the moment, considering that the man had been out on the court for most of the game and kept letting the Ravens past him. “Have Abby put a brace on that, and get off the court. Neil will be more use to me than you right now.”

“Neil, a striker,” Matt said in an exaggerated manner.

“Neil, a striker, who started as a backliner,” Andrew explained. “Who also has played with Riko recently.” He turned toward Neil. “Can you do it?”

He knew that Neil hadn’t played as a backliner in years, but he wasn’t looking for precision, he was looking for speed, which Neil had in spades. Riko was fast… but Neil was faster, and what they needed was someone who could block Riko, who knew his moves, who could anticipate him.

Neil stared at him for a couple of seconds and then smiled. “Yes, I know how he plays.” Then he turned toward Matt. “I played as a backliner when I was a kid, I know enough to do this. More importantly? I can handle Riko.”

Matt didn’t seem to be buying into the new strategy. “You’re going to be able to take on the best striker after two weeks?”

That made Neil glare. “Kevin’s the best striker in the league. And all I have to do is be faster than Riko and have an idea of how he plays. Trust me, I had the later forced down my very throat on this court, and paid enough for the first.” For a moment, Neil’s face became clouded before the glare returned.

Matt’s resolve began to waver. “Coach will never go for it.”

“Tell him he has no choice if he wants to win,” Andrew said while looking at Neil, because it was the truth.

A reminder of what was at stake seemed to convince Matt, who then turned around and left the court, limping the entire time. While he argued with Wymack and Abby, Neil smiled at Andrew, showing no doubts about the new strategy.

“Imagine, me being a backliner after all these years,” Neil murmured when Dan came back onto the court, walking past a startled Reynolds who had to be told that she wasn’t being swapped out.

“What did I say about getting all sappy?”

Neil laughed as he went to take his place opposite Riko, and managed to keep a hint of a smile on his face when he stood in front of the confused prick, even when a pleased grin spread across Riko’s face when he figured out what was happening and he leaned closer to murmur something. Neil’s hands clenched around his racquet, but he didn’t lose that smile.

In control of the ball thanks to Williams, Andrew threw it almost up to the Ravens’ goal, and watched as Riko managed to gain control of it… only for Neil to start thwarting him, to use his racquet and smaller body and those damn Ravens’ tricks to stymy the prick every step of the way back to Andrew’s goal. Whenever Riko would manage to break free from Neil, Neil would be back in his face a few steps later with that slight smile on his face.

Riko got close enough to Andrew to fire a shot, only for Neil to interfere at the last moment; Andrew easily blocked it and shook his head when he heard Riko snarl something in Japanese that made Neil laugh in response. The ball sent off toward Kevin, the prick used the opportunity to knock Neil to the ground yet again, which only made Neil laugh in his face yet again; Andrew could see how it was wearing down on Riko’s control, having Neil taunt him like that, refusing to be cowed, to be afraid, even as the constant abuse also wore Neil down.

The score was finally tied, nine to nine, and ten minutes went on after Kevin’s last goal with the teams fighting each other out on the court, until Berger got past Aaron and Andrew wasn’t fast enough to catch the damn ball. He was furious with himself for that failure, for allowing another goal to slip through his fingers when he knew how damn important each point was that night. When Riko flashed him a smug grin across the court, he almost left the goal so he could go smash his racquet into the bastard’s head.

The fact was, the Foxes were exhausted and fighting hard against a team which constantly renewed its players – the wear was getting on them. Had gotten on them. They were at the breaking point, if not already there. Wymack used the next foul against the Foxes to send Matt in for Aaron and Nicky in for Allison, while a ragged Neil remained to guard a pleased Riko.

At least, he was pleased until having to deal with Matt, Neil and Nicky, who managed a unified defense in the last part of the game and did a good job of keeping Berger and Riko away from the goal. Andrew probably didn’t want to know what the prick was saying to Neil, but it only helped to fuel the idiot past the growing exhaustion, while Kevin continued to wage a one man war against the Ravens’ own defense and managed to score another point within the last five minutes. Oh, the Ravens fans weren’t happy about that.

It got down to the last minute with the game tied, with Andrew wondering how Neil and Kevin would manage in a shoot-out – if they had enough energy to face off against the Ravens’ goalkeeper. Judging from Neil’s expression, he was running on pure spite and determination at the moment, wavering each time Riko slammed into him. In fact, Riko slammed into him again and Neil crumpled, going down and not getting up, but at that point the ball was on the Ravens’ side of the court, so Andrew risked stepping outside of the goal to better watch what was going on, to make sure that his idiot was all right.

Neil stayed down, but Kevin had the ball, and before the final buzzer went off, managed to score one last goal.

The coward had done it. Fuck. The damn coward had done it, had won the game for the Foxes. Andrew might feel a bit of respect for him just then, as the Foxes started screaming and the crowd broke out in a harsh cacophony of denial as it sunk in that the Ravens had just lost. Lost by one fucking point.

The Ravens had lost. The Foxes had won. Neil wasn’t going anywhere, and Riko… later. Get to Neil.

Andrew hurried from his goal, intent on reaching Neil before anything happened, before someone tried to pull any shit. He shoved his way past several stunned Ravens and ignored a laughing Nicky, gaze intent on Neil’s slumped figure kneeling on court, helmet rolling away from him as he gazed up at a stunned Riko. It looked as if he was saying something to the prick, the idiot never one to keep his mouth shut when he really should know better.

Well, considering how much shit Riko had given him over the years… fuck it, the idiot should know better. DON’T FEED THE MONSTER.

All Andrew needed to see was Riko lifting his racquet into the air, and he rushed forward with his own racquet already swinging. A satisfied smile spread across his face when he felt it slam into Riko’s right arm while someone screamed in the background, even as he dropped to his knees to shield Neil, his left arm wrapping around the idiot.

Riko shrieked as his right forearm shattered, and he dropped his racquet as he stumbled back to clutch his ruined arm to his body while Andrew braced his racquet in front of Neil as if to ward off any more blows; oh, how he wanted to continue smashing it into the prick, but too many witnesses. Instead, he tugged Neil closer to him and watched Riko writhe in agony.

Ravens began to swarm around their fallen captain and Foxes around the two of them, hovering around as close as they dared to make sure that Neil was all right with Andrew right there. Neil slumped against Andrew, clearly exhausted in every sense, and murmured a ‘thank you’ as he closed his eyes.

“Holy shit, are you okay?” Dan demanded.

Neil let out a slow breath and opened his eyes, his head resting back on Andrew’s right shoulder. “Yeah.” He managed a smile as he fumbled for Andrew’s gloved hand holding up the racquet. “Yeah. We won.” He tilted up his head to look at Andrew. “We won.”

Dan laughed at that, her expression almost tender as she looked at the both of them. “Yeah, we did.” She glanced at Andrew before she reached out to tousle Neil’s sweat-soaked curls. “That we did. Do we have to carry you to the locker room?”

Andrew let his racquet fall to the floor. “I got him.” He wasn’t letting the idiot out of his sight until they were miles away from Edgar Allen, if even then.

It took some effort, getting Neil to stand, while in the background medical personnel fussed over Riko. Nothing was said to the Foxes – what could be said? Riko had clearly attempted to attack an opposing team’s player in front of thousands of people, and Andrew had defended that player. Still, guards saw them into the locker room, where an official was waiting for them.

“Ah, in light of… well, there won’t be any ceremony tonight,” the middle-aged man dressed in a black blazer with an Edgar Allen pin on the lapel told them. “We’re focused on getting the crowd out of the stadium as quickly as possible right now, due to the unfortunate incident.”

“You mean where one of your team’s players attempted to murder one of my own?” Wymack asked in a deceptively quiet voice.

The man flinched. “Well, the incident. There will be… we need statements from your team and then something will be arranged tomorrow, in light of your victory.”

“Whatever,” Wymack muttered, while Dan appeared furious on the team’s behalf.

It was arranged for everyone to be put up in a hotel for the night, with Edgar Allen picking up the bill for any rearranged flights and the overnight accommodations, and so the Vixens and everyone’s guests took off for the hotel (Nicky was *not* pleased to miss out on any time with Erik), while the rest of the Foxes remained behind to talk to the police about what had happened (Neil managed a few words, but wasn’t happy about it), as well as give their usual post-game interview. Well, for the most part, since this was their first championship game and first game to end with a Fox maiming a rival. Needless to say, Andrew and Neil weren’t asked to do any of the whole ‘interview’ thing. What a shame.

It took forever, the whole mess, and it was a good thing that they’d had Wolfe on hand, since Andrew had a feeling that she helped speed up the police part of the process – nothing like having a Fed as your character witness to say ‘yeah, I saw the whole thing, and that prick was going to smash that poor guy’s brains out until this wonderful person here stepped in to intervene with a reasonable amount of violence’. Or something like that.

Whatever, all Andrew knew was that it took forever before he and Neil had the showers to themselves to wash off, with Neil dozing off beneath the water, he was that exhausted. Mindful of what had happened the last time Neil had showered in the Nest, Andrew left him alone for about ten minutes before he threw a bar of soap at the idiot, which made Neil flail about for a few seconds until he was awake enough to remember where he was and finish washing up.

Dressed in jeans and long-sleeved t-shirts, they went to catch up with the rest of the Foxes and hopefully head off to the hotel when a security guard stopped them before they could enter the changing room. “Neil Josten?” the rather burly man asked as he eyed Neil up and down. “They have a few more questions for you.”

Neil let out a weary sigh as he dropped his bag by the door. “Uhm, okay.” He turned to give Andrew an apologetic smile. “This should only take a little while.”

Andrew dropped his bag as well. “Good, because I’m coming with you.” He glared at the guard as if daring the man to argue with him.

The man didn’t appear happy about that and pulled out his phone to call someone, and mentioned that ‘Minyard’ was insisting to come along. Then he blinked at whatever was said before putting his phone away, and motioned for the two of them to follow.

Well, wasn’t that nice?

They went down a narrow hallway and into the inner ring, through the empty stadium and into the outer ring where previous championship banners hung limp in the night air and the floor was sticky beneath Andrew’s feet from spilled soda and snacks. The place had almost a horror movie feel to it, that late at night, so abandoned and lifeless, their steps echoing in the huge space.

Andrew became wary when he saw the signs pointing to ‘EAST’, and then the guard led them to an elevator where he had to swipe a badge and punch in a code before it would open up. Once that was done, the guard punched the button for the ‘tower’, the only other one being for ‘floor’.

The guard didn’t leave the elevator when the door opened again, so Andrew and Neil stepped out into a short hall which lead to a huge room that overlooked the stadium, the floors covered with a lush red carpet and the decorations expensive yet minimal. Off to one corner was Stuart, his gaze intent while he kept his mouth shut, and another man dressed in a fancy suit. Tetsuji and Riko were seated on one of the black leather couches, Tetsuji staring straight ahead as if intent on ignoring everything, Riko appearing as if a shell of his usual smug, prick of a self, right arm in a white cast and a sling.

Off by the windows was a young Asian man who resembled Riko, dressed in an expensive suit – Andrew guessed that he was the ‘little lord’, the infamous Ichiro Moriyama, especially when Neil’s attention was snared by him.

Andrew and Neil entered the room halfway and stopped, and like Neil, Andrew kept his attention fixed on Ichiro. Things were quiet for about a minute or two, and then the elegant Japanese man reached out with his right hand and flicked his fingers to the man standing by Stuart, who stepped forward and placed a gun in his palm.

All right, that wasn’t the best of signs, was it?

At least when Ichiro moved, he went over to the couch and not to Andrew and Neil, and began to say something in Japanese. Tetsuji’s shoulders stiffened and he continued to look straight ahead, while Riko remained huddled forward. During the exchange, Andrew noticed how tense Neil became and glanced over at Stuart, who continued to stare at him. *At him*. What the hell?

Ichiro finally stopped talking, and Tetsuji bowed low over his knees as if in a sign of obedience or begging forgiveness. Then Ichiro turned toward Riko as if considering something, while Riko finally moved, to stir his head and look up at his brother. He spoke for the first time since Andrew had come into the room, and that was to say his brother’s name.

Ichiro continued to stare at Riko as if he was some sort of puzzle or problem… and then turned to Andrew and Neil. No, wait, to Andrew.

“Minyard,” he said, while he made a flicking motion once again, with his left hand this time.

Confused over what the hell was going on, Andrew stepped forward, annoyed by the summons but not going to be obstinate when a crime lord with a gun in his hand beckoned. Ichiro regarded him for a moment while Riko moaned something in Japanese, and then handed over the gun.

Andrew was beginning to get the picture, especially when behind him Neil caught his breath, and Riko let out a low moan before letting out a fast string of Japanese.

Andrew hefted the gun for a moment, noticed that the safety was off, and looked at Ichiro. The man regarded him with a cool, even gaze, and then looked down at his brother before stepping aside. Andrew allowed himself a second or two to hold the gun in his hand, to look down at Riko, at first the panic in the man’s face and then the hatred, followed by an expression of pure betrayal as Riko looked over at Ichiro… then placed the nozzle against Riko’s temple and pulled the trigger.

It was loud, a lot louder than Andrew had expected, and his wrist ached from the kick of the gun. But that close, the bullet went where it was supposed to, did the damage it was supposed to, though the couch and Tetsuji’s coat could be considered ruined.

It was a faster death than Andrew had planned for Riko… but that look of betrayal at the end, in knowing that his own brother had wanted him dead and let a *mutt* carry it out? Oh yes, Andrew could live with it.

Ichiro made that flickering motion again, and the strange man stepped forward to take the gun from Andrew, to wipe it clean before placing it in Riko’s limp right hand and wrapping the prick’s unmoving fingers around it. Oh, nice to have that loose end wrapped up, though Andrew was certain it wasn’t as simple as that.

Once that was done, Ichiro turned toward Andrew and Neil. “You have cost the Ravens their coach and their captain. Are you satisfied?”

Andrew arched an eyebrow at that and remembered how Neil had called for Tetsuji to step down as the Ravens’ coach – it looked as if Ichiro was following through on that. Beside him, Neil took a deep breath. “I told you what I cared about. I believe that this will make that happen… and you will benefit from it in the end.”

Ichiro regarded Neil with something akin to approval. "I don’t care what they call you, you will always be a Wesninski at heart." Ichirou flicked his fingers once more. "You are dismissed."

This time it was Stuart who came forward to lead them from the room, silent until they reached the elevator. “That went well.”

Neil slumped against the wall as he reached for Andrew. “Why did you do that? Now they have their hooks in you, too, dammit.” Even as he spoke, his fingers tangled in the hem of Andrew’s black shirt.

“Because it needed to be done,” Andrew said as he caught at Neil’s hand and held onto it. “Because it was a test, right?” That he posed to Stuart.

The limey prick nodded, but had the grace to look a bit ashamed. “I told you, the little lord was trying to figure things out about you, if you were an annoyance or not. The kiddo’s right in that now Ichiro feels that you fall under the main branch, but it’s more along the lines in that he knows where your loyalties lie, in that he’s gauged your limits,” he explained in a rush when Neil started to glare. “You’ve involved yourself in the lives of his property, he just made sure to what extent you’ll go to protect it.”

“And isn’t it oh so nice, to have something to use against me if I prove to be that ‘annoyance’, hmm?” Andrew said in a bland voice.

Stuart knew enough to wince. “That won’t be a concern as long as you look out after Nathaniel, right?”

Andrew gave him a cool look for a few seconds, but in the end the man was right, and it had been worth it, to take out Riko. To know that the prick would never come after Neil again – no more phone calls, no more texts, no more threats.

Stuart led them back to the inner ring, where he gave Neil a hug and said he’d call in a few days, maybe try to meet up for a day or two during the summer, and to get some fucking sleep. Neil smiled at that and waved the man off, then walked with Andrew back to the tunnel leading to the Away locker room. Yet once they were in the darkened hallway, he paused and tugged on Andrew’s left arm.

“What?”

Neil reached for Andrew’s shoulders, his motions slow, so Andrew got the hint and met him halfway for the kiss, his fingers sliding through Neil’s damp curls. They both were tired and in the middle of a strange hallway, but it was a pleasant few seconds, considering everything they’d been through the last several hours or more.

When they broke apart, Neil’s fingers dug into Andrew’s shoulders. “Thank you,” he said, his voice low and rough. “For everything. For tonight. The game. For… for Riko.”

Not every day when someone thanked him for killing a person, but Andrew knew what Neil meant. “And we didn’t even have to dispose of the body.”

That earned him a tired smile. “Yeah.” Then Neil pulled back and frown. “Ditch the shirt, though. Probably the jeans, too. I’ll text Stuart and ask him to drop something off at the hotel.”

Yeah, a good idea. Also a good idea? Not saying anything about Riko’s death – Edgar Allen could deal with that mess.

They got back to the locker room, where everyone seemed to wake up a bit upon their arrival. Nicky came over to hug Neil, who smiled at him, and then Wymack clapped his hands together. “All right, we’ve a party waiting for us at the hotel. Anyone not on the bus in two minutes is getting left behind.”

The man really needed to get a new threat, but it got everyone moving, laughing and talking about what they planned to do once at the hotel. Matt handed Andrew and Neil their duffel bags, and Neil was quick to pull out his phone, as promised, to text his uncle about the new outfit while Andrew hurried to the back of the bus just in case there were any spots of blood or worse on his clothes.

It took about twenty minutes to get to the hotel, and as promised, everyone was waiting for them, with the exception of Sonja and Bryan (they had to get back to Columbia for work. Not that Andrew was complaining, considering what had happened in the East Tower). Nicky immediately went over to do unspeakable things to Erik, Anna was already well on her way to being drunk, and the new clothes had arrived shortly after the team did, so Andrew changed after he and Neil had dropped off their things in their own room. Dan cajoled them into sticking around in the suite where everyone was gathered for about half an hour or so, which was around all that Andrew could take of the crowd (and his brother hanging on Katelyn) while Neil was falling asleep on his shoulder, so they easily made their excuses after that.

Despite Neil’s exhaustion, he insisted that Andrew take a shower once back in the room, ‘just in case’, and Andrew didn’t complain when his boyfriend joined him in it to ‘help’ wash him clean. They both were sore from the game, Neil especially, and tired, but the feel of hot water falling down on him, of Neil’s body against his and fingers along his back as they rocked together... Andrew just wanted to close his eyes as the pleasure tore through him, to savor the moment after everything that had happened that day.

Then he got stuck dragging a semi-comatose, drenched boyfriend out of the shower and had to put him to bed, so maybe not the best of ideas.

He wasn’t sure how the Foxes had imagined their first ever championship win, but while they probably had expected it to be so hard-fought, they might not have expected to basically have the trophy shoved at them the next day without any fanfare, thanks to Riko’s ‘suicide’. No cheering crowds, no press, nothing, just ‘here, take this, goodbye’, and then they were on the road again, to deal with a shell-shocked Kevin and a quiet team during the long drive home. Andrew knew the real fallout would happen later, when the press looked into what might have happened to ‘drive’ Riko to such lengths, into why Tetsuji had stepped down as the Ravens’ coach and whenever they found some poor idiot to take over for the man… but for time being, all he wanted was to get back to PSU so he could burn the clothes tucked into a plastic bag in his duffel bag, send Nicky away to Germany for a few weeks, head off to Columbia to relax for a little while and take a break from Exy while a certain idiot cleared a few debts.

That wasn’t too much to ask for, was it?

Neil slept for some of the bus ride, and spent some of it talking with Dan and Wymack about the upcoming season; it seemed to be sinking in to the idiot that he was stuck with the vice-captain position now that he was indeed a Fox for the rest of his university career. Andrew foresaw some epic freaking out in the upcoming weeks, but it was better than his panic attacks over Riko.

There ended up being a crowd waiting for them at the Foxhole Court upon their arrival, their fans gathering there to congratulate them for their win, so the team got some sort of recognition. There were more interviews, which snapped Kevin out of his daze for a little while, but once the fuss died down, Wymack pulled Andrew and Neil aside. “I’m going to take him home with me, all right? I think he… well, I’m going to watch him for the next few days. It’s really hitting him, what happened to Riko. I think me, Abby and Bee can help.”

Considering that Andrew had killed Riko and Neil detested the prick, it was probably a good idea. “We’ll be in Columbia until he’s ready,” Andrew said. They had a couple of weeks before they had to deal with more Moriyama shit, and until then, he wanted that break.

“All right.” Wymack seemed surprised that Andrew didn’t argue with him over Kevin, but with Riko out of the picture and the deal with the main branch, Kevin should be fine for a week or two, especially if Wymack was watching him. That just left Nicky, who was heading to Stuttgart soon, the rest of the Foxes, who were leaving campus within the next few days, and Aaron. Andrew suspected that his brother would spend half of his summer break visiting Katelyn, which meant that he and Neil would actually have a rare bit of privacy in their near future.

They stuck around campus long enough to clean out the suite, dropping off some stuff at Abby’s since they’d be back at her place in about a month, then saw Nicky, Erik, Renee and Jean off at the airport. Jean was another person who was a mess over Riko for some damn reason, so Renee thought it was a good thing that he was headed off to USC early to settle in the area and get back in shape; apparently enough of the Trojans hung out around the campus in the summer that they were excited to help out their new teammate.

Aaron took off in the Nissan to help Katelyn go home to Charleston for the summer, while Andrew and Neil loaded up the Maserati to head back to Columbia, where he expected them to have the house to themselves for at least a couple of days. The drive was quiet, both of them content to say little while Andrew drove, the radio turned off so he could hear the loud purr of the car’s engine.

It was late afternoon when they reached the house, the building quiet save for the faint hum of the fridge and the a/c. Andrew stood in the kitchen for a moment after he set his keys on the counter, satisfied with the quiet, with the sensation of being somewhere he belonged, somewhere he knew he was safe, where the rest of the world was shut out. Then he accepted the bottle of water that Neil handed him and drank from it, thirsty after the drive.

When it was empty, he tossed the bottle into the sink and went over to Neil, who was still sipping from his own bottle. Neil paused and then lowered the bottle to the counter, his blue eyes intent on Andrew, and didn’t move while Andrew reached out to slide the fingers of his right hand into those mussed, auburn curls. The fingers that had held a gun only a couple of days ago, that had placed it against Riko’s temple and pulled a trigger without any remorse.

Neil didn’t flinch or shove Andrew away, he just smiled and reached out to hook his fingers into the belt loops of Andrew’s jeans and tug him a little closer. “Hey.”

“Hey, yourself,” Andrew told him as he tightened his fingers on those soft curls. “So, just the two of us.”

“Yes.” Neil smiled at that. “Can we change the locks? Do something to get a few more days out of this?”

“Maybe we will go away, just the two of us.” Once Kevin was settled and before they had to report for summer training.

“That would be nice.” Neil laughed a little. “Right now, I feel like I could lock the doors, turn off the phones and pretend that the outside world doesn’t exist for a few days. Just… just take a break from everything.”

Mostly doable, once they ran out for a few supplies. “And what would we do during those days? It better not have anything to do with Exy.” Andrew warned.

Neil smiled at that as he took a step away from the counter, still holding onto Andrew’s jeans. “I’ve an idea or two.” When Andrew didn’t move, he arched an eyebrow and tugged on Andrew’s jeans. “Yes or no?”

This might be interesting.  Or it better be interesting, because Aaron wasn’t going to be gone for long. “Yes,” Andrew said, and allowed himself to be led to the bedroom, with them shedding their clothes along the way. Habit dictated that they closed the door, even though they were alone, and soon they were sprawled out on the bed. Neil managed to land on top, but he paused to check with Andrew, to make sure it was all right, before he leaned in for a kiss, one that started out slow and quickly grew more passionate while his hands stayed above Andrew’s shoulders, while he was mindful not to pin Andrew down too much.

He trailed kisses along Andrew’s chin and neck, lavishing attention there until a low moan slipped past Andrew’s lips and he rolled them over, needing to feel Neil beneath him, to feel a bit more comfortable. That way Neil’s hands could stroke along Andrew’s back and chest as they ground their hips together, at least until he pulled away for the lube.

Neil’s fingers tugged at Andrew’s hair when he slipped in a slick finger, so he retaliated by nipping at an inked flower on the idiot’s neck. He mouthed his way along much of the tattoo while he prepared Neil, salt faint on his tongue as Neil took to cursing in German and French with even a Russian word or two, hips jerking beneath him and hands now scrambling for Andrew’s shoulders. After a choked off cry, Andrew pulled away to look down on his boyfriend, on Neil’s flushed face and bright eyes, and brushed aside a strand of hair covering the ‘A’ tattoo.

“Ah-asshole,” Neil stuttered out.

“Hmm, want something? What did you have in mind again?”

There was a scratching sound, as if Neil was scraping his nails along his arm guards just then. “Fucking do it before… oh hell.” He pulled Andrew down for a messy kiss.

One day someone would grasp the concept of dirty talk, but not bad, Andrew supposed.

They both moaned as he slowly thrust in, Andrew biting into his lower lip to mask the sound while Neil was louder; his fingers tightened on Neil’s hips upon hearing it, as it made him rock forward a bit faster than he’d intended but Neil didn’t seem to care. In fact, the idiot pulled him closer, wrapped his legs around Andrew and buried his fingers in Andrew’s hair then urged him on, whispered how he wanted more even as his face flushed even brighter.

Andrew rested his own face against Neil’s neck for a moment while his lips brushed against a black feather, before he skimmed his right hand along the small of Neil’s back, against a patch of smooth skin, then shifted Neil’s hips a little more as he rocked his own a little faster, a little harder.

Hmm, someone had definitely been studying Russian on his own.

The pleasure was a steady fire inside of Andrew, growing hotter and brighter with each passing heartbeat, each touch from Neil, each thrust and fumbled kiss and low moan of his name. Even the sight of Neil gazing at him, eyes darkened with passion, that damn tattoo and face so open with emotion was a punch to Andrew’s chest, all of it something he’d never thought to have. Someone giving this to him. Someone….

He shuddered as Neil arched beneath him, gasping while he stroked himself with one hand and clutched at Andrew’s shoulders with another, lean body taut from pleasure. Andrew could feel Neil tightening around him and moaned again as his own orgasm approached, yet he did his best to stave it off until Neil arched again, those blue eyes fluttering shut as he came and *fuck*, did he feel so good then, so tight as Andrew let it all crash down on him.

All he wanted to do for a minute or two was lie there, allow the rare sense of peace last as long as it could, the sense of peace and euphoria that filled his body before reality and… well, before things ruined it. The feel of Neil beneath him, relaxed and humming a little, fingers gentle along Andrew’s shoulders, so warm and pliant. The two of them alone on their bed, with a locked door between them and the rest of the world.

“Hmm, okay, so I won’t stab you any time soon,” Neil said, his voice a little rough and sleepy and very pleased.

Andrew lifted his head to glare at the idiot. “Really?”

“Yeah.” Neil smiled at him, the expression a bit stupid. “You’re always an asshole, but you’re not bad.”

Andrew probably didn’t want to know. “And you’re always an idiot,” he declared as he resettled himself on top of Neil; they would need a shower in another minute or two… but this was okay. He liked the feel of Neil playing with his hair just then.

Yeah, a shower and then they’d have to figure out something to eat. Probably best to go out for dinner, that way they could pick up some groceries, then come back and maybe watch a movie. It could be like it had been back in Racine for the next couple of days, with them just hanging out and doing whatever they wanted – only with more space. Andrew smiled at the thought.

He stroked his hand along Neil’s side and got a sleepy murmur in return. Some things were better than they had been in Racine. He knew where he stood with Neil now, knew that Neil wouldn’t vanish one day. They were building something together, rather than just fumbling along. They had a life together.

He thought about what they had just done, about how good it had felt, how it wasn’t just the sex but in knowing that Neil trusted him, in that Neil respected him and his boundaries. That they both did. Then Andrew thought about switching things around, like he did from time to time… and found that the idea scared him a little less than it had the last time. That when he thought about pulling Neil onto the bed and allowing him to top… huh, okay, he could hold onto that thought a little longer now.

“You all right?” Neil asked as he paused in rubbing Andrew’s scalp.

Andrew groaned as he pulled away from Neil, at the mess between them. “Shower, now.”

Neil winced as he got up from the bed. “Okay, I thought that might be it.” He grabbed a couple of tissues to wipe at himself as they headed toward the bathroom. “So, dinner?” He appeared hopeful as he asked the question.

“Oh, I think you know what it’ll be,” Andrew said with a slight smile.

“Dammit,” Neil muttered, his face set in a rather amusing pout.

Oh yes, debts were owed. The question was, how many would the idiot manage to clear before he racked up a bunch of new ones? Even with Riko gone, somehow Andrew didn’t think their life was about to become that boring. And somehow, that thought made him happy. In knowing that he would be facing things with Neil, would have a future – fucked up or not – with the idiot. A certain idiot who loved to put himself in Andrew’s debt.

He wondered if there was an equivalent to veggie pizza in Japan.

*******