WINNING THE GAME: MAGNIFICENT SEVEN ATF UNIVERSE
"One touchdown! One touchdown, that's all and we would have beaten them again!" Buck Wilmington ranted; sweat staining his shirt and face as he paced back and forth on the field.
"This is the first time Team Six has won," Josiah reminded him, towelling off, "Everyone deserves a turn to win, sometime."
"Not them! I'm not turning the other cheek here, Josiah! You know what a bunch of pompous windbags they are! We'll never hear the end of this!" Buck was pounding his right fist into his left hand for emphasis.
"Buck, would you stop yelling, I have a headache," Nathan muttered, rubbing the back of his neck as he sat on the bench.
"Ah, you can't win them all, Mr. Wilmington," Ezra stated diplomatically as he sat calm and cool unlike the other six that were dripping with sweat.
"Well, I sure aim to win them all!" The wrath of a defeated Wilmington knew no bounds. Buck was one of the most easygoing agents for ATF, but not on the football field where, as he continually reminded everyone, he had been the captain of his college team. That, and the fact that Team Seven had a less-than-friendly rivalry with Team Six, in both football and affairs of the heart, made losing this game a particular sore spot. Adding salt to Buck's wound was the fact that Trey Morgan was dating Alice Grey, the lovely secretary Buck had his eye on for weeks.
Chris Larabee watched his long-time friend with inner amusement. Chris hated losing as well, but Buck's bellowing he found entertaining briefly until he realized the heat he would take from Team Six Leader Patrick O'Brian. O'Brian had been waiting a long time to get bragging rights over Team Seven on something and Chris' smirk turned into a frown as he considered the fallout of losing the game.
As of yet, the youngest member of the team sat dejected, towel around his neck, head down with the long dark hair and bangs covering his face.
"JD!" Buck yelled, turning his attention to his roommate. "Why didn't you get open and catch that pass? I lobbed it right to where you were supposed to be! You coudda beaten Norton, that fat-bottomed tub of lard, with only one leg! All that time and energy learning that trick play gone to waste! What's the matter with you, Kid? A hero's welcome was just waitin' for you and you blew it!"
JD didn't move or give any sign he knew he was now the target of Buck's frustration as Buck continued to rail.
Vin moved to stand by JD protectively just as Buck was prone to do in any other situation. "Leave the kid alone, Buck."
"Yeah," Chris spoke up. "Team win, team loss."
"Our first loss!" Buck argued, not mollified.
"Buck," Nathan and Josiah warned together.
Ezra noticed that unlike most altercations, JD was not fighting back and was afraid the boy was taking the loss personally. "Mr. Wilmington, the lad did the best he could. . ."
"And why are you being so kind, Ezra? Didn't you lose a lot of money betting on us to win?"
Vin's eyes narrowed as Ezra met Buck's gaze calmly. Vin caught just a slight movement, and doubled over with laughter. "Ezra! You didn't bet on us!" punctuating each word with a pause in between for emphasis.
Josiah, Chris and Nathan stared, open-mouthed and then begin to chuckle. Only Buck's face flushed. "Ezra! You traitor!"
Chris imagined he saw a slight flinch in Ezra, but Ezra was so good at poker, Chris wasn't sure. He did notice that Ezra's dilemma took the heat off JD.
Until Nathan caught JD rubbing his left arm and immediately pounced. "JD, are you all right?"
The other members of Team Seven's focus turned back to JD as the youth finally looked up and muttered those famous words, "I'm fine."
Nathan wasn't buying and despite protests from the youth, began to pull JD's t-shirt over his head, exposing his bare stomach and arms.
"C'mon, Nathan, don't strip me here!" JD protested, trying to squirm out of the medic's firm grasp.
"C'mon, kid, you've got nothing to be ashamed of," Vin teased. At other times JD's modesty made for a good-natured round of kidding, but everyone stopped cold as they got a look at the colorful bruises decorating JD's arms and stomach.
"JD!"
"What the hell happened?"
"Who'd you lose the fight with?"
"Norton tackled him a couple of times but not that hard I thought . . ." and Josiah's voice trailed off the Team Six walked past them, freshly showered and swaggering just as Buck had pulled JD up and held him at arm's length to examine him more closely, the scene feeding the amusement and arrogance of the team conveniently forgetting their previous losses to Team Seven.
"Mother hen," one snickered.
"Worse," a second muttered.
"Whatssa matter, Wilmington, your pretty baby boy get a boo-boo?" Norton mocked to the rest of Team Six's laughter. JD not only had the distinction of being the youngest agent by several years but possessed the slightest build, too. Not-so-quiet whispers doubting Larabee's wisdom in hiring a boy reached Team Seven. It didn't help that the aforesaid JD was cute and looked sixteen with his dark hair, milky white skin and long sooty lashes.
"Gotta play nice or Mommy Buck beat you up," sing-songed Morgan.
"Maybe kid needs to go back to junior high school," snickered Doherty.
Team Seven members rose to face JD's tormentors, each squaring off with a member of Team Six. Buck had actually let go of JD long enough to grab Norton, growling, "Picking on a kid, Norton? Big tub of lard like you? I'll bash your head so hard you'll see stars and think you are in outer space!"
"Hey, if he's too delicate to play with the big boys, keep him in his playpen!" Norton shouted back.
The topic of the conversation said nothing, slumped back on the bench.
Chris wanted to take on O'Reilly and could tell the others were just itching to shut Team Six's big mouths but alarm bells were going off. "Stop!" he yelled and everyone backed off. "Nathan, check JD. This isn't like the kid at all." Suddenly, Team Six was forgotten as Team Seven focused on their youngest. JD's teeth were chattering; his arms folded together as if to ward off cold (even though the temperature was hot enough to fry eggs on the sidewalk) and looked whiter than usual and with a haunted glaze in his expressive eyes.
"Chris, I . . . Buck, help . . ." and the youth pitched forward, as a startled Buck caught him. Nathan did a quick exam, and not liking what he was finding . . .
"Hospital," Nathan said, and Buck nodded, scooping JD up and running to his car, faster than he had carried the football.
Team Six had the grace to be ashamed.
"Didn't know kid was sick . . ."
"He was whiter than milk . . ."
"Norton, if you really hurt him on purpose . . ."
The sound of screeching tires jolted them and Team Six gathered up their belonging and left, victory celebrations forgotten.