candynoel: Don't worry. I'm going to put in some Julie/Scooter romance in later chapters, but it doesn't seem appropriate during an unofficial scrimmage where the two opposing team are trying to rip each other's heads off. I'll write a library scene just for you!

punkteacher: You know, a writer cannot receive too much praise for her work. I'm so glad you like it! Let me know if there's anything you'd like to see happen.

antiIRONY: As ever, girl, you are my most ardent supporter. And Shayne will be appearing in more scenes after Fulton quits the team...however temporarily. Have you ever wondered exactly why he didn't want to keep hanging out with his almost-best-friend, Charlie? Was there maybe a girl involved...? Love ya, babe!

AN: This chapter is dedicated to my b-f: I love you; you drive me nuts sometimes!

"Broken Wings"

The insistent knocking on her door made Maurae groan and slit one eye to glare at it. Carrie slept through everything but her alarm clock, so she'd be no help. With a huge sigh, Maurae threw her blankets off and padded across the floor to wrench open the door and stop the knocking ringing in her ears.

She stopped mid-yawn when she saw Charlie and the others gathered in front of her door, all wearing their warm-up clothes and carrying their skates. "Do I even want to know?" she asked sleepily, rubbing one eye as she blinked the other.

"Varsity issued a challenge. Come on, get dressed," Charlie said with a grin every bit as sleepy as hers. She continued to stare at him dumbly. "After last night..." Still, a blank stare. "We're going to show them who's the best..." She blinked again.

"Then why'd you wake me up?" she asked, her temper shortened by the early hour and the lack of sunlight. "Go show them, then, Captain Duck, and let me sleep." She made to shut the door in his face, but he got in the way.

"Come on, Ro, you're starting forward."

"No, I'm not, I'm third line," she said, more awake with each word, not a fact she was overly pleased with. And from the look in his eyes, her friend knew it too. "Damn you, Conway," she said with a sigh. She reached behind the door and pulled her sweatshirt off the hook, pulling it on over her sleep camisole. Slipping her flip-flops on, she pulled her hair into a very messy ponytail with the elastic tie she kept around her wrist and grabbed her skates. "I hate you. Don't talk to me." Then she grabbed a set of keys and closed the door behind her. "No more accepting challenges without a vote, okay? Or at least wait until the world is awake next time."

Since it was second nature for her to grumble in the morning, no one answered or paid it much attention as they made their way to the rink. Coincidentally, they arrived at the same time as Scooter and Adam. The latter glanced at them and away; the former shot the whole group a bemused smile and winked at the girls near the rear. Julie was the only one that really noticed, and she flushed slightly, turning to talk to Connie instead.

Maurae took a deep breath and looked over at Adam. He was, however, still staring resolutely away from his former teammates. That made Maurae's heart sink a little bit. She shook her head at herself and followed Charlie into the locker room, her shoulders squared. "I'm not even awake," she muttered darkly. She had noticed all the red bites from the ants over Scooter's face, and what little had been visible of Adam, so she knew her plan had gone over without a hitch. Of course, now they had to deal with the wounded pride of the Varsity team...

"Hey, girl, hurry up," Connie said, nudging her in the side. Maurae looked up and then down again. She'd managed to get most of her gear on without thinking about it, but she was still in the process of lacing her skates, while the rest of them were waiting patiently for her to finish. Concentrating on the task at hand, she was ready in an eye-blink and picked up her stick and helmet, jamming her gloves under her arm. Then she followed Charlie out onto the ice.

Skating came naturally, so she dumped off her gloves, stick and helmet in the box and started a few leisurely laps on their half of the rink. She and Charlie skated together, not talking, but merely working off each other as they usually did. Adam skated over hesitantly and she watched her captain's face darken angrily. This was more than a little thing between the two of them. Charlie was jealous, hating both himself for feeling the jealousy and Adam for making him jealous, hurt, and confused. High school wass a new world for them all, but their captain had a rougher time of it, seeing his already talented friend moving on while he was shoved backwards by a coach who was forcing him to play better than he thought he could. His temper was at the breaking point, and Maurae prayed that it wouldn't snap anytime soon.

"They didn't tell me until it was too late," Adam said softly as he drew even with them. Maurae lifted her head, but she looked at Charlie rather than at Adam. In doing so, she missed his crestfallen expression. To him, it may have seemed as if she were rejecting him, but she was really only making sure that she wouldn't have to restrain Charlie. She silently begged him to save it for the game. "Charlie...Ro, you have to believe me!"

"Yeah right, preppie," Charlie snapped, suddenly turning and zooming away. Adam's face fell and he looked away sadly. Maurae's first instinct was to put a comfoting hand on his arm, but she remembered that they were on opposite sides right then, and she was supposed to be mad at him. Catching sight of Riley's sharp gaze, after he'd just finished terrorizing Averman, helped firm her resolve not to forgive Adam until later. She turned and followed Charlie over to the bench, watching him silently punch the fiberglass.

"Things'll turn out, Charlie," she said, stepping into the box and taking a seat.

"What are you doing?" he asked. "You're starting!"

"No," she said softly. "I think you need this more than I do. You take the face-off. You know you and Riley have some issues you need to work out." His eyes spoke volumes to her, telling her she'd said the right thing, though she too, was now feeling the urge to show those boys just what she could do.

"You sure?" That tempted her to say she'd been kidding, but she smiled and nodded.

"I'll keep score," she teased. "You guys don't need me. Maybe I'll go back to sleep."

"Right, the old Team USA confidence. We'll shine the ice with them, is that it?"

"Right, sure," she grinned. He nodded and skated off, jamming his helmet onto his head. Her smile faded. "Of course, it was that kind of confidence that got us smeared all over the ice during the first Iceland game." She found herself reliving the nightmare of that humiliating defeat, but smiled, remembering also the shock evident on Gunnar Stahl and Olaf Sanderson's faces when she'd proven a better hockey player than they'd expected.

"Hey!" She looked up out of her musings to see Scooter waylaying Julie on her way to join Maurae on the bench. "Could we call it even?"

Typical Julie, more of a grouch in the morning than Maurae herself, answered in her best sarcastically-sweet tone, "I hate ties. They're like kissing your brother." Then she spun and climbed into the box next to number thirteen. Julie missed the amused, infatuated smile, but Maurae saw it clearly and hid a grin for Julie's sake.

'That would be an adventure, I'm sure,' she thought to herself, already planning a bit of matchmaking. 'I wonder how his teammates would take it...' Her smile turned wicked for a split second. Then she looked up. The rest of teh benchies were joining them now, and Varsity's were headed to their own bench as well.

The silence in the rink was so profound that everyone heard the conversation (aka confrontation) between Charlie and Riley, the two captains, whether natural or assigned. "First to ten," Riley growled. "Full check."

"Bring it on," Charlie said, exuding confidence. Their sticks crashed together twice, then went for a third and suddenly Charlie was sitting on his butt on the ice, staring blankly after Riley, who was pelting off down the ice towards the defenseless Goldberg.

The game was swiftly regressing Maurae to that first JGW game against Icelend. Varisty was undoubtedly bigger and stronger than the Ducks, but what the younger lacked in strength and finesse, they made up for, barely, with their speed and cohesiveness. The major problem, as far as Maurae could detect, was that Adam was playing for the wrong side. He left a hole in their unity that wasn't so easily filled in.

Varsity scored, amidst cheers. Maurae and Luis jumped in, for Russ and Fulton. Varsity scored. Connie and Guy replaced Fulton and Luis. Varsity scored. The line-up remained the same, and they started off again, with the Ducks slowly but surely losing both their edge and their confidence. When Riley taunted Goldberg right in front of the net, Charlie snapped.

"What was that, huh?" he demanded, Maurae clinging desperately to the back of his jersey to keep him from doing anything violent and stupid.

"Let me at him, Charlie!" Connie yelled, skating in front of the captain. With Charlie now worrying about restraining the volatile girl, Maurae breathed easier and released him as they shoved out of the massive pileup around the Ducks' net. Dwayne held off the rest of Varsity while Charlie skated aside with Connie. "We can't win if they're going to cheat!" Connie pointed out.

"Don't show them we're hurt. Just keep skating." He glanced back and sighed, knowing he'd almost lost it with Riley in the confrontation, and would have jumped the other boy with both fists raised if he hadn't felt the hands gripping his shirt securely. He watched Maurae skate back to the bench and rip her helmet off, letting Ken jump in for her. She sat, hands shaking angrily, but otherwise calm. She watched as Varsity scored a fifth time, and sighed. When Charlie miraculously managed to get the puck and take off with it, she was the first on her feet, urging him on.

And then Adam sailed up on his right, getting in his way until Charlie, having finally had enough, abandoned the game and took his frustrations out on their object. Both boys, formerly best friends, sailed head-first into Scooter and the Varsity net, actually scoring if someone had been paying attention to technicality. In an instant, the rest of both teams had joined them, leaping over dropped sticks and gloves and over the fiberglass walls to reach them.

Adam and Charlie stood in the center of the melee, faceplates touching angrily. "Nice takeout; you'd be in the box!" Adam shouted.

"Go cry to your rich parents!" Charlie yelled back, shoving Adam back. The blond boy leapt at him, just as frustrated, and grabbed him around the neck. Fulton went straight to Cole and started playing with his head, as well as pushing him around. Averman and Russ were both at a bit of a disadvantage, picking fights with Varsity boys a lot larger than either of them. Ken and Julie had ganged up of Scooter, a safe choice, seeing as he was the only decent Varsity player they'd encountered.

And Maurae dove desperately at her warring friends, managing to get a secure grip on both jerseys. She started to haul them apart with all the strength she could muster, shouting almost-incoherent things at them at the same time. "To think I got out of bed for this!" she screeched. "You two are supposed to be best friends! Why are you letting this stupid team rivalry get in the way of that? Just listen to me!"

The punch came out of nowhere, surprising both her and them; she didn't know who was more surprised by it. She, not knowing which one had delivered it, glared at both of them in more than anger. Her disappointment froze them cold. Adam, knowing that he was, in fact, the one who'd thrown the instinctive blow, stared guiltily from her to Charlie to his hands. "What is wrong with you two?" she demanded, voice Arctic and dropping. "You're best friends," she continued as the individual fights raged beyond them all. They were like the eye of the hurricane of chaos. "You've been best friends for almost four years. What has gotten into you?"

"Ro, I-"

"I'm not finished," she interrupted. "I'm going to say what I've got to say. Adam, have I treated you any differently since you made Varsity?"

"No," he whispered, ashamed of his behavior.

"Charlie, is Adam any different than he was when he played for the Ducks?"

"No."

"Then what the hell is going on? Friends fight, I get that. But best friends do not throw real punches at each other, intending them to do damage. You guys are killing me! Do you know how much it hurts me to try and think of you as an enemy, Adam? Do you know how much it hurts me to see you, Charlie, force yourself to think of your best friend as you would a stranger? Why can't we be friends again? Sure, we're on opposing teams. So what? So, shit. It makes no difference who you play for, as long as your heart stays true to you and your friends."

"Ro..."

"Pranks are just pranks, Adam. They don't make you a bad person because you didn't warn us. NO more than it makes me a bad person for not warning you. I don't know exactly what your proelm is with each other. But you'd better fix it. I'm not going to speak to either of you until you do." She turned away just as the overhead lights erupted into brightness and a shrill whistle blast echoed through the cavernous rink.

"Everybody freeze! Varsity, out! Varsity team out, let's go!" Orion was suddenly among them. He grabbed the struggling Riley's helmet and brought it close to his face. "It's a damn good thing I'm not your coach, now get your team out of here." He let Riley go, and Varsity started to separate themselves from the Ducks. They headed for their locker room with small smiles on their faces. Adam looked downcast, shooting her a pleading look that she completely ignored. His own disappointment was softened when she ignored Charlie's attempts to get her attention as well.

"We're gonna destroy you guys!" Cole suddenly burst out. Appalled, Adam grabbed his teammate's arm and tugged.

"Come on, let it go," he urged the dumb brute. He didn't want to stay and face her accusing stares, nor did he particularly want to witness the lecture Orion would no doubt give his team. He left the ice without looking back, his shoulders slumped.

Maurae didn't even watch him go, though she wanted to. She wanted to follow him until he was out of the rink, but she held herself off, waiting for Orion's speech instead.

"I thought I told you to stay away from the Varsity!" When no one offered an explanation or an apology, his eyes narrowed. "And take off those Duck jerseys now." They hesitated, glancing at Charlie's gradually darkening expression. "Come on, take them off!" Most made a move to do so, but Charlie, Fulton, and Maurae continued to hesitate. Then Maurae shrugged slightly and pulled the jersey off over her head. Orion was glaring furiously at Charlie, whose expression was murderous. "The Ducks are dead. You've got two choices, Conway: take off the jersey right now or you don't play."

"You're breaking up the best thing any of us have ever had," Charlie ground out.

"Well, it's time to grow up," Orion snapped, managing to still sound somewhat kind.

"Grow up?" Charlie asked. His eyes flashed and Maurae knew he was about to stick his foot in his mouth; angry as he was, he'd only regret what he said later. He was going to continue, no matter what she did, so she knew not to waste her breath. "Like you, huh? A washed up pro as a show-off to a bunch of kids? Geez, that's real grown up." Maurae's eyes went wide. She knew he was angry, but this was above and beyond anything she'd have expected from him.

Orion didn't bat an eye, though the tension in his jaw said plainly that he wanted to knock Charlie on his ass right there. The fact that he didn't was a testament to his self-control, and they respected him more for it; even Charlie, which only made his mood worse. "Okay, good-bye Conway." Charlie skated off without looking back. "Anyone else?" Fulton looked at them, then at Charlie, and slowly followed. "Good-bye Fulton. Look, no one's forcing you to be here. It's your lives. Only you can decide what to do with them." No one else moved, and he nodded, satsfied. "Okay. Twenty laps, then hit the showers." Obediantly, they picked up their gear, leaving the beloved Duck jerseys in a pile on the churned up ice near the displaced goal. Orion left the rink, but silence still reigned.

It was a somber group that left the JV locker rooms an hour later. No one wanted to look at anyone else, and they certainly didn't want to talk about it. Maurae went straight to her room and, in a rare moment of despairing helplessness, popped two of her tranquilizers- prescribed solely for use on airplanes due to an extreme phobia- and curled up, fetal-style in the middle of her bed. As she sank into blackness, she wished she hadn't gotten up that morning, instead, ignored the knocking.

Carrie tried to shake her awake a few hours later, after she'd missed breakfast and most of lunch. Giving up on the shaking approach, she went down the hall and banged insistently on Charlie's door. No one answered, but she kept it up, figuring he was still sleeping too, since the entire floor seemed to be dead.

"Charlie! Wake up!" she finally shouted.

"Charlie left," Julie said from behind her. Carrie turned.

"What? When will he be back?"

"He's not coming back. He left the team. It was all too much for him, I guess. Adam making Varsity without him, Maurae not speaking to him, his inability to work with Orion..."

"What on earth did I sleep through this morning?" Carrie demanded. "Maurae came back to the room at a little after eight, popped two tranqs and passed out. Now I can't get her to wake up."

"Two? Dry? Or did she take water with them?"

"She drained two glasses of water with them. Why? What difference does it make?"

"Dry is bad, even if she'd only taken one, but with two...she should be fine in a few hours. Just let her sleep. She's been through it...we all have. Now we're down about five players. It's ridiculous. We might as well all quit."

"The only reason we don't is because we won't give Varsity the satisfaction of running us off without a fight." The two girls turned to find Russ leaning against his doorjamb. "Did you find your notes, Jules?"

"Yeah, coming. Make sure Ro drinks some more water when she comes too, okay?" The blonde disappeared into Russ's room, and when Carrie peeked around the door, she saw Julie folded into her teammate's arms, sobbing into his shoulder. Her green eyes widened. If this was something that could make steady, cool-headed Julie Gaffney cry, then it was bad indeed. Maurae was far from flighty, and she'd been depressed enough to pop pills to escape reality. Carrie decided then that she didn't want to know, though intuition told her it had something to do with Adam and the rest of the Varsity team.

Shrugging, she went back dwon the hall, closed the door in case someone wanted to disturb her sleeping roommate, and then she continued out of the hall and down the stairs. She needed to talk to Cam and Teresa anyway...maybe she'd just spend the rest of the day with her theater friends. Maybe when she got back, Maurae would feel like talking about it.