Disclaimer - I do not own anything even remotely related to The Mighty Ducks. I only wish I had thought of them first…

Italics indicate character thought.

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She was standing in line at the show, literally bouncing in excitement. Riley gave her a skeptical look. "Geez, Mayland. You're not excited are you?"

She pointed at him. "Shut it, Harding. No one is ruining this for me." Hearing her name shouted from further back in the line, Beau swiveled her head, a huge smile coming to her face, and raced back.

"Hailey!" The girls embraced and Charlie was not surprised to see that Beau's roommate was as much of a ball of energy. She was adorable tonight, wearing low slung jeans, a vintage t-shirt, and Chuck Taylors. Her hair was pulled high on her head in a messy bun and she wore a wide headband in huge geometric print to hold back her "whispys" as she called them. And then she was barreling at them, all her energy a force to be reckoned with.

She drug her friend Hailey after her. "Guys, this is my roommate Hailey and her sister Camille. Ladies, this is Charlie." She laid her hand on her arm, not moving it afterwards. "Riley, Cole, Guy, and Dave." They shook hands all around and then the line started to move. Beau grabbed her side briefly. "Ow."

Charlie looked at her in concern. "You okay?"

She rubbed the area around her ribs absently and then felt a rough pain from behind her left eye. Shit. "Uh, yeah. I'm fine. Just a couple shooting pains. Start of a headache I guess." Shake it off, Mayland.

The opening bands were good, and Beau and Hailey had heard of them, but the crowd was pumped for New Found Glory. They waited nearly an hour for the band's equipment to be set up, Beau chatting excitedly with Charlie and the guys, telling them what to expect, questioning if they would enter the pit with her.

"Are you serious? You really want to go into that mass of people thrashing around?" Guy was incredulous

She only laughed at him. "Heck yeah! That's half the reason to come. It's amazing to be in there jumping with everyone, getting into it, feeling the music." She flushed with the heat of the room and the excitement. Just as she opened her mouth to say more, the lights dimmed and the crowd started chanting.

"N…F…G! N…F…G!"

Low in the background a bass line kicked in. Recognizing it, Beau threw her head back, raising both fists in the air and screamed. She turned around, reaching her hand out. "Charlie? Coming with me?"

He put his hand in hers, looking back at the others. "How can I resist?" With that he let her pull him into the insanity. She pushed their way through bodies until they were smack in the middle of the room. As the lead singer took the stage, already bounding back and forth with energy, the entire crowd began jumping in unison. It was hot, it was claustrophobic, and, Charlie had to admit, it was really fun. He turned his head to tell this to Beau and couldn't open his mouth. She was jumping, her hair bouncing, singing so loudly he could hear her.

"Dear your name here, it's been a long time very long time, since I heard your voice and I bet you never thought I knew! So sorry so…" She stopped jumping and reached into her pocked. Pulling out her cell phone she auto dialed a number and Charlie leaned in close enough to hear her yell into the microphone.

"Parker, guess where I am…loser!" She held the phone high into the air. Looking over at Charlie she grinned, grabbed him by the shirt, and kissed him hard on the mouth. "I'm glad you're here, Conway!" Pulling away she pocketed her phone, ignored it the several times that it rang throughout the night and not even noticing when it slipped from her pocket and onto the floor as they left the club that night.

-

"Tsk tsk tsk." Charlie wagged his finger at Beau as she jogged into the ice rink, headed for the locker room. "Missed Bugs for Jocks this morning. Isn't it a bit early in your college career to start skipping classes?"

She stuck her tongue out at him playfully, both of them walking backwards towards the different gendered doors. "I was trying to find my phone. I left it at the club, so I borrowed Hailey's car and drove back up there to get it. You can lend me the notes."

Just as Charlie was opening his mouth to say something, said phone rang and she looked at the number smiling. Flipping open the phone she started talking with little greeting.

"Hey, Mom. I can't talk right now. I'm on my way in to change for practice. I'll call you when I'm done." Her smile froze, and then vanished. She stopped in her tracks, frozen like a mannequin.

Charlie knew instantly something was wrong. He stopped as well, reaching out a hand behind him, thankful when it landed on a teammate's jersey. "Hey guys, hold up a minute." The rest of the team stopped, turning to see what had Conway's voice so soft.

Beau was pale now, her left arm hanging straight down by her side, her phone gripped in a white knuckled right hand, her eyes wide and staring straight ahead. She nodded imperceptibly. "How?" Her mouth worked, but she couldn't seem to say what she wanted. She shivered slightly and Charlie took a step forward. He turned his head slightly, not taking his eyes off of her.

"Someone go get Coach. Something's wrong."

Her voice squeaked out again, even softer. "Okay, Mom. I will." Very slowly, unnaturally she lowered the phone from her ear, using her thumb to turn it off. Again, she opened her mouth as if she would speak, and then closed it again. She shook more visibly now. Charlie stepped a little closer, not sure if she could even see him.

"Beau?" He kept his voice calm. "What's wrong?"

Her eyes, normally a dark brown, but not very gray, jolted up to meet his. "It's…" He could barely hear her voice. "Parker. Saturday night. He…he was with some friends." She was looking around wildly now. "Party…he got in the middle of a fight. Mom just found out." She looked up at him, through him. "Dead." It came out at a whisper. When she said it, it was as if it made it real for her. Thoughts were streaming through her head too fast to catch them all.

Parker is dead. My brother is dead. Stabbed. Beat up. How could I not know? Shit. I did know. At the concert. I ignored it. Did it hurt? Of course it hurt you moron. You felt it! What do I do? Oh, God. Parker. She pictured his face, right there in front of her. Parker. Her beautiful, bright, wonderful brother. "Parker." She said it out loud. A litter more volume this time. What if that was him calling Saturday night. What if he needed me? She looked down at her cell phone in horror. She hit a button to recall her last missed call. Parker Cell blinked up at her mockingly. She dropped her phone in horror, shaking uncontrollably now.

Charlie was within two feet of her now, the rest of the team crowded just inches behind him. He was afraid to get any closer, afraid to touch her. She looked like she would break. She didn't even seem to know where she was.

"Beau?"

Her head snapped up, looked him straight in the eye, and the fog seemed to clear. Her big eyes filled with tears, fast. Must faster than Charlie thought they could. They streamed down her face, soaking her shirt. She had one hand clutched on her chest and her mouth was open. She seemed to be gasping for air and he reached out a hand to cover the one she fisted in her shirt.

"Breath, Beau."

She did, and then a sob escaped from her like nothing he had ever heard before. "Oh, God." It was so primal, so much pain. Now that she had let out one wail, she couldn't stop. She was gasping and crying and she reached out, clutching his shirt with both hands as she sank to her knees.

Charlie followed her down, kneeling before her, his hands stroking her hair. She bent farther forward, her forehead on the tile floor, her hands tucked beneath her, her body frighteningly close to the fetal position. She started saying his name over and over again. "Parker."

Charlie just rubbed her back, knowing there was nothing that he could do to ease her pain, to make her feel better. He bent forward as well, resting his forehead gently against the back of her hair, still rubbing her back and murmuring to her quietly.

That was how Coach Neumann and Banks found them. Her wails echoing off the wall, the team crowded around them, many of them so moved by her grief that tears were streaming down their faces silently.

"Parker."