“So,” Cat leaned in again, “do you like to curl up in front of a fire with a good book or an old movie and listen to the rain on the roof?”

“Yeah, yeah I do.”

“Me too.” Cat?s watch beeped, and she looked down. “Damn.”

“What?s the matter?”

“Oh, it?s nothing, really. It?s my Mom?s birthday and I promised I?d call her before my dad takes her away for the weekend.” She sighed. “I don?t think I?ll be able to get home in enough time.”

“No worries,” Dylan replied, retrieving her phone from her belt. “Use mine.”

“Thanks!”

Cat closed and locked the door of her apartment behind her, as it had become her routine since the attack. Before she could open her mouth, Hamlet came bounding into the room and pranced at her feet waiting to be acknowledged. Cat dropped to her knees and gave him a hug and a good scratch behind the ears. “How?s my new baby?”

She was rewarded with a long wet dog kiss, which tickled her nose and caused her to fall back on the floor. This was an open invitation to Hamlet to play with his new mistress and they soon were involved in a wrestling match. Cat paused when the phone rang, but she decided to let the machine get it and she continued playing with the dog.

“Cat? Are you home?”

She stopped again when Dylan?s voice came across the room. She started to get up but decided against it when Hamlet threw himself unceremoniously into her lap and flopped over to get his stomach scratched.

“Ok, well I seem to have left my cellphone with you, so if you could bring it to practice tomorrow that?d be great. Oh, and thank you for buying me lunch. You really didn?t have to do that, but it was very nice of you.”

Cat smiled. Hamlet seemed to kind of purr.

“So, um, well?thanks. And I?ll see you tomorrow at practice. Get some rest.” There was a long pause and she added, “If you need anything you have my number.”

“Unless you?ll come over and give me a long massage, I?m not calling.” She looked down at her dog. “God I?m losing it.”

“Bye.”

There was a click and then Dylan?s vocal presence was gone and Cat missed it.

“Yup, I?m losing it.”

She gave the dog one last scratch and then gave him the toy she had bought. Then she went for a shower, a cold shower. Dylan Lambert was really starting to have some effects that she wished she had some better control over.

Such as the smile that was threatening to become permanently etched on her face.

The fans let out yet another long groan when the ball failed to go in. For whatever reason, the Badgers where playing ball like a freshman high school team; their passing game was off, their shooting game was horrible and their defense seemed to be non-existent. It was as if they were playing under water.

On the other hand, the Pistols were hot with a capital H and they were making the Badgers work and sweat. Within the first ten minutes of the first period they led by ten points and showed no signs of letting up.

The Pistols hailed from the mean streets of Camden, and their lineup looked like it had come fresh from the pages of the now defunct XFL. Full of cast-offs and rejects, what they lacked in talent, they more than made up for in intimidation. They were a roller derby team gone mad, and they thrived on the image that had taken them all the way to the second round of the playoffs last year.

To make matters worse, the referees seemed to be living in the Pistols? back pocket. Either that, or they were affected with a sort of selective blindness. Half of the players on the Badgers were sporting some injury or other from vicious blocks and charges, and the Refs hadn?t seen a thing. Or if they had, the Badgers were called for the foul. Barely through the first quarter, the first Badger had already fouled out, and several others were on their third.

One look at Dylan and Hodge knew they were in for it during the half. The coach was not amused, and she spent half her time pacing back and forth, and the other half with her arms crossed over her chest, shooting dirty looks onto the court. Cat got caught in that laser-like glare and resolved not to look to the sideline for the rest of the half for fear of being incinerated on the spot.

She took the inbounds pass and dribbled it to half court. Things were looking good until she bounced passed the ball to where Coles was supposed to be. Instead, a hulking mass received the pass pretty as you please and rifled it off to her point guard. “Shit!” Cat yelled, backpedaling in an effort to keep up with the Pistols? point guard. It was a useless effort, and Cat flung her hands outward as the player she was guarding hit a three point shot with no effort at all.

The buzzer sounded, signaling the end of the half. The Badgers hustled off the court to their locker room. Cat looked up into the crowd. It was clear they were disappointed by the fact that their team was now sixteen points behind, but she was relieved to see that they weren?t leaving en masse.

In the locker room, everyone took a seat on the long benches, wiping their necks and heads with towels as they waited for the appearance of their coach. Cat looked around, seeing the dismal expressions on the faces of her teammates. It was as if they were awaiting execution.

A moment later, Dylan strode in, her face an angry mask. “Somebody want to explain to me exactly what was going on out there? I thought I came to coach a basketball game, but obviously, I was mistaken”

Cat couldn?t even look at her coach. She figured it was in her best interest just to listen, because if she looked up and saw disappointment in Dylan?s face it would kill her.

“Did you guys not get enough rest last night? You?re playing like crap. You?re letting a second rate team beat you on your own turf. I know you guys are better than this. What?s the problem?”

No one was brave enough to answer so Dylan continued. “You?re playing like a high school team!” Her lancing gaze zeroed in on one particular player. “You decided to join the WWF, Chaney? Jesus! They?re not scoring enough points on their own, so you decided to give them a couple for free??”

“You saw that charge, Coach!” the guard responded, nursing her rapidly blackening left eye. “Hell, everyone in the stands saw it!”

“And that gave you the right to make like Mike Tyson and clean her clock?”

“Damn straight,” Chaney agreed. “Bitch had it coming.”

“So, you thought it was worth a Technical.”

“Well?”

“Good answer, Chaney. Did your self-promotion to team thug come with a decrease in IQ?”

“C?mon, Coach. The refs are killing us out there!”

The rest of the team muttered their assent.

“Oh, so that?s it, huh?” Dylan asked, continuing to pace. “The refs are playing favorites, and you?ve decided to just give up. Is that the way we?re playing it now?”

There was some muted grumbling, but no one had the guts to answer outright.

“Fine. Well then, hit the showers. I?ll go tell the refs that we?re forfeiting the game. Our fans don?t deserve the torture of a second half of this shit you call playing.” She stared at them all. “Well? Go on. Get changed.”

As she turned, Cat?s voice broke the silence. “Coach?.”

Dylan turned back, pinning Cat with her glare. “You have something to add, Catherine? You haven?t added much during the game.”

Cat flushed at the rebuke, but held her ground. “I know coach. I?ll be the first to admit that I?m not playing worth a damn. But?I?m not ready to give up yet. I think we can win. I know we can. I?m asking for another chance to prove ourselves.”

Dylan?s eyes narrowed in challenge. “And how do you intend to do that?”

Cat took in a deep breath as she thought about her answer. “Look. I know I?ve got the least amount of professional experience here, but I also know what it?s like to go up against a team of bruisers whose only skill is intimidation. I?ve been through my share of those games in high school and college. We probably all have.”

Most of the players nodded.

“I can?t speak for anyone but myself, but I know that I?m playing the way I am because I?m frustrated. And I also know that that is exactly what they want. It?s why they?re doing it. And I think that they think of us as some second rate loser team that they can just bowl over with their tactics and we?ll run home with our tails tucked between our legs.” Her eyes scanned the team, seeing grudging agreement in most of their faces. She smiled a little. “Face it, the Badgers haven?t always had the best reputation.” Her face became serious. “But we?re not those Badgers anymore. We?re a different team with a different attitude, and I?m going to try my best to play with that attitude for the rest of this game.”

An assortment of cheers came from the ranks.

“I think that we?ll all play better if we accept these two basic facts. The referees are blind, and our opponents are bullies. Accept those facts, deal with them, and move past them. If we stick to our own game plan and don?t let their tactics affect us, they?ll be the ones getting frustrated before long.”

Dylan looked on, keeping a smile of pride from creeping onto her face by determination alone. Before her eyes, Catherine was fully becoming the leader Dylan had known she would be. It was a wonderful sight.

When one of the timekeepers stuck her head in the room and told Dylan that it was time to return to the court, the coach stepped back and allowed a much more enthusiastic team stream past.

Only then did a smile fully bloom on her face.

Back on the court, Cat was pleased to see that most of the crowd had remained despite the team?s horrible effort, and she vowed right then and there if there was any way to pull this game out, she was going to do it for her team mates, her coaches and the fans.

She took the time to offer words of encouragement to other members of her team, and was pleased with the intent, confident looks she in turn received.

The second half began. It was blistering from the start. The Pistols started in with their old tactics of slash and burn, and the Badgers did their best to ignore them.

There was a new sense of purpose and determination in the Badgers, and it was manifesting itself rather quickly. With Cat firmly manning the helm, they managed to close the gap down to two points in the first seven minutes, though Coles, their best forward, picked up two quick fouls and had to sit out the rest of the game.

Anya, the Ukrainian walk on, took over. She was used to the more physical play from her days in the World Leagues, and she handled the attacks on her with grace and flair, quickly scoring a sweet three-pointer on a no-look pass from Cat that finally put the Badgers up by a point.

The crowd was on their feet when their team took the lead. The energy was crackling through the arena like small bolts of lightening and Cat could feel the hair on her arms stand on end.

The Pistols however, weren?t quite ready to give up. One of their forwards became free on a fast break, and with an uncontested lay-up, the lead was theirs once again.

As Cat charged back down the court, dribbling easily and flashing the play to her teammates, she easily avoided a hand that tried to clothesline her. A quick head duck, and a left-right juke, and she crossed over half court, waiting for the play to develop around her.

The defense was a simple man-to-man, and Chaney executed a perfect pick, allowing Cat to come free. Then the shooting guard took a step back off her defender, received Cat?s bullet pass, and sunk a shot from just inside the key. Pumping her fist in the air, she then swatted Cat a good one on the rump as they both ran down the court to take up their defensive positions.

Cat spared a quick glance at the play clock and, seeing four minutes proudly displayed, realized for the first time in her professional basketball career, that these were going to be the longest four minutes of her life.

She wasn?t wrong.

The Pistols took their time, slowing their game, and watching as the clock ticked down its final minutes. Try as they might, the Badgers couldn?t come up with a steal, and Cat watched in disgust as their defensive scheme broke down and an easy shot was scored.

The return charge didn?t make it to the basket, aborted by a steal. The Pistols? point guard dribbled the ball and headed back down court with the Badgers hot on her heels.

Two minutes on the clock and the crowd was nearly crazed at this point. Watching their team come back from what should have been a thrashing and then watching them work to get and keep the lead had the crowd constantly one their feet.

Cat watched as the shot was attempted and missed. The ball practically fell into her hands and the reverse was made. She headed back down court. Looking up, she saw a wall of Pistols running up on her, looking huge and hungry as they approached. Staring toward the basket, she realized she had only one option. Taking the shot, she waited as it seemed time slowed down. For her it was like a scene out of a bad sports movie. She could see, hear and feel the breath leaving her body as she willed the ball to go in.