Broken Shards of Time and Space

Disclaimer: I own shit in this story other than the characters of the two sisters, Jessica and Liz Thompson-Darbeau. Everybody else belongs to the director Gavin O'

Conner ( I LOVE YOU, man, thanks for coming up with this movie!!), and to themselves of course. The history itself belongs to those who actually lived it, Jim Craig, Jack O'Callahan, and most importantly the late Herb Brooks.

Rating: R, I guess, for angst, swears, some violence.

Pairings: Jimmy Craig/OC, Jack 'OC' O'Callahan/OC. Appearances by other teammates, and others involved as well. Other teammates mainly focused on: Robbie 'Mac' McClanahan, and Mike 'Rizzo' Eruzione.

Dedication: To Mel, because she loves hockey as much as I do, even though it peeves her that this is about the US, not Canada. To all the Eddie Cahill and Mike Mantenuto lovers out there, this is for YOU GUYS....I'm with you all the way!

Summary: Two sisters both unconsciously make the exact same wish: to bear witness to the greatest feat in Olympic Ice Hockey history. Little did they know, that wishes of any capacity may be granted in whatever shape or form. Now as they find themselves in the positions they previously envied, they must be careful to leave history untouched, and to guard their greatest possessions: their hearts.

May 19th, 2004

Jessica Thompson-Darbeau and her younger sister Liz sat on the couch as they watched the ending speech by Kurt Russell accompanied by the 1980 U.S. men's Olympic team getting their gold medals. They decided to watch the movie, Miracle, because neither of them knew very much about the story of the underdog U.S. team made up of college kids, who went on to beat the shit out of the powerhouse Soviet team, a team that reminded both sisters of the current Colorado Avalanche or L.A. Lakers teams, that both ended up falling heavily from the superstardom, with star-studded ranks.

Jessica took the DVD out of the player, and stuck it back into the box. Liz just lounged on the couch, a look that one of their friends who had been watching the movie with them, sent her into a hysterical fit of laughter.

Jessica spun around to look at her sister, who currently was laughing so hard that she fell off the couch. Matt Cooke, the culprit, a centerman with the Canucks, and a close friend of the sisters', just grinned innocently at Jessica. Jessica shook her head at both her little sister and Matt, while comfortably sitting the leather armchair on the other side of the room, Canucks starting goaltender Dan Cloutier, regarded the scene with amusement.

The invitation over to their loft apartment had been Jessica's idea, although she and her sister had both agreed that they wanted to get together with Dan and Matt one last time, before Matt was going back to Belleville, in Ontario in visit family, and Dan went back to Sault St. Marie to visit his parents as well as his older brother Sylvain's family, which included Dan's two nieces. Unlike Matt, Dan wasn't going to be gone the entire summer, since he spent most of his time in the off-season in Vancouver, but still the sisters knew it'd be awhile before they saw Matt again, especially if there WAS going be a lock-out next season.

It was also good to spend some time alone with Dan and Matt, since they were so busy during the season with the team and everything. In fact, most of the time during the season, they mainly saw Dan and Matt when they were with the rest of the team, like at Canuck Place, or at charity events, or the times every year where the girls fed the entire team Thanksgiving dinner at their apartment.

Jessica just sighed, moving over to sit on the arm of the armchair, while Dan stroked her hair lightly. She lay her head down on Dan's shoulder, and his smile encouraged her to sit closer to him.

Liz had finally gotten over her hysterical fit, and took a seat next to Matt on the loveseat. Matt wriggled his eyebrows at her suggestively, just causing her to crack up again.

Liz finally noticed the melancholy expression on her sister's face as she leaned on Dan. "What's wrong, sis??"

Jessica just sighed again, and Dan, with a look that was a cross between annoyance and sympathy, and pulled her down to sit in his lap. Jessica flashed him a grateful look before kissing him gently on the cheek.

"I guess I'm just really going to miss this; the four of us just hanging out together, having fun or whatever, I mean, even if there isn't a lock-out next season, it's going to be awhile before we see each other again."

"Awww...." Dan wrapped his arms around Jessica's waist in a tight hug, while her sister and Matt got up from the loveseat and joined the hug fest.

"Don't worry Jess; it'll be training camp before you know it." Matt smiled at Jessica reassuringly, who smiled, somewhat tiredly, back. The four of them came together for one last hug, before Dan and Matt left, having only a day left to themselves before flying back to their respective hometowns.

Jessica climbed into bed after saying goodnight to her sister, yawning tiredly. It'd been a long day, she and her sister having to go through three photo shoots each, both sisters being models, as well Jessica, being a professional artist, had to promote her artwork, and spending some time posing with them seemed the best promotion.

She had one thought before she let the dark oblivion of sleep wash over her. 'I wonder what it'd be like to actually be there, to actually see, live and in person, the 1980 U.S. hockey team win gold?'

Unbeknownst to Jessica, her sister also had a similar thought as she was getting ready for bed. Liz grinned silently to herself in the dark as she lay in bed. 'How cool would it be, to actually be able to meet those guys face-to-face and to go through the ride with them??' Liz felt herself start to drift as she shut her eyes, and waited for sleep to claim her.

Jessica felt stiff...yeah, that's right, stiff was a great way to describe it. She felt like she was lying in a tilted position, like she was sitting down instead of lying down. But that didn't make sense, because she distinctly remembered getting into bed, and lying down. Sifting around some more, she discovered that she wasn't lying on her mattress anymore, rather whatever it was that she was sitting or lying on, was made of leather. Smooth, buttery leather, like the interior of her car.

What the hell??

Jessica opened her eyes a crack, only to find herself instead of staring up at the ceiling in her bedroom, she was staring at a highway, a highway, covered in hail that stretched in front of her car, one that she could see clearly from the windshield of her car.

Dimly, it swam into Jessica's awareness that she was in the driver seat of her car. As she rubbed the sleep from her eyes, she noticed that while the keys were in the ignition, the engine wasn't running. Also, she noticed duffel bags and suitcases in the backseat, as though she was planning to go on a trip somewhere. Finally, she noticed her sister asleep in the passenger seat, unaware of their sudden change in location.

"Liz, Lizzie, wake up!! I don't think we're at home anymore." Liz stirred from slumber groggily, rubbing her eyes tiredly.

"What the hell is going on??? Sis, where are we?? And why the hell is there snow on the ground?? It's May!"

Jessica shook her head mutely, shivering as she realized the temperature, which on the car's dashboard read -18°C. She tried turning on the ignition, hoping that having the engine on would warm them up, but engine wouldn't even turn. She tried it several more times, and still the engine wouldn't work.

Liz swore softly to herself, grabbing a sweater from the backseat and slipping it over her halter top. "So where are we?? I mean, it's hailing on the ground, and the car wouldn't start. How the hell did we end up in the car anyway??"

Jessica shook her head again. "I have no idea. Shit, Lizzie, the car can't start, how the hell are we going to get home, or even to a fucking hotel?? I can't see anybody around for miles."

Liz was about to reply, when suddenly she noticed the headlights coming towards them. She nudged her sister frantically, whose attention snapped immediately to the approaching headlights.

Both sisters got out of the car, hugging themselves against the cold. As the car approached, they noticed that it was an 80's model Chevy. As both girls braced themselves for a crazy man to emerge from the car, they instead got a young man, with black wavy hair, and dark blue eyes.

"Are you girls okay?" he asked, obviously concerned. Liz shared a shocked look with her sister, obviously conveying the fact that they both realized at once: standing before them was none other than Jimmy Craig himself. He looked exactly as he did in the movie, right down to the seductive Boston accent, both sisters now thinking that they had either gone off the deep end, or that something strange was happening here.

Jimmy repeated his question, looking worriedly from sister to sister, his gaze lingering longer on Jessica, as he took in her trim figure, wearing a pair of form-hugging jeans, and white halter top. Luckily for Jimmy, Jessica didn't notice his wondering gaze, as she was rubbing her hands up and down her bare arms, in a vain attempt to warm up. Liz recovered her voice first to answer Jimmy's question.

"Sure, we're okay, just cold. My older sister Jess and I are on vacation here, and our car's not starting. I guess we didn't realize that it'd be that cold out here." Jim nodded; coming from Boston had taught him to be prepared for the unexpected.

"Hop in, I'll drive you into town," Jim smiled hoping the put both girls more at ease, but the older one, Jess, just looked even more unconvinced. Jessica figured that just because they knew that he was Jim Craig, and that they seemed to be the timeframe of the 1980 U.S. Olympic run, didn't mean that he wasn't dangerous. Jessica glared daggers at the back of her sister's head, as Liz practically ran from their car, and slid gratefully into Jim's backseat. Didn't spending the last six years living in a place like Vancouver teach Liz anything?? You couldn't trust anyone, no matter how nice they seemed. Or how hot they looked, Jessica thought to herself as she snuck a peek at Jimmy, his hair tousled by the wind, wearing dark blue jeans, running shoes, and a gray hooded sweatshirt. She mentally slapped that thought down; it wouldn't do her any good to be thinking about stuff like that, especially since neither she nor her sister really knew what was going on here.

She slid into the passenger seat of Jimmy's car, feeling like his blue eyes were trailing her every move. Slightly uncomfortable, she moved closer to the door. Jimmy noticed that she was edging closer to the door, knowing that it probably had something to do with him.

Hoping to break the ice, and to make her feel more at ease, he decided to strike up a conversation with her. "So, what did you say your name was, again?"

Jessica felt a little sting of shame go through her; Jimmy was obviously making an extra effort to show her that she and her sister were safe with him. The last thing she should be doing was repaying him like this. She decided to smooth things over.

"Jessica Thompson-Darbeau, Liz and I are visiting from Canada, we're from Vancouver." Jimmy nodded keeping one hand on the steering wheel, as he reached over to turn the heat up. He shrugged off his sweatshirt and held it out to Jessica, motioning for her to take it. When Jessica didn't move, Jimmy forcibly flung the sweatshirt into her arms.

"Put it on, you look like you're still cold." Jessica slid into his sweatshirt without protest, Jimmy taking a split second to admire the way it looked on her.

"But won't you be cold??" Jessica's concern for the young man's welfare won out over her paranoia that he could be dangerous, and even though she knew that he was Jimmy after all, she knew she still had to avoid acting like she knew something that he didn't, which also included his name, since he hadn't introduced himself to her yet.

"Nah, I'm fine," Jimmy smiled at the thought of this beautiful girl being concerned for him, and that maybe she was getting her paranoia after all. "My name's Jim Craig, by the way, my buddies call me Jimmy."

"Nice to meet you Jimmy," Jessica replied back with a smile, "But can I ask you, what year is it right now??" Jimmy shot her a weird look, but decided to answer her question anyway. "June 7th, 1979. I'm actually here in Colorado to try out for the Olympic team, but tryouts aren't 'til the end of the month. I figured I'd come out here, have a look around first."

Jessica shared a look with her sister, which fortunately Jimmy missed. The trio rode in silence for the next ten minutes until Jimmy broke in with a remark about Jess's car, which was a 2004 Mercedes-Benz Cabriolet.

"That's some strange-looking car you have there. I'll call the towing company tomorrow and have them tow it to the hotel for you." Jess laughed self-consciously, number one not really appreciating the remark about the car, but also racking her brain to think of a suitable explanation.

Liz, however, saved her sister from having to make one up, since she did it. "Oh, it's custom made, that's all. But, Jimmy, you don't have to do that. We can just look up the towing company tomorrow, it's okay really." Jimmy shook his head, maneuvering the car into a parking space right outside a Holiday Inn that he passed on his first day in Colorado. He'd decided to drive out, thinking it'd be a nice change of pace, and actually got to Colorado Springs from Boston in about two weeks.

"It's fine, I'll call them up." Liz and Jessica both said their thanks, grabbing their bags and getting out of the car. As they left, Jessica unzipped Jimmy's sweatshirt and was about to take it off and give it back to him when he shook his head again. "No, Jess, you keep it. Besides," he added with a wink, "I think it looks better on you."

Jessica smiled again at Jimmy, as their gazes lingered on each other. Liz gave her sister a slight nudge from behind, which broke the spell. Jimmy flashed her one last smile before pulling out of his parking space and into the crush of traffic.

As he drove away, he could still see Jessica in the review mirror, with her arms wrapped around herself, as though she was trying to keep his sweatshirt closer to her.

tbc........................