USWNT Oneshots

Bonding (Hope Solo and Thalia Skywalker)

"This afternoon is one-on-one team bonding." The U.S. Women's National Soccer Team's head coach, Jill Ellis, said. "You will be paired with another member of the team, and you will have to tell your partner about yourself, and your partner will do the same. Got it?" "Got it." The team chorused. "Good." Jill said. She began to read names off a list. "Thalia and Hope." She finished. Everyone on the team found their partners and began discussing where they should go. "So, what do you think?" Hope asked Thalia. "Where to?" Thalia shrugged. "Dunno." She said. "Tell you what." Hope said. "There's a nice little coffee shop down the street. We can go there." "Sounds good." Thalia said. "Let me run up to my room and grab my sweatshirt." Five minutes later, she was back downstairs wearing a UNC soccer hoodie. "So, tell me: when did 'my sweatshirt' start translating into 'Tobin's sweatshirt'?" Hope asked "It's not hers anymore." Thalia said. "It's mine. I stole it, but I gave her a new one for Christmas last year." Hope laughed. "Okay then." She said. "Let's get going." The two women walked down to the coffee shop. Hope ordered a coffee and Thalia ordered a hot chocolate, and they sat down at a table together. "So do you want to go first, or do you want me to?" Hope asked the younger woman. "I'll go first." Thalia said. "Just be warned: I did not have the best past ever." The small forward took a deep breath and started talking. "My parents were murdered by a gang when I was eight." She said. "To make matters worse, one of the gang members was an arsonist, and he burned my house down. I was sent to an orphanage. One of the bad ones." "Like in Annie?" Hope asked. "I wish." Thalia said. "Our orphanage owner made Miss Hannigan look like an angel. We called her 'mistress' to her face. Behind her back, we called her 'Satan'. She used us as slave labor and whipped us if we complained. I've still got the scars on my back." The tiny girl flinched, as if she could still feel the cruel lashes falling on her back. Hope put her hand on the younger girl's shoulder. "It's alright." She said. "Is that why you got the words from 'Fight Song' tattooed on your back?" "Yeah." Thalia said. "To remind myself what I've been through. So, anyway, when I was thirteen, I'd had enough. I ran away. I ran into two construction workers after I'd escaped, who led me to a humanities project they'd been working on: an old warehouse converted into a living space. I lived there until I went to college, living a Katniss Everdeen lifestyle: I'd go bowhunting every Sunday and sell most of what I shot, and use that to buy clothes and all. I also got bullied, but you know about that." Thalia looked at Hope. "Your turn." She said. "Alright." Hope said. ((A.N: I'm making this up.)) "I didn't have the best childhood either. It was nowhere near as bad as yours, though. My parents were abusive. Dad was almost always drunk, and Mom just hated me. So I ran away when I was ten. That's actually how I met KO. Her family took me in." "So we're both runaways, huh?" Thalia asked. "Yeah." Hope said. "We're like sisters." Thalia decided. "Soul sisters." Hope put her arms around Thalia's small body. "Yup." She said. "We've got each other's backs." "Always." Thalia said.

Requested by: uswnt_fanfic