When It Finally Stays AU - Slight CL16 and SC87
Ex Charles Leclerc x OC Èlise Moreau x Sidney Crosby
word count: 1007
Summary : After suffering her own heartbreak in the women's gold medal game, Élise watches Team Canada’s men's team experience the same devastating loss. Recognising the familiar weight of disappointment in Sidney, she finds him at the garden bench where he once sat with her after her own difficult night. For the first time, the comfort between them goes both ways as two captains quietly share the burden of almost.
Genre: Slow Burn, Emotional Comfort, Hurt/Comfort, Post-Olympic Angst, Developing Friendship
Series Masterlist Previous Part Next Part
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Chapter four - Returning the favour
It had been four days since her small breakdown in front of Sidney Crosby.
Four days since he had sat down beside her on that garden bench and somehow made the weight on her chest feel just a little less heavy.
And in those four days, the women’s team had played for gold.
As captain of the team, a massive part of her was disappointment with herself.
She should have done more, she should have been better, she should have found a way.
It was irrational, maybe, but leadership had never been rational to her.
It had always been personal.
She had stood at centre ice with silver around her neck, a tight smile on her face, clapping for the women's USA team because that’s what captains do.
But deep down, she had felt it slipping through her fingers in real time.
The almost, that horrible, hollow, almost feeling.
Now, just days later, she stood in that very arena, in the crowd, watching the men’s gold medal games end in almost the exact same heartbreak.
The final buzzer had sounded just minutes ago, but the arena still roared.
Not with celebration, at least not from where she was standing. This was a different kind of noise, one that lingered in the rafters, in the cold air, on the ice itself.
The sound of one side exploding while the other stood there, trying to process what had just slipped away from them.
How they had been so close, but too far.
From across the rink, she watched the USA team celebrate in a blur of thrown gloves, yelling, and pure joy.
And then she looked at the Canadian side.
At the stillness and the devastation hidden under practiced professionalism.
She knew that feeling, had only just lived it herself days earlier.
The handshake line passed in a blur, quiet nods, hollow words, the motions players made because they had to.
Then came the medal ceremony.
She watched as Sid stood among them.
No visible frustration, no outward reaction.
Just a stillness, that was how he carried it.
And for some reason, seeing that somehow made it worse.
By the time the players had started heading back towards the locker rooms, the noise of the arena had dulled into a distant sound.
The world always felt different after losses like that, sharper and colder.
Making it feel all too real.
Eventually, she stepped outside, pulling her jacket tighter around herself against the cold Milan air.
She already knew where she was heading, her feet taking her there before she even fully thought about it.
Towards the garden, towards the bench, and sure enough, he was there.
Sid sat there, elbows resting on his knees, head lowered in his hands.
Not hidden from the world, just removed enough to breathe.
She slowed down once she saw him, and for a moment, she just stood there, watching.
Not because she was unsure whether to go over, but because she immediately recognised the posture and look.
The same quiet collapse, the same need for space, without truly wanting to be completely alone.
So she walked over and sat down beside him, not too close but not too far.
And for a while, neither said anything.
It was a comfortable silence between them.
Finally, she glanced towards the street light ahead and said quietly.
It was simple, no dramatic sympathy or forced softness.
Sid let out a breath through his nose, not quite a laugh but also not quite a sigh.
“Yeah, we should’ve had it.”
His tone wasn’t bitter or angry, just honest.
She nodded once in return.
“Yeah,” she agreed, because they should have.
After a moment, she added, softer this time, “I’m really sorry you couldn’t play.”
His injury had kept him out of contributing the way that he wanted.
She knew enough about him to know that this was probably eating him alive.
He shook his head faintly. “I should have, though.”
She looked at him then, and there he was.
The captain, the part of him that measured every outcome by what more he could have done.
She knew that feeling well.
“You should have,” she agreed, “but you were injured.”
Sid turned his head towards her.
She held his gaze for a moment before looking ahead.
“Yeah, it sucks, but it’s not your fault.”
The words sat between them for a moment.
They weren’t comforting, but they offered a different perspective.
Sid leaned back against the bench, his hands folding loosely together.
“Are you always this optimistic after a loss?” There was something slightly lighter in his tone now, barely there, barely noticeable.
Élise let out a small breath, a tiny smile spreading across her lips.
“No, not always.” A moment of silence passed. “Just returning the favour.”
That finally got a real reaction out of him. The corner of his mouth twitched up, and somehow, that felt like enough.
They just sat there for a while after that, no pressure to fill the silence, just two captains sitting with the exact same kind of disappointment, two people understanding the particular loneliness of the almost.
After a while, she spoke again.
“You stayed for me.” It wasn’t a question, just an acknowledgment.
She looked down at her hands, then back into the darkness. “I get it now.”
He didn’t reply, didn’t need to, because he understood exactly what she meant.
The loud noise of the arena faded as the crowds began leaving, the energy slowly draining out of the night.
Still, neither of them rushed to move just yet.
This felt easier than anything else waiting for them.
Eventually, Sid rose to his feet.
Not abruptly, just normal.
He glanced down at her. “Are you heading back?”
Élise nodded and stood too. “Yeah.”
For a second, they lingered there, then started walking, not quite side by side, not quite separate either.
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Authors note: accidentally neglected this series, but I do have a few chapters drafted/planned out so I will try and get them at some point this week.
