by me
Series/Sequel: 3455332/3455332
Summary: Nothing can last forever.
Notes: I'm really heartbroken. And yes...I'm fairly certain this will my
last Maddux/Glavine fic. A M/G fic helped to found this group, and it's
only fitting that the end of the series marks the end of the greatest era
in Braves history and indeed in the history of all Atlanta sports. I'm
not insinuating that the Braves streak is at an end.
But without Tom Glavine there, no division title will be the same.
�Well. It�s done. How do you feel?�
Tom Glavine sat down on his couch. Chris had taken the kids shopping, and he
was alone except for the voice on the other end of the line. �Drained.
And sad.�
�You wanted to stay.�
�You know I wanted to stay.�
�I guess.�
Glavine frowned. �Greg?�
�You...you broke us up, Tommy.�
�You don�t know where you�re going yet!�
�It doesn�t much matter now, does it?�
Somehow, though it shouldn�t have, the bitterness in Greg�s voice surprised
him. �I...I guess not.�
�The Mets.�
�Yeah.�
�A division rival.�
�Yeah.�
�The division rival.�
�Yeah.�
�How the hell could you do that?
�I do not need this from you.�
�You didn�t need anything from me, did you? Including my opinion.�
�I...I knew what you wanted me to do...�
�Didn�t seem to matter to you, did it?�
And Glavine couldn�t respond to that. �There was...more to think about
than...�
�Than me?�
�Yes,� Tom replied softly.
�Your family, then?�
�Yeah.�
�And Amber?�
�We�ll work something out.�
�One weekend a month and every other holiday?�
�I�m sorry, Greg.�
�Yeah? Well, I�m sorry too.�
His words hung between them, suspended somewhere in the phone lines, and Tom
closed his eyes, clenching his teeth. �No...�
�You�re leaving a lot behind in Atlanta, Tommy,� Greg continued
softly. �You�re leaving a legacy that no one can match. Sixteen years.�
�I...I know...�
�They�d be nowhere without you. Not 11 divisions. Not 5 pennants. Not a
Series.�
�That�s not-�
�It�s true.�
�Greg-�
�I�d be nowhere without you.�
�Please stop.�
�I will be nowhere without you.�
�You...you don�t have to be-�
�Yeah. I do.�
And those were the words he�d been praying not to hear. The thought of that
was what caused his hand to shake when he scrawled his name at the X. The
implications rushed over him, and his heart ached. �Greg...�
�I won�t be in New York. I hope I�ll be in Atlanta. You won�t be with me.
It�s...it�s over, Tommy.�
�Please. It doesn�t have to be like that.�
�Yes, yes it fucking does! You are no longer an Atlanta Brave. There is no
more �big three�. We will never follow one another in the rotation
again. We are no longer the most successful pitching duo of our
generation. Everything else ends too. They all went together, Tommy.�
�That�s not true! That part...that part was always separate!�
�It wasn�t and you knew it wasn�t. You knew this was inevitable, Tommy.�
�Please...�
�Bye, Tom.�
�Greg...I�m sorry...I love you.� He bit his lip to keep as much emotion as he
could out of his voice, but he figured Maddux could still hear it.
�Me too.�
And the only thing Tom could do was whisper, �Bye,� before the phone clicked.
He set it down slowly, and stood up, his eyes roaming the walls. So many
things to remind him. The fact that he was no longer a Brave was sinking
in, and it was a rather unsettling feeling.
Greg was still staring at the phone a full minute later when his 9-year-old
daughter plopped down on the couch next to him. �Who was that, Daddy?�
�Uncle Tommy,� he said, taking a deep breath, and turning to her with a smile.
�Oh. Are Amber �n� Jon going to come visit this year?�
�Probably not.�
�Oh,� she said with a frown. �Can we go visit them?�
�We might not see them for a while.�
�Oh...why�re you sad, Dad? Hey, a rhyme!�
He couldn�t help a chuckle at that. �Because your Uncle Tom and I have been
teammates for as long as you�ve been alive, but we won�t be next year
because he�s going to be a New York Met.�
�A Met?� She wrinkled her nose. �Ew.�
�Yeah.�
Suddenly she bounced to her feet and grabbed his hand. �Come outside Daddy,
I�ve been teaching Chase a wrist shot and he�s doing good and maybe he can
play hockey now like me �cause he�s already real good on ice skates you
know, since Uncle Tommy showed him stuff this summer and he is more than 5
and a half.� She was pulling him to his feet and resolutely towards the
door of the house, and Greg�s smile stayed in place as he watched his kids
play.
Life would go on.
Fin.