Date sent: Thu, 12 Feb 1998 22:56:39 -0500 From: "Richard E. Wahlquist" <74720.1275@compuserve.com> Subject: Speak Softly...(1/1) Kirsten Wahlquist Title: Scream Loudly and Carry a Big Hand Author: Kirsten Wahlquist E-Mail: 74720.1275@compuserve.com Distribution Statement: Anywhere's fine, just keep my name and addy on it and let me know where it's going. Spoiler Warning: Detour Rating: G Content Warning: None. Classification: X, H Summary: Mulder and Scully investigate a basketball player whose hand can grow in size at will. Disclaimer: Pleeeez, oh great surfer god, don't sic those bees on me! I know Mulder and Scully are yours, and 1013's, and Fox's! I'm not making any money! Besides, I'm flat broke! Author's note: No character in this story is my own. The players really do play for the IHS girls frosh-soph team. I'm in here, too, but only 'cuz I was on the team. Oh, and a bunch of the weird things the team does are from real life, too.:-) Scream Loudly and Carry a Big Hand By Kirsten Wahlquist "Laurel, go in for Calan," Coach Tucci ordered. Laurel Carr happily leapt off the bench and hurried over to the scoring table to check in. She glanced quickly up at the scoreboard. The Issaquah Indians, her team, was down 47-40 with three minutes left. At the referee's signal, Laurel scrambled onto the court and motioned for Calan to go sit down. "Number thirteen," Calan told her as she ran by, informing her who to guard. Laurel nodded distractedly, and got in place for the foul shots their team had been awarded. Genevieve Hathaway, the shooter, was concentrating hard on the rim. She frowned as the official handed her the ball. Dribbling twice, she put the shot up with perfect form. Swish. She took a deep breath, and calmed herself before the second shot. she reminded herself mentally. She took the ball from the ref, and bounced it three times. Once again, she shot with perfect form, only this time her aim was off. The ball hit the rim and bounced out. Genevieve rushed in for the rebound, but was blocked out. Five- foot-one Laurel leapt high into the air, and all the players stared in amazement. Her leap wasn't abnormal, but her hand was. It was at least double the size it should have been. Laurel grabbed the ball, palmed it, and put it right back up. Everyone was stunned, and it took the other team a moment to recover before they brought the ball in. *** Mulder threw the file folder down on his desk. Scully looked up at him, her eyebrows raised. Slowly, she opened the folder and scanned the information. After a moment, she slapped the folder shut and stared accusingly at her partner. "No," she told him firmly. Mulder gave her his wounded-puppy-dog face. "What's wrong with it?" he asked, hurt. "Mulder, there is no X-File in a case in which a high-school girls basketball team who hasn't won a game yet wins." She stared coldly at him. "Well, obviously you didn't read the whole thing." "You mean the part about when the player's hand more than doubled in size?" Mulder looked sheepishly around the room. "We have no other leads, and I'm bored. Besides, it's a good excuse to watch a couple of basketball games." Scully sighed and looked him in the eye. "Mulder." She paused, and he gave her that hurt look again. "Fine. We'll go, but I really don't expect this to be an X-File." Mulder grinned connivingly at her. *** Mulder parked their rental car in the Issaquah High School parking lot. It was relatively empty. "Not much of a crowd, is there?" Scully asked rhetorically. "Well, the game won't start for over half an hour, and it's only a frosh-soph game, not varsity," Mulder explained. They climbed out of the car and began walking into the school. Some of the members of the team were making their way to the locker rooms. Four girls, two of them being Laurel and Genevieve, were singing "Joy to the World" loudly. Genevieve and the tall, dirty-blond haired girl seemed to be leading it. "Joy to fishes in the deep blue sea," they sang, accompanying the singing with waving hands that were supposed to be fishes swimming. Mulder and Scully looked at each other knowingly, recalling the time when they were stuck in the middle of nowhere, and Scully had sung that to Mulder as a "lullaby." A short man followed behind the team. Mulder and Scully approached him, getting strange looks from the players. "Coach Tucci?" Mulder asked. The man nodded, and Mulder continued. "I'm Special Agent Fox Mulder, this Special Agent Scully, we're with the F.B.I." Coach Tucci gave them a rather confused look. "Is there something I can help you with?" "We're checking up on one of your players, and need some info about her," Mulder informed him. Mr. Tucci was shocked that the Bureau was after one of his players. "Is this about all the fouls Lindsey Ga-" Mulder cut him off, shaking his head. "No, someone named Laurel Carr. There was a mishap awhile ago concerning her hand, I believe." Mr. Tucci laughed out loud, drawing stares from several of the girls. "What about that?" He asked, a grin on his face. "Well, we're from a special division of the F.B.I. that investigates that sort of thing, and we were wondering if you could tell us about that." Mulder smiled innocently. All the girls had gone onto the locker rooms, and the three adults were left alone in the hallway to discuss the situation. *** "Does my hair look okay?" Kirsten asked as she put it up in a small, dirty-blond ponytail. Laurel laughed at the question; she asked it every day. "Yes, it's fine," Laurel answered, grinning. It wasn't that Kirsten was trying to be stuck up, she was just concerned about her appearance. Kirsten crossed the locker room back to her bag, and dug through it to find her water bottle. Genevieve was still singing "Joy to the World." Leaning over to see the clock, she noted that they only had five minutes left. She started her routine stretches, since they rarely had time to do them once on the court. Just as she was finishing, one of the other players, Lindsey, yelled, "Let's go! Two lines!" Slowly, the girls filed out of the locker room, taking their own sweet time. Outside, they met with their coach and formed to lines for warm-ups. "Booya!" someone yelled, and the rest of the team, including the coach, broke out giggling. "Let's go out there, warm up seriously, and play a good, hard, game," Coach Tucci encouraged them. "Now let's get in here and get a break." The team gathered around, and put their hands in the middle. "Issy on three. One, two, three, ISSY!" Everyone started screaming and yelling words of motivation as they dribbled the ball out into the gym, and around to their half of the court. Some of the girls from the junior varsity team were in the stands, and cheered vigorously as they came onto the court. Mulder and Scully watched quietly as they took their warm up shots, lay-ins and jump shots. Every once in awhile, someone would yell "booya" as they shot, and their teammates would crack up, drawing odd looks from the other team. The buzzer sounded, and they hurried over to the bench to go quickly over the game plan. *** Coach Tucci glanced back into the crowd to see the two federal agents watching the game closely. So far, nothing out of the ordinary had happened, and there was only five minutes left. They were down, 37-29. Tucci looked over the players sitting on the bench, and sighed. "Kirsten, go in for Bonnie." He looked at the far side of the bench. "Laurel," he said, motioning for her to go over to where she could hear him, "go in for Cory." Laurel nodded vigorously and joined Kirsten by the scoring table. The referees motioned them in, and they checked in for their respective players. Play resumed, and they hurried into their zone defense. As the opposing team drove the ball down the court, the five Issaquah girls readied themselves. The pass went out to the right side, and Kirsten ran out to cover the ballhandler. Trapped, the ball was passed back to the point guard. It went out to the three point line, where it was immediately shot. The ball swished through the net, much to the Indians' discouragement. Kirsten passed the ball in to Genevieve, then whispered something to her as she scrambled down the court. Genevieve nodded, and they set up for their trick. Once at their end of the court, Kirsten made eye contact with Laurel, who nodded understandingly. Genevieve passed the ball over to Kiana, who went up for the three-pointer. It bounced hard off the rim, but Laurel was ready for it. She leapt high into the air, palming the ball with her now-enormous hand. Quickly, she took the ball back up and made the shot, much to everyone's awe. Mulder shot a sidelong glance at Scully, who was just as dumbfounded as everyone else. As the team hurried down the court, she shook her head in disbelief. This couldn't have just happened. It couldn't have. *** "One, two, three, BELLEVUE!" the Issaquah players cheered. They formed a straight line, all grinning at their miraculous victory. They gave high-fives to each member of the opposing team, telling each "good game." Yelling and whooping it up, they returned to their coach who awaited them with a gigantic smile. Mulder and Scully watched from a distance as they left the gym to the screaming and cheering of the junior varsity team and their parents. "How can you not believe me after that?" Mulder questioned her. Scully only shook her head absently. Back in the locker room, the team was chatting excitedly about their win, although some of them were discussing other matters. "Did you see that *really* fine guy in the stands?" Genevieve asked Kirsten. "You mean the one with short, brown hair wearing the business suit and was with a red-haired woman?" "That's the one." "I heard he was from the F.B.I. or something like that. I heard Tucci talking about it before the game. Something about Laurel's hand." She grinned widely. *** "Well, Scully," Mulder began as he climbed into the car. "Now you've seen it all." Scully simply raised her eyebrows, recalling her confusion when the short guard's hand had instantly grown. "Mulder, this case is stupid, even if her hand does grow. So what." "Is that you, Scully?" he asked sarcastically. "Dana Scully, the medical doctor, wants to turn down an offer to learn something new about the human body?" "Mulder, it's petty." "Fine. We'll go home." He paused a moment. "But not before I get my pictures developed." He tossed a used roll of film into Scully's lap, then pulled out of the parking lot. Scully looked hard at him, a tight-lipped smile crossing her face. "Wait till Frohike, Langly, and Byers get a load of this," Mulder muttered, eyes sparkling. ----------------------- That's it! The ending was kind of dumb, I know. Our team really does have a thing for the phrase "booya" (long story), and my friends and I do sing "Joy to the World" before games, 'cuz it gives us good luck. BTW-the idea came from the real Laurel, whose hands are much bigger than mine, even though she's eight inches shorter. Coincidentaly, just after I got the idea for this story, she jammed her finger into the ball and it swelled up really big.:-) Feed the feedback monster! Send all comments to 74720.1275@compuserve.com Warning! All flames will be used to light a nice, cozy fire, or used to torch other flames. -Kirsten Wahlquist