Bend It Like Becker

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Author's Note: So I suddenly had this bizarre notion that I should post all the remaining chapters before my birthday on Thursday so that I could say that I completed a novel-length fanfic whilst I was [insert age here]. I will do my best, even though I have ten hours at work and a three-hour opera rehearsal tomorrow! For those who don't want the story to end so quickly, feel free to space out the reading of the last chapters. :) Here are the next two, and hopefully I'll have the last four up tomorrow!

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Chapter 37 - FOUNDERING FOOTBALL

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The ARC team was doomed from the moment they lost the coin toss!

At the first kick-off, the ball was kicked right past Neela to one of the RSID players, who bobbed and weaved around Becker and the other midfielders, dribbled through the line of backs, and kicked the ball at the goal. Emily was so taken off-guard that she barely even lunged for it, and the ball easily sailed past her into the net. The RSID team all cheered and gave high fives whilst the ARC members merely glared at one another, angry with themselves and each other.

The ball was taken back to the centre spot, and Neela tapped the ball towards Abby, who headed downfield aggressively - TOO aggressively, unfortunately, for the ref blew his whistle and reached for his pocket, whipping out the yellow card with a dramatic flourish. Only two minutes into the game and they were already behind AND had been yellow-carded!

And things didn't improve much after that. Abby was so shaken that she seemed hesitant to even go near the ball for fear of drawing a second yellow and getting kicked out of the game. And everyone still seemed distracted by the heated things that had been said before the match. The only positive was that, after losing the first goal so easily, Emily seemed more determined than ever and was focussing all her pent-up frustrations on the ball - this was especially important considering the RSID team kept slipping past the porous ARC defense and blasting shots at her goal. Emily let two more slip through, but her save average was actually quite high, considering the number of attempts made.

Becker was watching it all as if through a fog. Not having practiced, nor even gone for his morning run, for over four days, his muscles were tight and sore. And although his ankle didn't hurt anymore, he was unconsciously favouring it, worried about reinjuring himself. But his physical ailments were the least of his problems. His mind was in turmoil, going over and over everything that had happened.

He'd watched Jess sneaking off with Chas and snogging in his car - Becker KNEW what he'd seen! But what had Lester blurted out, something about Chas and Ghani getting engaged tonight? Why would Jess have told Lester such a lie when the truth was certain to come out sooner or later? No matter how manipulative or inconsiderate or irresponsible this new Jess was, she wasn't stupid. So what possible motivation would she have had to come up with a lie that could be so easily refuted?

So perhaps it wasn't one. Perhaps the pair really were getting engaged. But if so, what had Jess been doing with Chas in his car? Becker had definitely seen an embrace or two, not to mention at least one kiss. And if there were a reasonable explanation for those, then why had Chas been so nervous on the phone about not letting Ghani overhear about their time together in the car?

Becker's mind spun endlessly for some time before he came up with a possible solution. Perhaps Chas had told Jess about his intentions. The two of them were obviously close, the snogging notwithstanding. And perhaps Jess had been telling the truth, perhaps it hadn't been snogging, perhaps it had just been Jess being Jess. Becker knew better than anyone how demonstrative Jess could be when she was happy, having often been the lucky recipient of such friendly demonstrations, so perhaps she'd merely been expressing her joy at Chas's news. And if that were the case, it meant that Jess had done absolutely nothing wrong...and Becker was the most horrible person on the planet!

He'd been focussing all day on that last moment he'd seen her at the park, but now his memory attempted to go back further. Jess had looked genuinely confused when he'd started yelling at her. At the time, he'd been convinced it was all an act, since he'd just witnessed her deceit firsthand, but perhaps he'd been wrong. Her tears had certainly seemed real enough. And Becker could've sworn that just now, before the game, her eyes and nose had seemed a little redder than normal, as if she'd be crying again. To Lester perhaps? That would explain why Lester knew so much...and why Jess's car was still at the ARC.

Becker was starting to feel sick. If his deductions were correct, if he'd yelled and accused her of terrible things that were completely unfounded, then she might never forgive him. Not that she should - his behaviour had been appalling...if, in fact, hers hadn't been.

But how could he be sure? How could he find out whether her time in the car with Chas had been an innocent interchange, whether her crying and denials had all been genuine?

"Becker!"

Chas's voice from the sidelines brought the soldier's attention back to the match just in time to realise an RSID player was headed straight for him with the ball. Becker shook away his thoughts of Jess and attempted to steal the ball, but he slid on the grass and fell as the pretty, athletic girl weaved around him. From the ground, Becker watched as his opponent swerved around Lester as well, and before Matt could even get near her, she drove the ball into the upper left corner of the net, just out of reach of Emily's outstretched hands.

As the RSID team cheered their fourth goal, Becker heard his name called once again. He turned to see Chas frantically waving to him, trying to get his attention. The soldier couldn't tell at first what the blond bloke was trying to communicate, but as Becker started to stand, Chas's gestures became more exaggerated such that Becker finally caught on. The soldier instantly lay back on the grass and called out towards the ref, "Medic!"

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Jess hadn't been that worried when she saw Becker fall - it was clear he wasn't in any real pain, certainly not like when he'd injured his ankle at practice - so she'd immediately returned her attention to the match just as the other team scored. She was surprised, therefore, when she heard Becker call out "Medic," and even more surprised when she saw Chas rushing onto the field to Becker's aid. Jess was instantly worried - even though she was still angry and hurt with the soldier, she certainly didn't want to see him hurt. She hurried towards where he lay as the rest of the team followed suit.

As she got closer, she realised Becker still didn't appear to be in any pain, even though Chas was knelt by his foot, as if tending to an injury. But before she could ask what was wrong, Chas launched into her and the others, making sure to keep his voice low so the ref couldn't hear.

"What the hell is wrong with everyone today?" he asked without preamble as the rest of the team gathered about their supposedly injured player. "Have you all forgotten every-"

He was stopped mid-word by a passionate kiss from Neela, which nearly knocked him off-balance from where he knelt. When they finally separated, he gave her a pleased but mystified look. "What was that for?"

Neela shrugged, smiling as she stood back up. "No reason. Just happy to see you."

Jess couldn't help but smile herself - she was certain that she could now survive whatever the rest of the afternoon held in store for her with the knowledge that at least someone was getting a happy ending.

Chas shook his head, trying to get his mind refocussed. "Um...anyway...what was I saying?"

"What the hell is wrong with us?" Connor helpfully prompted.

"Oh, right! Exactly!" Chas said, back on track. "So what happened to everything you all have learnt at practice these last few days? You're all playing like a bunch of..." He gestured wildly, unable to come up with a suitable simile to express just how truly awful they were.

"You've seen the other team," Connor replied. "Each player is like a one-man Arsenal!"

Chas nodded. "Yes, there's no question that their players are more skilled, but there's no team."

"Yes there is," Becker countered, propping himself up on his elbows so he could glare at Chas. "And it's currently slaughtering us 4 to nothing."

"No, I repeat, they have loads of good players; they don't have a team. Can't you see that each one of them is so intent on showing off their own skills that they don't even bother to pass the ball, even when there's another player in a better position to score?"

"They ALL seem to be in a position to score," Lester grumbled.

"And that's because you aren't playing like a team. You're not working together at all. And if there's one thing I've learnt about you guys this past week, it's that you can do amazing things when you work as a team, a TRUE team, not just a collection of random-uh, yeah, I think it might be sprained. We're going to need to get this wrapped."

Jess was confused and alarmed by this sudden change of subject...until she realised that the ref had wandered over to see what was taking so long. The ref gave an impatient nod, indicating they needed to get Becker off the field sooner rather than later, and Chas pointedly said to Becker, "C'mon, let's get you up." The ref then started back towards the centre spot, where the ARC team was due for another kick-off as soon as their "injury" was taken care of.

Chas slowly "helped" Becker to his feet as he continued, keeping his voice lower. "Anyway, as I was saying, as a team, you guys are much greater than the sum of your parts - use that to your advantage." He glanced about at the other players until his eyes alighted on the blonde zoologist. "And Abby, what the hell happened to you? You're the second best player on this team, yet you're acting as if you're suddenly afraid of the ball. What gives?"

"I was yellow-carded," she explained. "I'm worried I'll get kicked out."

"So what if you were carded? That doesn't mean you stop playing. You know the rules, you know where the line is. You should still be going up to that line - just be careful not to cross it."

Abby nodded, clearly chagrinned. "Will do."

By this point Becker was upright, standing on one foot, his arm slung over Chas's shoulder as if being supported by the blond man.

"As for the rest of you," Chas continued, "get it together and start playing like I know you're capable of."

Chas and Becker started to make their way off the field as the rest of the team went back to their positions, ready to play. Jess noticed with some amusement that Becker was actually limping on the "wrong" foot - he was favouring his previously injured ankle, not the one he'd supposedly just hurt. Luckily no one else took any notice, and she was thankful both that Becker was okay and that his fall had given Chas the opportunity to give them all such a stern talking to, since they'd obviously needed it.

And the entire team had seemed to take Chas's lecture to heart. At the kick-off, Neela tapped the ball to Abby, who pushed it forward a ways before passing it back upfield to Scott, who had temporarily filled in Becker's position at centre forward. Scott quickly passed the ball to O'Rourke on the outside, who dribbled it quite a distance before lobbing it into the penalty area. The two female forwards sprinted downfield, and Neela succeeded in heading the ball to Abby, who kicked it on the volley directly into the net before the goalkeeper even knew what was happening.

They'd scored! And all because they'd decided to work together as a team. Jess couldn't help but cry out, "Go, Mammoths!" She then turned towards the sidelines, hoping to see Chas's pleased face, since he was responsible for this sudden turnaround. Instead, she saw the blond man and Becker huddled together in the midst of an intense discussion - they'd clearly missed the entire play. Jess gulped nervously, guessing the topic of their conversation, before returning her attention to the match. After all, the RSID team was about to kick off, and she needed to be ready for them.

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to be continued