October 21st, Sunday, student archives storage 3:02 pm "I never did like this key or this lock," Fitzgerald muttered as he choked the door handle. "It never seems to fit right, and it always gets stuck." "The worst part is that nobody seems able to fix it," Rosewood commented. "We'll probably have to take it out and replace it." "Hmm, yes. AGH- there, got it. Devilish thing. Now. What are the names of the students on the team?" Rosewood had composed a list for reference; she pulled it out and read them off. "I'll go in order. Let's see: Andre, Jennifer; Beckett, Kasumi; Berkeley, Elisa..." "There are two of those here," Fitzgerald called. "How do you spell it?" "B-E-R-K-E-L-E-Y. The next one is Durante, Valencia." "B-E-R...okay, I found it. And...Durante, did you say?" "Yes. Valencia. Next: Essylt, Arina; Hawthorne, Alice; Hohenheim, Freya; Howlet, Rain..." "I already know about her," Fitzgerald said. "Oh, of course. There's Khovansky, Nadia. That's K-H-O-V..." "I found it, thank you. Next please." "Lacroix, Fleur; Nazario, Fausta; Nguyen, Amy; Ofdensen, Lauren; Threal, Shannon; Tu, Thuy..." "Tu, as in T-U?" "Yes." "I only see a Terra under that name." Rosewood double-checked her list. Her information was correct, but... "Oh, I think Terra is her American name. It's what everyone calls her." "Right, of course. Are there any others?" "Just one more: Velur, Felicity. There's also Parkin, Kathlyn and Maethers, Maria, but they're members of the staff." "I'll take theirs as well, just in case. Well, there you have it: eighteen in all. Shall we both look over these, or would you rather I handle them?" "No, I'll look them over. Someone has to put this into context." Fitzgerald gave her an indiscernible stare that bordered on offense. "I don't know what you mean. If these women have nothing to hide, our school will be safe. We'll eliminate the question of bribery." Rosewood approached him and placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. "Everyone has a skeleton or two in their closet, Helmuth. Even you; even I." "I know. But some are much more concerning than others. Nine for you and nine for me?" "Actually, I'd like for us to look at them all." "Suit yourself," he gestured. Take my love, take my land Take me where I cannot stand I don't care, I'm still free You can't take the sky from me Take me out to the black Tell them I ain't comin' back Burn the land and boil the sea You can't take the sky from me There's no place I can be Since I found serenity But you can't take the sky from me... "Exhumed" "We made it," Felicity announced as she and Nadia entered Alice's apartment. "We're going to have to work a lot of overtime, but we made it." Their hostess waved at them. "Don't worry, you should be back before long. It looks like Kasumi, Valencia, and Amy are the only ones missing." "I can tell Amy," Freya offered. "I know where she lives." "I guess Kasumi's my responsibility, then," Felicity said. "Valencia and I have our arrangements," Fausta offered. "Well, that settles that. We'll get started now. Oh, thank you Rain." "My pleasure. Help yourselves." Rain's groceries were being converted into snacks for everyone. The hiss of soda liters being opened and the crackle of plastic bags tearing filled the room with an unnatural symphony. They all dined as Hawthorne and Elisa took center stage. "Well, where should we begin? Should we just come out with it, or ease everyone into it?" "Tell us flat-out," Lauren said. "We can take it. And don't sugarcoat it, either." "If you insist," Alice sighed. "Well, some of you already know this, but right now, the Chairman and the Dean are accusing us of bribery. Uh...they think we paid our last two opponents to forfeit the game." "Which is utterly ridiculous," Arina pointed. "They weren't the ones playing those games. Freya and I both can vouch that we won them fairly." Terra raised her hand. "So where exactly are they getting these implications? I'm still not too clear on it." "We don't know either. The Chairman got a call from someone, we don't know who, and they convinced him that someone from one of the teams paid off St. Thekla's and Hartford." "Clearly, it was enough to set him in motion," Elisa noted. "But we didn't do it," Shannon insisted. Lauren gestured at her. "Right, but- remember that Fitzgerald's an asshole, and he'll use anything he can to knock us down a peg." "Don't be so stupid," Fleur snorted, "this is bigger than all that. Just think about it for a moment. If the Chairman started up this investigation, sooner or later, other people would get wind of it as well, right? And then more people after that, until we have a veritable mob at our throats. Do you honestly think he wants that kind of publicity? I wouldn't if I were him." Lauren sat back, baffled. She hated it when Fleur was right. "Fleur is right," Alice said. "From what Elisa and I heard- overheard- he's trying to keep this as quiet as possible, and the Dean's helping him." "Wait a second!" Jennifer cried. "Hold on, back up for a moment! Did you just say, 'the Dean is helping him'? As in, Dean Rosewood is helping the Chairman?" "Mind-blowing," Arina muttered sarcastically. "It's just like I told everyone before," Fleur said impatiently. "So let me get this straight," she demanded, grasping her temple. "The two most powerful people in the school all of a sudden think we bribed our last two opponents just so we'd win a couple of lousy games. This is unbelievable. It's downright incredible!" "It would seem a little suspicious to an outsider, though," Arina murmured thoughtfully. "We were not playing under full capacity during those last two games. We had a supposedly unbeatable opponent, and a third of the team was out sick. Bribery sounds a little more probable under those circumstances." "Even so, why not just interview the other team and get some facts?" Felicity said. Fleur threw her hands up in the air, exasperated. "Good God, do I really have to keep repeating myself?! They do not want this to get out to the public! Walking around two schools asking everyone if they were bribed or not is the fastest way to a fiasco, short of announcing it on the news." "All right, I'm just saying." "So how are they going about all this?" Felicity asked. Nobody seemed to know. "Quietly and rationally, I hope," Elisa murmured. "At least we'll know what's going on now," Alice grumbled. Lauren scratched the back of her neck. "Yeah, this is some serious bullshit. But hey, at least we're all innocent. I mean, I was in those games, and it looked like both sides were really fighting hard. We've just gotta tough it out until they get all the facts. It could be worse." "Always, conceivably," Arina reminded her. - Alice Hawthorne, family: none (disowned); right midfielder/reserve- Chairman Fitzgerald felt what little optimism he had remaining evaporate as he flipped to the next dossier, wrote down his impressions, and grunted, "Hmm. It says here that Miss Hawthorne had been residing in a psychiatric ward for two years, and was released recently. Might it be possible that, during an episode of relapsing delirium, she may be our culprit? She certainly has the funds." "Leena assured me that Miss Hawthorne was confirmed healthy again. Although I will admit, I never knew she was committed." Fitzgerald made more notes, to Rosewood's concern, before moving on. "Ah yes, a good bill of health. But it says here that her parents disowned her. Perhaps she found ways of extorting money from them, as some compensation." "How could people do that to their own daughter?" Rosewood whispered. Fitzgerald shook his head sadly. "By the same methods people legally enslave others to poverty. Shall we proceed? Freya Serhild von Hohenheim. Ah, I thought I recognized her name. I once had business relations with her father. He came across as quite a scatterbrained fellow, but strangely competent when the mood suited him. Not unlike our Mr. Warren. He's a widower; his mother disowned one granddaughter in favor of another. I don't see why: Miss Hohenheim has an excellent academic record, and she even runs her own small business. 'Mirage', a computer graphics company." "She has very poor health, though," Rosewood noted. "She has a considerable medical history. Good Lord, that poor girl's had a heart attack before! What on Earth was Leena thinking, putting someone like that out on the field?!" "Well, football does require eleven players," Fitzgerald replied casually. "With five missing from their roster of sixteen, Ms. Parkin-Katajisto apparently had no choice. She certainly seemed strong enough from my perspective. Family doctor: Sierra Maethers. Hmm, could be related to this, um, Maria. Ah, her mother. Convenient and encouraging." "But Dr. Maethers is a widow. Her husband...oh my lord, he committed suicide?" "Let me see." Fitzgerald peered at it and raised a questioning eyebrow. This wouldn't incriminate Freya, but it was still disconcerting. "Hmm. And you said she was in poor health? She has wealth enough to spare, it seems. Hmm...poor health but strong finances..." "Helmuth, please..." "I'll make my decision after examining all the details," he assured her. "Miss Howlet is next, though I can vouch for her character. She may not always be composed, but her devotion is in the right place. She knows better than to cheat." "Thank goodness for that at least. What about Nadia Khovansky?" "Not much. Her file says she moved from Russia to England, then to America. Oh dear, this is not good at all. Horrible." "What? Oh, I see. Her father was involved with the Mafia. Well, it also says that he left it." "Did he," Fitzgerald murmured. "Other than that, Miss Khovansky seems clean. She got into a nasty melee during her tenure in England, but apparently did not start it. Well, England has never been kind to Russians. Next is Fleur Lacroix..." Fitzgerald froze as he read Fleur's dossier- and one thing about Helmuth Fitzgerald was that he did not become easily surprised. It took a lot to genuinely petrify him, and right now, he was as stiff and as solid as a redwood, sitting bolt upright with eyes wide open, mouth drooping. Rosewood skimmed the file and felt her blood turn to ice. "We should stop," she hissed. "This is wrong." Fitzgerald took a while to recover; he had to remove his glasses and take several drinks. He even considered removing the cognac he kept stored and locked away. "I pray this never gets out to the public. It seems we have yet another potential culprit. Let's take a reprieve and compose ourselves. I could use some fresh air." "I'd rather have a bath, personally," Rosewood murmured. - Shannon Threal, family: Arnold and Matilda Threal; stopper- "I can't thank you enough," Rain sighed as Fausta drove her back to the grocery store. She gestured nonchalantly. "Forget about it. It's our fault for stealing all your groceries. This is the least we can do." "All the same, I really appreciate it. Usually I just walk to the store and buy a handful of items, but my stock is literally bare. I don't even have ramen noodles anymore." "You're not buying that garbage with my money," she insisted proudly. "If I'm going to compensate you, I may as well start you out with better eating habits." "Hey, does this figure not mean anything to you?" Rain grinned and tapped her firm, smooth stomach, carved into goddess-quality graciousness by years of fencing. Fausta smiled in approval. "So why the ramen, then?" "Because it's cheap and it lasts forever. I only use it as a last resort. So anyway, what's your opinion on this whole matter? You think we're in any danger?" "I've been through worse," she said, handling the last turn smoothly. They pulled into the parking lot, Fausta favoring her left arm to get out and shut the door. "Try not to make me carry too much, all right?" "No more than I can. What kind of worse danger, if you don't mind my asking?" "I do. Let's just say that this will all blow over soon. Mr. Fitzgerald's not an idiot; he'll soon find out the truth. Though I am bothered about that informant of his. If they were just making all this up, he would've seen through it in no time. Either there's some validity behind their claims, or...they might have set us up. Got any enemies, Howlet?" "Just some poor losers I've met on other fencing teams. Nobody low enough to pull this off. You?" "Less than any of you might think. I'm actually a very nice person." "I never said you weren't!" she exclaimed hastily. "I always thought you were cool, even when you were being a bitch. Actually, I kinda have a crush on you." "Oh really!" she smirked. "What about Alice?" "We could have a three-way." Fausta raised her eyebrows and entered the store; Rain took a shopping cart. "I have to admit, I've always wanted to try a ménage à trois at least once in my life. I might take you up on that offer. Is Alice any good in bed?" "Oh, she's an animal, Fausta! You'd love her. And there's so much of her!" "We really shouldn't be talking about this," Fausta grinned, chuckling a little. "It's so Neanderthal." "You seem to be enjoying it. It's certainly taking our minds off the you-know-what." "You mean my mind. Everyone knows the Chairman will never implicate you." "Well, we know each other. He knows I'm on the level because I've proved it to him. Whenever I had the sense to take my meds, I mean. But he has no reason to suspect you. We all know how pissed off you'd get if you found someone was cheating, especially if it was your teammate. You're so god-damned proud, Fausta." "This is true. So what all do you need? Please tell me you kept your original list." "I don't make lists," she grunted. "I never follow them." "Stupid of me for even considering it," she sighed. But damn, that Rain had a nice ass- and Fausta got to look at it the entire time they were there. "You take care now, all right? And try not to worry about this, sweetheart." "I will try. You be very good now, beautiful Eleeza." "I'll put all my effort into it," she grinned. They kissed deeply for another two minutes before parting at last. Felicity was inside the Lily Club already, calling Amy with what little time she had left before her shift restarted. There was no answer- no surprise, she was probably still working- so she left a message. "Uh, hey Amy, it's me. Listen, um, whenever you have some free time, you wanna go on a date somewhere? We, um... Well, there's things we need to talk about. You kind of missed a really important team meeting. Uh, don't worry- you're not in trouble or anything. Anyway, I hope you're doing all right. Call me when you get the chance, okay? Bye." She put her phone in her pocket and frowned grimly. Nadia didn't look any better as she clocked in and picked up her first order. "This will be for table three, okay?" "Yeah. Hey, welcome back, Perky! Whoa, maybe not. You look like someone just ran over your dog." "No, is not a thing so bad as this. There is just going for bad news with the team." "That sucks. Evil Lord Gary hard at work?" "No," she smiled. "Well, maybe. Don't know. Is very complicate. Better if you are not to know." "Okay, I get'cha, I won't pry. So, Kitty, is your partner all right?" "Nadia has seen better days," she admitted. "It's weird seeing her look so depressed. I mean, her girlfriend tried to cheer her up and all..." "Maybe she just needs Felicity the feline to help her out," Gardenia replied, pawing at the air like a cat might. Felicity grinned and went to the back room. "I hope you're not trying to hook us up, Dee. I already have a girlfriend." "Atta girl. But there's no rule that says you can't mix and match." "There is in my book!" she called out before disappearing. Gardenia grumbled. "Your book sucks." "Darn." Jennifer sighed and tried the number again. She was calling Valencia; she still had her phone number from back when they were dating. Miss Durante was not answering, and according to Terra, neither was Kasumi. "They could be watching TV really loud," she suggested. "Maybe, but Valencia's not a home body. She'd probably be at Out and About again. Kasumi works there, right?" "Yeah. Jeez. Well, maybe Felicity and Fausta will get in touch with them." "It seems no matter how much we try and connect, we're always going to be separated by something." Jennifer's musing threw Terra off balance, and she made a face. "Wow, that's...pretty deep. So anyway, do you think we'll have a mob down our throats?" "No, and besides, I'm not worried. I've never done anything as exciting as bribery in my life. I'd rather buy games with my money." "Yeah. If I had money like that, I wouldn't waste it trying to get other people to do what I want. Well...maybe if it was something silly," she laughed. "Like what?" "I dunno, act like a chicken or something." "Chrono Trigger," they both said simultaneously. Jen pointed at her. "Jinx! Buy me a Coke." "Screw that! I don't believe in Jinx." "Hey, you can't talk until someone says your name. Those are the rules." "Forget that! I'm not playing your stupid game. Not this one, anyway. Speaking of, you think I can come over?" "Why, are they fumigating at the dorms?" "No, I'm just tired of staying in the same place all the time. I need a change of scenery." "And what about me? Maybe I need to get out and explore too." "Come on, I'm bored," she whined. "Please?" Jennifer smiled. Terra was just too cute for words. "I'm just messin' with ya. I'd love some company. Playing games by myself gets old after awhile. Maybe we should invite Elisa and Shannon, too. They live in the same area as me." "I didn't know that. Sure, sounds fun. God, I can't even imagine how Shannon and Elisa are taking this. I mean, one of them could blow up while the other one worries herself to death. I don't see how they get along." "It's because they're so dissimilar. One is a masculine heterosexual brimming with confidence while the other is feminine and uncertain. And she has a girlfriend." Jen started humming the theme song to "The Odd Couple" as they got into her car and drove back to Hill n' Dale Apartments; in the meantime, Shannon Threal was in tears and Elisa was doing everything she could to comfort her. "It's not fair," she wailed quietly. "It's just not fucking fair. I spent all this time tryin' to build myself back up...and I thought I was ovah this shit..." "It's all right, sweetheart," Elisa whispered, cradling her roommate lovingly. "We'll get through this. It's okay. I'm still on your side." Shannon sniffled and tried to smile, but it was useless. Some wounds...they do not mend so easily. - Arina Essylt, family: Georg and Rina; Renard and Tybalt Essylt; team psychologist/reserve- "Attacking another student while in the shower? Tsk. The other girl had a concussion and Miss Threal was arrested for assault. Oh my, Rosewood- I never thought we had such colorful students on your team." "Stop it, Fitzgerald!" she snarled bitterly. "Don't you think you've gone far enough? If you think there's going to be a fiasco when the press finds out about this bribery incident, how much worse will it be when...all this comes to light?!" She flew her hand over the girls' files, only half of which met the Chairman's approval for virtue. Rain's was in that pile, of course, along with Jennifer, Terra, Fausta (Fitzgerald did come around to the idea that she despised cheating), Elisa, Lauren, Kasumi (his two most reluctant decisions), and Valencia. The others had been callously classified as "troublesome" and even "potentially dangerous". "They will only have the team to focus on," he reminded her. "Not the school. That is the important factor in this equation, Rosewood. We shall save Carnegie at the expense of these...individuals." "At their expense?" she gasped angrily. "What are you saying? We're not going to throw a few girls out of the college just because they have some issues!" "No," he stated plainly. "We are not. As the Dean, I believe that responsibility falls to you. And when the board hears about all this, they will insist that you act accordingly- provided, of course, that it gets out in the first place. Which we must both pray it does not. Eh?" There was no emotion on Fitzgerald's face, not that Rosewood needed any to go by. She was boiling with fury and it was all she could do to compose herself. The nerve of this man! Conniving the board of directors, which he himself was head of, to plead for expulsion! Most horrifying of all was that once all this started, she would have no choice but to do exactly that. If the board felt that a number of people were a threat to the college, and to the student body as a whole, then they were as good as gone. All of their hopes were resting upon the infinitesimal chance that this incidental matter would not become public knowledge. And today, sixteen young women would be told about it.
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