Pete wanted to talk to Coach Cloud.  He wanted to pick the experienced man’s brain for help.  The very idea of such a resource coming to him in the middle of the match was so unheard of that he felt almost in awe of the opportunity.  Pete had gone to Coach Cloud numerous times during the last nine months in search of advice for running the team and forming strategies, not to mention the training time they had at the Quidditch camp.  Coach Cloud had heard much of Pete’s reasoning for his plans for the team and practice schedules and discipline – whether the coach actually listened was perhaps another matter.  At this point, the opportunity to bounce his thoughts off of Coach Cloud was huge, but there just wasn’t time to take full advantage of the opportunity.  In the British and Irish league, Captains could call for time outs like this to regroup, and after twelve hours of play they could take a two hour break to refresh their players. Here they were four hours in with only a few more minutes left and not nearly enough time for talking.  Pete wondered if they would play for eight more hours and end up with a long break like that, and whether he would have the stamina to see the team through it.  

Ultimately, he had to focus on getting his body ready for what could legitimately be hours more in the air.  Once he was greased up and kneaded out by Coach Collier, Pete crouched in front of Nat and Caitlin, scowling into Nat’s eyes.  When he insinuated that Nat might not be good to go back on the pitch, he had to dodge a kick from his friend and he stood up, shaking his head.  He didn’t want to see Nat hurt any further, but he didn’t want to leave him on the ground either.  If Nat wanted to play, he wasn’t going to stop him.  

Pete suited up slowly, stretching his body and moving to keep warm and limber.  He told the team to be fearless, and to dig deep.  And as he stepped back onto the pitch, he swung his bat in a controlled circle, looking up into the stadium that now seemed filled with fire and smoke, wondering just how deep they were going to have to dig.