This is a shift day [see above]. There was another upload this morning: Wheels Go Two By Two.

"Flying Solo"

4. New Chances

A/N: If you haven't read "Shannon the Cannon", now might be a good time, or this chapter won't make as much sense.

The next day, she was on her way out of football practice when a voice came out of nowhere calling her name. The sound had only just reached her ears that she felt transported… somewhere else, somewhere she knew… Rosalita's Road House, and she knew then, the only person it could be. She turned and there he was. He looked different, dressed for the 'real' world, but he didn't lose an ounce of charm for it. She realized just how long it had been since she'd seen him.

"Rich, hello," she nodded, smiling, and he smiled back.

"Good to see you again, Shannon," he still had that little tremor in his voice, barely noticeable as it warped the first words he'd say to her, every time they saw each other. It would settle after those first words but, always, there it would be when they kicked off a conversation, and her heart trembled in tune.

"And you," she nodded. "How's Mitch?" she asked. Rich's son, one of her players, had been injured over the summer and had yet to attend school this year. His absence was noticed.

"He's good, he's great. Actually he's coming back next week, that's why I'm here, to settle things with Figgins, and with you, of course. To be honest, I've been looking forward to that encounter more than the first," he smiled. "We've missed you down at the Road House," he told her, and his eyes told her this was to say he'd missed her most of all. She hadn't been there since… before. She took a breath.

"Why don't we step into my office?" she directed. He followed and they came to sit on the two chairs facing the desk. "I'm sorry I haven't called, I wasn't sure if this was something I should drop on you, I mean you and I are friends…"

"Are you alright?" he asked, suddenly concerned, and she realized what it could have sounded like.

"Oh, no, I'm fine," she promised, and he calmed. She considered her statement. "At least physically…" she sighed. "My sister and her husband passed away, a couple of weeks before the start of the school year, a car accident." She felt his hand cover hers and she instinctively grasped on.

"I'm so sorry for your loss, Shannon, I had no idea."

"It's alright," she assured him.

"Did they have children?"

"A son, Ewan, sixteen years old," she confirmed, and Rich breathed out sympathy for the boy he'd never met, never knew to exist in the first place. "They lived in Ireland, that's where my sister met her husband, where they lived… I'm Ewan's legal guardian," she revealed, and now he understood, what more than her grief had kept her away.

"So he's here with you now?" he asked, and she nodded. "How's he adjusting to all this?"

"There's been… difficulties, of course. The first three weeks were the hardest, but then when he started coming to school, he started to open up. He's got a couple of friends now, and he's maybe thinking about joining Glee Club," she smiled.

"Well that's good," he smiled back. "If you want, I can tell Mitch about him, they might get along."

"That'd be great, yeah," she nodded, thankful. "How's he, I mean missing almost a month of school…"

"I think he feels a bit detached from everyone else. But he's anxious to come back."

"Good, that's good. He'll get back into the rhythm," she agreed, her gaze trailing off with thoughts she had been stuck with since they'd gotten to talking, and she should have known he'd catch on.

"How are you doing with this? I mean it couldn't have been easy for you either?" She breathed in, then out, quietly agreeing.

"My sister and I hadn't seen each other in… eleven years. We weren't estranged, except by an ocean. Neither of us really had the means to travel, but we kept saying one day we would. We waited… too long, and now it's too late. When I finally went to Ireland it was to bury her and to help Ewan pack up to come live with me," she bowed her head, felt a squeeze of his hand still in hers… could he just never let go? She would have liked that.

"I'm sure she knew," he told her.

"Now I have her son, her beautiful boy that she and Glenn raised, and… he's kind, and quiet, and all I can think about is how much I don't want to mess any of that up," she shook her head.

"You won't," he promised. "The fact you're saying that, it says it all already. And what I know of you, if he had to go through something so difficult, having you may be the best way that could have turned out." She looked at him, and the next words had been meant as thought, but something in her had directed them to be spoken.

"I've missed you," she shook her head, clumsily reaching to wipe at the tears she'd noticed once one had landed salty on her lip. Hearing those words had unlocked the smile he'd kept restrained, and he held her hand with both of his now.

"I've missed you, too," he nodded. "If there's anything you need…"

"Well, if we could keep this to ourselves," she indicated her tears. "I don't want people thinking I'm making a habit of this," the small joke got them laughing, just a moment. "Especially the boys," she went on.

"Consider it forgotten," he promised, and he could see she was feeling better.

"I do miss going to the Road House, I just need to focus on Ewan right now," she explained.

"Don't worry about it," he shook his head. "I'd be lying if I said Rosalita's lost some of its spark without 'Shannon the Cannon,'" he told her and she laughed, then thought.

"Have you eaten?" she looked to the clock; it was just about lunch time.

"I haven't."

"How long's it been since you ate at a school cafeteria?" she asked, and he smiled.

"It's been a while," he got up. "If it's an invitation, then I'm buying." She got up as well, looking for any reflective surfaces to see how she was faring after crying earlier.

"Okay then, let's go," they left her office.

"You know, the last high school cafeteria I ate at was this one?"

"You went here?"

"Junior and senior year," he confirmed. "It's good to be back," he looked at her, and she had a feeling he'd stopped talking about the cafeteria.

But after that day, and until she went back to Rosalita's, Shannon and Rich had lunch every other day.

TO BE CONTINUED (TOMORROW)