Disclaimer: The rights to Miracle belong to Disney and their fellow associates. Blah, blah, blah, ...
Author's Note: Hey, thanks for all the reviews so far! I would love to respond individually to your reviews, but this chapter is long as it is. So long, that I had to cut an additional scene off. To quickly answer your question, Lia06, Jo is Herb's daughter. Sorry if the last sentence of chapter 1 wasn't more apparent. I can't guarantee that she'll end up with Johnson, but he does need a girl! LOL. However, I will hook him up with someone if it turns out that way. Enjoy the chapter!
CHAPTER TWO
The frustrations of registration kept Jo mainly preoccupied during the following week. Being a civil engineer major certainly didn't guarantee a light schedule, and even more soin face of the engineering department's distinguished reputation. Thankfully, her sanity was spared time to time with phone calls and letters from her boyfriend, Vince Michaels. He lent her a much needed sympathetic ear and humor.
On a happier note, Jo was very fortunate to have found a spunky, agreeable roommate in Beth Trentford. The petite Journalism major had moved into the dorm on Jo's third day in Minnesota, and both got along right away with talks ranging from bands to politics. Jo found it more difficult to converse, however, when the auburn-haired junior spoke freely about her family and life in St. Paul. Her roommate, as keen and curious as a journalist ought to be, fortunately refrained from inquiring more than necessary.
Jo was only too happy to oblige as she wasn't willing to publicly associate herself with Herb quite yet. His occasional calls brought about a mix of anxiety and discomfort. They felt too strained – too forced on many instances in the guise of cheerfulness. On her part, Jo made little effort to decline dinner invitations. Only when excuses ran low and guilt caught up did the she felt obliged to dine the following Friday.
"Don't you have an appointment?" Beth raised an eyebrow as Jo collapsed face-down on her bed.
"I'm canceling it," replied a muffled Jo. Her body was heaving with exertion from the day's activities. The first week of school seemed to drag on with the sleep-inducing lectures and lab commitments. If not for the decent pay for lab work, Jo would've found other means to pay off her tuition by now.
"Again? I can't wait to see what the excuse is this time."
"I'm sure you'll find something decent to pass off," said Jo.
Beth chuckled. "Ohhhh no," she declined. "The messenger's not going to take the heat in this instance, especially not from a demanding hockey coach."
"So plead the fifth," retorted Jo.
"Forget it," said Beth firmly. "Even I've heard enough about Herb Brooks to think twice about declining on someone's behalf."
Beth ignored Jo's dramatic groan and snuggled deeper into her pillows. Jo grudgingly got up after a bit and picked up her book bag. "You're actually going out like that?" Beth asked.
Jo shrugged tiredly. "Why not? It's just a dinner at Herb's."
Beth raised an eyebrow quirkily, as if she had just proven her point. "There's not much I can improve in thirty minutes," Jo pointed out. "Besides, I've got to head to Iverson Hall to pick up some books on the way."
"At least put on another shirt," suggested Beth. "You're practically drenched in sweat!"
Jo sighed at her roommate's soft insistence, but decided to oblige her by switching into a short sleeved black shirt. It was a bit short, Beth noticed, as the shirt barely reached the top hem of her jeans. Any slight movement would definitely reveal the pierced belly button – an image she was sure to raise some kind of reaction from Herb Brooks. Just exactly what kind reaction, she wasn't quite as sure, as Jo's relationship to the man remained purposely vague.
"So,…," Beth inquired casually, "is Herb actually a family friend? Or..?"
"He's an acquaintance," Jo answered abruptly. "Barely."
Beth took the subtle hint and picked up a book. "Acquaintance or not, I doubt he'd want to see that cute belly button of yours."
Jo gave off a rude gesture (to which Beth cheerfully returned) and checked her appearance for a final time. While she was a far cry from the tall gawky girl at fifteen, she lacked the envious curves of her peers. Jo had often lamented in the past in the unfortunates of not inheriting her mother's petite frame or golden-tinted beauty. Traces of her mother still lingered though in her eyes and facial features. Her dark brown hair, however, resembled her father's.
"Later," Jo called out as she headed out the door.
Doc Nagobads grunted unrestrainedly as the heavy box of medical supplies began to take its toll on his spine. Thankfully, another pair of arms reached out in time to relieve him some of the stress. Together, they managed to set it on the bedstead.
"Thank you," he gasped with a slight accent. "I'm getting too old for physical labor."
"No problem," Jo replied easily.
Doc's face lighted up with recognition. "You must be Jo, correct?" He added a laugh at witnessing her surprised expression. "Herb's been telling me about you for some time," he explained. "Of course, I've never really seen you, but I know enough by now that young women don't often come to the rink."
"Oh," mumbled Jo. She clearly hadn't expected Herb to mention about her. "Well, it's nice to meet to you, Dr….?"
"Nagobads," supplied Doc. "Just Doc will do."
"Alright, Doc," Jo smiled. "Care to tell me where I can find Herb?"
"He's on the rink at the moment, but I can walk you there," gestured Doc. "He should be done soon."
Conversing along the way to the rink, Jo found the Latvian doctor to possess a cheerful disposition combined with a healthy dose of humor. He endeared to her as a strong grandfatherly figure, and for once, she felt at ease with a stranger.
"Will you also be attending university this spring?" he inquired.
"I'm not sure," replied Jo hesitantly as they reached the open entrance. "I'll guess I'll have to see how the fall goes."
She couldn't continue to voice her thoughts, as the distinct echoes of clanging puck and hocking sticks immediately filtered through their ears. "You think he'll mind if I come in right now?" Jo asked, a little louder.
"WHAT THE HELL KIND OF MOVE WAS THAT?" an irritated voice hollered. Even their limited contact throughout the years didn't prevent Jo from recognizing Herb's voice.
"This is HOCKEY, gentlemen, NOT GOLF ON ICE! You want to remain on the team - start playing the sport correctly!"
Jo glanced resignedly at Doc. "So, where's his office?"
Apparently, the concept of time seemed foreign in St. Paul, or at least to Herb Brooks. For the last twenty minutes, she had memorized the more obscure details of the room out of boredom. Jo perceived wryly that somehow this was far from the first extended practice.
The New Yorker impatiently checked the time yet again. Punctual for a disciplinarian, aren't you? thought Jo, sardonically.
She decided to walk about and stretch. Upon reaching the left desk corner, a simple picture frame caught her eye. The photograph gave off a formal appearance, judging from the appropriate attire of the family. Jo amusedly noted that only Patty's smile appeared genuine in the mist of the discomfort that the rest of her family struggled to hide. Despite that, the photograph conveyed the intimacy of family life rather well. It filled Jo with a surprising surge of emptiness and envy.
"It took about five tries before Patty was satisfied."
Jo looked up to find a relaxed Herb regarding her from the door. "The kids weren't too thrilled," he chuckled. "Kelly was also running a cold that day, too."
She couldn't help but crack a small smile at the fatherly sentiment. It was much preferable anyhow than the dictatorship he displayed on the ice. "I've been there before," Jo agreed.
Just as quickly, the awkwardness settled back in. In a weird way, Herb and Jo took comfort in the familiar discomfort over the years that developed into second nature. Jo averted her eyes to the photograph. "Dan and Kelley look very well," Jo complimented. Then, "I think I'd like to meet them," she said quietly.
"They're great kids," he said proudly. "All of them," he followed, eyeing her intently.
Jo shifted uncomfortably. Her eyes, though, took on a complex expression – an odd mix of detached gratification and strong distrust. In many ways, those eyes startled Herb, even concerned him close to many times with its piercing intensity.
The contact broke off when the phone rang. "Hello," answered Herb wearily. "Hi, Walter," his expression relaxed. "Hold on a minute."
"I'll phone Patty," Jo offered before Herb could make his request.
"Thirty minutes," Herb nodded his thanks. "I'll meet you at the front entrance."
Jo picked up her bag, leaving Herb to resume his conversation. She proceeded out the door – only to collide with a bulky figure. "Sorry," she said out of habit. "I mean, excuse me."
It was hard to make out the guy underneath all the padding and heavy gear. He didn't seem too bothered, though. On the contrary, he seemed rather….curious. "Not at all," the hockey player shot her arather appreciative grin.
"Schneider!" barked Herb.
The athlete quickly waved to his coach and went off, well aware of Herb's burning glare. For the time, his curiosities would have to remain unanswered. He couldn't resist, however, giving the girl a final grin before disappearing around the corner.
"So, what did Herb say?" Rizzo asked as nonchalantly as possible.
"Herb doesn't say as much as he lectures," scoffed O.C. He leaned down to unlace his skates. "He's given me a warning," O.C. said quietly enough for Silky and Rizzo. "Pretty much said that I'll find myself in Boston, if I don't shape up."
"You better start off apologizing then," remarked Silky.
"Like hell," spat O.C. "Auge had it coming. I'm not going out of my way to kiss his sorry ass."
"You're making real progress, Jack," Jimmy commented dryly. "In fact, just as much progress as we're making with Herb."
O.C. kicked his skates off in annoyance. "Boys, Herb was born as a big pain-in-the-ass, is a big pain-in-the-ass, and will likely die as a big pain-in the ass. That's the progress right there, Jim."
"He's definitely not the biggest one," Mac muttered, though audibly enough. Bah and a few other Minnesotans joined in the snickers.
Predictably, O.C. started to rise from the bench. Rizzo immediately pressed him down. "C'mon, man," he hissed. "You're not gonna start that again!"
"Piss off," his friend snarled, shrugging off Rizzo's hand.
"Jack," warned Silky. His voice was low but commanding enough to bring O.C. reluctantly to his senses. As far as Rizzo could remember, Silky and O.C. had developed this inexplicable bond. O.C. was the only person successful at bringing out Silky's more sociable qualities while Silky was practically the only one capable enough to calm and convey reason to his hotheaded friend.
It was impressive, to say the least, that both Mac and O.C. had managed a civil, if not cool stance towards one another since the fight. The tension between them, however, remained intact. And while it was never implied, it was the obvious factor that left the team still regionally divided.
"What's up, boys?" Buzz called out cheerfully as he entered.
"Buzzey," greeted Rizzo, along with others. "Took you long enough," he teased.
"You were also dragging your feet after those Herbies," retorted Buzz. "I didn't see you volunteer to carter off the equipment."
"Nope, I guess you're just too damn nice for your own good," Rizzo replied cheekily, earning himself rolled eyes from Buzz.
"Hey Mac, do you know if Herb's got other relatives living nearby?" asked Buzz.
"Not as far as I know of," Mac replied as he pulled on a shirt. "Why? I thought you'd be the one know – you live in his neighborhood."
"Well, either he's got a distant niece, or the Olympic Committee's suddenly decided to include girls in our sport," Buzz announced, shrugging off his pads.
Buzz was delighted when his words brought about the desired effect. A few of his teammates paused what they were doing. Mac and Bah exchanged puzzled glances, while others were simply and eagerly waiting for him to continue. Jack and Silky had continued about their packing, but even they were deliberately keeping an open ear. Buzz continued deliberately removing his gear.
"Alright, so let's have it," Mac finally bit.
"I ran into this girl, coming back from the equipment room. It looked like she was meeting with Brooks in his office."
"And?" prompted Mac.
"And I ran into her," Buzz said simply. His teammates groaned good-naturedly and threw their towels at him.
"I wonder what Herb's got in store," pondered Bah. "Maybe he's hiring a secretary?"
"Yeah, cause Herb's job sure does require a lot of paperwork to fill," O.C. said sarcastically. "Your head thawed from the ice yet, Bah?"
"So what does she look like?" Ralph Cox asked in effort to prevent another verbal scrimmage. "Does she go to the U as well?"
"Could be," Buzz answered. "I've never seen her around campus before, though." "But, trust me," he grinned, "I would have definitely noticed before if she was."
"She was blonde, huh?" teased Mac.
"Brunette, actually," corrected Buzz. "Not hard on the eyes, either."
"But you can at least look at her, right?" Rizzo jabbed playfully. Buzz's height was often a subject of great teasing.
"Hey, I like tall girls," Buzz countered. "Besides, the taller they are, the better the view," he winked. The comment brought about more laughter and hoots.
"So does this girl have a name?" asked Mark Johnson.
"I didn't get a chance to ask. I wasn't exactly going to wait around with Herb breathing down my neck now, was I?"
"You did manage to get past 'hi' and 'goodbye' though, right?" O.C. smirked. "You can't seriously tell me that you didn't know how to converse with the girl."
"What, and this is an area of your expertise, Boston?" Ralph snorted. "I can't exactly see you charming the socks off a girl when you're dropping your gloves half the time."
"What can I say, they dig the O' Callahan charm," O.C. grinned cockily. "And I'm enough of a gentleman to oblige them."
"Maybe you wouldn't mind giving us a demonstration then," Mac smirked.
"On you?" O.C. jeered. "Sorry, scrawny Minnesotan jocks aren't worth my time."
Their teammates rumbled amusedly at the low blow. Some of them looked on with anticipated glee. Mac seemed unfazed by the remark. "I'm saying maybe we ought to see if you'll have better luck with this girl than Buzz," he said. "You know – let us see if your words are big enough for your mouth."
Mac's proposition brought about even louder rumblings and hoots. "What do you have in mind?" O.C. asked.
"Get the girl smitten by the end of one week, and I'll do all your Herbies for that week," offered Mac. "If I win, you'll do likewise."
O.C. deliberated for a bit. He was pretty sure that the stakes could have involved something more creative and embarrassing, but the Herbies seemed punishable enough. "Deal," he shook Mac's hand. "Oh, and she's has to be truly head-over-heals smitten," added Mac. "No bribes and no favors."
O.C. smirked. "They're not necessary for easy baits."
Author's Endnote: Auge was supposed to be the character that O.C. had a fit w/ last time. I was originally going to add Jo's scene in this chapter, but as you can already tell, the chapter's long as it is. Stay tuned till then!