TW for swearing, verbal bullying
The score was still zero-zero when the game reached halftime, although not for lack of trying on either team's part. The Mishicot striker had been prolific, taking at least a dozen shots herself, and Kara Palamas hadn't been slacking either, with nearly the same number of attempts to her name. Even Elena had a few opportunities at the net, but nothing had gone in, much to Mack's dismay. Despite all of the shots taken, the defenses were doing their jobs, and both goalies had been in spectacular form.
It was certainly one of the more chaotic matches Bobbi had ever watched. There had already been three yellow cards – one on the Manitowoc left wing, and two on some of Mishicot's defenders, and Mack, Hunter, and Clint had claimed there were at least four other fouls that hadn't been called at all.
When Fitz failed to appear at the start of halftime, Hunter resigned himself to having to go and track down his younger cousin, and Bobbi decided to use the opportunity to go and check in with Phil and May.
"Hi Bobbi," Phil beamed as she drew near to them. He and May had chosen a section of bleachers several rows back from where she and her friends had been camping. "Pretty intense game so far, right?" Bobbi nodded.
"It's definitely a different style than I'm used to, but Mack and Hunter said that things are a little more amped up than usual because of who they're playing."
"That's probably true," agreed Phil. "These games always seem to be dialed up to 11 every year, no matter how good either team is. And they're both highly ranked this year, so I'm not surprised it's been such a slugfest."
"Are you having a good time?" May asked. She studied Bobbi's face as if she was searching for any signs of unhappiness or distress.
"Yes," Bobbi said, with a bashful smile. "It's been fun so far."
"That's fantastic," said Phil at the same time as May's reply of "I'm glad to hear it." They looked at each other and laughed at their talking over one another.
"Sorry, we're not trying to be so overly enthusiastic," Phil said sheepishly. "We're just happy that you're first night out with friends is going well. We'll cool it with the 'hovering parents' routine, we promise."
"You're not hovering," Bobbi assured them. "I'm the one who came over to check in with you, remember?" They laughed again.
"Fair point," Phil conceded. "So I guess we're in the clear, then."
"Oh, before we forget," May said suddenly. "You left before you had a chance to eat, and we forgot to give you any money beforehand, either." She reached into her pocket and pulled out a five-dollar bill, then held it out for Bobbi to take. Bobbi felt her face grow hot all of the sudden. Even if they were offering, she felt like she shouldn't be taking their money.
"That was my fault," Phil said. "I was so distracted with everything else going on that it completely slipped my mind to make sure you had money for your ticket and to get something to eat."
"It's okay," Bobbi blushed. She didn't want the two of them to feel like they had to bankroll her every activity, although the offer was tempting, as she still needed something to pay Hunter back with. She squeezed her crutch handles as her mind flipflopped back and forth over whether or not she should accept.
"Really, Bobbi, take it," May insisted. "Paying for things like this is what parents do. It's our job to make sure you're taken care of. I have a reputation of being good at my jobs, and I'd like to keep it." Bobbi looked into May's face and saw that her eyes with sparkling with playfulness. Happy face. Teasing face. Friendly face. It was okay. She took the money.
"Everything's pretty inexpensive here, so that should be enough, but you can let us know if it's not," Phil told her. Her cheeks were still warm, and she didn't meet his gaze fully. "I mean it, Bobbi. Come find us if you need more. We'll be happy to give you whatever you need."
"Okay," Bobbi said finally. "Thank you."
"You're very welcome," May smiled. "You still have some time before the second half if you want to get something to eat. I'm sure you're hungry." Bobbi nodded, a little shyly. As she started making her way back down the stands, May called after her.
"Oh, Bobbi? If you see Skye and Jemma, would you tell them to come and check in with us, please? I'm sure they're fine, but we haven't seen them since we got here, and I'd like to at least lay eyes on them before they disappear for another half."
Bobbi flashed a thumbs up back towards May and Phil, and May mouthed a word of thanks. She didn't seem worried, so Bobbi resolved not to worry about the request either. She supposed it was just what good parents did, checking in on their kids at regular intervals instead of letting them run lose for hours at a time. It was nice, she decided. It was just yet another sign that the two of them genuinely cared, and it made a swarm of happy butterflies erupt in her ribs at the thought.
Bobbi made her way down to the concession stand and was pleasantly surprised to see Hunter and Fitz there, waiting in line.
"You've found each other, I see," she observed.
"Took me long enough, but I managed to track him down," Hunter said with a roll of his eyes. "He was under the bleachers with the other two when I found him, believe it or not."
"Jemma and I were explaining the rules of football to Skye, and we needed some dirt to diagram out the plays in," Fitz explained. "Skye's a much more visual learner."
"I'll have to keep that in mind," Bobbi said thoughtfully. "Are they around here somewhere? I'm supposed to send them back to May and Phil for a check in."
"They went to the loo when Lance came and got me, but they said they'd meet us here," Fitz informed her. "Skye said something about wanting to get popcorn." Satisfied, Bobbi nodded and took her place in line behind the boys. It didn't take long for the line to move up and for Hunter to purchase Fitz's snacks, plus a package of Twizzlers for himself. Bobbi followed suit and bought a hot dog of her own, then immediately turned around and pressed her change into Hunter's hand.
"For my ticket," she said.
"That was fast," Hunter quipped. He pocketed the bills with a grin, however. "Although I did tell you that you didn't have to pay me back."
"I don't like owing people."
Hunter looked like he was about to respond with one of his trademark snappy comebacks when a body practically tumbled into Bobbi's side.
"Bobbi!" It was Skye, out of breath and grinning like a jack-o-lantern. Jemma was only a few steps behind her, not running, but looking just about as happy. The knees of Skye's jeans were covered in dirt, as were the heels of her hands, presumably from kneeling over the dusty soccer diagram Fitz and Jemma had been coaching her with. "Hi!"
"Hi yourself," Bobbi smiled. "I was wondering where you two were. May and Phil sent me to look for you."
"Are we in trouble?" Skye frowned. "They said we could go with Fitz if we didn't go too far. We didn't leave the bleachers, technically. Under still counts, right?"
"No, no, you're not in trouble," Bobbi said quickly, before the anxious flash in Jemma's eyes became more permanent. "They just wanted to see you and check in before the second half started."
"Oh." Skye's smile returned almost as quickly as it had vanished a moment ago. "Okay. We'll go see them in a minute. We were going to get popcorn. Phil gave us money, look!" Skye brandished a fistful of crumpled bills that she had dug out of her pocket. "He said the popcorn would come in one of those red and white striped boxes, just like the movies." Bobbi was glad to see that Skye's elated mood from earlier in the afternoon hadn't diminished one bit.
"That sounds good," she said. "There's not much of a line if you want to get some now." Skye bounded up to the counter, Jemma in tow, and wasted no time in ordering. Bobbi marveled at the girl's boldness, which she had only seen in true full force a few times since moving in. She could see how easily the two of them fit together, with Skye taking the lead and instilling courage into Jemma, and Jemma helping to temper and soothe some of Skye's more reckless impulses.
When the pair returned to the spot where Bobbi, Fitz, and Hunter were waiting, Skye was practically vibrating with excitement at the cardboard box she had cradled in her arms. Jemma, too, held a box of popcorn like it was made of solid gold instead of buttery kernels.
"Big popcorn fans?" Hunter teased. "I'll warn you now, they save the fresh batches for games with bigger crowds. It's still pretty good, though, all things considered." The girls both eyed him, although Skye's expression was a lot more incredulous than Jemma's uncertain one.
"This is my cousin Lance," Fitz announced. "He thinks he's much funnier than he is." He tried to elbow Hunter in the side, but missed the mark and ended up bumping his shoulder into Hunter instead. Hunter snorted, and Bobbi had to bite back a smile of her own.
"You can call me Hunter," he said gregariously, holding out a hand in a dramatic sweep. Neither girl shook it, and Skye arched an eyebrow at his theatrics. "I'm hilarious, actually, but Fitz doesn't have much in the way of taste."
"You're Bobbi's friend Hunter?" Skye asked. She turned to Fitz. "Your cousin is friends with our Bobbi?" Fitz pumped his head up and down while Hunter looked slightly put out.
"Well you figured that out embarrassingly quickly," he mumbled, rubbing the back of his neck. Bobbi tried to suppress a giggle, but didn't have much luck. It shouldn't have surprised her that Skye had put the pieces together faster than they had – as much as Skye tried to mask it behind nonchalance, she was sharply observant of most things around her.
"You're surnames are different... are you maternal cousins, then?" Jemma asked. She was looking at Hunter curiously, like he was a science project she hadn't gotten to dissect yet.
"What?" Hunter looked confused momentarily, then realized what Jemma was asking. "Oh, yeah, our mums are sisters. Them and one more, but she lives in Chicago."
"Our aunt Sharon," Fitz supplied. "She comes round for holidays, but she works a lot."
"Are you English?" Hunter blurted out suddenly, staring eagerly at Jemma. "Your accent—"
Jemma's face flushed mercury red and she murmured a yes. Hunter grinned.
"I knew I recognized a kindred spirit. Fitz, you've got good taste in friends, mate. Too many Americans in this town, if you ask me."
"We're in America," Skye said bluntly. Her brow was knit with skepticism. Bobbi didn't blame her for not picking up on Hunter's brand of humor right away. It had taken her several days to really have a beat on it, and she saw Hunter several times a day at school.
"That was the joke," Hunter winked. "A little British humor for you, kid." Skye didn't look particularly impressed.
"I told you he's not very funny," Fitz grimaced. He and Skye and Jemma all exchanged knowing looks, like they were pitying poor Hunter and his odd sense of humor, and Bobbi had to cough loudly to keep from bursting out laughing at the sight of them.
"I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that," Hunter warned.
"Can we go now?" Fitz asked, bouncing up and down on the balls of his feet. "We still haven't covered offside, and Skye needs to learn it before they start playing again."
"And I want to show May and Phil our popcorn boxes," Skye piped up. Hunter chortled and waved a hand in a lazy shooing motion, sending the younger kids on their way.
"You lot go on and enjoy the rest of the game. I won't subject you to my presence any longer. Fitz, you come find me at the end, all right? I don't want to have to go hunting you down when it's time to leave." Fitz nodded as he began to scurry away with Jemma and Skye.
"Don't forget to see Phil and May," Bobbi called at their retreating backs. Jemma was the only one who turned around to give a nod of acknowledgement, but Bobbi felt confident that if Jemma had heard her, then they would be sure to do as they had been told.
"God, I would kill to have half their energy," Hunter said with an incredulous shake of his head. "Can you believe that they actually choose to run from point A to point B? The only time I ever run is on the pitch, and that's because I'm chasing down a ball."
"Running's okay," Bobbi shrugged. "I wouldn't use it as my main mode of transportation, but it can feel good to just cut loose every now and then."
"Cut loose, huh?" Hunter grinned mischievously. "I don't know, Bob, you don't really strike me as the 'cut loose' type."
"I can cut loose," she objected. "Just because you haven't seen it doesn't mean it doesn't happen."
"Oh, so I'm getting the tame version of Barbara Morse, is that it?" he teased. A tinge of pink crept onto Bobbi's cheeks.
"It's possible," she said stoutly. She knew he was just playing around, but she felt herself growing defensive. "I could have been a whole different person at my old school and you'd never know it."
"Well I hope not," said Hunter with a serious finality. "As far as I've seen, the person you are here is pretty good. I'd be sorry to learn that's not the real you." The real you. Bobbi gulped. All of the sudden it didn't feel like either one of them was joking around anymore. She wondered what Hunter would say if he knew the truth. That the person she'd been the last few weeks wasn't the real her, as much as she wished it could be. That the life she'd been living since she got here was just a pretend one where she got to imagine how things might have been if she hadn't been stuck with an absent mother and an angry father for all those years. That everything about who Hunter thought she was… was a complete and total lie.
"Oh shit," Hunter said suddenly, grabbing Bobbi's elbow. "We'd better go." She fought the urge to yank her arm out of his grasp immediately, opting instead to ease it out as casually as she could force herself to do it. She didn't want Hunter thinking she was a twitchy basket case, even if that was the truth.
"What's going on?" she asked. Hunter beckoned frantically and was already several steps ahead of her. She began pumping herself forward on her crutches to catch up with him.
"Ward's here," he said tersely over his shoulder. "Trust me, all our lives will be easier if we can just get back to our seats without him spotting us."
"I wouldn't have taken you for a 'run and hide' type," Bobbi panted behind him, the effort of keeping up with his quick strides on her crutches winding her.
"You'd be right about that," Hunter told her. "Normally that's not my go-to strategy. But this isn't exactly my arena of choice for a big public confrontation. Too many people, too many kids. It's better if we just let sleeping dogs lie for the moment."
They reached their seats and were greeted by a trio of questioning and concerned faces.
"We were wondering when – hey, is everything okay?" Mack asked as he got a look at Hunter's expression and Bobbi's labored breathing.
"Spotted Ward," Hunter filled them in. "We tried to get back over before he did the same to us."
"He's here?" Clint frowned. "Man, I thought we'd lucked out when he didn't show during the first half."
"He didn't see you, then?" Natasha asked. She swung her gaze back and forth between the antsy Hunter and the bewildered Bobbi. Hunter shook his head.
"Not as far as I could tell. I'm sure he'll see us eventually, but at least it won't be out in the open in front of the entire parent section."
"That sounds like a 'worry about it later' problem, then," Natasha said slowly, trying to calm Hunter down somewhat. "He might not even know we're here. And if he does, I doubt he's going to come looking for you. There's no way he'd start anything up here. Too many witnesses."
"You're right, you're right," muttered Hunter. He sank onto the bleachers and tried to make himself comfortable, but his eyes gave him away as they darted around looking out for Ward. Bobbi was surprised at how jittery he was acting. This wasn't the Hunter she had come to expect. Mack too seemed to be holding himself stiffly, and even Clint was looking uneasy. Bobbi locked eyes with Natasha and tried to silently ask for an explanation.
"Should I be worried?" she finally asked. "Is there some kind of target on your backs that I should know about?"
Natasha let out a long sigh. "No, it's really not as big a deal as it seems. Christian's just a…" She tilted her head from side to side, choosing her words carefully. "…a thorn in our sides, let's say. He takes pleasure in making our lives difficult, which is why we tend to avoid him. You don't need to worry, though. We'll be fine tonight." Natasha spoke the last part with pointed emphasis, raising her eyebrows at the boys. All three shifted uncomfortably in their seats and mumbled varying statements of agreement.
"He's probably pretty ticked off about his car, though," Hunter murmured under his breath. Natasha narrowed her eyes.
"What happened to his car?"
"Look, don't get mad," Clint began in a placating tone.
"That's a good way to start."
"We may have… had some fun with his tires this afternoon after practice," Hunter admitted. "Nothing illegal," he added quickly at the disapproving look on the girls' faces, "we just let the air out. No real damage, no vandalism. Just an annoyance for Prince Charming."
Natasha smacked Clint softly on the arm. "Are you serious? Why would you do something so stupid and juvenile? You know that's just going to make him mad. And you," she said, turning towards Mack. "Aren't you supposed to be the voice of reason?"
"I just stood guard," Mack said. He looked like a puppy that had gotten caught with a chewed-up slipper in its mouth. "I didn't actually help."
"I don't think that's much better."
"Nat, look, we had to do something. He and his mates all deflated all of our balls before practice today, so we spent the first twenty minutes of our field time blowing them all back up," Hunter tried to explain.
"You know how hard it is for us to get field time when everyone's in season," Clint said. "With the girls playing tonight, only one team could practice on the field this afternoon, and Coach Garrett had tried to get it for football, but Coach Kitson already had it booked for us. Ward and his buddies were mad, so they forced us to waste part of the limited time we had."
"And we couldn't just let that go," finished Hunter, like the conclusion was obvious. Clint and Mack nodded seriously. "We figured if he liked playing with air pressure so much, we'd give him a chance to do some inflating of his own." As much as Bobbi hated to admit it, she felt like the boys kind of had a point. Not that she was the type to go looking for ways to antagonize school bullies, but she understood the team need for defending their honor.
Once, a rival school back in Two Rivers – the Plymouth High Panthers – had spray painted lame insults all over the Two Rivers field, and Bobbi's team had orchestrated a revenge plot that had involved dressing the Plymouth Panther statue all in purple and leaving behind instructional pamphlets from a kiddie soccer league as a not-so-subtle jab at their soccer skills. She hadn't actually gone herself, since her dad would have flipped if he'd caught her sneaking out that night, but she'd helped the team pull their supplies together ahead of time. There was a certain amount of pride that you just couldn't set aside when someone came for your team like that.
"Look, I'm not trying to nag here," Natasha huffed. "I agree that Christian Ward needs to be taken down a peg or two, probably on a daily basis. I'm not even totally opposed to the idea of trading ultimately harmless barbs. But you have to be smarter about it. You have to be strategic. It's a chess match, not a playground fight. You have to show him you have the upper hand in all regards and at all times."
"I forgot, we're in the presence of a former KGB operative," Clint teased, with a roll of his eyes. "Not everyone is as cunning and calculated as you, Nat. Sometimes people don't want to play chess. Sometimes people just want to go and deflate some tires on pretty-boy Ward's new BMW, so they go and do just that."
The corners of Natasha's mouth twitched until she couldn't keep her straight face any longer, and she joined the boys in laughter.
"All right, all right," she surrendered. "Point taken. How red did his face get when he saw your handiwork?"
"Dunno," Hunter shrugged. "We didn't stick around for the fireworks. Better to leave the scene undetected, you know."
"I bet it was a sight to behold," Clint said dreamily. "I can just picture him hopping around like the enraged little toad that he is."
"That might have been why it took him so long to get here," reasoned Mack. "He probably had to wait for a tow truck. I can't exactly picture him changing all of his own tires by himself."
The remaining few minutes of halftime were passed quickly as they all sat there and laughed themselves silly at the mental image of Christian Ward doing manual labor. Bobbi didn't know Ward, of course, so she had a harder time finding the picture as funny as the rest of them, but from what she could tell, he came from the rich kind of family that considered it more dignified to pay other people to do all of your dirty work for you rather than just do it yourself.
By the time the referee blew the whistle to begin the second half, everyone was in much better spirits than they had been, and Bobbi felt some of the tension drop out of her shoulders. Even though she knew no one was upset with her, it was still hard sometimes to not feel nervous around angry people.
The second half got off to just as much of a whirlwind start as the first half had, with both teams buckling down after their locker room pep talks and strategy adjustments. Kara Palamas was attacking the ball with a vicious ferocity, and Elena was tearing up and down the field at full speed, chasing down every loose ball she could track.
"Look at her go," Bobbi said quietly to Mack. She knew she didn't have to tell him who she was talking about – his eyes had barely left Elena since she'd stepped back out onto the field. "She's so fast, and all that back and forth…"
"She's like a yo-yo," Mack grinned. "And she doesn't know when to quit."
Manitowoc's aggressive style of play eventually started to pay off, and Bobbi could tell that the Mishicot team, while still scrapping as hard as they could, were wearing down. With only about five minutes left in the game, the Mishicot striker who'd been going tit-for-tat with Kara broke free from the main pack and began making a serious play for the goal. She was building up a head of steam, and she easily weaved around her own teammates and one of Manitowoc's other midfielders.
Bobbi could feel a nervous energy spark up in the crowd, and a rumbling started to accumulate within the stands. The Mishicot striker had good eyes – she could see Alicia preparing to meet her from about 30 yards out – but not good enough. She changed course slightly to avoid a head-on confrontation with Alicia, but missed Elena who was charging up from behind her. In the blink of an eye, Elena had passed the Mishicot striker and was now in front of her, ready to make a clean challenge for the ball. The Mishicot striker didn't know what had hit her. Elena expertly stole the ball away with a surgical flick of the foot, and was already a good ten feet away before the Mishicot striker realized that she didn't have the ball anymore. An excited roar began to swell up from the crowd. Everyone could feel what Bobbi was feeling. Something big was about to break open here.
"She's got an open field!" Hunter hollered, waving his arms around frantically. Clint and Natasha were jumping up and down and cheering her on, and Mack was bellowing for her to "go, yo-yo, go!" Bobbi hadn't felt this alive in weeks.
The Mishicot defense was on their heels, pedaling to get back as fast as they could to try and get in between Elena and the goal. Kara Palamas was also charging down the field, the only other red jersey in the vicinity. Elena had them all precisely where she wanted them, it seemed. She didn't indicate that she even saw Kara drawing up on the other side of the field, and the Mishicot defenders took the bait. They charged towards her like a crashing wave. She faked towards the center, evading one defender, then cut back to the right, drawing the others along with her. Just as one of the defenders took a powerful slide tackle towards here, Elena crossed the ball over their heads and straight towards the patiently waiting and very open Kara.
The defender who had tried to tackle Elena collided with her, knocking her feet out from under her and sending Elena sprawling on the ground. A cry of outrage rose up from the stands, but it was quickly overtaken by an ecstatic cheer as Kara beelined a clear shot towards the goal. For a second, Bobbi was sure the shot was going in, and so did everybody else it seemed. Then the ball pinged off of the crossbar at the top of the goal and ricocheted back out onto the field.
The next moment happened so fast, it was a wonder anyone could keep track of what was going on. For Bobbi, though, it felt like she was watching it all unfold in slow motion. The ball flew outwards towards the open field, and it seemed all but certain that a Mishicot player would scoop it up and clear it. That is, until Elena, scrappy and resilient Elena, who had managed to scramble back to her feet and plant herself in precisely the right spot, caught the ball in midair with the crown of her head and sent it right into the back of the net.
The crowd erupted in a deafening shout as every player in the Manitowoc colors began to race towards Elena, fists in the air. Elena was on the ground where she'd landed after throwing her entire body into the header shot, and she disappeared momentarily under a pile of celebrating bodies.
"They need to get off!" Mack cried. "She's going to get hurt! And that ref completely blew the call on that slide tackle a minute ago. That defender could have taken out both of her ankles like that."
"Stop worrying and enjoy the goal, you big softy!" Hunter called over the fevered cheers of the crowd. "She'll be fine!"
The last few minutes passed like a dream. The goal had completely taken the wind out of the Mishicot sails, and although they tried to press forward for an attempt at an equalizer, the momentum of Elena's goal fueled the rest of the Manitowoc team towards a total shut down of any final gasps of offense that Mishicot might have.
When the final whistle rang out signaling the end of the game, the stands exploded in a fresh wave of celebration, and Elena was flanked off the field by a group of her teammates, all of whom were thumping her on the back and pumping their fists in the air. Elena was beaming so widely it looked like her smile was going to split her face wide open, although it didn't escape Bobbi's notice that she was treating her left ankle a little tenderly. Bobbi also noticed that, while she was celebrating the victory, Kara Palamas didn't seem quite as elated as the rest of the team.
"Oh my god, that was amazing," Hunter gushed, his voice hoarse from all of the yelling he had been doing. "One of the best finishes we've ever seen."
"I still can't believe she was able to get back up and get over to the ball in time," Natasha marveled, shaking her head.
The crackling, tinny sound of the marching band returned over the loudspeaker, striking up the opening notes of the fight song from the beginning of the game. It felt like the whole world was singing along to the plunky tune, and even though Bobbi still didn't know the words, she joined her friends in shouting "Fight On!" at the end. She was smiling so hard you would have thought she had just scored the winning goal herself, and her whole body was filled with a floaty, fizzy feeling at the excitement of the game. She didn't realize how much she had missed this. In that moment, she knew beyond a shadow of a doubt, that she would do whatever it took to get back on the field. There was no way she could ever live with herself if she didn't give it her everything to try.
"Bobbi, come on," Clint called, drawing Bobbi's consciousness back to the stands. He and the others were making their way down to the fence at the bottom of the bleachers that separated the fans from the field. Hurriedly, she followed and watched as her friends leaned over the fence to congratulate Elena, who had drifted over that way.
"That was bloody brilliant," Hunter croaked, smiling wide. "Absolute beauty of a header."
"So awesome," Clint agreed.
"You were great," Mack said with a bashful smile. "The steal was perfect, and you set them up just right."
"Thanks, guys," Elena said. She smiled wide and ducked her head a little, shyly. Her cheeks were flushed, although whether that was from all of the running, the excitement, or the praise was anyone's guess.
"How come you didn't take the shot yourself the first time?" Natasha asked.
"Kara was more open," Elena shrugged. "And she's the striker, after all."
"Did you see the way her shot doinked right off the crossbar?" Clint laughed. "She was wide open and she totally missed."
"Anyone can miss a shot," Elena said graciously.
"It's what you do with the ball afterwards that really matters," Mack nodded, beaming down at Elena. She waved him off with a brush of her hand.
"What did you think, Bobbi?" she asked suddenly, turning to Bobbi, who had been lingering behind the rest of her friends. She wasn't sure Elena knew her well enough to want to be congratulated by her after the game. "Mack told me you play. How did we look?"
"Oh, uh," Bobbi's face grew warm at the awkwardness of being put on the spot. Her fingers twitched slightly. "Good. Really good. I mean, it was a pretty chaotic game. A lot of aggressive pushes more so than drawn out plays, but you all stayed tough the whole way through. And that whole play was great – the steal, the fake, the pass." She smiled then. "And the header, of course."
"I'm glad you thought so," Elena said earnestly. She took a step closer to Bobbi and the fence, a little away from the rest of the group. "I looked you up when Mack told me you played for your old school. Your stats are impressive. We could use somebody like you at midfield." Bobbi blushed for real then.
"That's nice of you to say," she managed to splutter out. "We'll see how my rehab goes, I guess."
"Definitely," Elena nodded. She shifted slightly, and Bobbi noticed again that she was favoring her ankle.
"Did something happen?" she asked quietly, gesturing to Elena's leg with her crutch. "You're limping a little."
"It's nothing," said Elena with a shake of her head. "Just a little roughed up from that tackle. Took a cleat to the ankle, I think, and landed a little funny. It's okay, I'll bounce back. Just, don't tell Mack, okay?" Bobbi squinched her mouth into a concerned pucker, but nodded.
"Don't tell Mack what?" Mack asked, leaning back towards where Bobbi and Elena had been chatting. His pleasant smile melted into a worried look. "Is everything okay?"
"Yeah," Elena said, forcing a happy expression back onto her face. "I'm just trying to keep you from finding out that Mr. Coulson told me what our next AV Club movie is going to be."
"What? No way," Mack grinned. "He never lets that slip. What is it?"
"Like I said, I can't tell you," Elena teased. "I've been sworn to secrecy."
"That's so unfair," Mack pouted. "Does Bobbi know? Bobbi, you've got to tell me."
"I can't, I don't know what it is," Bobbi said quickly, holding her hands up in surrender. She was impressed by how easily Elena had rattled off an alternate story to Mack, and she was grateful she could just play dumb and still go along with it.
She was saved from further interrogation by the arrival of Fitz, who bounded up to Hunter with Skye and Jemma in tow. All three looked positively beside themselves with excitement.
"Did you see that finish?" Fitz said in awe. "Absolutely amazing!"
"It was quite good," Jemma nodded.
"Of course we saw it," Hunter said. He looked a little offended that Fitz would even suggest the possibility of him not witnessing the most critical play of the game. "You don't have to tell me how great it was. You can tell Elena yourself." Hunter stuck a thumb back in Elena's direction, helping the three younger kids to realize that Elena had been standing there the whole time. Immediately, they bustled over to her and Fitz and Skye both began talking a mile a minute, enthusing at length about the game. Elena was a little taken aback, but humbly accepted the praise and adoration from her newest fan club members.
"All right, all right, let the superstar breathe," Hunter chided, planting a hand on Fitz's shoulder and steering him back towards the rest of the group. "We've got to get going soon, and I'm sure Elena has better things to do than stand here and talk to us."
"You guys are fine," Elena smiled. "It was really nice of you all to come and watch. I should probably go and grab my stuff soon, though. I'm sure coach wants us all in the locker room."
Everyone waved goodbye as Elena meandered back over to the bench to collect her things, and soon Natasha and Clint were saying goodbye as well.
"We'll see you in school tomorrow," Natasha said. "We're glad you came, Bobbi. Hopefully you had a good enough time to want to do this again."
Bobbi nodded. "Definitely."
"Good." Natasha looked satisfied. "I'm going to need you when it's time to start going to boys' games. It gets pretty lonely when all of these knuckleheads are out on the field." She turned and left then, Clint tagging along beside her.
"Who was that?" Skye asked, once the pair of them were out of earshot.
"That's our friend Natasha and our friend Clint," Mack explained. "They're seniors, but we all like to hang out together." Skye gave Mack a long, careful look, like she was sizing him up. She and Jemma barely came up to his biceps, but Skye didn't seem to be intimidated by the drastic height difference.
"Oh, sorry," Mack said suddenly, realizing his lapse in manners. "I'm Mack. I'm friends with your cousin Bobbi. And with Hunter, too. Do you know Hunter? And you know Fitz, obviously. You're Skye and Jemma, right?"
"Yeah," Skye said slowly. She looked confused at the cousin comment, and Bobbi began praying furiously that she wouldn't bring it up. "I'm Skye, and this is Jemma."
"Bobbi's told us a lot about you two," Mack smiled. "It's so cool that you all are living together. Mr. C is basically our favorite teacher, so I'm a little jealous you get to live with him, too."
"We like Phil," shrugged Skye. Either her confusion had passed, or she had chosen to let the remark slide in favor of talking about Phil. Bobbi felt like her knees had turned into Jell-O and re-solidified, all in the space of a few seconds. "He's been really nice. May, too."
"Where are Phil and May, by the way?" Bobbi asked, craning her neck for a sign of her foster parents. A safer direction to guide the conversation.
"We were sitting with them at the end of the game," Jemma said. "Then someone Phil knew came up to talk to him once it was over."
"They were talking about something really boring, like real estate or something—" Skye explained.
"The school levy that's going on the local ballot in November," clarified Jemma.
"And Fitz had to come find Hunter, so May said we could go with him, and to meet her and Phil by the gate," Skye finished.
"Gotcha." Bobbi nodded. She paused. She wasn't sure what she was supposed to do next, or how one was supposed to end the hanging out portion of the evening. Luckily, Hunter did.
"Well, we need to get going," he said with a clap of his hands. "Shall we?"
The group began the trek past the stands and out toward the open space where the concession stand was being closed up, beyond which lay the front gate. They had made it about halfway when a snide voice stopped them in their tracks.
"Damn, Hunter, I didn't realize you were in the babysitting business. Then again, I guess you do have that kind of "British nanny" vibe about you. A regular Mary Poppins." Hunter bristled at the voice, then wheeled around, fire flashing in his eyes. Mack turned around too, and soon Bobbi and the others followed suit.
Standing about six feet away from them was a tall, athletic-looking white boy with dark, carefully styled hair. His features had a kind of old-money handsomeness to them, but the sneering expression on his face twisted any trace of attractiveness out of them. Surely, this had to be Christian Ward.
"Fancy seeing you here, Ward," Hunter said tersely. "I would have thought transportation was a bit of a hitch for you at the moment." Malice flickered in Ward's eyes, and Bobbi felt a sickening sensation curl up in the pit of her stomach. She had seen that look before. In an instant, however, Ward morphed his face into something haughty and aloof, revealing none of the fury he had worn a moment ago.
"I had it taken care of," he smiled. There was something sinister in the look, like a viper was lying coiled just behind the mask. "Whatever idiot did that to my car didn't do a very thorough job, so it didn't take long to fix."
"Well isn't that a relief for you?" Hunter said dryly. "If we're done with this pleasant little chitchat, I think we'll be on our way. Always a pleasure, Ward."
"You know," Ward said quickly, taking a few threatening steps in closer. Bobbi felt her throat tighten, and her palms began to sweat. She was fighting the instinct to take off and run as far away from Christian Ward as she could. Her hands twitched. "It's funny, because Creel and Rumlow could have sworn they saw the jackasses who messed with my car, and, you'll never believe this, but they said that they looked just like the two of you and your punk friend Barton."
"Maybe they ought to get their vision checked," Mack said, his voice low and tense. Despite his size, Bobbi had never thought of Mack as dangerous, but hearing the severity in his tone as he spoke to Ward, Bobbi could see how Mack could be a real threat if he wanted to be.
"Or their heads," Hunter added. "You know what they say about American football. Too many knocks to the brain, it starts to confuse the poor blokes…"
"Look, I know it was you," Ward hissed, taking yet another step closer to Hunter and jabbing a finger into his chest. Hunter slapped Ward's hand away, not phased by Ward's intimidation tactics. "And I'm going to make you weasels pay." Pay. Pay. Pay.
"Thought you said it was an easy fix," said Hunter coolly.
"And that stunt your little girlfriend pulled?" Ward continued, turning towards Mack. "That goal was Kara's. Nobody likes a goal-stealer."
"Maybe she shouldn't have missed the open shot, then," Bobbi blurted. She felt the color drain from her face. She had no idea why she had opened her mouth, but something in her had snapped. She didn't like the way Ward was treating her friends. She had never been able to stand up to her dad, but she could surely stand up to Ward.
Ward noticed her for the first time, then, and he gave her a venomous look that made her skin crawl. "I don't believe we've had the pleasure of meeting," he oozed, holding out a hand. "Christian Ward."
Behind her, Bobbi heard one of the girls, maybe Skye, suck in a surprised breath. She forced herself not to turn around and check on her. She didn't want to draw Ward's attention to the younger kids. Instead, she steeled herself to reply. Ward was just another kid. An arrogant, mean-spirited kid who needed a reality check. He wasn't her father. Her hands twitched again, and she squeezed her crutches.
"I wouldn't exactly call this a pleasure," she said flatly.
"Not with that attitude," Ward scolded.
"Why don't you just go and kick some puppies or something, Ward?" Hunter cut in. "We're trying to leave here."
"But we're all just starting to get to know each other," Ward said, a nasty smile parting his lips. "Who're all your little friends?"
"None of your business," Mack growled. He took a step, trying to shield Fitz, Skye, and Jemma from view. Unfortunately, Ward had already scanned their faces, and a look of realization crossed his when he spied Fitz.
"That scrawny one's you cousin, isn't he, Hunter?"
Hunter got right up in Ward's face, and Mack quickly grabbed a fistful of the back of Hunter's t-shirt to keep him from going any farther. "You leave him out of this."
"Yeah, my brother Grant's told me all about that little freak," Ward continued, apparently relishing the way in which he was able to wind Hunter up. "He says hi, by the way."
With a roar, Hunter lunged at Christian, and he probably would have gotten a good swing in at Christian's face if Mack hadn't still been restraining him. Bobbi heard someone, likely Jemma, let out a petrified squeak, and Mack raised his voice at Hunter, telling him to cool it. They all began to argue, Hunter threatening to come after Ward if he so much as looked at Fitz again, Mack trying to deescalate the situation, and Ward egging them both on.
Bobbi's chest felt tight, and it felt like her vision was narrowing. Her hands were trembling, and she could hear the ringing shouts of the angry boys rattling around in her ears. Somehow, the sounds of Hunter and Mack and Ward starting mixing together with another voice, an older, angrier man. Her father. He was shouting, too. Bobbi squeezed her eyes shut, trying to block all of the sounds out, but it wasn't working.
"You wish you had the guts to swing at me!" Ward was yelling. "You can't touch me." Touch me. Don't touch me. Don't touch me.
"Why don't you come over here and try that theory out like a man?" Hunter shouted.
"Hunter, leave it, seriously," Mack pleaded. Leave it. Make it stop.
"Yeah, Hunter, leave it," mocked Ward. "You don't want to know what I can do to you, or your flippy little cousin, or any of your pathetic friends."
Hunter began to stop resisting Mack's restraint, his anger draining out of him and turning into hardened steel. "You don't run this school, Ward," he glowered. "And I'm going to remind you of that every bloody day if I have to."
"You just tell your friends to watch their backs," Ward sneered as he began to saunter away. "Barton, the Russian spy… and your little goal-stealing girlfriend, too." Mack looked like he wanted to knock Ward's block off, but was stopped short by the sight of something approaching behind them. Bobbi swung her gaze over to follow Mack's line of sight and saw the figures of May and Phil approaching. Relief flooded every fiber of Bobbi's being, and she felt her muscles go limp. Everything was going to stop. Everything was going to be okay.
"Everything all right over here?" Phil asked seriously as he drew level with the heated group. Ward had done a complete 180, and turned an oily smile on him.
"All good, Mr. Coulson," he said smoothly. "Just a minor disagreement. But it's all settled now. I was just on my way out."
Before Phil had a chance to say anything further, Christian slipped away. Bobbi watched as he ducked out of the gate and joined a group of older students who had been hanging around in the parking lot. She could see a few boys who she recognized as football players from their jackets, plus Kara Palamas with her duffle bag, and another girl in a floral-print dress with light brown skin, big black curls, and the biggest, shiniest eyes Bobbi had ever seen. The girl was staring at them intently, and it was starting to unnerve Bobbi. She and Bobbi locked eyes for a moment, but it was Bobbi who had to break her gaze away. Something about the girl was almost as unsettling as the brawl that had nearly broken out in front of her moments ago.
"What's going on, guys?" Phil asked again, looking seriously from Bobbi to Mack to Hunter. "What was all that shouting about?"
"It's nothing," Hunter mumbled, kicking at the ground. "Just messing around. We should go." He put a hand on Fitz's shoulder and began to guide Fitz toward the gate.
"Hunter, seriously, if there's something going on that I should know about, now is a great time to tell me," Phil pressed. His voice was kind, but he looked more serious than Bobbi had ever seen him be. "Is Christian giving you guys a hard time? Because you guys know we have a zero-tolerance policy on bullying."
"It's fine, really, Mr. Coulson. We need to get home." Hunter said curtly. "We'll see you tomorrow, Bob. Come on, Fitz, let's go." He left in earnest, then, without another word, pulling Fitz behind him and with Mack trailing a few steps behind.
"Are you three all right?" May asked quietly, inspecting Bobbi, Skye, and Jemma's faces. All three girls nodded, although Bobbi felt sure that she wasn't the only one who didn't meet May's eyes.
"Does anybody feel like telling us what just happened?" Phil asked again. No one said anything. Bobbi opened her mouth to try and explain, but she couldn't make her voice work. Her throat still felt like it had a golf ball wedged in it.
"Let's just get to the car," suggested May, placing a gentle hand on Phil's arm. "It's too hot and crowded here, anyway."
"Right, the car," Phil nodded slowly, like he was processing the idea in real time. "You're right, we should get home, too."
And with that, they made their way out of the gate and towards the car without another word.