Chapter Text
"We made it!" Evan declared as he and his father got out of the rental car. The flight from Boston to Toronto had only been two hours, but it felt like longer. He was finally thirteen, old enough to go to Camp MLH Jr, just like he'd wanted to since he'd started watching hockey with his father. There was no doubt in his mind he'd get in after he, his father, and his coaches had sent the videos in.
The father and son joined the line of parents and children waiting to check in. "I'm finally here!" Evan continued. "I'm going to show everyone what a great player I am and I'm going to win a bunch of Cups, just like you did, and..."
"Evan," Ilya interrupted. "Remember what we've been talking about?"
Evan rolled his eyes. "Yes, Papa. I'm a great player, but there's going to be lots of other good players here, too, and I can become a better player from learning from them."
Ilya nodded. "That's right. And no showing off about me and my career."
Evan didn't know why his father didn't like to talk much about his MLH career. "Okay."
Evan and Ilya reached the front of the line. "Hi, my name is Evan Shane Rozanov, and this is my father, Ilya Rozanov, the former Boston Raiders star and NHL Cup winner..." Evan began.
"Evan," Ilya interrupted, noticing the look the man behind the table got when Evan said his full name.
"I know who this is," the man behind the table interrupted. "I'm Kip Grady-Hunter. My husband, Scott Hunter, is the commissioner of MLH. He actually played at the same time as your father, and we come back to help with check in every year. It's nice to see you, Mr. Rozanov. You're such an inspiration to the boys who come to this camp."
"It's good to see you as well," Ilya replied, signing Evan in and handing over the paperwork. Seeing someone from his MLH days brought back memories. He knew that Scott Hunter was the MLH commissioner. He didn't know that Scott's husband would be here today. Would other guys from MLH be here? After all, he was here because lots of them had sent their kids to this camp, and they'd recommended he send Evan here. Of course Evan played hockey. How could he not? It was in his blood. To this day, they still didn't know who the biological father was. They chose a surrogate who looked enough like both of them for that reason. While Evan did have dark blonde hair, he also had brown eyes and freckles. Those freckles.
No. It's possible Evan got them from his biological mother. He couldn't keep thinking of his ex-husband, who was who knew where now. And his other son, who was out there, somewhere. He finished filling out the paperwork and handed it over.
Kip handed over a key. "Okay. You're in Room 312. At 4 pm, you're going to have your first meeting with your team. We're glad you're here."
"Thanks!" Evan said. "Come on, Papa! Let's go! I'm going be living in a college dorm and play at a college rink!"
Ilya had to smile at his son's excitement. They made it to the dorm. Apparently, Evan's roommate wasn't here yet, giving him the first choice of beds. As they unloaded the suitcase, Evan turned to his father. "You know, I am going to miss you."
"Really?" Ilya asked. Camp had been all Evan had talked about for weeks. He hadn't liked the idea of being alone, so he was glad that Evan would miss him. If they hadn't split up all those years ago, he wouldn't be alone for the next month.
"Of course, but we can text and talk on the phone," Evan continued.
"And if you change your mind, I'll fly out here and pick you up," Ilya told his son. He didn't like the idea of his son flying alone, but Evan really wanted to. The compromise they came up with was that he'd fly out to Toronto with Evan, but Evan would fly back alone.
"I'll be fine, really," Evan said. He gave his father a hug. "See you in a month."
After his father left, Evan waited around for his roommate. Team meetings would be starting soon, making Evan think his roommate either wasn't coming or wasn't a punctual person. He grabbed his gear and headed to the ice rink to meet his team, excited for the first scrimmage tonight and reminding himself of his father's advice.
The plane from Montreal to Toronto had been delayed, and Shane knew that had only made his son more nervous about camp. He hoped camp would help his son come out of his shell. He'd read that camp could do that for shy kids. As they drove in the rental car to the University of Toronto campus, he looked at his son in the passenger seat, noticing the nervous look on his face. "You'll be fine, Clayton."
"I hope so," Clayton sighed. "We're already late, and what if they don't like that?"
"Planes get delayed," Shane told his son. "They'll understand."
The car pulled into the parking lot. Most of the other cars were gone, meaning most people had already checked in. Shane and Clayton unloaded the luggage and went to the check in table. "Hollander!" a familiar voice declared.
Shane immediately recognized Scott Hunter. "Good to see you, Mr. Commissioner. This is Clayton."
Scott looked at Clayton. "I played hockey with your father in our MLH days. He's a great player, even took gold from the USA in the 2014 Olympics. You're going to be in Room 312."
Shane filled out the paperwork before he and Clayton headed to the dorm room. What he wasn't prepared for was the Boston Raiders flag that Clayton's apparent roommate had hung on the wall. After all these years, that flag could still set him off. Where was Ilya now? Was he okay? Was Evan okay? What was he doing? What were his passions? Did he play hockey, too? What was he like?
"Dad?" Clayton's voice interrupted Shane's thoughts.
"Just seeing that banner brought back memories." That wasn't a lie.
"You never want to go to games when the Metros play the Raiders," Clayton pointed out.
That also wasn't a lie. Shane hoped Clayton hadn't noticed, but his son was perceptive. "Look, Clayton, I know you've been nervous about camp, but you're here with a bunch of boys who love the game you love. Be yourself and I'm sure you'll make some friends. And are you sure you want to fly back to Montreal by yourself at the end of camp? I'm happy to fly out here and get you."
Clayton gave his father a small smile. "I'll be fine, really. I remember it said in the paperwork that team meetings started at 4, so we should probably get my things unpacked so I can get to the meeting."
Shane hated the idea of saying goodbye to his son. It was hard enough being away from his other son and the man he still loved. But if Clayton wanted to get right into camp, he wasn't going to stop him. They finished unpacking before Clayton went to join his team, the Voyagers, and Shane went to the hotel.
Evan was loving camp so far! The other boys on his team, the Bears, seemed cool, though he was disappointed none of them were Raiders fans. Oh well, there were bound to be some here. The Bears had just had dinner together in one of the University of Toronto dining halls, and now they were going to play their first game against the Voyagers.
To Clayton's relief, none of the Voyagers had held it against him for being late to the team meeting, and all the guys on the team seemed pretty nice. The team had just had dinner together, and now they were about to have a scrimmage against the Bears.
This game was much closer than Evan thought it would be. To his annoyance, there was one player on the Voyagers who was particularly good, #24. Every time he almost had the puck, #24 seemed to take it away. Who was this guy, and why did he think he could steal Evan Rozanov's spotlight?
Clayton knew that the best players from all over the world would be coming to this camp. But he was the best player in the rec league back in Montreal, and there was a player on the Bears, #81, who was really, really good. He kept his eye on this guy throughout the game.
Soon, only two minutes were left in the game, and neither team had scored a goal. A timeout was called, and both coaches told the boys that these were the best teenage players from around the world and this was nothing to be ashamed of. But multiple players on both teams said they wanted to score goals. And two blonde haired, brown eyed, freckled boys felt a strong desire to score goals.
The timeout was over. The last two minutes of play began. Soon, only ten seconds was left, and the game was still scoreless. Evan had the puck, and he was sure he would score a goal. But then #24 took it and scored a goal.
The Voyagers had won.
Evan made up his mind to take this boy down, whoever he was.
The buzzer rang, and Evan glared as he saw the Voyagers mob #24. The Bears coach told them that it was only the first game and that they were all good players, but Evan was still mad.
Clayton couldn't believe it. He'd scored the game winning goal with ten seconds to go! Maybe his dad was right. Maybe it was a good idea to go to camp. The guys were all hugging and high fiving him, and he was still smiling as they lined up to shake hands with the Bears, even if he was at the back of the line.
The last person in the Bears line was #81. By the time he reached #81, Clayton found himself doing a double take. They were obviously wearing different camp uniforms, and this boy had shorter hair, a fade in comparison to Clayton's wolf cut, but they looked very much alike - same face shape - same mouth - same hair color - same eye color - same freckles.
Evan didn't want to shake hands with #24. This boy was the reason he'd lost the game. And by the time they reached each other, he noticed that they looked a lot more like each other than he was comfortable with.