A/N: I'm back, and yes, it's another Mighty Ducks story that I'm experimenting with, and it's something that I had in my head after listening to the Dirty John podcast (produced by the same production team that did the podcast Dr. Death, which got turned into the Peacock miniseries starring Josh Jackson). This will be an AU. And if you've never listened to the Dirty John podcast or seen the show with Connie Britton, Kevin Zeggers, Jake Abel, and Eric Bana on Netflix, I recommend you do. You can find the podcast on YouTube.

Here's the summary: Charlie's bad attitude went beyond just Gordon leaving the team in Ted Orion's hands. He watched his mother endure a bad breakup with her former husband and is currently witnessing his mother go on more dates with different people, none of whom he approves of. She ends up meeting a charming doctor named Dr. Collin Bright, but Charlie instantly dislikes him and gets a bad feeling from Collin. After one of his games, he confides in Coach Orion, who becomes increasingly concerned after he meets Casey's new boyfriend, and gets the same bad feeling Charlie gets. Neither of them knows that their hunches lead to them discovering something far worse about the man entering Casey's life.

If you want to see more, be sure to review and leave kudos. The story's structure will be based loosely on the Dirty John podcast, but I am making a ton of creative changes to it. The story will be told from multiple points of view: Charlie's, Ted's, and Gordon's.

Also, in my time of developing this, I actually looked up hospitals in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area, and I've decided to go back and edit some information on a couple of my stories where I mention hospitals in that district. I also learned that the Wild didn't officially start playing until the 2000s, so that means I'm going to go back to Duck Camp and A New Pond and edit some information that's in there because I wasn't aware that the Wild wasn't founded until 1997, meaning Minnesota had been without an NHL team for quite some time after the North Stars went off to Dallas.

Chapter 1: Red Flags

Ted's POV

"Come on, Conway, let him make the first move!" Ted yelled, watching Conway, his newly-appointed Ducks captain, shift into defense. He nodded, pleased, when Conway checked the opposing player from the Jets and stole the puck away before he passed it to Moreau. "That's it! Nice pass. Keep it up!"

The J.V. team was working up a sweat, still running high off their win against the Varsity team as well as their most recent win against the Edina High School Hawks. But they also understood that just three victories weren't enough – they needed to make every game count. Their next game against Minnetonka Prep's Barbarians meant the pressure was on for them to really bring home a win and solidify that the Ducks were here to stay. This current game against the Elk River High Jets was in their favor, with the Ducks racking up seven goals and the Jets behind by three. They'd just begun the final period, with Conway leading second-line with Moreau and Mendoza.

But Ted felt there was something off about this game. Conway wasn't as focused as he usually was. Granted, their relationship was far from sunshine and daisies, but it was far less hostile than how it started at the beginning of the semester when he and the kid first met. They would never be what Bombay was to Charlie; that much was clear. Ted even said he wouldn't cross any professional lines and keep his relationship with this team strictly professional. Still, even he had to admit weeks after their game against the Varsity, the Ducks wormed their way into his heart in small ways: how Charlie and his new girlfriend volunteered to babysit Lucy on Saturday nights, how Lucy looked at Moreau and Gaffney with so much adoration and admiration, how his daughter would light up whenever she watched the games and how she rolled right up to them after every game they played, animatedly chirping about her favorite portions of each game, and how the Ducks in return would smile back at her, flattered by the adulation.

That remained on the forefront of his mind as he watched the game. He winced when Charlie, who seemed more distracted than usual, got checked hard into the boards by one of the Jets' defensemen.

"Change it!" he yelled. "Averman! Get out there!"

Conway visibly groaned when he and Averman were ordered to switch places, that Averman, of all people, was his substitute. But when he sat down on the bench, Ted turned to the kid.

"Where's your head out there, Conway? We're in the lead, but I can't have you complacent!" Ted demanded.

Conway glowered back at him, resembling the bitter, angry teenager Ted had met weeks ago. It wasn't until Conway gestured with his head toward the bleachers that Ted saw Casey sitting in the stands with her new boyfriend. Ted hadn't met the man yet – Casey had only just started dating this guy a week ago – but what struck him was the man was sitting there wearing scrubs as if fresh from surgery. The man was a heart surgeon who did freelance work at various hospitals. Ted was going to ask Bella if she and that man had ever worked together at any point since she was a daytime pediatric nurse anesthetist who oversaw many surgeries for young children. Still, he'd never seen the man around the hospital during the times he'd visit for Lucy's physical therapy, or when he'd drop off lunch for Bella on the weekends.

Ted sighed. "Just stay focused. You can tell me about it later."

Charlie's glare softened only a little bit as he sipped some water. Ted knew that Charlie would probably be reluctant to, as he was probably expecting a lecture from Ted about what he did wrong, but that wasn't the only reason why Ted wanted to talk to him. He felt he understood the reason behind Charlie's crappy attitude at the start of the school year.

After they finished the game, Casey and her boyfriend approached Charlie to congratulate him on the win, but Charlie seemed stiff as he spoke to the older man. After reluctantly shaking the man's hand, Conway turned away and headed off to the visitor's locker room to shower.

After the team dispersed to head home with their families, Ted cornered the kid in the locker room. He took a seat on the bench and patted the space next to him, gesturing for Charlie to sit down.

"You're not liking your mom's new boyfriend?"

"No, I don't," Charlie said stiffly. "And no, it's not because he isn't Bombay. Well, that's part of it. I just don't like the way he acts."

"What do you mean by that?"

"First night he arrives at the apartment to take my mom to dinner, he looks around at all the art Mom has on the walls. Some of them are original Salvador Dalis and Picassos passed down to her from her grandparents; I told her years ago that if she sold them to an antique shop, we could've been out of that apartment, but she can't bring herself to make any money off it because they're so sentimental. I was not too fond of the way he looked at all that stuff." Charlie glared at the floor, clenching his fists. "And during my second interaction with him, he caught me putting away some of my stuff in a safe I keep in my room; that's where I keep my old gear from Peewees, my old Team USA jersey, my autographed Wayne Gretsky hockey puck and stick which I got as a gift from The Great One at the Junior Goodwill Games; I also have Mike Modano, Val Bure, Randy Landouceur, Gordy Howe, Basil McRea, and Paul Kariya jerseys locked up there that had been gifts from Bombay and Adam, do you even know how much money those things will be worth in the future? Anyway, he saw me putting that stuff away the other day before I left to go to school, and he asked me, 'Hey, what do you have in the safe, son?' I told him it was none of his business, and I slammed the door in his face."

Ted nodded along; he could understand how and why Charlie would feel wary of that sort of thing, especially if the kid protected stuff of great value in his bedroom. Even Ted understood that those McRea and Modano North Stars jerseys would be worth even more now, especially since there were talks of a new NHL team for Minnesota forming in 1997 called the Wild.

Still, part of him wanted to try to give Casey's boyfriend the benefit of the doubt. "Well, maybe he was just trying to make a conversation."

"Really, he had to creep up behind me in my bedroom?" Charlie turned and glowered at Ted. "That's not normal. And him spending the night like that after he and Mom have only been dating a week? Really? I mean, I get that when Mom falls for a guy, she falls hard. But this is moving too quickly. I don't like it."

"Did you try telling your mom that?"

"She's not worried. She's just happy she's met someone who actually seems to treat her well after she divorced that other asshole she'd been married to for less than two years. Her head is in the clouds. This guy may be charming. But so is a car salesman. I don't know what's happening to her. But in the past, she was never this naïve."

Ted sighed. "Well, did you learn his name?"

"Collin Bright."

Ted contemplated the name. "Never heard of him. I'll ask my wife, though. She's a pediatric nurse at Hennepin County Medical Center; maybe she's worked with him."

"I doubt he's a doctor. He lives in those scrubs. They look dirty. Are those the only clothes he owns?" Charlie asked.

Ted nodded; even he had to agree that was odd. Even his wife didn't wear her scrubs twenty-four-seven; she only wore them when she went to work and always changed before leaving the hospital. He didn't know any doctor who wore his scrubs outside of surgery.

"I agree, that's strange."

"And I asked my mom if she's ever been to his house. She said she hasn't. But he claims to have a home in Maple Grove. That's just weird; if he has a house in Maple Grove, how come she's never been over to see it?"

"Then keep your guard up, but if he's who your mom wants, there's not much you can do."

Tears suddenly came to Charlie's eyes. "But what if this guy turns out to be scum?"

"She'll learn that on her own. For now, all you can do is support her and be happy that she's found someone who makes her happy."

Charlie nodded bitterly; Ted knew the boy was less than happy about needing to do that. "Would it make you feel better if I met him and formed my own opinion?" Ted asked.

Charlie nodded. "Yeah."

Ted sighed. "Come on, let's get out there. I'm sure your mom's looking for you."

Charlie nodded again. He gathered up his hockey bag and followed Ted out of the locker room, where they saw Casey and Collin waiting for them. Casey embraced her son again and kissed him while Collin stood there, hands in his pockets and wearing a smile on his face; he was taller than Ted by a couple of inches and was packed like a hockey defenseman, broad-shouldered and very blond with hazel eyes, and, predictably, wearing hospital scrubs. Ted eyed the scrubs; dirt stains were on the bottom of the pant legs where the man's shoes were.

"Hi," he said, extending his hand out to shake Collin's. "I'm the coach, Ted Orion."

"I'm Collin; nice to meet you." The man grinned warmly. "That was some playing he did out there." He gestured with a nod toward Charlie.

"He's one of my best," Ted said. "Charlie mentioned you're a cardiovascular surgeon?"

"Yes. I do a lot of freelance work."

"At which hospitals?"

"Hennepin County Medical Center, Abbot Northwestern, Maple Grove Hospital, Moose Lake's Mercy Hospital, and sometimes New Prague," answered Collin.

Ted nodded. "Oh, interesting. Well, maybe you've met my wife; she's a pediatric nurse anesthetist at Hennepin. Her name's Bella."

"Bella Orion? Can't say I've met her. I usually work daytime shifts."

"So does she." Collin rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly at Ted saying that, but even Ted could see how the man seemed to be like a deer in headlights. Still, Collin brushed it aside just as quickly.

"Hmm, that's strange. Well, I would have to introduce myself to her sometime. Maybe we haven't met yet because I just recently returned from working with Doctors Without Borders over in Africa."

Ted nodded. He supposed that could be substantial. But still, knowing Collin and his wife hadn't met yet was odd, primarily if they worked the same shifts. Yet he wouldn't truly know anything until he spoke to Bella when he got home that night for dinner.

"Well, it was good meeting you, sir." Collin shook Ted's hand again, and Ted watched as Charlie, Casey, and Collin all left the arena together; he watched how Collin wound his arm around Casey, how he looked at her with so much adoration, and how Casey seemed so happy, almost younger, like a teenager falling in love for the very first time. But Charlie remained stiff, uncomfortable seeing Collin be so physically close to Casey after just a week of them dating.

Ted didn't think much of it all until later that night when he and Bella were cooking dinner together. They stood over the stove, cooking up meatballs and warming up a jar of Rao's marinara in the microwave. While the pasta boiled and the meatballs baked in the oven, Ted brought up Collin Bright to Bella.

"I met Charlie's mother's new boyfriend after the game," he said to her, stirring the spaghetti. "His name's Collin Bright. He's a heart surgeon; he claims he works at the same hospital you work at."

At this, Bella paused. "No, I can't say I ever met anyone by that name before."

"Well, he claims he was working with Doctors Without Borders for a year; he recently got back."

"I haven't run into him during any of my recent shifts," Bella insisted, shaking her head. "Are you sure he works there?"

"That's what he says." Ted shrugged, suddenly feeling uneasy. Bella wasn't one to lie. If she'd never met anyone by the name of Collin Bright, that was enough to give him some concerns about the man Casey Conway was allowing into her life and into her home. And Charlie seemed to have intuition about Collin not being the person he claimed to be. What Charlie had confided in him earlier about Collin eying Charlie's safe with all of his valuable possessions inside also made Ted uneasy; that was a lot of money Charlie was protecting, and knowing what he knew, Ted didn't have a good feeling about it. But there was also still the part of him that felt maybe Collin deserved the benefit of the doubt, even though Charlie had listed quite a few red flags that he'd witnessed after only a week of seeing his mother dating this guy.

That night, when Ted and Bella went to bed, Ted didn't fall asleep easily. As he lay wide awake, Ted considered everything. He'd promised himself he wouldn't cross any professional boundaries, that his relationships with the Ducks would be professional and nothing more. Still, there was another side to him: he was a husband and a father; part of him couldn't help growing to care for those kids like he cared for his own daughter, especially after the bitter spat he and Charlie had gotten into weeks ago when Charlie nearly dropped out of Eden Hall. For some, it was probably easy to chalk Charlie's attitude up to teenage hormones, overt sensitivity, and being dramatic over Bombay leaving the team in Ted's hands; Ted certainly made that mistake before realizing that the kid didn't have a dad who was around, and hearing from Charlie earlier that his mom and stepdad divorced after two years of marriage, Ted suddenly understood part of the reason behind Charlie's anger and upset, and why the kid had been so closed off and reluctant to let Ted coach the Ducks – the kid had been trying to protect himself from being hurt again, and it was evident to Ted that the kid was more than determined to protect Casey from further heartbreak.

That was when Ted's fatherly protectiveness ate at him even further; his stomach felt like a hungry animal was clawing at it as he flipped over, trying to settle his nerves, but even taking deep breaths didn't work as his stomach pains grew worse, and he knew it wasn't just dinner not sitting right. Sighing, he walked to the joined master bathroom and opened up the medicine cabinet, popping a couple of Advil to settle the ache, and as he glanced at himself in the mirror, the look in his eyes was one he'd seen the night of the car crash that led to Lucy's condition. Shaking himself, he went back to bed, returning to wrapping his arms around Bella and breathing in the scent of her vanilla shampoo and the fabric softener she used whenever she did their laundry, and he felt settled as he closed his eyes, kissing the back of her neck after pushing some of her dark red hair back over her shoulder.