Shout out to divergent_spn61 :) 

****

Back in Pittsburgh,

The Tampa Bay Lightning watch Sidney Crosby walk off, muttering to himself about what just happened.

Galchenyuk turns towards his teammates. "So, if it's not Crosby, then who would frame him?"

Vladdy sighs. "Well, usually, I would say Gally or someone in Montreal, but, ya know..."

Galchenyuk walks over to Vladdy. "We know what happened. But, that gives me an idea. Why don't we go back to Tampa and see if we can figure this mystery out!" He puts a hand on Vladdy's shoulder. "How about that?"

Everyone agrees with Galchenyuk and then they start to head toward where they'd come in the private jet. Nikita, Ondrej, Vladdy, TJ, Ryan, Jo, Brayden and Steven all pile into a car together.

But, naturally, what should have been a quiet ride back, turns quickly into chaos.

"Can I have cookie?" Nikita asks, pulling on Ondrej's shirt sleeve.

"Can I have your mom?" Jo says.

"Brayden, don't touch my cheese!" Vladdy snaps. "I shoulda rode with Chucky!"

"Shut up back there!" TJ snaps. "Pally, do NOT give Kuch a cookie!"

Ryan Callahan is just about to ask, "Can we stop at an Arby's," when his phone rings. The car they are in plunges into quiet, you can hear a pin drop.

Ryan looks at it, oddly and then slides his finger across the screen and answers. "Hello?"

"Cally, who is it?" Brayden asks.

"Your--!" Jo replies, before Brayden and Vladdy both slap their hands over his mouth and he mumbles, "mom."

Ryan shushes them and puts the call on speaker, just in case. There is a pause, before a voice on the other side of the line says, "Hi, Mr. Callahan. We regret to inform you, that you have just been traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs."

Ryan sits and blinks, thinking about this voice, as everyone else in the car gasps. It doesn't sound familiar, but this person said that he is traded. They pull into the airport and park, pausing in the car briefly as the other cars with the rest of the team appear.

Suddenly, Nikita cries, "No! Cally!! Cally no go!"

Ryan swallows hard and stares at each of the stunned players in the car as Ondrej pulls Nikita close to him.

"Pally, are you going be traded?" Nikita whispers, looking up with big, frightened eyes at Ondrej.

The Czech player looks down at him and sweetly says, "It'll be okay, Kuch. I'm not gonna leave you. I promise."

The voice in the phone then continues with, "Mr. Callahan? Is Mr. Garrison around you?"

Ryan takes the phone off speaker with a shaky finger. "Yes. Mr. Garrison is around." Ryan covers the phone and whispers to everyone, "Why would Yzerman and Andreychuk do this?"

Everyone shrugs, as he gets out and awkwardly calls to Jason Garrison to come over as he walks by with Braydon Coburn and Andrej Sustr. Once he comes over, Ryan hands him his phone and the bearded defenseman looks at him before saying, "Hello, this is Jason Garrison?"

The mysterious voice begins to speak to him now, saying, "Mr. Garrison, I wanted to let you and Mr. Callahan know that you have been traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs, along with a first round pick."

Jason looks at Ryan and questions in disbelief, "For who?"

"A player to be named later. But for now, head back to Tampa and gather your stuff. Say goodbye to your team and your teammates. Return to Tampa as soon as possible, and then we will send a flight to bring the two of you to your new team. That is all."

Jason and Ryan share a look and then both say into the phone's reciever, "Uh...thank you for letting us know..."

"Have a nice night." Then, the mysterious person hangs up on the phone and Ryan does the same, pocketing his device.

The rest of the team gathers around them, wondering what has happened. Ryan and Jason turn towards their former teammates and look at them in shock. The whole team looks back at them, as if they had suddenly revealed themselves to be Brandon Gallagher and Andrew Shaw.

Ryan stumbles in place, rubbing his forehead. "This can't be real."

"Well, why would the Bolts want to give up a first round pick and the two of us for someone on the Leafs? That doesn't sound like Yzerman or Andreychuk," Jason remarks, folding his arms. "But I guess this is goodbye."

"Maybe they thought that it was best for business? But, we'll never know why they traded us I guess."

Nikita races forward and throws his arms around Ryan, hugging him tightly. "No go Cally. No, no, no." He carries on in Russian, sobbing.

Ondrej comes forward and peels Nikita off of Ryan and they all file onto the plane and sit down. Ryan quietly stares out the window, abnormally depressed and confused, trying to process the news that they had found out.

And so is the whole team because they don't know what to do about two of their teammates being traded. Nikita is upset, crying into Ondrej's shoulder as they fly back to Tampa. Sure, it happened all of the time, but how are they supposed to react to something if it isn't expected? It was out of the blue and it's Ryan Callahan!

The team is quiet throughout the whole plane ride, which is quite a shock. Not even Jonathan Drouin says any "Your Mom" jokes. Just Nikita sobbing and everyone wondering what had happened.

About thirty minutes from landing in Tampa though, Vladdy taps his captain, Steven Stamkos and talks to him about what is happening. He really wants to know who'd killed Brendan Gallagher, even if it is his mortal enemy, he must know. "So, if Sidney didn't kill Gally, then who did it?"

Steven looks at him and shrugs, before chancing a glance to see Ryan bury his head in his hands as he spots the familiar setting below him. "Well, whoever this person is, they might hate Sid enough to frame him for a murder. And they hated Gally too. So...that's still a lot of people."

"Maybe it has something to do with the trade?" Vladdy suggests, feeling sick to his stomach.

"Highly doubt it Vladdy. It's just an odd, horrible coincidence - one incident after another."

Vladdy stops pestering his teammate about possible suspects and decides to think about what to do about Yzerchuk and what trouble that could be - is most likely - coming Tampa's way. He feels that the trade and the murder have to be connected...somehow. He just doesn't know how it is connected.

A few short hours later, the team lands back in Tampa. Ryan and Jason are the last ones to get off of the plane, and everyone knows what is going to happen. For the last time, the two of them take a bus to Amalie Arena, the site of the murder and where the Bolts would meet their new teammate.

The bus soon pulls up to the arena, and Ryan and Jason get off of the bus and start to head into the arena to slowly get their stuff together. They don't know what to expect, until they walk into the locker room and see a man sitting in the locker room in Ryan's spot with a black hood concealing his face and identity.

Ryan sighs and walks over to him. "Hi. Can I help you with anything?"

The man looks up at him. "Is this where the Bolts meet?"

Ryan rolls his eyes, not caring to get a good look of the person under the hood. "Umm...yeah. This is their locker room. But, I have to get packing. So, can you move?"

"Did you get traded to the Maple Leafs?" the person asks him.

Ryan looks at this guy in an odd way. "Umm...yeah. How did you know that?"

"I am the player to be named later. My name is of no importance to you right now."

Ryan looks at the hooded figure, "You sure? I mean, it would be nice to see who is our new teammate."

"I would like to keep my identity a secret for now."

Ryan sighs, "Whatever. Suit yourself then, but I have to get packed up."

The other Bolts soon arrive, with Nikita still in tears and reluctant to let Ryan leave; Ondrej holds him back.

The mysterious person decides that he will stay in the locker room to meet the team, since it seems like a lot of their stuff is left in here. He soon spots everyone enter the room as Ryan and Jason both pack up their stuff and then they reluctantly say goodbye to their former teammates.

Ryan and Jason eventually walk out of the locker room for the final time and look back towards the locker room where they played a good chunk of their careers. From scoring their first goals as Lightning Bolts to hanging out with their former teammates, all of the memories hit them like a brick wall.

Especially Ryan Callahan, who smiles and waves to Nikita, who just turns and buries his head into Ondrej's chest.

He sighs and whips around on his heels and they both walk out of the arena, seeing a black SUV outside, ready to take them to the airport. The whole team comes outside after them as they load their belongings into the car and they come to stand next to the car, and a single tear slides down their faces.

Ryan walks towards the car and turns towards his teammates. "So, this is it, I guess?"

Steven Stamkos sighs and steps forward. "Sadly, yes it is. But, good luck in Toronto, and we all can't wait to hear about it when we see you again."

Ryan nods. "Keep Kuch outta trouble. And the blondie. And if anyone dares take over my love of Arby's, I'll know." With that, he waves to the rest of the team before he enters the car that will eventually take him to his journey in Toronto.

Jason looks towards the team and smiles ever so slightly. "Good luck guys, may we meet in the playoffs!"

Vladdy smiles a bit at hearing this and he can't help but chuckle. "Well, it won't be the same without the two of you here. Good luck with your new team, and I'm hoping for the best for you."

Jason gets into the car now and closes the door. The car then starts to slowly drive away from Amalie Arena. For the final time, the Bolts watch their two former teammates drive off to their new team.

Then the team solemnly walks back through the player lot and into the arena, heading to their locker room, somberly. Vladdy is the first one to spot a man, who is waiting outside the locker room, looking around in wonder at his surroundings. He'd been there the whole time of course, but the team had been so focused on Jason and Ryan's departure, that they hadn't seen him.

The man turns towards them and Vladdy gasps. "You're our new teammate?"

This mysterious man smiles sweetly at him, lowering his hood finally to reveal a brunette man. He looks right at Vladdy and introduces himself. "Yes I am. I'm Auston Matthews, the newest member of the Tampa Bay Lightning."