A Ship in Harbor is Safe

“How was your flight?” Athena asks, driving the car away from the curb.

Heather nods, “it was good. Had some guy snoring in my ear half the way, but I’ve had worse.”

Athena smiles, “that’s exactly why I hate flying.”

“Yeah,” Heather smiles. “How’s Jordan?”

“Well, I haven’t talked to him. But, from what I heard, he was cleared for noncontact practice yesterday, so he’s probably at Southpointe right now skating with the guys.”

Heather nods, “is that where we’re going?”

“If you want to,” Athena shrugs.

“Why not?” Heather shrugs.

The only noise for a few minutes is the hum of the radio.

Heather speaks after a minute of silence, slightly turning toward Athena. “Listen, I know you and me… we never really got off on a good foot. The first time I talked to you, I was pretty much belligerently cursing you out in front of all of Jordan’s family.”

“I remember,” Athena nods slowly.

“I’m sorry for that. I just… I knew how Jordan felt about you and…” She shrugs.

Athena nods, “yeah.”

“And I don’t think you would’ve called me to come here if that’s what you’re intentions are. So, I’m really sorry.”

“Thanks,” Athena nods, “I appreciate that.”

The silence returns.

“Since we’re being completely honest here,” Athena speaks as she stares ahead at the road. “I think that you coming back… it could really help Jordan. He and Sid aren’t on speaking terms right now and it’s just… it’s not very pretty.”

“Wait, Sid? What’s he got to do with this?”

“He’s my boyfriend.” Athena says quietly. “And Jordan’s obviously not thrilled about that, but… I’m happy. I just want Jordan to be happy, too.”

Heather nods, “alright.”

This time, the silence is comfortable and it remains until Athena parks her car in the parking lot of Southpointe. “Okay, here we are.”

Both women exit the car and begin walking toward the facility.

“It feels like it’s been years since I’ve been here,” Heather says as they approach the entrance.

“I’ve actually never been here,” Athena smiles as she pulls one of the front doors open and walks in after Heather.

“Practice is closed today, ladies.”

Heather smiles at the young boy at the front desk, lifting her sunglasses and resting them on her head. “We’re here to see our boyfriends. They invited us.”

“Oh,” he says quietly. “Alright, well… I guess you can go. If you get in trouble, though, I didn’t let you in.”

“Alright,” Heather nods.

Athena snorts lightly as she walks with Heather down a hallway and into the double doors leading to the ice.

“How mad do you think Jordan’s gonna be?” Heather asks, leaning against the door that leads to the stands.

Athena shrugs lightly, “I don’t know. I think he’ll get over it, though.”

Heather nods, “good thought.”

Athena walks through the door that Heather holds open for her, descending the stairs toward the ice with Heather right behind her.

“Ma belle!” Max exclaims when he sees Athena walking down toward the bench in front of the glass.

Putting a smile on her face, she waves.

Heather stands next to Athena, behind the empty bench, next to the barrier wall without the Plexiglas that leads back to the locker room.

“Athena!”

“There he is,” Heather sighs.

“Come here.”

With a loud sigh, Athena swings one of her legs over the barrier wall. Swinging the other leg over the wall, she gives a small, encouraging smile to Heather and walks toward the ice where Jordan is standing.

“Please tell me,” he leans onto the wall, “that you didn’t bring her here.”

Athena blinks, “I brought her here.”

Jordan shakes his head, his eyes narrowing. “Why would you do that?!”

“I called her and told her about your surgery—“

“You called her?!” Jordan’s eyes widen. “Athena!”

Athena steps back, throwing her arms up. “C’mon, Jordan! I’m trying to help you.”

“You’re not!” Jordan leans further over the wall.

Sidney’s skates send ice flying when he stops. “Hey, back up, man,” he speaks sternly.

Ignoring him, Jordan glares at Athena. “Why did you bring her here?”

Athena jumps back when Sidney’s voice booms, to a level at which she has never heard it.

“Hey! I said back up!”

Jordan spins around, shoving Sidney back.

Athena’s jaw drops and she blinks, feeling her stomach tighten when Sidney throws his gloves off.

Jordan quickly does the same when Sidney lunges at him.

Athena looks over her shoulder quickly, seeing Heather stare at the scene with wide eyes and a slack jaw. She shrugs and shakes her head when she looks at Athena. Quickly turning back to Sidney and Jordan, she watches them hold the front of each other’s jerseys, practically growling at one another, exchanging curses no doubt.

Jordan is the first one to pull one of his hands away from Sidney’s jersey.

The Captain reacts quickly, also drawing back his right arm and swinging.

“Hey!” Dan Bylsma’s voice echoes through the ice rink, having no effect on the brawl that is now closer to the center of the ice. “Someone break them up!”

Kris Letang and Evgeni Malkin quickly move in, each taking one of their teammates and attempting to pull the men apart.

Athena jumps when she feels someone gently link their arm under her left arm.

“C’mon, we should probably get out of here,” Heather says quietly.

“W-we can’t just leave,” Athena says quietly.

Heather nods her head, “yeah, we can and we are.”

Athena lets the slightly taller woman begin to drag her away from the ice.

“They just need to have it out. Everything’s gonna be fine after this.”

With wide eyes, Athena gapes at the other woman. “Nothing is going to be fine after this. They’re fist fighting,” she points back at the ice once she and Heather are over the barrier wall.

“Come on.” Heather links arms with Athena again, continuing to drag her away from the scene.

In silence, Athena walks with Heather until they’re out of the building.

“What the hell did I just do?” She asks, stopping once they are out of the front doors of the Iceplex.

Heather releases Athena's arm as she lowers her sunglasses back down to shield her eyes from Pittsburgh’s late morning sun, “you didn’t do anything. That was gonna happen anyway… eventually.”

Athena shakes her head, “that was all my fault.”

“They were gonna have it out, one way or another. One time or another… either way. Don’t blame yourself. They’re guys and that’s how they handle their problems.”

Athena slowly shakes her head, “beating the holy hell out of one another is not how guys like Sidney and Jordan solve their problems.”

Heather shrugs, “I guess they’re not in their usual states of mind.”

“All because of me.”

“You didn’t ask for it, don’t beat yourself up over it.” Heather crosses her arms. “You wanna go to lunch? I’ll buy.”



“I don’t know what the fuck is wrong with you,” Sidney growls as he tears one of his skates off of his feet, “but you better figure it out, and quick. Because this is bullshit.”

Jordan’s jaw tightens when he lifts his head up, “nothing is wrong with me.”

Sidney scoffs loudly, setting his bare feet on the carpeted floor.

“What?” Jordan shrugs.

“You have been…. You’re acting so irrational these days, Jordan. Why?”

He shakes his head, “don’t play stupid.”

“You had Heather, what do you want with Athena?” Sidney speaks through clenched teeth.

Jordan shrugs, “what do you want with her?”

“I’m not having this conversation with you,” Sidney shakes his head.

“And why not?” Jordan shrugs, with a smirk on his face. “You got somethin’ to hide?”

Sidney smiles slowly, “I’m sure you wish that I did.”

Saying nothing, Jordan slowly leans back with a frown on his face.

“You’re not gonna push me around,” Sidney says quietly. “I’d suggest not even trying.”

Jordan smirks, “what are you talking about?”

“I’m not blind.” Sidney shakes his head, standing up. “I see how you’ve treated Athena.”

“What in the hell are you talking about?”

Sidney spins around quickly, wide eyed. “You’re done pushing her around!”

Jordan shakes his head, slowly leans down and unties his skates.

In a tense silence, both men quickly change out of their practice uniforms and into their regular clothes.

“You probably don’t wanna hear this,” Jordan places his elbows on his knees, watching as his words stop Sidney in his tracks. He smirks, watching the captain bow his head in annoyance. “But there’s a lot that you don’t know about Athena.”

Sidney nods, “and there’s probably quite a few things that I know about her that you don’t. What’s your point?”

Jordan slowly rubs his hands together, lifting his gaze slowly. After glaring into Sidney’s eyes for a second, he smirks. “You don’t treat her like she deserves to be treated, either.”

Scoffing, Sidney laughs and shakes his head. “You don’t know the first thing about how I treat Athena.”

“I know that you spend more time here, when you could be in that nice penthouse apartment of yours,” Jordan says quietly, “treating her like she deserves to be treated.”

Sidney’s jaw tightens. “You still haven’t made your point.”

Jordan smirks, shaking his head. “She’s gonna get scared. And when you least expect it, she’s gonna run.”

With a tight jaw, Sidney glares at the entrance wall of the locker room.

“And the nice house you plan to build, the nice car you bought her… whatever gift you can conjure up won’t be enough to tie her down and keep her there by your side.”

“And why are you telling me this, again?”

Jordan smiles, “to piss you off, obviously.”

Sidney glares at Jordan, watching the blonde man stand up.

“And it’s working.” Jordan observes.

“You’re purposely trying to piss me off?”

He shrugs, “it’s been a pretty effective way of getting you to do things in the past.”

“At least you’re being honest,” Sidney nods, hoisting his duffle bag onto his shoulder. “Anything else you wanna say to me before we bury this?”

Jordan slowly picks his bag up, using his left hand. He shakes his head, sliding the strap onto his shoulder. “Don’t make the same mistakes I did.”