Tales of the Tournaments

"Sinc, we need to talk." Christine Sinclair turned to find a furious Samantha May Kerr bearing down on her, pulling two of Sinc's teenaged teammates along. They were stumbling and squirming as Kerr led them by sharply pinched ears, feeling like naughty schoolgirls.

"Kerr, leave off!" Jessie Fleming protested, squirming.

Deanne Rose, meanwhile, was looking appealingly at Sinc for help. "Cap, tell her to let go!"

Christine faced the teens with narrowed eyes, arms folded across her chest. "What the hell did you do."

"In their defence," Melissa Tancredi said sardonically, stepping up to Sinc's side, "you did leave them unsupervised."

Sinc gave the older woman an unimpressed look. "They're old enough to stay out of trouble."

"One would think, but teenagers are trouble magnets." Tancredi turned her own disapproving gaze on the two girls. "Answer her. What did you do?"

"Noth--" Jessie began, and yelped as Sam gave her bottom a sharp swat. "Ow!" She spun to look at the Australian. "You can't do that, you're not my captain! You're not even a captain!"

"Tanc, take Rose please," Sinc said, gesturing to the younger of the two miscreants, and Melissa took her from Sam immediately.

"Fleming, come here." Jessie grumbled, but knew better than to disobey with the trio of older women watching. She shuffled to Sinc's side reluctantly. "Kerr isn't your Captain, no, Fleming, but I am,"

Christine Sinclair took Jessie by the shoulders and squeezed them lightly, the gesture half restraining, half reassuring. "You are going to tell us what you two did. Kerr wouldn't be dragging you here looking like hell if you hadn't."

Jessie shuffled her feet and looked around. Kerr had dragged them all the way back to the practice field where the Canadians had been working out, and Sinc led the small group into the empty locker room. "Sit, while you're still able to," she directed the teenagers, who exchanged looks before unsteadily dropping onto the bench.

"Cap--"

"Unless the next words out of your mouth are a truthful explanation of what you were up to, I'm not hearing it."

Neither Jessie or Deanne seemed inclined to speak. "Kerr, would you like to tell us what you saw?" Tancredi asked.

"Gladly," Sam agreed, giving the teens unimpressed looks. "Alanna Kennedy and I realised we'd got separated from our Ellie - Carpenter, that is - and we searched for her, finding her in company with these two. They were in possession of an illicit substance, sharing it with Ellie."

"Excuse me?" Christine pinned the girls with a furious glare. "What sort of substance are we talking about, Fleming?"

Jessie swallowed. "Cap, I..."

"One."

Jessie mentally swore in English and French both, squeezing her eyes shut. "Sinc, please..."

"Two."

"A marijuana cigarette, Sinc," Deanne admitted reluctantly, before Christine could get any further.

Christine's eyes widened. "Have you two lost your minds?" The girls cringed. "You do realise how illegal that is, don't you?" Sinc demanded.

"We're sorry, we didn't think about that," Jessie protested. "It was just meant to be a bit of fun."

"I don't think you're half as sorry as you're going to be," Christine growled. She kneaded her forehead with her knuckles. "Get to corners, both of you, right now." She snapped her fingers and they stumbled dizzily to separate corners, facing the wall. They leaned into the corners for support, breathing heavily.

"Is there anything else you heard from them, Kerr?"

"Not yet," Sam said. "I might hear something else from Ellie, but I sent her to the infirmary with Alanna to wait for me."

Sinc nodded. "Probably the best course of action. All the same, I hope word doesn't get out for either of our sides."

"Damn right," Sam muttered. "I need to get to my Joeys, Sinc, do you mind?"

"Not at all, I get it," Sinc assured her. "I've got to cool off, myself. Can't deal with these two like this."

The girls stood quietly in their corners as Christine walked away. The Captain was clearly focused on steadying her breathing and controlling her temper. It seemed like ages, but it was really only a few minutes before she returned, having washed her face and drunk from her water bottle. "Alright, back here, you two."

Deanne and Jessie returned to stand before Christine and Melissa, the teens' hands tightly entwined. They clung to each other for mutual support.

"Where did the cigarette come from, Fleming? The truth now, understood?"

Jessie bit her lower lip. "There was a man," she said nervously. "He offered me a few. I gave him some money but I only took one, I swear."

"Did either Rose or Carpenter see this man?"

"No ma'am."

"How did you convince Carpenter to try it?"

"I told her all the big girls were doing it," Jessie dropped her gaze. "She just found us looking at it and wanted to know what it was and where we got it. I had to say something."

"I suppose it's extremely unlikely I'll ever find this man if we look for him, even if you take me back to where you saw him," Sinc grumbled. "So this all falls on you two, you got that? Carpenter's getting her backside tanned any moment, I've no doubt - and considering her age, she's certainly never caught it like this before."

Jessie and Deanne exchanged guilty looks, and Sinc nodded. "Well then. I'm certainly not letting you two off, either."

"I'm sorry I was stupid, Captain," Deanne said quietly. "I just wanted to try it because it looked cool, I didn't think."

"I seem to remember seventeen year olds do a lot of 'not thinking', Deanne," Sinc said quietly, and the use of her first name brought the team youngest's head up.

"It's going to be horrible, isn't it?" Deanne bit her lip.

"It's going to be enough. You didn't buy the drugs, you didn't lie about where they were obtained, and you apologised properly and sincerely for your idiotic behaviour. That being said, I can't let it go completely," Christine said grimly. "You were still involved in a crime, Deanne." She turned to rummage through her sports bag, and brought out the Canadian paddle, with the emblem of Canada Soccer painted on one side and etched on the other. 

Besides that, she took out a small tube of some kind of cream. The girls eyed it suspiciously - they highly doubted Sinc would allow them Bio-Freeze after being spanked for a criminal act, however thoughtless.

"We're not doing anything until you've been fed and hydrated," Melissa Tancredi said, stepping forward with a pair of water bottles (already opened) and handing them off. She pulled out single serving cups of Kraft Dinner from the Canadians' after-practice food storage, and went to heat them up. 

The girls drank obediently, not eager to begin whatever Sinc had in mind but irresistibly thirsty as soon as they'd laid eyes on the water.

"Slow sips," Sinc ordered, making Jessie and Deanne slow down.

"Good girls. Now, what's got into you?" Sinc asked when the girls had taken a few swallows of the water. "Especially you, Jessie, you're usually so responsible. What prompted this?"

Jessie flushed guiltily, gaze dropping to the floor. "I...I..." She sucked on her lower lip. "We're in Brazil, Cap, and everything's just so exciting and distracting. I guess I was tired from practice and not really thinking, and when...he came up to me with the things, I was just...'oh, new experience' and didn't really...think."

"I should have said no, too," Deanne admitted, her head feeling a little clearer after the water. She and Jessie accepted the bowls of microwaved macaroni and cheese when Tanc returned with them, eating slow, deliberate bites. 

"I'm glad you both realise how wrong it was to do that," Sinc said quietly, seriously. "I don't intend for there to ever be a next time, do you understand?"

The girls' stomachs churned, and Jessie gulped audibly. 

"Don't be dramatic, you're not going to be executed," Melissa said bluntly.

"No, we'll just wish we were dead," Deanne mumbled.

"Probably," Melissa agreed dryly.

"If it was just you two acquiring an illegal substance, it would have been bad enough," Sinc said, arms folded. "But you dragged Ellie Carpenter into it - younger than both of you and an Australian. I know she's your friend and she trusts you, but she's also--"

"The enemy?" Deanne quipped, shutting her mouth with a snap at Christine Sinclair's quelling look.

"Barely more than a child," Christine said sharply, "and you two aren't much older. Besides, messing with another nation's athlete could look like sabotage if this got out."

Jessie's face went stark white.

"Eat," Tanc ordered, and the girls did their best to finish the macaroni and cheese, though they were in no hurry to be finished. Unfortunately for them, Melissa and Christine were ready to move on and didn't appreciate attempts to waste time.

When they were finished, Sinc studied the girls, arms folded. "Alright, who's going first?"

The teens exchanged horrified looks.

"Sinc..." Deanne pleaded, anxiety rising in her voice. "Do we have to?"

"Do we have to..." Christine trailed off, raising an eyebrow.

"Does there have to be a first," Jessie clarified quickly, because both of them knew there was absolutely no way in hell they were talking Sinc out of spanking them. Honestly, Jessie thought with dawning clarity, they were lucky that was all that was going to happen. If Sinc had chosen to give them to the cops, or even to Kerr and the Australians....

She shuddered.

"I suppose not," Melissa said, exchanging looks with Sinc. "There's two of us after all."

"But there's only one paddle," Christine mused.

"We thought that might be a problem."

Jessie and Deanne jumped, almost falling off the bench as they looked round to see Lisa de Vanna and Clare Polkinghorne framed in the doorway. The two Australian captains raised their eyebrows at the teens.

"See, it occurred to us when we left Kerr to sort Ellie out that she only needed one plimsoll to give her the slippering she deserved for her foolishness," Lisa continued. "But we do have a pair, you know."

Clare fished the other out of her bag, and Jessie's stomach dropped.

Deanne was still staring at the two Australian captains.

"When the fuck did you get here?"

Lisa smiled.

It was not a nice smile, and Deanne froze.

"You might want to mind your language darling," she said sweetly. "I don't imagine you want a taste of soap along with everything else you're to be getting."

"No ma'am," Deanne said quickly, and Lisa's smile became more genuine.

"There's a good girl. So I think I'm going to give this to Tanc then, and we'll just see how this pans out."

"Like...watch?" Jessie choked out, eyes wide.

"Well. You did interfere with one of our girls after all," Clare pointed out. "I think it's our duty to see you're corrected enough - not that we don't trust Sinc of course."

"Of course," Jessie replied, taking care to keep the sardonicism out of her tone.

"Go shower and change first," Sinc ordered.

Grateful for the reprieve, the teens obeyed orders, taking the most comfortable clothing they had in their bags with them. 

When they returned half an hour later, clean and smelling of flower-scented body wash rather than smoke, it was to find Clare had gone. 

Lisa was still there, though, and both Christine and Melissa had seated themselves on the bench at opposite ends, facing away from each other. This, the girls realized, meant that when they were over the knee they would be able to see each other and hold hands. 

It was the one mercy their captains planned to give them.

Jessie was beckoned over to Sinc's side, and Tanc took Deanne over her lap, both still fully clothed - dressed in light cotton shirts (Canadian white and red), with long sleeves to keep off the sun, and insects, when they were outside, matching red ankle-length lounge pants which tied with a drawstring, and under those, boxer briefs. The girls hoped they'd at least be allowed to keep those up through their entire smacking, but somehow doubted it. 

"Comfortable, Fleming?"

Jessie turned her head to look up at Sinc. "Does it matter, Sinc?"

"Absolutely it matters," Christine replied calmly. "The only part of you I plan on causing pain to is right here." She gave Jessie's bottom a gentle pat. "Anything else hurting?"

"No ma'am," Jessie said quietly.

"Alright, Jessie. Deanne?" Sinc asked. "All right over there?"

"Yes ma'am," Deanne replied, meeting Jessie's eyes. Even if they weren't, should they tell Sinc? Or would she be mad?

"You better not be lying to Sinc, now," Melissa said, raising an eyebrow. "You feel a bit tensed up to me."

"Sorry, Tanc," Deanne whispered. "I just....it's going to be horrible."

The older woman patted Deanne's shoulder. "You're going to live, honey, a smacked bum is a lot less dangerous than taking unknown substances from strange men on the street."

Deanne cringed. "Sorry..."

"I know. I've got you, Deanne," Tanc said softly, mindful that the teen over her lap wasn't just trying to beg off. "I won't let you fall. Hold onto Jessie, you've got each other. Alright?"

The girls clasped hands tightly, and their spankings began, the smacks sounding loud in the mostly-empty locker room. The synchroneity of Sinc and Tanc's hands connecting with their clothed bottoms just made them seem even louder.

The smacks weren't very hard to start with, though they firmed up as they went on. One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. Seven. Eight. Nine. Ten. Eleven. Twelve. 

After the first dozen, the teens were squirming. Six more smacks to their sit spots and they were trying to twist out of position.

"Either you lift up by yourselves now, or we can do it for you," Sinc instructed. The girls whined with embarrassment.

"We can do it, Cap," Jessie mumbled, letting go of Deanne to obey. Deanne was just as miserable and anxious, and buried her face in her arm as Tanc tugged her lounge pants down.

Sinc was giving Jessie the same treatment, and then they were put back in position, clinging to each other through another dozen spanks from their older teammates' hands.

Then there was an ominous pause.

Jessie and Deanne clung tighter to each other. They heard the sound of the implements being picked up, and a warning pat with their older teammates' free hands to their lower backs was all they got before the smooth side of the paddle impacted Jessie's bottom, the slipper falling on Deanne's. Six smacks to knicker-clad bottoms was enough to have the girls' tears flowing in earnest.

Christine and Melissa paused again, giving the pair a moment to settle themselves. "There's our brave girls," Tanc said gently, "we're on the last part now. Lift up a bit for us again."

Slowly, they obeyed, sniffling as their bottoms were fully bared and they were settled back into place, holding each other's hands tightly as the last round of smacks began.

This time, Christine and Melissa spaced the smacks out so they were alternating, not in unison. The first dozen smacks deepened the color of Jessie's bottom from pink to red, and Tanc could feel Deanne's backside was just as warm as her partner in crime's looked. 

Sinc turned the paddle over, using the etched side for the final six, and Jessie stifled cries in her arm, finding it hard not to pull away from Sinc's expert smacks. Across from her, Deanne was fighting the same battle against the slipper. 

At last, though, the eighteen final bare bottom smacks had all been delivered, and both girls lay across their teammates' laps, breathing hard as Christine and Melissa rubbed their backs.

"Alright Jessie," Sinc said, brushing a hand gently over her hair. "Breathe for us, you too Deanne, there's our good girls. We're nearly done."

"N-nearly?!" Jessie whimpered, as her sobs slowly calmed to sniffles. Deanne went rigid, turning to look at Tanc in horror.

"Shh, shhh," Melissa hushed them gently. "Your smackings are all over, it's alright, just one last thing to make sure the lesson sticks, shall we say."

"W-what?" Deanne whispered. 

"This." Melissa accepted the box Sinc handed her and took out the roll-on capsaicin - they'd changed their minds about the method of delivery while the girls were in the shower, putting the tube away. "It's capsaicin. You're not allergic, I know."

"No," Deanne admitted. "But...doesn't that make things hot and spicy?"

"It does," Tanc agreed. "Or in this case, keep something hot for a while longer."

Jessie and Deanne swallowed hard, understanding what Tancredi was implying. 

"It's...going to keep the hurt from fading?"

"For a little while longer," Sinc nodded. "But it's not going to damage you, and deciding you could do with a longer lesson isn't common. I don't imagine you'll need it again after this once, at least not for a long time."

"Oh." Jessie's tone was meek, and she nodded reluctantly. "I don't want you to, but if we have to..."

"It's perfectly safe, little one," Sinc assured her. "You won't like it, of course, but that's the point - and once we're done you'll be back up off our laps, and apologise to de Vanna, then we can put this whole sorry mess behind us."

"Behind them you mean," Lisa de Vanna quipped, and the teens groaned at the terrible joke. They'd half forgotten the Australian captain was still there. "That's alright little ones, take it like the good girls I know you can be and we'll call it finished."

"Jessie?" The whisper was only just audible.

Jessie squeezed Deanne's hands, looking at her younger teammate and friend. "Yeah?" she whispered back. 

"Have you ever..."

"No."

"Me either," Deanne mumbled. The two had been tensed up, but despite their anxiety they were slowly relaxing as Christine and Melissa rubbed their backs.

"It's alright, don't tense up little ones," Tanc said softly. "We'll make this quick as we can, alright, and the roll on should mean it dries pretty much right away so you can get up and have your clothes back up no problem."

"I guess we don't have any choice," Jessie mumbled.

"There's always a choice," Sinc said calmly. "You could decide not to take this."

The teens blinked. 

"We could?" Deanne ventured, voice quivering.

"You could," Sinc agreed. "We have Coach on speed dial, and I'm sure he'd be thrilled to hear what you two have been up to."

Both girls swallowed hard.

"I'm sure he'd be very enthusiastic to have to report to our NOC there'd been a drug scandal," Tanc added. "And then Australia's NOC would have to hear it too, and both take it to the IOC more than likely."

Their stomachs dropped.

"So if you want to stop, and take this through official channels, we won't stop you," Sinc finished. "But on the balance of it, I think a burning bum - even for an extended period - is a fairer price to pay for teenage stupidity than getting the rest of the team, of the teams, chastised and probably expelled, wouldn't you say?"

Jessie and Deanne shared a look. It was, they realized, the difference between taking a few smacks in private school over a serious offence, and having a blemish on their permanent record. Only about ten times more important.

"Teenage stupidity that could have got you and Ellie killed," Lisa added. "Thank fuck there wasn't anything worse in that cigarette, there could have been." 

"Yes ma'am," Jessie said meekly. She looked at Deanne, and nodded. Deanne returned the nod.

"We don't want to bother Coach, please. We'll finish our punishment, Captain."

"That's our brave girls," Sinc praised gently.

There were two roll-ons of capsaicin in the box, so Christine and Melissa opened them and began at the same time, applying the substance to their penitents' already cherry-red bottoms in a thin, even coating. 

The capsaicin dried almost right after it was rolled on, and at first it didn't feel much different (other than the discomfort from the applicator pressing down on reddened posteriors). The lotion had been cooling for a moment, as it dried. Then it was seemingly gone.

The girls were helped up and their shorts and lounge pants pulled back up into place. It was only after that when a creeping prickly sensation started to break noticeably through the burning pain.

The girls squirmed, Deanne pressing her hands to her bottom as if it would help anything.

"S-sorry Miss," Jessie choked out, remembering what her captain had asked of her and turning to Lisa.

"We're sorry," Deanne agreed, whimpering as the pain continued to grow and spread.

Lisa opened her arms to them both, and hugged the teens. "It's alright little ones," she said gently, "just do me a favour - do yourselves and your team a favour - and don't ever do anything this stupid ever again. Yeah?"

She was met with two fervent nods.

"We promise."

"Definitely promise."

Lisa nodded, and left.

Shortly after, Christine and Melissa guided Jessie and Deanne from the locker rooms, and headed back to the hotel. They each kept their arms around one of the girls, as the pain was quickly becoming worse than anything they'd ever felt before.

"Hold on to us, we've got you," Sinc soothed them, and thankfully it was less than thirty minutes later that they were back in their room, being tucked in facedown.

By then, the pain had evened out, but it was enough to leave the pair sobbing miserably.

"C-Cap, is it going to hurt f-forever?"

"No Jessie, it'll fade," Christine promised. "It'll just be a bit longer than usual that's all. And I wouldn't try washing it off if I were you, that just makes it worse."

"What about showers tomorrow?"

"That isn't going to be fun," Tanc conceded, tucking Deanne in carefully and rubbing between her shoulder blades. "But like we said, it will go away. This isn't for forever, little ones."

Jessie snuggled into Deanne's side - they'd been put into the same bed, side by side - and under Sinc and Tanc's watchful gazes, the pair cried themselves to sleep. 

It was definitely the worst smacking either of them had ever been given, but at least they knew they had a clean slate with Lisa and with Sinc and Tanc.

Once the pain was gone for good, they could focus on the most important thing - the tournament.