Of Dreams and Miracles
By Misha

Disclaimer and Rating in Prologue.

A.N- I thought I'd explain here that I refer to O.C as "Jack" and Mac as "Robbie" because though it's written in third person, this is from Elizabeth's perspective and that's how she thinks of them, though she occasionally uses their nicknames in conversation. I couldn't see her thinking of them, especially not Mac, by nicknames, so... However, I always refer to Rizzo that way, since I can't imagine calling him by any other name. Okay? That's all for now, enjoy!

Part Four: Stupid Boys

The next day, Elizabeth sat on the bench watching the first practice. She always liked watching practice, even if she did feel really sorry for the players who had to deal with her father.

"Johnson!" She heard her father yell. "That coast to coast stuff may work here, but it won't again the teams we'll be playing. Next."

"Morrow, let me take this one." She heard O'Callahan tell another player. She watched warily, as he headed onto the ice, not liking the look he was giving Robbie. She bit her lip; she had a really bad feeling about this.

"This is a break out play gentlemen," her father called out. "So please, let's get rid of the puck early."

Herb blew the whistle and the boys started off.

"Here! Here!" Robbie called as Jack charged him, then, THWACK!

Elizabeth winced as she watched Robbie go down hard. "Robbie!" She cried out, before she could stop herself.

"Whatcha hitting like that for, O.C?" One of the other boys asked.

"He didn't even have the puck," another commented.

"Nice hit O.C!" Dave Silk called from the bench.

"Tell your boy to keep his head up next time, then he won't have to worry about it." Jack shot out.

Elizabeth nodded grimly at the reference. Robbie got to his feet and dropped his gloves.

"Come on, let's go," he yelled in anger.

Elizabeth saw Craig move to go break things up, but Herb stopped him.

"Let them go," he commanded.

Elizabeth stared at him, unable to believe her ears. Her father was going to just stand by and allow those two to behave like heathens? It was insane.

Of course, she knew from personal experience that Robbie was a hot-head and it looked like O.C was cut from the same cloth, but stillÖ

The other boys were shouting encouragement to Jack and Robbie, egging them on. Jimmy Craig was out of his circle, and other boys were coming out of the bench on to the ice to get a better view.

"Stop it!" She screamed, to no avail from the bench. "Stop it right now!"

Of course, no one listened to her. Elizabeth watched as Jack pulled Robbie into a head lock.

"Please just break it up!" She pleaded as they continued to hit at each other, but they ignored her.

She shook her head in disgust and got up and left the arena. She didn't need to watch the boys go at it like that. She was a hockey fan, always had been, but senseless fighting had never appealed to her. In fact, she detested it.

And that meant she wasn't going to stick around and watch. No way, no how.
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That night, Elizabeth ended up visiting the dorm where most of the boys would be staying for the next several months.

Her father wanted to talk to Jimmy Craig about something, he wouldn't tell her what, and she had decided to tag along to check out the dorms.

Also, there was something she needed to get out of the way before things heated up.

While her father talked to Jimmy, she walked down the hall and knocked on one of the doors. She might as well at least try to deal with her baggage.

After a moment, Robbie opened the door. "Liz." He said, obviously surprised. "Does Herb know you're here?"

"He's talking to Jim Craig and I had some time to kill." She explained, side-stepping the question. Of course, her father didn't know where she intended to go, since she doubted he'd like it if he did know. "Can I come in?"

Robbie shot her that custom grin. "You want to come into my room? I don't knowÖ What would your father say?"

Elizabeth grinned. "Do you plan on telling him? Because I don't, after all, I never did any of the others times, either."

Robbie's grin just grew wider. "That's good, because I don't think I'd be in one piece, if you did."

She blushed, silently berating herself for opening that line of conversation.

"You took off pretty quickly today." Robbie commented, for once not pressing his advantage.

"I don't like bloodshed, you know that." She said quietly.

"He started it." Robbie defended.

"Or was he just finishing it?" Elizabeth asked quietly.

"'76 was a long time ago." Robbie told her. "Besides, you weren't complaining back then."

"You're right, it's ancient history. It all is." Elizabeth told him quietly. "And it's going to be a very long few months if we don't leave it that way."

"Lizzie-" Robbie began."

"Don't." She told him. "I don't want to go there with you, not again. I just want to leave it be, can you please do that for me?"

Robbie stood there for a moment, obviously pondering her request, then he grabbed her arm and pulled her towards him. He kissed her deeply. Elizabeth just stood there, to stunned to do anything, and after a moment, he released her.

"What do you think?" He asked her.

"I think it's going to be a long a seven months." Elizabeth answered and then turned on her heels and left the room.

She shouldn't have gone to see Robbie; she should have known it was stupid idea. After all, when had any good ever come of her being alone with Robbie McClannahan?

She scolded herself for the thought. That wasn't fair. As bitter as she was towards Robbie, there were a lot of good memories as well. But, that didn't make it any easier to deal with Robbie now, as things currently were between them.

Elizabeth rushed down the hall and ran straight into Jack O'Callahan.

"You're in a hurry." He drawled.

"Not exactly." She told him. "But not exactly eager to stay, either."

"Want to talk about it?" He asked.

She raised an eyebrow. "With you? You're not exactly my first choice of confidant. You don't seem to be the most easy-going guy in the world."

He grinned a little sheepishly, and a lot heart-meltingly. "So I lost it a bit. McClannahan deserved it."

Elizabeth just shrugged, not saying anything.

"I know, I know you're from Minnesota." Jack told her. "And you're friends with the guy."

"I wouldn't exactly say that." Elizabeth answered.

Jack raised an eyebrow. "Interesting. Yeah, I saw a bit of that at the bar, but today, you seemed concerned for him. So, what's the story there, then?"

"It's complicated." She told him. "It's also ancient history."

Jack just raised an eyebrow. "It doesn't look like it's so ancient, but if you ever want to shareÖ"

"Doubtful, but thanks anyway for the offer." She shook her head. "As much fun as this is, I've got to go. I'm sure my father's waiting for me."
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