It was a nice day overall, sixty-five degrees or so with a light breeze, and Nathan stretched as he walked down to the court. Being away from the pen didn't so much remove his anxiety as much as shift it in a new direction as he wandered the same path as the day before. It was a direct route into downtown before he came upon the alleyway to the basketball court.

Was Conny there today?

It didn't hurt to look, and they were out in public, so it wasn't like the man could crack a beer bottle over his head. Even so, Nathan still trembled as he reached the end of the alleyway and peeked forward into the gap of pavement where the court was.

It was hard to miss Conny, standing there with a basketball in his hands and staring up at the basket furthest from them. His back was to him, his shoulders stiff, and Nathan watched mesmerized as he shifted his feet together, turned his body about forty-five degrees, and lifted his hands. The movement was so smooth and calculated as he lifted his arms and tossed the ball, applying just enough pressure with a light hop to propel the ball from the three-point line into the basket. It didn't even touch the rim, just fell straight through the thin chain hoop with a swish and gentle clinking.

"Why are you hiding around the corner?" a familiar female voice whispered into his ear before someone jumped on his shoulders and arms came around his neck.

At least he hadn't let out a humiliating whine of terror, which he'd been doing for the last day, but it had been close. "Rachel." Nathan met her bright blue eyes and sighed.

She dropped down from his shoulders and touched her chin with her hand. "Did you find out Donovan is from the pen?" Rachel asked with a knowing smirk.

"Donovan?" Rick had called him Donovan too.

"Yeah. That's his name. We all call him Conny, but it's just a pet name and a play on the word "convict". Come on, let's go make him play with us." Rachel chuckled and pulled him with her to the chain-link fence.

The girl had a hell of a grip as she pushed open the door and dragged him across the asphalt. She swung the door open so hard that it bounced off the fence with a shudder of metal and drew Donovan's attention. Donovan's dark eyes only glanced past Rachel before they locked on him, and he froze in place.

"Nathan," Donovan said his name, and his eyebrows fell in tightly at the bridge of his nose as he clutched the basketball.

"I don't even get a 'hi'?" Rachel complained as she prowled around him with a mischievous smile.

"Hello, Rachel." Donovan turned as she slid behind him, but his mouth was in a firm cordial line. Until he saw the boys slipping in the door behind her, and then turned back around, and Nathan saw them creeping in from behind him too. They had come in both entrances and were now completely barring any escape.

Clad in shady blacks and rough clothes, the group gave off a heavy vibe of danger. Nathan couldn't say if they were killers like the pen's residents, but they looked like they'd have no qualms about beating the living shit out of him. Most were taller than Nathan, and they all looked like they were carrying some sort of weapon. Nathan took a step back from them into the court toward Donovan.

"What is this?" Donovan clenched his hands on the ball and took a few strides to Nathan's side. The man stood at his back closer than friends would, almost like he was protecting him.

The boys didn't respond, circling them both, and Nathan actually pressed into Donovan when more than a dozen boys stared them down. All of these kids knew Donovan was from the pen, and Nathan had never thought about what would happen if a group of unruly people ever accosted one of the men from LCP. They couldn't harm anyone under punishment of death, but was even self-defense forbidden to them?

"They look scarier than they are," Rachel said, stepping in front of the line of boys, and Donovan narrowed his eyes suspiciously on her. "Some of the hood kids aren't raised with the best manners, so that's what I'm for. My face is prettier to look at." Rachel chuckled, and so did a few of the boys.

"What do you want?" Donovan demanded, his voice losing patience and his tone deepening to a timbre that reminded him of the night before.

"To play basketball," Rachel said, raising an eyebrow as if that were obvious. "I figured you'd make a bee line for the door if we didn't cut you off, but I guess this sort of looks like we're trying to mug you."

"These... boys are with you?" Donovan looked around with distaste.

"Oh please, the worst they've done is beat some kids up who deserved it, smoke some weed, and underage drink. None of them have killed anyone," Rachel emphasized the word pointedly, and Donovan wrapped his long, slender fingers around the basketball like it was an overripe cantaloupe he was about to burst with his bare hands.

"I'm not getting shanked playing so close to them. I know what the people in this town think of me," Donovan responded coldly.

"Please?" Rachel asked, her expression dropping from mischievous to an earnest plea, and Donovan's expression softened somewhat. "We really just want to play. We watch you every day but figured you'd walk out on us if we all came at you. When I saw you play with Nathan, I came alone yesterday to see what you were like. They're my gang, so they won't hurt you."

"Your gang?" Donovan asked with concern, but Nathan couldn't tell if it was for himself or her.

"Yes, they are actually a gang, but they're small time and pretty nice. Come on, play ball with us," Rachel attempted to persuade him again, but her invitation was met only with a shake of the head from Donovan. "Fine. Unshiv yourselves."

Rachel turned to the boys with the strangest command Nathan had ever heard, and there was a collective sigh. One by one, they obediently took off their coats. The clinking of various weapons perturbed him, but at least none of them were packing heat. They all had a switchblade or other small concealable knife, a few with batons, and Nathan was pretty sure there were one or two tasers. Returning to their circle, they all looked bare in their T-shirts and wife beaters. Without their coats, they were also a lot skinner and less threatening than Nathan had thought.

"Play with us," Rachel insisted, putting her hands on her hips, and Donovan eyed her strangely.

"When you said your gang, you meant your gang," Donovan said and Rachel smiled like she was proud of it. "A girl like you should be spending her time doing better things."

"Better than playing with convicts?" A tall kid next to Rachel with dusty, black hair and sharp, dark eyes said.

"Tim," Rachel chided him in a low tone, but he just spun his own basketball on his finger, eyeing Donovan.

"Yes." Donovan smiled lightly, and Tim did so likewise. It broke the ice, and everyone calmed just a bit. With a small sigh, Donovan turned around and met Nathan's eyes, not a few inches from him. "I will play... if you would like to," Donovan said slowly, and some part of Nathan's chest warmed.

"I would," Nathan said quietly, and it drew a real smile to Donovan's lips.

"I did not mean to frighten you yesterday," Donovan said quietly.

"It's all right. After Ian threw his food in Rick's face this morning, I got the dynamic pretty well. We can talk about it later. Let's just play basketball with a bunch of guys who might beat me up when we're done." Nathan smiled with real worry, and Donovan chuckled.

"You'll be okay. You have me." Donovan touched the top of his head, and Nathan's cheeks warmed in embarrassment.

Donovan and he joined the boys who had already started running around the court with a few basketballs of their own to practice. They formed up into teams, which may or may not have been fair. For one, they tied him to Donovan's leg like a lead weight, and Rachel with her guys was really terrifying to watch practice.

Playing was fairer with a highly skilled person on both teams, and other people of varying skill. Nathan felt less like hinderance and more of a player. The boys who played with Rachel were fun and much more open than they appeared. After playing with them for a bit, he realized they were just unfriendly until you broke through their shells. For them, that shell just happened to be a couple pounds of coats and weapons.

They moved much faster than he did, and the court was more chaotic with that many people, so it was more often that people got knocked into. When Donovan accidentally knocked one of the boys to the ground, the look on his face was of horror, but the kid just picked himself up and laughed. Pushing Donovan back, the boy exchanged friendly words with him and continued playing. It was nice seeing Donovan interacting with people in a friendly manner, even if to him it was playing with a bunch of kids. It really showed that Donovan was still the man he'd met.

Rachel's team won, but Nathan blamed that on their better coordination. The game had been close, but Rachel rallied those kids like a war general. They dove, rolled and had some sickeningly good moves when it came to playing around Rachel. It was clear she was in charge of them, despite her appearance. Nathan wasn't sure all of the plays were legal according to the rules, but he wasn't going to argue.

It was sort of nice seeing someone who had friends that supported them. The bullying in his last school had been so bad that he'd never had a group of friends that hadn't been depressed and terrified of every day.

With a tight group like that, he imagined none of them ever got bullied. That, and they'd likely take out a kidney if anyone came within insulting distance of Rachel. There was something wild and dangerous about these kids, but it was different from the pen. The men he lived with were all older, less bouncing with youthful energy and craziness. That made them both calmer, and yet more calculatingly deadly.

Speaking of which.

"Donovan," an even but threatening voice called out to them, and Nathan froze, recognizing Tanner without much effort.

What was he doing here? Hopefully, he wasn't here to pummel him. A tremor ran down his spine as Tanner took a step into the court, and Nathan shirked back from his imposing stance. The man was still wearing his western hat and jacket, though he was in a slightly darker collared shirt today. All in all, his wardrobe was identical, except he was wearing his hat this time.

The sharp snap of Tanner's hazel eyes was torn from Nathan, as Tanner angled them down a foot and a half to meet Rachel as she walked up to him. She had zero self-preservation skills, it seemed.

"Hi," she said pleasantly, and Tanner narrowed his eyes.

"Piss off, kid, I'm not here to play around with children," Tanner's said icily, and Rachel's jaw dropped.

"Are there indians around here?" Rachel replied, and Tanner's look of disgust faded for just a moment to confusion. "Cowboy." Rachel made finger guns with her hands and smirked

The laugh that erupted from Tanner was so abrupt that Nathan jumped up an inch, but Rachel didn't even flinch.

"You're a snide little shit, aren't you?" Tanner's voice was a low growl that had one of the boys flanking Rachel in an instant. Tim, his name was, and Nathan had pegged him as the first in command quickly after he'd spoken to Donovan.

At least someone saw Tanner as a threat. Rachel was oblivious.

"Why are you here, Tanner?" Donovan walked up to him.

By the way the men squared off and tightened their jaws, it was clear that they didn't like each other. Tanner had gotten along with Ian and even listened to him when he was angry, so Nathan wasn't sure why he didn't like Donovan. Did Donovan not get along with them?

"I was checking on our new tenant." Tanner slid his eyes down to him, and Nathan took a step back even though he was already a few feet from them all.

"Tanner!" Donovan hissed, and Tanner raised his eyebrow before looking around at the kids. "Do you think only about yourself?"

"Calm down, Donovan." Rachel chuckled, and he flicked his eyes over to her with lessening aggression. "I already new Nathan lived with you guys. I know it's on the downlow, but I have connections. It is pretty brutal for you to sell out one of your own though, Tanner."

"I wasn't thinking that far. I didn't mean to," Tanner said with a sigh. "Maggie just wanted to make sure that he wasn't off getting into trouble after last night."

"We were just playing basketball. We don't need you to watch us." Donovan's tone was curt, and Tanner shrugged.

Turning around, Tanner headed to the door of the court, and Rachel quickly ducked in front of him to bar his way. When he stopped, he stiffened as if he was about to snap the girl in half, but she remained still.

"Feel free to come and hangout sometime," Rachel said with a warm smile.

"Get out of my way," Tanner said, but she didn't move.

"I'm Rachel," she tried again, and Tanner slid a hand up his face to rub his temple.

"You already know who I am," Tanner replied, dropping his hand to rest it on his hip in frustration.

"Well, now we've met in person. I'll get out of your hair, though I know you have a lot of it," Rachel winked, and Tanner chuckled again. "Have a nice day, Tanner." Rachel removed herself from his path, and Tanner walked to the gate, but he turned back for just a moment with the smallest of smiles.

"Have a nice day, Rachel." They were the first words out of Tanner's mouth that had sounded normal, and Rachel glowed as she waved.

After Tanner left the court, Rachel came back, and Nathan eyed her.

"You know I'm from the penitentiary," Nathan said stiffly, and Rachel shrugged.

"Sure, but how bad could you be. You can't even get a basket." Rachel snickered, and the boys around them followed. The boys clapped him on the shoulder to reassure him, and they went back to the court. It was new, having someone accept him, and he crawled back to them with Donovan and decided he'd just relax and play.

There wouldn't be much time for that once he went back.

Word count: 2506 -- Edited March 29th, 2021