Chapter 25 - Team Event

October arrives in Toronto. Temperature is dropping daily, the maples are going red and gold in a way that feels slightly aggressive about it.

Mia wears a cream knit sweater to the office, soft and fitted, her hair in a low bun with a few strands loose at the nape.

She's been cross-referencing her treatment schedule with her academic timetable, which is the kind of problem she finds satisfying, when Lisa arrives at speed.

"Children's home visit tomorrow," Lisa announces, pushing through the door with the energy of someone delivering excellent news. "Team outreach. Every department sends a few people. It's a baking activity."

Mia looks up. "Baking."

"Don't panic. There will be groups." Lisa drops into the chair across from her. "Lunch first? I'll brief you fully."

"I need to let Ellie know I can't make dinner." Mia is already reaching for her phone. She types quickly, apologizes thoroughly, promises a rescheduled date with Lisa included.

Ellie's response arrives in forty seconds.

[Ellie]: GO. BOND WITH LISA. I'll survive without you. Also tell me everything when you get back.

***

In the corridor near the training rink, the Raiders finds the activity notice posted on the bulletin board that is usually empty.

Tyler reads it first. Lucas reads over his shoulder and immediately begins crowding him out.

Elias stands at a distance, arms crossed, and waits for the summary.

"The monthly team-building event is officially on the books," Tyler says, raking a hand through his sweat-dampened hair before turning to Elias. "We’re heading to the local orphanage to spend the afternoon with the kids."

"Let me see that," Lucas chimes in. "Every department is sending a few representatives. It’s a full-scale organization event."

Elias nods. "And what exactly is the format? What are we supposed to be doing with them?"

"Baking!" Lucas lets out a bark of laughter, his dark brown curls bouncing as he points a finger at the screen. "Oh, this is going to be legendary."

He turns to Elias with a grin that means nothing good. "Do you remember the cookie incident?"

"The oven malfunctioned."

"The oven did not malfunction, Elias, the cookies turned to charcoal—"

"The oven," Elias says, with finality, "malfunctioned."

He glances, very briefly, very casually, at the notice again. "Medical staff will be going too, presumably."

"Mia will be there," Rick says. He says it the way he says most things, quietly, without visible investment, but with the timing of someone who knows exactly what he's doing.

Tyler whistles.

Lucas elbows him.

***

The bus is already waiting when Mia and Lisa arrive the next morning.

Lisa had insisted on leaving early for motion sickness reasons, which Mia accepts without comment, and they claim front seats with the satisfaction of the organized. The bus is otherwise empty except for the driver.

"Are you any good at baking?" Lisa asks.

Mia makes a diplomatic face. "I'm better at eating it."

"Perfect, same. We'll be a support unit."

The Raiders files in gradually, filling the bus with noise.

Mia watches the door.

"He went back to shower," Lucas announces, to no one, loudly. "For the children. He wanted to make a good impression on the children."

"That's very thoughtful," Mia says, pleasantly.

"Isn't it," Lucas says, and the expression on his face is insufferable.

"Here he is."

She hears him before she sees him—the particular cadence of his walk on the bus steps, a sound she apparently knows now.

He boards with his head slightly ducked against the low ceiling, and when he straightens and looks up his eyes find hers immediately, like they had a prior agreement about it.

His hair is still damp at the temples, the pale brown of it darker where it hasn't dried, a few strands falling across his forehead.

He's in a cream pullover and dark jeans, and he looks younger somehow, easier, the version of him that exists when hockey isn't the context.

She's in the cream knit sweater with bread-roll buttons at the collar and hem, hair braided back with a pearl clip at the right side, and he is looking at her with an expression that he's not entirely bothering to manage.

The moment stretches—unhurried, both of them just looking—until Lucas's voice lands on it like a dropped book.

"Elias. We're leaving."

Elias doesn't rush.

He holds Mia's gaze for one more beat, something warm and private moving through his expression, and then he walks to the nearest empty seat.

Mia touches the pearl clip in her hair without meaning to.

Coach Danny counts heads from the front, confirms everyone's present, and signals the driver.

The bus pulls out into the October morning, the maple trees lining the road burning orange on both sides.

And somewhere in the middle of all that noise and colour, something quiet is happening between two people who are both pretending to look out their respective windows.