Two Weeks Later
Two weeks. It had been two weeks since the news had broken that Orlando were withdrawn. For those two weeks, six rookie players had been confined to the team's medical center. Quarantined. Grounded, more like. They weren't the only ones, either. Alanna Kennedy, Shelina Zadorsky, and Marta had been stuck, too. And Emily Sonnett, though she, at least, had been allowed to endure her 'grounding' at home. Six rookies, one transfer, three who were old enough to know better. Shelina Zadorsky and Marta, at least, had the excuse of only being there to ensure the girls had a pair of designated drivers and both had taken all precautions. Neither had tested positive, but they were still confined just to be sure. Now, though, the ten had been brought to Exploria Stadium, where they came face to face with a thoroughly unimpressed Ashlyn Harris and Ali Krieger.
"Fuck," Alanna whispered, and Ali's eyes snapped to her.
"Kennedy, I wouldn't start if I were you."
"I imagine," Ashlyn said, her tone catching the attention of the other girls. "That you've all had plenty of time to think about why we are here...and not in Utah." Emily's stomach twisted and she threw Ali, nearest to her, a panicked look. Please, please...
Ali brushed a gentle hand over Emily's back, softening slightly, and squeezed her hand. "You've taken your licks, Emmy," she whispered. "But it won't hurt you to listen."
"Ashlyn—I mean, Captain," Alanna burst out.
"Oh, are you that eager to get started Kennedy? Because I seem to remember you being told a minute ago to mind your manners," Ashlyn said with a look for the twenty-five-year-old Australian.
"But Cap," Alanna said desperately, "the governor said it was all right to--"
"To what?" Ashlyn took a step forward, fixing Alanna with a stare that reminded her uncomfortably of Sam Kerr. "Did he say it was okay to disobey team rules? Did he say it was okay to act like a godsdamned idiot while preparing for the tournament? Does he have the right to overturn the directions the NWSL gave us? Hmm?" Alanna looked back at the rookies, who had the good sense (finally) to keep their collective mouths shut. She shook her head anxiously.
"N-no, ma'am."
"No, ma'am," Ashlyn echoed sardonically. "No. He didn't say that. He doesn't have that right. And the fact is, your behavior is what led to our being left out. All of you naughty brats, thinking only of yourselves and what you wanted."
Even Marta found herself cringing at Ashlyn's tone, despite being eldest on the Pride - only half a year older than Ashlyn, but still - and she knew she wasn't being addressed. "You had better thank Zadorsky and Marta on your knees for driving you back and straight to get tested. I hate to think what would have happened if they hadn't. At least you were tested. At least this was found out before it was time to go." Ashlyn glared at the girls, who stammered out a collective 'thank you', shaking under Ashlyn's intense glare. "Kennedy, since you're so very vocal today, front and center."
Alanna whimpered. "Ash, I--"
"That's yes, Captain, and get to it right now." Ashlyn snapped her fingers impatiently and Alanna scrambled to her side, eyes round. "Would you care to share with the class," Ashlyn said pointedly, "what happens to naughty brats who break safety rules?"
Alanna blanched. "O-oh...Ash, p-please...I...no..."
Emily went to Alanna and wrapped her arms around the younger girl. "Breathe, Alanna," she whispered, giving Ashlyn an apologetic glance.
Ashlyn sighed. "Gods, please let her not go little on me right now," she muttered. That was the last thing anyone needed right now.
"M-ma'am?" That was Phoebe McClernon, one of the rookies.
"Yes," Ashlyn sighed. "Is...is Alanna going to be okay?"
"She just needs a minute. I didn't mean to send her into a panic attack," Ashlyn muttered. "Zadorsky, you want to explain to the kids?"
Shelina stepped forward, studying the youngsters with folded arms. "I realise," she said evenly, though she was unable to hide a slight grimace. "That Marta and I are probably in trouble ourselves for helping you all do something this stupid. It's a small mercy that we were there, but the intelligent thing would have been to stop you all, including Kennedy, from behaving like a pack of fools in the first place."
"In...trouble how, Miss?" Phoebe ventured. Shelina did her best not to roll her eyes. It's the accent, the Canadian thought. I'm only five years older than the kid.
"What were you lot told about team discipline at your call-up?" she asked. She knew, she'd been there, but she wanted to see if they remembered. The rookies exchanged nervous looks.
"Kennedy said something about a..." Phoebe's fellow Virginia teammate, Courtney Petersen began. She broke off, cheeks flushed. "Um."
Alanna pushed herself back from Sonnett, her own face flushed pink. "You're gonna have to get used to the word," she said with a grimace. "It's not a swear word or anything."
"Something about a...a team...paddle," Phoebe got out, the girls exchanging anxious looks. "We thought it was a joke. You know, like a sorority thing."
"Oh, you could call it 'like a sorority thing', little one," Shelina replied. "But it's very much not a joke."
"It's also," Ali cut in firmly, "not ever going to be used to damage any of you. We value our players, you're our family, and we don't want you getting seriously hurt. We don't even always bring the paddle out for earned spankings," Ali added. "Sometimes a hand or even a slipper will do, but that's a discussion for later."
Ashlyn nodded. "The team paddle is usually only brought out for carded incidents, or breaking safety rules. If one of ours puts their life, or a teammate's life in danger, that's for sure a paddling of the highest order....enough to print the team logo on your bottoms for a few days."
Alanna swallowed. "All of us?" she whispered.
"Zadorsky and Marta were careful, and Sonnett was too - she's had her licks already," Ali informed them. "So for you two," she singled out the older veterans, "a branding, as we call it, won't be necessary. Though you're right, you will still be getting the paddle."
The two knew better than to argue it.
"Sim, Senhora.”
“Yes ma'am."
The rookies huddled around Alanna as though she could protect them. Ashlyn picked the paddle up from the bench behind her - the girls jumped a little, realizing it had been there the whole time. They exchanged nervous glances. "So, who's first, then?" she asked, calmly surveying the huddle of nervous barely-twentysomethings around Alanna.
Alanna swallowed hard, and stepped forward. "Kennedy." Ashlyn's eyebrows rose. "Are you sure?"
"I'm eldest," Alanna said quietly. "Of this lot I mean." She gestured to the rookies. "And...well, the whole thing was my idea. And if they see...I mean, they don't know what to expect. Mu--I mean, Sam, she'd want me to. Don't you think?"
Ashlyn nodded. "Good girl, then."
"I'll make sure Kerr knows you stepped up first, Alanna," Ali told the younger girl softly, as she helped Alanna into position over Ashlyn's thigh. "She'll be proud of you for taking responsibility, I'm sure."
Alanna nodded, grabbing hold of Ashlyn's leg as the older women saw to baring her. "Thanks, Auntie Ali," she whispered back, too low for the rookies to hear her.
"For something like this, me or Ash would start with a warm up spanking, the number of smacks equal to your age," Ali explained to the youngsters, and Ash began. Alanna grimaced. She was twenty-five, and so she received a dozen spanks to her bottom cheeks, followed by another even dozen shared out across her sit spots and undercurves before a final smack in the middle of her bottom finished it. By the end of Alanna's warm up she was already crying, though not very hard. That, she knew, would soon change.
Ali was talking again, but Alanna had tuned her out. She was focused on not tensing as she felt the paddle - the smooth side - come to rest on her bottom.
Do not tense up do not tense up donottenseup ohfuck breatheinbreatheoutbreathe in breathe out b r e a t h e i n b r e a t h e o u t.. Alanna's mind raced, and she fell limply over Ashlyn's thigh again, yelping and nearly twisting out of position when the first spank landed with the paddle. Luckily Ali secured her in time.
That had not been the smooth side that descended. And the etched side continued to fall, too, as Ali held Alanna in place. The young defender sobbed, clinging to Ali for support as Ash paddled her bottom. It could have been five seconds, five minutes, five hours...well, probably not five seconds, and definitely not really five hours, Alanna thought sarcastically, but she'd lost all sense of how much time had passed when she finally realized her paddling was over. Fucking hell, she thought, gasping as Ash rubbed a gentle hand over her blazing bottom. It really does feel like I've been burned. Nope. Never doing that kind of stupid again, she promised herself. Really never.
"Okay, Alanna," Ali murmured. "Easy, kiddo." She beckoned the rookies closer, and they obeyed warily, getting a good look at Alanna's scarlet bottom with the Orlando Pride's logo imprinted on it. They exchanged nervous looks.
"What do you see?" Ashlyn asked them. "Petersen?"
Courtney gulped. "She's...she's all red, and...and...like...printed on there..."
"Let me re-word that. What don't you see?" Ashlyn asked her. Courtney and the others exchanged bewildered looks.
"Let's go back to when you compared it to a sorority paddle. Start there," Ali suggested. "What kind of stuff do you hear about those?"
"Oh." Courtney nodded. "I...don't see any cuts, or blood, or...nothing broken," she offered. "And you won't ever," Ali promised. "Never with this. You can expect a little bruising around the imprint for a paddling like this, but it won't last long, and you'll be allowed Bio-Freeze. We take care of our girls."
"Yes ma'am," Courtney whispered.
Alanna was helped up, and her clothes were carefully put back in order by Ali. The rookies exchanged anxious looks, swallowing hard.
"Well?" Ashlyn looked at the huddled girls. "Either you pick or I pick for you." No one moved. "Plummer," Ashlyn said, looking the Jamaican national captain in the eye. Technically Konya Plummer had been signed as a University of Central Florida team player, but they were watching each other, captain to captain, and the younger woman fidgeted.
Konya returned Ashlyn's gaze, weaving her fingers together with a grimace. "Ash-" Hold up. Ma'am? Miss? Uhh...in the current climate, no. 'Ashlyn' isn't formal enough in this situation, 'Harris' sounds like I'm trying to get the upper hand. "Cap," she finished.
"Here, Plummer."
"Hold up," Chelsee Washington piped up, stepping forward with a toss of her long, curly ponytail. "You think you can beat on our ass just 'cause we're bl-"
"Washington, shut up," Konya said flatly. "She's not 'beating on our ass' because we're Black. She's disciplining us because we were stupid." And besides, she and Chelsee were the only two of the rookies who weren't white. They were all being treated equally here.
"Thank you," Ashlyn said. "Washington, you first, since you volunteered yourself so nicely." Chelsee took a step back, staring defiantly. Ashlyn stared back at Chelsee, arms folded. "I've got all day, brat, but I'm sure you'd rather be finished sooner rather than later."
As Chelsee reluctantly obeyed Ashlyn, Alanna made herself watch. Her legs were shaking, until Auntie Ali slipped an arm around her, but she still watched. First Chelsee, then Konya, Taylor Kornieck, Courtney, Phoebe, and last, Cheyenne Shorts. Ashlyn gave them all exactly the same treatment - a warm-up that reflected their age, followed by the thorough paddling, imprinting the Orlando logo on them. Only then did Alanna notice that Sonnett, too, had been watching
. "That's enough for you kiddos," Ali said, leading the two of them through to the ice baths, the rookies right behind her as Ash took Marta and Zadorsky in hand. The veterans didn't need the kids watching them.
"Alright, ice up," Ali ordered, and they were all glad to obey. Emily perched on the edge of Alanna's tub as Ali knelt nearby. The oldest of the trio pulled out her phone and called Kerr on video. "Hey, Sam."
"Bit late here," Sam groaned. She was in England after all. "It was today, was it?" "Yeah," Ali said. "Alanna was good for us, though. She actually came forward first when Ash asked them to pick."
"Did you, Joey?" Sam asked, softening. "Were you scared, little one?"
"Yes Mummy," Alanna admitted softly, and Sam cooed sympathetically, "But it was right to do it," Alanna added.
"You're very right, little," Sam murmured. "That's my brave Joey. I'm so proud of you."
Alanna basked in the Matilda Captain's approval, feeling warm inside despite the cold water. "I'll never be stupid again," she offered.
"Well, not this stupid anyway," Sam said wryly. "I'm glad to hear you behaved for Ali and Ash, even though you were scared. That's my good girl,. Alanna, sweetheart. Now, ice up, rest up, and do your best to stay out of trouble. Mummy loves you." She blew Alanna a kiss, which the younger Australian returned, and then she was gone.
Ali stroked Alanna's hair, smiling gently. "Kerr's right. We're very proud of you. Learn from this and one day you'll probably be wearing Kerr's armband, hmm?" Alanna blushed and nodded, hoping for that day.
Me, an international captain.
Ash, Shelina, and Marta joined them in the ice baths, and apologies were exchanged. Peace reigned for a time in Exploria Stadium's lockers. All was well.