Chapter Thirteen: An Old Foe

WARNINGS: Nudity, language

Sunlight poured through the windows of Brodi's trailer, illuminating the two naked tangled bodies on the bed, sound asleep. It was Brodi who first stirred; opening his eyes slowly and smiling at the sight of his dear Mackenzie beneath him, sound asleep.

Mac felt the weight lifted from him and awoke as well. "Brodi…" he whispered softly, opening his eyes halfway and looking up at his lover. Mac rolled over on his side and curled up, closing his eyes again and falling back into a light sleep.

Brodi smiled down at the sleepy Mac, then headed off to his closet to change into what he would be wearing to compete that day. After he was changed, he walked back over to the bed, putting his hand on Mac's shoulder and turning him over on his back again.

"Wake up, Mackenzie. Quarterfinals are in a few hours and you need to get dressed," as Brodi spoke, Mac gasped and shot up in the bed.

"What?! Aww man, no way! I haven't boarded in FOREVER!" Mac groaned in anxiety, threading his fingers through his hair and falling back on the bed.

"Well did you skateboard at all while you were gone?"

"Yeah… but that's different!" Mac cried, rolling around in the bed.

"It's better than nothing… just try to place in the top three for today, and we can board together afterwards if you like," said Brodi, trying to reassure the panicking Mac.

"Alright, that sounds good, but man I gotta get dressed! Maybe we could take some practice runs before the race…" Mac got out of bed and walked to his suitcase, dressing right there in the middle of the trailer. Brodi watched him and smiled.

Once Mac was dressed, he grabbed his board and Brodi's hand. "Dude, we gotta go!" he yelled, and Brodi, caught off-guard, almost fell after him, barely managing to grab his own board before being dragged out of his trailer. He ran down to the starting line with Brodi, the fans were just beginning to file into the stands, and no one else was around except Moby and Psymon chatting at the back of the start area. Mac saw them out of the corner of his eye, and lowered his head. He sat down behind the gates, strapping on his board and pulling on his hat and snow goggles. Brodi did the same and they both entered the gates; Brodi counted down from five and they sped off around the first turn, heading to the drop off which Mac had attempted suicide.

Mac started feeling dizzy again, just as he had that fateful day one year ago, but he shook his head, trying to ignore it. He was going to do his usual set of tricks off the slope, and nothing was going to happen. Just like always. 10 meters left. Mac sped up and before he knew it, he was no longer on the ground. He twisted and turned in the air, ahead of Brodi, who purposely stayed behind him to see if he was going to be alright. 100 feet from the ground. Mac pulled out of the twist and landed perfectly, speeding into the icy twists. Brodi breathed a sigh of relief, landing just after Mac and speeding after him.

Three minutes later the both of them sped across the finish line, Mac ahead of Brodi by about 3 seconds. When Brodi stopped in front of Mac, Mac was smiling up at him. Brodi couldn't have been more relieved. Not only did Mac simply survive the run, he had achieved a good time as well.

"Well, 15 minutes to race time. We'd better catch the lift and get ready, okay Mackenzie? That was a good practice run, you're just like your old self again!" Brodi said, and Mac smiled and nodded. They boarded over to the ski lift, holding hands all the way.

Mac stood ready on his board in the far right gate. Brodi was next to him, followed by Kaori, Moby, Psymon, and Luther. Mac couldn't stand being around Psymon, Moby and Luther, not after what they did, so he had one objective for this race: Get in first, stay in first, finish first.

Rahzell's voice suddenly boomed from the speakers. "A beautiful day here at Garibaldi, British Columbia! The long awaited return of Mac Fraser has finally arrived after a year's absence, and is the favorite in today's race! We should expect great things from the youngest boarder on the SSX circuit!"

Mac blushed as he heard the crowd cheering his name, but snapped to attention as the countdown began.

5, 4, 3, 2, 1. GO! Mac shot out of the gate, far ahead of everyone else. He could hear Psymon laughing behind him, and Moby yelled to him.

"Bloody slut, you're gonna wish you were never born!"

Mac groaned softly and looked over to Brodi, who had pulled up along side of him.

"Mackenzie, you can knock me over for a boost if you'd like, I think you're going to need it." The big jump was coming up fast, and Mac nodded, pushing Brodi in the chest and cringing as he watched him fall behind him. Mac did a few tricks off the cliff, and immediately sped up around the icy turns, doing small spins and flips to keep up his boost until the next ramp.

He was doing a pretty good job of staying ahead of the rest of them, doing insane tricks off the ramps and small spins on the flat ground. Occasionally he looked back to see Psymon or Moby or Luther sneering at him, and each time he sped up desperately, fleeing the people he hated so much.

Mac was approaching a small jump at the end of a downhill path, he only needed one more trick for a super boost, but out of nowhere Psymon blind-sided him and he fell face-first into the snow.

"AGHH!!" He cried and jumped up, speeding after Psymon only to receive a fist between the legs from Moby. He could hardly get up, let alone board, but biting his lip and trying to block out the pain, he sped off again, at least 200 meters behind everyone else. But there was a shortcut coming up that only he knew. It was fairly obvious, and Mac was surprised that no one else had noticed it yet.

He raced down a straightaway, not seeing anyone in front of him he groaned. The shortcut was right there… Instead of curving to the right, he rode straight off the lip of the turn, onto the ice below. First place, but he had landed right in front of Psymon, which was not good. Mac was on a nonstop boost, but Psymon was faster than him, right on his tail the whole time.

One last jump until the finish line. Mac was approaching fast, with Psymon right behind him. He was preparing to jump, but he shouted out as Psymon punched him in the back, sending him rolling down the hill and across the finish line, just after Psymon. Walking over to him, Psymon just looked down at Mac and laughed. Brodi finished a few seconds after, jumping off his board and walking quickly to Mac's side. He shot a cold look at Psymon, and Psymon took the hint, scowling and striding off.

"Mackenzie, are you alright?"

"Well, aside from the fact of having the shit kicked out of me by Psymon and Moby and Luther the whole race, yeah I'm fine. At least I got second…" Mac said, disgruntled, and he unstrapped his board and stood up, pulling off his hat and snow goggles. "We're both in the semi's now, thankfully."

Brodi nodded and ruffled Mac's hair. "Indeed we are. And I'm going to be right at your side the whole race. If Psymon tries anything, I'll be right there to shove him to the ground." Brodi smiled and leaned down to kiss Mac's head. "How about we head back up to my trailer? I'll bring some hot chocolate from the lodge and we can take a rest."

Mac nodded at the idea and hugged Brodi. "Let's go then."