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 Thirty-Four... Old Friends.

Olaf was improving every day, Julie was surprised that he was taking the advice of the doctor, she had always suspected him of being the one to try and ignore it. Olaf had been doing a bit of running each day, Connie had been going with him, she had said that he needed someone there in case anything went wrong. Julie wasn't entirely sure that was Connie's whole reason for going with Olaf, Julie had asked her but all she had said was that he was a friend. Julie had been watching Gunnar closely, he had showed no signs of thinking he was a coward lately, Julie had kept up the touching exercises she had found on the internet and her relationship with Gunnar was becoming closer again.

Olaf had proved a good distraction for Gunnar, the moments when Gunnar would have previously gone quiet and retreated inside himself very rarely happened now. Gunnar was more like his old self, his bruises had faded and he no longer tensed up or flinched whenever Julie touched his chest. It had taken Julie a few days to get Gunnar out of thinking he was a coward, it had been hard work, Julie had an idea it was Stansson that had taught Gunnar fear was weak.

Julie and Connie had got used to having Olaf around, he was a completely different person than he had been during the Goodwill Games. Julie had set Connie's trial date, being back to full health meant that she was able to put Connie through her paces. Julie was sat at the table, she was preparing Connie's trial. Julie wanted to keep in mind that she already had Connie down as a right wing player, Connie would be a useful person for assists and scoring. Julie looked up when the knock came on the door, Connie and Olaf were out running. Connie had taken a spare key with her so it wasn't her, unless something had gone wrong. Julie opened the door and saw a face she wasn't expecting to see. 'Hello Cat.'

'Scooter, what are you doing here?'

'Looking for you, I went to your office and they told me that you were at home.'

'But what are you doing in New York?'

'Are you going to let me in?'

'Oh yes, come in.' Julie closed the door behind Scooter, she hadn't seen him in years, what was he doing here?

Gunnar heard a male voice in the living room, a voice that didn't belong to Olaf. Gunnar looked out into the lounge, he saw Julie with a dark haired guy, a guy that to any right thinking woman would be very attractive. Gunnar felt jealousy rise as Julie hugged the guy, who was he and how did Julie know him?

Julie looked up at Scooter, he hadn't changed from when he had been the Varsity goalie at Eden Hall. 'So come on, what are you doing here?'

'I was hoping you could find me a place on a hockey team, I know what your job is Julie, if anyone can find me a place then it's you.'

'I'll have to give you a trial first, see what your strengths are.'

'Okay, I can do that. When?'

'I'm giving Connie a trial in a few days, can you make it?'

'Connie? Connie Moreau?'

'Yes, she's staying here for a while.'

'Two of the Ducks together again.'

'Ducks fly together as they say.'

'Don't I know it.' Julie smiled, the Ducks had played a few tricks on the Varsity team when they were at Eden Hall together.

Gunnar was really feeling jealous now, who was this guy that could make Julie smile? 'My Julie, who are you talking to?'

'Gunnar, this is Scott Vanderbilt, otherwise known as Scooter, he was a goalie on the Varsity ice hockey team at my school. He was just looking for a place on a hockey team, thought I might be able to help him out. Scooter, this is Gunnar, my boyfriend.'

'Cat, you have a boyfriend? Why didn't you tell me?'

'You never asked, yes I have a boyfriend, we've been together nearly four months.'

'Wow, nice work Cat.' Gunnar shook the hand that Scooter held out, he allowed himself to relax, it didn't look like this man was after Julie.

Julie knew that Gunnar was feeling threatened by Scooter by the way he put his arm around her waist and pulled her close to his body, anyone with eyes could see how attractive Scooter was. Julie arranged to meet Scooter at the rink, she would try him out at the same time as Connie. Julie let Scooter out and she turned to face Gunnar. 'Gunnar, are you jealous of Scooter?'

'No, maybe, a little bit, a lot.'

'There's nothing to be jealous of, I promise. Scooter and I are friends, that is all. I think he would be more likely to go after you than me anyway.'

'He's gay? He doesn't look like the type.'

'When we were at Eden Hall we pretended to be together, Scooter didn't want anyone knowing about his sexual preference. The other players on the team wouldn't have been forgiving if they had found out and there was a rumour going around that he was gay, I offered to be his girlfriend to throw them off the scent. It wasn't really hard, all I had to do was be seen with him, it kept Portman off my back too.'

'So what happened? Didn't anyone suspect what was really going on?'

'No, we made sure it was convincing. We kissed every now and then, I think Scooter was imagining I was a guy whenever we kissed but it worked, people were convinced we were together. Once he left Eden Hall we remained friends, the guys that were giving Scooter a hard time went to a different college and that was the end of it.'

'Was it difficult?'

'No, I wasn't interested in guys at that time, I wanted to finish school and go to college. I knew what I wanted to do and that required focus from me. In a way Scooter was the perfect boyfriend, we even went to his prom together. He's a very good dancer, if he wasn't a hockey player then he'd probably make quite a living from being a ballroom dancer. I love Scooter as a friend, nothing more, you have nothing to worry about, okay?'

'I know, I guessed that when he sounded happy you had a boyfriend.'

'Good, so long as you know.'

'I do.' Julie hugged Gunnar, no one else could compare to him in her mind.

Connie and Olaf came though the door and Julie recounted everything that had happened with Scooter to Connie. Connie had known about the arrangement between Scooter and Julie, she had been impressed with how they had convinced everyone they were a couple. The intelligence of most of the Varsity team left a lot to be desired so she wasn't that surprised they had reacted the way they did to the rumour that Scooter was gay.

Julie sat with Connie and Gunnar, Olaf had gone for a shower. 'Julie?'

'Yes Gunnar.'

'Do you want to go back to Iceland for a visit. I promised to show you the Aurora the last time we were there, next week we'll be able to see it.'

'All right, I'm still off work so we can go.'

'Good. I'll take care of the arrangements.' Julie was looking forward to seeing Iceland again, she had enjoyed it last time and couldn't wait to go back again. 'Connie, do you want to come with us?'

'Sure, it sounds like fun.'

'Good.' Gunnar needed Connie to come with them, it was all part of his plan, he had finally decided how he was going to propose to Julie.