Chapter Text
The new Captain of the Montreal Metros walked into the locker room, greeting his new teammates as he did. He was fully aware of the shoes he needed to fill, the ones that he would likely never fill completely. Cody walks over to the cubby that would now be his. His name is etched on a gold plate. He starts to put his things onto the various shelves. Scuffs on the paint of the previous Captain painted over but the impressions are still there. Bits and pieces left behind.
Cody stops for a moment, seeing something in the very back of the cubby. There are stickers pressed onto the wood back there. You wouldn’t know it unless you peered inside, making an effort. Memories of Shane Hollander hidden, unless you took the time to notice.
Stickers of places he probably played, both provinces and states. A sticker from the olympics. Little memories no one had bothered to ask about. It made Cody pause. He wonders if this was a mistake. Would this team turn on a dime against him too? Awards and prestige never helped Hollander. It didn’t protect him. Hell, even his friends hadn’t, not really.
Then he noticed it. A section of shelf that had no etched paint or scuffs. He hoists himself up so he can look down at the surface. It’s more stickers. A sticker from Saskatchewan. A loon sticker and a bear sticker. These things that he had long tried to hide. Memories of the only person who had stood by this man. The only person who had seemingly stood by this man had been the very person that had dared to love him. The man that Shane had dared to love. Ilya Rozanov had dared to love Shane Hollander and Shane had loved him back.
He wondered if Shane had stickers in his new locker. Cody hopes so.
Cody failed to see the problem with it. Sure they had been rivals but they hadn’t really guided the rivalry themselves. The media had taken care of that. Neither had ever said anything out of malice to each other, only bits of humourous chirping.
How could love cost you your team?
He thinks about why he picked Montreal in the first place. Cody had had misgivings of course, knowing how they’d treated their previous Captain. He wanted change and he would damn well try. They might have failed Shane but he doesn’t want to. He wants better for other players. It seems like a ridiculous thing for a new Rookie to have goals like that but he can’t help it. Cody grew up in hockey culture, he’s seen first hand how bad it can get.
Hell, the whole world watched one of the best hockey players in the league get shunned because he dared to love. Hollander loved the only other hockey player that was just as good as he was. People loved the way Rozanov played. They envied him. They idolized him. He was a player. Ilya was aggressive. He was a man whore who didn’t know how to love. Except that was one of the only things Rozanov knew how to do.
Cody had seen their interviews together, pictures together. Ilya loved fiercely and carefully.
It actually made more sense to Cody that they loved each other. Two of the greatest hockey players ever loved each other, no one else could compare.
Cody stares at his new cubby, a silent promise to himself. To Hollander.
“Hope that fags space is okay.” One of the players, Miller maybe? Says to him, clapping him on the shoulder and chuckling.
Cody is bigger than him but he’s still a rookie.
Still.
It’s the silence that keeps this going. Cody is a 200 pound white farm boy from Saskatchewan. He needs to stand up.
“You shut the fuck up.” Cody finally says, his eyes narrowed at his new teammate.
“ ‘Cuse me Rook?” He says, glaring back at him.
“I fucking said what I said. Listen up!” Cody yells into the locker room. He’s taking a risk. A huge one.
“No one fucking talks about Shane Fucking Hollander in this god damn locker room got it? None of you fucking deserve to say his name. He fucking made this team what it was and it’s our fucking job not to fuck it up. I know I’m new but I’m the fucking Captain of this team now. Until you play half as good as he does, you don’t say that shit but you won’t. So don’t say it.”
Cody glances over at JJ and at Hayden. They both nod in appreciation.
“The only people who fucking stood up were Pike and Dagenais. I hope the rest of you think about that shit for the rest of your careers. Now let’s go practice and show me you guys are still capable of winning cups.”