╮ducks reuniting╰
sloane shifted the two styrofoam cups she was holding into the crease of her left elbow so she could open the back door of hans shop. she slipped in and grabbed one of the cups from her elbow while rolling her arm backward to grab the cup that remained in the crease of her arm. she shifted the plastic bag further up on her arm as she quietly shut the door with her foot. she walked quietly passed bombay, stopped at the french doors and gently kicked until she got charlie's attention. she sighed in relief when he pulled off his clear, protective glasses, opened the doors, and held out his hands to take the two cups.
"this one's yours," she said and shook the one she was referring to.
"thanks," he said, taking a sip while setting the other down. she grabbed the bag off her arm and turned around to close the french doors.
"the crowd at mickey's was absolutely ridiculous this morning," she explained as she moved across the room. she removed the to-go boxes from the bag, sat them in the small fridge beside the cabinets, and dropped the plastic bag holding them into a small trash can. "i thought people slept in on saturday's but i had to wait almost an hour before i could even place our order," she said, leaning her hands against the counters.
"so that's why you were late this morning," he commented as he retrieved his pair of glasses and placed him on top of his head.
"yeah. i had to give myself my morning insulin shot in the middle of mickey's! everybody stared," she complained, pulling an empty cart to charlie. "what lace color?" she asked while moving the sharpened skates on the top level of the cart beside him to put them in the cart beside her.
"black," he said as he switched the skate sharpening machine back on. she nodded, pulled open the drawer of laces and grabbed enough laces for each pair of skates. she picked up a skated, pushed the end of the laces through the bottom and smoothly laced the skate. she startled when charlie quickly and roughly slid a skate through the sharpener causing a loud buzz to sound through the shop. she quickly turned around to see a worried looking charlie.
"it's fine, it's fine," she said before letting her gaze move toward the french doors. she watched bombay jerk awake, slightly sitting up while his blanket fell down his chest. "bombay's up," she said, nodding in his direction. charlie turned toward the doors and quickly moved toward them.
"sorry, did i wake you?" charlie asked while pushing the french doors open.
"hey, guys," bombay responded groggily, pushing the blanket off of him while fully sitting up.
"hey, coach," he said, approaching bombay. "it's good to see you," he said, hugging bombay after he stood up.
"it's good to see you!" bombay said, wrapping one arm around charlie as he gripped his cane with the other.
"we really missed you," charlie said and pulled away.
"now you got a bum knee to match mine. just need the scar now," sloane said and motioned toward his knee while she leaned in to hug him.
"yeah, i really hated hearing you tore your acl and mcl right after season," bombay said as he slowly pulled away. "i'd have came and seen you if i wasn't so far."
"i know. at least it was right after season. i'm released to play now," she explained and shrugged as she slid her hands into her back pocket. "got a good scar on both sides of my knee. really adds to my cool kid reputation."
"she almost blew her meniscus too," charlie added as he stared up at bombay. "she had a big tear but it healed because they did surgery and made her rest before it could completely blow out," he said and softly glared at sloane.
"it's fine," she said, waving her hand at him as she let her head roll back and to the left.
"oh, you just almost destroyed your knee but it's whatever," bombay joked and rolled his eyes as he leaned heavily on his cane. sloane turned around and backed up at stand beside bombay when jan entered the room humming.
"for breakfast, my specialty;" he began, stopping at the open french doors with a tray of food in his hands. "jans hasenpfeffer and eggs," he finished with sloane, bombay, and charlie.
"i thought i smelled something burning," bombay joked as he, sloane, and charlie sat down on at the small table.
"i see you've met my new apprentice," jan said, tilting this head toward charlie as he sat across from the trio.
"jan told us you did this job when you were our age," charlie said and looked at bombay.
"that's right. i hope he pays you more than he paid me," bombay answered, glancing at charlie before taking the plate jan was handing him.
"you got paid?" charlie asked, his eyes slowly going wide.
"jan and hans won't let me train charlie because that mean he'd have to go on payroll," sloane said as she fought a smile while taking the plate jan was extending toward her.
"that's why you're not training me?" charlie asked and leaned around bombay to stare at sloane in shock.
"yeah. they paid me during my training because they needed me. now that i'm here, you're just an added bonus," she said as she stabbed at her eggs with her fork. she threw up her left arm to cover her face when charlie hit at her.
"eat, everyone, before the hasenpfeffer gets cold," jan said briefly glaring at charlie and sloane before smiling at bombay.
"i was trying to compliment you, jerk," sloane whispered, leaning forward to look at charlie.
"you're not great at it," charlie whispered back, turning to his breakfast with a frown.
"you'd be nice to me if you wanted to make it onto payroll. i'm the favorite," she said, quickly facing forward and crossing one leg over the other while picking up her plate.
"kids, kids," bombay said, sticking out his arm so charlie couldn't hit sloane again.
✩
sloane blindly reached into the bag of goldfish while holding her book open with her other hand. she shifted uncomfortably as her knee began to ache slightly. she stretched it as much as she could before letting it relax. she glanced at the small digital clock on her and sighed when she realized it was time for her next insulin shot. she dropped the her bookmark into her book and swung her legs over the side of her bed.
she stood up, tugged at the bottom of her athletic shorts and left her room. she crossed through the living room and smiled as she entered the kitchen, spotting her mother filling a long syringe with her insulin. she took the syringe after rebecca attached a needle and pinched the skin of her stomach.
"you did your stomach last night," rebecca reminded as she threw away the empty medicine bottle.
"can i do my leg?" sloane asked and pinched the skin on her right thigh to deliver the shot after rebecca nodded. "my knee's kind of achy," she complained while beginning to favor her right leg.
"um," rebecca hummed and flipped her wrist to look at her watch. "yeah, it's been long enough," she explained while dropping her hand.
"okay," sloane said, sighing as she slowly began moving back to her room.
she slipped back into her bed, shoved a pillow under her knee, and reopening her book. her eyes slowly began to droop shut, snapping open every few minutes. she squeezed them shut and opened them, blinking rapidly. a loud duck call made her eyebrows furrow and she glance at her window. she shook it off with a small eye roll andd returned her attention to her book. she snapped her gaze to her window when the duck call sounded again and got out of bed as quickly as possible. she unlocked her window, pushed it open, and looked around until she spotted charlie standing on her sidewalk in his green ducks jersey.
"charlie conway!" she said while smiling happily.
"sloane anderson!" he replied and returned her smile. "the ducks are back!"
"i'll be right down!" she said and quickly shut her window. she pulled out a cropped white tank top with thick shoulder straps and high waisted, light blue denim shorts. she change hurriedly, pulling her shorts to the hem of her shirt, and tie the thick string acting as a belt. she grabbed her short butterfly necklace from her desk and clipped it on before digging her rollerblades from the floor of her closet, and running to the living room.
"teams back together," she explain, kissing her fathers cheek before kissing mothers and tugging on her rollerblades. she raced down the hall, jumped in and out of the elevator and skated out of her apartment building.
"who first?" she asked as she stopped by charlie.
"let's find jesse," charlie said and they began to skate down the sidewalk.
✩
sloane and charlie quickly approached the old basketball courts, scanning the area for jesse. they hit their breaks as they quickly descended upon the full court of people playing street puck and began to look for jesse. sloane tapped charlie's arm after spotting jesse score a goal and extended her arm point him out. jesse briefly lifted his arms over his head in celebration while joining his teammates while charlie blew the duck call. jesse turned and brightening when he spotted charlie and sloane.
"hey, guys!" jesse said with a small smile.
"jesse, we're back!" charlie exclaimed.
"come on, come on!" sloane said and waved him over. jesse nodded happily and quickly joined them on the other side of the fence. "who now?" she asked as they skated away.
"let's go get averman," jesse responded and he three sped up.
✩
sloane led charlie and jesse through the mall of america, dodging people as she performed simple tricks every so often. she ignored angry exclamations and smiled to herself at the compliments as she continued narrowly avoiding people in the crowded mall. she skated toward the escalator near the general cinema sign on the second level of the mall and began to jog up it once she reached it.
"let's go, jesse!" charlie said as they neared the top of the escalator. "over to the left," he instructed as they began jumping off the escalator.
sloane turned to her left, skated down the short wall blocking the way to the general cinema, and propped her hands against it when she stopped at the small gap in the wall. she grabbed charlie's elbow as they watched averman tear tickets at the usher booth and held her hand out when he looked down at her. he sighed, took off the duck call and reluctantly handed it to her. she smiled and dramatically blew the duck call until averman looked over.
"averman, let's go!" charlie yelled while motioning him forward.
"come on, let's go!" jesse added as sloane moved both forearms in side circles to motion him toward her.
"but, but, but-" averman stammered as he stared at them conflictedly.
"oh, stop being a wussy and let's go!" sloane said, dramatically rolling her eyes as she pressed both palms to the top of the short wall.
he sighed, grabbed his skates, and quickly changed to follow them. sloane grabbed charlie's arm, spun him around and ushered him forward. he led them back through the mall, passed the carousel, and behind two benches pushed back to back. sloane whistled loudly when jesse jumped between the two benches and knocked off the hat of a man sitting one of the benches.
"where we goin' now?" averman asked as they jumped off the sidewalk and began to cross the street.
"gotta get connie and guy," charlie answered and they bent their knees to continue down the road.
✩
sloane began to hit her breaks as she, charlie, averman, and jesse approached connie and guy's date spot. she wrapped an arm around around jesse's shoulders and heavily favored her right leg as she briefly lifted her left off the ground. she bent leg at the knee and smiled to herself as connie and guy slowly turned to each other. she glanced at jesse with a smile when guy reached for connie's hands and slowly leaned in. she turned to charlie with a light glare when he blew the ducks call, causing connie and guy to jerk away from each other and turn to their four teammates. she pushed herself off of jesse and placed her left leg back on the ground.
"the quack attack is back, jack!" averman shouted as he waved them over.
"come on, let's go!" connie told guy, glancing back at him and skated toward sloane. she wrapped an arm around sloane's shoulders while sloane slipped hers around connie's waist as the two turned back to guy.
"i was this close," guy said, holding his hand up with his pointer and thumb closely together.
"gotta be quicker than that, germaine," sloane said and laughed softly as he quickly skated down the short ramp and hurried toward her. she pulled away from connie and began to quickly skate away, laughing loudly when guy continued to chase her.
✩
"woah! woah! woah!" averman said as they weaved their way through a line of orange construction cones. guy and sloane began to quack and charlie looked over his shoulder to smile at them. he turned around and quickly launched himself into the air to avoid hitting the cement crane he was rapidly approaching. the rest of the team ducked around it as the construction worker standing by the crane fell back into a wheelbarrow and cement began to pour on him.
"nice moves, conway," sloane called out as skated away from the construction site.
✩
sloane smiled as they approached goldberg's delicatessen to find their goldberg. she hit her brakes as they stopped at the front window and grabbed connie's elbow when her knee began to buckled. she laughed softly as guy, averman, and jesse pressed themselves against the window as she, charlie, and connie looked over their shoulders. she smiled brightly when she spotted goldberg preparing to clean a dirty table. charlie loudly blew the duck call, making goldberg look up from the table.
"goldberg!" they yelled when he looked toward the window. guy, averman, and jesse pressed their faces against the glass while sloane, charlie, and connie motioned him forward.
"come on, goldberg!" connie said while pushing herself between averman and jesse.
"got some hockey to play!" sloane said, grabbing guy's shoulders to move him to the side. she cheered once as goldberg nodded, threw his towel over his shoulder, and quickly retrieved his skates.
✩
the seven teammates cheered and whooped loudly as they skated down the sidewalk, turning in small circles as they headed for adam banks house. they skated down a ramp and a hill before skating through the large water fountain in the middle of town square. sloane launched herself off of her left leg, turned a circle in the air, landed on her right leg and turned another tight circle. she spun in wide circles with her hands spread at her sides while the rest of her friends cheered loudly. she stopped turned circles and faced forward with a smile.
"can't wait to play against the rest of the world," sloane said while pressing her hands into her hips.
"can't wait to beat the rest of the world," goldberg said and clapped once.
"wonder where the rest of our team is going to be from," connie commented and everyone shrug in response. they quickly resumed performing tricks until adam banks house came into view.
"he's comin' across the goalie, between his legs- score!" adam narrated while playing a game of hockey in his driveway. he lifted his arms over his head and turned towards his house after pushing the puck between the fake goalies legs. he whipped around and left a hand in the air after charlie blew the duck call.
"hey, cake-eater, want to play some real hockey?" jesse asked as adam's hand slowly fell.
"yeah!" adam said, his voice slightly cracking as he began to follow them.
✩
"guys, it's an international competition. it's us against the world!" adam explained while skating at the front of the group.
"hey, man, bring 'em on. we're ready!" goldberg said and clapped his hands once.
"oh, goldberg!" jesse said and slapped him just under the shoulder.
"whoa!" goldberg said, losing his balance and beginning to fall sideways. sloane shoved her hips forward and quickly tried to move out of the way as goldberg fell to the side and rolled down the hill beside them.
"anyways," charlie said, laughing softly. "know where fulton's at?" he asked sloane while back skating in front of her.
"somewhere in stillwater," sloane said and moved around charlie to lead the way. "i probably should've put in my knee brace," she said and turned around to face her teammates with a sheepish smile.
"sloane!" they chorused disappointedly, causing her to turn back around with a snicker.
"what? i've been released for a month and a half. i didn't think i needed it anymore," she said with a shrug.
"i'm about to glue that thing to your leg," guy said, making sloane sharply turn around to look at him.
"i'd kill you in your sleep," she whispered and brought her pointer and middle fingers to her eyes before turning them toward guy.
✩
sloane cheered softly as jesse performed simple tricks as front of the group. she glanced around to look for fulton. she jerked her side when she heard loud yelling, smiling when she spotted fulton at the top of the hill. she cheered loudly with the rest of her teammates as they watched fulton strip larson, mcgill, and a third hawks player down to their underwear before tying them to a small nearby tree with a rope.
"that'll teach ya to mess with the ducks! yeah!" fulton yelled and held up their clothes with one hand over his head. sloane whistled loudly and laughed as she faintly heard the three hawks players begging to be untied. she smiled widely as fulton skated down the hill and held out her hand for him. he quickly pressed a kiss to her temple as he slid his hand in hers and began to skate with the rest of his teammates.
"ducks are back!" sloane excitedly whispered while staring up at him.
"the ducks are back?" fulton asked, smiling down at her before glancing around at the team.
"yeah, gotta go show the rest of the world that we're the best there is," averman said with arms spread out.
"c'mon, averman, don't jinx us!" connie said and gently slapped at his arm.
"yeah, we better not get there and lose 'cause of you," sloane said and jokingly glared.
"psh, we can't lose! with all the trick plays and nice saves we pulled in the peewee championship, there's no way anyone can beat us!" goldberg said while dramatically rolling his eyes.
"except that sloane basically demolished her whole left knee right after we won said championship," guy commented as he gently grabbed her shoulders.
"not my whole knee. nothing happened to my lcl or my pcl," sloane said, turning around to swat guy's hands away.
"oh, just half the ligaments in your knee plus a partial tear to your meniscus, but you're fine right?" averman said and pinched at her upper arm.
"hey, my doctor released me and my physical therapist says i'm good," she defended. "so leave me and my crappy knee alone," she added while pointing at their teammates.
"i think you're back sloane, even with your crappy knee," jesse said, hitting his chest once to point at her. sloane returned the gesture with a smile before turn around to skate forward.
"yeah, don't hate on her busted knee. she's got the coolest scars of any of us," goldberg said while motioning toward sloane's knee.
"yeah, i'm still cooler than all of you!" sloane said, pushing herself forward so she could lift her left leg to scratch at the two scars on her knee.
✩
"bombay," sloane cheered, cupping her hands over her mouth as she spotted bombay standing on the street corner near the band box. charlie lifted the whistle to his mouth and blew loudly until bombay turned around.
"ducks! ducks! ducks! ducks!" charlie started chanting, the rest of the team joining as the jumped onto the sidewalk and surrounded bombay. they jumped around with wide smiles while continuing to chant their team name.
"welcome back, ducks! i really missed you guys!" bombay said after they stopped chanting. "are you ready to fly?"
"yeah!" they chorused loudly and began high-fiving each other. they quickly settled down when a car horn honked loudly and watched a sleek back limo drive toward them.
"awesome!" connie said while the limo pulled to the side.
"i liked yours better," sloane said, nudging bombay's side.
"who's in there?" charlie asked, squinting at the limo.
"can't be from this neighborhood," jesse responded as the limo stopped beside them. sloane placed her hands on her hips while the back door of the limo opened and a man stood on the running board to see over the top of the limo.
"hey, guys! i'm don tibbles, hendrix hockey apparel," the man introduced himself. "we're your official sponsors. anyone want a card?"
"why not?" sloane said, shrugging a shoulder as she approached the man.
✩
sloane tiredly rubbed at her eyes as she approached the door of hans shop. she flipped the switch to turn off the open sign and locked the door as the lights of the sign went out. she began slowly cleaning up the main room, setting display skates back on their mantels and adjusting jerseys on their hangers.
she turned off the overhead lights of the main room and used the lights from the back room coming from the checkout counter to make her way to the back room. she turned the skate sharpener on as she put on her clear, protective glasses. she grabbed a pair of dull skates, quickly sharpened them, and grabbed a needle and thread. she pulled the glasses off, bent down to be eye level with the skates, and meticulously added detail to the pair of skates.
"what are you still doing here, knucklehead? i sent you home thirty minutes ago," jan said as he rounded the corner into the small room.
"where have you been, knucklehead? i've been closing by myself for the last thirty minutes," sloane said with a smile as she finished detailing one skate and turned around. "figured with hans in scandinavia, i'd pull a little more weight."
"you have well more than pulled your weight, sloane. finish that skate, then go home. you're tired," jan said, watching the girl turn her head to yawn. "are you excited for the goodwill games?"
"very," she said, bending back over to detail the other skate. she sighed as she finished detailing the skate and straightened with a yawn. she bent over to scratch at one of her scars while examining the detailing of the skates. "are these good?" she asked and carried the skates to jan.
"they always are," jan said, lifting the skates to look at them. "now, go home. you're u've got a busy day tomorrow," he said and patted her cheek.