Before we begin... I would like to recommend two great authors on Wattpad: Knc2013 (her imagines are amazing, you should check them out) and mcclanahansbackhand (her Miracle fics are so accurate and well written. She really knows Miracle and her writing is outstanding)
I know this was not requested (I am working on those, no worries), but today is 'Bah''s 60th birthday and many of you may not know that, but it's easy to say he is my favorite. Soooo, happy birthday, Bah! :D
After the Olympic flame was extinguished, the men of Miracle went their separate ways – many of them continued their career path in the NHL, but John Harrington was undrafted by the greatest league. He still went to the tryouts with the Buffalo Sabres and was assigned to the Rochester Americans, an AHL team.
~~ROCHESTER, N.Y.~~
As he first enters the locker room of Rochester Americans, he feels uncomfortable. Thirty-one pairs of eyes are now focused on him, some of them (American players and those who are the seniors on the team, to be exact) looking at him with much friendlier eyes than the Canadian part of the team. There's only one person, who looks at him with friendly eyes, is his teammate from the Olympic team, Eric Strobel. The silence is broken as one of the players, tall guy with slightly curly hair, stands up and offers the Minnesotan his hand and a big smile: "Paul Crowley, team captain. You must be John Harrington, right?"
"Nice to meet you, Paul. Yeah, that's me," handsome Conehead answers with a slight grin and shakes captain's hand.
"Welcome to the Amerks. Just a fair warning," Crowley leans closer and leaves Bah with no other option but to lean down a bit, since the Olympian is slightly taller than his Canadian captain. When Crowley makes sure no one else can hear him, he whispers: "Told your friend before...we are your team and we will stand up for you if needed, but don't run around with your gold medal. Okay?"
"Understood. Thank you," Bah nods and straightens up.
During the practice, despite following Crowley's instructions, the two Olympians barely get the puck in their possession. John finds himself next to Eric and jabs him with a stick to get his attention. His former teammate turns to him: "I am glad you are here..."
"They are giving us hard time, that's for sure. Do you think they will act like that during the game?"
"If they do, I am sitting it out."
"Yeah, me too..."
"Hey, Harrington, move!" Dave Schultz shouts, smacking his stick against the ice. John sighs and skates for the puck, thinking somewhere in a back of his brain, what an experience playing for coach Brooks had been. At least he got the puck and at least he had on-ice chemistry with his linemates. But right now, he can only hope it will get better. For both of them- Eric and himself.
After twelve games and seven scored points, things get better for right wing from Virginia, Minnesota. His team accepts the two Olympians and is willing to stand up for them. And the two Olympians do the same for them. But now, the danger comes from the outside – players with Canadian ancestry are resentful and jealous of American's success at the Olympics and John, more than Eric, becomes a marked man. And the fact he was credited with an assist on Mike Eruzione's goal against the Soviets, doesn't bring him any good.
During one of the games, the jealousy becomes clearer as one of the Canadian players from the opposing team strikes him in the face with a stick on purpose. John is taken to the locker room to get his face taken care of. Even before, there were some scars on his face, but this time, the damage is a bit bigger – six stiches to close a bloody gash on his chin. While his face is being fixed, his teammates take matters into their own hands and the player, who struck their "Bah" in the face exits the game with a slight concussion.
During the game against Hershey Bears becomes clear, how deep the wounds of the Canadian players are. He finds himself being targeted by Lou Franceschetti, right winger from Toronto, Ontario. What pisses off his teammates (and the fans at the game) off the most is the fact his assaulter gets away without a penalty. It may looked as an innocent hit at first, but then it becomes clear it was anything but that. Hard working Conehead, who always seems to look at everything from the bright side, is laying in a pool of his own blood, unconscious. The fans on the stands get on their feet as they see him not getting up, pool of red, warm blood around his head getting wider and wider. His teammates gather around him and Gilles Hamel, a Canadian kid from Asbestos, Quebec, kneels down to him: "Come on, Bah, get your Virginian ass up. I know you can hear me. C'mon, man, your girl is on the stands, she has to be going nuts from worries."
Eric Strobel kneels down next to his still unconscious buddy from the Olympic team: "Bah, come on, get up. We need you."
Five minutes seems like an eternity. The blood finally stopped pouring out of John's mouth, but it takes some more time before he is taken off the ice and straight in the hospital, where he has to spend the night. And the consequences of the hit are anything but innocent: concussion, fractured jaw, broken nose and four loosened teeth. But that's only the physical damage – the mental damage is much worse. During the night, when the pain is keeping him awake despite the countless pain killers, he wonders how the hell what Franceschetti did to him, wasn't called a penalty. How did the Canadian's shoulder "happened to hit him in the back of his head", knocking him unconscious. There is a flash of pain, when his teeth aches and his heart throbs with sadness. He does not understand how can someone hate player's success so much he decides to knock him unconscious. And the visit of his girlfriend was, despite the good intentions, painful too. John couldn't bear to see her worrying so much. He hated Franceschetti for what he did to him when he watched the love of his life gently tousle her fingers in his hair, felt her lips on his healthy cheek and her eyes fill with worry and tears whenever their eyes met. And when he saw her like that, he realized he could kill Franceschetti for causing so much pain. But not just to him – to his girlfriend, the last person in the world who deserved to see him like that.
During one of his sleepless moments, it hits him. He realizes if he went to Europe, to Switzerland, he could play a much cleaner game.
The next season, he finally gets the taste of European ice. After spending a season with Amerks and seeing the glimpse of what jealousy can bring, John joins the Swiss team HC Lugano, a team in NDB league (National League B). To make things better, he is reunited with another third of a Conehead line – quiet, but talented Mark Pavelich. The only thing he really misses, is his family in Minnesota and his girlfriend back home. He didn't want her to join him overseas until he has ensured a solid future for both of them and has a good foundations to start a family with her. But he really misses her, he misses her support, her challenges how he can be much better than he is showing,... to sum it up, he misses her presence next to him.
One night, when he sits in a dark apartment in Lugano city center, he reminisces everything that has happened to him in the past two years, since he and the team, full of dreamers, won a gold medal at the Olympics. He may not play in the NHL, but he is getting the taste of Europe, farther away from home than his teammates from the Olympic team, who decided to stay in the States. He recalls all the support his girlfriend has given him when he needed someone to lean on the most (and even when he pretended he didn't, she was there for him. His hand finds its way on the table next to the chair, where a pile of her letters lies. As soon as his fingers touch the paper, he realizes how much he really misses her. So much the words can't describe.
