Pattern Break

Summary: After the Ducks find out Adam is being bullied by his old Hawk friends, they decide he needs to learn how to stand up for himself.

AN: I can't believe I'm posting this! I wrote the majority of this story many, many years ago and never finished it. But after a serious case of writer's block and because my computer is currently in the shop getting the hard drive replaced, I have dusted off this very old story and have decided to finish it. And because it is me, there is plenty of hinted at angst. And I just want to say right now that bullying is wrong! But violence never solves anything.

Rated K+ for one swear word and mentions of bullying and fighting

Disclaimer: I do not know or own The Mighty Ducks or any other affiliated character, nor is any money being made. The movie and all recognizable characters belong to Disney.

Adam didn't know how it started. He supposed it could have begun the day he was born; maybe something went wrong and as a result a giant brand labeled 'vulnerable' was burned into his skin. Or maybe it began the day his brother first came home...different and set his dark, haunted eyes on his younger naive brother.

Either way, he guesses, it didn't really matter how it started, only that at some point it did.

He, Adam Ryan Banks, was a victim of bullying and abuse, had been for as long as he can remember. It started with his brother, then his father, and then his teacher, Coach Reilly, and the kids he once called friends and teammates. In fact, Adam could not remember a single point in his life where he was not bullied by someone.

He learned long ago not to fight back, to accept the taunts and put-downs and even the occasional physical violence as part of his life. It was better to just take whatever abuse was hurled at him and wait for his attackers to move on.

And that is just what Adam did with his most recent threat, Larson and McGill, and whoever happened to be leeching off the two of them at the moment of attack. And Adam did what Adam had always done, stood there and took it and waited for it to pass.

It was a cold Thursday morning, almost three weeks since the ducks won the championship, when Adam found there was an audience to his daily distress, one more sympathetic than usual and more passionate. This particular audience seemed to care what happened to him and decided for the first time in his life that this had to stop. Which is exactly how Adam found himself in the following predicament.

"We should tell his father," he heard Connie say as the Ducks continued to talk about him like he wasn't three feet away. They were huddled together like football players discussing a play. Despite being the topic of conversation, Adam had not been invited into the circle.

"Are you kidding?!" Jesse heatedly hissed. "His father would just tell him to 'man up.'"

"Is that not what we are telling him to do," Connie snapped.

"This is different," Charlie whispered softly, but still loud enough for Adam to hear. "We're teaching him how to defend himself."

Adam rolled his eyes and tuned out of the rest of the conversation. If he took off now, no one would notice and maybe by the time they tracked him down, they would have all forgotten this ridiculous notion of teaching Adam how to fight.

Adam wasn't so lucky. He must have tuned out longer than he thought, for next thing he knew he was being pulled to his feet and manhandled until he was facing Charlie and Jesse.

"We're going to teach you how to stand up to those bullies," Charlie declared. Adam said nothing. They had not asked him for his opinion thus far nor whether or not if this is what he really wanted. Apparently he was going to learn to defend himself and what he wanted did not matter.

Adam felt like he was being bullied all over again.

That was over 20 minutes ago and still Adam was standing in the middle of an alley facing off Charlie, confused and flustered.

"It's easy, Banks, I shove you. You shove me back," Charlie stated once again with a hint of frustration and pushed Adam hard enough to make him take a few steps back.

Adam did not push back. "Why?"

Charlie resisted the urge to roll his eyes. A few sounds of annoyance and frustration emitted from the impatient Ducks.

It was not going well, Adam could tell. He couldn't help it, though. He was just not the type of person to stand up for himself and he was definitely never violent. Sure, during a game he checked people, but he spent most of his time on the ice avoiding being hit by the other players. That's what Adam did best, avoidance. And if he couldn't avoid it? Well, he took whatever was hurled at him, rationalized it, and moved on.

Besides, there was no point, he thought, in fighting back.

The ducks seemed to think differently.

The Hawks did not take too kindly to being defeated by the Ducks and ever since, Banks had been mercilessly bullied by some of the members.

Adam never replied to their taunts, never said a word to them when they sought him out, never fought back even if they decided to throw a punch or two. He was fine with that. His methods had been working fine for him since he was little and his brother first started bullying him.

The Ducks, however, saw it happen this time. Fulton, Guy and Jesse scared them off before demanding to know why Adam never told them what was going on. Why didn't he stand up to them?

He was used to it, he remembered telling them. "Besides, I don't even know how to stand up for myself."

That had definitely been the wrong thing to say.

It was Charlie's idea to do this stupid intervention, training, whatever it was, to teach Banks how to show those Hawk goons what was what. It was not going well at all and Adam was convinced he simply did not have it in him.

"Why? Because I pushed you first, Banks, remember?" Charlie replied.

"So?"

"So you need to defend your honor," Fulton pointedly told him.

"So you can show those pansies that they can't intimidate you," Jesse added.

"So that they stop bullying you." The 'duh' look on Charlie's face told Adam the answer should have been obvious. Adam still didn't see the point.

"But," Adam began, but Jesse quickly cut him off.

"You can't just take their bullshit," Jesse steamed.

"Why not?"

"Are you always this dense?" Connie interjected.

"I don't know what you mean."

Guy smacked his hand into his face. It was either that or smack the stupid out of Bank's head. He didn't think the other boy would appreciate the gesture, though.

"Adam, stop asking why and just do it," Jesse commanded.

Adam didn't say no, but he hesitated before weakly pushing Charlie. It was a start, however pathetic it may have been, and it took a lot of cajoling from Fulton, Guy, Connie, Charlie, Goldberg, Jesse and Averman just to get to this point.

"I've been hit harder by a bug," Charlie told him.

"I'm sorry," Adam shyly replied.

"Banks, you're not supposed to be sorry, you're supposed to hit harder," Averman encouraged. Adam just shrugged.

"This isn't working, guys," Guy finally said. "Let's just move on to the next step."

"The next step?" Adam enquired, almost scared to know what they had in store for him.

"Insults," Goldberg excitedly chimed in. "That's where we come in," he added pointing to Averman.

"Insults?" he was still rather confused and did not particularly like the idea.

"What are you a parrot? Stop repeating everything we say," Averman frowned at him.

"Yeah, what are you a loser or something? Can't think for yourself, traitor?" Goldberg added.

Adam stared at his feet again. He wasn't sure if they really meant it or if this was just part of the 'training.'

"You're supposed to insult them back, Banksie," Jesse encouraged when Adam said nothing.

"Umm, I refuse to acquiesce to your opinion?"

"Was that a question or a statement?" Connie sighed.

"I have no idea what you just said," Goldberg said.

"Was that an insult?" Fulton asked.

Adam shook his head. Charlie rolled his eyes. "You're supposed to insult them back," Charlie gently prodded.

"I can't," Adam replied.

"Why not?" Jesse demanded.

"It doesn't feel right."

"Adam," Averman whined.

"I don't have to insult people to stand up for myself, do I?" Adam fearfully asked. "If that's the case, I don't want to."

"You used to pick on us," Jessed innocently asked.

Adam's cheeks burned in shame. "And that was a huge mistake, wasn't it?" Adam heatedly replied. "I could be insulting their mother, or whatever it is you guys do, and then it turns out the mom died from cancer or something. You don't know!"

"What about your face is gross, then?"

"Averman, just shut up," Jesse groaned as he shoved the other boy.

"This is definitely not working," Guy stated. The rest of the team grumbled and nodded.

"What's step three guys?" Averman cheerily questioned ready to give up on the sheer hopelessness of teaching Adam comebacks.

"There is no step three, Averman," Guy dejectedly replied as he sat on the ground with a huff. Goldberg plopped down next to him gloomily, clearly thinking along the same lines as everyone else: this is so hopeless.

"We can't just give up!" Charlie threw his hands up in the air as he turned to glare at the despondent ducks. "There's got to be something we can do."

"Charlie," Averman threw an arm around Charlie's shoulders, "Let's face it. Banks here wouldn't squash a fly if it landed next to him and begged him to do it. It's hopeless."

"Shut up, Averman," Connie snapped and pushed Les. "Don't you dare," she added when Averman opened his mouth to reply. He quickly snapped it shut.

The Ducks gloomily sat around Banks. Adam, for his part, refused to meet their eyes. He knew before they even began that it was hopeless.

"I'm a coward."

"You're not a coward, Adam." Connie laid a gentle hand on his shoulder. "I've seen you face down challenges that would send these boys running away screaming." She jerked her thumb in the direction of the others. "You just need a little confidence."

"Thanks," Adam said and offered her a rare, genuine smile when she nudged his shoulder with hers.

"We'll figure it out guys," Guy joined in.

"I know something that might work," Charlie suggested. "Why don't we get him angry?"

"Yeah, that could work!" the rejuvenated ducks exclaimed.

"Hasn't anything ever made you so mad, you just wanted to punch something?" Jesse asked.

Adam thought about it, and no, definitely not. Nothing had ever made him so angry he wanted to hit something. It wasn't often he actually got angry. He told them this.

"Not even at Danny, after everything he did to you? He tortured you Adam, and not once you didn't want to fight back?" Jesse said.

Adam flinched at his words. The rest of team didn't know about that, about what his brother had done. He had told only Charlie and Jesse the truth late one night at a sleepover. They had been the only three still up, talking until the early hours of the morning. Somehow the topic of his older brother had come up and Adam found himself telling his two new friends almost everything. It had been the first time Adam ever shared the story with anyone.

Jesse's statement was meant to make him angry, but it didn't work. Instead Adam was ashamed, so very, very ashamed. So he stared at his feet, a bright red blush consuming his cheeks. He looked briefly around to the other ducks, gauging their reactions to the news, but he saw only confusion on their faces. Except Charlie. Charlie just look sad.

"I was never mad at him," Adam defended his brother the same way he rationalized the abuse in his mind. "It wasn't his fault."

Jesse squashed down his frustration. He already knew Adam's opinion on the matter and he understood and respected it. Didn't mean he had to like it.

Goldberg let out a long, slow, exaggerated sigh. "This is getting ridiculous." The others agreed, and were almost ready to give up, when Charlie said "What about you, Adam?"

"What do you mean?"

"Aren't you important? You don't deserve to be treated this way by those jerks. You didn't deserve what your brother did to you. Can't you be angry for what has been done to you, even if it is no one's fault?"

"I…I guess."

"So get angry for yourself! Remember what they did to you and shove me!"

Adam remembered. The physical and emotional pain of his brother trying to hurt him. The anguish of having his old friends turn their backs on him. The fear he felt every time he went to school. He wasn't angry with them, not really, but Charlie was right. He could be frustrated with the situation, he could be mad that it had to be him, couldn't he?

Adam became angry, truly angry, an emotion he very rarely indulged in. Without thinking, he pushed Charlie so hard the poor boy fell backwards, flat on his back into a giant snow bank.

Charlie hit the ground so hard the wind was knocked out of him. He curled on his side to regain his breath. Adam immediately regretted pushing him.

"I'm so sorry, Charlie!" he yelped and knelt down next to his friend.

"Don't you dare be sorry, Banks," Charlie yelled at him as he accepted Adam's hand to help him up.

"That was perfect, cake-eater!" Jesse cheered and clapped Adam on the back.

"Yeah! Way to go Adam!" the rest of the Ducks applauded.

A fierce blush blossomed across his cheeks. "Thanks," he mumbled and shuffled his feet.

"I think you are ready, my friend."

It was two days later that Charlie, Guy and Jesse happened to stumble across Banks in a tight spot. McGill and his mindless zombie pack had Adam surrounded.

It did not appear that Banks took any of their lessons to heart. His head was bowed and a bright blush adorned in cheeks in what was most likely embarrassment.

Charlie bristled with anger. He was a stubborn and determined child, but mostly he was loyal.

And no one, no one picked on his friends like that and got away with it.

"We should go help him," Charlie said and made to move towards Adam.

"Wait!" Jesse hissed and grabbed his arm, stopping him. "Let's see what happens first."

Jesse wasn't cruel or mean, but he wasn't stupid either. He saw the way Adam's hands had curled into fists and the slight tremble that ran through them.

He couldn't hear what was being said, but he definitely had a clear picture of the spectacle before him and what a show it was.

One minute the Cake-eater was standing calmly and the next minute? Adam launched himself at McGill in a full body tackle.

Both boys went down hard. McGill's goons joined the pile trying to pry Adam off of their friend. Jesse, Charlie and Guy quickly joined the mêlée, jumping to Bank's defense.

It was a large pile of awkward, flailing limbs, clumsily thrown punches, knees, elbows and clawing that ended in victory when McGill and his followers scrambled out of the tangled mess of arms and legs and ran away.

"Take that!" Guy yelled after them triumphantly as he jumped to his feet.

Adam slowly stood up. His eye was starting to swell and a cut on his lip was sluggishly bleeding, but he had the biggest smile Charlie had ever seen him make on his face. "That was awesome!"

Victory never felt so sweet, but it was about to get a whole lot better.

Aside from snide comments and the occasional push or shove at school, McGill generally left Adam alone.

But the Ducks never forgot what he had done. They did not forget that he had put Adam in the hospital. They did not forget that he made Adam's life miserable because he was a sore loser.

So therefore when McGill and his goons tried to trip the Ducks, it was Fulton that beat them up and it was Jesse's idea to tie them to the tree. But it was dear old Charlie's idea to tie them to the tree in nothing but their boxers.

They never did mess with the Ducks again.