It may have all started before Coach Bombay arrived, but everything changed the day he did.

It's funny. Even now, years later, a grown man, Jesse still always referred to him as 'Coach Bombay' or 'Coach'. He knew the rest of the Ducks did too.

He remembers clearly the day he arrived, his sleek black limousine gliding onto the frozen lake. Jesse had always been the unofficial leader of the team. It wasn't that he thought he was better than any of his teammates; it was just that he wanted to protect them. He felt it was his duty. It probably stemmed from having to take care of his brother ever since their mom's death.

There may have been practically no age age difference between them, but Jesse was definitely the 'older brother', and with their dad having to work long hours to support them by himself, it was often Jesse who had to take care of Terry.

So, when this cake-eating white guy pulled up in his limo, Jesse took the lead. At first, he thought he was there to sell them some drugs. His whole life, Jesse had seen drugs and how they affected people in his community. He knew there were two types of drug dealers. The poor regular guys who were just trying to make a living, even though it was at the expense of their "customers", and the other dealers. The rich beyond imagination white guys who just wanted more money and more power.

He still remembers Peter's voice in his ear.

You don't know what you're doin'.

But he didn't care. He was gonna make sure this guy never came near them again. Even when they thought he had a gun, he had put his arms out to protect his teammates. That was just who he was.

Then they found out this guy was the new coach.

He still remembers that first game. Before Coach Bombay had really started coaching them.

Of course it had to be against the Hawks. Jesse had to face Adam head on. The harassment from the other Hawks players actually helped him, though. Between the racist comments and the guy who knocked his helmet off, he was able to focus all his energy on being pissed off, so he didn't even have time to think about Adam.

By the time the game was over, everyone was in a bad mood. When Bombay was done screaming at them, Jesse had had it. This guy who didn't do anything to coach them and who didn't give a crap about them at all wanted them to follow his advice? Jesse thought not. He headed to the locker room and got changed, more pissed off than ever. He was mad at the new coach, he was mad at the Hawks, and now that he had more time to think, he was once again mad at himself for crushing on a Hawk.

It was a few days later when someone got the idea to look for old thrown out porn mags. Jesse had to roll his eyes at the thought, but he went along with it anyway. He flipped through a few pages, not really looking at anything.

It wasn't long before a few Hawks showed up. Of course one was Adam. They threw Karp into a pile of trash before Fulton Reed, who Jesse at the time didn't know very well, got rid of them.

It took a while, but eventually Coach Bombay came around. When he took the team to the store that first time, Jesse thought his eyes would pop out of his head. He had never had real hockey stuff in his life. It was like he had won the lottery.

They began to practice more and eventually they gained skills. Jesse's natural leadership abilities, combined with his newfound hockey skills made him one hell of a player. Soon, Tammy and Tommy Duncan were added to the team, but that was more Terry's story than Jesse's.

Then Fulton was added. Jesse still laughed when he thought about the time the team went to the mall to teach Fulton how to skate.

Then they became the Ducks. It felt good to be part of a real team...with a name. It felt like they were important, that they belonged to something. Their next game was when Jesse scored his first goal. God, that felt good. Everything was looking up until he, Terry, and Peter overheard Bombay talking about them to the Hawks' coach.

And if that wasn't bad enough, a few minutes later, Bombay walked in the locker room saying they had a new player.

Adam Banks.

Jesse felt like he was going to die.

TBC