GIMME SOME TAPE, LOVE.

[ season 2 — episode 3 ]

DAISY WAS TRAILING BEHIND HER FATHER IN A LEOTARD AND SWEATER, prepared to go to work just before training began. And after her lesson, Roy was going to pick her and Phoebe up and take them on a shopping day. He promised Phoebe some kind of new doll, and as someone who loved American Girl Dolls growing up, Daisy was just as excited as the child.

But before that, she wanted to say hello to Rebecca and also see the results of Sam's Dubai Air photoshoot. Keeley had texted her and told her it was ready. However, before Biscuits with the Boss could commence, a young girl sitting at the desk outside Rebecca's office had them stopping in their tracks.

"Hi, how you doing? You new around here?" Ted questioned.

"To planet Earth?" the girl asked, making Daisy smile. "No, I'm thirteen. But I'm also fairly certain this is my third life reincarnated."

Ted let out an impressed whistle. "Well, color me impressed 'cause my third lap around this big blue marble, I was nothing but a horsefly."

"Oh, I've never seen a horse fly."

"No?"

"Saw a horse pee once," she admitted. "That was a lot."

"Yeah," Ted agreed. "Noisy too."

"Ew, Daddy," Daisy said as the girl laughed along with Ted.

"Boss in?" Ted then asked her.

"Oh, yeah, it's open," she said, and Ted took the cue, knocking as he went inside.

But Daisy opted to stay outside. "So, what's your name? Or am I just supposed to call you Rebecca's new assistant?"

"She wishes," the girl joked. "I'm Nora."

"Oh, you're Sassy's daughter!" she said excitedly. "I'm Daisy Lasso. Is your mama here too?"

"She's dropping me off with Aunt Stinky for the weekend," Nora explained. "She's speaking at some conference thing. Mum told me about you. Said you're a dance instructor. What's that like?"

"Good when the kids aren't being little menaces," Daisy said with a smile.

"Yeah, kids are cunts," she agreed, nodding along. "So, your dad shagged my mum. Guess we're as good as sisters."

Daisy couldn't help but laugh, loving how blunt Nora was, as well as her sense of humor, which she clearly got from her mother. "Guess so. That don't give me much time to get you a Christmas present."

"Honestly, I'd be happy enough with an order of crisps."

"That's no good. I'd eat it before it got to you," she admitted. "I'm gonna say hi to your mama real quick, but I hope to see you a few more times this weekend."

Then, just as Ted was leaving, Daisy entered Rebecca's office, catching the very end of Rebecca's question aimed at her best friend.

"Did he talk like that when—"

"The whole time and so eager to please. It was fabulous."

"Oh, ew. Ew!" Daisy said, covering her ears as Rebecca spit out the bite of biscuit she'd taken, not wanting to hear that either. "Nevermind. Not happy to see you, Sass."

✵︎

"He's gonna flip when he sees these, Kee," Daisy said as she and Keeley walked from her office to the locker room. Keeley had just finished showing the four different photos of Sam that would be used in a magazine spread and put up all over the country. "I'm so proud of him."

"Me too," Keeley said. "He needs this, especially with Jamie back on the team.

"Well, I'm sure he and the others will make sure he knows it's not going to be like last time," she said, sighing. "But really, Keeley, I think this will be good for everyone once things settle down."

"Maybe so," she shrugged. "How did Roy react to the news?"

"I think... he's jealous," Daisy whispered.

"Of you and Jamie?"

"What? No," she said, frowning. "Why would he be jealous?"

"Babe, you had a thing with Jamie when he was a prick. And now, he might be less of a prick and more likeable. I'm sure, deep down, Roy feels a little threatened by you seeing him nearly every day now."

"Roy doesn't get jealous," Daisy assured her. "We trust each other. You think I was thrilled about him always being at the school coaching with that Ms. Bowen around who obviously has a crush on him? No, but I never once thought something would happen between them."

"Well, I just had to check, you know," Keeley said, giving her a look. "But I'm glad to know everything is alright on that front."

"What? Lora ain't jealous of you seeing Jamie every day?" she countered.

"Please," Keeley laughed. "Now that I know what a healthy relationship with someone who loves and cares about me more than herself is like, no way would I ever consider looking at Jamie for even a second."

"Awe, you're in love," Daisy cooed, nudging Keeley as they walked.

"You are too, so shut up," she said, laughing. Then they entered the locker room, where everyone greeted them happily. "Knock, knock! Sam, I think I have something you might wanna see."

"Okay?" he said, a bit confused as Keeley came over with her iPad. Daisy hung back and ended up sitting on the bench next to Jamie, who was getting his boots on.

"You wanna look at your photos from the Dubai Air shoot?"

"Ooh! Yes, please," he said excitedly. "Oh, God. I'm very nervous. But also very excited. That's similar to whenever Colin drives me somewhere in his Lamborghini."

"Aye, it's true," Colin spoke up. "It's way too much car for me."

Daisy couldn't help but look at Jamie and smile. "Don't I know it," she murmured, him matching her grin.

Keeley then showed Sam the photos, hyping him up. "Look at you! I mean, come on. You're a mood. You're a moment. You're a mantra."

"Those sound like compliments," Sam said, grinning. "Thank you."

"Bruh, I'm confused," Thierry said as everyone crowded around them to look at the pictures. "Is this an ad for ugly people?"

At least Dani had something sweet to say. "Congratulations, amigo. I can't wait to see these up in a tube station."

Isaac then snatched the iPad with a snicker. "Yeah, so I can draw a dick on his face."

"Bro, why you wearing your kit on the plane?" Bumbercatch asked, making them all laugh.

Wanting to try and feel like part of the team again, Jamie joined in. "'Cause it's the only way they'll know he's a footballer."

Utter silence fell over them, no one thinking that he was particularly funny anymore. Zoreaux was the one to break it, patting Sam on the back before turning to ask Colin a question. And Sam then turned back to Keeley to thank her.

"The pictures are so great. Thank you so much."

"Yeah, I'm so proud of you!"

Daisy looked to Jamie, who had a pathetic frown on his face. Why was it that she just couldn't help but always feel for him? So, she nudged his foot with her own and smiled sympathetically.

"Just keep trying. You'll get there eventually."

"I doubt that," he muttered. "No one else is as forgiving as you. Pretty sure you'd hate me too if I hadn't slept with you."

"I wouldn't have done that if I already hated you, Jamie," she told him sincerely. "And I don't hate you now either."

The smallest of smiles made its way onto his face before Keeley called out to all of them again. "Oh, boys. Will you remember to sign up for that new dating app I emailed you all about? It would really help draw some traction if there were some young, hot footballers on there."

Many of them chuckled, but Richard, who Daisy knew would certainly put the app to good use, spoke up. "Keeley, Keeley, uh, what was the name again?"

"Bantr. B-A-N-T-R."

"Ah, like Grindr," Colin added, earning some awkward silence. Daisy just turned her head away, knowing it wasn't her business to speculate on Colin's sexuality.

"Yeah," Keeley told him. "Well, promise me you'll just check it out?"

"Of course," many of them promised.

"You're the best!" she said, blowing them kisses. "Bye."

It was perfect timing as Ted came in. "Okay, fellas. Got a big game this weekend. What are we looking at, Coach?"

Beard pointed to the whiteboard. "Very physical."

"Okay. All right. Anything else?"

"Borderline violent," he stressed.

"Mm-hmm. You heard the man. Still can't believe y'all don't have pads in this sport. It's amazing—"

Before Daisy knew it, Jamie was getting up and interrupting her father. "Sorry, Coach. Um, do you mind if I say something, please?"

Ted raised an eyebrow and looked to Daisy, silently asking her if she knew what he was going to say, but she could only shrug cluelessly. So, he awkwardly stepped to the side. "Yeah. No, sure, Jamie. Come on. Yeah."

"Thanks," Jamie said before addressing the whole team. "I know I wasn't the greatest teammate. I did some shitty things. I said some shitty things. But I want each and every one of you to know that I'm truly sorry and I'm ready to do whatever it takes to make it up to ya. Yeah?"

Daisy looked at Jamie with a proud smile, but it dropped when Colin spoke. "You called me a jaundiced worm."

"Right, yeah," Jamie nodded. "And I'm sorry about that, Colin."

"In a profile for my hometown paper," he specified.

"You hit on my mum," Bumbercatch added. "In front of my dad."

Jamie stammered for a moment. "I apologize for that, Bumbercatch. Uh, please tell your father I'm sorry. Um, and give Janet me best, yeah?"

Suddenly, Richard jumped up from his spot and began shouting in French, most everyone not understanding him aside from Zoreaux, who was from Canada and knew the language.

"Oh, he said that you cupped a fart and put it in his face," Thierry translated.

"Oh, Jamie," Daisy muttered, thinking it was both unfunny and gross. Though she was surprised it garnered such rage from Richard.

"Sounds better in French," Thierry said with a shrug.

"Yeah. I know. I do... I do remember that," Jamie said slowly, "and I'm... I'm sorry. Um... Hey, is there anyone else?"

"You got us relegated, mate!" Isaac shouted.

After that, the dominoes all fell. The boys all jumped up and began shouting different complaints at Jamie so fast that Daisy could hardly catch them. Though she heard Jan Maas loud and clear as he said, "I don't know you, but I don't like you."

"Hey!" Daisy exclaimed, jumping to her feet. Then she moved in front of Jamie and waved her arms. "Okay, that's enough, fellas. That's good. He's got the point, and that was a good apology. Now focus on your jobs, please. "

"She's right," Ted said, seeing as the boys had calmed down for Daisy. "Come on, guys. Let's go. Let's get out on the pitch. Settle it out there."

"Let's go, Richmond!" Beard exclaimed as the boys jogged out, trying to help their motivation.

Sam was amongst the last to leave and just looked at Ted with an 'I told you so' look on his face, a look that had Daisy sighing hopelessly. How in the world was Jamie going to earn forgiveness in an environment like this?

✵︎

"Who do you like better, Daisy? Zoe or Miley?" Phoebe asked the older woman, holding up two different dolls.

"Miley has a better back story than being canceled, but Zoe looks like you. I think it'd be a lot more fun to have a little twin," she said, kneeling next to Phoebe to look at the options.

Roy was patiently standing behind them, several doll-sized dresses in hand that Daisy had picked out. He argued against them at first, saying he only agreed to buy the doll, but Daisy insisted that she could get them as a gift to Phoebe. But no way was Roy going to let her pay for them once they reached the register.

They spent another good thirty minutes in the shop, just looking at all the cool accessories. Roy actually put his foot down on those — but when Daisy asked why, he whispered that he was going to get her some of them for Christmas. So, Daisy kissed his cheek and then agreed with him, convincing Phoebe to leave the story eventually.

As they stepped outside, Daisy was the first to see Rebecca and Nora standing outside because Roy was looking down at Phoebe, making sure she was pleased with her purchase.

"Thank you, Uncle Roy. I love her."

"Oh, good," he muttered before looking up and spotting the other two as well.

"Y'all doll shopping too?" Daisy asked, striking up a conversation.

"I'm a bit too old for things like dolls and stuffed animals, I fear," Nora told her, shaking her head.

"Well," Roy spoke up, grabbing Daisy's hand, "tell that to the mountain of them that this one has stacked on her bed — though they are quite comfortable to sleep on."

"Roy Kent sleeping with stuffed animals. Brilliant," Nora said with a wide grin. "Hi, I'm Nora."

"This is Sassy's daughter," Rebecca explained to the man. "Nora, this is Roy and his niece, Phoebe."

With introductions out of the way, Nora surprisingly had no problem with befriending Phoebe. She asked her all about her dancing since she was still in her leotard and tights. Then she started asking about her doll, wondering about her tragic backstory.

"Right, so how'd her parents die? Factory fire? Eaten by rats?"

"Eaten by rats?" Daisy asked quietly as they walked a few steps behind the girls. "They don't have one eaten by rats."

"It was Olicity. They keep her in the back, but I saw her when I went to the bathroom," Roy revealed, much to Daisy's horror. To make up for it, he intertwined their fingers, her forgetting all about doll-sized rats at his touch.

"No. Zoe's from the modern line," Phoebe was explaining. "Her parents were canceled."

"So, what's happening with what's-his-name, from the steakhouse?" Roy asked, striking up a conversation with Rebecca. Daisy hadn't actually filled him in on the whole thing, knowing he wasn't one for gossip half the time.

"Who, John?"

"Yeah."

"I dumped him."

Roy raised an eyebrow. "'Cause of what I said?"

"No," Rebecca said before smirking. "'Cause you were right about what you said. I need to find someone that feels like what you two evidently have."

Daisy grinned and brought their hands up to her face so that she could kiss Roy's knuckles, who had to bite back a smile. "So what now?" he asked.

Rebecca sighed like she was exhausted. "Hell, I don't know. Keeley's got me on that silly dating app she's promoting."

"The one with no pictures?" he asked, having heard about it from Daisy.

"That's the one."

"What? So now you just get a bunch of unsolicited descriptions of dicks?"

When Daisy let out a snort of a laugh, Roy grinned and pulled her closer, glad he made her laugh. Then Phoebe looked at them over her shoulder, looking pointedly at Roy.

"Uncle Roy, can we have ice cream for dinner?"

"No, that's dumb," he said simply.

"You're right," she replied, not getting upset. "Thank you for helping me set boundaries."

"Wow, she really loves you," Rebecca noted.

"I know. It's fucking annoying," he complained.

Daisy let out a hum before stopping to kiss his jaw. "Maybe so, but I love how you are with her."

Rebecca let them have a moment as Roy let out a gentle grunt and then turned to kiss Daisy's lips quickly. Then as they began walking again, she sighed, her eyes glued to her goddaughter's back. "It's been really gorgeous reconnecting with Nora. And I had all these things organized. Loads of activities. She's not interested in any of it."

"Look, most adults think kids need to be constantly entertained. It's bullshit. I didn't need a fucking parade every day growing up, did you?"

"No, but Daddy gave me one basically," Daisy needlessly chimed in.

Roy rolled his eyes and squeezed her hand. "Truth is they just wanna feel like they're part of our lives. Little idiots. Watch this. Oi, Phoebe."

In an instant, all her attention was on Roy.

"Do you wanna come to my podiatrist appointment later?"

Her eyes lit up right away. "Yes, please!" she exclaimed. Roy just nodded to her before they kept going.

"I think I'll pass on that appointment," Daisy said, scrunching her nose up. "But I'll see you for dinner after you feed Phoebs."

✵︎

Roy could still taste the tiramisu on Daisy's tongue from the Italian restaurant they'd eaten at as he kissed her leisurely on her couch. After all, they had the whole night and neither had to be up early in the morning, meaning he could take his time.

He nipped at her bottom lip as his hands ran up and down her sides slowly, her sweater riding up more and more with each movement. Her nails gently scratched the back of his head, earning a low groan from the nice feeling.

"Wanna move to the bedroom?" Daisy asked, lips still grazing his.

"Sure," he said, pulling back. "Just give me ten minutes to move the mountain of stuffies."

Daisy scoffed playfully and swatted his firm chest, making him smile. "Someone's jealous that they get to sleep with me every night and you only get to most nights."

His grin grew as he kissed her sweetly. "Yeah, that's where the resentment stems from, I'm sure."

Then he began to kiss along her jaw and down her neck, but before he could get any further, Daisy's doorbell was ringing. With a gentle push on Roy's chest, Daisy got off the couch and went to answer the door, figuring it was either her father or Allora showing up unexpectedly.

But no. On the other side was a red-eyed Sam, who was clearly in distress.

"Sam? Is something wrong?" she asked, instantly worried about him.

"I just—" Sam took in a deep breath. "I needed to talk to someone. Someone not on the team. I have learned something horrible."

"Hey, come in," she said, reaching for his hand. Daisy started leading him to the living room. "What'd you find out that has you this upset? You were so excited earlier, especially with the Dubai Air shoot turning out so good."

"That is the problem," he said, wiping his eyes as he sat on the shorter of the two couches, hardly acknowledging Roy as he did so, who was quietly listening, knowing it wasn't the time for him to speak up. "I - I don't know what to do."

"About what?"

"Dubai Air is owned by Cerithium Oil," Sam explained. "I sent the photos to my father, who told me this. He's never been so disappointed in me."

"What's Cerithium Oil got to do with this?" she asked cluelessly. Truthfully, she didn't know much about most foreign businesses.

"They're refusing to clean up an oil spill in the Niger Delta that is of their doing. They - they have destroyed my home — your mother's home. And now I am the face of one of their subsidiaries."

Daisy's heart sank as Sam's eyes watered. This whole situation broke his heart.

"I - I don't know what I'm supposed to do," he said quietly, looking down at his hands.

"I'll tell you what you're gonna do," Daisy said in a gentle tone. "We're gonna go to Rebecca's office before training, and you're going to pull out of the campaign no matter what she or Keeley says."

"But they will mad at me—"

"Who gives a fuck if they're mad at you?" Roy asked, his eyes narrowed. "It's the right thing to do, and they're proper assholes if they try and get pissed at you for it. That's your home, after all."

"It ain't right," Daisy added. "That's probably why they asked for you specifically to be the face of the campaign — because they know they're in the wrong. But you, and no other Nigerian, shouldn't stand for their propaganda. We're gonna research and go in there with facts that can't be denied, okay? And I know Rebecca and Keeley will understand. They won't be mad at you."

Sam took in the first deep breath since receiving the text from his father, and then he grabbed Daisy's hand and squeezed it tightly. "Thank you. I am sorry for barging over here."

"Don't apologize," she told him. "Ever. You're always welcome here, and you know it."

✵︎

Sam was so nervous as he knocked on Rebecca's door, who instantly told them to come in. When he didn't move, Daisy grabbed his hand and dragged him inside as she opened the door. Rebecca, who was standing next to Nora, who was sitting in her desk, brightened up.

"Sam! How nice to see you."

"I apologize for interrupting," he said, looking also at Keeley and Higgins who were present.

"No, please," she waved him off. "And Daisy barges in all the time. But Sam, this is my goddaughter, Nora. Nora, this is Sam Ob—"

"Sam Obisanya," Nora cut her off with a dreamy expression on her face. "Hi, Sam Obisanya."

Instantly, Sam remembered all he'd heard the night in Liverpool. "Oh! Oh, yes. Yes. You guys used to watch Frozen together. I have now watched that movie many times myself."

"You'd never seen Frozen?" Daisy asked, momentarily forgetting their mission.

"But I have now. It's a beautiful metaphor for many of life's journeys. Yeah, especially puberty," he mused.

"What can I help you with?" Rebecca asked with a small smile.

"Well, um..." When he trailed off, Sam looked to Daisy, who nodded encouragingly. "I would like to pull out of my campaign with Dubai Air."

Higgins began to gag and choke as Keeley sat up straighter in her chair. "What? Why?"

"Well, it has come to my attention that Dubai Air's parent company, Cerithium Oil, is destroying Nigeria's environment. And at the same time bribing government officials to look the other way. I can't be the face of one of their subsidiaries."

Nora nodded, looking to him in awe. "Hell, yeah."

With a deep frown on his face, Sam looked to Keeley. "Look, Keeley, I'm really sorry. I know how hard you worked for this."

"It's okay," she said softly.

"Of course, you don't have to do it, Sam. I'll take care of it," Rebecca promised.

"Thank you," he said, some of the weight lifting off his shoulders — but not all. "And, uh, lovely to meet you, Nora."

Just as the pair were leaving, Daisy could hear the whisper that left Nora's mouth. "He remembered my name."

Once the door was shut, Sam shut his eyes and leaned against it, letting out a huge sigh of relief. Daisy hugged him, proud of him for following through with it.

"You should call your father and let him know," Daisy told him. "He'll be so proud enough."

"Maybe so," he said sadly. "But nothing can undo what's been done."

✵︎

Daisy stared at the text from Beard in horror, forgetting all about how she was supposed to be putting away supplies from the class she just finished teaching which included showing eleven-year-olds how to break in their first pair of pointe shoes to customize them.

Uncle B 🐝
Code: Led Tasso. Stay away

Her legs were moving on their own accord, never one to miss a Led Tasso appearance. She thought it was funny so long as his anger wasn't focused on her. So, after yelling to Monica at the front desk that she'd be back soon and it was an emergency, she took off toward the Richmond facility.

Daisy wasn't stupid. She knew why her father was breaking out Led Tasso. The team hated Jamie, so he was going to give them something even worse than him to hate. She just hoped it wasn't as chaotic as the Chuck E. Cheese incident — though she did get free tickets because of that.

By the time she made it to the practice field, the team was running drills. Ted kept yelling at the players, using harsh words rather than words of encouragement as he usually did. Daisy came to a stop by Beard and shot him a questioning look.

"What's he done so far?"

"Made them run until O'Brien dropped and Winchester threw up," he mumbled quietly. "And took away water privileges."

"Oh, he's gone kill them if he keeps that up.

Daisy sighed at her father's antics and then paid attention to training. Richard had the ball, and Jamie was wide open and desperate for it. "Richard, Richard, Richard! Richard! Richard! Right! Right! Right!"

Finally, Jamie got the ball he so craved, but it didn't matter, because Ted — or Led, rather — was blowing his whistle and putting a stop to it.

"Richard! I haven't seen a pass that soft since my high school drama teacher asked me to mow his lawn. Is anybody on this pitch interested in not sucking at soccer?"

"All right, Coach. We get it," Jamie complained, his hands balled up underneath his shirt. "Just stop yelling at everyone. I don't know whatever this Jekyll and Hyde thing you got going on, but just leave it out, yeah."

Jamie was clearly smarter than some of them who thought Ted was just in a sour mood. How he picked up on that but not Daisy's subtle manipulation in the early days was beyond her.

Ted let out a sarcastic laugh. "Oh, okay. Okay. You know what, Tartt? Practice is canceled. Hit the showers. All of you. Let's go. Run. Jamie just blew y'all's chance to get better."

Jamie huffed and stayed put, but Daisy watched with a secret smile as nearly everyone passed him and either muttered their thanks for him trying or at least pat him on the shoulder. The only one not to was Sam, but it was safe to say he had enough on his mind.

"Well, guess what?" Teed kept going as the last few got off the pitch. "We start no people this weekend. It'll be eleven versus zero. What's the matter, O'Brien? Your butt still hurt? Unbelievable."

Ted tried to follow the team into the building, but Beard stopped him.

"What?" Ted asked gruffly. Beard simply clapped twice in his face, and Ted flinched before taking his sunglasses off. "How long was I out?"

"Doesn't matter. You're back now."

"And I missed most of it," Daisy pouted.

"Well, that was interesting."

All of them looked to the stands to see Dr. Sharon, who'd been observing training silently up until then. Daisy had run in so fast that she didn't even see the woman. Ted just smiled at her, taking 'interesting' as a compliment.

"Oh, thank you, Doc. Yeah, little something we came up with back in Kansas. See, what we're doing is—"

"You pretend to be an asshole so the team make you their common enemy and not Jamie," she finished for him.

"Yeah. Spot on. Mm-hmm."

Beard nodded. "Oh, yeah. Got it right away."

"Has it ever worked?" Dr. Sharon asked curiously.

It took a moment for them to remember, so Daisy offered it up. "Chuck E. Cheese."

In an instant, both men brightened up, and her father threw his arm around Daisy. "Chuck E. Cheese. That's right! Yeah, we were at a, uh, arcade-slash-pizza joint in Lincoln, Nebraska. And one of our offensive linemen got his head stuck in a VR machine. Ended up getting the entire meal and all our beverages comped for free, so..."

Dr. Sharon didn't have any kind of outward reaction, which stumped the men who expected for her to laugh or be impressed or something along those lines. Beard leaned in and lowered his voice. "Maybe they don't have Chuck E. Cheese here."

"Oh, yeah. Y'all might call it something different here. Like, uh, Charles Edgar Cheeserton III or something, right?"

"He's a mouse," Daisy explained. "But he's also a musician. He loves video games and pizza. He was scary, so I hid under the table when he walked by."

Dr. Sharon just peered at the trio. "I'm sure."

Daisy frowned. "I don't think you are."

✵︎

Daisy sat in front of Sam's locker as he stood in front of her in his kit, an ashamed look on his face as he wore it. The pair stared at each other silently, not feeling like pulling out of the photo shoot was doing enough when the logo was still ironed onto his chest.

After swallowing thickly, Daisy got up and moved past him, grabbing a nearby roll of black duct tape. Knowing what she was going to do, Sam faced her and smoothed out his shirt so that she could stick it on. Daisy pulled off a long strip and tore it with her teeth before covering up the Dubai Air logo, it going unnoticed at first. But then she did it to her own Obisanya jersey just as Isaac looked up from tying his boots.

"What are you doing?" he asked with a laugh.

"What, Dubai Air not paying you enough?" Colin joked.

The others all laughed, but Daisy and Sam remained stone-faced. "No, no. Dubai Air is owned by a horrible company," Sam told them all. "One that has turned the southern coast of Nigeria, my home — Daisy's mother's home — into a hellish, fiery swamp. I can no longer wear their name on my chest. Never again."

Isaac nodded toward Daisy, not even thinking through it. "Hit me, tape girl."

She smiled gratefully at him while putting tape over his logo.

"Can I ask it?" Winchester then asked, giving her a knowing look, getting his own strip.

Sam looked around at everyone else. "Hey, listen. I do not expect you all to do this. But I hope you understand why we as Nigerians must."

It was so silent you could hear a hairpin drop, and surprisingly, it was Jamie who broke it, getting up from his spot. "Gimme some tape, love."

As Daisy went over to Jamie, Sam rolled his eyes and sighed. "What do you think you're doing?"

"We're a team, ain't we?" he asked as Daisy smoothed the tape on his chest. "Gotta wear the same kit."

Then Jamie met Daisy's dark eyes and smiled sadly. She mouthed a silent 'thank you' that meant more than anything to him before she moved on to the others who desired their own strip of tape.

The Dog Track didn't know what was about to hit it.

✵︎

Daisy stood on the sidelines, tucked into her father's side to fight the cold. She was wearing a zip-up hoodie over her jersey but would remove it along with the second-teamers once the others lined up and removed their jackets before starting the game. It was when photos were taken by the media, so it was the perfect time to do it.

The three coaches were absolutely clueless to what was coming. All they were worried about was Jamie and how their plays would go now that he was back.

"If no one's passing to Jamie, we can always drop him to midfield," Nate suggested.

Beard gave him a look. "So the people not passing to Jamie can be closer to him?" he asked rhetorically, knowing that couldn't be the best solution.

"I don't think you'll need to worry about them passing to him anymore," Daisy murmured, earning a curious look from her father as the team came out.

One by one, they all unzipped their jackets while handing them to the attendant who collected them. It took no time at all for people to notice the black rectangles covering up the popular sponsor's logo. Then the reserve players in the Richmond box began clapping, drawing Ted's attention.

It was then he saw that his daughter's jersey matched the players, making a point to keep her coat off despite how cold it was.

"Daisy?" Ted murmured, looking back at his players. "What're y'all doing?"

"The right thing."

✵︎

No one much cared that Richmond lost the match, finally breaking their tie streak. All anyone was talking about was the silent protest against Dubai Air. So, of course, Ted brought Sam along for the press conference. During the break after the first half, the team had time to explain to their coaches what was going on. And Ted had never felt so proud of all of them.

Daisy could hear the reporters clamoring before Ted even opened the door, all of them speculating amongst themselves. And they only got louder as they spotted the three newcomers. Sam and Daisy stayed by the door while Ted took his seat in front of the microphones.

"Hey, hey. Easy. Easy. Hey, take it easy, all right? One at a time, please. Okay?" Ted went on, slowly getting everyone to quiet down. "Go ahead, Gary, what have you got?"

Gary stood up and had his phone recording the answer. "Yeah, Ted, did you know the team were gonna do that?"

"No, sir. No, no," he said, glancing toward Sam and his daughter. "But I think what Sam and the team did today was courageous. I - I've never needed to have that kind of courage. 'Cause, well, honestly, when bad things happen to, uh, people like me, y'all have a tendency to write about it without being asked. Sam had to go and get y'all's attention, you know? So, if you have any more you wanna know about it, you can ask him. Come on, Sam."

Sam looked at Daisy nervously, who just squeezed his hand encouragingly before nudging him toward the table. The reporters were all shouting his name, trying to get his attention.

"Um, hello," he said before nodding to the familiar face of Trent Crimm.

"Thank you," he said, standing up. "Trent Crimm, The Independent. Sam, do you think that your protest may have distracted the team tonight and led to the loss?"

Daisy couldn't help but scoff, unable to believe the first question was about the loss and not the meaning behind the protest. She'd have to tell Allora and get her to tear into her uncle for that.

"I'm not here to talk about football," Sam told him, feeling the same way as Daisy. "I'm here to ask the Nigerian government to put an end to decades of environmental destruction caused by Cerithium Oil. Destruction that the powers that be have turned a blind eye towards for far too long. Do you have any questions about that?"

"Yes, I do—" The other reporters were already shouting above them, so Trent waved his arm and yelled over them. "No, wait, wait, wait! Follow-up question, please. Thank you. Sam, are you openly accusing the Nigerian government of corruption?"

"Yes, I am."

By the time the press conference was over, Sam was exhausted, having answered so many questions about what was happening in Nigeria and his refusal to support Dubai Air. He even called for a strike, though there was no telling how that would go.

"You did amazing," Daisy said, letting Sam hold her hand as they walked back to the locker room. "I'm so proud of you, and I know your dad is too."

"I hope," he muttered, his head hanging low.

"How are you feeling?" Ted asked him.

"Uh, good. I think," he said, sighing. "I just hope the rest of the team is not upset with me."

"Hey, doing the right thing is never the wrong thing. Yeah," Ted told him before entering the locker room.

Despite the loss and protest, the whole team was gathered, chattering happily and passing beers around. But then when they saw Sam, they all cheered.

"There he is!" Colin exclaimed.

"What's going on?" Sam asked, looking around in confusion. This was the last thing he expected.

"We are celebrating!" Dani explained.

"But we lost."

"Yeah," Zoreaux admitted, "but we broke the tie streak."

Sam and Daisy laughed before Jamie then spoke up, coming over with a beer in hand. "Oi, oi, oi, oi, oi! A toast to Sam, who did something incredible tonight," he said, throwing an arm around him. "The little Nigerian prick stole my thunder."

Daisy rolled her eyes, which Jamie caught, who shot her a wink. Then he kept going. "No, but seriously. To Sam."

"To Sam!" Daisy and the others yelled.

"Thank you, guys," Sam said, nodding gratefully.

"Well done, bruv," Jamie told him, giving him a hug. "Took a lot of courage, man."

"It's good to have you back," Sam said, surprised to find that he meant what he was saying.

"Yeah, it's good to be back, bruv," he added before they were interrupted. Rebecca was pushing Nora toward Sam, who was whispering 'Please don't do this to me,' under her breath. So, Daisy let Nora have her moment alone with her favorite player and followed after Jamie.

"Thank you," she said while bumping his shoulder.

He raised an eyebrow and smirked down at her. "Yeah? I mean, I know I'm great, but for what?"

In response, she just tapped his chest. It meant a lot for him to be the first non-Nigerian to step up and join them. Even if he was disliked now, he used to be a leader on the team. And the year before, she knew he wouldn't have done such a thing.

"It was nothin'," he said with a shrug.

"No, it whatn't," she said simply.

"Hey, guys! Guys!" Sam shouted, getting everyone's attention. "We're gonna take a picture for Nora."

"I want to be in the front," Dani declared as all the players moved to stand around the thirteen-year-old whose face was getting redder by the second.

"Nora, you all right?" Isaac greeted the girl with a smile before getting behind her.

Wanting to make sure she wasn't too overwhelmed, Sam checked on her. "You okay? Yeah?"

"Yeah! Yeah," she said enthusiastically.

Sassy came up with her phone, a bright grin on her face. "She's gonna absolutely love this."

"Love it and hate it," Rebecca said teasingly, knowing how easily embarrassed Nora got.

"So cute!" Keeley gushed before raising her voice suddenly. "Oi, hide your beers!"

"Oh, shit," Jamie laughed before nodding to Daisy. She stepped forward and took his as the others worked to hide theirs from the camera.

"Thanks, lads," Allora said, knowing how much easier it made Keeley's job.

"Greyhounds on three!" Jamie then shouted. "One, two, three!"

"Greyhounds!"

After plenty of photos were taken for Nora, who finally relaxed after the first two and let herself smile, the party in the locker room continued. Jamie sauntered over to Daisy, who handed over his beer quickly.

"Do you want some, babe?" he offered her, holding the bottle out once more. He just laughed when Daisy scrunched her face up.

"Jamie, I'd rather chew off my own tongue."