Of Dreams and Miracles
By Misha

Disclaimer and Notes in Prologue.

Part Nineteen: Family

The next game the team played was against the NHL All-Stars. Elizabeth sat on the bench for the whole game, as always.

She sometimes wondered why she had to be behind the bench, since she never didn't really do anything. However, her father repeatedly insisted that it was part of her job description, besides she enjoyed it. She loved being that close to the action. It was almost as good as being out there herself.

Still, that night she was a little unsettled by what she saw.

Timmy Harrer played and Herb seemed to take special care with him, showing him more consideration than he had ever shown any of the other boys. In fact, he seemed ever harder on them than usual, that night.

Elizabeth was beginning to suspect that there was a method to his madness, but she couldn't be a 100 certain.

Still, there was one way to find out...
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After the game was over, Elizabeth stood outside the locker room. She really wanted to talk to the boys before they got on the bus.

Or at least, some of the boys.

She had already decided that she couldn't talk to the whole team, that wouldn't work anyway. So, she picked one player to talk to and the natural choice was Jack.

Not just because of their personal relationship, but also because he was the natural choice to pass on what she was about to say to the other guys.

So, Elizabeth waited until the players poured out of the locker room and then caught his attention.

"Can I talk to you for a moment?" She asked softly.

"You know you can." Jack told her softly.

Elizabeth smiled and they found an empty room.

"You guys have to talk to my dad." She told him quietly. "Tell him how you feel about this whole Timmy Harrer thing. He's not going to do anything about it if you don't take a stance."

"You think we should?" Jack asked, obviously pondering her words.

Elizabeth nodded. "I don't think it can hurt." She told him, then she paused. "I don't think it should be the whole team, though. I think it should be just a few of you, you know?"

Jack nodded. "Yeah, I'm donna go talk to some of the other guys about this. Rizzo, definitely, I guess Mac, maybe Mark. You coming?"

"Do you think I should?" Elizabeth asked, unsure of her place. It was one thing to talk to Jack and make the suggestion, but she wasn't sure if she really get involved. "I'm not really part of the team."

"Actually, you pretty much are." Jack told her. "You're not on the ice, but you are one of us. All the guys think so."

"So I'm just one of the guys, huh?" She asked with a mischievous smirk.

"Not quite." Jack assured her with a grin. "You're a whole lot cuter than any of them and I've never had a deep desire to make-out with Rizzo."

"That's good to know." Elizabeth retorted with a laugh.

Jack just kept grinning at her and then sighed. "Come on Princess, lets go talk to the others."
---

"Herb," Coach Patrick stated, climbing onto the bus to get Herb. "Some of the boys want to have a word."

Jack had taken Robbie, Rizzo, and Mark aside and the four of them had decided to talk to Herb. They waited in a small huddle as Herb came down off the bus.

Elizabeth stood with them. She had tried to argue that this was something they needed to do on their own, but they had wanted her there.

"You're the player-coach liaison, after all." Robbie had pointed out to her. She had conceded the point, so she stood with them as her father approached.

"This better take about two seconds," Herb warned them.

"This is crazy, Herb," Jack began, "bringing him in this late."

"We've got parents buying tickets, getting rooms," Robbie added. "It makes it hard knowing what to tell them."

"And with one of us going home as it is..." Jack continued.

Mark and Rizzo stood there, letting the other two do all the talking.

"I guess I don't have to ask where where you stand on this." Herb stated, looking straight at Rizzo. "Do I Rizzo?"

"This wasn't Rizzo's idea!" Robbie protested.

Herb ignored him and continued to look at Rizzo.

"You want me to say I'm scared of getting cut?" Rizzo asked him. "I'm scared of getting cut, we all are."

Herb nodded and then turned to Elizabeth. "Where do you come into this?"

"The boys wanted me here." She answered, then she shrugged. "I mean, it's my job, right? You want me as a liaison, didn't you?"

Herb didn't answer, he just took in her position in the middle of the four boys, part of their group.

"We just want it to be fair, Herb," Jack told him.

"Don't even try to talk to me about fair," Herb protested. "He was right there in Colorado."

"That was six months ago," Rizzo argued.

"You don't think he's been playing for the last six months?" Herb asked.

"Not with us, he hasn't." Rizzo protested. "That makes a difference."

"Like Hell it does." Herb told them. "All I know is that kid can flat out play."

"What? And we can't?" Jack asked, somewhat angry.

"He's got a smooth stick, soft hands." Herb stated. "Great vision on the ice. And let me tell you what else he's got: he's got the attitude I want, on and off the ice, so somebody better tell me why I shouldn't give him a Hell of a look."

"Because we're a family." Mark said, finally speaking up.

"What?" Herb gave him a look of confusion.

"We're a family," Mark insisted. Herb considered his words and looked at the boys. "And this is the family you want to go to Lake Placid with?"

"Absolutely," Jack answered promptly.

"Wouldn't have it any other way," Robbie agreed.

"Timmy Harrer can help us boys," Herb stated. "And I'm gonna send him home. We've got one more to get down to twenty. You understand?

They nodded, and Herb got back on the bus.

"All right," they all sighed in relief, following Herb on to the bus.

Elizabeth beamed as she joined them, her instinct had been right: her father was just trying to get this kind of reaction out of the boys. He wanted them to see that they had become more than a hockey team. His motives were solid, it was just his methods that were a little extreme.
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