Disclaimer: I do not know or own any of the Mighty Ducks characters, any original characters and the story belong to me, not making any money from this.

Chapter Twenty-Four... First Match.

Julie had gone to work as normal, she'd needed something to take her mind off her nerves about tonight. She'd interviewed a few potential players and checked on the ice, anything to keep her mind occupied. Gunnar and the other players had turned up at five and started to get themselves ready for the match ahead. Once everyone was changed Julie got up and went to the front of the room. 'Everyone, you all know your starting positions and by now your captain knows who he is.' Most of the people in the room turned to look at Gunnar and he started to blush from the attention. 'I won't make too much of a fuss and I'll leave you all to congratulate him. I am looking for two alternates so if anyone has any ideas then I'm open to hearing them.' James walked in through the door. 'This is James, he'll be taking the role of coach for the game, I am looking at him becoming full time coach for this team, we will be having a few training sessions with him and afterwards I would like your opinion on whether he gets the position or not.' Julie looked around at the team, most of them seemed happy with the arrangement. 'Good luck tonight everyone, remember to enjoy yourself out there.' The New York Swords were an upcoming team, just as new as her own players, she had no worries that her team were equal to anything that was thrown at them.

Gunnar followed the team out of the locker room and down the corridor to the area before they were let out onto the ice, he had already been congratulated several times about making captain. He could hardly believe it, he looked down at the C on the left side of his jersey, he touched it to make sure it was real. He really wanted the team to win tonight, they would if he had anything to do with it. Gunnar looked around at the spectators, there were lots of them, he took his place in the centre of the ice and waited for the whistle to be blown. Gunnar slipped easily into the concentration he needed to do his job on the ice.

Julie took her place inside the goal and waited for the whistle to signify the start of the match, the players looked confident, she was confident in her own skill to stop most of the goals that came her way. She watched Gunnar take the face off and immediately take control of the puck, the beauty of his skating always took her breath away, he was an artist and right now he was on top form. The players passed between each other and she was glad to see that they were working as a team. Julie felt her heart leap into her mouth as Gunnar took control of the puck again and skated towards the net, he tricked the goalie and put it securely into the back of the net. The whole team congratulated him, she wanted to join them but couldn't leave her own net unguarded.

The face off began again and this time the opposing team took control first, Julie noticed them coming towards her, she braced herself and stopped the shot, she sent it back out on to the ice and let her players take their own shot at the opposing goal. Julie stopped a few more shots as the first period went on, she was happy that her players were holding their own. James called a line change and some of the others came on to give those that had been playing a rest. They managed to hold their own against the opposing team for the rest of the period and went into the locker room for a ten minute break at the end.

Julie made sure that everyone had water and sat with them on the benches. She knew they were all happy that the first match was going so well, everyone was laughing and joking and generally in high spirits. James was going over a few of the plays he wanted them to make in the next period, Julie watched as the players he was giving instructions to nodded their heads. James looked at home with the team, she breathed a sigh of relief, there would no problems with him taking over the coaching.

Gunnar made his way over to Julie, he had told some of the other players that he and Julie were a couple, reactions were mostly good, it didn't mean he would start making overtly public displays of affection wherever they went though. He could tell she was pleased, Julie's eyes always sparkled when she was happy. 'Hello captain.'

'Are you sure they all voted for me?'

'Very, I checked it myself. Nice work on scoring by the way.'

'Thanks, I'd kiss you but it's a bit public here.'

'Don't worry, you can just make it up to me later.' Gunnar laughed as Julie winked at him.

'Consider it done.' Gunnar looked up as they were called back on to the ice, the break was over.

The second period started without much of a problem, the opposing team equalised not long after the period started but it wasn't anything to worry about. Julie could see that they had switched tactics and were now trying to hold the game at a draw, James had other ideas. James sent up Gunnar with Mark, one of the heavier players, between them they were distracting the Swords enforcers which left room for Michelle to score. Julie was so proud of her players, they really had working as a team down. Julie was having to work hard, a lot of shots were being thrown her way and she whispered a silent thank you that she had fast reactions more than once.

Gunnar breathed out as the second period came to an end, they were still in the lead, he knew that there was everything to play for in the final period. There was one more break of ten minutes and then they would be back out there. He checked in with Julie again, she had been given a lot of work to do in that last period. James wanted to focus on keeping the other team away from Julie and the goal, they didn't need to score another goal as they were already winning. Gunnar knew they needed to make their defence tight and keep them away from the goal, scoring was a secondary aim.

The teams were called back on to the ice, Julie nodded at James and he gave out his instructions. Gunnar took the face off and once again gained control of the puck, he passed it to Mark and began to keep his eye on the enforcer he had been told to keep quiet. Between them they were all doing a good job of keeping the Swords away from the net, Julie had stopped a shot earlier but after that they hadn't really had the chance to get anywhere near where she was. Julie held her breath as Gunnar ended up trapped by two players, clearly they viewed him as a threat to their success. The referee blew his whistle and called for a face off. Gunnar used it to his advantage and fired the puck into the goal, Julie smiled at his little way of showing the other team he would not be cowed into the background and away from the action.

Gunnar knew he was showing off, it was nice to get the attention for being a good player, the other team knew it and they were putting all their effort into stopping him from getting near the net. There wasn't long to go in this period, he stuck to the enforcer he was guarding, there was no way this guy was going anywhere without him knowing about it. He looked over his shoulder at Julie who was intensely focused on where the puck was, she was watching everything that happened. Anything could change in the last few moments and though he doubted that they could get two goals in, stranger things had happened in matches.

Julie let her guard down as the final whistle went, they had done it, she skated over to her team as they started the celebration, she was so proud of them all, she would have been whether they won or not but winning was icing on the cake of having made it this far. She shook hands with every member of the Swords and they went their separate ways into their respective rooms to get changed. Julie thanked James for his help and asked him to call her when he knew he was able to do his trial coaching sessions. Julie gave the team the weekend off to celebrate how they felt fit, a fact which they were happy about.

Gunnar waited until Julie was ready, the females in the team all showered in a separate area, for obvious reasons, he waited as she said goodbye to Michelle and Faith and then he pulled into his arms and kissed her. 'I believe I owed you that for earlier.'

'Yes, you did, I'm not convinced you've paid your debt fully.'

'Really?' Gunnar kissed Julie again, putting everything he had into it. 'How about now?'

'I think that will be sufficient.' Gunnar herded Julie into the taxi that was waiting to take them to the apartment. 'How did we do tonight then?' Gunnar wanted to know what Julie thought about the match, he knew that seeking her approval all the time wasn't a good thing but there would always be a part of him that wanted it. 'You all did brilliantly, I knew that you would.'

'It feels good to play again. It's so much better with no pressure to be perfect all of the time.'

'I don't need perfection, just try your best, that's all I want.' Gunnar smiled into Julie's hair, she had this way of making people feel good, it was one of the things that he liked best about her.

Julie and Gunnar got out of the taxi at the other end, the company had paid for them, she wanted to make sure that all her players got home safely. Once Julie had shut and locked the door behind them she went and made something to eat, playing a full match made people hungry as they always burned a lot of energy. She kept it light as they would be heading to bed after this, playing made you run high on adrenaline and once it started wearing off it made people tired. There was also the Duck meeting to think of tomorrow. Gunnar and Portman in the same place was likely to be a very volatile combination. Julie hoped that Portman would keep his mouth shut, she had a feeling that he wouldn't, that he would try and wind Gunnar up in every way possible.

Gunnar nodded his approval as Julie asked him to ignore Portman tomorrow, he was sure that he could, mostly anyway. If Portman wanted to behave antagonistically towards him then that was fine, he would just summon all his self discipline to help him put the guy out of his mind. Gunnar wasn't in the mood for starting a fight with someone like Portman, he much preferred the easier way of not fighting. Gunnar knew that Portman would try his best to really push his buttons, especially when it came to Julie, he would not let it happen though.

Stansson picked up his phone, he barked a hello down the phone, he hated being interrupted when he was about to entertain a woman. 'Stansson, you're still up, no doubt entertaining Iceland's finest ladies.'

'Get to the point Benedikt.'

'Guess who was the top scorer in a match in New York.'

'Gunnar? You've found him, it's about time.'

'I've not found him yet, New York is a big place, I'll need to go there and actually track him down.'

'Like I said, whatever it takes.'

'You're not coming?'

'There's no point until you actually know where he is, this is what I'm hiring you for, go out there and find him, then and only then will I join you.'

'I'm betting the person who got him on that team will know where he is.'

'Who is it?'

'Julie Gaffney.'

'So, he's in bed with a Duck, professionally speaking anyway, just when I thought he couldn't sink any lower.

'I don't follow.'

'You don't need to, just find him, remember, I want results.' Stansson put the phone down and swore in Icelandic, so Gunnar had run to a Duck, of all the people in the world. Why would Gunnar go to the person who had stopped his shot? Stansson shook his head, it didn't matter, Gunnar going to Julie would only make it easier to get revenge on the Ducks, this way he would get two for one. Stansson turned his attention to the woman, he would enjoy this night all the more now.