Chapter Three: Confliction

(A/N: I realize that in the movie, the fight between Robbie and Jack happened before Herb's meeting with Jimmy, but work with me here, okay??)

Jack and Liz walked back to the Holiday Inn, both of them putting extra effort into NOT mentioning a word about Jack's grudge against Robbie, or Liz's nightmare past. Instead the pair decided on talking about more neutral topics, from Jack's aspirations after university, to Liz's jobs as an artist, and a model. To her credit, Liz stayed away from topics such as how she came to arrive in Colorado, and questions about her love life, however subtly that Jack tried to bring them into the conversation.

Jack seemed disappointed with her evasive answers, but did a good job of covering up his feelings. If Liz hadn't known that something was wrong in the beginning, she might have never been able to pick it up. As they approached the hotel lobby, Jack awkwardly reached out and hesitantly grabbed her arm. Liz, startled by the sudden movement, suddenly pitched forward, as though she was about to fall over. Jack grabbed her other arm, steadying her, noticing with sudden clarity that Liz was in his arms, in his embrace. And although Jack O'Callahan wasn't what you would call an emotional guy, at least not in the romantic sense, but he'd be lying if he said that he didn't enjoy having Liz in his arms. In fact, he enjoyed it so much that he was willing to stay in that position, with his arms wrapped around her, forever, if it was possible. Unfortunately, even an opportunistic guy like O.C. knew that wasn't possible.

He stepped back from Liz reluctantly, as she smoothed out her clothes. The smile she flashed him afterwards seemed to rid him of his disappointment. The pair stood awkwardly for a few minutes, not really sure what to say to one another, strange considering how they'd started the night off on such a heavy note, since Liz mentioned how her father killed her mother, as an example of why you shouldn't hold a grudge, since Jack started ranting and raving about how Robbie McClanahan shafted him three years earlier.

"Well, thanks Jack, for walking me back here. I really appreciate it." Liz smiled awkwardly, trying to alleviate some of the apprehension that she knew both of them felt. She stuck her hand out to shake his, wanting to make it clear that although she appreciated his earlier gesture in attempting to comfort her over what happened to her mother, even though it was so long ago, that she had no interest in pursuing a relationship with him. For one thing, she and her sister had arrived here in Colorado, quite by accident, and she honestly didn't know when they were going to be able to go back home, or even IF they could get back home. Either way, they didn't belong there, she knew that. All of that aside, Liz had just gone through a painful breakup, much like her sister did with Paul, in that they loved each other, but neither of them could see taking the next step to marriage and children, because it wasn't something they both wanted. They were stuck, in other words, and could see no other alternative than to split up.

Not coincidentally, Liz's old flame was also Paul's ex-teammate and good friend from the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, the goaltender Jean-Sebastien Giguere. She met him about the same time her sister had started a tentative friendship with Paul after the death of his father, T.K. Kariya, from a heart attack, in December of 2002. Liz had met Jean at a Might Ducks charity ball, where Paul introduced them. Since then they were inseparable, although their relationship wasn't without difficulties, until about three weeks before they ended up in this fucked-up time warp twenty four years earlier. They broke up, and now even the slight mention of anything about Jean would send Liz back down memory lane, and create the knot of pain of longing in her chest, causing the tears to well in her throat.

She didn't know whether or not she was ever going to get over Jean, but now was not the time, however to be getting a relationship with anyone, least of all Jack. Both she and Jessica understood every aspect of hockey, having grown up with it, because their uncle Sean, and his kids, whom they grew up, even before their father killed their mother. Even more clearly, they understood what you had to have in you, in order to become involved with a hockey player. It wasn't easy, and above all, you had to understand and accept that his job came first, and that he'd be away a lot, otherwise you shouldn't be with him. Before Jean, Liz had a brief relationship with Matt, although they ended amiably, and were still friends, having had the last two relationships with hockey players; Liz had no desire to get involved with another one. No one at all, period, so she figured it was better quit while she was ahead.

Jack reached out to shake her hand, his disappointment coming back in full force again. He expected something more from Liz, considering how they confided in each other. He guessed that he mistakenly thought that he was making some leeway with Liz, when really he wasn't. Well, he knew that he was going to break down her walls some time, and that he wasn't going to stop until he did. There was something about Liz, something that he couldn't put his finger on exactly, but that he wanted to get to know anyway.

He released her hand reluctantly and smiled rather weakly, as she walked away. As Jack turned for the door, he couldn't help but feel a sense of loss, that he had somehow failed to get Liz to open up to him, even though they couldn't really consider themselves to be friends yet. He walked through the hotel's front doors, hugging himself against the cold. As he breathed in the cold air, he realized something. He realized that he was still angry where McClanahan was concerned, but that talking to Liz had done away with some of his bitterness and anger. Looking back, he felt stupid now, having ever held this grudge in the first place, when Liz lost her mother to her maniac of a father, and almost died herself. It wasn't fair, Jack reflected, it wasn't fair that something that heart-wrenching would happen to Liz of all people. Not only was she strong, determined, courageous, and possibly the most understanding person he'd ever met, she was also beautiful. God, she was so very beautiful, and without realizing it had actually taught Jack a lot about himself that he didn't know existed. Jack had a newfound respect for her quiet strength, and found himself being more accepting of the fact that women could be as big of hockey fans as she and her sister were. Not that he was about to admit that Liz could possibly be a better hockey player than he was, no way. There was no way he'd ever admit something like that.

Meanwhile........................

Jimmy and Jessica walked in the park close to the dorms, sticking close together in order to avoid any unnecessary sort of trouble that might be lurking that late at night. The park itself was fairly dark, illuminated only by the streetlights, few and far in between. The pair of them at first, feeling a little uncomfortable, walked with enough space for a Hummer to pass between them, but that changed when Jessica jumped at a sudden noise behind them, and closed the gap between them, by making a grab for Jimmy's sleeve. Jimmy smiled at her, taking her hand in his, patting it gently with his free hand. Jessica smiled shyly, a little embarrassed, but given that she grew up in Vancouver, and considering the level of violence and fear that stalked the streets, at least in the year that she was from, she figured it was better to safe than sorry. Luckily, Jimmy seemed to share that sentiment, and stuck by her side since the initial incident.

They didn't speak much, preferring to enjoy each other's company in complete silence. A few times, Jimmy caught himself looking at Jessica when she was looking off into another direction completely oblivious to his gaze trained on her. Jimmy found that she was even more exquisite when she didn't know that someone was watching her and just acted natural, like when she stared off into space, paying absolutely no attention to what was going on around her.

"So," Jimmy said, feeling compelled to break the silence. When Jessica looked at him, Jimmy felt any awkwardness that he had previously felt disappear. "How long do you think you're going to be here for??" Jessica shrugged in answer to the question, having no idea really, since even by some miracle if they could get her car to work again, they still had no idea as to how she and her sister were going to be able to get back to the year 2004. Hell, they didn't how they got there in the first place, how the hell would they know how to get back?? But of course, there was no way that she could tell Jimmy that. After all, the least he would do would be to laugh and to not believe her, but both Jessica and Liz had agreed, since they dropped in here, to not interfere too much with history. And to tell Jimmy that she came from another time, not only would she be screwing with history, she'd also lose one of the few friends that she'd managed to find in this time frame.

"I don't really know, to be honest. But hey, it's not so bad. I really like Colorado, and the skiing down here kicks ass. It's not as good as Whistler, but I still have a lot of fun here." Jimmy smiled genuinely, his apprehension returning again, as he prepared to ask his next question. "Jess, listen. I was wondering if you and Liz would want to come with the team to Minnesota. I mean, I don't think I can pay for you or anything, and I'm sorry that you can't fly over there with us, rules and everything you know, but I'd really like it if you guys could come with us. It'd be good to get some support over there you know, since Pop can't make it out." Jimmy trailed off just then, afraid that he'd been rambling for too long. When there was a long pause afterwards, Jimmy, afraid that he'd said the wrong thing, starting apologizing, the words spilling out of him in almost incoherent fragments.

"Look, I'm sorry, okay, I'm really sorry, I shouldn't have asked. It's perfectly okay if you don't want to go. I just thought that it'd be nice for you guys to be there, you know, I mean, since you don't really know anyone else here besides guys on the team. I'm just really sorry that I asked."

Jessica held up a hand to stop Jimmy's tirade. "Jimmy! Stop okay, just stop. It's fine that you asked you know, I wanted you to, to be honest. And yeah, I'll ask Liz, but even if she says no, I'd love to go with you. It'll be pretty cool to see you fellas train."

Jimmy smiled in relief, squeezing her hand a little. Jessica smiled back, and they spent the rest of the night talking about different teams, and how they ranked in their minds. They laughed some, something Jessica figured she hadn't really done since the breakup with Paul. The pain of that split still fresh in her mind, as well as her love for Paul, she reminded herself that while Jimmy was a nice guy, and she could see them becoming good friends, it couldn't be more than that. They would have to leave eventually, and to tell Jimmy the truth behind why she was there wouldn't do him any good. It would fuck up history, and Jessica didn't want that, since her being here, in this time frame, with her sister already fucked things up enough.

-A few days later, in Minnesota-

The two sisters took their seats in the Bloomington Ice Arena in St. Paul, getting ready to watch practice begin. Over the last week and a half, as the boys completed their last training sessions in Colorado, Jessica and Liz got to know most of the boys pretty well, not just Jimmy and Jack. They learned that Rizzo believed that his Mickey Mouse shirt bought him luck, and that he made the best pasta that they had ever had in an entire lifetime. Not only was Rizzo an awesome cook, he was also a lethal pool shark. Hanging out with him, sure as hell made life more entertaining for the girls.

Mac, Mark, and Dave Silk also had their own distinct personalities that the girls had come to recognize fairly easily. Mark Johnson was the one guy who was pretty quiet, and he blushed really easily. He was also the guy to turn to if you wanted to talk about politics, or what was wrong with the world. Unbeknownst to anyone, Mark had actually written a book of poems, and had it published under another name. He was a really sweet guy, and when Liz suggested to him that he'd make a great psychiatrist some day, he turned so red in the face that he stayed that way, for at least three hours.

Mac was the one guy who was pretty easygoing, and loved to play pranks on the other guys. Part of his easygoing nature was that he didn't let little things get to him, and he was really quick to laugh it off if he had some pranks played on him as well. He also had a huge thing for photography and spent a lot of his time snapping pictures of the team, and the girls, saying that besides being a pro hockey player, that he wanted to shoot photos of everything he loved, for a living. Still Mac's greatest attribute was that he was able to let everything pass him by, like water under a bridge or water off a duck's back. Unfortunately though, not every single one of his teammates shared that sentiment.

Nowhere was that more evident then when Jack proceeded to body check Mac while his head was turned, throwing his elbow up so that Mac's head connected with his elbow, and he crashed onto the ice. Jessica winced, noting how, just like in the movie, Mac took awhile getting up. Predictably, both John 'Bah' Harrington, and Philly Verchota leaped to Mac's defense, while Dave Silk actually praised OC for the hit. As Herb talked to the boys about putting old grudges behind them, and working as a team, Liz stood up for a moment, as though she wanted to yell something down to Jack. Then she sat back down, a look of disgust and disappointment on her face.

"I guess even with what I said to him, Jack O'Callahan is someone that's never going to change." Jessica glanced at her sister sharply, but said nothing, not really sure about what her sister was talking about.

As the sisters got up to leave, Jack skated over to where Liz was sitting, his face looking like he wanted to explain something to her. But Liz didn't want to hear it. Grabbing her jacket, she turned to leave, and once again, Jack grabbed her arm to keep her from leaving.

"Liz, listen, that's it, it's out of my system now, that's the only reason why I did it. I just needed to do that, now it's gone."

Liz turned to Jack, not bothering to hide her disappointment. "Jack, I thought I saw something in you, something good. But you know what?? Turns out I was dead wrong."

Jack could only watch, his emotions in turmoil, as Liz turned and walked away from him, as Herb yelled at them to continue into the next drill.

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