Title: Leader of the Pack
Rating: PG
Setting: Sometime between D2 and D3.
Summary: Charlie becomes captain of the Ducks, but not under the conditions he would like.
Disclaimer: The Ducks belong to Disney.
Feedback: Please feel free to review.
Dedication: to Charisma, Star, and Quimby, who inspired me to write this story during one random chat on one random afternoon...
Special Thanks: To Star, for being my beta reader. My deepest gratitude.
Story Notes: How Charlie became captain and why Jesse left were two issues not addressed in the films, so I sought to answer these questions myself. This story was re-uploaded for grammar and minor editing on March 16, 2008 but no real content changes have been made.
Charlie Conway lay in his room, on his old bed, face up, staring at the ceiling. He was doing that a lot lately. Spending time in his room, staring at the ceiling. What a life.
Actually, Charlie was holing himself up in his room. It wasn't like his friends hadn't called. Adam Banks came over regularly and requested Charlie play pick up hockey with him. Connie Moreau and Guy Germaine had asked him along on one of their trips to the movies. Les Averman and Greg Goldberg had asked him out to lunch. Charlie had turned them all down. He even turned down Fulton's request to practice skating moves, though he felt bad, because Fulton could always use the help and was eager to learn.
Actually, the fact was that Charlie hadn't even talked to any of his friends for nearly three weeks.
It wasn't because Charlie was depressed. He wasn't beaten by his step-father, or secretly in love with Adam Banks, or hooked on drugs. He wasn't suicidal or dangerous to himself (or society) in any way, shape, or form. He wasn't crazy. He wasn't even sick.
The reason Charlie hadn't spoken to his friends in three weeks was because he had nothing to say. There was nothing to say. The Ducks had gotten athletic scholarships to some preppy school just outside Minneapolis. Eden Hall, or something like that. They'd been very tightly knit lately, since they found out they'd be going to this school. Charlie hadn't meant to shut them out for the past three weeks, but he had anyway. He couldn't help it.
It was three weeks since Bombay talked to him. Three weeks since Bombay had made him the official captain.
Charlie remembered the conversation well. He remembered it so well it echoed around in his head.
It was at a Ducks practice. The out of state Ducks hadn't been there, but the other Ducks were.
"Charlie," Bombay said to him, "I need to talk to you."
"What's up?" Charlie asked, pulling his helmet off, pushing his sweat drenched hair out of his eyes. Charlie was due for a haircut, and was actually planning on getting one later that afternoon.
"Charlie, you know how Jesse's mom has been sick, right?" Bombay asked.
"Yeah, I know," was Charlie's reply. Wherever this conversation was going, if Jesse's mom was the topic, it wasn't going to be fun.
"Do you know what she has?" Bombay asked.
"I don't know, but she's been sick for a long time. Jesse doesn't like to talk about it," Charlie replied honestly.
"She has multiple sclerosis, Charlie, or MS. It's a very serious illness that-"
"I know what it does. But what has it got to do with anything?" Charlie asked, impatient to get back to his friends and the game they were playing.
"I'm getting to that. Remember, earlier this year I made you and Jesse co-captains of the Ducks?"
"Yes."
"Well, that's being revoked. Jesse isn't a co-captain anymore, Charlie."
"Why?" Charlie asked, confused.
"That's where Jesse's mom comes in. Her condition has worsened a lot lately. His father doesn't really have the money to pay for the nurse she needs all day if Jesse goes away to school. Jesse is taking over. He'll go to the local school, and come home to be with his mom everyday and take care of her. He's not going to Eden Hall."
Charlie stared at Bombay for a moment, waiting for him to say it, just flat out, so Charlie wouldn't have to figure out the implications for himself. Actually, he already had. He was just waiting for Bombay to confirm it.
"Charlie, Jesse's-"
"He's quitting the Ducks, isn't he?" Charlie cut Bombay off. His own voice surprised him. He'd spent the past two moments anxiously anticipating Bombay's words, and then suddenly found he didn't need to hear them. He looked at Bombay again, waiting for him to say that wasn't the situation…hoping against hope that wasn't the situation.
Jesse and Charlie had founded the Ducks, or at least, the District 5 team, way back when they were little. They'd convinced this kid named Goldberg to play goalie, and this scrub named Guy Germaine to be their left wing. This girl, Connie Moreau, the tallest at the time, had been convinced to join by Guy. They were in puppy-love. Somehow this kid Averman worked his way onto the team because he was one of the better skaters, which, at the time, meant he could stand up on his skates for longer than three seconds. Fulton had joined with his killer shot, the same year as Bombay. Adam Banks joined the middle of the same year. The Ducks didn't trust him at first, but they got around to accepting him. Later on, when they went to the Goodwill Games, they'd gained some other players that Charlie now called his teammates and friends. There had been some others too, before the Goodwill Games, but they quit for other reasons. Charlie could live without those guys. He was close to them, but not the way he was close with Jesse. Jesse was his best friend. Without Jesse, it wouldn't be the same.
"Yes, Jesse's quitting the Ducks. I know he's your best friend, and that this is hard, but he has to quit, Charlie. His mother won't be with him too long. He needs to have this time with her. I'm sorry."
It was the only time Charlie could ever recall Bombay not meeting his eyes. Even when he was the scum-sucking lawyer, and the big-headed Hollywood wannabe, Bombay had met Charlie's eyes.
"Not half as sorry as I am," Charlie mumbled. He watched Jesse, laughing and skating with his friends and, now former, teammates. Jesse looked up and Charlie caught his eye. Jesse stopped laughing, hung his head, and skated the other way. Charlie wondered why Jesse hadn't told him. Jesse told him everything.
"He asked me to tell you, Charlie," Bombay read his mind.
"Why?" Charlie asked half-heartedly. He wasn't sure he wanted to know the answer.
"Because he knew that you'd be upset. He told me he couldn't face you, Charlie. He says he's sorry, and he wants you to still be captain. He said if he ever gets the chance he'll come back to the Ducks."
"Yeah, I know he will if he can," Charlie mumbled before turning away.
"Keep this quiet, okay? I'll tell the others tomorrow. But you're captain now, Charlie, you have to be strong. You have to be a leader."
"How am I supposed to lead anyone anywhere? Jesse's the leader, not me. I don't want to be captain. Pick someone else," Charlie said angrily.
"No."
"No? Are you kidding? You can't force me to be captain if I don't want to be."
"Jesse made me promise to keep you as Captain, Charlie. He said you'd want to quit at it when you found out-"
"I guess he was right then."
Bombay ignored this, and continued. "He also said not to let him do it, and that you're the leader on this team, Charlie, and he is just the mouth."
Charlie left practice then, and Bombay didn't try to stop him. He heard Jesse calling "Charlie! Hey Charlie!" but didn't stop to talk to him as he stormed away.
So that was the story. Jesse was leaving. Charlie was the captain of the Ducks. He and the Ducks were going to Eden Hall to play hockey. The Ducks were going to fly, but Jesse was going to fly on his own. Charlie wasn't going to have his best friend.
It wasn't supposed to be like that. Jesse and Charlie were supposed to be co-captains of the Ducks. They were all supposed to be going to Eden Hall to play hockey. The Ducks were supposed to fly together. Charlie wasn't supposed to be lonely.
Charlie wasn't mad at Jesse, exactly. Charlie understood that Jesse's family needed him. But Charlie still couldn't help feeling that he needed Jesse just as much as Jesse's family did. Charlie hadn't spoken to Jesse since that day he'd stormed off the ice at practice. Jesse hadn't called, and Charlie knew why. Jesse knew that Charlie would take some time to settle himself, and then he would call Jesse. Charlie would probably call him soon, actually, to talk to him, and put things on good terms. He didn't want to lose Jesse completely. Jesse was still his best friend. He was just a little upset with him at the moment
Jesse leaving wasn't the only part upsetting Charlie. There was the school itself. The Ducks had been give a tour in early January, when they'd found out about the scholarships. The place was Grand Prep Central. Everyone had tons of money, coming from the Hawks' upscale suburbs, not Ducks poorer district. These kids were wearing the best of everything, right down to designer shoes, compared to the Ducks old sneakers.
The Ducks had met the Varsity team. The Varsity team had all smiled and shook the Ducks' hands. But the smiles they wore weren't warm, friendly smiles. They were cold, cruel, smiles. And the handshakes were hard and threatening, not welcoming.
Bombay's words came back to Charlie again. '…you're the leader on this team, Charlie, he is just the mouth.' Charlie didn't feel like a leader. It was the last thing he felt like. Right now, he felt like a loser. He had a strange feeling many at the school didn't want the Ducks there. He didn't feel like a captain. He didn't want to be captain. He wanted to be co-captain. He wanted to be co-captains with Jesse.
Charlie couldn't deal with this on his own. How was he going to get through it all without Jesse?
Maybe Charlie hadn't talked to his friends for three weeks not because he didn't have anything to say, but because he had so much to say and didn't know how.
He was the leader now. How could he be a good leader on a team that was only half his? Part of the team was Jesse's. How could he just take over Jesse's part?
"Jesse made me promise to keep you as Captain, Charlie. He said you'd want to quit at it when you found out, and he also said not to let him do it, and that you're the leader on this team, Charlie, and he is just the mouth."
Jesse could read him like a book. Jesse knew Charlie would want to quit, and he insisted Charlie remain captain. So maybe he could do this. Jesse had left Charlie his part of the team. Jesse wanted Charlie to remain captain. That was Jesse's judgment call. Maybe that said something about Charlie that he, himself, didn't know. Charlie had trusted Jesse's judgment ninety-five percent of the time. Why should this time be any different?
But Charlie's mind continued to betray him, and he wondered how there was any hope for him without Jesse.
The Ducks might not respect Charlie. They may not listen to him. They may be upset about Jesse. They may be upset about the school. What was he going to do? He could quit. He could. He could leave the team to Adam or Fulton or Guy. They'd make good captains.
But Charlie didn't want to leave the team. He couldn't just leave them.
"Why can't I just leave them?" Charlie thought to himself. Then it hit him. He was the leader of the team. He couldn't just leave the team, it gave Charlie a dull ache in his stomach just thinking about it. It would be like a Duck leaving the flock. And Ducks fly together. That's just what they do.
And if it was painful for Charlie to think about leaving the Ducks, it must be killing Jesse to actually do it. Plus, Jesse also had his mom to worry about. Maybe Jesse was the friend in need here, not Charlie. Charlie could lead the Ducks. The Ducks were his friends, his team. They were behind him…and Jesse would always be available to help. Charlie could always call him. That's right. If he did need help, he could call Jesse. Truly, Jesse was his co-captain, but the reality was that Jesse wouldn't be there everyday anymore, so he had to go on by himself. If worst came to worst, he could call Jesse up for help. But he probably wouldn't require too much help, because the Ducks were a flock. They were a pack. And Charlie was head Duck. He was the leader of the pack.
"Maybe I should call Jesse," Charlie realized.
He rolled over, and grabbed the cordless phone on the nightstand next to the phone, dialing the number without even having to think about what it was. He'd called Jesse hundreds of times. His fingers knew the number, he didn't have to think.
A familiar, gruff voice answered. "Hello, Hall residence."
"Drop the tough guy routine, Jesse, it's me."
The gruffness in the voice disappeared. "Hey Spazway, I thought you'd never call."
"Come on, you knew I would call."
"Yes, I knew you would call. I'm brilliant like that." Charlie could almost see Jesse grinning at the other end of the phone lines.
"Very funny. Listen, Jesse, I just wanted to say-"
"You don't have to. I know you're sorry, I know you're angry, I know it all. I feel that way myself," Jesse's voice had an element of sadness in it.
"I'm not so mad, you know. Just a little," Charlie said, trying to lighten the moment a little.
"Just a little mad? It took you three weeks to call and you were just a little mad? I'd hate for you to be very big, hugely mad," Jesse joked.
"So you're not mad at me? You should be, I didn't call-"
"I'm not mad. I expected this. I told you, I'm brilliant like that."
Charlie grinned, relieved that he and Jesse were still alright. They were quiet a few seconds, and then Charlie said, "You know what would make me very big, hugely mad?"
"What?"
"If we didn't get the Ducks together and some street hockey one last time."
"Sounds like you've got a plan, Spazway."
"Gather the Ducks and meet me in the park in an hour," Charlie said, feeling truly happy for the first time in a while.
"I will. Hey, maybe we can goad the old Hawks into a game? We can make them kiss some serious pavement."
"Yeah, that'll be fun, see if you can do that," Charlie agreed, beginning to pull his skates and pads out of the closet.
"You got it, Captain," Jesse said, and hung up the phone.
Charlie Conway – Captain Charlie Conway – smiled.