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butterflyintochains · 29 days

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Le Nouveau Regime

A kind of successor to 'Of All They Survey'. Basically, Sid and Geno retire together after their 2025 Cup run. Leaving Pittsburgh down a captain and their longest serving Alternate. Of course, they stay in the city for their first season as retired players, their family still needs them, right? But, little does the team and city itself know, Sid has chosen his successor, and the organisation could not agree more. There is still a member of their trio active on the team. His husband is also right there. As is the outgoing captain's eldest son.

Welcome, to Le Nouveau Regime, Pittsburgh.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Two AM, and he still can't fucking sleep. He really envies his husband right now, fast asleep with nothing on his mind. For Kris Letang, everything changes tomorrow evening. He knew about Sid and Geno retiring together, that was a long discussion they had over summer, he'll miss them more than he can say. But, they're still going to be in the building everyday, working with Kyle to guide the team into a better future after their sixth cup run. It's not that, it's the decision Sid made last week. Kris is deeply honoured to be doing this, and he wants to do as well as he can for as long as he has left. But, he'll be damned if it doesn't terrify him on a cosmic level. He turns over in bed again, rousing Erik from his sleep. ''Kris...'' Erik asks, blinking a few times.

Kris leans over to kiss his husband's forehead. ''Sorry, Erik, can't sleep, that's all. Go back to sleep, I'm okay.'' Erik raises an eyebrow, and flicks his lamp on. ''Well, what kind of husband would I be if I left you in your head like this? Talk to me, hjartat, what's going on in that beautiful head?''

Kris says, taking a deep breath as Erik clasps their hands together. ''The handover, amour, the captaincy. I've not been a captain since Val D'Or, and I'm just... worried that I'm not worthy of it.'' Kris confesses to his other half in the safety of their bedroom, he'd not dare voice this in front of the boys tomorrow. ''It's just... I'm not Sid, I'm not Mario. I'm all fire, and passion, and different.''

Erik tears up, he hates hearing his husband be all insecure like this, he knows the wonderful man he married. ''Someday, I hope you can see the you I see, you know? No, you're not Sid or Mario. You're you. Passionate, strong, determined, the conscience of this city.'' Erik says, reminding his beloved of 2015. ''Remember when I was made captain in Ottawa? After Jason left it to me? I called you up before that game, remember how scared I was? Scared of not being good enough because I'm not Canadian?''

Kris nods, massaging Erik's hand with his thumb. ''Yeah, I do.'' Erik asks him. ''Who do you think got me on that rink?'' Kris shrugs, Erik kisses his nose. ''You did, sweetheart.'' Erik continues. ''You will be our captain, Sid trusts you, Geno trusts you, so does Mario. You, Kris Letang, are my best friend, my husband, my soulmate... and my captain. I am so proud to be your Alternate tomorrow. Rusty and I will be with you every step of the way.'' Kris sniffles, what stars aligned to give him this man? ''I love you, Erik Karlsson.''

Erik kisses him. ''I love you too. Sleep now?'' Kris nods, Erik turns his light off, and they finally get some sleep together. Kris wrapped in the safe arms of his husband.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The day of their first home game against the Sabres, Kris and Erik dress into their gameday suits after their pre-game nap. Erik laces up his shoes, and grabs his keys. Kris gives one last glance up to his four cup rings, and joins him at the front door. They jump in the car together, and get going to PPG Paints. They drive in silence, a comfortable quiet in the car as they drive down to the arena, they've never needed to talk much. Erik drives, and Kris tries not to have another anxiety attack about what he's taking on. He contents himself with the knowledge that he's got his husband and nephew with him. Sid and Geno will be with Kyle for the game after the ceremony. Flower has even moved back to town for Kris' first season as captain. He's not doing this alone, thank God. Finally, they arrive at the arena. Erik looks to Kris, and asks him. ''Ready, sweetheart?''

Kris nods, and says. ''Come what may, darling.'' They get out of the car, and head inside hand in hand. Meeting up with Lars and Marcus as they head to get out of their suits. They grab something to eat, somehow Kris convinced Erik to drop the raw onions from his pre-game meal. ''Excited for tonight, captain?'' Drew innocently asks. Erik rolls his eyes, and says. ''Drew, maybe don't say that? He's been anxious for a week about this.''

Kris finishes eating, and says. ''I'm just treating this as any other game, Drew.''

Jack asks his surrogate dad, Kris has parented all of the young defencemen on the team for years, and done an amazing job at it too. ''How? You're gonna be the captain soon!'' Kris clears his dishes away, and says. ''I've been in this league for my whole adult life, Ivy, this is just another night.'' He kisses Erik's cheek, and goes for some quiet time in an empty media room, trying desperately to keep himself calm. Then, the call to get suited up for the ceremony comes. Kris holds his jersey in his hands, the A will be going on for the last time, he's grown so attached to it. He pulls the jersey over his head, and waits for the team's signal to get out onto the ice. Geno will be giving the Alternate jerseys out, Sid will be giving the Captain's jersey. The team gather at the bench, the incoming core ready to receive their new letters. After a presentation of the past captains, Sid and Geno come out onto the rink to a roar of applause, the new jerseys in their hands. ''With three cups as a Penguin, and a King Clancy nomination, we present to you, Alternate Captain - Bryan Rust!'' The announcer says. Rusty skates up to receive his new jersey from Geno. Both Sid and Geno embrace their surrogate son. ''The winner of three Norris Trophies and a long-awaited Stanley Cup, Alternate Captain - Erik Karlsson!'' Erik squeezes Kris' hand, and skates up to exchange his plain jersey for his new one. ''Finally, our longest tenured player. Four time Stanley Cup winner and 2023 Masterton Trophy winner. Your new Captain - Kris Letang!'' Kris skates up to Sid to receive his new jersey, the name an number the same, just a C where the A once was. ''I'll not let you both down, I promise.'' He says.

Geno hugs him. ''We know you won't, Legend.'' Sid places his hands on Kris' shoulders, and says to him. ''That's why I chose you for this, Tanger.''

Kris looks to his team, who are all applauding him, He takes a breath, and faces the fans with his new letter. He's pleasantly surprised at the wave of cheers he gets, maybe Erik was right last night? Maybe this won't be so bad?

After warmups, Kris is taken for a ceremonial faceoff against Sabres Captain, Alex Tuch. Then, they get on with the game. Which they win 3-1 to get their season started. Kris, Erik, and Rusty are the last off the ice. Back in the dressing room, Sully says. ''Very pleased with tonight, boys, to our new leadership - amazing job tonight. Johnny, Zuck - welcome home.'' He picks up the new helmet, and says. ''I think this has to go to our new captain.'' He hands it to Kris. Kris stands, and says. ''Good to be back, proud to be the captain, let's keep this up. Bunts, Glasser, Drew - good job on the goals. I'll not let you guys down, I promise.''

After media, Kris and Erik get home, and collapse on the couch together with something to eat. Then, it's time for bed, they're both thankful they're beginning this new era of the team with a five game homestay. For a change, Kris is out like a light, the rush of today catching up to him. Erik rests his head on Kris' chest, and joins him in sleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A few slower days pass, the team are hard at work in training for their game against Calgary. The third game of their homestay, they won in a shootout against Columbus in the second game. After this comes a four game roadtrip to Montreal, Toronto, Ottawa, and Winnipeg before coming home for two. Kris finds that the anxiety of being captain is lessening over time, the fans seem to be taking to it at any rate. Having one of his boys back does kind of help, he's missed Olli, Johnny, and PO more than he thought he would. Having Johnny back helps ease that worry. Rusty is every bit the leader for the forwards he's been raised to be. And, having Erik with him is all he's ever dreamed of. Sully and Quinn gather the troops around for a discussion about the powerplay and penalty kill units for the season. ''Alright, for the powerplay unit we're running with: Rust, Eller, O'Connor, Karlsson, and Letang.'' Sully says. Three fifths of the veterans unit from last season's cup run, the unit worked like clockwork. ''For the PK, we're going: Acciari, Hayes, Pettersson, and Zucker.'' Quinn says.

The top powerplay unit gets to work refining some drills and formations. Already, Kris and Erik are being given a nickname together by the rest of the team. Sid and Geno are and were the Two Headed Monster that will never change. But, the team took to calling Kris and Erik the Twin Terrors during last season's playoffs, and the name has stuck into Kris' captaincy. Drew wires a shot to Rusty, who sends it past Tristan's ear. ''Good work, boys, PK up next!'' Quinn says.

The powerplay unit take a sit down, and the penalty kill unit go over some drills together. ''How have you been lately, Kris?'' Sully asks after training.

Kris towels his hair dry. ''Good, actually, feels weird being the captain and on the PA, but I wear both with pride.''

Kyle asks him about his work with the PA. ''Do you want us to give that job to someone else, Kris?''

Kris shakes his head, he's been the team's representative for almost a decade now, and he'd love to keep that up. ''No, I'm happy to keep on with both positions. Erik thinks I take on too much, but I'm fine. I would love a backup rep, though.''

Kyle nods, noting that down onto his phone. ''I'll bring that up at the next team meeting.'' Kris goes for lunch with the rest of the team, glad nobody has been treating him differently with this whole captaincy thing. In any other world, he'd have never wanted that C on his jersey, and part of him still finds it weird, but Sid wanted him to have this, so he wears it with pride.

The team gets in for the game against Calgary, they suit up together in their stalls. The ballot for Kris' backup PA representative is narrowed down to: Bunting, Beauvillier, Pettersson, or Jarry. The team are talking about their plans for the roadtrip across Eastern Canada when Sully comes in for the read. He addresses the troops, the slip of paper in his hand. ''Here we go for tonight, let's make this count, boys. Up front, we've got: O'Connor, Glass, and Rusty.'' The room cheers. ''Up back, we've got: Letang and Marino.'' Johnny looks to Kris, his middle boy come home at last. ''In net, Ned! Let's get going!''

The game starts strong, Beauvillier netting an early goal on his first shot of his first shift of the game for 1-0. Acciari stealing the puck from a corner scrum and making off with it puts them up 2-0 going into first intermission. ''We're doing good, mes amis, let's keep this up. We stay together, and stay calm. The Flames are an annoying team, they will try and get on our nerves, we don't let them.'' Kris addresses the room, taking a leaf from Sid's book of a captain's address between periods. ''Owen, how are you doing these past couple of games?'' Kris asks the rookie, Owen Pickering, who he personally drafted. ''Good, thank you for drafting me, captain.'' Kris says, a big smile on his face. ''You're very welcome, kid.''

The second is scoreless, Kris directing the team whenever he's on the ice. But, to their credit, Calgary are holding onto their line. Midway through the third period, Kris gets the puck on his stick during a powerplay for the team, he passes to Erik, who dekes out Kadri, passing to Drew. Drew fires the puck past Vladar's elbow. The first goal in almost forty minutes puts them up 3-0. That ends up being the last goal of the game, their third win in a row to open the new season. Kris is among those taken for media after the game. ''Three games, six points picked up, how pleased are you with this, as the new captain?''

Kris says, sliding his wedding ring back onto his finger with a smile. ''I'm very happy with the results so far, still early days yet, I'm glad we're picking up these early wins, gives us some breathing room for the opening stretch.''

Another journalist asks him. ''How are you feeling having Marino back this season?''

Kris says, sifting in his stall. ''Great, good to have one of my boys back. I always thought Olli, Johnny, and PO fled the nest too early. It's good having him and Ivy.''

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

They beat the Hurricanes 2-1 in overtime to finish their homestay, with Owen getting his first goal of his career. Then, comes the roadtrip across eastern Canada. Kris was more than a little bit terrified of the game in Montreal, coming home as captain for the first time. But, he got to sleep in his own bed with his husband, so it balanced out. They even won that game! 5-4 in a shootout with Kris netting two goals, his first goals as captain. They've got three free days between the Montreal and Ottawa games when they land in Ottawa. The first real stretch of days off of the season so far, and Sully has them on rest orders for the first day off. This is going to be a long season, they're defending Stanley Cup winners, so they need their rest as much as they need to play well. Erik gets his husband up early for a walk along the Rideau Canal after breakfast. They so rarely get true alone time during the season, even now as teammates, there's always someone poking around, especially with their two surrogate sons around. Johnny and Jack are wonderful, but they need some alone time. They set off into the chilly morning, arm in arm. For today, they're not the Captain and his top Alternate, or Letang and Karlsson, they are Kris and Erik, and that's okay with them. ''Never realised how beautiful Ottawa was until we got in yesterday evening.'' Kris says. He's only ever come here for work, and to spend time with Erik. ''Sweetheart, I played here for a long time, most of it you were with me.''

Kris says, gently nudging his shoulder. ''Back then, the attraction of this place was you, not the city, darling.'' Kris adds. ''Same goes for San Jose, actually.''

Erik laughs, some things never change. ''I guess I felt the same for Pittsburgh. Back then, the city was fine, I guess? But, you were there, so it became the best city on earth. Now, it's home.'' They keep on walking in silence, listening to the city around them, they've never needed to be constantly talking to each other, even back when they first got together. This comfortable quiet is something they've found in each other. In the loudest sport in the world, two franchise defencemen have found calm in each other somehow. ''Sid told me he's planning a trip to Russia with Geno for the summer. Says it's a surprise.'' Kris says.

Erik chuckles, and asks. ''Has his Russian improved any?'' He can't imagine Sid won't have done his homework ahead of time, but it always pays to speak the local language. ''Yeah, he's at sentences unaided, or rather back at sentences unaided.'' Kris says.

Erik asks, furrowing his brows at that, there's still so much he doesn't know. ''Back at that? What d'you mean?'' Kris laughs, it's funny how these events coincide really. ''It's funny, actually. The same time I was learning Swedish for you, and you were studying French for me. Sid was learning Russian for Geno.'' He smiles fondly at the memory of the books spread out on dining tables, and Geno drilling Sid on Cyrillic. ''Yeah? Tell me more.'' Erik says, intrigued.

Kris says, dusting off his coat. ''He was studying Russian, doing a pretty good job at it too. Kinda tripped himself up by trying to read Dostoevsky right away, but he was getting really good. Then, he just... stopped, for some reason.'' Kris has never known why, perhaps the duties he was tasked with got in the way? Geno's English got too good? The kids came along and took up time? Either way, Kris is proud of himself for keeping up on his Swedish, even with the leadership stuff, hockey, PA, and his own boys coming along.

Erik asks, sitting down on a bench next to the canal. ''Is that why he got all weird at us speaking each other's languages?'' Kris nods, and sits down next to his husband. ''Yeah, I guess he just wasn't ready for us being trilingual.'' Kris remarks, linking their arms again. ''That said, you're sexy when you speak French.''

Erik leans over to kiss Kris on the cheek. ''Likewise for you in Swedish.''

There's a comfortable lull in conversation again, Erik can feel that Kris wants to ask him something, but he leaves it be, Kris never responds well to being cornered. Neither does Erik himself for that matter. ''Erik, can I ask you something, captain to captain?'' Kris asks. Erik says, meeting his gaze. ''Yeah, always, Kris.''

Kris clears his throat. ''How am I doing? Am I doing a good job so far?''

Erik smiles softly, and nods. ''Yeah, you're doing so well. We're doing well as a team, you've got the room, the city, and the media. The kids are in the palm of your hand.'' Erik adds, he's biased, this is his husband after all. ''I'm a very proud Alternate, and husband right now.''

Kris nods, pressing a kiss to Erik's lips, if Erik is happy with him, that's worth a thousand Stanley Cups. ''Good, I'm glad.''

They come out of the Ottawa game with only their second loss of the season, a close run 4-3 shootout loss. Then, they get on the road to Toronto. Their first game back against the Leafs since game six of the eastern Conference Final. Kris has had an idea, he thinks Rusty could do with some help on the front end, so he calls a leadership meeting before they play the Leafs. ''What's going on, Kris?'' Rusty asks.

Kris says, pulling up a chair at the table they're using. ''I'm going to ask Kyle to give Lars an A, you need some help up front, I just want to know how you feel about that.''

Rusty looks delighted, he has been kinda lonely up front, especially with how Kris has Erik up back. ''I'd love that, Kris. Karl, how d'you feel about that?''

Erik nods, taking his hair down from its ponytail for the game. ''I'm good to add to the core. Anything you feel is best for us, Kris, do it.'' Kris nods, and says. ''Thank you so much, both of you. I'll talk to him after the game with Lars.''

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After the third period, they're tied 5-5 with a hattrick duel from Marner and Rusty in the second. Reminding Kris of the hattrick duel between Sid and Ovi back in the day. Sully deploys the Veterans Trio for overtime, the trio share a look and a nod. Wes drops the puck, Lars wins the faceoff, passes back to Kris. ''Darling!'' Kris passes to Erik, who fires the puck past Woll's ear to end the game. ''That's how we do it, darling!'' Kris says, wrapping his arms around Erik. Erik kisses Kris, and hugs Lars. ''Thank you both for the assists.''

After media, Kris goes to Kyle and Lars with his idea, explaining. ''Rusty is kind of by himself for leading the forwards, I think having Lars promoted would help him. Rusty and Erik approve of this, by the way.''

Kyle nods, and fires a text off to Tags. ''I like how you three think, consider it done. Lars, are you good with this?''

Lars nods, he helped Ovi in Washington, so he's used to leading teams. ''I'm honoured, can't wait to get started.''

The A goes on his away jersey for their final roadtrip game against Winnipeg. Which is a dominant win, 5-0 with a shutout for Ned. Then, they fly home to Pittsburgh for their four days off before a shorter homestay. On the plane, during a card game with Erik, Lars, and Marcus, Kris gets a call from Sid. ''Salut, mon frere, what's up?'' He asks.

Sid says. ''Not much, Geno and I are just out of the office, and heading home. Friedman wants to interview you and Erik.'' Oh, does he now? Kris puts the call to speaker, this concerns them both now. ''What's the interview about?''

Sid sighs, and explains. ''The same shit Geno and I used to get interviewed about, being a married couple leading an NHL team.'' Both of them roll their eyes, this was why they didn't wanna tell anyone about them until 2023, they wanted to escape the media frenzy. ''Can we turn the interview down?'' Erik asks.

Sid says. ''Yes, you can, or I can on your behalf as Advisor to The GM.'' Erik looks to Kris, gets the nod, and says. ''Can you tell him no interview, please, Sid?''

Sid hums, and says. ''Thought you'd say that. Will do. See you at Cranberry.''

Kris says. ''See you soon, Sid.'' He hangs up, and puts his phone away, Kris rolls his eyes, the last thing he needs right now is more dumb media. The team's press pack is more than enough. He also refuses to subject Erik to it, they've come this far without the media, and they'll be just fine keeping their home life private. Erik deserves better than that. ''You good, Kris?'' Jack asks him from the table across the aisle. Kris sighs, and says. ''Erik and I have been together for almost fifteen years, now all of a sudden the media gives a shit?'' Erik says, shuffling the deck again. ''They don't, sweetheart, they just want a story, and we're not giving it to them.''

Bunting says. ''God, fifteen years? Most of us haven't even been in the league for that long!''

Drew asks them. ''How the hell have you two kept this up? Like, Sid and Geno we get, same team and stuff. But, the long distance stuff?'' Kris says, turning his wedding ring on his finger. ''When you love someone that much, OC, you make it work, even if it gets difficult, because it's worth it.''

Erik nods, and adds. ''For us, we were born for each other, we are each other's first real everything. First love, first kisses, all of it.'' Raks seems curious at Erik's use of kisses in the plural form. ''First kisses? Plural, Karl?''

Erik counts on his fingers. ''Our proper first kiss was when we got together in 2011, our second first kiss was when we got back together in 2019, and our third first kiss was at our wedding in 2021.'' Kris nods, smiling with nostalgia, the plane falls back into that comfortable quiet. They're almost home.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The early stretch moves along well for the team, they're second in the Metro division by late November. Just three points off the Rangers, same teams topping the division, just a different season. They've got their first stage of the infamous Battle of Pennsylvania in a couple of days. For Kris, this is the biggest moment of his captaincy so far. He's mostly taken everything in stride, but games against the Flyers are always more important than any other game he plays. But, for right now, it's a rest day, and Kris and Erik have Johnny and Jack over watching some Premier League highlights. Rusty and Drew are spending the day with Sid and Geno. The team elected Marcus to be Kris' backup for the PA, and Kris is currently going over some stuff discussed in their last meeting. ''Erik, are you going to Italy for the Olympics?'' Kris asks.

Erik shrugs. ''No idea, that'll be our anniversary fortnight.'' Johnny says to his surrogate step-dad. ''If Team Sweden don't pick you, they're idiots.''

Erik laughs, he's not known Marino long, but he already likes the kid. ''Glad you think so, Johnny.''

Jack adds, looking to Kris. ''If Team Canada don't pick you, they're crazy.''

Kris gives his younger boy a small smile. ''Thank you for saying so, Ivy.''

The Battle of Pennsylvania game comes all too quickly for Kris' liking. He's oddly nervous for tonight, they're hosting, six points up on the Flyers, and Rusty is lighting up the score sheets lately. But, these games always mean more to him than any other. With both Sid and Claude gone from the rivalry, it's not going to be what it once was, but, that hatred between the two teams will probably never die. He and Erik turn up to the arena in their Pittsburgh suits, the same ones they wore to game seven against the Avalanche this past spring. Sid comes in to do the read after the team suit up. ''Okay, gents, up front: OC, Eller, and Rusty.'' Lars has been bumped up for what they're expecting to be a physical battle. ''On the blueline: The Twin Terrors.'' Erik and Kris share an excited look, they don't get to share the ice often, so this is going to be fun. ''In net: Jarry!''

The Penguins take to the ice, and get off to an amazing start, scoring four goals in the first period alone. Lars, Drew, Tito, and Ivy all getting them 4-0 up, and Jarry performing daylight robbery on Konecny and Hathaway more than once. ''Okay, boys, we're doing really well so far, but we've got 40 minutes of hockey left, so we stay alert.'' Kris addresses the room. Geno and Sid share an aside glance, they definitely made the right choice.

Philadelphia take over in the second period, Couturier netting a lucky goal early on for 4-1. Hathaway gets two a minute apart, seriously annoying the shit out of the very partisan Pittsburgh crowd. Late on in the period, Konecny gets a lucky breakaway for 4-4. There's a brief scrum when the third pair and fourth line are up for the final shift. ''Hey! Ivy! Seb! Fall back! Now!'' Kris orders the two younger defencemen. They both retreat, Kris and Erik go to calm things down. Strangely, Kris hasn't been in the box all that much this season. ''Kev, Blake, Cookie - enough.'' Erik says.

The third is even more of a battle of attrition. No goals until very late. Kris gets a goal to put the team up 5-4. Not to be outdone, Couturier nets his second of the game to tie it up again 5-5. On a rush in the dying minute of the game, Marino dekes out three Flyers, and scores the winner, ending the game at 7-5. ''Amazing effort tonight, boys, depth game, love to see it.'' Rusty says, and passes the helmet to Jarry. ''Let's not do that again, hard-earned two points, but let's not earn them like that again, please.'' This gets a big laugh from the room.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The midpoint of the season arrives in no time, Erik learns that he won't be going to Italy for the Olympics in February. Neither will Kris. If Erik's honest with himself, he's more disappointed that Kris isn't going to the games than anything. Sid will be going for one last shot at gold, but he'll be the only one of the quartet going to Italy for hockey purposes. Geno will be going with him for support. However, it does give him and Kris their anniversary without work getting in the way, the only real annoying thing about having a January anniversary. Sully and Quinn hold an optional skate ahead of the last couple of weeks before Christmas. They've got a Central division roadtrip to St Louis, Minnesota, and Chicago to prepare for. They're still second in the division, and third in the conference, on top of being fifth in the whole league. ''Right, boys, nothing stressful today, we're just tightening things up for the midseason grind, we've got Vegas and Dallas coming into town this week, so we've gotta be ready.'' Quinn says.

They run some relays, do a mini skills competition, and Owen proposes a capture the flag game. Then, it's back to the dressing room. Kris asks everyone to stick around after showers and changing into casual clothes. ''What's up, captain?'' Tito asks.

Kris asks his team, it's still not entirely sunk in yet that he's the captain, and he's always vigilant about doing a good job with whatever time is left to him. ''I just wanna get the temperature in the room. How am I doing? Is there anything you all need from me?'' Noel says. ''Tanger, you're doing an amazing job, Sid chose you for a reason, right?''

Sebastian says, pushing his hoodie sleeves up. ''You've got us ticking like a clock, Tanger, we've had two fantastic captains in the last two seasons.''

Ned chimes in, putting a baseball cap on. ''One of the best captains I've played under, that's for sure.''

Sully speaks up, he's nursed all three of the trio through their various insecurities. Be it Sid's fears of not being tough enough on ice, Geno's grasp of English, Kris' worries about not being good enough at all, Flower's playoff yips, or Erik's late arrival. ''Kris, son, listen. We basically had three captains for the longest time, all three of you, Flower, and then Erik have all been captains in your own ways. We're incredibly lucky to still have you.''

Rusty asks his surrogate uncle. ''Is there anything you need from us, Kris?''

Kris nods, and says. ''Keep playing the way you are, help me keep this ship sailing, and help me keep my head quiet.'' He smiles, and adds a little request to Erik. ''And, darling, keep being the best husband on Earth.'' He can't do this without Erik, that's the simple truth of this new era of his life as a Penguin.

Erik beams at him, and kisses his cheek. ''I will, sweetheart, and you'll do the same.''

Kris nods, and kisses Erik on the lips gently. ''Always.''

They head for some lunch, Kris and Erik go over some tentative plans for their fifteenth anniversary. They're both free that fortnight, so they can theoretically do whatever they want with it. They spent their first, fifth, and eighth anniversaries at All Star Games. Their eleventh in San Jose. Their tenth apart, but planning their wedding. And, their last two at home. ''Where did we spend our third anniversary?'' Erik asks.

Kris thinks, he vaguely remembers spending that one in the fucking hospital after his first stroke. ''We had that late, over the summer break in Montreal. I was in hospital for our actual anniversary.'' Geno swans in, suited up from a meeting with Jason. ''What's going on?'' Erik says to Geno. ''Well, we had training, a team meeting, and now we're trying to plan our anniversary.''

Geno proposes. ''Fifteen, yeah? How about a big team party?'' Kris' eyes blow wide. ''No, no thanks, G. Besides, you and Sid are gonna be in Italy, you'd miss it.''

Erik finally has a revelation, the most obvious ideas seem to always come last for some dumb reason. ''How about we go to Sweden, just us, and stay at our place there for the two weeks?'' Kris takes Erik's hand over the table. ''I'd love that, amour, just to get out of here for a bit.''

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The team come out of the Christmas break strong, with four wins in a row against: Carolina, Columbus, San Jose, and Utah. The run only hampered a bit by two losses back to back against Vancouver and Edmonton. In all, January goes really well for the Penguins under what's now being called 'Le Nouveau Regime' in the media. Olympic break comes altogether too quickly, and five of the team will be going to Italy. Jarry and Sid for Canada and the US, Rusty for the US, Ricky for Sweden, and Lars will be captaining Denmark. Kris and Erik are packed up for their trip to Vetlanda for their anniversary. Kris is excited for this trip, even if it's just for two weeks, he's been longing to get back to their happy place, and get out of the constant fishbowl of North America for a bit. They leave the morning after their overtime win against Buffalo. Flying privately to Sweden together.

It takes them a couple of days to rest off the jet lag, but, they decide to take it easy for the short time they're here. It's funny how so many of their memories trace back to this small town in Sweden, Erik muses while they're getting dinner ready one night. Their first major holiday together in 2012, they spent the lockout here as well, that summer after they got back together, and their wedding. ''You good, amour?'' Kris asks.

Erik nods, and says. ''Yeah, hjartat, I was just thinking of how many of our big milestones have happened here, that's all.''

They sit down with dinner, Kris says. ''Yeah, it's kind of crazy, isn't it?'' Kris admits to his husband. ''I'm surprised at how much I've come to love this country.''

Erik chuckles, sometimes it does slip them by that they've also married two whole countries to each other, just as Sid and Geno did with Canada and Russia. ''Same for Montreal, whenever we go there, it's like coming home.''

On the day of their anniversary, it's far too cold for the picnic dinner they had been planning, it snowed through the night. So, thinking on their feet, they dress warm for a walk in the snow. The town is dead quiet today, nobody is out and about, it's almost like the whole place has been abandoned overnight. ''What the hell?'' Kris asks as they walk down the street arm in arm. ''I think Sweden play Slovakia today, hjartat.'' Kris nods, he almost forgot that the Olympics started today, to wrapped up in this little getaway with Erik to care. ''Oh, that makes sense, amour, yeah.'' Some might say the way they get lost in each other might be more than a tad unhealthy, but they've never given a damn about it. If anyone has an issue with that, they can take it up with Bettman for sending them to that 2011 All Star Game. ''Hope they win, I'd like to see Sweden get a medal.'' Erik says, dusting off his red coat.

Kris says, adjusting his scarf, the gold one. ''A Canada-Sweden gold medal match would be great. Even if we're not going to be in it.'' The snow comes back in, and they get going home to get warm. That night, they have dinner by the fire, and exchange gifts. They seem of the same mind, since they both commissioned artists to paint them from the 2011 All Star Game to their Cup win together. ''Happy anniversary, mon amour.'' Kris leans over to kiss his husband. Erik kisses back with equal passion. ''Happy anniversary, hjartat mitt.'' Fifteen years, there were times they never dared to imagine they'd be here, but here they are. Partners, best friends, soulmates, Captain and Alternate.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A big game comes in the third week of March, the biggest game of Kris' captaincy so far. A game against Vancouver in Rogers Arena that could potentially see them clinch a playoff spot if they win either way, or lose in overtime or a shootout. The team get in, get ready, and suit up together. Sully gives the read for the top unit, and they get out for warmups. Then, opening faceoff. Glass stares down the gun of Calder winner Elias Pettersson. Drew is matched up with Jake DeBrusk, and Rusty against Daniel Sprong. Staring Kris down is his fellow captain, Quinn Hughes. The DPS line has been tearing the west up for two seasons now. Cody wins the drop, and it's off to the races for the Penguins. Pettersson gets the Canucks up early 1-0, and that's the only goal for the next fifteen minutes. ''Hughes and Hronek are fucking deadly together.'' Erik observes, coming back from a shift out of breath.

Kris nods, downing some water. ''I know, it's like looking in a mirror too.'' He's never seen someone who reminds him more of himself. The third unit are up, and Tito scores a tying goal in the dying minute of the period against his old team. ''Good work, Tito.'' Kris says once they're back in the room for first intermission. Anthony is panting, leaning his head back in his stall. ''Thanks, captain.''

The second period is all Vancouver, the west's best team have one hand on the President's Trophy. Boeser turns on the jets to outskate both Kris and Erik to put his team up 2-1, and Nils Hoglander follows up with another goal from the circle for 3-1. Kris judges a puck battle between Myers and Marcus to steal the puck, and run off with it, he goes five hole on Demko, and salvages the scoreline to 3-2. They're gonna need at least two more goals to clinch their playoff spot. ''Alright, boys, we're holding on well, no panic mode yet, okay? We need at least two more goals to get this done. Tanger, any words?'' Sully addresses the room during second intermission.

Kris nods, fixing his newly short hair, he and Erik both got haircuts in Sweden. ''We stay calm, and we stay together.''

They come out for third period, and there's no scoring until halfway in, Owen reads a play quickly, and passes to Ricky, who fires a wrist shot past Demko's head to tie the game 3-3. ''Good job, boys, keep it up!'' Kris says as the second line come off their shift. The back half of the period goes scoreless, so into overtime they go. Sully gives the read for overtime. ''Up front: Glass and Bunting. Back end: St.Ivany. Deploying the kids.''

They get out for the five minute overtime period, Glass wins the drop against probable Hart Winner JT Miller, and passes back to Jack. Ivy winds up, and takes the shot. It goes in. They're back in the playoffs. They'll not be celebrating this, that's never went well in the past. ''Well done boys. Huge win, very happy with that. We're in the playoffs again, still loads of work left to do.'' Jack gets the helmet, and says. ''Never once dreamed of scoring a goal like that, thanks for the pass, Cody. Uhm, let's keep this going!'' Kris applauds his youngest, Jack has been the shy one of the d-corps all season, and he's happy that he's coming out of his shell a bit. ''Boys, captain's word of advice, we've got an 8AM flight home tomorrow, I want us all rested, no funny stuff tonight.'' Kris says, stepping right into captain-mode. He wants his troops rested for the final stretch, just because they've made it now, doesn't mean these last games don't matter.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Their first round opponent in the playoffs ends up being the Devils. The division's wildcard. They get rid of them pretty quickly, in just five games. Kris' first ever playoff wins as captain. They've got a couple of days off between the rounds, Sid and Geno come over for lunch. It's either going to be the Rangers or the Flyers next. That series is definitely going seven, and has been every bit as physical as it was billed as. The quartet have lunch in the living room, watching back some highlights of the Rangers-Flyers series. Seems as though there was a massive line brawl in game two during period one. ''Well... I'd say I didn't expect that, but... I'd be lying to my family.'' Sid says, looking shellshocked. Geno nurses some coffee in his hand. ''Hope they tire each other out, actually.''

Kris laughs, fiddling with his wedding ring. ''Same, makes my job easier to lead our team against a tired team.'' They watch as another fight breaks out in the third period of game two. This time between Konecny and Trouba. ''What did Captain Elbows do this time?'' Erik asks, returning from the kitchen.

Geno says. ''Trouba elbowed Hathaway, and TK got angry at him.'' Sid says to Geno, cringing from the armchair. ''What's it the kids say, honey? 'Fork found in kitchen?' Is that it?''

Geno shrugs. ''I dunno, solnishko.''

Kris nods, he's had to figure out more than his fair share of modern idioms these days. ''Yeah, that's the phrase, heard Ivy say it earlier this year, and had to ask what it meant.''

They switch to game three, which seems to be more civilized. The Flyers clawing back the 2-0 series deficit with a 3-1 win. Game four seemed to be a huge battle of attrition, the Flyers winning 1-0 in overtime. ''I don't think I've ever seen a more toxic playoff series in my life, mon coeur.'' Erik says.

Kris nods, whatever doubts he had about being captain here, he's a whole lot better than either Trouba or Couturier right now. ''I know, alskad, I'd never let this shit slide with us, or in Val D'Or back in the day.''

Sid gives his brother a shit eating grin, as though Kris has finally come to the conclusion Sid wanted him to six months ago. ''Good to see you've finally caught on to why I chose you, mon frere.'' Sid says, Kris smirks and rolls his eyes. ''Alright, no need to rub it in, mon frere.'' Geno nods in agreement with Kris. ''I know, Legend. Trouba is acting like a child, and Couturier is invisible.''

Erik leans up to kiss his husband's bearded cheek. ''Glad to be your Alt, and not theirs, sweetheart.''

Kris kisses Erik's temple. ''Glad to have you, darling.'' They watch up to game six which was last night as the Penguins eliminated the Devils. Game seven will be tomorrow night, and Kris can sense that it's going to be every bit as physical as the preceding six games have been.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

They somehow use the fatigue the Rangers are playing on, and Trouba's suspension for elbowing Hathaway, to sweep the Rangers in the second round. Kris thinks that it kind of serves them right, the playoffs are no time or excuse for being assholes to other players. Like his coach in Val D'Or said: 'Play like idiots, lose like idiots.' He and Luc took that advice and ran with it, and it got Kris his first captaincy, and them both drafted into the NHL, even if Luc died well before his time. So now, the Penguins are waiting on the winner of the Boston-Toronto series, which will probably go six at minimum. Sully and Quinn have the boys in for a training scrimmage. Kris and Erik walk into the dressing room hand in hand, and see that they've been split up for scrimmage today. ''Uh, Sully... what's this for?'' Kris asks, pointing to his name under Team Black, and Erik's under Team White. Sully just chuckles, and says. ''Just a little experiment, captain, that's all.''

Rusty jokes. ''They're tryin' to stop you making out every time you score together.''

Erik says, lacing up his skates. ''Well, what if that's how we get the Wales? Have they considered that?''

Kris finishes suiting up for training, and kisses Erik before saying. ''We'll be fine, we've been together long enough, right?'' Erik nods, and follows Kris out to the ice. Team Black go up 6-5 after the first period and a half, before Lars ties it up for Team White in the last minute of the game. ''Alright, boys, good job. Let's run a shootout drill. Then, break up for lunch.'' Quinn says.

The teams are tied 7-7 in the shootout, next goal wins. Rusty goes up for Team Black. ''Go for it, Rusty!'' Drew shouts from the bench. Rusty gets the puck on his stick, facing down against Ned, he dangles, and sneaks it through to win the shootout 8-7. ''Good job, Rusty. Shower up and grab some lunch, boys!'' Sully orders the troops.

The team shower up, change, and grab lunch together. Eminently aware of what's to come ahead of them soon. But, they're the defending champions for a reason, right?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Toronto get the better of them in seven closely fought games, and will face the Canucks for the Stanley Cup. The Canucks mowed through Dallas in four to reach the final. Kris is proud of himself for leading these guys this far in his first season as captain. Le Nouveau Regime held up incredibly well this season, despite the media's doubts about having him as captain with three alternates. Toronto were simply too good to be beaten in that game seven, Kris and Erik are happy to have the extra resting time at any rate. The team decide to stick around to watch the cup final. Vancouver are already 2-0 up in the series on both of their home games. The DPS, Lotto, and Life Lines are working like a clock against Toronto's weakened defence. ''God, Demko is a force of nature.'' Jarry says as they watch the Canucks dominate game three in Toronto.

Ned nods in agreement, he says. ''If he doesn't win the Vezina, I'll be pissed off. He and Silovs deserve the Jennings too.''

Erik adds. ''Miller should definitely get the Hart and the Conn Smythe.''

The team are somewhat divided on who they're rooting for. Jarry is backing Vancouver because he's from there, Ned is right there with him for goalie solidarity. Erik is also backing the Canucks, reasoning to Kris last night. ''There's still a part of me that's a Senators Captain.'' Kris can't argue with that, he does find it funny how morally opposed to backing the Leafs his husband is though. ''Who are you backing, captain?'' Tito asks, wearing one of his old Canucks hoodies, supporting his friends.

Kris says, that's easy. ''Vancouver, always Vancouver.'' Erik puts a loving hand on his thigh as Rusty - backing the Leafs - asks. ''Why's that?''

Kris just sniffles, and says. ''For Luc, he was a Canuck.'' He points to one of his earliest tattoos, Luc's name and the guitar. The Canucks do go onto win game three, 4-1. He wonders how Sid and Geno's trip to Magnitogorsk is going, they'll have landed yesterday. It's been weird, not having them on the ice anymore. But, the three of them are bound for life regardless, and Kris is so proud that they trusted him enough to make him captain. He has no idea how much longer he's got left, he does want to retire with Erik, he does know that much.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Canucks do go on to win the whole thing in five games, their first ever Stanley Cup. Kris and Erik use their first day in Montreal to go deliver the news to Luc about the team that drafted him. As well as the news of Le Nouveau Regime. They'd have loved to come back here with the cup as they did last summer, but they're both incredibly proud of the Canucks. ''Luc, you'll never believe it, but your guys did it!'' Erik says, and adds. ''And, your best friend is our new captain in Pittsburgh too!'' Kris laughs, these visits never get any easier, he's been without Luc longer than he knew him. That stupid fucking motorbike. But, doing this every year with the man he loves makes it feel lighter if not better. ''Sid trusted me with it, and I think I'm doing okay at it.''

Erik says. ''He's doing an amazing job, take it from his husband.'' Kris also says. ''Sid won his third Olympic gold medal too. While we were in Sweden for our anniversary.''

After their visit, they head home. Ready for a few weeks to be Kris and Erik, the married men. Ready to shed Letang and Karlsson, the captain and his alternate, until training camp. Sid and Geno said that's the most important part of being a leadership couple. Kris and Erik have been doing it for fifteen years, and that part does get easier. Somehow, they've found sanctuary in each other.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Okay, really pleased with this one! Been going through a bit of a burnout on top of a bout of insomnia, so this took ages to get done. Kinda wanted to explore a hypothetical season where Sid and Geno retire together. In real life, all three of the core will retire together. But, here, Kris stays in the league. Mostly because he wants to play alongside his husband for as long as he's able to. So, I felt as though Kris would be the captain in the case of Sid and Geno both retiring at the same time. All of the guys say he's basically the brain and conscience of the whole team, and holds the whole thing together. So, he'd be a natural pick for the job in this scenario.

Been really nervous about this fic, but I got it done! Please, nobody take this fic as an insult to Sid and Geno, I love them to bits! Just wanted to explore something.

Enjoy!

Also: 800th post!

#tangerkarlsson

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