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catlynhoss05 · 3 years

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Home Sweet Home Ch.1 P.4: Meeting the Farm Fam (cont.)

*NOT MY GIF*

Pairing: OC!baureader x Emily Prentiss x Criminal Minds

~starts in season 4~ (also, check out the links to see what Remi’s abs look like and to see what her arms look like when she flexes as well.. The links are all on the HSH masterlist.)

Chapter Summary: Remi and her brothers show the team, Will, Henry and Jack around the farm and introduces them to some of the farm animals. The team are in for quite a show until later when things take a turn for the worse. But thankfully, everything turns out fine in the end for everyone.

Around 9:30 a.m. and after everyone was in the proper clothing, everyone was just waiting for Remi. “What’s Remi even doing?” Derek asked curiously. “She said that she wanted to show us something. Maybe it’s her big secret.” Spencer chuckled from beside Hotch and Jack. “Wait… Y’all don’t know yet?” Elijah asked from his spot on the sectional where he was cuddling with Louisa. “Well, Dave and I already knew what her secret was since she had first joined the team and I’m fairly sure that the ladies probably know what it is by now. So that would just leave Spencer and Derek that don’t know yet.” Hotch smirked, just as Remi was bounding down the stairs with a few of her things. “What’s all this, Remi?” Derek asked as she set the stuff down on the couch.

“This is my secret… I just so happen to be a two-time world record holder for bull riding as well as one of the top five best rodeo riders in the world.” Remi explained bashfully. Hotch, Rossi, Spencer, Derek, and Will had all looked at the plaques that she had brought down. “Oh yeah. I remember reading about that in the newspaper.” Spencer spoke up as he looked at one of Remi’s plaques that he had in his hand. “Of course, you do pretty boy.” Remi chuckled as she patted Spencer’s cheek. “So, uhm…” Remi cleared her throat before continuing. “I didn’t tell y’all about any of this when I had first joined the team because I wanted y’all to like me for me and not because of all this. Plus, I also needed to see if I could trust y’all and I obviously do now.” She finished with a small smile.

“I just have one question though.” Derek said. “Okay. What’s your question?” “What’s bronc riding?” He asked. “Well, there’s actually two types of bronc riding. There’s saddle bronc riding and then there’s bareback bronc riding. So, a bronc is a type of horse and during a bronc event, you’re on a bucking bronc horse that is either saddled or not saddled at all. Hence the term bareback… The Broncos football team mascot is a bronc horse.” Remi explained, getting a few confused looks from the team. “Bronc riding is like bull riding, but instead of bucking bull it’s a bucking horse. I can show y’all if you want while the boys and I give y’all a tour of the farm.” Remi offered to the team. “Yes please.” Hotch and Rossi said in unison, making everyone laugh. “Oh, and Spencer. Trust me, the farm is somewhat cleaner than you think. And by somewhat, I mean just avoid the chicken coop and you’ll be fine.” Remi smiled.

Everyone laughed and Remi’s brothers had all finished putting their boots on for the tour of the farm that they’ll be helping with. Remi had taken her plaques back up to her old room quick and came back down with two big bottles of hand sanitizer and handed them to Spencer with a cheeky smile. “There ya go, Spence. You’re all set.” She chuckled and he did as well. “Thanks.” He smiled, knowing that she was messing with him. Remi walked over to where Emily was standing and talking with JJ and Will. She wrapped her arms around Emily’s waist from behind and rested her chin on her girlfriend’s shoulder. “You’re looking quite sexy in my old clothes and a pair of my old boots.” Remi whispered into Emily’s ear. “Maybe you can take them off of me sometime.” Emily flirted back, making Remi blush HARD. JJ and Will thought it was hilarious how easy it was for Emily to get Remi to blush so hard and to go speechless.

Remi dropped her arms from Emily’s waist and turned to face everyone. “Okay, is everyone ready? Great.” Remi said aloud, her voice cracking with every word that she had said. Everyone and Louisa, except for Remi’s parents, made their way out the patio doors and started walking towards red barn that had the horses and cows. Remi and Emily were walking hand in hand, fingers intertwined. Remi loved the feeling of having Emily’s hand in hers and being able to just be with her. “I was thinking that we’d start with the horses and the cows.” Remi started to say as they all stopped at the barn doors. She had let go of Emily’s hand and came around the front of the group to open the barn doors. Remi had noticed that her brother, Ryker, was standing behind Derek and was comparing his muscles to Derek’s muscles and stopped in front of the barn doors. “Ryker Joseph… What the hell are ya doin’?” Remi asked, causing everyone to look over at Ryker. “His muscles are better than mine.” Ryker said in a serious tone, making Remi laugh.

“What’s so funny, Remi?” Rossi asked, smiling at the young woman. “I’ve got better muscles than both of them combined.” Remi laughed as she continued opening the barn doors. “Yeah, I doubt that.” Derek laughed along with Ryker. “It’s true though. Remi, take your shirt off and flex for everyone.” “Yeah, Remi. Put Morgan in his place.” Both JJ and Penelope added as they were standing next to Emily. “Or you know, I could take your shirt off for you if you’d like.” Emily spoke up, knowing that she can make her girlfriend all flustered. “I would absolutely love that, and you know it, Prentiss.” Remi fired back as she whipped around to look at her girlfriend once she got the barn doors open. “C’mon… Prove it, farm girl.” Derek challenged, not knowing just yet about what to and what NOT to challenge his coworker on.

Remi sighed and gave in, taking her shirt off and showing off her muscles to her team and flexing for everyone. She especially flexed towards Derek, making sure that she’s making her point. The team, more importantly Derek, were all floored when they took in the young agent’s muscular build in daylight. “Now…” Remi paused to tuck her shirt into the waistband of her pants and showing a little bit more of her Calvin Klein boxers – that she always has the waistband of showing above her pants waistband. “If y’all don’t mind, I would like to say that I have better muscles than Morgan does.” She smiled, winking at Morgan. “C’mon in everyone and meet some of our farm family. And by some, I mean minus the chickens and Devil Hector.” Remi explained, leading everyone into the large barn that housed the horses, cows, some pigs, and a couple large roosters that were roaming around. The farm did have a pigsty; however, it was currently overfilled.

“Oh wow. This place is amazing you guys.” Will stated as everyone took everything in as they all entered the barn. “Our farm has been in our family for four generations. It’s obviously been updated though.” Oliver informed the team with a chuckle. Remi was standing next to Emily and smiled. “Do y’all wanna meet Lucky?” Remi asked. “Who’s Lucky?” Spencer wondered from next to Hotch. “Lucky is my 9-year-old Bronc horse. He was born here on the farm as well as his mother and father too. I actually had raised both Lucky and his mother.” Remi explained, leading everyone over to where Lucky’s stable was and had opened the said stable. Lucky was currently munching on some of his hay as his ‘morning snack’ when Remi opened his stable door. He was a gorgeous brown and white with a black mane and black tale. “Hey there, bubble butt… Ya know where all that hay will go to, right!?” Remi joked as she stepped into her horse’s stable.

Lucky had stopped munching when he heard his human’s voice and turned around in his stable, immediately pulling Remi into a ‘hug’. “Well, I missed you too, Lucky.” Remi laughed as well as everyone else. Lucky had released Remi from the hug so that she could face everyone that were all standing outside of the stable. “Everyone, this is my 9-year-old horse Lucky. Lucky, this is the team that I want you to meet. But I want you to be on your best behavior, okay? Would ya stop doin’ that to my hair?” Remi sighed as she fixed her hair from Lucky messing it up by licking her hair. “That’s so gross, dude.” Remi said, flicking a little slobber back at him. ”Anyway, c’mon up a little closer to everyone, bud.” Remi suggested as she walked Lucky up to the group, making sure that she kept her body in front of his front legs. “Lucky, good behavior. Got it?” Remi smiled when the horse nodded his head. “Lucky, that’s Dave right there and I think you’ll like him because he’s pretty cool.” The horse gave Rossi a goofy smile. “Next is my boss, Hotch, and his son Jack. They’re really sweet.” Lucky gently licked Jack’s cheek, making the young boy giggle and Hotch smile. “Next we have Spencer and he’s sweet and very smart. Then we have Derek and he’s challenging.” Remi laughed when her horse smiled at Spencer then stuck his tongue out at Derek.

“Lucky, this is Will, JJ and their son Henry. But you know that ya gotta be nice and gentle with Henry because he’s just a baby.” Remi said, making sure that Lucky’s very gentle when he sniffs Henry. Lucky pulls back from sniffing Henry and smiles at JJ who was holding the baby. “Lucky, this is Penelope and she’s one of the most colorful and brave people that I know.” Remi winked at Penelope when Lucky gave her a big wet kiss. “Now, Lucky. This is an incredibly special person that I would love for you to meet. This is my girlfriend, Emily… Man, I just love saying that.” Remi laughed as well as the team and her brothers. “Well, hi there Lucky.” Emily laughed when the horse gave her a big wet kiss on her forehead. “Do y’all wanna see a bronc riding event really quick?” Remi asked, immediately receiving a ‘yes’ from the whole team, including Jack. “Well, okay then. Benny, Ollie, Nolan and Harris, I’ll need your help to get everything ready and set up.”

While Benny, Oliver, Nolan, and Harris helped Remi get Lucky and everything else ready, the rest of the boys showed the team out to the riding ring. After Lucky got ready and taken out to the ring, Remi had grabbed her black chaps to put on and made sure that she had put her shirt back on first. Harris helped her finish putting on her chaps and they walked out to the riding ring together. Remi climbed up and sat onto the wooden ledge of the cage that Lucky was currently having a hissy fit in and tried to get him to calm down a tad so she can get onto him. Once she finally got onto him, he started to have his hissy fit again and wanted to be out of the tightly fit cage. “You ready, sis?” Nolan asked as he watched her shift around on Lucky to get more comfortable. “Yes, sir. Are y’all ready?” Remi called out to the team and the rest of her brothers. They all started to cheer which made Remi chuckle.

Harris had helped her with her glove and the rope. Harris said a quick prayer with his twin sister like they’ve always done. “Okay. I’m ready, Ollie.” Remi said. Oliver pulled open the gate and jumped onto the side of the wooden ring just when Lucky had started to buck. Everyone started cheering and let out some whistles too. After about 12 or 13 seconds, Remi ended up falling off and had somewhat landed onto her feet. She quickly ran over and jumped onto the side of the wooden ring in front of the team as Lucky was still bucking. “Wahoo, what a rush.” Remi laughed as she high fived Rossi, Morgan, and Reid. Lucky had finally calmed down and came over to check on Remi. He nudged her with his nose to get her attention and some love from his human. “You’re a good boy. Isn’t that right, bubble butt?” She laughed even harder when Lucky had pushed her back into the middle of the ring. “What’s wrong, bubble butt!? Ya want some of this? Huh, huh.” Remi said as she acted like she was about to start boxing with her horse.

After a while of joking around, it was time to put Lucky back into his stable. After he was put away and Remi had taken off her chaps, she turned to face the team and smiled wide when she looked at her lovely girlfriend. Remi still had her chest plate on from when she rode Lucky for the team to see. “Would y’all li-“ She stopped when she got interrupted by a deep, low moo that came from one of their cows that was followed by a thud. Remi excused herself and went over to see what was going on. About four or five stalls down from where Lucky’s stall was and where everyone stood, Remi saw what the problem was, and it was a BIG problem. “BENNY!” She yelled as she swung the stall door open. Their female Black Angus cow, Rosie, just so happens to be in labor and the calf looks like it just might be stuck. Which means that there’s a lot of discomfort and Rosie and the calf’s lives are both at risk. However, that means that they must work quick to save both cows. “Wyatt and Colten, c’mon, lets go. Eli, get everyone at a safe distance. Sawyer, make sure that the barn door is open wide enough for both Rosie and the calf. Y’all know the drill and Remi, we’ve got to get her out of her stall and into the open part of the barn carefully.” Benny said loudly.

“What’s going on?” Hotch asked in his stern Unit Chief voice. “Our female Black Angus cow, Rosie, is in labor and the calf just so happens to be stuck. If the calf gets stuck in the birth canal, it means that both mama and calf are both in danger of…... getting hurt.” Harris explained, making sure to keep the information kid friendly around Jack and Henry. Once everyone was at a safe distance from the scene, everyone heard a thud followed by a laugh and a ‘we’re good’ come from Benny. Rosie always seemed to give Remi a hard time with whatever Remi was doing. This time Rosie had knocked Remi over into her feed. Benny, Wyatt and Colten were slowly but surely getting Rosie to come out of her stable while Eli and Sawyer were watching Remi struggle to get herself unstuck from Rosie’s feed bin. Everyone else was off to the left in the middle of the barn as they watched the scene in front of them. Remi had finally got herself unstuck and came bounding out of the stable covered in feed from head to toe. “Damn cow.” She laughed and shook off majority of the feed.

Remi got the long arm length gloves on and turned to the others. “Y’all ready to hopefully see a calf be born?” She asked, smiling at Penelope’s excitement. “Why do you guys do it out here for?” Spencer asked. “Well, we normally don’t do it out here. We usually just have to monitor everything while they’re still in their stable. However, since the calf is stuck in the birthing canal, it’s safer to do it out here where we have more access to both mama and baby hopefully without anyone getting hurt.” Remi explained as she carefully approached Rosie from behind. She put one hand on Rosie’s back and inserted her other hand into Rosie. The cow protested very angrily with a low ‘moo’ when Remi had finally gotten the calf repositioned correctly. When Remi had retracted her hand out of Rosie, half of the calf had come out along with her hand.

Out of pain and anger, Rosie had kicked Remi ridiculously hard in the chest causing Remi to fly backwards quite a few feet and had been stopped by a closed stable door. The calf and the after birth had come out when Remi got kicked across the barn. Emily, Derek, and Harris had run over to where Remi was laying awkwardly up against the stable door. She still had the bloody gloves on as well as her chest plate that she wore when she had ridden Lucky earlier. Remi was in way too much pain to do much of anything other then be in the position that she currently was in. “Hey, hey! Remi, you alright? Ryker, go get our parents. Hurry!” Harris ordered. Harris removed his twin sister’s gloves and tried to move her carefully into laying position. Remi slowly caught her breathe just as Ryker and their parents got to the barn and saw the scene. “I fucking hate cows.” Remi groaned, still trying to catch her breathe.

“You’re incredibly lucky that you still have your chest plate on. If you didn’t, things would’ve been MUCH worse.” Joseph explained as he checked over his daughter. Harris had managed to get Remi’s chest plate off without having her move much. “Em?” Remi groaned, reaching out for her girlfriend. “Hey, babe. I’m right here. Just focus on your breathing.” Emily said as she moved over to Remi’s side so she could see her and grabbed her hand. “I really hate cows sometimes.” Remi said, ending up going into a small coughing fit. Once her coughing fit had subsided and she finally caught her breath, she was still rubbing her chest. Remi put a hand on Emily’s chest and started grinning. “I definitely like your chest better than mine.” She grinned even wider. Emily just rolled her eyes and grinned, swatting Remi’s hand away from her chest.

“We should take you to the hospital to get checked out instead of you groping my chest in front of your parents, Remi. You know, just to be safe.” Emily stated, getting agreements from everyone. “Or I could just have you check it out for me.” Remi smiled, winking up at Emily. “Come on, Remi. I’ll help you up.” Derek laughed. Him, Emily, Joseph, and Harris all helped Remi up off the barn floor. Joseph greatly appreciated that Hotch, Derek, Emily, and Harris had all volunteered to take Remi to the hospital. Remi sat in the backseat of the SUV in between Emily and Harris while Hotch drove and Derek in the passenger seat. “Hey Remi.” Hotch spoke up as he drove to the hospital.

“Yes?” Remi answered as she looked up at the man. “How come you never mentioned your friend that had died before?” He asked the young woman. She looked away from his prying eyes before answering. “It happened a lifetime ago. Would it have mattered if I did? We all have something in our past that we all don’t talk about. Would it have changed or made a difference in anything if I did say something beforehand?” Remi asked as Hotch pulled into the hospital parking lot and parked. “Yes, it could have and still can if you’re willing to talk about it.” He stated. His eyes softened when he looked back at her. “I just never wanted to receive pity or come off as weak to the team. Plus, it’s not something that I like to broadcast.” Remi explained. Everyone got out of the SUV and Emily helped Remi carefully get out and received a kiss on her nose when Remi was out of the vehicle.

“Let’s get those ribs checked out.” Emily softly smiled. Remi looked at Emily like everything seemed perfect in the world. And to Remi, everything was perfect with Emily by her side now. After a short wait in the waiting room and some x-rays later, it turned out that Remi’s ribs were badly bruised, and a few were fractured in a few spots. She was given some pain meds and ordered to take it easy for a while. Remi was just thankful that they had 2 weeks of vacation to rest.

#emily prentiss x oc #emily prentiss fluff #emily prentiss smut #emily prentiss fanfic #Emily Prentiss angst #Criminal Minds #criminal minds fanfic #home sweet home

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highschoolharrier · 5 years

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Mark Stenbeck is the head coach at Dakota Ridge High School in Colorado who recently finished 3rd at Nike Cross Nationals.

High School Harrier: Your boys program is coming off a 3rd place finish at Nike Cross Nationals a few weeks back. What did it mean to your program to finish that high?

Mark Stenbeck: I think there are two angles here. First, the meaning and context for us who lived the experience and were fortunate enough to succeed together and second being the long term effect on the program. For the first, it was an incredible, memorable ride. It meant a great deal to the guys and our staff and school. Winning State was a big deal and that was amazing to us, then to win NXR Southwest and ultimately have the NXN experience like we did, it was really really special moments for all of us involved. Like any team that gets there it was a ton of hard work so to reap the rewards was really special. Long term we hope it galvanized our program across the board. I am eagerly awaiting track season to see how the stimulus of the NXN racing experience will impact those who ran it. For those that didn’t run I am hopeful they will find the needed inspiration to put in the work and race with the intelligence and passion necessary to improve.

HSH: While many expected you program to be a national caliber team this year, very few expected for the boys to be just 38 points out of first place when it was all said and done. What was the driving force this year that propelled your team to achieve these heights?

MS: We knew we could be special this year if we just stayed with our process. The outcome would take care of itself. So we made “Process over Outcome” our mantra. September 21, 2018 at Dave Sanders Invite was a massive day for us. We went in wanting to finally prove ourselves against Mountain Vista. Jon Dalby and Eric Selle and I are super close friends and we have been chasing them for a few years now. We finally had the talent and passion to get them and yet going into that race we were down Ben Morin from our lineup. So we had some nerves, but yet we had tremendous resolve. We had to have 5 guys get the job done that day and they did so big time. To beat Mountain Vista that day was immense. You have to understand how great they have been for years now in Colorado to appreciate that moment. They hadn’t lost by more then 10 points in a meet where they ran their top kids in six years and only had been beaten by 2 points on two occasions the last 4 years. They were 3rd in the nation at NXN in 2017. They are…”the bar”. Mountain Vista has made everyone in this state better by showing us the way to get there. So we owe them a ton in terms of inspiration and setting themselves up as the “mountain top”. We were able to ascend to the top this year because we had them as muse. Beating them by as much as we did and really just keeping our foot on the gas pedal when we faced them was key all year.

There was a moment this year when we finally cracked the top ten on Flo50 at #7. I came to practice that afternoon and said to the boys…”if you can be 7...you can be 1”. We knew we had an outside shot at Loundon Valley and Great Oak. We had been watching them all year and on our best day we felt we had the right mix to have a shot at winning the whole thing. Jacob White’s ascension to super sophomore and Ben Piegat’s rise this season was integral in that thinking. I honestly wonder if Ben Morin had been able to be healthy all year if we could have pulled it off. Ben was capable of finishing ahead of Jacob White and being our three. So we will always wonder what could have been if he had been healthy all year. He missed about 6 weeks at the worst time late August to Early October. At the time he got hurt he was fitter and had more experience then Jacob so we have every reason to believe he was going to be our number 3 this year. In the end we are very happy with what transpired. Our season was so special.

HSH: What was the race strategy coming into the race and how well did the boys follow it?

MS: There was no “strategy” other than to be ourselves and race like we had all year. We knew we had to have 2 guys in the top 10 of the team score, and Jacob and Ben Piegat be close together and we felt like Ben Morrin and Riley Abrashoff were capable of being special enough to give us a chance to get on the podium or win. After NXR, we did a few things to get ready. I had the boys watch a few past races on the current course. They had input, based on what they saw, in what we thought it might take to succeed in the race. It wasn’t so much strategy as it was looking for common themes in successful races there. Races are never the same and they are random. I strive to have our kids ready for anything. In so doing you never box them in with a specific strategy. When you tell a kid to do this or that they get in their head that that has to take place to be successful that day. So while we talk about basics of racing, we also talk about not freaking out if those things don’t happen like you expected. Keeping things simple is best for high school kids under immense pressure to perform at the levels we get them to nowadays. Probably the best “strategy” we talked about was having fun, enjoying the moment and running for each other. We spent some time talking about our inexperience as being our strength going in. When you’re “experienced” that can mean a couple of things. If your experience is frustrating or bad in previous contests, your worried about the outcome being the same. So you take measures to reassure yourself that it won’t be the same again. Be it psychological or physical you're trying to eliminate the bad experience from your mindset. If you had a great experience and you “know what to do”, you tend to try and recreate that again. So your mental models good or bad better or worse are based on the previous experience. When you’re a blank slate with no experience your a bit more “anti-fragile” in my opinion. It’s basically the “we have nothing to lose” mentality mixed with the “I have no idea what to do here so let’s keep it simple...and race your guts out and see what happens” strategy. I told the guys a bunch of times that inexperience is our friend here and in fact told them that it was an “advantage” in many ways. It eliminated any detailed “strategy”. About the only thing we settled on doing was to get out fast like everyone else. We had a great conversation over Thanksgiving break with our alumni Danny Carney who is now at BYU and ran a different course but talked about the overall “experience” of NXN. He helped our guys a ton with little tidbits here and there on racing well there. Essentially he gave us some “process” type thoughts on handing the experience. Our guys got a ton out of that for sure.

HSH: Coming from Littleton Colorado, how much do you think training at over a mile at altitude helped the boys when coming to Portland to run at sea level?

MS: No question we have a great thing in Colorado. So much of success in High School Cross Country is based on simple things like environment. When you can run out your back door and run on trails at 6000 feet, it gets pretty simple after that. No doubt we are a product of our environment as is Mountain Vista, Battle Mountain, Broomfield, Niwot, etc etc who have competed well at NXN in recent years.

HSH: What is the weather generally like during the summer and fall for your team?

MS: Our weather is perfect. Truly hard to beat honestly. Certainly helps in training. Don’t tell anyone. We have enough people moving here now as it is.

HSH: Do you think any boys had a breakout year for you that allowed your team to be as competitive as they were?

MS: Jacob White and Ben Piegat for sure. Ben gave up Lacrosse his sophomore year going into track/field season. He ran his first full spring track/field season with us in spring of 2018. I knew when he gave up lacrosse that was a huge piece of the puzzle for us. He answered the bell right away this fall. He was a different animal coming into the season for sure all because he had about 12 weeks more specific training with us. Jacob White was the big breakout. Once he started going off we started thinking about not just making NXN, but possibly going there to podium and or win the whole thing. He was super special starting at Dave Sanders meet September 21st.

HSH: You had one senior in the top 5 at NXN. What type of program can we expect to see in 2019?

MS: Certainly this is a huge challenge for us. Can we go on a NXN run here and be competitive for a few years nationally? You just never know. Life is random and we are not that deep to survive injuries and sickness. For our program we just need to be us. Stick to what we do, follow the process and have fun. It’s high school cross country. You run, you bond over team dinners and hard workouts and long runs. Keep it simple, get better everyday and enjoy the ride.

HSH: What is a typical week of fall training for your team?

MS: We go easy on Monday 98% of the time. We try to workout based on when the race is during the week, Saturday race means workout on Wednesday usually and Friday race means Tuesday Workout usually. Long run on Saturday if we don’t race. Outside of that I don’t adhere to any one way of business.

HSH: What amount of mileage does the typical varsity runner max out at?

MS: Good question...not even sure honestly. You read that right. I go by minutes for our training. Top level varsity guys run about 50-60 minutes 5 days a week and 70-90 minute long run based on time of year. For the ladies it’s about 40-50 minutes daily and 60-70 for long run.

HSH: Does your team do any ancillary work and if so, what do you do?

MS: We do a bunch of stuff I use from Jay Dicharry books and other physical therapy stuff. Not a ton of lifting usually but that is something we will add in here this winter. Jay Johnson is a friend of mine from a way back and we have done his stuff for years and years in our program.

HSH: How do you help to build the sense of culture in your program?

MS: Talk about the past, discuss the future, preach about caring for one another. We do this big at Team Camp over the summer. We also have as much practice as we can get. Doing fun things outside of running helps for sure. Team Dinners are essential.

Culture is built over time and it’s a never a finished product because you rotate kids out every four years right? So it’s always ongoing. Creating situations and building the capacity for culture to take hold is something coaches forget to consider I believe. Asking small logistics questions are the first step. A small thing is considering where you meet for practice everyday. How does that impact your visibility and your impact in the school? What are your daily conversations like? Are you standing in front of your kids talking for 20 minutes everyday? Are you talking just to hear yourself talk? We had a coach do that here at Dakota Ridge years ago. He just dragged practice on and on. Kids hated it. They want to get to work and talk to each other. They have homework and lives outside they need to be responsible for. You can’t waste their time with your bloviating if you’re a coach. That being said, I probably talk too much myself. Amazingly enough... small logistical things set culture as much as anything.

HSH: What was your biggest learning moment as a coach?

MS: Easy….2013 5A State Qualifying Regional here in Colorado. We show up and our team is off the wall at our team camp. Throwing frisbees, tackling each other, making weird noises. Kids were in sleeping bags doing worms in the grass and wrestling. It was more middle school then high school then anything. So here we are State qualifying on the line and racing some tough teams and we acting like it doesn’t matter. I was livid. They looked like a bunch of undisciplined immature student-athletes. I was so upset I had to walk away from the team camp. I couldn’t watch it. I could have easily blew my lid and started yelling at them and frankly I wanted to. But I walked away and went to walk the back part of the course.

Gun goes off ...those kids did the job. Girls won, first meet victory for me as head coach in my career. Boys were second. Go figure.

So the lessons I took from are:

1.Let the kids be themselves. They blow off steam and pressure in various ways. They are teenagers so sometimes the will act a fool and then go set a PR.

2. When and where and how you interject your coaching is key. Instead of yelling and creating a different scene in front of everyone I just walked away and let them be. I wonder if I had gone off if they would have been thrown off mentally? Hard to say. Sometimes what we think is right may not be right.

3. Life and coaching...it never looks the way you think it should. You can try to write the script all you want and in the end you have far less control in your life and in your coaching then you think. We search for control all the time and think things have to look this way or that because “we won’t succeed if it doesn’t look this way”. BS. Take care of the small things, be foundational at the micro level. Be adaptable, flexible, and roll with the punches. Let go of your sense of control. I figured that out that day in 2013. Been relearning it over and over.

HSH: How much parent involvement do you have in your program?

MS: We have a tremendous booster club and parent involvement. Over the years we have had such a solid family foundation because of our parents being involved. It’s a hallmark of our program if you ask me. I also talk to parents and leave my door open to them. Over the years I have learned that parents are allies. Very few are against you as coach. Open up your door to them and talk about their child and what makes them tick. If you “collaborate” instead of “wall off” with parents your going to find it a tremendous asset. You want parents at home supporting you. They will do that more when you talk with them and include them in the right way.

HSH: What advice would you give to other aspiring national level coaches?

MS: If your goal or intention as a coach is to become a “national level coach” so that you can feel good about who you are, then your in a lot of trouble as a leader of young people.

Don’t worry about become a “national level coach”. The essence of the job is creating better runners and people. Stick to reality. The large majority of coaches won’t even win a state title in their state let alone have a chance at going national. Does that make them “bad” or “unsuccessful” coaches? No way. My friend Karen Smidt who does Camp Isaiah with me, she is one of the most incredible coaches I know. She coaches in a place at Brighton High School that has immense challenges to create even a State qualifying team. Yet she dutifully and passionately does the job for her kids. She loves running, loves coaching kids to being better people and runners. She inspires me as much as anyone I know. But the real kick is when you meet her team. Every year I meet kids she coaches and they are as passionate and hungry to get better as any kids I ever meet. They mirror Karen’s passion and energy all the time. That’s what you want as a coach. That is the essence of coaching in my opinion and coaches should strive to be great in their own context. Winning awards is overrated. Winning hearts is underrated.

#colorado #crosscountry #markstenbeck #highschool #nxn

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nyccraigslistfraudblog · 6 years

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SCAM -kitchen cabinets for sale bathroom vanities made kitchen islands (Milford, CT)

Owner Frank Daves dba The Kabinet Man sold me a vanity but failed to deliver. Refused many, many times. Had to take him to small claims court and won my case and he was supposed to pay me back plus court costs and has since told me he can't pay becau ... from Craigslist https://newyork.craigslist.org/fct/hsh/d/scam-kitchen-cabinets-for/6688556426.html Fraud Bloggs made possible by: http://circuitgenie.wix.com/techsupport

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ericfairchild · 6 years

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Charvel Custom Shop So-Cal HSH Daphne Blue built by master builder Red Dave #charvel #guitar #customshop (at Fender Musical Instruments Corp.)

#charvel #customshop #guitar

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shmorp-mcdurgen · 10 months

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TMC Home Sweet Home AU: Encounter

Dave Lee stays behind at MandelaTECH to finish clearing out unwanted tech, unable to brush away the feeling that he isn't alone.

TW: blood, injury, body horror

Notes: This is around 5'000 words long, being the shortest HSH fic so far, but. Trust me. it's important. Anyway here it is!!! Hope you enjoy :)

July 29th, 1992. 11:35 PM

Another slow business day.

MandelaTECH had closed a few hours prior, but the emptiness seemed nearly the same as when it was open. Faint music played through a cassette player that rested on one of the metal shelves, said shelf being strangely empty for a store meant to be selling tech. Adding to the strange emptiness was the fact that the entire store was nearly completely silent aside from the stereo playing random songs, along with the sound of the AC blaring from the vents. However, rustling and thumping was heard from behind one of the doors leading to the back storage area. Faint whistling was heard before the door was shoved open by the one person in the store; the founder, Dave Lee.

He was a shorter, stouter man wearing a green shirt with MandelaTECH’s logo plastered on it in white text, partially covered by his nametag. He wore an unbuttoned, red-plaid flannel shirt over his arms, rolled up to his elbows. He had a bushy mustache on his top lip, and was wearing aviator sunglasses over his eyes, concealing them. Also partially covering his face was his black, very curly hair, which was messily covering a small part of his forehead. He held a large analog TV in his hands as he closed the door behind him with his foot, all before walking through the store, placing the Television onto one of the tables, all while he quietly sung to himself to break the silence.

“There she stood in the doorway,” Dave quietly sung as he placed the TV next to the ever growing stack of broken tech on the floor and table. “I heard the mission bell, and I was thinking to myself ‘this could be Heaven or this could be Hell.’”

He took a breath before rubbing his forehead with his hand, all before glancing at his watch, taking a deep sigh when he was reminded of how he should’ve gone home nearly an hour ago. However, the sudden news that he had to throw out most of his tech meant working overtime was an inevitability.

He took a moment to stare at the tech in front of him; radios, Televisions, boxes of VHS tapes, and even more were resting in front of him, doomed to be thrown into a dump in at latest a month. Dave’s brows furrowed, feeling a deep sadness in his chest as he realized that old tech was becoming obsolete, despite his best efforts. However, he then shook his head, realizing he’d rather throw out barely working tech then end up in jail.

He raised his hands to pick up one of the Televisions, pausing before glancing towards one of the back rooms. He then glanced back at the TV, along with a box of tapes before grasping the TV he just brought out and walking back. He opened the small storage room’s door, all before gently placing the TV on the ground and carefully pushing it against the wall. He left the room, coming back after a few moments before placing the box of tapes next to it, all before covering both with a black blanket and closing the door behind him.

“—And still those voices are calling from faaar away,” Dave sung quietly once again as he walked towards the rest of the tech, pushing back his urge to hide all of them somewhere instead of throwing them out like garbage. He picked up one of the smaller Televisions, all before turning back towards where the back door was, failing to notice the cord of the TV was dangling beside his feet. “Wake you up in the middle of the night, just to hear them say—”

Dave’s foot planted on the cord, causing him to trip forward slightly, luckily regaining his balance after a second, though his Television wasn’t as lucky. It fell out of his hands, smashing against the linoleum floor with a loud crash. Dave stumbled forward, staring at the shattered glass underneath the TV’s body, all while he held his hands up to his face in shock. “O-Oh…Oh no….” He muttered, trying to resist the urge to cry. He was going to throw it out anyway, so why did it hurt to see it break? He crouched down, carefully grabbing the metal casing of the TV, all while trying his hardest not to cut himself on the shards of glass underneath it.

He held it up, wincing as he looked into where the screen used to be, only to see the bare electronics and wires. He took in a deep breath, all before he shifted the TV to get a decent grasp on it before stepping over the shards of glass, realizing he was going to have to clean it up later. He continued to walk until he found himself at one of the back exits, pushing the door open with his shoulder before walking outside.

He looked around, seeing the dumpster in front of him, resting in front of the tree line near the back of the building. He turned to his left and right, seeing nothing down the alley within the light above the door, along with the streetlights nearby. He needed to get more lights installed back there, he thought. He hated the idea of not being able to see something back there. He felt the cool air hit him as he quickly walked towards the empty dumpster, hesitantly throwing the TV into it, hearing the loud BANG as it hit the inside of it. The sound made Dave flinch, all before he turned back and walked quickly towards the back door, opening it and slamming it shut behind him. He let out his breath, suddenly remembering how much he hated taking out the trash at night.

Dave swept the shards of glass on the screen into a dustpan as he listened to the faint sound of music coming from the boombox nearby, thinking to himself as he cleaned up the mess. Something in his gut felt especially…sour; a deep feeling of dread that he couldn’t place. It could’ve been anything, ranging from his exhaustion, to his fear of having to close his store for good. He grasped a box of old VHS tapes, holding onto it tight as he walked back towards the back door, pushing it open with his back and walking back into the cool night air. He took in a deep breath, walking towards the dumpster and tossing the entire box into it. Finally done, deciding to throw everything else out in the morning as he turned and walked back towards the door—

“It’s a beautiful, cozy evening in Mandela County tonight; clouds are rolling back, and the sun is set to shine tomorrow morning.”

A radio?

The signal changed, like a car radio flipping stations from songs, to the weather reports, to even a few old TV channels, or the audio of them at least. Dave stared towards the side of MandelaTECH, seeing nothing but darkness past the lights, the tint of his glasses making the dark parts nearly pitch black.

“Welcome to the Hotel California,” The static voice sung, pausing awkwardly before continuing. “Such a lovely place. Such a lovely—I just got a 10-15, heading to the place now. What did you…get a similar call?”

Dave stared into the darkness, slowly raising his hand towards his face, lightly grasping his sunglasses. He paused, listening to the unstable radio signals as he slowly removed them, his eyes squinting slightly from the light above him. As his eyes adjusted to the darkness, he saw more and more, seeing nothing until he looked towards the corner of the store, freezing solid.

Eyes.

Reflecting the light; staring back at Dave from the darkness.

Dave stared back, hearing a garbled version of Amazing Grace coming from where the eyes were, Dave beginning to feel his heart sink as he barely made out the outline of a tall humanoid in the dark, seeing glistening teeth and a pale face. Dave and the thing in front of him had a silent staring contest as Dave stepped back a foot. The being remained unmoving, standing as still as a statue, all until it abruptly became silent. Dave stared at it in horror, dropping his glasses, hearing them clatter against the pavement beside his foot. The thing flinched, its gaze looking towards the glasses, then back at Dave, staring at him with its wide, dark eyes. Silence fell, all before it dropped down, pressing its barely visible, bony hands on the ground. Dave felt his heart drop to his feet when it began rapidly crawling towards him.

Dave turned around, sprinting towards the door as he heard it charging close behind, Dave swinging the door open before shutting it behind him. A loud bang emitted from it as the thing behind it slammed against it, the sound making Dave let out a surprised yelp as he fell to the ground. He could hear scratching and banging coming from the door, it shaking with every impact. Dave heard the sound of distorted radio frequencies, and with the realization that the thing was going to discover that the door wasn’t locked eventually came the realization that he needed to hide.

Dave scrambled to his feet, entering the main store, his eyes stinging from the fluorescent lights now that his glasses were gone. He looked around, continuing to hear the sound of the thing banging on the door becoming heavier sounding and more rapid. Dave ducked behind the customer service counter, reaching for the cell phone on top of it, missing grabbing it a few times before finally feeling it in his hand, pulling it down towards him. “Please…God damn it, please…” He whimpered as he dialed 911.

“911, what’s your emergency?”

“I-I…th-there’s something outside.” Dave whispered, glancing around his hiding place towards the back door, which was barely visible behind the store shelves between him and it. “I don’t know what it is; I don’t know what to do—”

“Sir, please try and remain calm,” The person on the other side of the phone line stated. “Are you hiding?”

“Y...yes, I am.” Dave flinched when he heard another loud crash against the door.

“Did you see what it looked like?”

“I-I don’t…I don’t know it was…tall and…pale?” Dave grasped his hair with his free hand as he tried to suppress the urge to panic. “I…I don’t think it’s human.”

Silence; for a tad too long for comfort.

“Don’t worry sir, help is on the way, where is your location?”

“Mandela Tech, on—”

“Officers have been sent to your location.” The operator stated, their voice strangely…quiet. “Remain silent and hidden. Do not instigate.”

“I w—” A loud crash made Dave choke on his words, hearing the door slam against the wall beside it. Dave’s blood ran cold as he covered his mouth with his hand, scared to look back at the now wide open door as he lowered the phone to his side. Past the music of the boombox, he heard the sound of bare feet walking across the linoleum floors in erratic patterns, along with heavy yet quick breathing. Dave could hear it moving around the store, brushing against shelves and knocking things off of them. He shut his eyes, swallowing hard as he shakily held up the phone towards his ear, barely audible as he whispered into it. “…It’s in the store.”

No response. The operator had already hung up.

The thing behind him continued to search around, mimicking the songs playing on the boombox as it did. Dave took a deep breath in as he carefully turned towards the edge of the counter, peeking out from behind it as he tried to catch a glimpse of the creature he heard walking around. He couldn’t see anything for a little while, instead only hearing the sound of tech parts falling off of shelves and distorted radio signals. However, after seeing it appear from behind a few shelves, Dave felt his heart skip a beat, seeing what he was dealing with for the first time in proper lighting.

It was tall; way too fucking tall, over seven feet at least. Its skin was a dull, pale grey, its veins visible from under its thin, sickly skin. It wore nothing other than a pair of raggedy blue jeans, which were full of holes and stained with what Dave hoped was reddish dirt. Its legs seemed short compared to the rest of its body, and its arms were eerily long, their musculature being odd and strange looking, as if it had more muscles than a regular human did. It held its hands down towards its knees, Dave seeing that they were large, with three short fingers, with the ring finger and pinkie being much longer, with long jagged nails at the end of them like claws. Dave looked up to try and see its face, though something told him it was best that he couldn’t see it. At the very least, it looking away from him gave him at least some comfort.

It roamed around, its movements jerky and erratic, as if it was stumbling over its own feet. Dave pressed his back against the counter as he looked at the phone in his hand, turning to his left, seeing the front doors were decently close to him, albeit in the open. He took in a shaky breath, carefully and quietly shifting onto his knees and soon into a crouching position as he looked towards his right. He wasn’t sure where the thing was, only knowing it was still somewhere on the other side of his hiding place, deciding to take the chance as he threw his phone as hard as he could towards the other part of the store.

It clattered against the ground, metal parts of it breaking off from the impact as it slid a few feet. Dave heard the thing stop, growing silent abruptly as Dave waited, seeing if it would take the bait. Luckily, it did, Dave being able to hear it drop down and crawl towards it, Dave looking to the right to see it huddled over the broken phone. It held itself with three of its limbs, picking up the phone with its one free hand as it stared at it, Dave only barely able to see its all-too-wide smile from where he was hiding. Dave looked back towards the front doors, able to see his car in the dark parking lot through the glass; salvation within his view. He only hoped that the phone would keep its attention long enou—

“911, what’s your emergency?”

The sound of the things radio frequencies made Dave freeze.

“Please…you gotta help me,” the distorted sound of a man’s voice begged. “There’s someone in my house…I don’t know what to do. I don’t even know how it got inside, I’ve had my doors and windows locked for months—”

Dave turned around, seeing the things wide, crazed eyes staring at him, its long face pointed downwards, making it finally look vaguely human instead of an animal with a snout.

“I-I…th-there’s something outside.” The thing spoke. “I don’t know what it is; I don’t know what to do—”

Dave heard his own voice echoed back at him from its mouth, it’s far too wide, toothy smile not once fading as its saliva dripped from its maw. Dave couldn’t think of anything more in that moment than his own conscious yelling that he needed to run.

Dave hurried to his feet, already sprinting towards the door before the thing behind him let out inhuman, garbled laughter and screaming. He glanced back only once as he rushed for the doors, turning back the second he saw the thing also scrambling to its feet and running around the counters towards him. Dave ran through the automatic doors, looking up to see his car across the parking lot besides the trees, suddenly wishing that he had the habit of parking closer to the building. He flinched when he heard a loud crash behind him, glancing back only once to see that the entity had lunged through the window beside the doors, landing on the shards of glass though seemingly unaffected by the shards of glass in its hands and feet. Dave simply turned back, deciding to not look back even once, not wanting to see its face again.

As he ran, his breathing harsh and rapid, he heard the thing behind him, its garbled radio signals becoming far too close for comfort. Dave finally made it to his car, grasping the handle only to find that the door was locked, and when he looked towards the creature chasing him, seeing that it wasn’t slowing down, Dave decided he didn’t have time to try and unlock it. He let go of the handle, beginning to sprint away as the thing behind him lunged at him, swiping at his back with its claws, narrowly missing it. Dave tried to suppress his urge to sob, feeling adrenaline rushing through his veins as he could all but feel the things breath on the back of his neck. He ran for the road, his lungs burning and his body sore, all as the creature grew ever closer, all before it dropped down, and swiped at Dave once again with its jagged claws.

Dave felt it tear the flesh of the back of his left knee. He let out a loud yell as he fell onto the cold asphalt, slamming against it, feeling his breath be forced out of him. A pulsing pain radiated from the large gash in the back of his leg as he quickly turned onto his back, looking at the twisted knee in horror before he looked up, seeing the alternate’s glistening teeth above him. Dave crawled back, his leg crying out in agony with every kick of his foot, barely able to get a few feet away from the alternate in front of him before it slashed at him once again. Dave held his arm up to protect his face, the creature’s claws scratching his skin, leaving two jagged, bloody lines in his forearm as Dave screamed. He held his bloody arm with his other hand, looking back up just in time for the other arm of the thing to slash at his face.

He felt warm blood run down the right side of his face from the two new, deep gashes across his skin. He turned away, supporting his body with one shaking arm as he held up his other over the new wound. He couldn’t see his own hand in front of him through his right eye, instead only seeing a reddish black; blind.

He looked back up at the creature, seeing it was stumbling closer to him; this was it. Dave was dead, and he didn’t even know it yet. That thing only knew slaughter, and Dave could see it in its crazed, bloodshot eyes. It looked down at him, echoing things it’s heard before, both familiar and alien to Dave. Dave covered the bloody wound that used to be where his right eye was with his hand, closing his other as he awaited the death he felt was inevitable. However, when he took one last glance at it, he noticed it wasn’t even looking at him anymore. It was looking towards the edge of the parking lot, and as Dave heard the sound of tires on asphalt, Dave began to wonder just how lucky he was.

Headlights hit the thing’s form, it backing away slightly as it covered its eyes from the light, though it refused to turn away from the car as it stopped nearby. Dave was blinded by the bright lights obscuring his already blurry vision, only able to see a dark silhouette exit the vehicle. The alternate was staring at the person, completely still and making no noise, as if it froze solid. It tilted its head slightly as it felt a strange sense of familiarity. The figure raised their arm, and a series of loud shots rang from the gun in their hand, Dave barely able to process anything aside from the thing stumbling back and screaming with stolen voices. It turned away, crawling away like spooked wild animal as its thick, dark blood oozed out of its new wounds. Dave watched as the figure blotted out the headlights, standing in front of him with their gun by their side. Dave could only hear their heavy breathing before they spoke.

“Shit…you alright?”

“N…I don’t…n-no.” Dave stammered over his words, his mind going faster than his tongue.

“Jesus, you need a fucking hospital, come on.” The man said, his voice soft yet urgent as he held out his hand for Dave to grab. “Can you walk?”

“…I don’t…I don’t know, it…it—” Dave was suddenly reminded of the sharp, borderline unbearable pain in his leg.

“Give me your hand, we’re gonna get you some help.”

Dave obliged, grasping the figures thin hand as he helped Dave stand up, Dave wincing with every movement. The figure was far taller than him, making it hard for Dave to wrap his arm around his shoulders for support, but soon enough he was being led to the car nonetheless. Dave glanced up at the figures head, only being able to see pale bangs concealing his face. He seemed decently thin, and was wearing a leather jacket. Dave couldn’t make much out through the darkness, unable to even begin to state how grateful he truly was before he was ushered into the back seat of the car. Dave felt himself growing tired with every minute, unclear if it was from the blood loss or the pain. He tried not to think of what would have happened if the man didn’t make it there just in time; something told him he didn’t want to know.

He was too focused on the throbbing pain in his head and leg to pay attention to the what-ifs anyway.

July 30th, 7:10 AM

Dave awoke on a hospital bed the following morning, soreness rushing over his body as soon as he regained consciousness. He heard the sound of the heart monitor beside his bed, along with faint talking outside of his room, and when he opened his eyes, the fluorescent lights in his room stung his eyes, making him wish he had his sunglasses back. He had two long slashes on his face, held together by stitching that was partially covered up by the bandages concealing his right eye. He looked down to see that he had bandages on his arm as well, lightly stained with red, though it seemed like the bleeding had stopped or at least slowed. It didn’t stop Dave from feeling sick and woozy however.

He glanced around the unfamiliar room, seeing the pale brown and white walls along with the medical equipment nearby. He then took in a deep sigh, wincing slightly as he leaned back and closed his eye, feeling the exhaustion creeping up on him despite just waking up. However, before he could drift off to sleep once again, he heard the door open to his right. He turned slightly, at least enough to be able to see who it was, able to see that it was a nurse standing near the doorway.

“Mr. Lee, you’re awake.” He stated. “You have a visitor from the police department; he wishes to speak with you privately.”

Dave stared blankly at the nurse for a second. “Yeah…yeah that’s…fine.” Dave said weakly, his voice hoarse and his throat sore as he spoke. He rested his head against the pillow once again, preparing to answer a bunch of questions despite being half asleep. The nurse turned towards the partially open door before pushing it open, gesturing into the room before leaving, all before another person walked into the room.

“Mr. Lee?”

A familiar voice; gruff yet not too deep. Dave turned towards the man, finally able to see the person who saved him in proper light. He was a tall, decently thin man wearing a lazily put on white dress shirt, along with blue jeans. He had bleached long hair, held back with a lazy bun except for his long bangs. It had a scruffy beard, and tired green eyes that stared back at Dave with disguised concern. It had its hands in its pockets as it sat down in a chair next to Dave’s bed, all before Dave smiled softly.

“Y…It’s you.” Dave said.

“I was just stopping by to check in.” The man stated. “Making sure you’re doing alright after…everything.”

“Heh…yeah.” Dave grew quiet for a second before looking back at the man beside him. “Who…are you anyway?”

“Oh yeah, right…” The man cleared his throat. “I’m lieutenant Thatcher Davis, I work for the MCPD.”

“So you’re the one they sent?” Dave asked. “Cutting…it a bit close, don’t you think?” Dave chuckled nervously slightly, trying to lighten the mood despite not really feeling in the mood for jokes.

Thatcher stared at him blankly before looking away. “Hm.”

Silence fell between the two for a moment, at least until Thatcher continued.

“How do you feel?” Thatcher asked.

“As…good as I can be right now.” Dave said. “They…couldn’t save my eye, judging by what I’ve heard.”

Thatcher sighed deeply. “I’m…sorry to hear that.”

“…Don’t be.” Dave said. “I mean…it’s…better than it could’ve been. You win some, you lose some, y’know? Just…happy to be…alive I guess.”

“You’re…certainly more positive than…I could ever be.” Thatcher said quietly.

“Sometimes you have to be.”

Silence fell, and with it, the light attitude in the air began to dissipate.

“Lee, do you know…exactly what attacked you?” Thatcher asked.

Dave looked away from the lieutenant as he thought to himself. “Uh...it…It had to have been one of those…alternates, right?” Dave paused again. “Though…I don’t know; the way you posed that question…” Dave let out another nervous, not quite genuine chuckle.

The tense silence felt more uncomfortable that time.

“Did…you get it?” Dave questioned hesitantly. “Were you guys able to…find that thing, and…stop it from hurting anyone else?”

Thatcher looked at Dave, its stare dark yet sad at the same time.

“They’re going to list it as an animal attack, Dave.” Thatcher said quietly.

Dave didn’t understand the statement at first, taking a few moments to process it. “…Do…do they not…know—?”

“They do.” Thatcher stated, glancing away for a second.

“I-I don’t understand, are they just…you’re just going to cover it up?” Dave questioned with a tinge of anger to his voice. Thatcher didn’t respond, not making eye contact as Dave continued. “What the hell do you mean, you…I don’t understand—”

“Dave.” Thatcher stated quietly. “Look…I…I hate this as much as you do.”

“Then why don’t you just…tell them it was an alternate?” Dave asked. “Why are you allowing them to cover it up?”

“Listen…I wasn’t sent by the police last night, I was off duty.” Thatcher responded, feeling guilt creeping up inside of him. “I went Mandela Tech because I overheard the call on the police scanner in my car.”

“What?”

“I was going out to drive because I couldn’t sleep.” Thatcher continued. “…If I didn’t do that, Lee…you’d be dead.”

Dave remained in silence as he listened.

“They weren’t…going to send anyone, Dave.” Thatcher stated with a slightly wavering voice. “…They didn’t think…you were going to survive.”

Dave had no clue how to process how he felt, only being able to look away with furrowed brows and a confused and scared look in his eyes.

“Y…I d…I don’t…understand.” Dave muttered.

“It’s…protocol.” Thatcher stated. “And trust me; I hate it as much as you do. If I could, I’d leave that god forsaken police station but…at the moment…I can’t. I have a job I need to do before I can.”

Dave remained in stunned silence as Thatcher fetched a small notepad, writing something down in it before ripping out the paper. “Look, if anything happens again, you call me, alright?” Thatcher handed Dave the slip of paper, Dave able to see it was a phone number. “I’ll be there. I wish I could…do more to help but I’m afraid right now I can’t—”

“No…n…no you’re fine.”

Thatcher looked at Dave who was staring at him with a tinge of sadness. “Look…y…you saved my life last night.” Dave continued. “If anything…I should be the one repaying you.”

“Dave, that’s not necessary—”

“Thatcher.” Dave paused for a second as he thought to himself. “Thank you.”

Thatcher didn’t maintain eye contact. “You don’t…need to thank me. It’s just my job.”

“Yeah, but…you were off duty.”

Thatcher sighed quietly as it fidgeted with its hands. “…That…thing.” It muttered to itself. “…I saw it before.”

“…what?”

“It didn’t look…like that, it looked more…like an imitation of…m…fuck.” Thatcher shook his head as he stood up. “Forget it. Call me if you need anything, but…hopefully this is the last time we see each other.” Thatcher approached the door, grasping the handle before looking back at Dave through the corner of his eye one last time. “Good luck, Dave. Wish you…a quick recovery.”

With that, it left, Dave left wondering how to process how he felt as he looked down at the phone number in his hand. He sighed slightly as he thought to himself. He laid back in his bed, the pain in his body a bit more tolerable as he shut his eye. He was exhausted, and despite the looming dread of knowing he was left to die by the people meant to protect him, along with the strange feeling he got from Thatcher’s sudden leave, he decided to sleep, or at the very least try to. He wasn’t sure how well he would rest, knowing the things he now knew.

Either way, at least he knew there was a friend he could count on.

#the mandela catalogue #mandela catalogue #tmc #tmc home sweet home au #hsh dave #hsh Thatcher #Zero (hsh)#Huh. wonder what that is.#blood tw #violence tw #body horror #shmorp writes sometimes #Hey! More hsh content! how wild and wacky is that #Anyway. the guys ever.#Won't say much else cause. honestly? speaks for itself.

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