A/n: Hey-o! Who doesn't love a good Miracle fic? Haha. Just a few fair warnings:
1) I throw nicknames around a lot. Now, I know most of you are so in love with this team that you know all their names and faces and positions and just everything lol. But I just wanted to be fair about the fact that you have to be very familiar with the team to follow the story sometimes.
2) There's racism, sexism and sigh yes, cheating. Drama ahoy lol
Now sit back and enjoy! I love these boys so much and I really hope it shows. Cheers and happy reading!
- Rachel
Disclaimer: I no not own, nor do I claim to own anything associated with the Olympics, mentioned hockey players or the Miracle Franchise. All rights reserved to the Olympic Committe, the players themselves and Disney.
Blood on the Ice
Chapter One: Hitler With Boobs
She moved silently across the ice, stringing noiseless figure eights out over the surface almost as though it were water. Distracted, I set my clipboard down and stared at her in awe, studying her turns with intent concentration.
"Amazing isn't it?" Coach Brooks gave me the tiniest hint of a smile. I returned his look for a moment before going back to gawking. "Taylor Roberts. Five time junior league solo champion."
"How is she doing that?" I asked, breathlessly as she performed a double axle in the air and landed stealthily, picking up where she left off in her last figure eight. Herb looked down at me, fully smirking now.
"That's what we brought her here to find out." Picking up his marker and clipboard, he went out onto the ice towards her. A frown creased my forehead as I watched the brunette skater come to a stop I front of Herb, putting out her hand for him to shake. My mom had been a skater and my father had been involved with hockey his entire life, I knew talent when I saw it. So why had I never even heard of this girl? Why was she here, at a hockey practice of all places, and not practicing for the Olympics.
"Who is that?" I hadn't realized the boys had come out from the locker rooms until Mikey was suddenly standing beside me, murmuring as he stared, transfixed as I had been.
"Taylor Roberts, according to Coach." I offered. The boys all exchanged looks. "I dunno, she's fresh out of junior league I think 'cause I've never heard of her."
"I have." Silky nodded, staring at her as well. "She skated with my sistah in the junyah leagues, figure singles. Damn good, real creative. Beat Mahgret in every event."
"So what's she doin' heah?" Riz looked over at Silky, who offered only a shrug.
"Beats me Rizzo."
"Alright, well, as fascinating as it is to stand here and watch Herb talk to some girl on our ice, it's not exactly why I got suited up. Can we play some hockey please? Today, maybe?"
And that cocky, borderline obnoxious voice would be, who else, but O.C. Unable to help the grin that spread over my face I shook my head and waved the boys out into the rink.
"Alright, let's get our stretch on fellas. Come on, get in three lines for me, there ya go. Alright first I want you in a parade rest…alright, now lean forward so both your palms are on the ice." A chorus of groans echoed from behind me. Chuckling to myself, I kept instructing, "Don't lock those knees up boys, but don't bend them either. Keep those spines straight. Good, now right ankle…." Closing my eyes, I could faintly hear Coach Brooks' thick Minnesota accent as he spoke to Taylor. I had to admit, I was a little self conscious stretching the boys out in front of her. "Left ankle." I called out, absently, wondering if she was paying attention to our routine and if she was, what she thought of it.
Slowly, I stood up straight and turned to face the boys as they did the same, continuing to groan.
"Everyone ready for lunges?"
More sounds of disapproval followed. Once suited up, the boys hated having to stretch. They were ready to play, they just wanted to have at the ice.
"Or we could just get to work without stretching, how about that? I know I've got pulling a few ligaments at the top of my to-do list, what about you guys?" Before I'd even noticed her move away from Herb, Taylor had skated up beside me in that eerily silent fashion of hers and was staring the team down. Close up I could see her clearly defined features, as intimidating as they were beautiful. She definitely looked the part of a girl who could make a living on the ice.
The boys all exchanged confused glances at her first words to them.
"I didn't think so. After today, gentlemen, you will beg to stretch. So, enjoy it while you can. You have…8 minutes. Hurry up." With that, she skated over to the benches to join the coaches and Doc.
With a smirk tugging at my mouth, I continued. No more complaining ensued after Taylor's rueful pep talk and we got done pretty quickly, much to the chagrin of the team.
"Alright, good work boys. I'll see you again in a few hours."
"Aw, Niki, yah not actually gunna leave us with her, ah you?" O.C. asked melodramatically as I started to skate off the ice.
"I'm with Jack on this one. She's kinda scary." Johnson admitted.
"Kinda reminds me of Herb." Ralph Cox smirked.
"Chya, if Herb was a total hottie." Verchota cracked, and the other boys laughed heartily with him.
"Guys, come on. She's a figure skater. How bad could it be?" Mac shrugged as he secured the strap on his helmet. Snickering, the guys continued to stand around me, like I was actually going to stay.
"What do you want me to do? Hold your hand? This isn't the first day of Kindergarten boys, get over it."
"Lotta maternal instinct you got there, Nik." Craig smiled at me as he fixed his goalie mask in place. Giving him a playful shove, I laughed.
"Get out of here! You guys are so pathetic, you know that." A few of them gave me looks like that comment had truly hurt their egos. Rolling my eyes, I skated away. "If you disagree, let's see you prove me wrong!"
Entering the benches, I took a seat and began untying my laces so I could get to work.
"Taylor Roberts. I'm here to help the boys work on their skating." Suddenly a hand was in my face and it was obvious who it belonged to. Looking up, I offered my own hand and the two met in the middle to shake.
"Nikita Chekhol. I work with Doc, sort of his assistant."
She nodded, smiling ever so slightly.
"Awesome. Could you do me a really big favor?" The slightest hint of a southern accent came out in her speech and I couldn't help but smirk.
"Um, sure." I replied, hoping I hadn't just agreed to something I would regret.
"Could you take a few notes today on how the guys do with me. I need to be able to track their progress, you know?"
"Oh, yah, no problem. I can do that."
"Perfect! I really appreciate it. I'll see you after practice?"
"Yah, definitely."
"Alright, cool. See ya 'round." And with that she skated off with the kind of elegant grace that inspired artists.
Shaking my head in wonderment, I finished taking off my white skates and started to slip on and tie my regular sneakers, which gave me the perfect opportunity to watch as Taylor introduced herself to the boys. After she'd intimated them it was pretty hilarious to watch, especially after she'd just been a total sweetheart to me. In a brief moment of internal amusement, I wondered if she was a feminist, or possibly a lesbian. Then, as I caught the looks on the boys' faces, I sincerely hoped for the entire team's sake that she wasn't. I wasn't sure I could deal with that level of disappointment from 26 hockey players for seven whole months.
"My name is Taylor Roberts. I've been skating my entire life, just like a lot of y'all. Except, I was actually trained to skate, whereas you guys've been screamed at for years to do little more than run on blades. That's why your coach asked me to come in Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays to help you polish up on your skating."
For the second time that morning she got to hear a barrage of complaining moans.
"Hey, hey!" Shouting over their whining, she was able to quiet them down a little. "I did not come here to play around with you boys. I came here to do a job that I was hired by your coach to do. Are you going to let me do it, or not?"
"None of us need to be taught how to skate better." Ramsey piped up, an aggressive edge to his voice.
"Yah, least of all by a girl." Someone else snidely added on.
"Obviously, your coach doesn't see it that way." Taylor retorted, dryly.
"We made it this far didn't we? I mean, we're here right?"
"So am I." None of them really had a good response. "Right now you guys're fast, I'll give you that. And you're strong in balance, too. I've seen your tapes, I'm impressed there. But skating is not about who can skate the fastest, or stay up the longest. It's about agility and strength and power. Otherwise you might as well just be racing."
Skating off towards the side of the rink, she continued shouting to them as she reached around the glass and grabbed a stack of cones.
"Now that introductions are out of the way, the first thing I want to do is see how agile y'all are." she told them, setting up the cones down the middle of the rink along the red line, with a good yard between each of them. "Line up along the wall. I want you to skate from there to the scorekeeper's box, silently. Dig your skates into the ice once and you'll get ten laps around the rink. Do it again and you'll get twenty. Understood?"
As they lined up against the glass, the boys all exchanged looks. I could hear them whispering about how crazy this chick was, the words 'Nazi' and 'Hitler with boobs' being thrown around in good humor. I tried not to laugh, but it was hard when, eventually, every single guy ended up failing her first test and being handed a ten-lap punishment in exchange. Some got twenty for giving their surrogate coach attitude about it, which only added to my amusement. Not to mention my awe.
I loved these boys, and I had a very high level of respect for each and every one of them. Likewise, I knew they had a semi-healthy level of respect for me. But at the end of the day, I was a girl and this? This was hockey, a man's sport in all regards. I didn't have authority on this rink and I accepted that without much question. And it's not that it bothered me, I just wished they'd take me a little more seriously sometimes. I never pushed them to it though, never wrung the respect out of them, just sort of gave them the option and left it at that.
What I was most in awe of about Taylor, was that she didn't leave it at that. She knew she had just as much of a right to skate on that ice as they did and no amount of attitude from them was going to change that. She pushed them and pushed them, never relenting and never taking no for an answer. And as much as they disliked it, at the end of the day they were still following her direction.
"Alright boys, bring it in." Skating to a stop in front of the group, Taylor watched them panting as she stood up straight, intimidatingly poised and seemingly untouched by the two hours of intense training she'd just gone through with them. "Now don't get me wrong, we have a lot to work on, but you did alright today. I think we can get you where you need to be without much of a problem. You do your job and I'll do mine. Have a good stretch boys, see you Wednesday." And with a precocious little wave of her fingers, she skated off the ice.
Picking up my clipboard, I went back out onto the ice and gave Taylor my notes, along with a highly amused smile, as we passed each other.
"Thanks sweetheart, they're all yours." And with a wink, she was headed off to the locker rooms to take off her skates and study what I'd given her. My smile was erased however when, the moment she was out of earshot, I was berated by a twenty-six outraged voices.
"Who the hell does she think she is?"
"Is she nuts?!"
"This isn't fucking figure skating, this is hockey!"
"Hey, hey, hey!" I shouted, a frown creasing my forehead. Slowly, they started quieting down. "Guys! Get a grip! She's here to help you!"
"We don't have time for this, the opening ceremonies are months away and we've only been training together two weeks!" Mac barked at me.
"This is training." I insisted.
"This is figure skating. Nikita, we're hockey players." Johnson argued back.
"Maybe you hadn't noticed but hockey is played on skates too." I reminded them dryly. Half of them rolled their eyes.
"Look, the bottom line is: We know how to skate already. We don't need some little ice princess telling us how to do ah jobs. We got this fah didn't we?" Silky explained, Massachusetts accent flaring in the wake of his anger.
"This far isn't good enough." Taking a deep breath, I ran a hand through my hair and tried to think of a better way to explain this. "Look, I guarantee you the Soviets aren't just working on their plays or building offensive lines. They already have those down. They're working on two things: stamina and agility. So, that's what we're going to work on too. If you can't handle that gentlemen, well then I suggest you find a new team to play for because this one doesn't want you. Now, are we ready to stretch?" For the first time, all of them went into lunges without a word of disapproval.
Back in the locker rooms a few of the boys wanted ice for their shins and ankles and, of course, came to me for it.
"What do you need ice for?" I smirked when Suter came first, a line of boys behind him, asking for ice. "It was just a little, girly figure skating, right boys?"
"Real cute Nik. You know we're not used to skating like that, okay? Come on." Silky leaned around Suter, a hand on his hip and an attitude on his lip. I took a deep breath and went to get them their ice.
"Alright, alright." I smirked, shaking my head and lifting my hands in defeat. "Just don't let me catch you callin' her an ice princess again, deal?"
"Don't wanna make you any promises we can't keep, now do we?" O.C. gave me a playful smile as he walked past me towards the showers. I swear, seeing these boys walk around shirtless really never got old.
"I'm sure that's your first priority Jack, as always." I returned his playful stare over my shoulder.
"I'd say it's his second." Rizzo flashed his adorable-as-ever smile as I handed him a pack, "Right after making sure little Jackie goes to bed happy." The entire locker room erupted with laughter, even from my end. The two walked off into the showers, Jack making a few lucid comments about "little Mikey" in his defense. Mac came up to me next, continuing to chuckle from the joke.
"Hey Rob." I flashed him a smile, still as amused as he was.
"Hey." He grinned back and I felt my blood get a little warmer. The boy had one of the most dazzling smiles I'd ever seen in my life. Not heartwarming like Rizzo's, not reassuring like Jimmy's, not even boyishly irresistible like Jack's. Just…dazzling. The puppy dog eyes shrouded in dark bangs didn't hurt either.
"How's that shoulder?" I asked, making his baggy for him and tying it a little slower than I'd done up the rest. He rotated it backwards a few times, feeling it out.
"Better after you helped me stretch it, thanks." he stepped to the side after I handed him his ice but stayed there, continuing to talk to me.
"No problem." I smiled softly, first at him and then Bah, who had been behind him.
"I think I've got a knot developing under my left shoulder blade though. Would you mind looking at it a little later?"
I really shouldn't have been as happy as I was over helping him with his back problems. But…I was.
"Yah, no problem. Just let me get this taken care of, then after I talk to Coach Brooks for a minute I'm all yours."
"Can't wait." Another flash of that winning smile and he'd disappeared behind the few boys remaining. My smile however, did anything but disappear.
After I got the rest of the ice out I took the cooler back to Doc, then went to Coach Brooks' office as I was supposed to, to give him a full report of injuries. There wasn't much to report today, other than whining and bruised egos. Smiling at how ridiculous boys could be, I shook my head, not paying attention to where I was going until I heard a voice from someone leaving Herb's office.
"Hey there." It was Taylor. I smiled at her as both of us slowed to a stop.
"You worked my boys pretty hard today." She just laughed lightly.
"They needed it." A shrug left her shoulders. "In more ways than one."
"Oh, I agree. All of them have it in their heads that they're ridiculously good skaters just because they made it onto this team. None of them realize that good hockey playing and good skating do not come as a package deal."
An impressed smirk crossed her face.
"Sounds like you do, though."
I shrugged, "I grew up around the ice. I mean didn't you hear my name? My dad's Russian, he's always been involved with hockey. And then, my mom was a pro skater. I know ability when I see it. And it's not that the boys are bad skaters, they just have a lot to work on."
"Tell me about it." She rolled her eyes and we both laughed.
"Well, I think you can definitely help them. I saw you skating earlier, I was very impressed."
Her smile grew wide, "Thanks, I try. I have to go though, so I'll see you Wednesday?"
"Definitely. It was nice to meet you Taylor."
"Yah, you too. I'll see ya."
Still smiling, I entered Coach Brooks' office, taking a seat after being waved in by a phone-attached Herb.
"I know Walter, I got the message…Well, make room in the budget, we need her…Alright, alright, bye." Hanging up, he adjusted his glasses and turned to me. "Hey there Nikida, thanks for comin' in."
I tried to fight the small smile that fought for territory on my mouth when his Minnesota accent hit my ears. I was used to Northeastern accents, having been raised in the North Shore of Massachusetts, and only ever found comfort and fondness in them. But the way the Midwest made half the guys here shape their words was just plain amusing to me, so foreign was it to my ears.
"No problem, what did you need to see me about?"
He looked me square in the eyes and took a deep breath.
"As the only woman on my staff, and as a skater with a very impressive pedigree, I'm interested in your opinion of Ms. Roberts. The Olympic Committee is breathing down my neck about having 'er here and I can't afford ta keep 'er here if we don't need 'er." He explained with classic bluntness.
Nodding, I thought about his question for mere seconds before giving him a response.
"I think we need her." I told him simply. "These boys are good, don't get me wrong, but let's be honest. We're going up against the best teams in the world, not the best teams in the country. They can use all the help they can get."
"And she's it, huh?" He asked, looking down at a photo of what I'm sure was Taylor, probably on the ice, all business.
"She's got what it takes Coach. I mean, I can just feel it rolling off of her in waves, she's got this passion that the boys definitely need to be around as much as possible."
"Alright." He gave me a curt nod. "That's all, you can go."
So? What'd you think? Romantic progress is gunna be slow, since there's a lot going on for everyone, but it'll be thorough if nothing else. Now go on and review!