Author's Note: I realized something while I was laboring over this chapter: If we let the idea of Liley wither and fade, then we've let all those who have tried to stifle the connection between Miley and Lilly win. I'm already ticked that some heartless, loveless people at corporate Disney have trashed Hannah Montana's television show; no way in Hell am I letting the happiness, the positivity, the sheer rightness of Miley's and Lilly's love for each other fade away peacefully. Maybe the fourth and final season of HM can bring back the Miley and Lilly we've all grown to love. Maybe.
I hope everyone can forgive me for the terrible delay between this chapter and the previous one. Suffice it to say that life has gotten hectic, and that I'll try to do my best with updates. However, I will absolutely finish all the stories in this series, whether it turns out to be seven or nine. Most likely nine. It might take a few years, but hey, we're halfway there since this story is the fifth!
Here are my standard disclaimers: I make no claims on any of Disney's, Miley Cyrus', Emily Osment's or Hannah Montana's trademarks or copyrights, and no infringement is intended on them or those of any other artist or publication mentioned. Be forewarned that this story most certainly will contain femslash. If love and affection between two consenting young adults of the same sex bothers you, I suggest you turn right around and find something else to read. Keep any flames to yourself and remember that what our world needs now is more love and acceptance, not more hate. Reviews are always welcomed and appreciated!
We Got Nerve
by Jo K.
Chapter 27: Collision Course
We gotta hold on, ready or not
You live for the fight when that's all that you've got
--Bon Jovi, "Livin' on a Prayer"
The sudden chill against the back of her neck made Miley shriek as she jumped to her feet, nearly knocking her mischievous wife backward. She grabbed the tingling skin just below her hair as she spun around, shivering slightly as her blue eyes settled on Lilly's twinkling eyes of the same color. "Yes?" she said with a fairly irritated voice, but her stern look was already threatening to yield to happy laughter. Grrr. It's SO hard to stay mad at her when she's so darn cute.
Lilly giggled, eliciting a matching noise from their daughter Brooke. The baby girl was nestled in the crook of Lilly's left arm; Lilly had spun away when Miley had jerked to her feet to keep her wife from bumping her arm. "Oh, just making sure you were still breathing," Lilly said casually, tossing the frozen bag of vegetables into the shopping cart.
"By stickin' a bag of frozen veggies against the back of my neck while I was down here checkin' the price on these Poptarts?" Miley growled, making Brooke wiggle her hands and fingers excitedly at the sound of her other mother's deep voice.
Lilly nodded. "Yup. Worked, too. See? You're breathing."
Miley narrowed her eyes, eying Lilly warily. "You better watch yourself, Lilly Truscott. There might be a bag a' frozen veggies with your name on it somewhere."
Lilly leaned forward, lightly grasping Miley's upper left arm with her free right hand as she leaned in and kissed her wife for several seconds. "Does that make it better, my sweet Miley?" she whispered against Miley's cheek.
Miley mutely nodded for a few seconds until she could catch her breath, finally saying, "It's a little better."
Lilly looked into Miley's bright blue eyes, nearly gray in the harsh florescent lighting of the supermarket. "Just a little?" she asked teasingly. She liked where this game was going.
Miley nodded again, and now a grin was creeping across her face. "Maybe a little more would make it even better."
Lilly lifted an eyebrow, her own version of the Stewart eyebrow now impeccable after years of practice. "Just a little more, huh?" she said, stepping closer to her wife again. Brooke burbled as her mommies kissed again, just as her curious little fingers instinctively grasped the soft, silky things that brushed across her face.
"OW! She's got my hair, Lilly!"
"Oooh, shoot!" Lilly mumbled, pulling her lips away but staying close to Miley as she tried to get Brooke to release her vice-like grip on her momma's dark brown hair. "You love your momma's hair, don't you baby girl?" she cooed to her daughter as she carefully moved Brooke's tiny fingers, finally freeing Miley's hair from their daughter's grasp. "It's okay. Your mommy loves your momma's hair, too. Even if I don't pull on it quite that hard."
As she gingerly touched her sore scalp, Miley caught Lilly's gaze. "You were tuggin' on it pretty hard this weekend, if I'm rememberin' correctly," she said with a devilish smile on her face.
"And you sure as heck seemed to like it," Lilly replied, a slight blush tinging her cheeks with a rosy tint.
"You bet your cute rear end I liked it. It's sooo hot when you pull on my hair like that when you're behind me, Lilly Bear."
"Miles!" Lilly hissed in a loud whisper. "Let's not give everybody else in the grocery store the play-by-play on our making love, okay?"
"But I bet they'd like to know how cute your mouth is when you—"
"No, I don't think they would!" Lilly reached into the cart. "Do I have to get the frozen carrots back out, or will you behave, Miley Truscott?"
Miley smiled as she stepped behind the cart, pushing it into motion once again. "I think I can behave until we get home," she said teasingly.
"Well, the way Brooke's been about not taking her naps this last month, you better keep those hormones under control." But the increase in her heart rate reflected how badly Lilly was missing their amorous interludes. "It's not fair when you get me turned on and then we have to wait until bedtime."
Miley batted her long eyelashes briefly before she said, "I'm not tryin' to tease you, honey. And believe me, I'm needin' you just as much as you're needin' me." The soft trilling of Miley's phone drew her attention away from Lilly's sapphire blue eyes. She glanced at the caller ID, then she looked up and said, "Jen."
Lilly smoothly switched places with Miley, taking over the duty of pushing the cart and tickling Brooke while Miley answered the phone. "Hey Jen," Miley said cheerily. "How's stuff goin' at the office today?"
"Oh, it's pretty quiet. Other than the fact that Hannah and Lola Montana are supposed to be down here at DreamWorld to talk to their really fucking incredible manager about some of the latest shit that's going on with their piddly-ass careers."
"Sweet niblets," Miley hissed through clenched teeth. "That's today?"
"What?" asked Lilly as she dropped a box of Triscuits into the cart. "What's today?"
"Our meeting with Jen."
"Your meeting with Jen. Who, by the way, has a couple of licensing offers that she needs to run by you. So do you think you could find an itty bit of time for your poor manager, who works her ass off day and—"
Miley looked at Lilly and rolled her eyes briefly. "She's on an ego trip again," she said, loud enough for Jen to her as well.
"Hmph. Well, I suppose we could push it back to tomorrow if we have to."
"Hey!" Miley said as a thought occurred to her. "Why don't you meet us for dinner tonight?"
Lilly's eyes widened slightly as she considered how fun that might be. "Oh, that's a kick-ass idea, Miles! I bet Oliver and Ashley haven't seen her since high school!"
"I know," Miley said with a smile for her best friend before turning her attention back to her cell phone. "Okay Jen, let's go over that stuff at dinner tonight. You want to bring Lee along?"
"To talk business about Hannah and Lola? Uh uh. No way in hell. I do take my client's private lives quite seriously, thanks."
"Um, yeah, forgot about that. That he doesn't know, I mean."
"It's okay. Even if you told me to let him in on things, I'd still keep it a secret. He talks in his sleep."
"Okay. Our reservations are at six-thirty at Moonshadows Malibu. You know where that is?"
"Yeah, sure do. I'll be there."
"Great. We'll call 'em and make sure they add you to the table. And Jen?"
"Yeah?"
"Thanks for doin' such a great job at what you do. Lilly and I are very lucky to have someone as good as you takin' care of us."
"Well, I'm pretty damn lucky to work for two amazing bosses myself. But... thanks. Thanks for... well, everything."
There was a touch of sentiment in Jen's voice, an inflection that most listeners would have missed but unmistakable to someone who spoke with Jen Kittrell on nearly a daily basis. Hearing it made Miley realize how much all three of them had grown up over the last few years. "You're welcome, Jen. And you need to make sure to thank my wife for tracking you down and hiring you."
"You mean you're not going to tell her everything I just said as soon as you hang up the phone?"
Miley grinned. Jen knew her and Lilly quite well at this point, too. "Smarty," she said teasingly. "But yeah, of course I will."
"Good. That's how you two work best. Together. I'll see you tonight."
As Jen closed the connection, Miley thought about that last observation from her manager. She had said it simply, but it was undeniably true. Sure, there had been times when one of them had to take care of something without the other, but those occasions were rare. As Miley slipped the cell phone back into her purse, she looked beside her, gazing at the heartwarming sight of Lilly tickling and playing with their daughter Brooke while Brooke laughed loudly. I couldn't imagine living without her. Without either of them, really, but while losing Brooke would be devastating, Lilly would be there to help me through it. But losing Lilly means I lose half of my heart, half of my soul.
As Miley tried to shift her thoughts away from such sad considerations, she felt strong fingers gently wrap around her upper right arm.
"Hey," said Lilly's lilting voice, concern suffused through that single syllable. "Everything okay?"
Miley nodded, willing the tears not to start. "Yeah. Was just thinking." Her voice trailed off as she found herself hesitant to even voice such terrible things.
"Ah," said Lilly. She stepped up behind Miley and wrapped her arms around her wife's waist, hugging her tightly as she buried her face in Miley's hair. "You're not ever going to lose me, you know," she murmured against the back of Miley's neck, lips brushing warmly across Miley's tingling skin.
Miley closed her eyes as she reached out and gently grasped Brooke's leg. "I don't think I could pull it together if I did, Lilly," she breathed, words barely audible.
"Yeah, you could, Miles. For two reasons."
By now they were at the register, and unloading their buggy, gathering the bags of groceries, paying and wrangling a curious baby managed to occupy both young mothers' attention. It wasn't until they were wheeling the shopping cart full of grocery bags and a brightly colored baby carrier out to their Tesla Sedan that Miley finally asked, "What are they?"
Lilly looked over at Miley as she tapped in the code to unlock the trunk of their car. "Well, the first reason is the big no-brainer."
"That better not be me you're callin' a no-brainer, blondie," Miley replied, winking at her wife's bemused grin.
As Lilly began placing the bags in the trunk, she said, "Miley, you most certainly have a brain. There are just some times when you don't use it."
"Ha ha," Miley said flatly as she unlatched the baby carrier from the shopping cart and carried it to the side of the car. Lilly stepped over and opened the back door, holding it and smiling as Miley leaned forward and brushed against her as she wiggled the baby carrier into its holder, already buckled in securely. As Miley scooted back and stood up, her elbow slowly brushed against Lilly's left breast. "Felt that," Lilly said quietly, smiling as she caught Miley's slight grin.
"Good. I wanted you to feel it," Miley said. "I'll get the rest of the bags and take the cart; you get the car started. It's pretty dang hot today."
As Miley fell into the passenger seat, she sighed happily as she felt the cool air drift across her bare neck and collerbones. "So I'm guessin' that the first reason is that I'd have to take care of Brooke if anything ever happened to you."
Lilly turned to look at Miley before she shifted the car into Reverse. "You'd guess right. I told you that you were smart." She patted Miley's hand, letting the touch shift smoothly into their hands grasping each other tightly.
"So what's the second reason?" Miley asked, to curious to resist.
Lilly leaned slightly forward, and even though she spoke softly it was as if her words shot directly into Miley's brain. "Because you know that I'll be right there with you, every minute, every day, every year, until you can finally hold me again, Miley Truscott. No matter how long it takes."
Miley felt her eyes start to sting as she leaned forward and kissed her best friend, letting the kiss become deeper and more intense as the seconds passed around the two girls who shared one heart and one soul.
As Mikayla hurried out of her dance studio, she found herself wanting to jump through her cell phone and strangle the woman on the other end of the conversation she was mired in at the moment. "No, Margot, I told you! Fuck!" She stopped, not even caring about the handful of paparazzi who had camped out across the street while they waited on her to emerge from her latest dance session. "I've got to be in Burbank by five for American Gladiators tomorrow! Have you forgotten that some moron thought that it'd be a good idea to do the show live rather than prerecorded?"
"Do NOT take that tone with me, young lady!"
"What kind of tone am I supposed to take with you, then? Huh? You want me to be more polite or something?" She took the phone away from her ear, holding the mouthpiece directly in front of her mouth as she screamed, "Then FUCK YOU!!!" She shook her head, then put the phone back up to her ear. "Jesus, Margot! You're my manager, for Christ's sake! Isn't it your job to be looking out for me when some shit like this happens?"
"I told you, Mikayla, they don't have any kind of proof! They're just tossing out a handful of lies and half-truths, waiting to see if you freak out or anything, like you are right now!"
That was probably true. As much as Mikayla hated the woman, Margot tended to cover all the bases when she was trying to make dirt disappear.
"They're a shitty little webzine trying to drive up the hit count, and it's working. You know, when you stop giving these people the dramatic stories, they start trying to make their own. That's what you get for letting your feud with Montana cool off."
Bitch. "Enough, Margot. I still hate the bitch, I'm just trying to... have a bit more class."
"Tell me how that's going for you after a few more months of her last album, which she released months before yours, by the way, beating your ass on the sales charts."
Grrrrrr. Time to change the subject. "Oh, you think you could tell your creepy brother to stay the fuck away from me again?" Mikayla said coolly.
On the other end of the line, Margot sighed audibly. "God, what did he do to you this time? And you know that you're only encouraging him, dressing like a high school slut most of the time."
Mikayla grinned, glad that Margot couldn't see her face. "He keeps texting me! We've changed my phone number twice now, and he keeps getting it somehow!" Maybe because I give it to him when no one's looking. "He needs to stop hounding me, Margot, seriously. It's creeping me the hell out."
"I thought you'd screw anything with a dick, myself."
"Thanks, Margot. You know all about being a class act, huh? With the whole blackmail angle you're working on me?"
"Shut up, Mikayla. Not another word. And I'll tell Lonnie to stop coming onto you."
"That would be nice," Mikayla said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. She hung up abruptly. She double-checked her phone once again to make sure that the texts she had sent to Lonnie had been deleted. She couldn't risk having this blow up in her face, not when she truly had no other options left if she wanted to salvage her career.
Later that night, after Brooke was sound asleep and safely tucked away in her crib, Lilly slid into the bed beside her wife and best friend. The cool thrill of the slick sheets sent a tingle across her body, causing a shiver that Miley most definitely noticed. She restrained herself as Lilly silently said her prayers, limiting herself to just hugging her wife until Lilly's eyes opened, revealing sparkling blue irises that fixed on Miley immediately.
"You already said your prayers, I suppose?" Lilly said softly.
"Yup. While you were still brushin' your teeth. You take a long time doin' that, you know."
Lilly laid back, running her fingers through her blonde hair. "Just want to keep my smile beautiful for you, Miles."
"Yeah. More like you don't want to go to the dentist for another year or two."
"Hey, I can't help it if I had some really traumatizing experiences with dentists as a kid!" Lilly rolled over and ran her fingers across Miley's bare ribs, giggling lightly as her wife trembled slightly at the intimate contact. "And who was it that kept going to that pediatric dentist until she was twenty, hmmm?"
"And who was it that threatened me with no sex until I went to a dentist's office that didn't have smiley animals painted on the walls?"
The two young women stared into each other's eyes for several seconds before finally dissolving into sputtering laughter.
"Oh my gosh!" said Lilly as she wiped her slobbering mouth with her hand. She smiled, taking a moment to compose herself before she reached over and gently ran her hand across Miley's left cheek. "Miley Truscott, I love you with all of my heart, do you know that?" she asked softly, staring into Miley's eyes as she spoke.
Instead of a verbal reply, Miley leaned forward and tenderly kissed her best friend, letting their lips part slowly as they breathed deeper into the kiss, hands beginning to roam across warm skin far below. As they shifted into a closer position more suited for intimacy, Miley opened her eyes. "Yeah, I know," she said teasingly. "Just like I know you never would've held out on me."
Lilly grinned guiltily. "Yeah, I never would've stood a chance, would I?"
"Nope." Then words were unneeded as the two of them pressed against each other, need and desire mixing into expression of a love as pure and natural as a spring rain.
As the late afternoon sun set in the California sky the next day, Miley shifted uncomfortably in the back of the limousine carrying them through Los Angeles. She had been in more limousines than she could remember, but never before had she felt as nervous as she did now. Before her jangling nerves could make her start biting her nails, she felt a soothing touch on her back.
"Hannah, honey, don't be so nervous. Please." Lilly leaned in and rested her pink-tressed head on Miley's shoulder. "It's just a television show, remember?"
Miley sighed. "No, Lola, it's more than that. It's Mikayla trying something else to try and make me look bad. That's all she's done ever since she's been back, and I'm ready for it to stop."
Internally Lilly felt torn, but only to a small degree. She truly did think that Mikayla was ready to become a better person, and she still felt that she needed to encourage that progress. But when helping Mikayla came into conflict with helping Miley, well, then Mikayla was on her own. "Honey, all you have to do is go out there and show her that you're not scared of her or her stupid challenges. I mean, you've stomped her on every one of them so far. Who's to say that you're not gonna beat her this time, too?"
The look of disbelief in Miley's eyes couldn't have been more striking. "Uh, hello? Zero natural athletic potential, here?" she said, pointing her thumbs at her own chest.
"That's why you've been working out and training for the last two months, Hannah, remember?" Lily kept her smile warm and loving as she carefully ran her fingers through Hannah's long blonde hair, careful as always not to dislodge the startlingly lifelike wig. Made from real hair, the wig would get wet in a quite natural way when in the water; the helmet required for all competitors on American Gladiators would keep it firmly in place no matter what physical challenges Miley would face. Lilly and Miley had convinced themselves of that by conducting their own tests at home previously.
Miley looked away from Lilly, back out the darkened side window of the limousine at the line of fans, cameramen and reporters assembled around them and across the street. She shivered silently as her nerves jangled deep inside; suddenly she felt warm fingers slip beneath her own, and Miley's hand was curling around those familiar digits before her mind could ever register the signal sent by the nerves in her hand. Miley turned and looked into Lilly's eyes, awed by the love and devotion that were always present in those beautiful sapphire eyes. "As long as I've got you with me, sweetheart, I can deal with anything," she said as she tenderly pulled Lilly's head in for a kiss.
Inside the Coliseum that would be hosting the latest version of American Gladiators, Mikayla tossed her workout bag into the large open locker with her name stenciled above it, gold stars flanking the letters on each side. "Nice touch," she muttered as she put her hands on her hips and turned around, taking in the cavernous locker room.
She had already been given her outfit for tonight's show, an outfit that managed to be fairly revealing while still offering some degree of protection to her body. She would be wearing her own athletic shoes and underwear, but the show provided everything else for her to wear during the competition. Mikayla held up the tight-fitting red athletic shorts, shaking them out once. A matching sports bra was in the bag she had just tossed into the locker, several of them, in fact. It seems that the show didn't want to offend anyone by possibly guessing the incorrect size for any article of clothing, so they had given Mikayla multiple sizes for everything, allowing her to choose what fit her best. One of the female production crew had told the singer that someone would inspect her choice of sizes before the show began, to ensure that she was not only comfortable and adequately protected but also unlikely to suffer any wardrobe mishaps.
"Oh, darn. You haven't started changing yet."
Mikayla whirled around, dropping the shorts onto the carpeted floor of the locker room. "Goddamn it, Margot!" she spit out angrily. "What the hell are you doing, trying to sneak a peek at me?" Thinking about Margot getting cheap thrills by seeing her changing clothes always made Mikayla uneasy, but after the events of the last few weeks it made her positively nauseous. It was hard enough for Mikayla to admit that her relationship with Kasey had been veering toward more than just friendship before her best friend's death, and that difficulty had been augmented by the sexual games she had playing with Margot's brother Lonnie. Such acts, while sickening to Mikayla, were a necessary part of her pyrrhic plan against Margot and her brother, and she couldn't abandon them prematurely. But she sure as hell didn't have to sit here and let Margot leer at her while she changed. "Get the fuck out, Margot. Now."
Margot raised her hands in a conciliatory manner. "Hey, I was just coming in here to wish you good luck, and to tell you that Montana just got here."
"Both of them?" Mikayla asked as she picked up the sports bra and inspected it, checking the size printed inside the article of clothing.
Margot snorted once, another sound that Mikayla hated. "Of course. Do they ever do anything alone?"
Mikayla glanced up at Margot quickly, an idea having just occurred to her. "Turn around," she said to the older woman, relishing the look of surprise on her manager's face. "I said, turn around. You don't expect me to change with you watching, do you, Margot?"
Margot slowly turned around, facing the locker room door as Mikayla unzipped her pants. Wow, I think she's sweating. Maybe I should have teased her like this a long time ago. She tossed her shirt on the padded bench beside her, unhooking her bra and tossing it aside as well.
"It's, uh, just that you normally ask me to, um, leave when you change," Margot stammered as Mikayla pulled the red sports bra over her head, sliding it carefully into place. It fit snugly, but that was exactly what Mikayla was wanting. She had been continuing her workouts and pushing herself harder than ever in preparation for this night.
"They were laughing at you, you know."
Mikayla froze with the form-fitting spandex shorts halfway up her legs. "Who was laughing at me?" she asked hesitantly.
"Montana and her bitch."
Mikayla pulled the shorts all the way up, running her finger around the waist band and legs to get the position just right. "Oh yeah?" she tried to ask casually, but inside she was seething. Fuck them and their self-righteous attitude. Mikayla might have tried to cool off their battle in the media, but there was no way in hell that she'd let anyone laugh at her. She'd been through too much, sacrificed too much to let Hannah Montana look down her nose at her.
"Remember why you wanted to do this in the first place," Margot said, her back still turned as Mikayla stood dangerously still.
So I could hurt her, Mikayla thought. Not just beat her, but really, physically hurt her.
But was that really what she wanted now? Wasn't she trying to be better than this? All of Mikayla's talking with Lilly made her face the ugly truth that Kasey might not have liked the woman Mikayla had become, and going into tonight's competition with the ulterior motive of crippling Hannah Montana had to be high on the list of Shitty Things To Do.
"She's made you look like a fool time and time again, Mikayla."
As Mikayla's eyes focused on her manager, she noted that Margot had turned around and was looking straight at her. A cold shiver passed through Mikayla's body, and she was suddenly glad that even if her emotions had been laid bare, at least her body was covered. She glared at her manager and coolly said, "I think that you and I both had something to do with making me look like a fool, too."
Margot smiled a smile utterly devoid of warmth, then she calmly said, "Whether that's true or not, what matters right now is that you're the number two singer in America, with the number two album, too. And the bitch who's keeping you from number one for both of those is right out there tonight, just waiting for you to find a way to screw up again so she can have another good laugh at your expense."
Mikayla realized she was clenching her fists tightly; with conscious effort she managed to straighten her fingers back to a normal position. "And how do I know that you're not lying to me? The last time I really talked with her, she was actually pretty nice to me and—" Her mouth snapped shut as she realized how close she was to revealing not just how important Esme was to her but also the girl's very existence. If Margot found out about that... "—And she seemed to be sincere about it."
"Please tell me you're not falling for that crap that her P.R. crew puts out there," Margot said with a disdainful snort. She stepped forward and roughly grabbed Mikayla's shoulders, shaking the singer once as she stared into her eyes. "Mikayla, you and I have put years of blood, sweat and tears into making you the biggest singer in the world, and tonight is your chance to go out there and make that happen. Whatever it takes! That's what you always used to say, right?"
Mikayla dumbly nodded, her mind reeling.
"Well, tonight is that fucking whatever, you hear me?" Margot said loudly, staring into Mikayla's eyes. "You hear me?!"
The cheers of the crowd were loud enough to be heard through the concrete walls of the locker room, making the fine hairs at the top of her neck stand as Mikayla considered what lay before her this evening.
Several hallways apart, Lilly helped Miley arrange Hannah's blonde hair beneath the deeply vented helmet. Miley had elected to pull Hannah's hair back into a ponytail tonight; Lilly had briefly pouted in an attempt to persuade her to go for the dual pigtails look, but Miley insisted that she wanted a more mature look. She had also promised to wear her own dark brown hair in pigtails when they went to bed tonight, much to Lilly's delight.
"Okay, I think it's pretty secure," Lilly said as she gazed at Miley's face while she used her wife's helmet to tug her head lightly in various directions. "You should be good to go, baby."
Miley grinned bashfully, a gesture out of character for Hannah Montana. She looked down at her body, clad in blue from her helmet to her new Asics shoes. The spandex sports bra and shorts hugged her body tightly, setting the exposed skin of her shoulders, abdomen, legs and most of her back at sharp contrast with the azure fabric. "I look okay?" she asked her best friend, taking a long look at herself in the mirror as she turned back and forth.
"No," said Lilly, bringing Miley to a sudden stop.
"No?" asked a confused Miley, staring at Lilly's shining eyes in the full length mirror.
Lilly slowly shook her head. "No," she repeated. "You look so much better than okay that I can't put into words how sexy you are right now."
Miley hugged Lilly tightly, closing her eyes and smiling as she took in the warmth, the smell, the acceptance of Lilly's embrace. "If our baby was here right now, it'd be perfect," she said quietly.
"Yeah, but you know there's no way I'd be able to hang onto her, hon, not when I was watching you. I'd be too nervous."
"I know," Miley said, not even a hint of condescension or disagreement in her voice. They had decided several weeks ago that it would be better for Brooke to stay with a sitter while Miley competed, and Ashley and Oliver had been all but fallen over themselves to watch their friends' adorable little daughter for the evening.
A knock on the locker room door drew the girls' attention, but they didn't break their embrace as the door slowly opened a few seconds later. "Mrs. Montana?" a soft voice asked hesitantly.
"Come on in," Miley answered, lifting her head off of Lilly's shoulder to look at their guest.
The young woman who entered the room saw the two of them and didn't glance away or bat an eye. "It's time to get started, Mrs. Mon—" She stopped abruptly. "Hannah," she corrected herself with a small smile. "Sorry, you told me earlier; it's just force of habit."
"No prob," Miley said offhandedly, her own mouth smiling as Lilly placed soft kisses on her bare left shoulder, the side away from the production assistant. "Showtime, huh?"
"Oh yeah," replied the other woman. "Lola, the producers said that you can sit in the observation box with the announcer and hosts if you'd like. That way you can see all the events without having to move from set to set."
Lilly nodded. "Okay, thanks!" she said happily. She slid her hand down to hold Miley's hand, then the two of them walked out of the locker room, following the PA to the set of American Gladiators.
The crowd cheered lustily as the competitors were introduced, Mikayla first, then Hannah. Tonight's show was being broadcast live, so the two young women were again quietly warned to keep any comments appropriately ladylike. Miley smirked at Mikayla, knowing that the brunette was much more likely to let slip any profanity during their challenges. Mikayla responded with only a cold stare, rather than the smart comment that Miley had been expecting.
"Don't expect me to be a pushover tonight, Mikayla," Miley said softly as they walked to the start point for their first event: Joust, a straightforward one-on-one battle against one of the television show's own host of gladiators. The event pitted the gladiator and the contestant face-to-face atop two elevated platforms above a large pool of water. Each woman (and man, for the men's event) was given a sparring staff with two heavily padded ends, nearly two meters in length. While the padding ensured blows from the weapon couldn't draw blood, being struck in the face by a light jab would still rattle anyone, and a full force blow could easily knock a victim off her perch entirely, sending her falling to the water below and disqualifying her.
Miley and Lilly had done their homework by watching old episodes of the television show's two previous incarnations, and when Miley saw exactly which gladiator she and Mikayla who be facing off against in this event, she sighed and flashed a grim look across the arena to Lilly.
"It looks like our celebrity athletes have their work cut out for them tonight!" said the show's announcer, his words being broadcast both in the arena and on viewers' televisions. "Tonight they're facing none other than... CRUSH!!"
Lilly silently shook her head. She looked down at Miley and caught her eyes. She blew her a kiss and tried to send her wife all the luck and confidence she could, but both of them knew that Miley's chance of winning was essentially zero, and her chances of even staying on the platform long enough to score points wasn't much better. Crush's real name was Gina Carano, and her regular occupation was competing as a mixed martial arts cage fighter. With a day job like that, tossing contestants around on Gladiators was just a fun distraction for her. She also held the distinction of being the only gladiator to have never been beaten in any event on American Gladiators. Ever. And Joust was considered one of her specialties.
The referee stepped over and checked Miley's gear. She had lost the coin toss and had to go first, and she wasn't really looking forward to it. She felt a shiver of fear run through her chest, and a tremble was quite visible as she reached out to grip the ladder ascending the first platform.
But then a soft warmth began to fill her body, emanating from her heart outward. Miley stopped with her foot on the first rung and smiled as she focused on the love from Lilly, as real as if someone had reached out and touched her on the shoulder. I can do this. Whether I win or lose, Lilly and Brooke will love me and be proud of me. All that matters is whether or not I give it my best. She looked up and started climbing, making her way up to the platform easily. As her head cleared the platform, she saw Crush standing atop the adjacent platform, her staff already in her hands as she stood casually, a friendly smile on her face.
Miley had gotten to meet all the gladiators over the last few days, and while many of them stayed in character and tried to be aloof or even intimidating to the celebrity contestants, Crush and a few others had been nothing but friendly and polite. I guess when you can snap somebody's neck with your bare hands there's no real point in trying to be intimidating.
"You getting nervous yet?" Crush asked Miley as the musician bent down to pick up her own weapon. The fiberglass and foam construction made it lighter than it looked, but the weapon still weighed roughly seven or eight pounds.
"Uh, I started gettin' nervous before I ever grabbed that ladder down there," Miley said, but even as she spoke she realized that she really wasn't nervous anymore. She turned toward the open broadcast box where Lilly sat, waving and blowing her a kiss as she loudly yelled, "Love you, baby!"
Lilly stood and waved back, grinning despite her own concern for Miley's well-being. She knew that Crush wouldn't deliberately try to hurt her, but Lilly still wished there was some way that Miley could keep from getting pummeled in this event.
When the referee blew his whistle for the event to begin, Miley deliberately waited a second or two before taking a few controlled thrusts at her opponent; she knew that many contestants would often attack immediately, allowing themselves to be drawn in close before being hammered by a backhand strike. Miley was determined to at least make Crush work a bit to defeat her, and in fact she held out for nearly fifteen seconds before the experienced gladiator knocked her feet out from under her, making Miley drop her staff and disqualifying her.
The crowd cheered as the referee's whistle signaled the end of that bout. Miley warily got to her feet, keeping an eye on the smiling Crush as she stood before the two shook hands.
Lilly realized that she was holding her breath when her chest began to ache. She made herself exhale completely, then take in a deep breath of fresh air as she saw Miley get to her feet. She had tried to work with Miley on her balance the last two weeks, and it appeared the lessons had paid off. Miley had lost, but she had stayed dry. When going against Crush, that was a definite moral victory. She hurried down the steps from the broadcast platform, wanting to catch Miley before the next event.
As Miley saw Lola's bright pink hair heading her way, she quickened her own pace. The two met between the set for Joust and the next event, Pyramid.
"Hey," said Miley, only to be swept in by Lilly's arms. "Mmm," she mumbled as they kissed for long seconds. When they pulled their faces apart, both young women were smiling happily. "I didn't get wet!" squealed Miley.
"I know!" Lilly said, bouncing up and down twice. "I'm so proud of you!" She patted Miley on the back and hopped up and down twice in place before saying, "Okay, okay! Get over to your next event while you've still got the adrenaline flowing!"
"Yes ma'am!" Miley said, giving Lilly a quick peck on the lips before jogging across the cavernous stage to the set of the Pyramid challenge. As she reached the staging area, she saw that Mikayla was headed her way, her dark hair hanging in wet strings as she furiously toweled herself off.
"So how did the water feel?" asked Miley as Mikayla reached the Pyramid set.
Mikayla threw the towel down behind her, fixing Miley with an angry glare before she spoke. "You'll find out soon enough, bitch."
"You might want to watch that language when the commercial's over, you know," Miley said. "We're playing for charity tonight, remember?"
"That might be what you're playing for," Mikayla replied with a voice low and threatening, "but I've got another goal in mind tonight."
Miley turned her head to regard her rival. "Is that a threat?" she asked with a similarly low voice.
Mikayla met her gaze, then she flashed a most superficial smile. "I don't know, Miss Queen of the World. How about you tell me when the show's over?" She dropped the smile and turned to stare straight ahead, leaving Miley slightly uncomfortable.
Before Miley could ponder Mikayla's words, the two of them were being led to their start points on opposite ends of the massive stepped pyramid made out of dark gray high-density foam blocks. The objective of Pyramid was to reach the very top of the tiered structure and press the red button. Doing so would earn a contestant a full thirty points, but that required overcoming the two gladiators starting at the top of the pyramid, one for each contestant.
As the announcer's voice welcomed the television audience back to the show, Miley shook her arms and hands out, trying to not let herself think about Mikayla's words. She's not going to try anything to hurt you, Miley. Lilly's been getting her to open up and stop being so angry, even though you didn't help things with that comment just a minute ago. Give her a chance. If Lilly can see something good in her, then you need to help her bring it out. She looked up to see who she and Mikayla would be facing off against for this event, hoping fervently that it wouldn't be Crush.
The live crowd present tonight cheered as first Siren, then Phoenix stepped out onto the top level of the pyramid. Phoenix was slightly taller than Siren, but both women were fine athletes, each possessing power and agility sufficient to make ascending the pyramid a nightmare. Well, nobody told you this was gonna be easy, Miley.
As the referee blew his whistle to start the event, Miley bit down on her mouthguard and climbed up onto the first level of the pyramid. The firm foam blocks making up the structure were enclosed in a dark gray plastic cover which deformed just slightly as it bore Miley's fifty-one kilograms. Miley glanced up, only to see Siren calmly making her way down the pyramid's stepped side, stepping off the tiers one at a time. Miley took off forward, jumping up and sliding across the second tier of the pyramid, hurrying to her feet and taking several steps forward again before she quickly cut back, running away from the diagonal axis along which her and Mikayla's sides met. She glanced upward again, smiling as she saw Siren have to change direction to match her movement.
Miley ran back in the direction of her start point, only to hear as much as feel the impact of Siren landing on the tier directly above her. Out of instinct she ducked and rolled, scrambling to her feet as she now ran in the opposite direction. She took advantage of her brief lead over her pursuer to ascend another level of the pyramid, but the stamping footfalls behind her precluded any further attempt to scale another tier just yet.
As Miley ran, she saw Mikayla round the pyramid's corner ahead of her on the same level. Mikayla was running as well, dragging the fingers of her left hand across the tacky surface of the pyramid as she ran directly toward Miley. The tier was wide enough to accommodate both women, but just barely.
Miley could see Mikayla's tactic; she was trying to elude her pursuer Phoenix by making her run into either Siren or Miley; either would serve Mikayla's purpose equally well by giving her the chance to scale the rest of the pyramid and claim the thirty points for being the first to do so. However, there was no reason the same idea couldn't work for Miley, too.
Her mouth abruptly dry, Miley raced forward, taking a tiny bit of pleasure in the look of surprise on Mikayla's face as she saw the tables turned on her. But then that surprise was gone, wiped away and replaced by a grim expression in a split second before the two of them ran into each other.
Down on the ground outside the Pyramid zone, Lilly felt her heart quicken as she watched Miley duck beneath Siren's outstretched arm. "Come on, honey," she whispered to herself as her wife changed direction as she rolled, sending her moving in the opposite direction from Siren long enough to regain her footing and race back toward the center of the pyramid. Lilly's eyes flicked left long enough to register that Mikayla was running directly toward Miley's side of the pyramid on the same tier as her wife, with Phoenix two levels above her and slightly behind Mikayla as they ran in time. Ooooh! She's bringing Phoenix right back toward you, Miles! "Look out, Hannah!" she yelled loudly, hoping that Miley could hear her over the cries and cheers from the crowd.
As Miley looked up, Lilly felt a thrill of excitement. Miley had seen what Mikayla was trying to do, and now she was charging toward her nemesis, Siren on the same level and closing quickly.
It was all Lilly could do not to chew her nails as she watched Miley and Mikayla race toward each other. She knew that Miley would either dive low or turn to slide past Mikayla, but all Lilly could do now was hope and pray for her wife's training to pay off.
"Move!" yelled Mikayla as she and Miley bore down upon each other. She was sure that her less athletic rival would yield; when Hannah showed no sign of doing so, Mikayla had milliseconds to react. She pulled up short, trying to spin and jump down a level but unable to do so before her thigh slammed into Hannah's left knee.
Miley's sharp cry of pain made Lilly's heart skip several breathless beats, and she was frozen as she saw her best friend reflexively reach down for her hurt knee just as Phoenix leaped off the upper tier, arms stretched out to tackle Mikayla. But now Mikayla was no longer there, and even a world-class athlete could do nothing to stop herself in midair.
Lilly's ears registered no sound as she saw Phoenix slam into a completely unsuspecting Miley, the force of both the flying tackle and gravity sending her partner head over heels down the pyramid's tiered steps, blonde hair tossing as she fell. Time seemed to crawl as Lilly began to run toward her wife, unable to tear her tear-filled eyes away from Miley's slow motion tumble which cruelly refused to stop until her small body slammed into the thick pads on the arena floor.
Lilly's eyes were burning with tears as she fell to her knees beside Miley, blood roaring in her ears as her senses began to work correctly again. She knew she was screaming as she reached down for her injured wife, but she had no idea what her mouth was saying as she checked Miley's limp body. As her trembling fingers touched Miley's neck, she gasped in both shock and relief as Miley's eyes shot open, pupils wide with shock and pain.
"Wha—AH!" Miley gasped, eyes taking a moment to register where she was through the shooting pain in her left leg. "Li—" she stammered, only to be cut off by Lilly's lips on hers.
"Shh, don't talk," Lilly whispered. "Just... just breathe, Hannah," she added, somehow managing to use Hannah's name instead of Miley's. "Just breathe, while we get you taken care of. Where's it hurting?"
"Where's it NOT hurtin'?" cried Miley, tossing briefly in pain until the pain nearly doubled with her movements. She whimpered as she fought to lie still, closing her eyes and lifting her hands to cover her face in an attempt to not be caught crying in front of everyone watching. "It hurts," she hissed out through clenched teeth, keeping her face covered.
As the medical team converged on the two young women, Lilly refused to budge from where she was. Right now the physical contact between her and Miley was all that was keeping Lilly from melting down emotionally, and she couldn't give that up just yet.
"Don't let me go. Please. No matter what."
Lilly's eyes opened long enough to focus on Miley, face red and tears streaming down her cheeks. It wasn't the pain she had heard in Miley's voice that had filled Lilly's veins with cold terror, nor was it anything like embarrassment or disappointment. It was fear. Lilly swallowed and forced the lump of ice deep in her chest even deeper as she leaned forward and ran her fingers across Miley's cheek, brushing tears aside gently. "I won't let you go," she said, voice wavering despite her attempt to keep it calm. "I swear."
Miley stared into her wife's eyes for several seconds, then she forced a smile on her face briefly. "Then I'll be okay," she mumbled before letting unconsciousness claim her for now.
Light.
Dark.
Colors. Voices. People moving her leg—OW! Damn it, that hurt!
"Stop," Miley mumbled, her tongue heavy and dry, like she had fallen asleep with her mouth open and slept the entire night that way.
"She's coming around," said a voice Miley didn't recognize.
"I told you that! Is she—"
Miley smiled. THAT voice she could recognize in the middle of a hurricane.
"Can everybody give us a few minutes, please?" said that same sweet voice, and even through the fiery pain in her left knee and her head Miley could feel the love she and Lilly shared tingle throughout her body.
Sweet, sweet Lilly. Always looking out for me. I don't think I could love her any more if I tried, because I already love her with all my heart and soul.
There was the distinctive sound of people moving and feet walking, followed by the dull thump of a heavy door closing. "Where..."
"Shh, don't try to talk yet, Miley. Not yet."
Miley blinked her eyes open, only to close them tightly as the bright light in the locker room made the entire world whirl around her. "Screw that," she managed to say fairly coherently. "Can't open my eyes, can't get the world to stop spinnin'... And you don't want me to say anything either?!"
Despite the concern in her heart for her partner, Lilly couldn't help but smile at Miley's honest humor. "You're so cute when you're all flustered, you know that, lover girl?" she said, still holding Miley's hand. True to her promise, she hadn't let it go for the last ten minutes. "Where are you hurting, hon? Well, besides your knee. It's already swelling pretty badly."
Miley tried to sit up, only to be buffeted by another wave of nausea and dizziness. "Uh, it pretty much hurts everywhere." With Lilly's help she was able to get to a seated position, but she had to lean into her wife's embrace for a minute until she was able to open her eyes. "How bad is my knee, Lola?" she finally asked, afraid to look for herself.
Lilly looked down at Miley's leg, wrapped tightly and covered with two large cold packs. "It's really swollen, and it's a shade of purple that just screams not good. They didn't see anything broken on the x-rays, but they're wanting to do an MRI on it as soon as they can." She looked at Miley's face. "You can move your neck okay?"
Miley nodded. "Yeah, my head hurts somethin' fierce, but I can feel all my fingers and toes and move everything just fine." In fact, she had been quietly testing her limbs while she and Lilly had been talking.
Relief flooded Lilly's face. "Yay," she said softly but sincerely as she carefully unsnapped the clasp on Miley's helmet. "Don't try to help me, Mi—I mean, Hannah. Sorry. I'm still a bit flustered. Seeing the woman I love take a fall like you did..." Her voice trailed off as she set the helmet down on the large training table beside the one Miley was reclining on. "Let's just say it sucked and leave it at that, 'kay?" she finished with a sad smile.
"Okay," said Miley agreeably, reaching out to hug Lilly tightly. "Ow," she said with a soft laugh, wincing as she felt a twinge of pain in her right shoulder as well. "I think there's a spot on my foot somewhere that doesn't hurt, baby," she added, trying to coax a laugh out of Lilly. However, the cold feel of bile trickling into her stomach told Miley that Lilly wasn't in very much of a laughing mood. "Baby, what's wrong?" she asked Lilly, carefully running her fingers through Lola's bright pink hair so as not to dislodge the wig.
"She hurt you," Lilly said, her voice as icy as the grave. "We tried to be nice to her, and she took a cheap shot at you, Hannah! That's what's wrong!" Internally, Lilly's concern for her wife's safety was now yielding to her self-castigation at ever even thinking that Mikayla would ever, could ever return any compassion tendered to her. "Fucking bitch," Lilly swore softly before leaping to her feet, grabbing Miley's helmet and angrily hurling it across the locker room. The smack of plastic and foam cracking under the impact did nothing to assuage Lilly's fury; in fact, it only seemed to fan her emotional flames even higher. "Fucking BITCH!" she screamed at the wall, her voice echoing faintly inside the large room.
She and Lilly had shared everything in their lives for nearly twelve years now, but Miley wasn't sure she'd ever seen her best friend so enraged, and truthfully it scared her slightly to both see and feel through their empathic connection the boiling hatred that pulsed through Lilly at that moment. "Baby, come here, please," Miley said, keeping her voice as gentle as possible. She knew that Lilly would never lash out at her or hurt her, but there was no need in inflaming her emotions further.
Lilly stopped short of kicking the broken helmet against the wall at Miley's words. She stood still briefly, flexing her fists once, twice, three times before exhaling deeply and turning around. She walked back over to her wife and put her arms around Miley, being careful not to squeeze her too tightly. "Don't ask me not to be mad, honey. Please don't. Because there's no way in heaven or hell that I couldn't be pissed off at that bitch for hurting you!"
Miley looked up into Lilly's eyes. Screw the headache. It's worth it to see those beautiful blue eyes. "I wouldn't ask that of you, Lola." She smiled sadly as she sighed. "I'm not gonna be able to get back out there tonight, am I?"
Lilly shook her head slowly. "No. I wouldn't let you, anyway, not after what she did to you."
Miley closed her eyes and leaned her head against Lilly's ribs. "You're too good to me, sweetheart," she said, content to give up the rest of American Gladiators just to be held so lovingly, so securely.
"Hey," said Lilly, kissing the top of Hannah's blonde hair. "You're my princess, remember? I swore I'd be good to you for the rest of time, and I plan on enjoying every second of it."
Miley smiled contentedly. After basking in the warmth of Lilly's embrace for several minutes, she finally sighed and looked up at her wife before speaking again.
Back in the arena, Mikayla paced across the warmup area like a cornered panther. "What the fuck is taking them so long?" she said loudly, shooting an angry look at Margot. Her manager had come out to stay with Mikayla while the medical team finished their assessment of Hannah Montana back in the locker room. "I mean, either she can suck it up and get back out here, or she has to quit, right?"
"Well, if she quits, then what's the point of them finishing the show without someone for you to compete against?" countered Margot hotly. "So just shut up and let them take their time! For God's sake, Mikayla, every minute you're on live television your Q rating shoots up further!"
"Oh, they'd better let me finish tonight!" Mikayla said. "If I get a good enough score, I get to come back at the end of the season for the celebrity championships."
"IF you get a good enough score."
"Hey, I got thirty points back there at the pyramid, didn't I?"
Margot nodded, and a leering smile slithered across her face. "Yes, you sure did, plus you got to knock Montana into next fucking week."
Despite the conflict she was feeling within, Mikayla smiled easily as she recalled how good it had felt to see her rival go tumbling down the pyramid's steps. "Well, I just hit her in the knee," she admitted. "It was that tall gladiator who knocked her out."
"She feels pretty bad about it, too, I think," Margot said, looking over to where Phoenix was sitting with some of her fellow gladiators, shaking her head dejectedly. "Oh well. Tough for her. That's what you get when you play with the big girls, right?"
"Right!" said Mikayla, nearly shaking Margot's hand before her stomach tossed and turned at that very thought.
Margot looked over Mikayla's shoulder. "I think they're sending somebody out to tell you that you've won by forfeit," Margot said quietly. "No sign of Montana."
Mikayla turned to see one of the show's producers or assistant producers or technical producers or something or other walking toward her. "So is she coming back out or has she had enough?" Mikayla said confidently. While she was sure that her new friend Lilly wouldn't appreciate what Mikayla had done to her friend Hannah Montana, this was a competition. Hannah had known the risks of getting hurt when she had signed up, and Mikayla had been just fine with letting that happen. Not like that's the worst thing I've ever done, after all, she thought darkly.
The middle-aged man stopped just outside of handshake range. "Hannah isn't going to be able to return to the competition, I'm afraid," he said solemnly.
YES! It was all Mikayla could do not to jump up and down with joy. Teach that bitch to try to play rough with me! "So can I finish the rest of the gladiator stuff, then?" she asked, only to stop short when the lights inside the studio suddenly switched off.
"What the hell's going on?" Mikayla said angrily, looking around as the audience began to cheer, obviously thinking that this was planned or something. "Forget to pay your power bills or something?"
Roughly forty yards away, a column of light snapped into existence as a spotlight—no, two spotlights stabbed through the darkness. Mikayla began to feel uneasy as the spotlights converged on a walkway opening into the other side of the arena. There was no way that Montana could be back. Her knee was badly twisted at the very least; she couldn't even stand on her own, that much was certain. And then Mikayla saw a shadow of thick black fabric swirl at the rear of that illuminated walkway, as a stage curtain parted long enough to let someone through.
Mikayla felt her own legs go weak. She closed her eyes, unwilling to look further, but she had already seen enough. Even at that distance, she easily recognized the neon pink hair beneath the helmet. "Goddammit," she swore softly.
Lilly stood in the halo of light from the twin spotlights focused on her, looking around into the darkness. She could vaguely hear the crowd cheering for her, but she wasn't in a mood to celebrate due to the circumstances that had led to Lola taking Hannah's place for the rest of the night. As the house lights came back up and the spotlights turned off, Lilly's piercing gaze settled squarely on the bitch who had hurt her sweet, precious Miley. She smiled.
No, she wasn't in a mood to celebrate tonight. Payback, however... That she was in a mood for.
Author's Afterword: Whew! Finally, this chapter is done! It only took half of forever, and then some. Sorry again about it taking so long to get this chapter finished, but it flowed and shifted constantly while I was writing it. I wound up leaving it pretty lengthy because nowhere did it really feel just right to break it apart, and that's a big reason why it took so long to get this done and posted. Bear with me, please, because we're getting down to the last three or four chapters now, I think. Hope you've enjoyed it, and maybe I can get the next ones up sooner. Thanks for reading!
Jo