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chapter twenty-four: america vs. iceland, for the gold

a/n:

god, I hate writing hockey. esp mighty ducks hockey. this shit doesn't work like hockey should.

there are a lot of deviations from canon in this chapter! be forewarned.

tw(s) - mild sports violence and strong language

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"Coach!" Adam's cheery shout precedes him as he rounds the corner into the locker room, his gear in hand and his sling nowhere to be seen.

Rory's head pops through the hole of her jersey and she, despite her nerves about the upcoming game and mounting confusion, manages to grin at him as he walks by. Her greeting comes earlier than anyone else's, but she watches him as he walks through the crowd to Bombay.

"I woke up and the pain was gone!" He says, turning his wrist over to demonstrate.

The rest of the team erupts into cheers, happy that their friend was able to recover in time for the game, but Rory's eyebrows pinch, slightly. Her eyes go from Russ to Bombay who, while smiling, doesn't seem quite as excited.

"Adam, I'm sorry, we already have a full roster."

The energy zaps out of the room immediately and the team quiets. All of their eyes turn to Russ, the placeholder they'd hired along the way who really became one of the team, and his shoulders fall.

Rory's lips turn down into a frown as he starts to tug his jersey over his head.

"Wait!" She says, her mouth moving faster than her mind can. "Adam can have my spot."

Her friends all stare at her as if she's just said something strange, people murmuring amongst themselves, but none of them can beat Adam's owlish expression.

"What?"

"Russ has his knuckle puck, and Adam's the best scorer by far. Between the two of them, Guy, and Jesse, you wouldn't even need me, anyway." Rory swallows, talking to Bombay rather than anyone else in the room. "Besides, Adam loves hockey, and Russ is way more of a real American kid than I'll ever be. He's worked just as hard as the rest of us and it wouldn't be fair to turn him away."

"Rory--"

"I don't even like hockey that much. I can deal with my dad and Tibbles, honest. Take me out, coach."

Bombay appears hesitant but, before he can say anything, Charlie interjects.

"No. Take me out, coach. Adam can have my spot." He side-steps to almost be in front of her. "Rory's right, it isn't fair, but she deserves to play, too."

Her moment thoroughly stepped on, and fully shocked by Charlie's willingness to do this for her, Rory blinks as she stares at the side of his head. (Nothing she's feeling, though, could be compared to the look of adoration on Adam's face.)

"She's a better player than me, anyway. This is what I can do for the team-- for my friends. Let me do it."

She flushes, equal parts flattered and indignant, at his words. Bombay claps a hand down onto Adam's shoulder.

"Charlie, I need you on the bench, coaching right there with me."

Claps and cheers start to rise around her as Rory meets Charlie's gaze. He smiles boyishly and she cocks a brow.

The captain is a king piece, far more important than a scorer such as herself. He, just like Adam and Russ, also finds pleasure in playing the sport.

Benching himself is a stupid idea.

"Way to be an ass, Conway." She says, but his expression never changes. "Had to ruin my hero moment, didn't you?"

"Couldn't let all the glory get to your head."

Sticking her tongue out petulantly, she punches him in the shoulder. He returns the gesture.

"Anyway, with me benched, we're going to need someone to be my stand in captain-- isn't that right, coach?"

Her eyebrows reach her hairline as Bombay turns to face them. There is a twinkle in his eyes that she doesn't trust.

"What?" She asks, looking between Charlie and their coach and the rest of the team, who have started to stare, again. "You can't be saying what I think you're saying--"

"C'mon... You're smart, and you're a good player, and we like you."

"What?" She says, again, her voice cracking slightly as she tilts her head at him.

"Rory as temporary captain. What do you say, team?" Bombay asks.

"I say hell yeah." Jesse grins. "She can just pay the refs off in our favor."

As the team starts to cheer, again, Rory stands there, confused. She's not sure how they got to this-- how she went from being ostracized to being liked enough to be voted into this position before a major game, nor how she went from offering to give up her spot to taking Charlie's job, even if only temporarily-- but she smiles and sinks into the hug they envelop her in, anyway.

And when Charlie slaps his C down on her chest, she gets choked up.

"Let's go kick some Viking butt," Rory says when they release her, her voice weak, and drives her right fist down into her left palm.

Fulton and Dean each grab an arm and shake her while releasing a war cry.

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"Deep breaths everyone." Bombay says, just loud enough to be heard over the roar of the crowd as they start their walk-in.

He briefly turns to look back over his shoulder and makes eye contact with her, flashing her a smile. She does her best to return it.

As soon as his eyes leave her, she takes a deep breath-- in through her nose and out through her mouth-- and wills herself to be brave even if she's all too aware of how much is riding on their shoulders and how likely it is that they're going to get pummeled on live television.

She can't show any weakness. As captain, she's supposed to, among other things, be keeping morale up. At least she thinks she is.

It's the job of a captain (whether or not the position was bestowed upon them temporarily and just so they could feel like a hero) to keep morale up, isn't it?

None of the boys she plays with back in Detroit respect her as a hockey player or a human being, let alone enough to vote her to be captain of anything.

God, she thinks, why can't any of you think before you make big decisions?

The boards are opened before by two staff members. The crowd becomes unruly, cheering and whistling and jumping out of their seats as their skates finally touch the ice. Behind her, Dean and Fulton do some sort of handshake, and she shoots both Luis and Kenny a soft grin before her attention gets enraptured by the people in the stands.

There appears to be a bigger turnout for this game than there was any other and, unsurprisingly, the support for Team USA is overwhelming.

Rory's face slackens despite her best attempts to remain composed.

She doesn't think she's ever played for this many people.

Awkwardly, she lifts a hand to wave at the fans she makes eye contact with. Luis wraps an arm around her and murmurs something in her ear that she can't quite hear-- it sounds like the Spanish word for captain, and it's definitely mocking-- but his words get caught in his throat when she skids to a stop.

"Oh. My. God."

"Huh?" He asks, trying to follow her gaze. "What is it?"

"I'm going to kill him."

"Who? Who are you killing?"

"Averman." She exhales shakily, lifting a trembling hand to point. "That's my father's fiancée... and that's my grandfather."

"Oh shit."

Rory, without giving him another word, skates over to the boards in front of him.

Elijah Myrtle, ninety-eight years young, is sitting in a rope d off section of seats right by the glass, wearing a thick woolen scarf and his Burberry coat. On his left side is Krystal, whose eyes dart around the ice as she rubs her hands together, and on his right is his in-home nurse, Kim, who seems to be nervously asking him if he's okay.

On the floor in front of them, sitting on her grandfather's feet, is Colonel, his service dog.

She bangs on the glass with her stick to grab their attention. "What are you doing here?"

Krystal visibly relaxes when their eyes meet. Kim nudges Eli and points him in the right direction.

"We came to see you!" Her future stepmother shouts back, a smile on her face. "Some man sent for us! He said that a 'Lester Averman' thought it was pertinent that we came!"

Tears burn Rory's eyes. She returns the woman's smile and, though she'll never admit it, feels her heart soar.

"That's awesome... I think that this might've been the wrong game for you to come to, though. We're probably going to get our asses kicked."

Krystal looks a little sick over that but, as Kim relays what being said to him, Elijah shakes his head.

"No. They're arrogant. You're going to be fine."

The familiar (albeit faint) rasp of his voice comforts her.

A ref blows his whistle behind her, and she can hear her coach calling her name.

"I have to go." Rory says after casting a brief glance over her shoulder. "I'll see you guys after?"

She's met with various signs of approval. Before she skates away, Krystal looks at her with what can only be described as a combination of apprehension and nausea.

"Don't get hurt too badly, okay?"

"I'll try." Rory shrugs

The last thing she sees before she turns around is Krystal's attempt at a smile.

Rory returns to her bench sniffling. Upon getting there, she jumps into Averman's arms and hugs him tightly, squeezing her eyes shut as tears leak out.

"Thank you..." She murmurs softly. "Thank you."

"You don't have to thank me."

They pull away and she lifts her helmet to wipe her face.

"You are the awesomest person in the whole world."

Averman smiles brilliantly and Bombay clears his throat, silently urging the two of them to put their hands in the middle so they can do their chant.

"Heads high! Stand tall! Fly straight!" He calls. "USA--"

"-- all the way!" They shout back, lifting their arms.

Bombay and Charlie start to explain what's going to happen as the Iceland Vikings finish their chant. Rory presses a swift, chaste kiss to Averman's lips before putting in her mouth guard.

The two of them skate onto the ice.

Averman takes the face-off only to immediately get shoved head over heels, something that causes a spike in her heart rate. One of Iceland's players starts down toward their goal; Rory prepares to intercept a pass when a player slams Guy, too, and distracts her again. (It's much easier to play hockey when you don't give a shit about your team, she realizes, the quiet thought coming from the back of her mind as she surveys the playing field with a wide gaze.) Goldberg gets out of the goal and blocks it, and Guy pops right back to his feet, letting Rory get her game face on again.

Dean gets behind the post and passes the puck out to her before getting slammed up and into the boards by Stahl.

Rory spares a split second to sympathetically cringe but pushes it down, turns on her heels, and starts to deke as she travels across the ice. She doesn't get very far, though, because Gunnar Stahl has come around to check her right off her feet, too.

She hits the ice with a solid oof.

Averman appears above her as she pushes herself up on her elbows with a wince.

"Hey, Ror, are you okay?" He pulls her to her feet like the

She nods and rolls her shoulder. "Yeah. I'm fine."

"Are you sure? You really went flying."

"I'm fine." She repeats herself and forces a smile.

The game has just started but she can tell it's going to be a long one.

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"You've got this, Adam!"

Adam gives Rory a thumbs up that she returns as he pulls his helmet on and skates onto the ice; she watches him in particular, worried because he's just been cleared by the medical staff. But, being the hockey loving genius that he is, he does great, almost immediately getting control of the puck and taking it down to the opposite goal. He puts his fist down on the ice to steady a turn he takes to dodge and weave amongst the bigger players, and Olaf Sanderson takes it as an opportunity to strike again.

Literally.

She, alongside the rest of her team, jumps up out of her seat, shouting as the boy falls onto the ice. They're all shouting expletives, horrified and angry, until their coach is pulling them down.

"Sit down. Sit down." Bombay says, putting his hands on their shoulders.

He doesn't manage to wrangle Rory, though, because she's leaning halfway over to shout after the referee. "Hey, ref, why don't you call something?! He almost took his arm off!"

Adam's pulled off the ice just as soon as he got onto it and Kenny takes his place as, underneath Rory's scathing glare, the referee finally gives Team Iceland a penalty.

"I'm okay." He assures their coach as the older man looks him over.

Bombay lifts a brow. "You sure?"

"Yeah. I'm fine. They just hit the pad. Really."

From somewhere, Guy says. "You'll be okay, Banks."

Rory nods in agreement. When she finally sits down, she wraps an arm around Adam and pulls him into her side even if he's much taller than her.

"Good job, Adam. You were awesome out there."

He smiles bashfully.

"Thanks, Ror."

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Minutes later, Dwayne gets a hold of the puck and, while he should pass it to Dean, gets tackled before he can do anything. Amselisk gets the puck and starts racing down the ice, Luis hot on his trail.

"Come on, Luis!" Rory cheers, leaning on the boards. "Remember what we practiced!"

She's hopeful for a second but he doesn't remember. Luis, unable to stop, takes down the Iceland player and the two of them, and poor Goldberg, go sliding into the goal-- thus, scoring another point for the other team.

Rory groans and sits back down.

Her entire family came out to see her get absolutely obliterated.

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Rory doesn't think she'll ever beat the feeling that comes from being on the ice with Fulton and Dean.

They're truly a sight to behold and she watches, biting back a laugh (because she's trying to be professional and refuses to admit she finds it amusing) as they push the Iceland players around and screw up their terrifying synchronicity.

There's a shot on their goal but Goldberg saves it. She and Fulton both keep themselves open for a pass as Kenny gets it, but he's got bigger concerns.

Stansson shouts at his fellow players in Icelandic and they start to chase the much smaller boy. Rory swallows bile.

"Watch out!"

Kenny won't let himself be slapped around again, though. In a way that only a former Olympic skater could, he splits the Icelandic defenses with a flying spin and distracts them with a few more twirls that leave all of them (including Rory) dizzy.

He passes the puck to Fulton and Fulton, grinning, says something to them before he shoots.

He scores.

As the entire crowd, and the rest of their team on the bench, jump out of their seats and cheer so loudly she can almost hear them over the buzzer, Rory gives Fulton a congratulatory pat on the back. He responds by slapping a hand down on her helmet and affectionately shaking her head from side to side.

She steps back to give the three 'bash brothers' a moment soak in their combined victory but almost stumbles forward when someone shoves against her back.

"Oi." Stahl huffs when he finally gets her attention, and then says something to her in Icelandic.

"I'm going to take a wild guess and say you just insulted me." She gestures to the scowl on his face and doesn't wait for any confirmation. "And, normally, I wouldn't bother to stoop to your level but..."

Rory's sentence trails off and Stahl follows her gaze to the scoreboard.

"How do you like them apples?"

Stahl smacks the hand she points with out of the air and then pushes her. The cocky smile on her face falls into a flat line and her eyebrows pinch, slightly, as she shoves him back.

(Now, Rory knows that she shouldn't have done that. She shouldn't have egged him on, and she shouldn't have pushed him back, but she did anyway.)

Michael Tyler's words echo in her head and, suddenly, that's all she can hear.

(Maybe she was just a little tired of warning people that she'll bite them, her ears back, teeth bared, and her eyes blown wide as she heaved breaths, backed into a corner by the world at large.)

Her gloves are barely off by the time that Gunnar catches on to what she's intending to do. She grabs hold of his jersey and punches him with her free hand, ignoring everything from the roar of the crowd to the cries of the referees.

Rory puts her whole body into every punch. Even if she knows she's going to get a penalty. Even if punching someone in the face really hurts.

He has a fat lip by the time the referee manages to pry them apart. She glows with a smug sort of pride as she's ushered over to the box.

"No words to defend yourself?"

She sniffs and shrugs. "It's a free country."

The minute she sits down the boards are closed behind her. Rory rolls her shoulders and tries to watch herself on the jumbotron so she doesn't have to think about the consequences of her own actions, but it doesn't linger on her for very long.

In response to her fight, Dean and Fulton have started to rile up the crowd. Abandoning their sticks, gloves, and helmets, they tease the Iceland players, going so far as to knock their heads around and earn themselves a penalty.

"You guys are idiots." She says, dryly, when the referee drops them off and shoots her another pointed look.

Neither of them responds to the comment directly. Instead, they shake her shoulders and rouse the crowd some more. Rory tries and fails to hide a smile.

Kenny and Charlie get sent to toss their gear to them over the boards. Kenny's laughing boyishly at the boys' antics but Charlie is scolding her, albeit playfully.

"What?"

"You just had to get into a fight, didn't you?"

Rory turns her stick over in her hand. "Yeah, well, this is a moment you can't step on."

Charlie grins.

Fulton gives her a fist bump as the game begins again. Dean decides to chest bump her, something that almost sends her sprawling to the floor.

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Back on the bench with the rest of her team, Rory watches, Julie at her side, in horror as Connie gets trapped against the boards with the puck.

"Why couldn't you have gone all Cinderella Man on that one?" The blonde huffs, gesturing to Olaf Sanderson as he makes his rounds and sets his sights on Connie.

"Connie, watch out!"

Before either of the girls (or any other player, for that matter) realize it, though, Dwayne is on the ice. Sanderson never gets to make contact with Connie because the cowboy lassos him and tugs the bigger boy down to the ice.

He earns himself a penalty as the second period reaches its final minutes.

The blonde and brunette share a glance.

"What the hell just happened?"

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The brief break between the second and third periods comes much too quickly for her liking.

"Did y'all enjoy that?" Bombay asks as he enters the locker room. The rest of the team, not sensing his sharp tone, gives him varying responses that tell him they did. "Well, so did they. Because they're still three points up and we're one period away from defeat."

Rory stays silent and chews on the skin around her thumb. She can't help but feel as though she's responsible for the wave of misbehavior.

She was supposed to play a bigger role and, instead, she lost her temper and made a mockery of it.

"If we can't beat them, we might as well keep our pride."

Her teammates start to rally in agreement with Jesse, but Rory makes a face. Maybe there was pride in what she did, but the lasso?

"That's not pride." She interjects, all eyes turning to her. "That was... It was cheating."

"Rory's right. Jesse, that's not pride. Sure, when Dwayne roped that big oaf, part of me cheered. But, guys, I've been there, I know how you feel-- I wanted to cream that jerk that busted my knee when I played minors, and I really, really, wanted to go after Stansson for that cheap shot. But you know what, my knee will heal." His voice takes a soft, sincere tone. "And if I become someone I'm not, if I sink to their level, then I've lost more than my knee. You understand?"

As her teammates start to murmur, he makes eye contact with her and nods appreciatively.

"We're not goons. We're not bullies. No matter what people say or do, we have to be ourselves-- you, who are you?"

All eyes turn to Dean, who glances around in confusion with wide eyes.

"Dean Portman."

"From where?"

"Chicago, Illinois."

"You?"

"Guy Germaine."

"From where?"

"From St. Paul, Minnesota."

"You?"

"Jesse Hall from Minneapolis, Minnesota."

"Who are you?"

"Julie Gaffney from Bangor, Maine."

"Luis Mendoza. Miami, Florida."

"Greg Goldberg. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania."

"Les Averman. Brooklyn Park, Minnesota."

"Fulton Reed. Stillwater, Minnesota."

"Lorelei Myrtle. Detroit, Michigan"

"Russ Tyler. South Central Los Angeles."

"Charlie Conway. Minneapolis, Minnesota."

"Ken Wu. San Francisco, California."

"Connie Moreau. Minneapolis, Minnesota."

"Adam Banks. Edina, Minnesota."

"Dwayne Robertson. Austin, Texas."

"Michele MacKay. Duluth, Minnesota."

"And I'm Gordon Bombay. Minneapolis, Minnesota." Coach finishes them off and they all erupt into cheers.

Averman's hand brushes against hers and the two of them slowly but surely intertwine their pinkies.

"We're Team U.S.A, gathered from all across America, and we're gonna stick together. You know why?"

Jan enters from behind him, grinning. "Because we are the Ducks and ducks fly together."

"That's right Jan. And, just when you think they're about to break apart--"

"Ducks fly together!"

Her eyebrows pinch but Averman nudges her a bit with his elbow, silently urging her to say the chant too.

"And when the wind blows hard and the sky is black?"

"Ducks fly together!"

"And when the roosters are crowing and the cows are spinning circles in the pasture--"

Everyone turns to Dwayne, slightly confused, and Rory breathes a laugh.

"Um, okay--"

"-- Ducks fly together!"

"And when everyone says it can't be done? Ducks fly together."

Jan pushes toward them, so happy that he's shaking, and places a box down in front of them.

"Now new ducks and old ducks must unite under a new banner, and I thought, perhaps something like this."

The new jerseys that get handed out are much more attractive than the old ones. White and green, they bear the tea, logo rather than the various sponsor patches.

Any words about whether or not this is a legal or smart decision die on Rory's tongue as soon as she's handed hers. She holds it out from her with an unreadable expression.

"Do you like it?" Jan asks her in particular, excited.

The amalgamate of emotions she's feeling right now pour out into tears that prick her eyes and the man stands there, unsure of how to proceed, with concern written all over his face.

"I'm sorry." She sniffles, hugging the jersey close to her chest. "I've just-- I've never--nobody's ever wanted-- You people need to stop springing these things on me."

Frustrated with herself, she wipes at her eyes and huffs.

"She loves it." Averman translates for her.

Luis nods, tacking on with a smile. "She's just all dorky and cute inside."

Rory shoves him lightly as he starts to laugh.

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Somehow, with their new jerseys, the pep talk, and a new quack-centered chant, things start to pick up for Team USA.

Connie scores a goal right off the bat, and Charlie and Bombay come up with the oddest game plan known to hockey that Banks and Rory somehow, being as decent at the game as they are, score under while assisting each other.

Luis gets ahold of the puck, then, and she watches with bated breath.

He barrels down the ice and, to everyone's surprise (including his own), he skids to a stop. Standing there for a moment, completely in shock, he stares at the goalie he just sprayed with ice.

"Put it in, Luis!" Bombay shouts at the same time Rory cups her mouth to say. "Shoot it!"

Luis manages to shake the shock off quickly enough to do as told and score them another goal. Ignoring everyone else, he makes a beeline for Rory.

"I stopped!" He says as he skates up to her. "I stopped!"

"You did!" She grins.

He wraps her up in a hug that lifts her off her feet.

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Unsure of how to proceed, Iceland revamps their old methods and continues to play dirty. Russ can barely be on the ice without being mobbed, resulting in near injury and too many thwarted attempts at him using his patented 'knuckle puck.'

Bombay calls him off the ice after a particularly rough check to the boards and, while he and Charlie try to devise a plan, Averman cracks a joke.

"Maybe we should dress him up as someone else."

Rory snorts softly. "Yeah, put him in Goldberg's jersey or something."

Charlie doesn't seem to get that it's a joke. They call a timeout and, with all of their teammates crowding around them to hide what's going on, Russ and Goldberg switch jerseys.

"This is so unbelievably dumb..." She sighs, looking on like there's about to be a car accident on the ice.

Charlie thumps her on the back.

With the new element of surprise, though, Russ manages to do what he needs to and ties the game with seconds left in the period.

"Oh my god!"

They start to jump onto the ice as the gravity of a tie hits them, pulling their teammate into a hug. Rory hangs back a moment just to smirk at Wolf Stansson, who's positively enraged, when he makes eye contact with her. Even with the shootout, and the possibility of quite a few issues with the staff, looming over them she finds a certain satisfaction in it all.

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The shootout is preceded by a huddle between Bombay, Charlie, and one of the referees. They are meant to be picking the five kids that will participate in the shootout, winning or losing the game for them, but they're taking longer than necessary. It's evident in the ref's body language, as he's doing everything but tapping his foot and checking his watch, and Michelle MacKay's face as she tries her best to comfort the team, who wait anxiously for any results.

When they finally break apart, Rory and Adam breathe a simultaneous sigh of relief. They both pretend to not notice the strange look Goldberg and Russ give them.

"Okay, we've got our lineup." Bombay says, clapping a hand down on Charlie's shoulder as the referee skates away.

Rory gives the man her undivided attention, smacking her boy on the leg so he'll stop joking around with Guy and Jesse.

"Rory," He turns to her with a small smile and, though her eyes widen, his face never changes, "you're going up first. I won't ask you if you think you can handle it because I know you can."

Her eyebrows shoot to her hairline at the bold admission of his faith in her and she shoots a sideways glance at Charlie, who smiles reassuringly.

"Alright, coach. Whatever you say."

Averman wraps an arm around her shoulders and pulls her into his side so he can peck her on the cheek.

"After Rory, Guy will go."

Connie grabs her boyfriend by the chin so she can kiss him sweetly.

"Then Dwayne."

Jesse claps the cowboy on the back, grinning proudly.

"Then Fulton."

Dean slugs his suddenly bashful best friend on the arm, whooping loudly much to Fulton's chagrin.

"And finally, Adam. Adam will go fifth."

Rory smiles at the blond who gives her a nervous smile in return.

Nobody else understands just how much these shots mean for the both of them. She won't let it get to her though (at least not yet) and he already has.

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Rory, just like it was determined she would, goes first.

Her teammates see her off with a quiet rally of encouragement, slapping her on the back and offering her bright smiles; Bombay squeezes her shoulder as she passes, and MacKay whispers 'you got this!' as she gets to the opening in the boards. She puts her helmet on as they announce her, rolling her shoulders and taking a deep breath as she skates onto the ice, the cheering of the crowd taking a backseat in her mind as she meets her grandfather's eyes in the crowd.

He stares right back.

She gets into position, reminding herself that she has been doing this her whole life and that the thousands of expectant eyes make no difference.

Hockey is hockey.

Hockey is in her blood.

The referee places the puck down and, when he gives her the okay, she kicks it with the blade of her skate and starts toward the goal post.

She dekes once, twice, and then a third time, skidding to a stop and winding back before she hits her shot. There's a second after the puck cracks against her stick where she can't breathe, so caught up in the panic that she might screw up and the strange euphoria that comes from a sport she hates that she can't think of anything else-- and then the sirens are echoing.

Rory scored.

Closing her eyes, she releases a shuddering breath and tilts her head back, smiling as the crowd starts to react. She throws her arms up in the air, practically vibrating with excitement, and skates back to her team.

"I scored!" She takes her helmet off.

Bombay smiles warmly at her again. "See. I knew you would."

Feeling all fluttery inside, she sits down on the bench and clamps a hand down over her mouth, mumbling thank you's as people offer their congratulations. Les brushes a hair behind her ear, worsening the redness in her face.

"You did great."

Iceland's first choice also scores, which kind of ruins the high for Rory, but she cannot wipe the smile from her face. Even if they lose, she isn't the one who screwed everything up, and she made her family proud.

Guy scores and Connie cheers louder than the rest of them, jumping up and down and clapping. The boy breathes a deep, outward breath as he sits down, his eyes wide with panic and a smile on his face.

The second Iceland guy shoots and Goldberg saves it, giving them a one-point lead, and she actually shouts her praises.

Dwayne's shot also gets blocked, though, and when he comes to sit back down on the bench, looking all sad and on the verge of tears, Rory rubs his back.

"You did your best. It's okay." She whispers, and he nods with a frown. He doesn't seem to believe her.

Iceland's next player scores, ruining their lead.

Fulton gets off the bench with a deep breath, his hands shaking as he puts his helmet on. Though, his worries were unfounded because, with that brilliant slapshot, he scores, knocking the goalie down in the process.

But the next Iceland kid also scores.

Adam looks much more worse for wear than the rest of them did. He swallows, ignoring most of the team's encouraging words as he puts his helmet on and grabs his stick; Rory jumps up as he goes, grabbing his arm.

"Hey, I'm proud of you. No matter what."

He nods, trying to smile.

The room is eerily quiet as Adam skates onto the ice and gets into place, and cries of relief are sounded as he scores. When he gets back to the bench, he hugs Rory tightly, rocking her back and forth as Bombay makes the decision to switch out Goldberg for Julie.

Everyone seems to hold their breath after Stahl hits the puck.

"Come on... come on."

A strange, strange laugh bursts past Rory's lips as Julie turns her arm, the puck falling right out of her glove.

They won.

They won the gold.

As her teammates all start to rush onto the ice, tackling the blonde goalie into a big group hug that's surely going to leave a mark, Rory turns to Bombay.

"Thank you."

"What for?"

"Everything."

With that, she joins her friends on the ice, accepting hug after hug and letting Dean rub his knuckles into her scalp. She can't quite remember a time in her life where she was this happy and, when Averman pulls her into a celebratory kiss, she thinks that this is it. Her heart might just burst.

The USA Ducks let go of each other when an American flag is handed to Adam. He hands it over to Charlie, though, and, before their official captain can make his rounds, Rory catches him.

"I think I have something that belongs to you." She jokes, taking the C from her jersey and giving it to him. "You're a much better captain than you realize, Conway. Don't sell yourself short."

"I could say the same thing to you."

Rory shakes her head and smiles as he leans in to hug her. Her arms wrapped around him, she takes the opportunity to whisper in his ear.

"Never do that to me again."

"I won't. I promise."

She pulls away from him to let him skate around the rink and goes to the boards. Krystal and Kim are cheering for her, and Elijah is smiling.

He's proud of her.

That's all that matters.

Eventually, their celebrations have to end, and it comes time for the post-game handshake.

She manages to keep up her sportsmanship for most of it, shaking hands and saying the words "good game" robotically, even when it comes to assholes like Sanderson and Stahl. It's not until she faces Wolf Stansson does it start to get hard, her words getting caught in her throat and her jaw clenching.

"Good game." He says, shaking her hand. "Maybe I was wrong about you, little girl. You're much better than your father."

"Go fuck yourself."

Dean lets out a loud guffaw from behind her and Wolf stares at her in shock as she narrows her eyes, snatching her hand back.

Laughing nervously, Averman grabs her arm and starts to drag her away, not even bothering to apologize to the coach.

"Did I just do that?"

"Yeah, you did, princess. Look, just because you can kick ass doesn't mean--"

"My dad's gonna kill me."

And she says it with a laugh because, of all things, she doesn't really feel afraid right now.

•─────────•❋•─────────•

a/n:

incase you somehow missed my explanation to the canon changes in previous chapters, here's a brief rundown: kenny loses all d2 development and repeats his storyline in d3. rory's going to have to know how to kick ass for d3. figured i'd kill two birds with one stone and give it to her. that being said, i like that the new reasoning behind kenny being part of the bash brothers is just "they like him."

the temp captain thing is important!!!! it's so important!!!! I need you guys to understand that!!!! rory, who has never managed to fit in anywhere, given a role typically given to a well-respected player? it's so important.

i will take every single opportunity to make as many benny rodriguez references with luis.

licheraly sobbing and throwing up over this chapter and idk why. the thumbs up with adam? fulton shaking her head? the chest bump? the hug with luis? literally stfu i love these kids so much.

also sassy rory >>>>>> wolf stansson is going to wake up in a cold sweat thinking about her and I think that's so perfect. oliver would be proud if he was capable of liking her /j

comments and votes are super appreciated! they let me know that you guys like my writing and I cannot stress how much they motivate me to continue! thank you