For The Glory

"Jason, what the fuck are you doing?" I blinked at Percy. He was nervous that much I could tell, but I thought it was because of my father.

"What?" I asked, confused and Percy frowned at me.

"What do you mean what? You're fucking losing, Babe," he sighed, shoulders slumping in exasperation.

"Losing isn't that big a deal, Perce," I shrugged. "Are you okay, though? My dad hasn't said or done anything terrible, yet?"

"Oh, no!" Percy stuck an accusatory finger into my chest. "Don't you dare. You're not allowed to even think about me right now." The corner of my mouth twitched up as I rubbed the now sore spot on my chest.

"That's gonna be hard considering you look really good." Percy sighed, calming down a smidge.

"I'm fucking serious, Jason," he said, eyes softening as he looked at me. "Forget about me for now. I'm a grown-ass man, and I can handle your father. Okay?"

"But -" I tried to argue, but Percy cut me off.

"Jason, if you want to help me deal with your dad, you need to focus on winning this game," he said, eyes almost desperate. I frowned at him. I've never seen him this serious before.

"Why?" I asked suspiciously.

"I'll tell you after. Just win this fucking game, okay?" His eyes were burning into mine.

"We can't," I whispered, dropping my head.

"You can," he lifted my chin with his finger, making me look at him. "You just got to believe."

"We're too far behind. I've tried motivating the team, but they won't listen. Ever since you left, morale's been dropping every week, and I don't know what to do anymore."

"You can still pull it back."

"No, I can't," I snapped. "I'm not you, Percy. They know it, and I know it. They will always need you." I will always need you.

"No, Jason. What they need is for you to man up," he cupped my cheek, thumb brushing away wetness. Wait, was I crying? "What you need to do is walk in there, tell them you can still win, and fucking believe it. You're not going to win by being kind and friendly, though. This isn't a job for good old positivity anymore. You gotta get wild." I frowned at him. "Don't think about it, okay? Just do it. You are going to win. You always have, and always will fly on your own."

He pulled me into a hug, and my arms instinctively wrapped around his waist as his wrapped around my neck. I held him tight, feeling the ridges and planes of his back moving underneath my fingertips. I felt grounded. "I will always be here for you, Jason," he whispered in my ear, sending a shiver down my spine. "But you don't need me."

"I love you," I whispered back, not yet quite ready to let go.

"I love you too." He slowly, gently pulled away, leaving a kiss on my cheek, and nudged me toward the locker room. "Now go win. Win for me." I gave him a nod and a smile before turning to the locker rooms.

Okay, Jason. Don't think, just do it.

I walked into the locker room, seeing Luke at least trying the scrap up some fighting spirit. Even if we had our significant differences, he wanted to win too. He was only human after all, and this team had been his family last year. He had even spent most of his high school career playing with nearly half this team. They considered him their big brother once. It was actually pretty frightening to see how quickly that changed.

"We can't let it get to us, guys," I saw Butch roll his eyes at the blonde.

"He's right." Every single set of eyes turned to me, and I steeled myself, trying to stand a little taller. "I'm gonna start by saying I'm sorry. I've been letting you down. But that stops now. Not only can we still win this, but we will."

"Yeah?" Ethan asked mockingly. "How the fuck are we going to do that, you rich preppy bastard?"

"Ethan," Will hissed, glaring at the Asian boy.

"No, he has every right to be angry." Will frowned at me. "I want him to be angry, I want each and every one of you to be angry right now. I want to walk back onto that field and make the bastards shake in their fucking boots!"

"Good golly, Miss Molly, he cussed," Travis mock gasped with a grin.

"As for how we're gonna do it, Ethan." The second string fullback raised an eyebrow at me in a challenge. "The Giants are kicking off the second half, so we're on offence first. They're defence have been playing man to man, because we've been slow. That's also why they blitzed more and more by the end of the first half. The bastards are underestimating us. They're getting cocky and reckless, and we're going to use that to fucking break them."

"I'm pulling in the second string. Stolls, you're my wide receivers. No offence to Will, but Ethan's faster, so he's going to be my fullback. We have to catch the Giants on the back foot and disorientate them. The Stolls will sprint down the touchlines, with fucking purpose. Understood?" Determined nods from the twins made me grin. "That'll pull the defenders out as far as possible, leaving gaps for the backs to run the ball. One touchdown, preferably in our first down, is all we need to shake the Giants' confidence."

"Coach," I said, turning towards the man. "Do you have anything to add?"

"Nah, I think you've said it all," he smirked. "Now get your butts out there and show those Giants why we're the fucking favourites to win the championship."

"Uh, coach?" Jake asked with a sheepish smile, lifting the JBL flip in his hand as a question.

"Fine," the short man huffed. "One song, Mason. Make it good." Jake pumped his fist in triumph before For The Glory by All Good Things started blaring. I only recognised the song because it was on Percy's hype mix. The Greeks definitely knew the song, though. Luke even cracked a smile as Will and Cecil took centre-stage on one of the benches. I was taken back to three months ago when I walked into the locker room with Will and Percy performing Viva La Gloria. I realised it must be a kind of ritual for the guys.

Jake and Beck started banging on the lockers, the rest of the team soon joining. The deafening sound vibrated into my very being, making electricity spark through my limbs. I smirked when I realised there was absolutely no chance the Giants didn't hear the commotion from their own locker room. We made our way towards the field with a new drive, a purpose. Coach Hedge walking out front, swinging the baseball bat he always carried, casually by his side. I smirked at the short man. I had a theory that he carried said bat around to be more threatening due to his small stature. Of course, that theory hasn't been confirmed.

"Hey, Grace," one of the Giant players called as he snatched Coach Hedge's bat. As he turned his warning label worthy bright smile toward me, I recognised him. He went to Jupiter High but transferred to another school when he didn't make first string.

"I suggest you return my Coach's property, Dylan."

"Maybe you should take up baseball instead of football," he said, swinging the bat back and forth, ignoring my statement. "You'll be so much more comfortable with a few more balls, wouldn't you, faggot?" Something inside me snapped. I caught the bat midair and ripped it out of Dylan's hands. I watched his grin falter slightly and then completely disappear as I snapped the bat over my knee. He stared at me with wide eyes as I dropped the remains at his feet.

"Sorry, Coach," I said as I turned to my team. "I'll buy you a new bat."

"No need," Hedge cackled. I risked a glance at where Percy sat with my father. Percy was laughing, and my father wore an actual smirk plastered on his face. It gave me a little more courage.

"I'm Dylan. I'm so cool, I want to date myself, but I can't figure out how! " Leo mocked making the rest of us laugh, and Dylan skulked back to his own team with his tail between his legs. We huddled together one last time before kick-off.

Everything slowed down as the ball was hiked into my palms in our first down. The twins were already off at record-breaking speeds. I felt the palpable shift in the Giants as I took a step back, pumping the ball to feign a pass. I could almost hear an angel choir sing as the gaps started opening up. One specific pocket, right behind the defensive line called me like a beacon. The outside linebackers had spread out, leaving the middle linebacker with a very open field right behind him.

A whistle at Dakota's shoulder had him rip the defensive tackle to the side and open a gap in between him and the left guard just large enough. I felt the wind at my back as I shot through. I saw shock register on the middle linebacker's face before he crouched down to tackle me. I couldn't sidestep, because the outside linebackers were quickly closing his flanks. There was only one option. So as he went down, I went up. I hurdled clear over his head. As I landed behind him, I barely felt the ground beneath me as I set off down the field.

The endzone was coming closer and closer. Every sound around me was drowned out by my heartbeat, thumping in my ears. I didn't dare look back. Looking back sure didn't help Orpheus much. At last, I sailed into the endzone, and the whistle blew. The Stolls were on me in an instant, wild smiles on their faces, as all the sounds came crashing back. The crowd erupted into cheers. I saw the feed on the big screen change to an image of my father, with Percy, looking quite smug beside him. I smirked as he put both pinkies in his mouth to whistle.

"Dude, you were fucking flying," I heard Travis call as I tried to catch my breath.

I saw the worried, frantic looks on the opposing team's faces as I made my way back to my side. I pulled Dakota into a hug to thank him for the gap. He smiled brightly at me. The kicking unit made their way onto the field, and we got our extra points courtesy of Cecil.

There was a new fire burning through us, and I felt truly invincible.