Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Mighty Ducks
AN: This is the second part of the Amore trilogy. So tell me what you think! I really really really would like to know!
The first thing that ran through Adam's head when the Ducks showed up at this house was that Amore was back. But instead they informed him that Bombay was getting the Ducks back together. Adam was more than happy to be able to play with the Ducks again but he wasn't sure he could with out Amore there.
"Come on Adam." Charlie said sitting down in the seat next to him. they were on the way to LA to play at the Goodwill Games. Charlie knew Adam was being quite because he was thinking of her. Charlie seemed to be the only one that understood what Adam's silence meant. "You cant go on like this man."
"I cant help it Charlie." Adam said with a sigh. "I mean we are going to LA. The place she was last seen. I just cant help wondering if she'll hear that we are there and show up."
"Adam we don't even know if she's still in LA. You cant do this to yourself. We need you to be focused during this." Charlie said and Adam sighed. He looked back at Bombay who was playing cards with Jesse, Guy and Averman. Bombay seemed to be loosing all his money to them as well. Adam couldn't believe that still no one had told Bombay that Amore was missing. He was hoping that when he went to LA he would stop by Jane's house and get Amore back onto the team. Man was he going to be surprised.
"We should tell him." Adam said. Charlie looked back at Bombay and sighed.
"I don't know how to break it to him. I mean he nearly blew up when he found out my mom had married Mike." Charlie said shaking his head. "I don't want to see him when he realizes that his daughter has been missing for a year."
"I know but don't you think he'll be worse on us if he knows we had known about it and never told him?" Adam asked and Charlie thought about it. Adam was right. Out of no where Bombay came and sat across from Charlie. Adam and Charlie became silent. Bombay looked at them suspiciously.
"Ok I know you boys were talking about me." Bombay said with a laugh. "So you mine as well spill."
"Nothing Bombay." Charlie said almost too quickly. Bombay gave them an odd look but said nothing about it.
"So will you guys come with me to get Amore?" Bombay asked and Charlie and Adam exchanged looks. They couldn't get out of telling him this time.
"Actually Bombay we all have to talk to you about Amore." Charlie said and every one the plane, except for the four new players, fell silent. Bombay looked around the plane worriedly.
"What? What's wrong?" Bombay asked looking around at his team. Every one avoided his eye.
"Amore has been missing for almost a year now." Adam said quietly.
"What! Why didn't any one tell me about this?" Bombay said raising his voice.
"Amore didn't tell you she was moving to LA with her mom because she didn't want you to stay and miss your opportunity in the minors." Adam explained. "So her mom believed that she wouldn't want you to know she was missing so you wouldn't leave the minors and go looking for her."
"That's Bull." Bombay said angrily. "When was the last time any one heard from her?"
"She called me a couple days after she had disappeared." Adam said and the others looked at him in surprise. Adam hadn't told them about that. "She said to tell every one that she was sorry and then she said Goodbye."
A tear streamed down his cheek and he quickly wiped it away. He didn't want to let his teammates see him cry. The team was quite for a moment before Portman, one of the new members, interrupted.
"So who is this Amore chick?" Portman asked. The others never thought of telling the new players about her.
"She was one of our original players." Charlie explained. "She had been Adam's best friend since, what, you guys were seven or something. And she's sort of my stepsister now, even though she doesn't know that."
"Here I have a picture of her." Adam said pulling out Amore's school picture from his polo shirt pocket. The original Ducks groaned. Adam ignored them and passed the picture back to the new team members. Portman looked at the picture and snorted.
"How old is this girl? She looks like she's ten." He said and the original Ducks glared at him.
"She'd be fourteen now." Bombay said sadly. "Its in her genetics that she looks younger than she really is, but I'm sure that she looks way older now."
"Why would you think that?" Connie asked with a smile. Bombay looked over at Adam and Charlie who shook their heads. They hadn't told the rest of the team that Amore was Bombay's daughter.
"Um…Well I've known her parents for a long time. They both looked way younger than their real age. I still think they do to tell you the truth." Bombay said.
Charlie held back a smirk. But couldn't help but chance a whisper. "You wish."
Bombay glared at him but said nothing. "Well I just hope she comes back. Lets leave her spot open as an honorary position. Maybe then she'd be tempted to come back."
Carol's Sanctuary
"Hey Love! Where are you?" Money called from the living room of Carol's Sanctuary for Homeless Kids. Love rolled her eyes. She had a feeling that the reason Money was calling for her was because they had over stayed their welcome an another "family" of homeless kids needed a place to stay. That meant Love and the other four members of her "family" would have to stay at the local homeless shelter that night.
"Love? Where are you?" Money asked sounding very annoyed. Love got up off her bed and headed down to the living room. She looked at the older girl with an annoyed look. Money was the leader of the group or what others called her the Mother. She had dark skin that she called caramel late. Her eyes were a wonderful hazel eyes and dark freckles across her nose. She was the oldest at the age of seventeen and that's how she had become the mother. She had also gotten the nickname Money because she was the only one that seemed to be able to get, and keep, a job. Money gave her a smug look. "Carol got us a summer job!"
"What! No way." Love said giving Money a hug. "What?...How?..Why?"
"Yeah she got us a job at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum for the Goodwill Games. Her brother is in charge of the maintenance and they need people to help clean the lockers and dorm rooms." Money said with a smile. "We get a warm place to sleep, free food, and a warm shower."
"I am so there." Love said with a smile. The girls went to search the house for the others around the house. Street was the oldest boy at the age of fifteen. He got his nickname because he had lived on the Street the longest. He had shaggy dark black hair and looked almost Hawaiian. Then there was Angel who was fourteen just like Love. She got her nickname because she did look like an angel with beautiful almost white blond hair, bright blue eyes and freckled all across her face. Then their was Fly at the age of ten. He got his nickname from being like a fly on the wall. He could sneak around almost anywhere and never get caught. His dark auburn hair and dark green eyes helped him hide in dark places. It wasn't that hard to find them in the small house. Carol met them at the door and drove them to the closest Walmart so their clothes wouldn't smell when they got to work. When she dropped the kids off they couldn't believe what they were seeing. The place was huge.
Staff Dorms
Love sat down on her bed in the staff housing. She was sharing a room with Money, Angel and an older woman who's name they hadn't learned. Street and Fly were across the hall with two elderly men. Love looked over at her friends and sighed it was time for all the staff members to make their way down to the main building for their assignments.
Their boss was Carol's younger brother, Chris. "Alright, is every one here? Now here are your assignments."
He called every one, one by one, and handed them a folder. When it came down to the kids he called them all up. "You all are in charge of keeping the locker rooms, and the dorms clean. I also want you selling concessions during the games. It seems that younger kids sell more items." Chris said smiling down at them with a fake smile. "Street and Love, you will be selling concessions at the Hockey games."
Love looked away. She
really didn't want to have anything to do with hockey but Chris
didn't seem to care. "Money and Angel will be selling concessions
during Basketball games. Fly will be trading of. You all get to
chose."
Chris started to walk away then paused and turned back
to the kids. "Now I'm trusting you not to touch the teams things.
If I even get a hint that things are being stolen, you will be sent
back to the streets, and my sister will be notified. Got it."
"Yes Sir." The kids said, they knew the drill. Once a kid from the streets, always a thief. That was what everyone thought of them.
"No faith!" Angel aid throwing her hands in the air when Chris was out of sight. "Come on lets go check out those locker rooms."
The boys went to check out the Basketball locker rooms as the girls checked out the Hockey locker rooms.
The girls opened the door to the locker room that was marked Canada and quickly backed out of it. It smelled like something had died in there. They had no clue how they wee going to get rid of the smell before the teams got their in two weeks. They decided to tackle that locker room with the boys. They cleaned eight of the locker rooms and was about to enter the one marked USA when Chris walked up to them.
"Hey good thing I caught you." Chris said then handed Money a box. "The names for the USA team just came in today so you need to put the name plates on the lockers. You chose who goes where."
"Will do." Money said with a smile and they walked in. Money opened the box and handed Angel and Love a screw driver and a name plate. Love didn't even bother reading the names but the other girls did.
"Hey Love, some of these players have the same names as the people on your charm bracelet." Angel said and Love ignored her. She dint want to think about the bracelet. Angel shrugged it off. She had heard that Love had found the bracelet on the street, but Angel thought other wise. Love was connected to it. She never went anywhere with out it. The girls finished cleaning the locker room. They decided to use the walkie talkies Chris ha given each one of the employees and call the boys.
"Hey Street." Money said into it.
"Yo." Street answered.
"You guys done with your rooms?" Money asked.
"We been done abut fifteen minutes. You girls done?" Street asked.
"We got a stinker." Angel said into her walkie. "You guys wanna help?"
"Do we got a choice?" Street asked hopefully and Money rolled her eyes.
"No, get your asses over here." Money demanded. The girls made their way over to the Canada locker room.
"Hey where you girls at?" Street asked.
"Out side the Canada locker room" Love answered. The boys came around the corner and holding their breath the kids walked into the locker room.
"Woo man, what da? What happen in here?" Street asked plugging his nose. "It smell like a homeless kid."
"Ha ha very funny Street." Love said rolling her eyes.
"I'd say it's a dirty sock that's been here a little to long." Fly replied as he held up a browned sock that stayed in its stiff folded over possision.
"That's nasty man." Street said as fly walked towards him with it. No man, get that thing outa here. I don't want that anywhere near me."
"Its not like you smell any better most days." Love said with a smirk. Street playfully pushed her. It was a fact that the kids smelled most days. They only stayed at Carol's when the homeless shelter was full or when there was bad weather. Now they were able to take showers every day. the kids got to work but it took them about two hours to get the smell out of there. The kids walked back to their rooms. The moment Love entered the room she made a bee line for the bed and jumped on to it. She no longer closed her eyes for five seconds when there was a knock on the door.
"Hey you kids missed super." Chris said sort of annoyed. The kids looked at each other. They were so used to not always having food that they hadn't even noticed their hunger.
"Sorry man." Street apologized. "We just got don't with the locker rooms."
"You kids have already started cleaning?" Chris asked amazed. Money nodded. "Wow, you've got two weeks to complete your tasks. The others explored the place so they knew where they were going when the teams got here."
"We can do that when our work is done." Love said sitting up on her bed. "Work first. Then play."
Chris smiled. "I like your thinking. Well if you want something to eat, I put leftovers in the staff fridge."
"Aw sweet!" Fly said and rushed out of the room. Angel, Street and Money quickly fallowed. Chris started to leave but Love stopped him.
"Hey Chris." Love said quickly standing up. Chris stopped and turned towards her. "Is there any chance I could use the Hockey arena? To like skate around on?"
Chris thought a moment. "As long as your careful. Did you bring skates?"
"Um…That was the other thing I was going to ask about." Love said apprehensively.
"Don't worry about it Love. I'll get you a pair." Chris replied with a smile. For some reason Love wasn't like the other runaways his sister had taken care of. Love was totally different. "What's your size?"
"Eight." Love said with a smile. "Thanks Chris. I'd better get down stairs before the others eat all the good stuff."
"I'll leave the skates on your bed when I find them." Chris called after her. He watched her walk away and he shook his head. He had seen some missing posters of a younger rich girl that looked a lot like her. If the girl was her, then something terrible must have really happened to her to make her want to leave that life.