The Hive

4

Wally had gotten approximately two hours before Sasha was at her door. She looked at Joan, resting peacefully with the new bruise on her face from an aggressive shooter who thought slamming her into a wall was acceptable. She looked at Sasha, face beat to smithereens and body even worse.

She grabbed a bloody blanket from beneath her bed and the box next to it and walked out the door.

Sasha followed her to the bathroom. She sat on the blanket she lie out for her and watched her get to work, first taking out a bucket and filling it up with water to at least get the blood off her.

An older Hornet walked in as she bandages the gash on her forehead, the only non-bruise damage done to it, and nodded. She'd patched her up too way back when. "You need stitches on your side." Sasha looked at her, mortified. Wally handed her a small bottle of vodka. Sasha didn't even ask before downing it, watching her sanitize the needle and thread it as she started sewing her back together.

Her screams echoed off the walls. Wally stuffed a suck in her mouth and handed her a Seek ball to hold onto as she did the six stitches needed and then tossed the needle back into the box, watching Sasha slowly wind down.

"What did I do?" She choked. "Seventeen shots. Who cares?" Dangerous words she'd let Coach overhear. She'd already failed her but calling Seek, the sport Coach Hart's mother had invented with the help of her father, not worth her time? A personal offense.

"I can't play like this...? What am I-" her breathing picked up. Wally grabbed her face, forcing her to look at her,

"Hey, listen dipshit. You're a Hornet now. Hornets are survivors."
"I don't want to survive. It- it hurts. I just want to-"
"You can't."

And Sasha started to cry. She wondered if it was the pain or the small amount of alcohol or just the trauma waiting for her in the next five years at Harrington. Empathy wasn't something Wally felt often. Yet, as she looked at Sasha, sitting on the bathroom floor on a bloody blanket with a bucket of blood and water next to her, sobbing, she couldn't help but remember eight year old Hallie Cornwallis locked in the rink with cuts running down her arms and legs because she'd refused to play for the fifth day in a row. No one patched her up. Now she would extend a hand to those who were where she once was.

"Listen, I'll try and get Kayla to let you sit out a day or two. But she can only do so much. Do better and it'll hurt less... eventually."

"How long have you been here, Wally?"
"Ten years."

Sasha looked at her, silently doing the math until she held up eight fingers and her mouth fell open.

"Ever think about running a-"
"Shut the fuck up."
"What? After ten years you never-"
"I haven't. Now go to sleep before I rip your stitches out."

Kayla convinced Coach to give her two days off. Unfortunately that meant she was also stuck writing notes on the practice up in the stands with Wally who had her headphones in. She didn't own much in the Hive but one of her favorite things was Alina's ancient iPod that let her listen to music even still.

"I'm bor-hungry." Coach hadn't even heard her, Wally had made sure to sit on the other side of the court on the away bench to prevent Sasha anymore injuries for her carelessness. Still she stared at Coach as if she had. She was learning.

"We can't leave practice. It'll be over in a half an hour and then we'll get lunch." "Oh yeah, we'll all walk over in our little hive mind. Like the little bees we-" Someone slammed Alina against the wall right in front of them. Her skates slid out from under her and she disappeared behind the wall momentarily as Natalia brought the poor boy to the ground.

Sasha said something or other but Wally was looking at Coach who gave her a simple nod. She took the guards off her skates as she entered the rink through the heavy plexiglass door and filled the short distance between her and Alina.

"Just fucked up my shoulder." She grunted, stretching her arms as Wally held her racket. "I can play." But that part wasn't directed at Wally, it was for Coach despite not being able to hear her. Alina would not disappoint her mother. Alina gave Coach the thumbs up and skated back off the rink, replacing her guards as she joined Sasha on the bench again.

"Are you like team nurse in training or something? You were on that." Wally nodded along but was looking at Alina, watching for any signs of pain as Natalia and Joan did their checkups as well. She seemed well enough, a little stiff but that was nothing she couldn't handle. "I look out for my people get in the way of that and you won't live long." Sasha shrugged, "So you guys got some cult shit?Cool."

They went out to Telly's again that weekend for the first time in a while. The whole team did. It was a delayed treat for their victory, one of the few rewards Coach allowed for winning and it only because Alina convinced her the team needed a morale boost a few years back.

They took the back room, each little group at their own table and then there was Sasha, standing in the middle of it all. She looked at Wally who merely looked around and took that as a sign to sit with her. The other three glared at her at Wally kept talking about how she saw the cutest dog on tv the other day and that they should get a dog for their mascot, to which Joan reminded her they were Hornets, and Wally retorted with dressing the dog up as one and the meaningless debate was ended as chicken strips arrived in her hands.

"This place is good," Sasha said quietly, she was unacknowledged except from a nod from Wally before Alina and Natalia started passionately arguing about Seek.

As the pair and Joan all were occupied with a replay of the game against the Bulldogs Wally looked at Sasha. "You like chicken strips?" She'd gotten one too many and Sasha kept staring at it. Not that she noticed. "Yeah, why?" She asked as if she didn't already know where his was going. Wally traded their baskets to let her have the last chicken strip before she turned to Alina. "Dessert?" She smiled, "Fine but you have to share that chocolate monstrosity with me." Joan and Natalia added an "And me!" As well and soon enough Laurence brought out for small bowls of the Double Chocolate Fudge Drip Caramel Bowl, knowing that they would end up sharing anyway.

They had a day off. Only because Coach had a surprise conference to attend. It was a rare luxury Wally was sure to take advantage of, wearing her Hornet's crop top and some of her shorter shorts she usually wore to bed as she walked into Alina's room. She looked up, quickly looking away as she bit her lip. "That's not fair." "What?" She asked innocently, Alina held her head in her hands, blushing profusely now. "Come 'ere already." She grumbled, moving over to her king sized bed.

Wally left fully dressed this time, a fact she was thankful for since Sasha was coming down the hall. "What?" She asked, stopping as Wally stared, "Don't worry about it." She said as she quietly slid past her, moving back to her room to where Joan was sitting on her bunk.

She climbed up and lay next to her, she welcomed it, holding her under her arm as she rested her chin on her head. "Something happen?" She asked quietly, because the only times Joan could remember her being quiet was when she was upset. "Nothing. Just had some fun. Just wanted to show you some love."

Joan didn't like sex. Past events left her unable to let herself engage in it and limited her sexual attraction at all. The three of them were fine with this, sometimes Wally needed to cuddle. Sometimes she needed a distraction. Not doing it didn't limit their attraction, it was just different.

"Okay so who are you dating again? I saw you walk out of Natalia's room the first day looking..." she winced as Wally cut her stitches, the wound having successfully scabbed and healed enough they weren't needed. "Then today you slipped out of Alina's room and you literally had fresh hickeys on your neck." Wally frowned, looking in the mirror. Sure enough two faint hickeys had made a home on the side of her neck. She'd take care of that later. "Then you and Joan came out holding hands." Wally grew tired of Sasha's endless questions about her past and relationships and her thoughts on things and he way things worked around here and this and that. They never ended. So she cut the last stitch with a quick, "None of our business." and left it at that.