Shelina pukes.

Right beside her is Hope, staring at the hole in front of her, shaking. When Shelina fainted, the goalie just remained still, until carrying her protégé to the place she wanted to bring her. Ever since the defender has woken up - about thirty seconds later - Hope as just been standing still, avoiding the other girl's gaze.

The Canadian shakes her head, in disbelief.

"Is this..." she starts.

Her finger is pointing at the hole in front of them, because she can distinguish a shadow on the bottom of it. The brunette slowly shakes her head, as she wants to puke again because of the strong smell. Hope nods, not ready to talk right now. And this gives Shelina a confirmation : there indeed is a human body on that hole.

As Shelina is panicking, Hope says those words out loud :

"Christie Rampone, yes."

The defender slowly shakes her head no.

"D-did you...?"

That question immediately makes Hope tensing up. When the taller girl look at her, Shelina just swallows her saliva, and hurts because her throat is so sore.

"No, I found her dead at my apartment."

"Woah, that's..."

"That's why I need your help : someone is framing me, and I can't do down for something I didn't do. I-I don't want to end up my life in jail, Shel."

The defender shakes her head.

"B-but, I c-can't, I-"

"Please." Hope instates, before grabbing Shelina's shoulders as she is looking too intensively at the corpse in front of her. "I know I've not been the role model you've been looking for, but it doesn't take back the fact that I saved you. I'm in trouble, Shel. In very deep trouble. And I need you... Just the way you needed me two years ago."

The tears are growing in Shelina's eyes : she knows Hope is not wrong. Especially since she didn't do it.

"Fine" the defender whispers, closing her eyes. She certainly doesn't want to see her former captain's body. "What do you need me to do ?"

"As for now, I'll ask the boys to bury the body. Then, I'll need a nerd."

"A-a n-nerd ?"

"Someone good in informatics."

Shelina shakes her head : if Becky one day finds out she is helping her biggest enemy, she will leave her. There is no doubt about that. On the other hand, if she doesn't help Hope, she knows something bad will happen to her girlfriend. And the only fact that she is still locked in Shelina's apartment is enough to make her worry.

The defender nods.

"O-okay. D-do we know how she d-died ?"

"Gun shot."

"H-how can you b-be so c-calm right now?" Shelina stammers, starting to panic, as tears invade her eyes. "S-she's d-dead, H-Hope... She..."

The goalkeeper grabs the Canadian's shoulders, forcing Shelina to look at her. Something in the way Hope's eyes are calmly looking at her, telling her that everything would be okay, kind of calms Shelina down.

But then, the goalkeeper thinks of something :

"You can't tell anyone about this"

Shelina shakes her head : people betray you better than they protect you. Those have always been Hope's favorite sentence to tell back when Shelina was having problems.

The defender nods.

"I-I know, but the girls... I-I mean, your teammates..."

"Our teammates, Shel." Hope corrects here as they are walking away from the body, while Hope's friends are cleaning the mess and burying evidence. "I want you to come back in the team."

"I don't think Carli and Ash will like that..."

"Screw them, I am the captain."

As Hope keeps on talking about how everything will be all right, something strikes Shelina : she might have found a way to help Hope, and all that thanks to what Mel told her in the morning.

Things are going to change.

*

Stanford community, institutions and sports teams are in shock. This morning, women's soccer team captain Christie Rampone, 23 years of age, have been found dead not far from the facility where she had training with her team on the afternoon.

Police are convinced that Paul Riley, the head coach of the Stanford women's soccer team, is guilty of murder in first degree, since evidences have been revealing that he was having an affair with the student.

As the investigation will go on for the next few weeks, Sunday, may the 28th will be an emotional game for the Cardinals, who are set to face Harvard in their final game before the Final Four, where they already qualified.

Paul Riley will be judged in the week, and it is said that he will stay in jail for the rest of his life if biological evidences are found at his apartment this weekend.

Meanwhile, Stanford women's soccer team won't be penalize about this incident and will keep on training under the direction of Hope Solo, who has been declared 'not guilty' after a deep investigation.

...

Three days later : May 28

Megan sits down next to Becky, who looks exhausted. But before she can ask the defender anything - about Shelina, of course, who has made the decision to take her distance with her girlfriend for some time - Jill comes into the room.

The British woman seems relax.

"Okay girls" she starts, clapping her hands together to catch everybody's attention. Once its done, she continues : "Pretty simple today : either you win and grab your ticket for the Final Four, either you draw or lose and go home."

The tension is immediately present in the room. Suddenly, they all forget about their individual problems - such as Megan still thinking about Kailen, who isn't returning her calls and texts for about a week now, or Becky about Shelina.

The head coach nods.

"I want you to leave everything you have on the pitch today. USC is a tough team, and they're also on the verge of being eliminated. It's either us or them that will clinch the last playoff spot."

That makes Tobin roll her eyes : indeed, earlier today, Stanford beat Harvard, which means both teama are in the Final Four and one of them will face the Bruins in the semifinals. Then, there are Duke, who miraculously beat Wisconsin earlier today.

Allie shakes her head : they have to qualify. They can't just leave Stanford with three other teams that don't have the same level. And everybody in the team feel it too.

With that said, Jill leaves the room, as the players are getting ready. Little does Megan know that something big will happen in the pitch, and it doesn't involve soccer in any way.

*

In the 76' minute of the game, there is an inunderstandable whistle, as the crowd is booing. But when three policemen run toward the girls, it all becomes silent on the pitch.

One of them looks at Becky, before saying :

"Becky Sauerbrunn ?"

The blonde frowns.

"Yes ?"

"You are under arrest for the murder of Christie Rampone. Everything you say can and will be-"

But the rest of the sentence becomes shaky in Becky's head, as everything around her is noisy and restless. The crowd starts invading the pitch, as the policemen are Holding Becky's teammates back, who are trying to protest.

This is their revenge, the blonde thinks to herself, falling on her knees. Hope's revenge for what happened three years ago.