Scared of His Happy Place

By: ebb in and away

Spoilers: Not that many that I can think of. This takes place before the third movie but after the second. If you've seen the first and second, there shouldn't be any spoilers.

Rating: T, due to mentions of injury and a car accident. There also may be some swearing on occasion. If this will bother you, please avoid reading the story.

Disclaimer: I most definitely do NOT own any of the characters/settings/plotlines/etc. from the "Mighty Ducks". I am not making any money from this story. I also do NOT own the names or their meanings. Basically, if you recognize it, it does NOT belong to me!

Ch.2

Adam was released from the hospital the next afternoon, and all of the Ducks, Christine, and Gordon were waiting for him. They had one last evening before they had to go home, and they all had questions for Adam. Mainly, why was Christine so willing to talk to him? They got back to the hotel, and Gordon led the group to his suite. Once everyone was seated, Adam began.

"When I was 5, a young girl moved into the house down the road from mine. She was...quiet. I was somewhat quiet too, and my mom practically had to drag me over to her house. The first day we met, she seemed to trust me more than any of the adults that tried talking to her. I wound up calling her 'Princess' because she was wearing a toy crown. Dad had started teaching me about hockey, so I tried a few times to get her to go out on the ice. She always refused, and I eventually asked my mom why. Apparently, there was a car crash when she was 3, and she was in the car with her mother at the time. A car hit a patch of ice, lost control, and hit their car. Her mother died on impact, and the girl was scraped up, with a couple of broken bones. Her father was called back from his tour, and they moved to Edina for a couple of years. Even though she has a hockey player for her father, she refused to voluntarily go out on the ice. Until last night."

Adam grabbed Christine's hand.

"Guys, meet Princess."

It was on that note that Gordon sent the Ducks to their rooms, reminding them that they had an early flight.

Charlie and Adam lay awake, and Charlie eventually rolled over to face his friend.

"Adam?"

"Yeah?"

"What will happen to Christine when we get home?"

Adam rolled over.

"I'm not sure. She'll probably go back home with her father."

Charlie seemed to accept this answer, and promptly fell asleep. Adam lay awake for hours, dreading the arrival of the next day.

The next morning was hectic for everybody, excluding Christine. She woke early and packed her own belongings, along with her uncle's, then woke her uncle. As he got up and trudged into the bathroom, she grabbed her room key and went to wake the Ducks. Upon reaching Adam and Charlie's room, she was given permission to enter by a rather sleepy Adam and a somewhat panicky Charlie. As Christine started to pack Charlie's bag, Adam returned to packing his, periodically glancing over at his friends. He realized that Christine wasn't wearing her reading glasses, then noticed that she had dressed for comfort and in such a way that she would be able to breeze through security. Soon, both boys had their bags packed, Charlie had calmed down, and the three were hauling their luggage out of their rooms with the rest of the team.

The group made it to the airport early, mainly due to Christine waking them up before they had to be awake, so they went through security, then started thinking about breakfast. Christine disappeared during their discussion, returning with a pad of paper and a pen. She nudged Adam, handing the pen and paper to him. He passed it through the group , having everybody write their coffee orders on it. Christine was about to take off, but Adam grabbed her arm. She waited as he got Charlie's attention, then led the way to get coffee. Christine, used to getting coffee for her father's hockey team, was carrying two trays with five cups on each. Adam was carrying another tray with four cups, and Charlie was carrying his own cup. The Ducks paid Christine back, taking their coffee from her with grateful smiles. As the group said their good-byes to those who would be going to different states, Adam pulled Christine to his side, hoping to offer some comfort. The group finally split off, boarding their flights for home.

Gordon, despite rarely being around his niece, knew her fairly well. He understood that she would want to stay near Adam for as long as she could, so he had called the airport and arranged for her to be seated with the Ducks. Christine, upon figuring this out, nearly tackled her uncle while thanking him. He returned her hug, then pushed her towards her seat. As she sat down beside Adam, Gordon couldn't help thinking that he had made her day.

Christine was silent during the flight, listening to the Ducks chatter, and resting her head on Adam's shoulder. When they reached the airport in Minnesota, she still didn't say a word until she saw her father.

James Bombay tried to calm his daughter, who was now crying, but nothing seemed to help. Adam, noticing that Christine was upset, walked over to see what the problem was. She saw him, and immediately buried her face in his chest. Adam calmly stroked her hair, hoping that her father wouldn't hate him for being so close to the teenage girl.

James, fortunately for Adam, was relieved that somebody was capable of calming his daughter. After years of being the only person able to make Christine feel safe, he was glad that he had sent her with Gordon. His daughter finally stepped back from the boy she was clinging to and turned to James. "Ad-Am." She pointed at the boy behind her.

James couldn't believe it. He may have been gone a lot during the time they were living in Edina, but he knew all about the boy who had lived down the road. Christine had refused to talk to anybody except for her father, until she met Adam. Her nanny had been irritated, and James couldn't get Christine to communicate with anybody, so hearing that Christine had made a friend had elated him.

James looked over at Adam.

"James Bombay."

Adam shook his hand.

"Adam Banks."

Charlie had wandered over, and Christine grabbed his hand.

"Hey, I have to go home eventually."

Christine looked ready to cry, and Charlie immediately pulled her into a hug.

"It's okay, we have each other's phone numbers, remember?"

James spoke up.

"Actually, we're moving again."

Christine's face became blank.

"Where?"

Gordon, having seen the other Ducks off, came over.

"Just think, now you can stay with me when your dad goes on tour."

Christine gaped at him. James glared.

"Anyways, as I was about to tell you before your uncle interrupted, we are moving back to Edina. The same house we lived in before..."

He was cut off by his daughter nearly tackling him.

Adam couldn't believe his ears. Christine was moving back to Edina, just down the road from him! He could talk to her almost any time he wanted, celebrate her birthday with her... His thoughts were interrupted by Christine throwing her arms around him. As he hugged back, he couldn't help the warm feeling spreading through him.