"That's good, everyone," D'jok yelled to the kids training. The kids ran off the field, chasing each other and laughing. D'jok signed and sat down, running his hand through his hair. He took on the job of training kids to form a new team, Hope. The name seemed really fitting.

"Thank you," a voice said. D'jok turned around and there stood Warren's little sister, Erin. She possessed some of her bothers skills, but actually passed the ball. Unlike her older brother, who just held in in his hands and never . . . never mind.

"For what?" D'jok asked. It couldn't be about the training, could it? After all, it's not exactly that hard to teach these kids. Anyone could do it.

"Without you, I would just be another nobody who didn't know how to play."

D'jok wanted to ask what that was suppose to mean, but before he could, she ran off. He signed and sat down, running his hands through his spiky hair. Seriously, the next time that he saw Warren, he was going to ask what the hell was up with her.

"Coach, catch!" a kid behind him shouted. D'jok turned around just in time to get a training ball slammed in his face.

"Hey!" he shouted, but the delinquents ran off. D'jok signed and lied down on the soft grass, waiting for his team to these kids to be the next great thing was going to be tough.

D'jok was walking the halls of his hotel, he couldn't wait to get to his room to take a nice, long nap before he had to go to training the next day. The Snow Kids were working harder than ever to win the cup and everyday D'jok would leave practice more tired and sore then the last. He didn't think he ever worked as hard as he did in the past few weeks than he did in his entire life.

He was about to open his room door, when off in the distance, he heard a faint cry. He sprinted over as fast as he could to the noise. Stopping outside the room where he had heard the noise, he pounded on the door.

"Hey, is everything alright in there?" he called.

"Help," he heard a small, high pitched voice whimper. D'jok kicked down the door. A small, blue skinned, alien girl was curled up in a ball, tears running down her face, as a tall man stood over her, a dumbfound look on his face, as if he didn't think he would get caught. D'jok recognized her as Erin, one of his students. The one who ran off before she could answer his question.

D'jok turned to the man.

"What were you trying to do to her?" he practically growled.

"Nothing, kid. Now leave us alone," he replied, his eyes narrowed.

"Wrong answer," D'jok said. Using the power from the Flux, he hit the man, sending him back into the wall. When he hit, it mad a sizable dent. D'jok didn't even know he could do that. So cool! But considering the situation, it seemed a lot less cool.

"Erin, are you okay?" D'jok asked, brushing aside a piece of her hair. She nodded, brushing a chuck of hair away from her face. Her face was wet with tears and her eyes were bloodshot.

"Thank you," she whispered.

Practice with the kids wasn't the same. D'jok was treating Erin like she was a lot frailer than she really was, which he could tell was really bugging her. Erin didn't want to be treated like she was something she was expensive china, something that needed taken care of and treated with care. She wanted to be an equal. She wasn't going to allow herself to dwell on the past.

D'jok "forgot" to put her on a team during a scrimmage, so she just stood on the side lines, trying to get his attention as he watched the team. He pared her up with the weakest players during exercises. D'jok made an effort to not work his as hard as the rest of the team, worrying that he might put too much stress on her.

It could have also been that if she got hurt, or she broke down from the stress of it all, her brother would never forgive him. He didn't want to have a teammate that he trusted mad at him, or not speaking to him. So close to the finals, too.

This went on for a month. By the end of it, Erin was tired of it. She demanded that she was treated better. She wasn't going to learn anything by not being pushed. In fact, she heard some of her teammates talking about her behind her back, about how the only reason that he was on this team was because her brother and how the only reason D'jok kept her on the team was because he couldn't risk angering Warren.

She may have gotten into this sport because of her older brother, but she generally loved it and wouldn't trade it for anything. That's why it was so painful when D'jok didn't let her do what she wanted.

After practice, she went and tapped on D'jok's shoulder. He turned around and was not at all surprised to she Erin standing there with her arms crossed, her mouth turned down in a frown.

"Why are you treating me like a child?" she marched up to D'jok where he was talking to one of the other kids about passes or something. It really didn't matter, or maybe it mattered to the kid, but whatever. She wasn't wasting anytime with polite small talk, that was for sure.

"I don't know what you mean?" he said, staring straight at Erin. She didn't back down.

"I know you feel bad for me, and at first I could understand why you gave me a break, but I'm over it, now," Erin knew the last part was a lie, D'jok probably did too.

D'jok pulled her aside from the ears of her peers, dragging her by some trees. Erin was grateful for that, she didn't want anyone to know what happened to her. They might judge and look down at her, at least more than they did now.

"Look, Erin, I surprised that your even here, after all that happened to you," D'jok said to her. Erin looked down at the ground, her cheeks flaming red. "You have to understand that I'll doing this for you."

"If you keep on treating me like I'm weak," she said, taking a set closer to D'jok, her eyes narrowing. "I'm going to start believing it myself. I am not weak!"

"I never said that you were," he replied, his voice level. But in a way, he was. By not letting her be equal to her teammates, he was tearing down her self-esteem more than he already was.

"Yeah, right," she replied walking off. She was tired of his crap.

"Wait," he called. Erin stopped and signed, turning around. "I never thought you were weak, I just thought that you needed a break." He rubbed the back of his neck and looked at the ground.

"Can we just agree to pretend like this never happened. You treat me like the rest of the kids, okay?" Erin's voice was calmer than it was before, it lost it's hard edge.

"Yeah, I treat you like the other kids, but just know. I'm going to be looking after you. I couldn't live with my self if I let you get hurt. Besides Warren would probably kill me if you got more than a broken bone," D'jok replied, a slight smile on his face.

Erin rolled her eyes and stuck out a hand. D'jok grasped it and shook, a goofy grin plastered on his face.

"Deal?" she asked.

"Deal."

Hello, new readers, or readers from another story. I started a new story, yay! How did you enjoy that story? Was it good? Or was it the worse thing you ever read? How's your day been? I would love to know.

Peace. hollandroad04 out!