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When Quinn had gotten the call to play for Team USA in the Olympics, he easily accepted. He already had to miss out on Four Nations, so he wasn’t going to miss this opportunity, especially not when it was the first time since 2014 that NHL players were being allowed to play. Plus, being able to play with Jack on the same team was something he wanted to do and would finally be able to.
However, he couldn’t focus much on that, as he still had some games to finish out with the Wild. Yet, those games seemed to fly by, along with the events of allowing Fabes to know about his sixth sense and then Kirill.
Everything with Kirill had felt easy, as if he wasn't letting someone he had just recently begun seeing daily into his personal life. It felt like he always belonged, which Quinn couldn't have guessed was true, seeing that Kirill was his anchor.
Still, they didn't have much time to get used to their relationship before Quinn was flying away to another country. Luckily, Kirill was able to wear Quinn’s silver necklace and basically fill it—Quinn really couldn’t remember how it fully worked—with his energy to help keep the ghosts pretty at bay when he first arrived.
Of course, it worked, and Quinn was able to enjoy the first few days of the Olympics without worrying about seeing ghosts, although, as time passed, the ghost slowly began to appear in his view. It wasn’t anything he wasn’t used to, though, and the fact that most of the ghosts spoke Italian made it easier for him to avoid them. Sure, there were some of them that just gave off an aura that Quinn couldn’t ignore fully, but he had the help of Faber, Boldy, Jack, and even Brady, who didn’t forget that Quinn struggled at times in new places with ghosts.
It definitely helped to have a good number of people on his team to understand his ability, but even then, no one else bothered him about his tendency to zone out and they seemed to just accept it as what makes him Quinn. Which, yeah, that was his whole shtick that the media pushed and he had no issue letting the media know that he knew about the “seeing ghosts” allegations.
Though, what caught his attention was the fact that people began to joke that he had let McAvoy see the ghosts, too. When he first saw those claims, he found them ridiculous but silly until he started to see the clips and photos where it really seemed like McAvoy knew about another presence around the arena. While his stares weren't the same as Quinn's, fans began to speculate that McAvoy could hear the ghosts, and Quinn began to wonder how true that was.
So, he decided to test out his theory little by little. Anytime he noticed a ghost was nearby, he would find a spot to stand where he could see McAvoy while still having the spirit in his view. In the beginning, Quinn didn’t notice anything huge, but then after a few, he started to see little moments where McAvoy would react as if he heard something that wasn’t there.
Yet, Quinn knew exactly what he was reacting to because he had seen and heard it himself. After the third time of catching that action, Quinn knew McAvoy was like him in some way, but he didn’t know to what extent and wasn’t positive if he should ask about it. Though, after talking with Jack about what he believed, he was convinced to ask McAvoy about it.
But just as he did when it came to telling Faber, Quinn kept pushing it back, only thinking about the games they had to play and not allowing himself to think about asking McAvoy anything that wasn’t meant to help their partnership.
However, everything came to a head on the day of the gold medal game: USA vs. Canada. It was about to be one of the biggest, if not the biggest, games of Quinn's career, but he knew it was also his last shot to ask McAvoy. Or, at least, that's what Kirill believed from the call they shared the night before the game, right after Jack left the room for a few minutes.
Making himself comfortable, Quinn pushed the FaceTime button and waited for Kirill, who ended up picking up after a few seconds.
“Quinny!” The Russian's voice came through the speakers as his angelic face showed up on the screen. “Excited?”
“Yeah, but also nervous.” He responded, messing with his silver necklace.
“Is it bad?”
“Huh?”
“The ghosts? Bad?” Kirill pointed at where he was rolling the necklace between his fingers. “Messing with it a lot.”
“Ah, no.” He shook his head and dropped the necklace. “I mean, it isn't as strong as when I arrived but I've been able to handle the ghosts pretty well. They aren't as pesky as the ghosts at home or in Canada.”
Kirill hummed. “And no understand them?”
Quinn lightly chuckled. “Yeah, that is helping a ton, too. Plus, having others that know helps.”
“I’m glad.”
“What about you, though? How is getting back in the swing of things?”
“Practice is practice.” Kirill ruffled his hair. “Flower filled in.”
“Did he?”
“Yep. Claims retired, yet always there.”
Quinn couldn’t help but laugh at Kirill’s tone of voice, sounding as if he didn’t understand Flower’s choice to be retired but not actually gone from getting between the posts.
“Back to doing social media stuff," Kirill added. “Asked us what hockey term to use for children's names."
Oh, Quinn couldn’t imagine the answers the Wildmin was able to get.
“What did you pick?”
Kirill shyly smiled. “Um…Skate.”
Quinn blinked at him in disbelief. “Skate?”
“Yes, skate.”
Not able to help himself, Quinn began to laugh, which caused Kirill to laugh.
“Hey! At least not pick chin strip!” Kirill tried to defend himself through giggles.
“Did someone pick that?” Quinn asked, bewildered by his teammates' naming skills.
“Yes! Middsy!”
Quinn shook his head, still laughing. While he was glad to be at the Olympics, he couldn’t help but miss being back with his Wild teammates. Then again, he had to put up with Boldy and Faber almost the entire time, so it's not like he was missing much.
“Oh my…” He mumbled, letting his laugh trail off.
Kirill smiled at him, clearly happy with himself for getting Quinn to laugh so much.
“Weird day.”
“Clearly.” Quinn replied before remembering that he wanted Kirill’s opinion about his suspension when it came to McAvoy. “Hey, Kirill, can I ask you something?”
Kirill gave a nod and Quinn began to explain the idea that he thinks McAvoy might be able to hear ghosts. While he spoke, he felt like he might be crazy, but Kirill never gave him a look that indicated that he thought Quinn was being a bit much. Instead, he kept a blank face, intensely listening to Quinn.
“Should ask him.” Was the first thing Kirill said as soon as Quinn finished speaking.
Hearing those words made relief flood Quinn’s body. It was clear that from what Quinn had told him, Kirill agreed that there was something there.
“How? I can’t just walk up to him and randomly ask.”
“Why not?” Kirill asked, frowning.
Quinn sighed. “It would just be…Awkward? And I don’t want to ruin the chemistry before the big game.”
“You won't. Might make even closer by sharing that in common.” Kirill said before giggling at the yawn Quinn let out. “I'll let star player sleep now. Big game tomorrow.”
While Quinn wanted to fight against the idea and stay in the call longer with Kirill, to enjoy the peace of mind hearing his voice gave him, he knew it was best to wrap things up as soon as possible.
“Okay, I'll talk to you tomorrow?”
“Of course.” Kirill gave him a big smile before ending the call.
After that call, Quinn decided to read a bit and wait for Jack to return so they could speak about what was to come. There was a lot of pressure being put on the shoulders of the U.S. men, especially with the fact that the U.S. women pulled off the gold medal win, leaving it up to them to follow in their footsteps or to crumble.
A feeling that didn’t leave even as he got ready for the big game, though he didn't let it show, wanting to appear ready just in case Jack would need him. Yet, as he went through the routine of his day in the Olympic Village, he couldn't help but feel the world was scheming against him.
He kept finding himself alone with McAvoy for extended periods of time, as if the world wanted him to figure out the truth, too. But Quinn kept to himself as much as possible, but when it was getting close to the time of their iconic team day photo, Quinn found himself once again with McAvoy, waiting.
Thinking back to the text he had seen this morning from Kirill that told him to ask, Quinn decided it was now or never. So, he cleared his throat, catching McAvoy's attention.
“You good, Huggy?”
Quinn nodded. “Yeah, I actually have a question for you, though.”
Hearing that, McAvoy gave him his full attention. “What's up?”
“Um…” Quinn scratched the back of his head as he tried to think of what to say. Maybe he should've gotten Faber in on his idea, seeing as the idea of Faber and McAvoy being siblings or twins was gaining traction online. “You know the whole… I can see ghosts that the internet runs with?”
“Yeah, of course.” McAvoy fixed the beanie that the team decided to wear. “What about it?”
“Well, have you seen them adding you into the mix? Claiming you can hear ghosts?”
“Oh, yeah, I saw.” McAvoy chuckled. “I'm honestly surprised that they actually guessed that correctly, but I mean, they figured out about you, so I guess it's not too surprising.”
“Yeah…” Quinn replied before frowning as his words processed. "Wait, what? Guessed correctly? You can hear ghosts?”
Quinn cringed at how much higher his voice got when asking the constant questions, but he ignored it and focused on the amused smile McAvoy wore.
“That’s correct," McAvoy answered. “But I can’t see them, not like you.”
“How…How do you know I can see them?” He asked, trying to think if anyone he knew spilled or if he told McAvoy once, but nothing was clicking for him.
McAvoy shrugged. “I mean, it’s kind of hard to not know when the ghosts that can speak english always complain about how you look directly at them as if you know all their secrets. Which, believe me, these ghosts are really chatty when they want to be.”
Honestly, Quinn wasn’t expecting to be a hot topic amongst the dead, but then again, he wasn’t really shocked. Even back at home, the ghosts sometimes got uncomfortable with how he could just zone out on them, staring until something or someone brought him back to reality.
“Also, you almost always reacted to the areas where I heard the most whispering or speaking, like you could also hear or see whatever was there.” McAvoy added on.
“Oh…” Quinn muttered. “That makes sense.”
Charlie hummed in agreement before checking his phone, probably thinking the conversation was done but Quinn had a few questions.
“How do you handle all the noise?” He quietly asked when he noticed some of the others beginning to make their way over.
Charlie looked at him and shrugged. “My wife is my anchor and she’s here, so she was able to recharge my wedding ring to help keep a lot of it away for most of the time.”
“But she wasn’t always there, was she?”
“No.” Charlie shook his head. "In my earlier years in Boston, Jake DeBrusk was able to fill in as my anchor and kept up with it even after Kiley finally was able to be around more, especially when it came to away games.”
Hearing the name of his old teammate shocked Quinn. He knew Jake was a great guy, one of the funnier ones he met, but he never thought that he would know about the afterlife.
“DeBrusk?”
“Yep.” Charlie smiled. “Sometimes, he will still send something that is wrapped in his energy to have on standby in case I ever need it.”
Quinn never really thought about the fact that there might be others that could help block the afterlife from him, but now that he knew, it made sense in a way. As a teen, being near Brady always felt safe because the spirits seemed to hate being around him, which, honestly, was beginning to make a lot more sense now that he knew a bit more about his situation and those that could help. But he could never see himself wanting help from Brady in the way that DeBrusk helped McAvoy.
Not in a million years.
“Well, Huggy, we have a game to win but we can talk about this more another time.” Charlie told him just before others came to join where they were standing.
McAvoy was right, though; they did have a game to win, so he put his questions to the back of his mind and focused on the now. And man, was Quinn proud to say that Team USA had delivered, becoming the 2026 Olympic Gold Medalist.
The game was one of the most intense he had ever played, with Team Canada making it clear they weren’t going to allow missing Crosby to hurt them too bad, not even when Boldy had opened up the scoring (and got attacked by Faber to celebrate the goal together). From the start of the 2nd period, they turned the game around and had the momentum going for them, especially when they got handed a 5 on 3.
Yet, somehow, the PK had worked their asses off and killed off the two power players. Plus, Quinn couldn’t deny that Hellebuyck was carrying the team, playing like a damn brick wall that denied anything getting past him. Hell, even McAvoy got into playing goalie by helping block a shot right in the net since Helly was recovering from being knocked over.
Then, Quinn felt his heart stop for a second when Jack went down, holding his face, and there was nothing more than the want to beat Bennett’s face in once he saw the damage he had done to his little brother. But, in the end, Quinn didn’t have to worry, not when Jack ended up nailing Horvat in the mouth, chipping his tooth.
When the game went into overtime, the team knew they had to play their asses off. They were about to face some of the best players in the entire league, but they weren’t going to allow it to intimidate them. And, as Quinn watched the shot Jack took go into the net, winning the game, he never felt more escalated in his damn life.
Not only had America finally beaten Canada after failing time and time again, but his baby brother had been the one to seal the win. It was one of the proudest moments he ever experienced and being able to do it with Jack made it a hundred times better.
From there, it was a whirlwind of celebration, handling media, and getting wasted. It felt good to finally be winning, yet while Quinn was having a blast, he kept thinking of one person that he badly wanted to see. Finding some space for himself for a few seconds, he checked his phone and smiled at the text he saw.
Kirill: Congrats! Now we both gold medalists!
Kirill: Time to become Stanley cup winners together
Yeah, Quinn thought. While he enjoyed his time at the Olympics and would love to do it all over again if he could, he was also excited to be able to head back home to Minnesota.
Where he had someone waiting for him.