Josef Vasicek: 
Jiri Fischer: 
Tommy Westlund: 
Niclas Wallin: 
by me
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: Josef Vasicek/Jiri Fischer, Tommy Westlund/Nic Wallin (implied)
Summary: Joe wants to call Fishy after he hears about the suspension.
Disclaimer: This is fake, fiction, not real. I'm not implying anything about
the values or orientations of those involved. It all originates in my
overactive imagination (comes from not having television as a child).
Notes: Excuse typos. I transcribed from my laptop to my stepmom's internet-
able one because my modem is broken and her iBook (which I hate, for the
record) has no floppy drive. Also excuse general poorness, since all my
writing sucks a lot lately. And assume Jiri and Josef speak Czech to each
other.
"You can't do it, Joe."
The young forward sighed and looked up at his linemate. "I want to talk to
him."
"Joey, I don't care if you are friends...you can't call up members of the
other team during the Cup Finals."
"Marty...Nobody will know. I don't want to give him our secrets, I just want
to talk to him!"
"Why don't you take a look at Tommy Westlund and see if you want to talk to
him...ask Erik Cole, too, while you're at it. He's seen just
how 'friendly' a guy he is, too."
"Just because he got his stick up does not mean that he is horrible person.
Still, he is my friend."
Marty leaned forward, almost disbelieving that Josef was defending the
guy. "Joey, he cross-checked him in the face AFTER the play was over for
NO reason. That is not "getting his stick up". And he is not your friend
until this series is over."
"How would you feel if you were suspended for a game in which you could win
the Cup?"
"Well, I wouldn't be, because I am not stupid enough to do what he did."
"Marty, he needs to talk to me!" Vasicek pleaded.
Shaking his head, the veteran stood up. "Fine, then. You call him, and I'll
let tommy know you're going to console him. I'm sure he and Nic will
appreciate it." Gelinas stood up and left, closing the door behind him,
obviously angry at his linemate's stubborness.
Shakily, Josef picked up the phone. He would've called anyway, without Marty's
lecture. He dialed the local number. "Hello," the voice on the other end
muttered. He sounded dejected.
"Hey, Jiri."
"Josef?" Fischer answered in Czech. "You are still speaking to me?"
"Of course...how could I not?"
Joe could hear the heavy sigh on the other end of the line. "I was so stupid."
"Yes, you were."
"If you agree, then why are you calling me?"
"Your stupidity does not keep me from loving you, Jiri." Vasicek replied,
amusement bleeding into his voice.
"I knocked out two of his teeth."
"Yes, I know that. I am his teammate."
"I...I can't believe I did it, know."
"I can," Joe replied bluntly. "Look at who your defensive partner is. Your
mentor. Besides...you meant to hurt him, Fish. After the play like that.
They had to suspend you. You deserved supsension. You deserved 5 minutes
and a match, too, but you managed to find a ref's blind spot."
"I know...but I...I did want to hurt him! But I don't know why...I shouldn't
have done it." He sounded like he was going to cry, or maybe already was,
and Joe automatically dropped the accusing tone from his voice.
"Jiri...it's ok...it'll be ok. I still love you. Your team still loves you, I
promise."
"But I cannot play tomorrow! And we might...we might win! And to work so hard
and not be a part of that victory..."
Joe didn't bring up that HIS team was on the brink of elimination, and that
they had probably worked just as hard, if not harder, to get to this point
than the talent-stocked Red Wings. "So, I'll make you a deal. We will win
tomorrow and you won't have to worry about it, huh?"
"Yes, that makes me feel better, Joe," Fischer replied angrily. "So I will
know that my not being there changed things." He sighed. "There should not
have been a Game 5 in the first place."
"We beat you in Game 1 - there was no fluke there. We played you evenly in 2
and 3. Game 4 was the only relatively easy win, and let me remind you
again that we SHOULD have had a five minute power play in that one, too.
Do not patronize my team like that!" When the Red Wing didn't reply, Josef
went on. "You know, never mind. Fuck you. I called because I thought you
would like someone to talk to you and since last time I checked you still
loved me. Marty is already mad at me for speaking to you and he's going to
tell Nic and Tommy, who will also be mad at me. So I do not need for you
to insult me and my team at the same time. Good night, Jiri."
The sudden anger in Vasicek's voice stunned Fischer into responding. "No! No,
Joey, I'm sorry...I didn't mean...you are a good team you would not be
here otherwise, I just...I just...thank you for calling me."
"I had to."
"I do love you, Josef."
"I know you do."
"Ok."
"You will watch me from the press box, won't you?"
Jiri laughed a little. "It will be kind of nice to watch you play without
having to worry about playing myself."
"I think you will be distracted, or do you forget that if you win the game,
you win the Cup?"
"I haven't forgotten."
Joe smiled. "You will not win."
Jiri sighed dramatically. "Ok, ok. Good night, Joey."
"Good night, Fishy."
"I am glad you called me. I love you."
"I love you, too. I'll see you..." He did not want to say tomorrow, because if
he saw Jiri tomorrow it would likely be in a handshake line. And he did
not want any handshakes exchanged tomorrow. "Later."
"Bye," Jiri sighed. Josef set the phone down gently. As he did, someone
knocked at the door and Tommy Westlund entered without waiting for a
reply.
"Josef."
The Czech almost winced. Tommy's bottom lip was quite swollen and looked quite
painful, and Joe knew the five stitches didn't feel good either. He spoke
very carefully though, which made his speech clear - as clear as his
Swedish accent would allow, anyway. "Hey, Tommy."
"So, you spoke to my attacker, Marty said?"
"Yeah..." Joe flushed a little.
Tommy smiled, then sinced as his lip pulled. "It's ok, Joe. I think
that...that if I were in the same situation and it were Nic, I would call
him too."
Joe hoped Wallin understood, because he didn't want the big Swedish defenseman
mad at him. "He was...kind of upset about not being able to play in Game
5."
"You know, I'm almost upset he didn't."
"Why?" asked Joe, surprised.
"I don't get a chance to get him back myself."
"You'll have to wait until Game 6, I guess."
Tommy smiled carefully again and patted Vasicek's shoulder. "He meant it
though, didn't he?"
"Yeah," Joe said softly. "He did."
Shaking his head, Tommy said, "That's what he gets for listening to Chelios.
See you later, Joey. Get some sleep. We have a big day tomorrow."
Knowing the fourth line forward was right, Joe lay back, waiting for sleep to
come...and hopefully that would happen before his overly nosey roommate
came back demanding to know what had happened with the conversation...
fin