Date: Mon, 10 Apr 1995 15:41:05 -0400 Reply-To: JillMari@AOL.COM Sender: Highlander TV show stories From: Jill Spetoskey Subject: One Goal c. 1995 by Jill Spetoskey Series rules are in effect here. Comments are always welcome at jillmari@aol.com Kyle slammed on the brakes as he spotted a parking spot. Even though it was a good five blocks from the bar he was trying to get to, he had circled through the area a few times, and he hadn't seen anything closer. He wedged the sedan into the small spot, all the while cursing the gods of parallel parking, and climbed out of the car. Not liking the look of the neighborhood, he checked to make sure the car doors were locked, and headed southward. He walked briskly down the dimly-lit street, heading toward the better area the jazz club was in. Project, Kyle, he chided himself. They've always told you that one of the best ways of preventing trouble is to look like you'd be likely to cause trouble yourself. Kyle Johnson, right winger for the Seattle Sounders of the Central Hockey league, and league leader in penalty minutes, should be able to generate at least a little bit of a menacing look. He had gotten within a block of the club when a denim-clad figure stepped out of the alley. He tried to move past, but the other man stepped in front of his face and produced a large-looking knife. "Let's have the wallet, now. Move very slowly, and you won't get hurt." Kyle slowly reached into his back pocket, trying to memorize the mugger's face. His assailant couldn't be more than sixteen, and looked pale behind the green bandana he wore over his mouth. Kyle started to feel nauseous as he handed the wallet to the boy. "Okay, now lets have the ring you've got there." Kyle started to work the wedding band off his finger, glad that Amy wasn't here to share in the mess. His knuckles had swollen since the Tulsa game on Saturday, and the ring didn't want to come off his hand. "Hurry it up now. Sounds like we've got some traffic coming by.." Kyle could hear the rumble of a motorcycle engine as he tried to tug the ring off his finger. The mugger was starting to move the knife even closer to his face. Kyle's stomach seemed to double its gymnastic efforts. Suddenly, the headlight of the motorcycle silhouetted the two men. The motorcyclist came to a stop about five feet in front of them. "Drop it and get away from him." The rider demanded. He reved the engine and started to nudge the engine forward, as if he was ready to run over Kyle's assailant. The mugger dropped both the knife, and Kyle's wallet, and took off at a run down the alley. The motorcyclist didn't follow him, but instead stopped to pull off his helmet to reveal a curly mop of blondish brown hair. "I'm Richie Ryan. Are you okay there?" "Yeah, nothing hurt but my pride. Thanks a lot for getting involved" "It was nothing. Let's get away from here then. A friend of mine has a place about a block from here. We can call the cops from there if you want." Kyle followed Richie down the sidewalk. As Richie parked his cycle outside of the bar, Kyle saw the name of the place that Richie's friend owned. He groaned. "Would you believe that this was where I was going when that kid tried to jump me?" He followed the other man inside the bar, and found himself being introduced to the bar owner. "Hi, Joe. This is..." "Kyle Johnson." He supplied, sticking his hand out to shake. Nothing like those little rituals in life to calm you down when someone's tried to kill you. "Kyle here had a little problem with a guy wanting to borrow some money from him outside of here, and the guy was using a knife to ask for it ." In a few minutes, the police had been called, and Kyle found himself at the bar with a scotch pushed in front of him. He exchanged the scotch for an orange juice, and found himself delivering a long monologue as the tension left his body. "But there really is a big difference between being called a fighter in hockey, and facing a thug in real life. On the ice, I know that the worst that's probably going to happen to me is that I'll need a few stitches, or that I'll break my nose again or something. It's not likely my life is being threatened or something. All I wanted to do was come hear some blues while Amy, my wife, is out of town at a wedding, and look what happens." Joe and Richie patiently listened to his ramblings as they waited for the police to arrive. He described the mugger to the cops, and they went through all the standard questions. Before he left for home, Kyle arranged for Joe and Richie to get first row seats to the friday night game. He felt that it was the least he could do. Two days later- Richie sat in the passenger seat as Duncan dodged through freeway traffic. "But it was pretty weird, Mac. I almost expected to look down that alley and see two people swinging swords around. Instead what I see is this guy getting mugged." "It could be that what you felt was someone who was going to become immortal, but who hasn't died for the first time yet. Sometimes you can feel someone who could become immortal. Connor used to say that when he first saw the Kurgan, the Kurgan tried to run him down on the spot because he wanted to get rid of a rival before Connor even knew about the Game. Besides, why do you think that I took a thief into my house unless there was something else going on there." Duncan turned off the highway, and onto the arena road. "You knew about me? And you didn't say anything?" "Yes, I knew, and if you think about your own behavior, you'll know why I didn't say anything. Remember how you acted around Gregory, for one." Duncan eased the car into a parking spot, and killed the engine. "But, Mac." "We can talk about it later. I believe there is a game starting here." The two headed into the arena, stopping at the will call window to get their tickets. Descending into the bowl, they found their seats next to Joe and his girlfriend, whe were animatedly talking to a petite raven-haired that was introduced as Amy, Kyle's wife. "Richie, I owe you a huge thanks for what you did for Kyle. He thinks he has to be a goon on the ice if he ever wants to play full time in the NHL, but he really is a gentle person. I'm glad that you were there to help him." She offered him a smile that seemed to light up her whole face. "I couldn't just walk past him." Richie found himself almost blushing. They continued to talk until the game started. Kyle got a goal and two assists as his team defeated Oklahoma City, and after the game, they met back at Joe's for a hamburger. Only Amy, claiming fatigue from her trip, did not come along. They settled around a table, applauding as Joe joined in on a few pieces. Richie saw Kyle look longingly at the band on the stage. "Do you play an instrument?" "I played sax for a little while when I was a kid. Had to give it up because hockey started taking up so much of my time. Seems like I've had to give up an awful lot over the years in order to get this close to the NHL. Sometimes I wish that I had a couple more lifetimes in order to do all the stuff i've wanted to do, but haven't had time for." Kyle twirled his orange juice glass in his hand. "Still, there's a lot of good stuff that's happened becuase of hockey. If I hadn't played in the OHL, I would never have lived in North Bay, and I would have never have met Amy, who is the best thing that's ever happened to me. I got called up to Tampa on a short term-basis seven times last year, and because the organization lets us keep our ferquent-flyer miles, Amy and I got to go to Australia on out honeymoon. I never could have afforded that otherwise." Kyle was interrupted when Mike called him over to take a phone call. He returned with a slight smile on his face. "That was Amy. Kerry Wakaluk blew out his knee against the Kings tonight, and is going to miss the rest of the year. Part of me is feeling bad because my good luck was because someone had some bad luck, but I've been called up again, probably for the full season this time. My flight leaves at 6:15 tommorow, so I need to head out here." He grabbed his glass, and toasted."To being a Lightning Bolt, hopefully for a while, now." Kyle headed out of the bar, mumbling about how he was glad he had been able to park just outside of the club this time. Duncan motioned to Richie, and they walked into Joe's office. "Richie, Kyle is going to become immortal." "We should tell him then, Mac." "What good would that do? It seems like he has a pretty happy life right now. What would you do then? If you told him the full story, he wouldn't believe it. You'd probably have to kill him to prove it. He's got a family, and he could be very over the next few years. It's best he doesn't know anything is different right now." "Like you never told me." "Yes. Here's what I will do, though." Duncan dug a calling card out of his wallet, and started to punch numbers into the phone. He paused to find a phone number in his memory, and finished dialing. "Hello, Matthew. It's Duncan here." The person on the other end of the line said something. "Actually, I'm out of the antiques business these days. I called to ask you to keep an eye on someone else. There's a kid named Kyle Johnson who's flying down to play hockey there. The boy needs watching......" Finish =========================================================================