Reservoir of Power Ch. 06

Authors Note*

I'm sorry for the delay (again), but the tornado dropped my entire house into this exceedingly strange land. Oddly enough, and despite the rampant danger, there was quite a bit of singing amongst the inhabitants, not to mention several weird companions who seemed to need something from me.

I'm willing to admit that the place was mostly a drag, well... except for the frequent Pink Floyd riffs that kept playing out of nowhere, but... enough about that.

Once I managed to return to Brownbackistan, I did get right back to work, I did! Really! But I suppose that it just was not to be, as then the stupid, black dog ate my homework. So I had to start all over again...

And that's why it took me so long,

So help me God,

SisterRobin

~~~

Reservoir of Power: Chapter 6

The referee was screaming about something again. What is he yelling this time? Oh, he seems to want something from me...

"Green! Infinity! Off, off, off!"

Lena knew that he hadn't really needed to yell, the building was no more than half full, and at any rate, the few fans that the home team had mustered, well... they weren't making hardly any noise at all.

She also was pretty sure that she hadn't committed the foul that the man was calling on her, but she knew that arguing with the ref wouldn't get her anywhere- except deeper into his dog-house, so she just shrugged her shoulders and skated away from the pack and into the penalty box where she'd be serving her time. Ursula Major was more than used to this sort of treatment by now. These days, the referees all seemed to focus on whatever she did on the track; for the season was almost over and the Big Mountain Misfits had not been challenged in weeks.

As she sat in the box, she glanced idly around the rink. This particular dive was called 'Skateland' and quite frankly... it was a dump. It was more of a time capsule than it was a building, looking as if it had been transported directly from some earlier era. Lena wondered when the place had been constructed. Back in the 1930s or 40s maybe?

The lights had already failed twice, and the only reason that the skaters might be able to finish the event was that there was just enough light coming in through the open doors and filthy windows. The building's operator had thrown everything open in an attempt to save the day. It made for a grim and dreary atmosphere, but he understood that if the match wasn't finished, some of the patrons might ask for their money back.

Lena spotted the illuminated flecks of dust floating lazily in the sunbeams that had managed to sneak into the decrepit old building. Not that there was any lack of dust... as it liberally covered the tattered banners and ancient Christmas lights that hung haphazardly from the rafters. The lights weren't blinking sadly any longer though, as the most recent power outage had finally put them out of their misery.

She was distantly aware that something was nagging at the edge of her consciousness, so she took a longer look into the mirrors that made up the entire east wall of the building and she could see that something odd seemed to be happening there. Yes, she saw that something was definitely moving. Though in truth, it took a moment for her to realize that whatever was might actually be important. "Oh, it's only Mary waving at me," she thought bemusedly.

Then, with greater clarity, it struck her... Her penalty time had already expired, and here she sat, still killing time here in the box. "Crap!" she exclaimed as she jumped to her feet and skated back onto the track.

Fortunately, the team hadn't actually needed her, for Ilsa had skated away from the other team's slow-footed jammer and was busily scoring points at will. So by the time Ursula had managed to catch up with the pack, the She-wolf had already laughed and had made the chicken-dance motions to end the jam.

Now, Mary was doing the shouting, "Wendy! Go in for Ursula,"

"Girl-friend, I think you're gonna be in trouble," jeered the laughing Ylva as she skated around the distracted Lena.

"Sorry, coach," Lena said with her head down, as she skated by Mary's perch on the end of the team's bench.

Mary didn't really reply; she just sat there with a worried expression upon her face. Her dour look certainly was not caused by the scoreboard as the Misfits were way ahead by an embarrassingly wide margin; the fat lady had long since sung. Obviously, her concern must have been caused by something else, and the look on her face guaranteed that she wasn't able to hide this from anyone who knew her.

Six-Gun Sioux examined her stressed coach from where she sat next to Mary on the bench, her own swelling foot now submerged in an ice bath. "What's up coach," she said, "You've had that sour look on your face for weeks. Don't you like to win?

As if she was coming out of a daze, Mary shook her head as she saw Sue slowly come into focus. "Umm, what..." Mary asked in confusion.

Sue was concerned; she'd never seen her coach lose focus during a match before. "Come on Mary, you've got to tell me what's going on. Lately, you've been in a bigger funk than Lena. We've done nothing but lose for years and you never missed a moment of it, and now that we always win, your mind is nowhere to be found. Are you just bored because you rarely skate in our matches any more? Maybe you should take a couple of jams?"

"No, that's not it; I'm just worried about something, that's all."

"So what are you worried about then? It sure isn't this match; at this point, we could skate with our worst three and still win this thing."

Mary stole a glance to where Lena was now seated at the other end of the bench, and while she didn't say anything, she didn't have to. Sue was her best friend in the world, and she didn't miss the look.

"What is it?" Sue probed. "Why are you worried about Lena? Sure, I know that her mind wandered a bit tonight, but she's our best skater and the only reason you even had her in the jam is because a couple of us are injured... Oh no! She's not leaving the team is she?"

Mary snapped back into focus with a start, and she quickly tried to dispel Sioux's suggestion. "No, not that I know of. I mean... as far as I know, she's going to stay with us."

"Then what's your deal? Spill it!"

Mary turned her full attention to her friend as she shamefully replied, "Sue, I can't tell you yet, but I think it'll become clear when we get to Grant's Pass for that post-season tournament."

"But..." Sioux began, but she didn't get any farther than that because Mother Mary came back with a vengeance.

"But nothing, don't worry about it! I'm sure that everything will work out for the best. I'm afraid that it'll just have to be hectic for awhile. Now... go relieve Ilsa and take her next jam."

"Umm, coach..." Sioux began, pointing at her sprained ankle.

"Sponge Barb," yelled Mary disgustedly, "Go in for Ilsa!" Then mumbling to herself, she said, "Honey Bea, you'd better be right about this."

Sioux heard what her friend had mumbled, but she decided not to immediately press for more. Instead, she decided to eavesdrop on whatever it was that Lena was preparing to say to Mary.

"Sorry Coach," Lena began. "I know that I shouldn't have lost focus during the match, even if it was just during garbage time, but it feels like I am mostly going through the motions lately. I'm not sure what's going on with me anymore. Hell, I yelled at Lochlainn this morning and he hadn't done anything wrong!"

"You stayed over with Lucky again..." Mary asked probingly, her mood seeming to lighten.

"Well, we had to be up so early in order to make this road trip. It just seemed easier that way," Lena replied defensively. "...and Ylva convinced him that I'm really hard to get out of bed, so he insisted that I stay at his place."

"So... I'm guessing that you bit off his head when he tried to get you out of bed?" Mary asked, now openly smiling in relief. "...and thereby proved that Ylva was right all along?"

Lena snapped, "But he wouldn't leave me alone, dammit! I just needed ten more minutes!"

"But Lena... you guys were almost an hour late as it was. Mike was beside himself; he was threatening to leave you behind and force you to wait until Lucky showed up in his van."

"Then ten more minutes wouldn't have mattered!" Lena growled once again.

Mary rolled her eyes at this, but she didn't say anything. She just waited for the rest to come spilling out.

"Okay fine..." Lena finally allowed. "I might have over-reacted."

"And did you tell him that?"

"Hell no! ...and give him one more thing to be right about?"

Mary couldn't help herself. This time, she did laugh out loud, but this in turn made her wince as well, as she realized that she hadn't been laughing much lately. "No, not since the night that I spoke with Bea," she thought randomly.

Then again, she knew that the entire world had been on edge since the night after that match. The press had taken to calling it 'the day of the unmasking'. Werewolves were no longer a myth, and the world had teetered on the precipice of war for the next several weeks. It got even worse for awhile when no werewolves were found anywhere on Earth but in the Americas. Now, even after the treaties had been signed, most of humanity was still on edge.

Might there be other 'magical' creatures among us? Were there other Were-species? The wolves flatly refused to say, so the supermarket tabloids and internet conspiracy sites were awash in inflammatory stories. They claimed eyewitness sightings of everything from faeries to pod people. And really... who could have said otherwise if the wolves weren't willing to talk? The existence of werewolves had completely destroyed mankind's certitude that they were the master, or even, the only intelligent species upon the Earth.

The treaties had deeded vast swathes of land to the Wolves in exchange for... something. The fact that the general population had no idea what this 'something' might be only made for an even more tumultuous election year. The fact that the Wolves had then immediately signed over all of this land to the indigenous peoples made things that much worse as many of the nation's militias and preppers were no longer welcome in lands that they had considered their own, even though all of it had been owned by the Government in the first place.

So it was an unsettled time, but then again, this had very little to do with Lena's lack of focus and increased irritability. No, her volatility was due to something else, for after all, the world was still blissfully unaware of the werebears. No, her frustration was mostly sexual, and it had reached the point of eruption. Mary's laughter was the last straw and this caused Lena to yell, "He won't do me!"

This was to be unfortunate timing for her outburst, as the arena was as quiet as a mouse at that moment, and while there may have been one or two members of the audience who missed Ursula's cry of frustration, they were quickly informed of the unfolding drama by their companions. Realizing what she had just done, the girl turned a fiery shade of red and clamped a hand over her mouth as she prayed for a pit to spontaneously appear to swallow her whole.

Mike shot a look at Lochlainn and said, "Dude! Really? What the Hell are you waiting for?"

"Umm..." Lochlainn replied dumbly, as he wished for his own hole to appear.

It wasn't like he could tell his boss that he was a werebear. Nor could he tell him that he was refraining from making love to Lena until the two of them could get a clear answer as to whether children from their union might be possible; much less could he admit to Mike that even if the union could produce children, no one knew whether these children would be were, bear, or human. So, he was sort of stuck for a response.

Mike reached up and slapped Lochlainn in the back of his head as he hissed, "I told you to close the deal, you dumbass. Fuck me; you have to be the stupidest Viking that I have ever met!"

Lucky didn't have time to respond to this abuse however, because Mike was still talking, "Oh fuck, here she comes. Now you are going to be a dead, stupid Viking! Dude, you are so on your own here!"

Unfortunately, Lochlainn wasn't given time to process any of what Mike had said before Mary had grabbed a fistful of his beard and yanked his head down to meet her eye level. He'd only had time to gasp in pain and vaguely decide that it was a good thing that Mary was almost as tall as he was before she was unloading on him. She stormed into his face, "You. Will. Make. This. Right!"

Then she said with a hiss, "As you know, Mike and I were going use your van to make a side trip to Medford on the way home, but now... you are going to make this run, and you are going to take Lena with you on this trip. While you are gone, you will figure this out! Do you hear me you stupid bear?!"

His neck was still in agony from the assault by the angry coach, but despite the fact that his neck was twisted precariously, Lucky was more worried by the fact that this dangerously unbalanced woman had just called him a bear in public. He only gasped in shock as she continued her rant, "Mike and I were going to sit down with Bea and pick her brain about this post-season league. We were going to learn everything that we could before we made our final decision about whether we should go, and now... we have to forego our much-needed mini-vacation because my husband's bartender is an idiot! Do you understand me, you fucking moron?"

Lochlainn nodded uselessly, but then again, Mary was much too wound up to consider whether he had actually responded. She continued as if he'd not answered her at all, "Go find Bea and take care of all of the skating stuff, but then you'd better take your time coming back. Take a week. Hell, take two weeks. Mike and I have run that tavern for years before your stupid ass showed up. So, you'd better just make sure that you fix... this," she said waving in the general direction of where Lena was still standing, her face still glowing red. If you return before this is fixed, I will be really angry and believe me Lochlainn Thorsson, if you screw this up, your hide won't be worth a plugged nickel."

"Now..." she said, releasing his beard, "Go over there and tell her that it is time for you to go and that she is coming with you... and don't you take fucking 'no' for an answer." Then her face relaxed just a fraction, as just a hint of a smile came back to her face. She allowed, "We all believe in you Lucky, so don't you fuck this up!"

"Yes Mother Mary," he responded without actually meeting her eyes. He was already focused upon Lena, who was even now staring back at Lochlainn with a terrified expression on her face."

"Go reassure her, you numbskull," Mary whispered as Lochlainn strode toward Lena.

"He will. You know that he will," Mike whispered, trying to calm his wife.

Lochlainn approached Lena with determination, and as he stopped before her, he reached out with his palm upturned and said "C'mon my love, it is time for us to go. Boss-lady is kicking us out."

Realizing that she had no place left to hide and that her escape was at hand, Lena took Lochlainn's arm and walked out of the dilapidated arena.

~~~

Hours later, neither Lochlainn nor Lena had said more than a few words to one another, and the song 'Vidage' was currently pounding out of the van's stereo.

Filled with something,

That will set me free today,

Feel I'm falling,

In my sleep with no words to say.

As I'm driving

With the angels by my side

They tell me,

My friend aint your windows open wide?

Lena hadn't said anything about what had happened yet. Lochlainn had tried to get her to talk before he'd eventually given up and started the music. By that time, they'd been driving for almost an hour and the silence within the vehicle had become oppressive. But now the music had been on for several hours, and he was beginning to get hungry, so he dialed down the volume and took a chance, "Umm... Lena, are you hungry yet?"

She spat back, "I'm ravenous, so take the next off ramp, and after we have eaten, you will tell me what Mary said to you, and I mean... every. Last. Word! Do you hear me Lochlainn? And then... you will tell me where the Hell we are going!"

"Yes baby," he mumbled.

"I've never been so embarrassed in my life," she raged. "The entire arena had to have heard everything I said. Hell, I thought they might give us a standing ovation when we slunk out of there."

Seeing that the panic was returning to her face, Lucky interrupted quickly, "Lena, there is no way that we'll ever see any of those people again. Mary won't ever schedule that team again. They were awful; their arena was a dump; everything about that match was terrible."

"But what about our friends, Lochlainn? The whole team heard what I said. How can I ever show my face in town again?"

"They're our friends, baby. They'll only give us as much grief as we can handle, and it isn't like they didn't know that we were having our problems."

"I've never really had friends before," she murmured softly. Just Ylva and well... she's not exactly stable."

"You and me both," he replied before reaching out to cover her hand with his own. "I guess that my college roommate came the closest to being a friend for me. He was sort of like me; he always seemed to be out of place there in Missoula. Although, it was mostly the cold that he hated, he didn't seem to mind the city and all of the people."

"Didn't you say that he was a Cajun boy from the swamps?"

"Yeah, that was Thibodeaux. He hated the cold weather, just hated it."

"So you had even less support than I did," she said absently while she began to rub his hand.

"Well, I dunno... I've never seen anyone with a higher tolerance for alcohol than Thibodeaux. He'd grown up on moonshine and his skinny ass could out-drink me; and more importantly, he was willing to do it anytime that I needed the company. Between his moonshine and that stupid guitar of his, he made my life bearable."

A small laugh escaped from Lena's lips, and though it was brief and quite feeble, it was real, and it seemed to break the logjam of stress and tension within the van. "So," she said, "where are we going?"

"Burger King. Next exit," Lochlainn replied with a hopeful grin. "Then we'll head south into Oregon and on to Medford. We've been tasked with checking out Honey Bea's operation. Rather than doing this by herself, instead, I think Mary decided to send us because Bea has been the only one who seems to know what is going on. So we'd better start thinking about what we want to ask her. I don't know about you, but I am sick of not knowing what is happening with us."

Many hours later, they arrived at the outskirts of Medford, and while Lochlainn had known that it wasn't a large city by American standards, in comparison to Kalispell, it seemed almost a metropolis. In other words, he hated it as soon as he saw it. The fact that the city was dropped on to the dry side of the mountains meant that its most outstanding feature was the dismal gray concrete highway that ran through the center of town.

He growled as the town came into view.

"What's the matter, love," Lena asked worriedly.

"Not really bear country," he grumbled.

"We are not gonna be here long," she replied reassuringly. "We will get our answers and then we'll head home. We won't even have to hurry; you told me that Mary said that we could take a week or two to get back."

A large smile came to Lochlainn's face. This was the first time that Lena had ever really described Kalispell as 'home'. Maybe Medford wouldn't be so bad after all!