WARNING: The "F-bomb" is dropped frequently during part of this chapter so if you don't like it don't read it! Just a heads up!

At practice the team had been awkwardly quiet around Mike Green. No one quite knew what to say or how to act around him. Mike understood the awkwardness and kept the talking to a minimum. When he did speak it was strictly about hockey and who he would play alongside in the game that night. Brooks Laich tried to keep the mood light by cracking a joke here and there or talking to Mike like everything was okay. Mike wasn't sure whether to be thankful or annoyed by his friend's actions. Nothing was okay…how could he skate around and talk like nothing had happened? Then again, that might be better than the alternative.

All in all the practice was frustrating for both the team and the coaches who seemed to struggle with how to approach the situation with Mike. They decided to leave him alone for now and let him deal with the issue on his own. As long as he played well tonight they were happy…

…

Karl Alzner glanced nervously at Mike Green as the team lined up for their first face off against the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Verizon Center in downtown D.C. He seemed to be okay…more quiet than usual but he had geared up just like everyone else in the locker room and took to the ice with the same old enthusiasm he always had.

"You ready?" asked Alzner as he lined up opposite of Green.

Mike glanced at his teammate briefly and gave a curt nod. Karl Alzner frowned at that and began to feel the worry gnaw at his gut once again. But there was no time to contemplate Mike's state of mind. The puck had dropped and the players scrambled into position, forcing Alzner to accept whatever condition Mike was in.

Nicklas Backstrom acquired the puck immediately on the draw, robbing the Penguin's captain, Sidney Crosby. He moved deftly to the side and sent the puck up the ice toward the Capital's all-star captain, Alexander Ovechkin. Alex snatched the puck and raced up the ice, tongue hanging out in excitement as he weaved in-between the Penguin's defensemen. Backstrom and Mathieu Perreault raced up the ice to back Ovechkin up while Alzner and Green took positions up high in case the puck headed back their way.

Sure enough, Evgeni Malkin swiped the puck away from Backstrom just as Ovechkin sent it his way and began to race down toward the Capital's zone. Alzner cursed and began to back up along with Green as they skated backwards, their eyes darting from Malkin to the waiting Sidney Crosby who raced up alongside his teammate. Malkin passed the puck over to Crosby and the Penguin's captain raced toward the net.

"Green!" shouted Alzner, trying to get his teammate to intercept the racing captain.

Mike snapped out of the daze he was in and began to race towards Sidney Crosby…but he was too late. The captain raised his stick and sent a slapshot right between the legs of Michael Neuvirth. Alzner cursed as the Penguins began to celebrate their first goal of the night. He cast an angry glare in Mike's direction.

"Mike what the hell?" he shouted, "You had him! He was right there! What the hell were you doing?"

Mike felt anger boiling up inside of him. What the hell was he doing? He was having a flashback to the time he first asked his fiancé to see him play. He was remembering the way she looked in the stands…her blonde hair long and curled just for him…her eyes shining with pride as she watched him score a goal…and then he thought about how she'd never do that again…she'd never see him score goals or block shots…she'd never be in her usual seat watching him…she'd never be there ever again. That's what he was doing. And this punk kid was going to try and call him out? Mike sneered openly at that.

"Shut the fuck up, Alzner!" roared Mike angrily as he advanced on the kid.

"Dude, what the hell? Back off, Mike!" shouted Alzner as he tried to skate away.

"Don't tell me what to do!" shouted Mike, "And don't you dare call me out like that!"

"It's not my fault your mind wasn't in the game!" argued Alzner, getting defensive, "Don't get in my face and start screaming at me for your mistakes!"

That was enough for Mike. In that moment he snapped and lunged at Karl Alzner. The two players fell to the ice in a flurry of fists as gear began to fly off of them. Alex Ovechkin narrowly dodged a helmet as he skated over, trying to break up the fight.

Sidney Crosby watched the scene with a frown on his face. Normally he'd have made fun of such a scene…two players from the same team fighting one another…but under the circumstances he actually felt a twinge of sympathy for Mike Green. He and the rest of his team had heard what had happened to Mike's fiancé and they all found themselves looking away from the fight, saddened by the pain Mike was going through.

"Stop it!" shouted Ovechkin as he and Backstrom tried to pry them apart.

Mathieu Perreault began to curse in French as he watched the four players struggling on the ice. After a long moment, Ovechkin finally got a good hold on Green and pulled him up off of the ice. Backstrom grabbed onto Alzner and yanked him away from Mike's flailing fists. The referees gathered together in the center of the ice, all clearly confused as to how to deal out punishments for teammates who fought during a game.

"Ref!" shouted an infuriated Coach Boudreau from the bench.

The referees skated over to the Caps bench and leaned in to hear what Boudreau wanted.

"Give me Green, eject him from the game," he said, his face red and his hands trembling with anger and embarrassment, "He's done for the night."

The refs exchanged glances before they replied, "Alright…that makes it easier on us then. Green's out and Alzner gets five for fighting."

Mike Green was infuriated when he heard the ref's decision, "What the fuck?" he screamed, "Are you fucking kidding me? Fuck you ref! Fuck you!"

"Mike, easy man," said Brooks Laich as Mike was escorted off the ice by the refs.

"Leave me the fuck alone," snarled Mike as he threw his stick down onto the ice and stomped back into the locker room.

Brooks Laich frowned as he watched his best friend leave the game. Clearly his friend still had some deep-seated issues to deal with. It wasn't like Mike at all to lose his cool like that…especially with a fellow teammate. Brooks looked up at Coach Boudreau and saw that he wasn't pleased either by Mike's behavior.

"He's going to therapy," he said angrily to the other coaches, "I want Mike Green's ass in a shrink's chair first thing tomorrow! If he's not then I'm cutting him from the team! I won't deal with this shit all season!"

Brooks flinched at Coach's harsh and ominous words, "Uh oh," he muttered quietly.

"What?" asked Alexander Semin, sitting next to Brooks Laich, his eyes wide with shock as he absorbed what all had just happened.

Brooks sighed, "Nothing it's just…Mike hates doctors…especially shrinks…he's gonna flip."

Semin's eyes grew even more round at that. After what he had just seen on the ice…he didn't want to know how Mike would react to this news. He swallowed nervously at the thought of another Mike Green temper tantrum and tried to force himself to concentrate on the game. This was Mike's issue to deal with not his…not anyone else's…the rest of the team had to focus on the task at hand and right now that was beating the Pittsburgh Penguins…

…

Please Review!