AN: Surprise I'm back! I finally got inspiration for this story again. Actually I have to thank C-chan96 for getting me back into this story. I read the start of Fallen, which is the first Mighty Ducks fic I've read in awhile and got inspired to come back to this story. I hope everyone who started reading this story will come back as I plan to try and keep updating this one along with the other stories I've been working on.

AN 3-21-14: And I have now made it through chapter 6 in the rewrite. There wasn't many changes in this chapter - just a bit of rewording.

Adam's POV:

As Coach Reilly called an end to practice, I headed off the ice at a leisurely pace. It was Thursday afternoon. After four days of practice I was sore. There wasn't a part of me that didn't ache. As I had expected McGill and his friends were making things hard on me. I gave up counting the number of times any of them had checked me five minutes into practice on Monday. There was a time when McGill, Larson and I tried to get on the same side during scrimmage games, and now it seemed like they, along with quite a few of the others, took pleasure in being on the other side of those games.

Around me, my teammates quickly got changed and left. I took my time. Besides being sore, I wasn't exactly looking forward to going home either. I was trying to steer clear of my dad as much as possible these days as I figured that was the safest course of action. I was sick of pretending that practices were going great and I was having fun. That I wanted to be on the Hawks because I didn't. I missed my friends on the Ducks. I missed feeling like a part of a team. I missed Coach Bombay's coaching style despite thinking the guy was crazy when I first started skating with the team. Even through the anger I first harbored against him from taking me from the Hawks, I had developed a respect for Bombay.

Coach Reilly I just feared, and perhaps always had.

However, my father didn't want to hear that. To him, the Hawks were the only hockey team. He wouldn't care that I was miserable. That I was starting to hate hockey. Reilly's goal was to win at all costs, something my father believed in too. My father was convinced the only way I was going to make pros was to be on the Hawks.

There was a time when I shared my father's dream of making it to the pros. All my worrying about the scouts at the Junior Goodwill Games hadn't just been for my father. Four days of skating with the Hawks again, and that dream was quickly losing its appeal.

Finally pulling on my Hawks jacket, I knew that my time hiding in the locker room was coming quickly to an end. I couldn't put off returning home any longer even though there was someplace else I would rather be. The Ducks had their first game tonight and I wanted to go. I also knew there was no way my Dad would let me go. He was still insistent that I didn't talk to them on the phone or hang out with them after school. I wouldn't have been surprised if he had gone to my school and tried to get me into classes that none of the Ducks were in. Telling him that I wanted to go watch their first hockey game would only get me yelled at, at best.

Picking up my bag, I slung it over one shoulder and slowly made my way to the door.

"There you are," I heard Alex say as I came out of the locker room. She was standing across from the door, leaning up against the wall. Her stick was leaning up against the wall next to her and her hockey bag sat on the floor. "I was beginning to think you had found another way out of the locker room."

"I couldn't be that lucky," I replied trying to smile and failing. There wasn't much to smile about lately. "What are you still doing here?"

"Waiting for you."

"Oh really," I said, a genuine smile finally coming to my face. I knew she was giving me a hard time on purpose.

"Do you have any plans tonight?" she asked me as she picked her stuff up. The two of us started walking toward the front door.

"No, why?"

"Do you want to do something together?"

"What did you have in mind?" I asked, genuinely interested. Hanging with Alex definitely beat going home and feeling sorry for myself.

"It's a surprise," she told me.

I looked over at her to see a mischievous smile on her face. I knew she was up to something but I also knew her well enough to know that unless I agreed to go with her she wasn't going to tell me what she was up to.

"I'll ask my Dad?" I told her curious. I wanted to know what she was up to and no matter what it was it would be better than hanging around the house. Anything was better than that lately. I just hoped that my Dad would let me go.

As we walked outside though I found my Mom waiting for me and not my Dad which was unusual. My Dad always picked me up from practice, stopping by on his way home from work.

"Where's Dad?" I asked, opening the passenger side back door to put my hockey gear inside.

"Working late," she told me. "Hi Alex," she said as she noticed Alex standing behind me.

"Hi, Mrs. Banks," Alex replied cheerfully.

"Mom, do you mind if I hang out with Alex tonight?" I asked her.

"My Dad can drop him off later tonight," Alex chimed in.

"Homework?"

"Already done," I told her honestly as I only had an English assignment that night -reading a chapter in the book we were reading. I had done that on the bus this afternoon.

"Then I guess its okay," Mom said. "Have fun."

"Thanks, Mom," I told her shutting the car door. It would be nice to get away from the house for a little while.

Alex and I walked down the sidewalk a little bit to where Alex's Dad waited in his car.

"I see you convinced him to go along with you tonight?" Mr. Paris commented as Alex and I got into the car.

"I'm still not sure what it is she's dragging me along to." I commented, as he pulled the car away from the curb.

"Don't worry," Mr. Paris assured me, letting me know that he was in on whatever Alex's plans were. "I'm positive you're going to enjoy yourself tonight. First though the three of us are having pizza for dinner."

After dinner at a local pizza shop, Mr. Paris drove us to where Alex was taking me tonight. It didn't take me long to realize where I was. After all, I had spent plenty of time here last season. We were at the rink where the Ducks practiced. Where they were playing their first game of the season this year against the cardinals.

"I'm not sure this is such a good idea," I said, thinking about the trouble I would be in if my dad found out I had come.

"Don't worry, Adam. If your parents ever ask me where I dropped the two of you off, you guys saw a movie," Mr. Paris replied, looking at me through the rearview mirror. "I know how your Dad feels. Believe me, all the parents of the Hawks know exactly how your Dad feels. However, not all of us agree with him."

"What if someone else sees us?" I asked, Mr. Paris' words not putting me at ease.

"Who else is going to come to this game that we know," Alex said as she got out of the car. "Just relax."

With a sigh I got out of the car. After all I really did want to see the game. I wanted to be there to support my friends.

Alex and I went inside the ice arena and found some seats. She was right, other than the parents of the Ducks, I didn't recognize anyone at the game and I knew none of them would tell my father I was there. That was if my father would even talk to them if they tried to tell him.

"Why did you come?" I asked, Alex as the game started, finally getting the courage to ask the question that had been on my mind since seeing the rink.

"I'm checking out the competition," Alex told me. I could tell she was messing with me. That checking out the Ducks or the Cardinals wasn't why she was here. "Besides I knew you'd want to see your friends play and that your Dad wasn't going to let you come," she added, growing more serious. "This way he doesn't have to know where you were."

"Thanks, Alex," I told her, knowing that one word was inadequate to express how grateful I was to her. It was nie to know I had at least one ally.

"Anytime," she said. "Now how about we actually pay attention to this game."

Charlie's POV:

It took the Cardinals exactly two minutes to score the first point of the game. As I watched the puck slide by Goldberg I couldn't help but feel disappointed. The whole team had felt good about this game. We had felt ready for this game despite the fact that we were missing Adam. Evidently we weren't as ready as we thought we were.

"That's okay," I heard Bombay shout from the box. "It's just one goal. We can get it back."

"Easy for him to say," Peter muttered as he skated by me.

Great. Two minutes into the game and our team spirit was already going the way of the dodo. If things kept going this way, this was going to be a long game.

Calling out my own encouragement to my teammates on the ice, I headed for center ice for the next face-off. I was determined to win this. Making an attack on the Cardinals' net would be better for team morale than anything I could say.

It didn't happen. As the referee blew his whistle I found myself sitting on the ice, the puck in possession of the Cardinals.

Frustrated, I got to my feet and headed toward our goal. We couldn't let them have another goal. A loss was not the way the defending champions should start out the new season.

One of the cardinals took a shot at the goal, but Goldberg slapped the puck away. The puck sailed across the ice to the boards, where Connie picked it up.

"Way to go Goldberg," I heard a shout. It hadn't come from Gordon although it sounded familiar. I didn't think it was possible that it was who I thought it was though.

I didn't have time to check the stands though, as Connie passed the puck over to me. Getting a hold of the puck, I headed down ice with it. I saw a Cardinal coming toward me and quickly passed the puck off to Fulton. Fulton took control of the puck and headed for the goal. He took a shot at the goal but one of the defenders intercepted the puck.

Once again when we were chasing the puck down to our end of the ice. The game continued like that. We'd have the puck for awhile and then the other team would get a hold of it. When Bombay called me off the ice I was more than ready for the break.

I got off the ice as Jesse joined the game. Taking off my helmet, I grabbed my water bottle. As I took a drink, I turned around and looked into the stands looking scanning the crowd. It didn't take long for me to spot the two black Hawks jackets up near the top of the stands. I hadn't been hearing things. Adam was here, sitting with the lone girl on the Hawks team.

The fact that Adam was in the stands surprised me. I knew there was no way his Dad had let him come.

"Hey Guy, check out who came," I said elbowing Guy, who was standing next to me.

Guy turned his head to look where I was pointing.

"I thought he said he wasn't going to be able to make it."

"Guess he figured out a way to come," I told him.

"Who is up there?" Connie asked breathlessly, as she stepped off the ice.

"Adam," Guy told her.

"Cool," Connie said.

"Charlie, you're back in," Bombay called down to me.

I quickly grabbed my helmet and as Peter climbed off the ice I got back out there. Goldberg knocked away another attempt by the Cardinals and Karp got a hold of the puck. He headed my way with it. Once he got close enough he passed it off to me. As a Cardinal got in my way, I passed the puck off to Jesse. Skating past the cardinal player, I tried to get open should Jesse need to pass off the puck.

Soon, I found myself open with a perfect shot at the goal.

"Jesse, over here," I called out hitting the ice with my stick.

Jesse shot the puck over to me, and I took my shot at the goal. The puck flew past the goalie's glove and right into the goal. We had managed to tie the game back up.

My teammates congratulated me as we headed back to center ice. Before the next face off, I pointed out Adam in the stands to Jesse and Fulton. Suddenly, we were all feeling a little bit more positive about the game. The goal, along with our surprise supporting, was restoring the confidence we had before the game.