Of Dreams and Miracles
By Misha

Disclaimer- Not mine, most of the characters own themselves. Only Elizabeth, Kathleen and Gloria are the products of my imagination. Everything else belongs to someone else. I'm not making any money off this, so please don't sue me.

Author's Notes- All right, this goes against my own rules for fan fiction. I don't normally write movie fic, I don't write about real people (or even fictionalised versions of real people) and I don't like Original characters This has all of the above, but I couldn't help it. I was reading some "Miracle" fic (I love that movie) and I just felt compelled to write one. My OFC is a little Mary Sue-ish (tried not to make it so, but...), and I'm not sure this is great writing, but as I said I felt compelled. This centres around a fictional daughter of Herb Brooks, Elizabeth, whom I created. I still have no idea what the pairing of this is going to be, I'm toying with the idea of pairing her with either Mac or O.C. So until I make up my mind, I'm going to write a bit of both. Come on, it's a good basis for a triangle, right? Besides, they're both so hot... I'm not really sure where I'm going with this one, but for now I'll run with it. Oh, and I'm unfamiliar with the American college system (especially as it was before I was born), so I just based it on my knowledge of how things work here in Canada, okay? Oh, and of course, I mess with the Brooks home situation. I changed something, deciding that it fit better than what I originally had, it's all explained in the prologue. For now, enjoy!

A.N2- So, I recently decided to give this story a major and edited and rewrite. I did a grammatical overhaul, catching most of my errors, if not all. I've changed a lot of my phrasing, adding little things everywhere and making significant changes everywhere. There are several new chapters, a few additional scenes and major edits to existing chapters (not all of which is identified separately, though all the new chapters are), a new character and an extended role for Kathleen, because I thought the story warranted it. A lot of this rewrite was mainly because I just didn't like the flow of the story and I wanted to change little things, so I did that, and I'm much happier with this version. Well, that's all, enjoy!

Pairing- Robbie/Other, Jack/Other.

Summery- The eldest daughter of Herb Brooks is there on the sidelines to watch the story of how a miracle unfolded...

Rating- PG-13

Prologue: Good News

Mid June, 1979

Elizabeth Marie Brooks was in her room, hiding from the costume party going on below her.

She wasn't a very social person and she had no desire to go make nice with her parents friends for an entire evening--especially if it meant dressing up.

Her mother hadn't been pleased, but that was nothing new. In the end, Elizabeth had made a brief appearance in the costume her mother had provided and then had gone up to her room, where she would remain for the rest of the evening.

Elizabeth heard her door open and looked up from the book she was reading, bracing herself to face a lecture from her mother. Instead, it was her father standing there.

"I got the job." Herb told her, looking at her expectantly.

Elizabeth jumped off the bed and through her arms around him. "That's--Oh my God!"

She couldn't even find the words to express it. He got the job. Her father was going to coach the Olympic hockey team!

"So, how do feel about spending the next several months running around after a hockey team?" Herb asked casually.

Elizabeth grinned. "Really? What about school?"

She was a student at the University of Minnesota, with one more year to go before she graduated. But, she had been bored with school and felt like she needed a break.

"You told me you wanted to take a year off." Her father pointed out. "This way you'll be doing something useful with the time and it's a once in a lifetime opportunity. Besides, you know more about hockey than most of the boys who'll be on the team and you're young. That'll really why I need you. I need you as liaison, just like you are at the U. You know me; I'm not going to be able to be their friend. That's what I need you for."

"Mom's not going to like it." Elizabeth pointed out, making a face.

It was a bit of an understatement. Patti didn't approve of Elizabeth's fascination with hockey or much else about her, for that matter. Elizabeth was much more of a Daddy's girl than a Mama's.

Of course, there was also the fact that she wasn't Patti's natural daughter. Herb had married his high school sweetheart shortly after graduation and Elizabeth had been born a few years later.

She had been two when her mother died in a car crash in the Autumn of 1960. A year later, Herb met Patti and married her not too long after that and then it was no time at all before they'd had Kelly and then Danny.

Elizabeth couldn't remember her natural mother, Laura, and Herb rarely spoke of her, though Elizabeth knew from her maternal grandparents that she looked just like her mother. She was tall and slim, with long blonde hair and big blue eyes--though those same qualities could pass her off as Patti's child, but for the shade of her hair and the shape of her features.

Still as far back as she could remember Patti had always been her mother. After all, Patti had been the one at every recital and every school play, the one who had bandaged knees and made cookies. Elizabeth loved her and considered her her mother, but there was a wall between them. She wasn't really what Patti wanted her to be.

Patti hated hockey and tolerated it only because it was Herb's passion and she had never made any secret of her disapproval of the fact that Elizabeth shared that passion. From a small age, Elizabeth had been content just to sit in the bleachers and watch. That hadn't changed as she had gotten older. Hockey and books were her two favourite things in life.

"I'll clear it with your mother." Herb assured her. "This'll be a great opportunity for you and your mother knows that."

"I can't wait." Elizabeth said eagerly. Her father was right--this was an opportunity that only came around once in a lifetime!
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