The Hive

17

They were waiting for her when she got back from her run. It was clear something was up when she walked in and Joan, Natalia, and Alina were all silently staring at her. Not even a smile. She stared right back.

"You have a choice to make, Hallie." Alina was the only one to speak. She remembered once when she'd stolen a goal from her during scrimmage, Joan and Natalia weren't allowed to talk to her for three days before she finally broke down at Alina's bedside and begged. She did not make the same mistake again. But this was not then. This wasn't a different time, a different place.

"It's them or us." It didn't take a lot of thought to figure out what she meant. They were a unit, the Rings. Their teammates were merely numbers to them, they were the stars of the show. Wally was no longer 4, but 13 she wished it didn't make her stomach ache.

She stared at Alina, unable to conjure the words. She should've felt bad, maybe even guilty, but all she felt was anger. And she remembered Sasha's words, coward, and it was absolutely sickening that she was right. Alina always had someone to do her dirty work, to fight her battles, clean up after her. What would she do when her faithful soldier stepped to her?

"Or what?" She rose to her feet, stepping forward and closing the distance between them. Wally stayed in place, her eyes never leaving Alina. "Excuse me?" She shrugged, overcome with anger and words she'd probably regret saying. "What are you gonna do Alina?"

She slapped her. It was one of the first time she'd ever hit her off the court. She held her cheek for a moment and looked at Alina, both women unwavering. Alina had chosen this battle, and Wally would win it.

She slammed Alina against the wall, holding a knife to her throat. Only then did Natalia and Joan intervene. They were both on their feet behind her as she held the knife to Alina's chin, watching her fail to hide the fear in her eyes. She couldn't kill her. Not here, not right now, she kept her hostage though.

"Wally." Natalia's tone was warning. She still didn't take her eyes of Alina, who gasped when she put more pressure on her throat. "Don't touch me." She warned as Joan stepped closer. They'd never actually fought before, not physically. She and Joan were about the same height but Alina and Natalia were bigger, Wally was trained to kill. She wondered how well she'd do in a brawl.

She brought her attention back to Alina. "So?" She asked, mockingly. The fear of Coach lingered in the back of her mind. She would probably be dead by the end of the month anyway. What did she have to lose?

Alina shifted uncomfortably, looking for help from the others. "I love you Alina, but I'm done." There was no sadness in her eyes, only anger. She pushed her arm down and lunged. Wally took a quick step sideways and shoved her down onto her back, rolling her over to face her. "This is a breakup." She had never even considered they one day wouldn't be an item, "Don't ever put your hands on me again. I listened to you because I wanted to, but I'm not your soldier." It was only half true. She listened to her because of Coach. She listened to her because that's what she'd always done.

"I'm going to walk out of this dorm." She said quietly. She wanted to add, and get a hotel, but her money had been seized. She considered going after Sasha next. She focused on Alina again, "And I'm never fighting another battle for you again." She rolled off her, watching her lie on the ground, seething. She looked at Natalia first with practiced indifference, observing the heartbreak written all over her face, the way she fidgeted. Then Joan, who looked terrified. She turned back to Alina. "And if you throw a fit after this, I will not clean you up. I will not be your babysitter anymore until you learn how to be decent." She crouched down to get closer, "And if you lash out at either of them, there will be consequences."

She gave them all a once-over and took Joan's car keys. There were no protests about this. She closed the door quietly and made her way down to the car. She'd driven a few times but didn't have her license, she didn't care. She wanted to get to the court.

She made it to the locker room before she started screaming. She put herself between two rows of lockers and held herself tight. She wondered if Joan and Natalia would talk to her anymore. She touch her face, remembering how easily Alina had hit her. Maybe she'd been thinking about it for a while. She cried into her sleeve quietly.

The door to the locker room opened not 10 minutes later. She cursed and wiped her face, putting on a smile that would've been for press. Laila and Sasha turned the corner, both stopping as soon as they saw her. Her smile fell, it wasn't fooling anyone anyway. She turned away and closed her eyes, maybe they'd continue about their business.

They didn't.

"Do you wanna talk about it..?" She sent Laila a scathing look and she nodded and quickly looked away. "Do you want to go play?" And for the first time since she could remember she said no. She loved the court. But the court reminded her of her girls. She couldn't.

"Okay well, um, we came to pick up Darcy's phone before we went to dinner. Wanna come?" She shook her head again and wished they'd leave her alone. There were words exchanged between them and she heard the door open and shut. She sighed but when she looked up Sasha was there.

"I'm sorry." She said awkwardly, sitting down just out of arm's reach. Wally glared at her, "You did this." It was true of course. Sasha reported Coach, landing them here. "We've been over this." She sounded bored. "Well maybe you should have minded your own fucking business." She shrugged with a sigh, seemingly tired of fighting. Wally wasn't done. She moved to Sasha, putting her hands around her throat. She didn't put pressure, just held them there, watching her eyes for fear. For anything.

"Are they still mad?"
"Alina destroyed them dorm."
"You can stay with us."

She considered. She might've had no choice if the girls wouldn't let her back in. She'd do a check to make sure Natalia and Joan were okay before she left. She thought about sleeping at a bus stop when she was nine, a few months after she'd arrived at the Hive. She'd ran away. She winced when Sasha touched her face. The placement of her thumb near her eye told her she was covering her tattoo.

"We can get it removed."
"Don't act like you care what I want."
"You deserve for be safe and happy."
"I was happy. I could still go to prison. I won't be happy there."

Guilt. It passed over her face briefly before she slid back into sadness. "Safe." She repeated. The Hive was safe. No one could hurt her there except the people inside. "No one should hurt you." She wondered what she would say if she found out what Alina did. She touched her cheek and Sasha looked concerned. "What?" And she said it. And it felt gross in her mouth and guilt that dripped off it made her sick to her stomach, "Alina hit me." She felt Sasha tense but when voice stayed level, "And after that?"

Wally grabbed her knife and held it to her throat without any real intention, "This." She put it away and Sasha nodded. "The apple doesn't fall far from the tree." It seemed she had a hairpin trigger nowadays, the words made her wince. "Please don't." Sasha nodded again, "What do you want from me?" She stared at her for a long time. She wondered if she'd ever have the same devotion to her as she did her girls. She wondered if she even wanted her to. "Hold me."

So she did. And Wally tucked her face into her shoulder and she didn't cry. Coach would yell at her for not being hydrated enough right about now. "Tell me I'm good." She wasn't sure Sasha heard it at first before she shifted and coughed.

"You're good. You're kind. You're smart." She ran a hand through her hair and Wally pulled away enough to her look her in the face, "You're absolutely breathtaking. You are a Seek genius. You're amazing, Hallie Cornwallis." It was the first time someone said her full name in years. She looked at Sasha again, this time she wasn't looking for emotion, just taking in her features. "Thank you, Sasha Bykov."