More so than any night in the past few months, sleep was difficult for Murina Beaubonique.

For a control freak, the hardest thing to accept is that something is out of your hands, which was precisely where Murina found herself. Zack and Alfie had gone out, and neither were picking up their phones. Whether that meant they were ignoring her calls and texts or that the batteries had run out was irrelevant, all that mattered was they were gone and there was nothing she could do about it. Her best bet was to get some sleep and hope that when she woke up in the morning they would be passed out in their room. That was the best case scenario. With one rat known for terrorizing non rats and a zorilla known for taking risks, both of them in the City of Sin, the worst case... was something she didn't want to consider.

And so, Murina laid in her bed, eyes on the ceiling, attempting to force herself to sleep. Naturally, she was getting nowhere fast, despite the wine in her belly, and the seconds on her bedside clock ticked into minutes, minutes into hours. Mercifully, the waking hours took their toll, and Murina drifted off to fitful sleep.

The next morning, she woke up at half past six, not even needing an alarm to rouse herself at that time, and immediately went down the hall to the room she'd gotten for Zack and the Norwiches. In truth, she wasn't sure she wanted the door to open. The only result that wouldn't infuriate her would be that the two had gone out for a quick hamburger and spent the remainder of the night watching movies and behaving, but Muri knew damn well that it wasn't the case. As she walked over the carpeted hallway floor, she started ranking the possible outcomes, telling herself that as long as they were okay and no one was hurt that she could deal with anything else later. Maybe they were out all night picking up girls and the room would have a few hookers in it. Fine. She'd dealt with that before. Irresponsible to be sure, but nothing catastrophic. Maybe they got into a fight and would be a bit bloodied. Okay, not a huge issue, just something to make for a bad picture, it wouldn't affect the draft itself.

Murina rapped on the door and leaned in toward it, listening intently. She heard bodies shifting about, concentrating hard, attempting to match bodyweight to the heaviness of footsteps to make sure she heard three distinct sounds. Before she could identify the various noises, though, the door swung open, and she was greeted with the sight of an incredibly ragged Zackary Tate in basketball shorts and a t-shirt with the sleeves cut off.

"...oh h... hey Ms B..." he slurred, rubbing at his eyes with the heel of his enormous hand. "Whassup?"

The black rat's shoulders relaxed. She took a deep breath and nodded. Hung over as Zack was, at least he was in the hotel. "Good morning, just checking up on my clients to make sure they didn't get into any trouble last ni-ZACK WHAT DID YOU DO?!?"

Muri's sudden outburst made Zack jolt. "I didn't do anything! I swear!!" he protested.

Staring wide-eyed, Murina gestured. "You... your... Zack, what did you do to your hair?!?"

The zorilla reached up toward his head, uneasy on his broad feet, and rubbed where his hair should be... finding none. He stopped, brows lifting up, then laughed.

"Ohhhhh shit, yeah. Huh huh, well you've been telling me to get a haircut, right? So I uh, I got one!"

Murina glared bullets at him. "That's NOT what I meant!!" she practically squealed.

He huffed back. "Hey, I think it looks pretty good! Terry does, too!"

"Terry?!?"

Zack grinned ear to ear, the retainer that housed his false tooth not in his mouth, tongue going through the gap. "Yeh! After I got back he'n I were BS'in' about music and stuff, and y'know. He's a cool dude, lot more chill than Arfie."

Taking a deep breath, Murina shook her head. "We'll talk about that later. Can I speak with Alphonse now?"

Swaying on his heels, Zack looked back into the dark room. "Er... well he uh... he ain't here."

Muri's mouth went dry. "Excuse me?"

Zack's big shoulders shrugged. "Eh, he didn't come back with me, right? Like, I wasn't feelin' so hot, an' I said I needed to go to bed, but he kept goin'. I dunno where he went after that."

The black rat's breathing grew heavy, chest heaving. The only thing worse than Zack and Alfie out on the town was Alfie out by himself. At least with Zack around there was some semblance of control over the situation, although the realization that she considered Zack to be "control" was horrifying enough. Still, Alfie alone in Las Vegas as not a thought she wanted to spend too much time with.

"Zack. You and I are going to find Alfie right NOW," she said sharply, through gritted teeth.

Zack, meanwhile, looked barely able to stay upright. "Aw c'mon Ms B... Arfie an' I had a long night, my head's killin' me.."

Murina narrowed her eyes. "Zack. Come down here. Can I explain something to you? It'll just be quick."

The tall polecat bent down, ear perked toward his agent. Murina took that big ear in both hands and shouted into it. "WE ARE FINDING ALFIE RIGHT NOW AND THAT IS FINAL!!"

While Zack winced and clapped his hand over his ear, standing back up and nearly banging his head on the doorframe the sleeping Terrence Norwich stirred and sat up from his spot on the bed. It was an hour that he was rarely awake at, and combined with the jet lag he was a very groggy rat, shuffling his shirtless way toward the door.

"Whas goin' on, eh?" he asked, eyes squinted to adjust to the light.

Murina let out a sigh and shook her head, cursing herself for not having brought extra aspirin. "Terrence, I hate to ask you to do this, but I need your h..."

A glint of light caught Muri's eye and she quickly identified the cause, which left her perplexed.

"Um... Terry? Did you always have that... piercing?"

"Eh?" Terrence replied, looking down at his chest, letting out a sheepish chuckle when his memory came back to him. "Oh 'is?" he said with a little shrug of the shoulders. "Heh, Zack said 'e thought a pierce'd go nice wit' 'is new hairstyle, talked me into doin' it wit' him."

Murina's eyes went wider than ever. "With... him?"

"Aw man, I was wondering why my chest hurt!!" Zack barked out with a laugh, pulling the neckhole of his shirt outward and looking down into it.

"WHAT?!?"

Zack lifted his hand again toward Murina. "Can ya stop yellin', Ms B? It's super early, I can hear you."

Terry peeked out into the hallway, a concerned expression on his face. "Did I do somethin' I shouldn't-a, miz Muri?"

Taking a slow breath through her nose and counting to ten, leaving a silence in the air that did little to ease Terrence's mind, Murina managed to regain her composure and shook her head. "No, Terry. You didn't know. It's fine. It's fine. But for now, we need to find your brother. Las Vegas is NOT the kind of place we want him lost in. If he went off wandering, there's no telling where he may have gotten off to."

The unlikely trio started the journey toward the hotel elevators, with Murina's quick little steps letting her just barely keep pace with Zack's exhausted lopes. Terrence rubbed at the back of his head, looking unsure. "Er... if y' don't mind my askin'... where we gonna go look?"

Somehow, that question had never occurred to Murina, but in typical style she didn't let it break her stride and immediately began thinking on the fly. "First, we'll talk to the front desk. Maybe he came in but didn't make it to the room."

The front desk said they hadn't seen hide nor hair of the mohawked rat (and didn't seem displeased with this fact). Alphonse Norwich IV was lost somewhere in Las Vegas without a phone, without money, and without anyone to contact beyond the three furs who were gathered in the hotel lobby, now seated on the plush couches around a table.

"Zack, did you see him with anyone? Was he with a girl, one of the other players, anyone?"

Zack sat with a cup of orange juice from the breakfast buffet, the tiny glass practically vanishing in his hand. "Uh... not really? I mean, dude didn't seem like he wanted to be buddy-buddy with anyone, but after he got a good buzz goin' he started loosenin' up, least with me."

Murina sighed and rubbed in between her eyes. "How did you even convince him to go out with you? When I left it sounded like I'd be lucky if he didn't strangle you."

The polecat laughed, his voice extra raspy and haggard from dehydration, eyes red. "I dunno, dude ain't so bad. Way you talked about him I thought I was gonna get shanked or somethin', but I dunno." He shrugged. "We were just sittin' there and he wasn't sayin' anything except yellin' at me when I tried talkin' to Terry there, but then I actually got the guy to laugh and said we should get out for a little while. Told him I was buyin' and he was all for it."

Despite herself, Murina chuckled. "How did you manage that?"

Zack let out a long hum, looking like he was stalling for time. "Uh... I don't remember. We got pretty drunk."

A small smirk on her face, Murina just shook her head, letting that one go. "I'm sure. Well... I suppose the silver lining here is that Alfie made a friend. That's more than I could have hoped for."

Zack's smile widened, missing tooth all on display. Murina realized she shouldn't have been too surprised the pair hit it off. Even with their different upbringings, they were a pair of wild boys who weren't afraid to go for the gusto, and both the scars to prove it. Zack was probably her only client that wouldn't hold Alfie's shortcomings against him.

"Yeah, he said I was pretty cool for a nanny? I dunno what that meant but he seemed like it was a big deal."

Terrence chuckled tiredly. "Mate, 'e was sayi-" he began, only to get cut off by Murina's lifted hand. Now was not the time to explain what "nonnie" meant.

"So he was basically hanging out with you the whole night, but then you separated? I'm not sure I understand."

Zack grunted. "Uh, yeah. Heh, that dude can drink, Ms B. We were bar crawlin' down the strip, and I was feeling it pretty hard but he looked like he was just getting started. I said I was done 'cause I didn't wanna get in any trouble or anything, he was all like "you go ahead and take a dozy, ya li'l pup,"" he said in his best Alfie impression, puffing his chest up. "And then he went off down the street."

"And you just let him go? By himself??"

"I'm sorry, Ms B! I'm not his dad, I couldn't STOP the dude. I mean, he looked like he was in a good mood, so that's good, right? Like... he probably wasn't gettin' into any fights?"

Murina eyed Zack coolly. "Yes, Zack. That's wonderful. At least he was enjoying whatever trouble he was getting into out on the Las Vegas strip drunk and alone." She sighed and stood up, pulling out her oPhone. "Give me a moment, I'm going to make some calls."

The black rat stood off to the side of the lobby, near one of the potted plants, staring at her contacts list on her phone. It wasn't that she didn't know who to call, Murina knew exactly which of the names in front of her had a chance of knowing something. It was having to explain why she was calling them at seven in the morning asking if they had any idea where Alphonse may have gone last night. So, steeling herself and pressing the small phone icon, Murina Beaubonique went into that classic sports agent technique.

"Hi, Tim? Sorry to bug you so early, just wondering if any of your boys crossed paths with Alfie last night. No, nothing serious, just spot checking that he didn't get into any shenanigans I should know about."

Bullshitting.

Call after call was made, and call after all went the exact same. Either they hadn't heard a thing or it was only a brief hello with Alfie barely managing to force himself to say two words to the other party. Nothing that got her anywhere.

While Murina stood, etching her way down her list, sounds of laughter and shock met her ears. She turned her head, that familiar feeling of dread and concern making its way down her spine. The source, naturally, was Zack and Terry, and the two were looking at Zack's phone. Forgetting her calls for the time being, Muri strode over to them to investigate.

"What are you two looking at? What is that?"

"Huh? Oh. Nothin'," Zack said, hitting the screen off button and putting it back in his pocket. "Just a... a funny video I found online."

Murina's eyes narrowed. "Zack..."

The giant polecat and the rat beside him exchanged uneasy glances for a few seconds before he pulled the device out once more and screen the screen on, opening up the camera app and swiping over to the saved pictures, then reluctantly handed it over.

Although it wasn't as bad as she might have feared, Murina was still taken aback by the photos from Zack and Alfie's night on the town. There were strippers, pictures taken from incredibly dangerous vantage points, Alfie diving over a blackjack table at the dealer, walking away from a huge stack of chips at the roulette wheel (he apparently didn't realize they were actually worth money), among others. In their one evening together, Zack and Alphonse had covered a lot of ground. It was almost impressive. Unfortunately, it didn't lead her any closer to finding the big rat.

Handing the phone back to Zack, Murina took a moment. "Okay, you said he kept walking, right? Do you remember just where you two separated and which way he was going?"

Zack nodded that he remembered that much and the three began their replication of the previous night's adventures. Servers, security, and casino employees all well recalled the zorilla and his loudmouth British companion, and each time it made Murina wince, waiting to hear what kind of awful things he'd done. Most of the stories were, for Alfie, fairly benign. A lot of yelling and grandstanding, getting on the nerves of everyone around him and using choice language, getting escorted out. As the trio made their way further along strip, though, the events began to get more severe. Initial insults and sneering were transitioning to spitting, vile name-calling, and shoving matches that resulted in security having to haul the drunken rat out bodily. More than once the front desk would yell at Terrence to leave before realizing he wasn't the one who'd been there last night.

"Look, miss," the morning manager on duty at one of the casinos, a weary looking jackrabbit, said to Murina. "I understand that this is the draft weekend, and a lot of these boys have never been to a city like Vegas, so there's going to be... drunken revelry."

The black rat nodded. "Yes, I'm sure you all deal with a lot when draft season comes ar-"

The jackrabbit interruped her, "HOW-ever. That rat? You'd best keep him on a short leash. And I'm not speaking metaphorically." He eyed Terrence coolly, "And don't think I'm not keeping my eye on you as well."

While Terry's brow furrowed, Murina coughed once. "Yes, well, thank you for the advice. Do you have any idea where he might have gotten off to?"

"According to our night staff, he kept going north. As long as he was out of our building, we didn't really care where he went."

It was nearly noon by then, and the growling of stomachs on either side of her was easily audible to Murina's rounded ears. Turning around, she saw a zorilla and a rat with tired, awkward expressions on their faces. Like they wanted to say something but thought they'd get in trouble for it.

"...should we take a break and get something to eat?" Murina asked, knowing the answer full well.

A loud bark of a yes from the zorilla nearly bowled her over, so Murina led Zack and Terry to a buffet she knew that wouldn't break the bank.

Zack whistled. "Daaaamn. This place has a little bit of everything!"

Murina chuckled. "Welcome to Vegas. The Tricky Skillet might not be as ritzy as the others, but it won't leave you disappointed. And it should be one of the few places that can keep you fed," she teased, a comment that got a grin out of Zack.

When she'd struggled to find slumber the night before, Murina's worries had mostly been in what she'd find out Alfie had been up to. She was expecting to wake up and find him in the hotel room with naked girls, a trail of broken beer bottles and vomit lining the hallway, with huge bills and tabs from wherever he'd stumbled into and out of with Zack. She'd been worried about what he'd do, not where he'd be, and was cursing herself for being so naive. Of course Alfie would find a way to outdo even her worst expectations. Of course he wouldn't be happy just with causing mayhem. Of course he'd have to send her on a wild goose chase through the Las Vegas strip when she was supposed to be making final calls to the teams and the media to arrange interviews throughout draft night itself.

While she nibbled at her salad and Zack was off at the buffet line taking whatever he was standing near and piling it onto as many plates as he could hold, Terrence stayed at the table. Murina tilted her head.

"Terry? Aren't you going to get something?"

The rat leaned in. "I er, I don't got any money, miz Muri. I can't afford all 'is."

Not for the first time, Miz Muri was taken aback by Terrence Norwich. From the outside, he looked like a smaller version of his older brother, just less scarred up and with a mohawk that wasn't held together with glue. It wasn't a surprise that maitre-d's and bartenders tended to assume the worst about him, he looked like the same rat that was living up to his appearance in every sense of the word. Meanwhile, there was Terrence. Not wanting to cause a ruckus, not wanting to say too loud that he couldn't afford the meal, and not asking for a handout.

Murina smiled at him. "Terry, you're my guest out here. Your hotel and your meals are covered. Go on, it's a buffet. Get as much as you want."

Moods were quickly lifted by full bellies, even if the management of the buffet started to get annoyed at Zack for taking all of their plates and emptying the bins as soon as they were put out ("It's all you can eat!!" was his usual protest), not to mention Terry being terribly unimpressed with American beer. Still, now that they were rested and fed, they, or at least Muri, felt recharged and ready to get started again.

"So does Arfie do this kinda thing a lot, Ter?" Zack asked around a mouthful of assorted food. Murina pulled a face, wondering if he was even looking at what he was eating before stuffing it into his face.

"Wot kinna thing?"

Zack waved his big hand. "Y'know, get wasted an' go missing."

That got a laugh out of Terrence, the brown rat shrugging and taking a bite of barbecued chicken. "Wasn't like we's keepin' a tag on each otha, mate, eh? Alfie'd get rat arsed an' go off t' whereva an' he'd come back wheneva. One time we found 'im a day later on th' fuckin' ROOF, all starkers 'cept for his boots! An' we only found 'im 'cause he start pissin' up there an' it was drippin' down!"

Zack and Terrence shared a good laugh, then they noticed Murina's horrified expression and the two quieted down, with Terrence quickly adding, "But I'm sure 'e ain't in a snap like 'at, miz Muri."

Murina sighed. "I hope not. There's only so much I can do if he gets into real tr... hold on, that's my phone."

Pulling the vibrating oPhone out of her bag, Alfie's agent saw a number flashing on the screen she didn't recognize. With a local area code. It hadn't occurred to Murina that something TRULY bad had happened to Alfie, but suddenly that cloud was looming large overhead. She held up a finger to shush the other two at the table and answered the call.

"Hello? ...yes, this is she. Um... yes, I do. I'm sorry, WHO am I speaking with? WHAT?!? No, I mean yes, I'll be there as soon as I can!"

Murina sprang to her feet and nearly knocked the table right into the two seated across from her, causing them both to jump their seats. The black rat immediately motioned for them to get up and follow her, striding out of the restaurant in what was nothing short of a frenzy. It was enough that Zack had to nearly jog to keep up with her.

"Yo! Ms B! What's up? You find him?"

Blinking hard, Muri took a few moments to get her thoughts together. "...he's in jail."

Although Zack, and especially Terry, insisted that they should join in for the trip to pick him up, Murina insisted that she go alone. Aside from her Acura not being able to fit two FBA draftees plus two more, she wanted to talk to him without any distractions. And so Zack and Terry headed back to the room, just waiting for news.

The drive down to the Las Vegas Detention Center found Murina Beaubonique dealing with a whirlwind of emotions, enough so that she couldn't even turn the radio on. Fury at Alfie for getting himself into this mess, relief that at least he was located and he wasn't hurt, terror at what would happen if word got out. Worse still, if he managed to get into this much trouble just during the draft weekend, what did that mean for when he'd be off on his own somewhere she couldn't bail him out? If he couldn't be trusted staying in the same hotel without constant supervision, what in the world would happen when he got his own place in another city entirely?

To her surprise, the guards and employees at the LVDC seemed amused when talking about Alphonse. He'd been picked up stumbling through the street, yelling at cars whenever they honked at him and attemping to start fights with them. Not the drivers, but the cars themselves, with the drivers getting a furious "I ain't talkin' t' you, mate!" while he proceeded to holler at the front fender of the stopped vehicles. Upon getting picked up, the drunken rat had made several attempts to explain that they just needed to call "Murina Beaubonique", but the slur of his speech made it impossible for any of the arresting officers to understand what in the world he was trying to say. Once dumped into the holding cell, he passed out on the floor and slept the night away there. The next morning, the guards came in and found him sitting on a bench with most of the others making a wide berth around him, though the smell might have been as much a reason as anything else, where he growled the name he'd been trying to say the night before.

Though it wasn't during visiting hours, Murina managed to sweet talk her way into being allowed to talk to Alphonse briefly, since she was the one who was going to be bailing him out and he was a client of hers, cashing in still more of her "sports agent" chits. She found Alphonse right where they said, arms crossed, the other inmates keeping some distance from him. As Murina walked in, the usual cavalcade of cat calls and comments came in.

"'ey babe, you bail me out I'll make it up to ya..." an iguana rasped with a grin.

"Wouldn't mind playin' a little cat an' mouse with YOU, darlin'!" a cheetah snickered.

"BACK TH' FUCK OFF!" came a sudden holler, heads turning toward Alphonse. The others grumbled and groused, laying off while Alphonse stood up and made his way to the bars.

"What took y' so long, eh?? he snorted.

"Ex-CUSE me?" Murina asked in disbelief.

"I been rottin' in 'is piss 'ole all morning! Where've you been, eh?"

"Where have I been?? I've been tracing your drunken steps all morning trying to figure out where you were! Do you have any id..." she sighed. "Nevermind. Alfie, I... I don't even know what to say to you now."

Alphonse continued looking cross and impatient. "Whatever it is, say it to me outside! I don't feel like spendin' anotha cunting minute in 'ere, you see 'is filthy lot?"

"Yes, I do, Alfie. And I also see a rat who's no different. Who can't even be trusted to be by himself for one night without getting himself arrested." She turned toward the guard. "I'm ready to go."

"Muri! MURI!!" Alphonse shouted.

"I'll be back for you Monday morning. I'll explain the situation to the league, don't worry. I'll take care of it."

The black rat started to walk away from the cell, keeping one ear perked toward it.

"Three... two... one..." she counted to herself.

"MURI! Y' can't leave me 'ere! Muri!!"

Murina smiled to herself, but put on her serious expression again and turned to look at Alphonse. What she saw made her heart drop. All pretense was gone. No more gruff Alfie trying to show how tough he was, to prove that he was a big, strong rat. His eyes were wide, afraid. If she didn't know better, she'd think he was going to cry. It was something she'd never seen in Alfie before. Something she'd never expected to see in him. Initially, Murina wanted to let him stew for a little while longer, but in that instant, the bluff was done. Alfie had learned his lesson. She nodded toward the guard to let him out. After all, she'd paid on her way in.

As soon as he burst out of the cell, Alfie grabbed Murina up in a big hug that she didn't have the chance to escape from, pressing her face right into his broad, unwashed chest.

"Y' 'ad me goin', luv! Les' go, I'm fuckin' STARVIN'!"

Murina rubbed at her temples as they were led toward the door, and Murina took Alphonse back to her car.

"You almost 'ad me, Muri! I knew y' wasn't really gonna let me in 'ere!" he said with a big, bellowing laugh.

Murina said nothing and just got in.

"...right? Y' wasn't, right, Muri? Muri?"

Murina snorted and unlocked the door for him to get in, staying quiet.

The drive back to the hotel was a chilly one. Alfie was obviously hoping to lighten the mood by spinning the stories from the night before to be as harmless as he could manage, framing them all as nothing but lighthearted shenanigans and it wasn't his fault that the Vegas PD had no sense of humor. He was just having a good time!

"'Ey, what we doin' back at th' house, eh? Thought we was gettin' a nip?"

Murina stomped on the brakes hard enough that Alphonse nearly slammed his head off the dashboard.

"You know, Alfie, I would have loved to treat you to a nice buffet lunch like I did Zack and your brother, but UNFORTUNATELY I just spent nearly a thousand dollars out of my OWN pocket bailing you out of jail! That's about six hundred pounds, Alfie. Gone. All because you didn't know how to keep your... your SHIT together!"

The vulgarity seemed to sting Alphonse, who never expected his agent to curse at him even though he had no such compunctions. He sulked and leaned against the door, arms crossed. "I wasn't tryin' t' get in no trouble, Muri," the broad-shouldered rat lamely offered.

"I know you weren't TRYING to, Alfie, but that's just it! This isn't the Alley! You can't get into bar fights and just sleep it off! You can't get blackout drunk and stumble through the streets and just have a friend lead you home! There are CONSEQUENCES to your actions now! You have no idea how lucky you are that I'm good at talking to people, because FORTUNATELY this isn't going to hit the news. I suppose it's a blessing that all you were doing was being loud and obnoxious and didn't hurt anyone, otherwise I might not have been able to sweep it under the rug. As it stands, I paid over your bail and the police agreed to just wash it from the records entirely. I won't be able to do that next time."

Alphonse huffed. "Who says 'ere's gonna be a next time?"

Murina rolled her eyes. "Oh stop it, Alfie. There's going to be a next time. And when it happens, I just pray it's nothing too serious. This could have EASILY ruined your chances at the draft. Just like that, in one stupid night, all the work we've put in this year gone and you're on a plane to Liverpool telling your family and friends that you couldn't behave for one night, ONE NIGHT, and lost your one chance. And then there's me, stuck having to admit to everyone that they were right and you really WERE a lost cause."

The big rat's brow furrowed. "...they's sayin' 'at?"

The nakedness of his question caught Murina off guard, and she immediately backpedalled. "Well, some are. Not all of them. Alfie... remember who you are, in their eyes. You're a rat from the slums with a known history of specist ties and gang affiliation. They want you to fail. They're praying for you to fail so they can rub it in your face. They don't care about your family or about the Alley. You're a soundbyte, a story of the week to them. Unless you do what you need to do and show that, no, you're more than just some dirty rat who crawled out of the sewers of England. Do you understand?"

He didn't want to, but he did, and Alphonse nodded, looking down at his big boots.

Murina put a hand on his shoulder, feeling the holes where the spikes had been removed. "Good. Now come on, I'm sure you're starving. We'll get some room service. Then tonight we'll get a real dinner, okay? You, me, Terrence, Zack, and the rest. And you'll keep your mouth shut unless it's something positive, right?"

Another little nod from the Norwich rat and they exited the car, Murina passing her keys to the valet before going through the lobby to the elevators.

"One more day, just one more day..." Muri silently repeated to herself. The finish line was in sight. All they had to do was not trip and fall before they crossed it.