Resurrection and Revenge

Jonathan Toews leaned on the end of the table, where he was standing. Jamie Benn and Russell Wilson each took a seat to the side. The football player sat in between Ryan Getzlaf and Patrice Bergeron, who dipped their heads in welcome. One the other side, mirroring them, was the Dallas Captain, who sat between Sidney Crosby and Carey Price.

“So why does Avery have Landy?” Carey asked with concern.

“Oh so now the Habs are actually showing some care and concern about other teams, eh?” the leader of the Bruins snapped.

“Hey, I care, PK might not, but I do. Why don’t you get off the Boston soapbox and show some feelings as well.”

“Are you hinting at and saying that I have no feelings?” Patrice bit back.

The Montreal Captain faced his rival and simply and calmly said, “I’m just saying that what happens on the ice, stays on the ice and what happened in the past should remain in the past. Why don’t you make like Elsa, and let it go!”

“You’re right, it’s not your fault for the Habs’ negligence. And you have a valid point.”

“It’s not just Avery though!” Jonathan remarked.

“Some guy named Michael Crabtree from the San Francisco 49ers is also involved!” Jamie explained, adding onto the Blackhawk Captain’s comment.

“Michael Crabtree?” the Penguins, Canadiens, Bruins and Ducks leaders questioned in unison.

“Aye.” Jonathan nodded his head. “He’s been described by Russell as the “Sean Avery” of the football world.”

“I remember hearing about him vaguely, but I mostly remember just hearing about Avery. But I guess he’s bad news too, eh?!” Sidney said.

“Yes, what does Avery (and for that matter Crabtree) want with Landeskog?” Russell nodded, dipping his head. He still looked like he was the Reilly Smith of the room, awkward, and as out of place as Val Nichushkin in his first year with Dallas.

“That’s an unknown. Perhaps he was just in the wrong place at the wrong time and Avery couldn’t let him get away,” Jonathan stated.

“By those means, it was the same thing with Tyler, and yet, that’s not true at all. Tyler’s close to Kaner, which can only mean that it was planned. He has something planned with Landy, just as he does with everyone, including Segs,” Jamie spoke up.

“Well, do we know where Avery is keeping them all?” Sidney suggested. “We should start by getting that answered. That’s the most important question right now. Where are they?”

“Surely not in a warehouse this time,” Russell piped up, gaining confidence. “Somewhere in Paris, France. That’s according to the flight that took Kaner and Crabtree out of Chicago.”

“Right!” Jonathan nodded.

“But where? Paris is huge! He could have been taken to the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, the Arc, the Louvre, any number of things! Were talking about searching a city like New York City...it’s impossible!” Sidney gasped. “Avery’s really outdone himself!”

“There has to be some kind of clue as to where he actually took Kaner and the others,” Ryan said.

The Blackhawk Captain looked at the Anaheim Ducks’ Captain sternly. “Getzy, if there was a clue that Avery left, we would have already brought it up. There’s nothing. Everything we know, you know.”

“That’s not a lot of stuff,” Patrice stated the obvious.

“We know.” Jonathan lowered his head, looking down at the table.

Sidney screwed his face up in thought and leaned back in the chair. He glanced up at the ceiling and became quiet. Jamie looked at him in curiosity.

“Whatcha thinking about there, Sid?”

“I’m just not sure--but if I know Avery, I’m thinking about a tough, yet reasonable location. And I believe that narrows are search to three places, the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame and the Louvre. All of them are smart ideas and if I had to pick one to hold a bunch of Blackhawks, plus an Avalanche player and a Dallas Star, I’d probably look into the Notre Dame.” Sidney’s gaze fell back onto Jonathan’s.

“Notre Dame?” Carey questioned, wrinkling his nose up. “I’d pick the Louvre. It’s cool shaped and--”

“And it would be difficult to house hockey players in! I say the Notre Dame, because it’s big and it seems ideal for Avery’s despicableness!” Sidney argued, folding his arms over his chest and raising his head up high and proud.

“Now, you’re thinking like a villain, Sid!” Jamie joked.

Sidney grew offensive and leaned over the table, looking straight into the Dallas Captain’s eyes. “I’m not a villain. I despise Avery and what he has become. I NEVER want to be him!”

“Fair enough, Sid,” Jonathan stated. “But tapping into the villain’s mentality or Avery’s mind, what would Avery be doing to Kaner and the boys in the Notre Dame?”

Sidney leaned back and turned to look at the Blackhawk Captain, as he spoke. “That I’m not sure of. Like I made perfectly clear, I’m not a villain.”

“Why wouldn’t the Eiffel Tower be reasonable?” Ryan asked.

“Ooh, ooh, I can answer that one!” Patrice exclaimed, raising his hand like a little kid in school. “It wouldn’t be ideal, because of the size, predictability and also its popularity! That’s not Avery’s code!”

Sidney nodded his head. “Way to be on the same wavelength as me, Bruin...er, Bergy! Nice. You can be a villain too!”

“Ack! No. I’m no villain either, Sid.”

“No one’s a villain here, but you two make a good point and right now the Notre Dame is our place!” Jonathan remarked, nodding his head, as he looked at Patrice and Sidney, who smiled and shared a look, before sliding their arms out to share a high-five in the center of the table.

“So, how do we get to the place, inside and complete a rescue mission?” Russell stated. “We can’t alert Avery and we sure as hell can’t walk in the front door and go, “Hey, it’s Dangeruss and Tazer, give us our Kanerboo back” or you know, something like that!”

“Russ, my man, you are right. Any ideas?” The Blackhawk Captain looked around the table at each of the players.

It was Sidney who spoke again with a wise idea. “We fly under the radar and don’t alert Avery at all. And we go in the back door. And if all else fails we can resort to a backup plan, which is barge in and go for the rescue. But we could to keep low and out of sight. We can figure a way to get in when we get there. Heck Jonny, Jamie and I can go scale the place or something.”

“No way. If Jonny goes, I go. We’re in this together,” Russell remarked. “I won’t be the odd man out. If he is going to scale the building, I am too.”

“Then you two can go, Jamie and I can keep an eye out for ya and so on so forth. How about that?” the Pittsburgh Penguin suggested, smiling and not at all bothered by Russell’s comment.

The football player smiled back and nodded. “Better. I like it!”

There was a brief moment of pause, before the leading centre of the Pittsburgh Penguins spoke up again.

“And the Notre Dame is located next to a body of water, is it not?” Sidney inquired.

Carey dipped his head, but maintained a confused look as to what the Penguin was getting at, as he replied, “It is.”

Sidney clasped his hands together in a single clap. “Then we can take Avery there and make sure that he drowns this time. Make sure he is done terrorizing the Blackhawks and the NHL. And Crabtree too. Prison’s too good for him! We drown them both in the water and teach him never to mess with the National Hockey League!” He smiled largely and cheekily and jumped out of his seat, rather excitedly.

“Whoa, settle down there, Sid. But I like that idea too!” Patrice laughed, as the Penguin sat back down.

“I like it too!” Russell chimed.

“Then it’s settled, we fly to Paris, France at once and get to the Notre Dame!” the Blackhawks forward exclaimed. “Let’s save Kaner and the NHL!”

They all stood up and raced out of the room. They headed straight for a private jet, that Patrice knew about, because he “had a friend.” And then they were flying across the Atlantic to France.

Notes

“We can’t alert Avery and we sure as hell can’t walk in the front door and go, “Hey, it’s Dangeruss and Tazer, give us our Kanerboo back” or you know, something like that!” - This was actually something my editor (Grandma) came up with and thought that one of my characters had basically said in the previous story. I decided to keep it and have it be something that Russell says. I think it's funny.
Oh, ho, look at Sid being all nice and leaderly. I'd like this Sid, but instead there's a whiny complainer Sid...oh well...maybe...maybe some day.


Next up: Tyler Seguin's Role