An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
Honestly, it was a miracle they had won the Cup this past season, with how divided the team had become. And it was no one’s fault but his own, Shane thought.
That’s why he had been so determined to win. To prove himself. To earn back his teammates' respect. To fix the divide. If that meant more pressure on himself, stricter dieting, more workouts, more time spent at the rink, ignoring quips and small acts of defiance against him, playing through any pain or illness, then he had decided that’s what he would do.
Or, an exploration of Shane’s relationship with his team in Montreal, and everything that follows.
[Shane Hollander/Ilya Rozanov, Shane Hollander-Centric, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Character Study, Homophobia, Spoilers for The Long Game, Canon-Compliant, Post-Canon, Happy Ending, WC: 10k]
Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
✓ Live Streaming✓ Interactive Chat✓ Private Shows✓ HD Quality✓ Free Actions
Free to watch • No registration required • HD streaming
I know, I'm so late for this, but go read Wall between us by @rangerelizabeth . It's truly such a beautiful fic and unfortunately i only now got around to reading it, but I'm so glad i finally did. It's definitely something amazing.
Mood board made by Elizabeth:
Wall between us
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the
Organization for Transformative Works
Well, i thought i might just share the poem that this was inspired by. Elizabeth used the first part, and i was like why not share the whole poem?
Once again, thank you so much for this. It's truly an honour. Love you<3
Thank you so much for the request! I really enjoyed writing this one. This is (sort of) established relationship Clegan + that scene up on the control tower. Hope you like it!
Prompt: "I'll never give you up."
Word count: 1481
The end of the war celebration roars with an explosive fervor, seeming as though there’s been a mutual agreement among the men to throw all restraint to the wind tonight. Whiskey flows freely, glasses clink in cheers after cheers, the men shout, dance, and clap each other on the back enthusiastically, reveling in the fact that they’re still alive and will soon be going home. Amidst it all, the jazz band unleashes a crescendo of sound that seems to be several times louder and more energetic than usual.
Admittedly, Gale feels a little overwhelmed by it all, but he knows it’s good for the men to see him here celebrating after everything they’ve endured. He lost sight of John in the crowd some time ago, though that’s not unusual. He’s sure John’s at the epicenter of the chaos somewhere. Amusedly, Gale thinks that if he really wants to find him, requesting “Blue Skies” from the band would surely draw him out—likely in front of the microphone, belting out the tune in that slightly off-key but endearing way that Gale secretly adores.
Just then, almost as if reading Gale’s thoughts, John appears at his side. “Hey, want to get out of here?”
Gale is surprised. He’s never known John to turn down a party. Then again, he figures they’ve all changed in some ways throughout the war. Gale’s certainly not going to argue. This scene has never been his favorite, and he’d much prefer a quiet evening alone with John than navigating the packed, boisterous club.
They slip outside into the cool night air, and John leads them up to the deserted control tower. From there, they can see the flares that the ground crew are sending up in celebration. They look and sound a little too much like the bursts of a fort going up in flames or the sound of a gun firing for Gale’s liking, but he won't be the one to dampen their evening by saying so.
They sit in comfortable silence, interrupted only by John taking occasional swigs from his flask, which he eventually offers to Gale. Their fingers brush as Gale accepts it. John looks at him in surprise, no doubt thinking of all the times he’s offered Gale a drink in the past only to be turned down.
“Well, I promised you a drink, didn’t I?” Gale takes a sip, trying not to grimace at the bitter taste.
Passing the flask back, their eyes meet and they fall silent once more. Gale knows they’re both remembering the same moment.
It’s one of those days where there’s not much to do, so the men get restless. Although, one could argue, that’s most days at Stalag Luft III. They’re all deteriorating, physically and mentally, as the days get darker and colder, but John most of all. He stares at the fence more often, walks close to it. Not close enough for the guards to actually do anything, but still closer than what is wise. He lashes out too, at Gale and the other men. The only time it feels like John’s really there is when they curl up together in Gale’s bunk each night to stave off the cold. There, they have whispered exchanges and press silent kisses to each other's lips, and it feels like the Gale and John he remembers from before they landed in this godforsaken place.
Gale misses John during the day, even when he’s right next to him. Gale resents him too, sometimes, despite the fact that he also loves him with the entirety of his being. He can’t help but feel like all the responsibility the two of them used to carry together has been dumped on his shoulders, and he’s sinking under the weight of it. Can’t help but feel like since John has allowed himself to break down, Gale has to hold it together for the both of them, even though he too feels like he’s coming apart at the seams.
Now, they sit together on the front steps of their quarters. While it’s cold outside, it’s not much warmer in the bunks and they can only stand being cooped up indoors for so long before getting cabin fever. John rubs his hands together, trying to coax some warmth back into his fingers.
“What I wouldn’t give for a strong shot of whiskey right about now. That’d warm us all up right quick,” John says, with a hint of humor in his voice. But when Gale looks over at him, he’s still staring straight ahead. Staring at that damned fence. “Hell, maybe it’d even get you to finally have a drink with me.”
Gale sighs. John’s said barely two words to him all morning and this is what he chooses to break his silence about? Still, it gives Gale an idea.
“Tell you what, Bucky. When we get out of this on the other side, I will,” Gale promises.
“You serious?” John asks, turning to raise a skeptical eyebrow at him. Yes, look at me, look at me. Don’t look at that fence, Gale wants to beg.
“If it gives you something to look forward to, then sure,” Gale says instead. At that point, Gale probably would have agreed to get roaring, black out drunk with John when they got out, if it would keep him from getting himself killed doing something reckless in the meantime.
“Alright, then,” John chuckles, turning his gaze back away from Gale. “I’ll hold you to that.”
“We’re gonna make it out of here John. I need you to believe that,” Gale says, more seriously now.
John just hums, noncommittal. “Sure, Buck.”
It’s a sickening deja vu to their conversation in Algeria, and Gale can tell John’s not entirely convinced. It’s fair enough—he hadn’t been either, when John had said almost those exact words to him what feels like a lifetime ago. For now, Gale doesn’t know what more he can say to convince him, so he stays quiet. Knowing they’re under watchful eyes but needing to remind himself that John is still there, he places a gentle hand on John’s shoulder, stroking it down to the small of his back before letting it drop.
“So, what now?” John asks quietly, jolting him out of his thoughts. Right, they’re up on the control tower. They made it out.
“What do you mean?” Gale returns, unsure of what John’s getting at.
“I mean, we’re going home. What are you gonna do next?”
Gale’s momentarily taken aback by the question. It’s one he’s pondered often as the war drew to a close, but he’s never settled on a clear answer. He’s thought about going back to school or maybe becoming a flight instructor, but the only constant in all his plans has been John. In every life he imagines for himself, John is right there next to him. But now, John is asking him what he’s going to do next as if he’s not going to be involved, and it sets Gale’s heart racing.
“I’m not sure,” Gale admits. “But whatever it is, I’d like to do it with you.”
It’s a leap of faith. For all the savored private moments they’ve shared during the war, discussion of their future was never one of them. Perhaps initially there had been some unspoken agreement that this only existed within the confines of the war. Or perhaps the future felt too out of reach, considering the long and winding road it had taken for them both to end up back here now.
Gale’s words hang in the air, before John surges forward, their lips meeting in a messy, heartfelt kiss. Hands come up to cup Gale’s face, and Gale sighs into it. It’s all he’s wanted all evening. A weight feels like it’s been lifted from his shoulders at John’s enthusiastic response to his declaration.
As they part, John’s hands still cradle Gale’s face, his touch soft. “You sure you don’t want to give this up, have a normal life? You could, with Marge.”
Gale’s heart clenches at the suggestion of a life without John. “Do you?”
“Don’t think I ever could,” John says honestly. The fireworks from the ground crew bathe John’s face in swathes of warm orange light, and Gale likens it to the slow burn of happiness now spreading in his chest.
Gale knows it won’t be easy—they’ll never have everything that others can. There will be no public dates, no wedding bands, no meeting the family. What they have can only exist behind closed doors. But in Gale’s opinion, that’s more than enough.
“Neither could I,” Gale declares firmly. “I’ll never give you up.”
“You sure the whiskey ain’t clouding your judgment?” John teases, eyes sparking with mirth.
Gale rolls his eyes playfully. “Oh, please,” he retorts, tugging at John’s collar to close the distance between them, melding their lips together once more.
[General audiences, Modern day, Clegan college au, Gale Cleven/ John Egan, Fluff, Domestic Fluff, WC: 2.3k]
“I can't wait for the day when we get trick-or-treaters at a house of our own,” John confesses quietly.
Gale’s stomach swoops with happy butterflies. Though they’ve been together for almost a year now and have even gone so far as talking about marriage before, it never fails to put Gale on cloud nine whenever John mentions their future together.
Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
✓ Live Streaming✓ Interactive Chat✓ Private Shows✓ HD Quality✓ Free Actions
Free to watch • No registration required • HD streaming
If it feels like love (then it must be love) - Ch. 11/11
[Mature, Modern day, Clegan college au, Gale Cleven/ John Egan, Fluff, Hurt comfort, Slow burn, Freshman Gale, RA John, WC: 88.2k]
Throughout the night, Gale can’t stop looking around the room at his friends, smiling to himself as he thinks how lucky he is to have them. He’s going to miss them over the summer, so used to seeing them every single day, but figures he should be grateful to have something so good in his life that it’s worth missing in the first place.
And while things will surely be different next year with regard to their living situations, seeing them now—on the floor of his and Benny’s barren dorm room, making the most of their last night together until the fall—Gale knows in his heart their friendship will remain the same.
[Mature, Modern day, Gale Cleven/ John Egan, Snowed-in trope, Fluff, Getting together, Miscommunication, Fluff]
Gale’s hands fidget nervously in his lap as agonizes over his next move. Should he tell John that he has real feelings for him? That he wants to see him again after this? That he wants more?
“John, I–”
“We should probably–“
They speak at the same time, both cutting the other off on accident. Gale gestures to John to continue his thought, praying that the other man was going to raise the same topic as he was.
“I was going to say we should probably brush some of the snow off your car before the tow truck gets here,” John says.
If it feels like love (then it must be love) - Ch. 8/11
[Mature, Modern day, Clegan college au, Gale Cleven/ John Egan, Fluff, Hurt comfort, Slow burn, Freshman Gale, RA John]
The word love has been bouncing around in Gale’s mind for some time now, but Gale has been scared to give it any attention. He doesn’t have much experience with giving or receiving love—how is he supposed to know that’s what he’s feeling? What if he’s wrong? But in that moment, wishing he could shoulder all of John’s sadness himself, Gale knows for certain that it’s real.