And then there was silence.

Absolute silence.

The expectation of the crowd was a palpable thing as necks craned, waiting for the one they had come here to see.

A low, reverberating bass hum flowed out into the stadium like an ocean wave washing onto the shore. The crowd gave an anticipatory cheer before falling silent again. The bass hum continued, drawing out the moment until it became almost painful.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, after a four year absence from the court, it is my great pleasure to reintroduce to you, wearing her retired number 34, the Female Player of the Century, the incomparable Pallas Dylan ?The Goddess? Lambert!!!”

As one, the crowd jumped to its feet, cheering so loudly that Cat thought her eardrums would burst. Still, she couldn?t help grinning as Dylan, black braid streaming behind her, ran through the gauntlet of security and onto the court, waving to the crowd and sending them into fits of near apoplexy.

“God-dess! God-dess! God-dess! God-dess!”

Five thousand voices chanted, accompanied by five thousand pairs of feet stamping and five thousand sets of hands clapping. It was nearly enough to rattle the fillings in Cat?s teeth, but she didn?t really notice, too busy clapping and stamping and chanting with the rest. Dylan gave her a little smirk before shaking her head. Cat smirked right back at her and began chanting all the louder.

Red roses flew down from the stands like fragrant rain. Bending, Dylan picked up one bloom that had landed closest to her feet and, inhaling its pleasing scent, lifted the rose and waved once again at the crowd, sending them into another frenzy that lasted for a good five minutes before finally beginning to wind down.

When at last some semblance of normalcy returned to the stadium, the players shook hands and retired to their respective benches.

Dylan pulled the soaked towel away from her face and looked back at a staring Cat, one eyebrow arched. “Problem?”

Taking the response as somewhat of an invitation, Cat slid closer to Dylan while checking to make sure they were out of the earshot of anyone else. “Are you?feeling okay?”

“Right as a trivet, as my grandmother used to say. Why?”

Cat shrugged a little, then took another quick look around. “Oh, I dunno. It?s?.” Breaking off, she sighed in frustration, and tried again. “Your game. It seems a little?off?”

“Off?” Dylan asked, straightening on the bench. “Off how?”

Cat thought for a moment. “Well, maybe not ?off? off. Maybe just?flat?”

“Flat.”

Cat was finding it hard to think with those piercing eyes all but pinning her to the bench. “Yeah. You know. Not?.” She sighed again, shaking her head. “Forget I said anything, alright? It?s stupid. I don?t know where my mind is today.”

“No. I?m interested in knowing what you?re getting at, Cat. How is my game off?” Her lips curl. “And batting those eyes at me will not make me forget the topic.”

Laughing softly, Cat pelted Dylan with her towel and moved closer until their thighs were casually touching. “You?re a nut, you know that?”

“I do try. Now quit trying to change the subject.”

“Fine.” Cat steepled her fingers and stared down at her hands. “You?re, I mean, you?re Dylan Lambert, you know? The Goddess. But you?re, kinda, playing like a?.”

“Mere mortal?”

“Yeah.” Cat felt herself blushing and wiped a hand across her forehead as if to wash it away. “Told you it was stupid.”

When Dylan turned to her, her eyes were nothing but warm, and kind. “It?s not stupid, Cat. In fact, I?m kinda flattered that you?re concerned about it.”

Wide eyes met hers, and Dylan?s smile broadened. “You are?”

“Yup.” A beat of silence. “Remember what I said, though. Bring your A game to work and leave the razzle-dazzle for the highlight films.”

“Yeah, but isn?t this almost one big highlight film?”

Dylan chuckled. “In a way, maybe, but we?ve also got a teammate who isn?t a basketball star. I think she deserves her time in the light too.”

“You?re right,” Cat replied, nodding. “I didn?t think of that.”

“Well, we already know who the brains of this outfit is,” Dylan quipped, smirking. “Looks like we?re up again. Ready?”

“Just remember, Ms. Goddess. Paybacks are a female dog.”

“Oh yeah, I?m shaking already. Tiny.”

Cat slumped down on the bench, huffing. Grabbing the towel Dylan had thoughtfully draped around her neck, she wiped the sweat pouring liberally down her face and groaned. That last game was a bit closer than she would have liked. Still, if she was honest with herself, she wasn?t really all that surprised, given that the guard she faced was none other than Shauna Keeps, hands down the best in the league.

After a friendly greeting, Cat found herself taken to school, and right properly at that. While knowing full well that the biggest gap between them was experience, she would have gladly given her left kidney to possess the fluid grace and supreme confidence that seemed to be Keeps? by birthright.

That she genuinely liked the woman made the lesson at least palatable, and she resolved then and there to get Dylan, if needed, to intercede on her behalf for some off-season lessons that would surely elevate her game to the next, much needed, level.

Dropping her towel in her lap, she turned to find Dylan looking at her, a spark of concern easily read in those too-blue eyes. “I?m okay,” she reassured her partner. “She?s just?damn she?s good.”

“She is that.”

“It really makes me wish that I had been around, you know, as a professional, when the two of you played together. Playing against her is nothing like watching it on TV. You guys must have been, God, just amazing together.”

“We were alright,” Dylan drawled, stretching impossibly long arms along the back of the bench they shared while extending even longer legs and crossing them at the ankles, completely unperturbed by their close call.

“Nothing bothers you, does it,” Cat observed with just a hint of envy.

Dylan shrugged. “Don?t sweat the small stuff.”

Cat straightened, eyes flashing. “Dylan Lambert, you are one of, if not the most competitive person I know. I can?t believe I just heard that come out of your mouth!”

Laughing softly, Dylan reached up and tousled Cat?s already tousled hair. “We had it in the bag, darlin?. The outcome was never in doubt.”

“For you, maybe,” Cat grumbled.

Dylan?s expression turned serious. “One day, Cat,” she intoned softly, “you?ll see in yourself what I see in you. Then, maybe, you?ll believe.”

Rising elegantly to her feet, Dylan left a totally stunned Cat behind.

“You and me, white bread! You and me, short shit! Yeah, you and me! I?m gonna fuck you up so high you ain?t never gonna come down!”

Cat?s nemesis, Kiesha Brown, was pulled back by her playing partner, Coral Tippets, and hustled over to the opposite bench.

“Jesus,” Cat muttered half under her breath as she tossed her towel on the bench and followed it down. “Who in the hell pissed in her Wheaties this morning?”

Dylan smirked over her water bottle, then guzzled the rest of it down. “You wanted a challenge.”

“Challenge? Damn, Dylan, if I?d wanted a prison gang fight, I?d have flashed the crowd and gotten myself arrested first!”

“Now that I would have liked to have seen,” Dylan replied, chuckling.

“Get yourself a police uniform, sweetheart, and I?ll give you a show for free.”

If she had had any water left in her mouth, Dylan would surely have choked. Crystal eyes went absolutely round, and Cat smirked, pleased to have gotten one up on her usually imperturbable partner.

“You seriously expect me to play with that image in my head, do you?”

Cat laughed. “Show me a few of your famous on-court moves in this next game, and you won?t need the uniform.”

This time, Dylan was the one left stunned on the bench as Cat sauntered away. After a moment, she broke out into a big grin, and chuckled softly, shaking her head. “One of these days, Lambert,” she murmured. “One of these days, you?ll learn that your little kitten has some mean claws.”

The sound of a whistle cut stridently through the cheering crowd, but didn?t effect in the least the two enraged women grappling over the loose ball. Over the heads of the two combatants, Dylan and Tippets shared a look and, by mutual consent, moved forward to separate their respective partners from the melee.

Grabbing Cat easily, if gently, by one arm, Dylan tugged her away from the court, signaling a time-out to the referee with one raised eyebrow and ignoring the constant stream of epithets spewing from Keisha Brown like sludge from a sewer.

Once on the sidelines, Dylan released her hold on Cat and tossed her a towel. Cat plucked it out of mid-air and angrily tossed it aside, glaring at Dylan all the while. Dylan?s eyebrow made its way back up again. “You need to stop letting her get to you,” she remarked after a moment filled with heated tension.

“Don?t you think I know that?!?” Cat hissed through clenched teeth. “In case it?s slipped your notice, oh Goddess, we?re down 9-3 here. We?re getting our asses kicked, and it?s like?it?s like?you don?t even care!!”

Dylan?s voice was very quiet. “Should I?”

The shock of her partner?s statement drained every single drop of anger from Cat?s body. She stared at Dylan as if she?d grown an extra head in the last minute or two. “I?bu?you?.what?!?”

“This isn?t for a tournament trophy, Cat. It?s not for bragging rights,” Dylan continued. “It?s for them.” One long arm swept out, indicating the line of children sitting in the front row of bleachers. “To put some happiness in their lives, if even for a moment.” She paused, then looked directly into Cat?s eyes, her own speaking with uncanny eloquence. “Do they look very happy to you?”