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JJ hates that Troy is here. Why is this racist, homophobic piece of shit at Shane's wedding? Merde, he hates Ilya so much for being friends with the terd.
Don't get him wrong, JJ tries for Shane, he doesn't throw a diva hissy fit like Hayden does, but, he's just so disappointed in Ilya. How do you not have your husband's back in this? JJ has spent a lot of time trying to figure out what could make him forgive a partner for this type of betrayal because doesn't know if he could.
JJ is thinking about getting another drink just so Troy is out of his eyeline when he hears it.
"You two are such a handsome couple! You look so sharp in your suit, Ilya, with your pretty husband by your side. " JJ sees Shane tense as he talks with Harris, sees Ilya squeeze Shane's hand, but then Ilya keeps talking and-
Nope. JJ cannot abide. Before he realizes what he's doing, he's putting himself between Troy and Shane.
Yuna tried her best to set Shane up for success. She thought she taught him how to decide when to stand up for himself and when to let things slide, but she must have miscalculated, because her sweet boy, who she knows can defend himself, has defaulted to letting everything slide, much to his detriment.
She knows hockey is white boys club, she and David had talked about this. When it was obvious Shane was going to make it to the show, she and David had spent nights strategizing. They took the worst of what David had seen from his experience, and workshopped the best way to respond, and the best ways to help chain prepare.
Somehow, it wasn't enough. She knew it would be brutal, David knew it would be brutal, but either it was worse then David could imagine, or he had held back in vain hope that NHL and hockey culture has progressed in the 20 or so years he'd been out of it.
Yuna will not let him live it down if that's the case.
She was, rightfully, worried when Shane said they were inviting Troy to the wedding, if Shane's flinch is anything to go by. But she trusted Ilya when he said he would take care of Shane.
Squeezing his hand is not taking care of Shane, she doesn't care that she doesn't know what was said, that is not enough. She's about to walk over when she sees JJ intervene. She'll let him earn his redemption.
"Stop talking to Shane that way, you racist piece of shit," JJ shoves Troy back. Troy looks shocked, and maybe he will retaliate. Just as Troy looks like he's going to try something, and Ilya might move, there's a shriek.
JJ must have seen Shane's face lock down at Barrett's compliment, too; she barely has time to jump out of JJ's way as he moves to confront the bastard. She sees Ilya leaning ever so slightly towards scuffle, away from his husband, and she knows she has to step in.
She's never liked Barrett, he's a dirty player and a worse human. And that was before he complimented her, "command of the English language."
Svetlana might have spent a good portion of her life in Russia, but she's American enough to know she's Black before anything else. She knows that comment has nothing to do with her Russian heritage.
Cassie Boodram had overheard, and interrupted to take her on a "tour" of the house, which Svetlana greatly appreciated, even if it only included the basement bar and sparring gym. Bood must have overheard Ilya ask why was so rude to Troy because, after the rest of the team, he pulled Ilya in front of her, pushed him into a chair, and told him to shut up and listen.
Ilya apologized after the conversation, he had promised to do better; he had, at least by her. He had even tried to fly into Boston a few times during the months long protests after the Murder of George Floyd, but something always happened last minute.
She's pretty sure Yuna and David were running interference- an arrest at a protest would not have done him any favors in the immigration department- because the one time he actually made it to the airport, his passport was flagged for that day one.
She was so sure he had understood that complacency reinforces the status quo, so she can't understand why he isn't saying anything.
She knows Shane, knows he is too kind and too in love for his own good. He'll try to placate everyone to keep Ilya safe, and they just been through an entire year of this bullshit? He'll probably just be proud that Ilya even noticed at all. Ugg.
She grabs Ilya's ear and yanks, just like her mother used to, muttering in Russian about stupid white boys who need to use their privilege for good, ignoring Ilya's protests about peace on his wedding day.
Troy's already ruined that with his racist shit.
She's shocked enough when Troy calls JJ a brute that Ilya is able to twist out of her grip. More pissed, she goes to grab him again, ready to let Troy get what he deserves, when she notices why Ilya has gotten in the way.
Man, why is Rose Landry wasting her talent acting when she would be an amazing fighter?
"Ow, Sveta," Ilya is shrieking, "that's my ear, what the fuck?" JJ turns around to see Russian Menance Ilya Rozanov letting himself be pulled away by a petite woman in spiked heels, shouting an angry lecture in what JJ assumes to be Russian, trying to talk back, and failing miserably. JJ smirks at that, and Troy, that dirty fucker, takes advantage of his distraction to shove him back.
"What the fuck is wrong with you, you angry brute?" Troy must let his anger blind him, because doesn't see that everyone around them is frozen. JJ has no idea how the air can be sucked out of the backyard, but Troy Barrett has accomplished that, and keeps yelling.
"You can't just attack me, don't you know any better?" JJ reacts on instinct, rears back to punch him, but his arm jerks back. Ilya has returned and grabbed his arm. JJ is almost ready to hit Ilya instead, how dare he get in the way of justice, but then tells him to look back a Troy.
When Rose hears Troy Barrett spit out the word brute, something she lights inside of her, not just anger, but excitement.
Rose knows it's selfish, but she's never been able to really take a stand against Injustice, she's always been too famous, too recognizable, but in this backyard, she doesn't stand out. Hayden Pike's kids provide an excellent distraction for her to slip away from their conversation and make her way towards the scuffle.
JJ is her bro; he introduced her to Shane, is always up for a good time, and very good at keeping creep dudes away. She wants to repay him in kind.
Plus, when else is she going to be able to put all of that practice fighting with her brothers to good use.
She knows enough to know she's going to need a running start to get enough momentum to actually hurt the dude, not just hurt herself, so she kicks off her heels and thanks God she decided to wear a dress with straps to this brouhaha.
JJ is stills getting to his feet when Rose flies in; her first punch distracts Troy enough for her to center herself before popping his nose. The crack it makes is pretty satisfying, and she smiles to herself, as she pulls back her arm again.
Before she can let it fly, she's being pulled back and she lets out a gravel in frustration. Someone's grabbed her by the midsection, probably Ilya, but she keeps swinging, trying to make some contact with any part of Troy. It's definitely Ilya who has her, because Shane is coming at her from the front, pulling her arms up and oh, she did almost just hit JJ.
"Thanks guys," she tries to placate them, "you can let me down now." Shane let's go of her hands. She's too far away to get a punch off quick, but maybe she can still kick Troy in the balls.
"No," Ilya is stern and curt, "No Rose Landry," I do not think that is good idea." He must have felt her weight shift as she geared up for a kick.
Wow. Thank fuck Ilya reacted when he did or JJ would have punched Rose Landry in the head. Because Rose Landry- A-List actor Rose Landry; America's Sweetheart Rose Landry; one of the nicest people JJ has ever met Rose Landry- has just broken Troy's nose. He has no idea where she came from, or why she is wasting her speediness on acting, rather than anything else.
Blood is pouring down Troy's face, and on Rose's dress, as she winds back to hit him again.
JJ turns back around to look at Roz for guidance, what the hell is he supposed to do here? Roz just shrugs at him. Both of them could easily get Rose out of there, actually, there are probably 30 people who could just pick her up and cart her off, but that seems a little extreme, not to mention rude and a bit degrading.
Especially when she is holding her own, he can't imagine Troy would fight Rose Landry.
But then Troy spreads his legs and bends down into a fighting stance, and JJ thinks he has no qualms about being rude and degrading to Troy. He looks back to Ilya and tries to communicate, "you grab Rose," before taking a couple of steps back. He pushes back, then forward to gain mometum before he drops his body enough to grab Troy by the torso, shifting him onto his shoulder.
"Enough," JJ grits out, "Harris, where is your car, you're taking this asshole home." JJ doesn't even stop to see if Harris is following him, just starts walking towards the cars, while Troy flails and fails at punching him.
"Troy, I will drop you on your head if you don't stop. Do not test me." Troy stops flailing as much, but JJ isn't sure if he's calmed down, of if it's because Harris is at his side.
"It's the red truck, JJ, with the cab on the back." Harris points toward the only truck, never mind the red nor the cab, "You know, you can put him down, I'll make sure he gets in." JJ doesn't even consider it; he has no idea how he could trust someone who was that bigoted prior to meeting them, so he doesn't really trust Harris' judgement.
"No Harris," JJ continues to the truck, toting Troy along like it's no big deal. It really isn't, Troy probably regularly lifts and benches more than he weighs; JJ will just count this as his upper body workout.
Not that he will tell Shane that.
Harris scrambles ahead; as soon as the passenger door is open enough, JJ throws Troy in and slams the door.
"Go home, both of you." JJ talks over Troy's protests, he channels in inner Chuck D, raising his voice and dropping his register at the same time, "Troy do some reflecting, learn some shit, stop the bigotry. Harris, stop being such a white boy, and get him the fuck out of here. Don't come back."
JJ turns and heads back, he has no idea how Shane is going to react, let alone Ilya.
Shane is just standing there, looking at everything around him when he hears Ilya shout for him to follow them into the house.
He's not really sure what to do here. He doesn't even know how his wedding went from a party to chaos, when nothing that bad even happened.