Archive of Our Own ^beta

They were in the middle of a game against the Ducks when it happened.

Kaner and Tazer were arguing. Kaner refused to give Tazer the puck because he wanted to the to get a goal on his own. The game was in the bag: leading against the Ducks 5-1 with two minutes left in the third.

“Just give me the puck!”

“I can score on my own!”

“Stop being egoistic! This game isn't just about you!”

“Says you! You're always trying to score every shot, fight every fight. You beat yourself up when you don't! Stop being so fucking selfish.”

Now, Jonathan gets a lot of hate. He's a sports player, of course he does. Not to mention he's a captain, and plays for one of the toughest sports ever. But the one thing that hurts Jonathan is being called selfish. He's tried his entire life to be anything but selfish after he saw how upset a fellow kindergartener was back then, and refused to be the kind of person who did that to people.

So, to hear that, coming from the man Jonathan was head-over-fucking-heels in love with (of course, Patrick wasn't aware of this) hit Jonathan hard in the chest, and made him stumble a little.

Patrick didn't notice, and just kept firing off at the captain. Jon was already wounded from being called selfish, the rest was just rubbing lemon juice and salt in the tear.

Sharpy noticed how pale Jonathan had gotten and how he looked about to throw up and cry at the same time. And that,that wasn't okay with him. He grabbed Patrick by the arm roughly. “Hey, man, quit it!” He snapped, turning him away from Jonathan.

But Patrick kept running his mouth.

“-you’re too uptight; you can't pick up- when the hell was the last time you've gotten laid? Oh right, by a girl I set you up with. What was that, two months ago? You really are lame, aren't you?”

And Jonny was done.

He stood, and Patrick stood too, thinking they were about to start throwing, but Jonathan just backed up and ran down the tunnel.

Patrick stared at the tunnel in surprise. That…wasn't what he expected.

Sharpy slapped him on the back of his head as the horn sounded to end the final period. Hawks win. “You fucking idiot,” he snapped, “I could punch you. Everyone knows how sensitive Tazer is to the ‘selfish’ term. You can't keep your mouth shut, can you?”

Sharpy storms off after Jonathan, and the team follows shortly after their celly. When they get to the locker room, Patrick expects to see Sharpy consoling Tazer. Instead, he finds Sharpy running around the locker room showers in panic.

Sharpy met the eyes of his teammates and rushed over. “Jon’s missing.”

The entire room goes dead quiet, and Sharpy explained. “This fucker here,” Sharpy thunked Pat on the forehead with his gloveless finger, “decided to call Tazer selfish. He ran in here during the third, and I can't find him.”

Kaner’s heart dropped, because oh my god, Jonathan was missing.

The team unlaced their skates and searched the locker room, showers, and rooms only workers could go into. They searched for half an hour, and Jonny wasn't anywhere in sight.

By this point, Patrick felt extremely guilty. He said those things that made Jonathan upset and now he was missing. Terrible scenarios popped into his head and Patrick almost started crying.

He sat on the bench and held his head in his hands, closing his eyes while his team talked worried about where else to look and calling Q and PR.

A small squeak caught Kaner’s attention, and he looked up through teary eyes. He heard faint shuffling and another squeak, and Patrick called out, “Wait, wait, everybody hush.”

The guys grew quiet, and they waited, and another squeak rang out. The guys simultaneously bolted, throwing clothes and looking under and over benches and stalls.

Kaner looked at Tazer’s stall, and noticed a pile of Jonathan’s clothes – his jersey, some padding, an undershirt – was moving. He carefully walked over and lifted the jersey. There, rolled up in a prickly little ball, was a small hedgehog. It's head popped up from the ball and stared at Kaner.

Patrick gulped and whispered, “Tazer?”

The hedgehog rolled until it bumped into Pat’s chest. It sprung to its feet and toddled over, looking up at Kaner.

It squeaked.

Fuck.

“Guys,” he mumbled, holding out his hands for the little animal to walk into. The hedgehog sniffed his fingers before trotting into his hands and settling down, curling up. “I think I found Jonny.”

The turned around, and the team dropped anything they had in their hands. And of course, that's the moment Q came in.

He paused as all the boys simultaneously paled. Q looked around the room. “I came to congratulate you,” he started, “Where's the Captain?”

Everyone slowly looked down to the hedgehog. He didn't seem to notice.

Jonny was enjoying the warmth radiating off Patrick’s hands. Sure, he was still upset about the argument, but Jonny was fucking terrified, and even after all that just went down, he stills feels safer with Pat than anyone else.

He was half asleep when he heard Q ask, “Please tell me that's not Toews.”

No one said anything.

Q continued to talk, exasperatedly. “That's it. I'm calling the League and getting this entire transformation problem under control.”

Seabs spoke next. “Wait, what? Has this happened before?”

Q hummed in agreement. “Happened to Sid Crosby about two years back. He became a cat, I think. Same with Shaw when he first got traded to the Canadiens. Turned to a puppy. Apparently it's an epidemic. Too much emotional stress causes them to revert to an animal form. Changes their mindset and relaxes them, or some bullshit like that.”

Jonathan huffed a little, the small puff of oxygen barely audible.

“What do we do? Someone’s gonna have to take care of him.” Duncs’s voice asked, and there were multiple murmurs.

He opened his eyes drearily, just in time to see Seabs try to take Jonny from Patrick.

Jonny fucking bristled.

Seabs jumped back with a yelp, holding his injured hand. Jonny growled a little, shuffling further back into Pat. Patrick slowly bright his finger down to rub Jonny’s snout, and Jonathan retracted his quills.

“Seems like he's pretty fond of Patrick.” Duncs chuckled. Patrick tightened his hold on Jonny just a little. Jonny didn't mind.

Patrick sat down on the bench while the boys got changed. “I'll be happy to take him home,” Kaner mumbled, petting Jonny’s nose, “but I need to get dressed.”

Jonathan wasn't fond of this idea. Any one of these assholes could drop him or pull of his quills on accident (or on purpose.) He felt himself begin to bristle again, when Sharpton squatted down to meet Jonny’s eyes.

“Jon, dude, if you're in there,” the man sighed, “I know this is fucked up, and we’re gonna do everything we can to fix this. In the meantime, Kaner’s gonna take you home. Are you okay with that?”

Jonathan wasn't sure how he could respond to where Sharpy could understand, so he simply shuffled forward and licked his thumb. Sharpy smiled.

“Okay. Good. But he's gotta get dressed first. Can I hold you while he does?”

Jonny let out a tiny growl and squinted. Sharpy held up his hands as Kaner’s thumb caressed his sides soothingly.

“Just for a minute. When he's done, I promise I'll give you back to him.”

Jonathan contemplated a little, before agreeing to himself and licking Sharpy’s thumb again. Sharpy grinned and carefully picked up the little hedgehog. Patrick quickly started undressing as Sharpy cradled Jonathan. The hedgehog enjoyed Sharpy’s presence, and how he seemed to be genuinely worried about him and his well being.

When Patrick was done, Jon went to lick Sharpy to inform him, but Sharpy was already handing Jonny back over. Jon made a mental note that Sharpy was always to be trusted.

Patrick cradled Jon in his palms while he fixed the duffel on his shoulder. “Okay, bud,” he sighed, “You're gonna hang with me for a little while, okay?”

And that was perfectly fine with Jon, so he licked Patrick’s finger and stared up at him with big beady eyes that somehow Jonny managed to pull off as cute.

Patrick was in for a ride.

_______________

Patrick threw his duffel and keys on the couch the second he walked in the door and immediately held Jonny up to his shoulder, letting Jonny nuzzle his nose in Pat’s neck and snuffle.

Patrick cooed involuntarily.

“Let's see, are you hungry?” Patrick asked him, and he laughed lightly when Jonathan licked his neck. He wasn't surprised; Jon usually doesn't eat before a game because he doesn't want to get hit and throw up everywhere. He probably hasn't eaten since noon, or even breakfast.

“I'm not really sure what hedgehogs eat,” Kaner spoke as he carefully set Jonny down in his island. Jonny skidded a bit, but found his balance. Pat pulled out his phone and quickly googled the question ‘what do hedgehogs eat?’ He grimaced. “Ew. They eat crickets and earthworms, insects.”

Jonny almost fell off the island.

Patrick caught him, luckily, and set him down again. “It also says we can buy low fat or high protein cat food.” Jonny bristled a little, and Pat rolled his eyes. “What? You'd rather eat insects?” Jonny bristled more, and then relaxed, indicating that no, he'd rather not eat insects. “Wanna take a trip to the store?” Jonny looked hesitant, but when Patrick offered, “I'll let you hang out in my chest pocket,” Jonny was completely on board.

When they walked through the grocery store, Pat got a basket, because he needed to do a little shopping too. He grabbed a pint of milk and some bread, a couple cans of soup and a microwave dinner. Then, he headed for the cat food isle.

Jonathan was sitting happily inside Kaner’s shirt pocket, little hands holding onto the fabric. Kaner didn't seem to mind having people see him with a hedgehog on his chest in his shirt, which was good, because Jonny wasn't moving from here anytime soon.

Patrick looked around and finally settled on some dry, high-in-protein, low fat cat food. It was the expensive kind, which Pat was okay with, because he needed the best for his captain.

He paid for his things and left, and Jonny fell asleep in his pocket.

_______________

When he woke, he was being placed on something extremely soft. Human him would love it, but hedgehog him doesn't want it. He wants Kaner.

He opened his eyes and rolled over, crawling to the edge of the bed, where Patrick was getting dressed. Patrick looked at his big beady eyes and chuckled. “Hold on a sec, Tazer. I've got to put on my pajamas.”

He went to his closet, back to the captain. Jonathan looked around the bed and spotted a pillow. In his weird, dim-seeing eyes, he trotted over to one of the pillows and hopped on top of it. He walked around in a circle, like a dog would, before settling down and curling up into a ball of quills and cuteness.

A few minutes later, he felt the bed dip. He lifted his head a little and saw Patrick right by his face. Instead of being frightened like he has easily been today, Jonathan shimmied over and curled up next to Pat’s face, leaned over, licked his nose, and shimmed back.

Patrick grinned brightly, leaning over to kiss the top of the hedgehog’s head. “I miss you too, Jon.”

That wasn't what Jonny was trying to say at all, but it'll do.

_______________

Halfway through the night, Jonathan woke up cold and missing Pat. He looked around his pillow space, enjoying his night-vision, and found Kaner's sleeping form. He was on his back.

Jonny got up, stretched a little, and walked over. He crawled up Patrick’s body and settled on his chest, in between his pecs. He closed his eyes and fell asleep again, but not before he felt Pat’s hand come up and rest on his back protectively.

_______________

Patrick woke first this time. He was vaguely aware of the little life on his chest, but wasn't in the knowing of how fucking cute hedgehog Jonny looked when he slept.

Jonathan was curled up, his bristles folded neatly on his body. He was breathing quickly in a human’s perspective, but slow for an animal. His nose was scrunched up and one of his hands was resting by his snout. It would twitch from time to time.

Patrick seemed to wake up with great luck, because he was able to snap a picture and answer the phone that began to abruptly ring, all without waking Jon.

“Who is this and why is your number blocked?”

There was a scoff, “You wound me, Peeks. Deeply wound me.”

Patrick rolled his eyes and brought one hand to drape across Jonny’s back, keeping him from falling off as he shifted. “What do you want, Sharpy? We’re sleeping.”

“We? Did Jon change back?”

There was hope in his voice, but Patrick shook his head. “No. He's still a hedgehog. He’s cute though, especially when he sleeps. I have a picture! Let me text it to you!”

He unblocked Sharpy’s number and texted him the picture, and Sharpy cooed, “Aw, Kaner, he's on your chest? How cute; you're bonding.”

Patrick rolled his eyes again. “Shut up, asshole.”

Jonathan stirred, blinking his eyes open. He looked up at Pat and nuzzled his finger with his nose. Patrick smiled. “Hey, Sharpy, Jon just woke up. I'm gonna go. I'll see you at practice?” He turned to look at the clock, “Which I'm late for. That's why you called, isn't it?”

Sharpy hummed in agreement. “Don't worry, though, we all expected it. Q said he'd allow you to come in late while Tazer’s like this.”

“Thanks man. I'll be there in fifteen.”

He hung up and got dressed, grabbing his duffel. He plopped Jonathan in his chest pocket and filled a small container with cat food, and another with water. He put those in his duffel, too.

Jonny sat in his lap on the ride to the arena, snuggled into his abdomen. Patrick wouldn't admit it, but he enjoyed the warmth of the little life.

He figured the locker room would be in hysteria when he got inside, but he was surprised to see that the group went to whispers as soon as he stepped inside.

“Didn't want to scare him like before.” Seabs explained.

The boys got changed, Patrick putting Jonny in his stall to chill, and Hayden suddenly asked, “What are we gonna do with Toews?”

Duncs raised an eyebrow, “What do you mean? We'll just leave him in here.”

Hayden grimaced. “But what if something happens? Or he gets lost? Or suffocates in something? He's tiny, guys.”

And shit, the guys hadn't thought of that.

Patrick looked at Jonny, who was staring up at them all, on his back, rolled up. “I guess we can take him to Q? Or maybe some of the trainers. They could look after him.”

Jonny didn't like that idea. He wanted to stay with Pat. However, Jon allowed Kaner to pick him up and carry him over to the bench, rest in comfortably on one of the guy’s duffels. Q sat down next to him, watching the boys practice.

Practice went smoothly, and Q went into the ice to help out some of the rookies. Then, someone hit the boards and startled the shit out of Jonathan. He tumbled off the duffel and landed on the floor.

Jonathan squeaked, whimpering and curling himself into a prickly ball. It took a few minutes for Patrick – of course it was Patrick – to realize he was missing. He skated to the bench and found Jonathan on the floor, trembling.

Patrick panicked. He didn't know what had happened. Was Jonathan changing back? Was behaving a seizure? Was he laughing?

“Sharpy!” He shouted, kneeling down by Jonathan, “Crow! Someone!”

The team came skating over, and Sharpy knelt on the other side of Patrick, directly in front of him. “What happened?”

“I-I don't know!” Patrick cried, “He's not dying, is he?” And fuck his mind, because the first thought that popped into his head was ‘Jonny’s gonna die before I can apologize,’ and that almost made him start sobbing.

“Calm down, Peeks. I think he got scared.” Sharpy reassured, carefully rubbing Jon’s head. Jonathan poked his head out of his body ball and looked around at everyone.

“Jonny, buddy, you okay?” Kaner asked him, looking down at the little hedgehog.

Jonny rolled onto his feet and toddled over to the right winger, nuzzling his snout in his pants. Patrick picked him up, Jonny’s legs sprawling out unintentionally, and he cuddled up against Pat’s chest, whimpering.

“Keep an eye on him,” Sharpy told Patrick, and Patrick nodded.

They got undressed once practice was over, and Kaner was the last to change, because Jon did not want to be put down. Eventually, though, Patrick had to change out of his jersey and pads. Seabs went to take Jon, but the hedgehog bristled and growled menacingly at the player. Well, as menacingly as a tiny hedgehog could.

Seabs tried to pick him up faster, when he unbristled, but Jonny poked him harshly with his quills. “Ow, you little rat!” Jonny just hissed.

Sharpy took Jonny from Seabs, and the hedgehog relaxed. When Kaner was sure Jonathan was okay, he started to strip. Sharpy sat down on the bench and put the hedgehog in his lap. Jonathan rolled onto his back and put his feet up in the air.

Sharpy tickled Jonathan’s tummy and the team gathered around to watch their hedgehog-transformed captain squeal and try to roll away from the left winger. Sharpy slid to the floor and spread his legs, letting Jonny lay on the floor.

Patrick walked over, now dressed in comfortable clothes, and sat in front of him, pressing his and Sharpy’s feet together. Jonny seemed to enjoy this, and folded himself into a ball. He shuffled to Sharpy and nudged his hand, then rolled backwards a little, then repeated the motion. He poked his head up at looked at Sharpy expectantly.

Sharpy got the gist. Jonny buried his head again and Sharpy gently pushed him across the floor. He rolled, hitting Kaner’s thigh. He unraveled and hopped around excitedly, squealing. Patrick grinned and patted the floor. Jonathan quickly rolled up again. Pat pushed him to Sharpy, and Sharpy pushed him back.

This continued, and multiple players recorded the event. Jonny paused for a few minutes to ea, and then they started again. They played until Q forced them to leave. The team scattered, laughing, and Jonny closed his eyes happily as Patrick held him closely and carried him to the car.

When they got back to Kaner’s apartment, Pat set him on the couch and put the food and water containers in front of him. Jonathan's tastebuds must have changed during the transformation, because he could actually tolerate eating cat food.

While he was eating, Pat put on cartoons (because he had every right to be a child once in awhile.) When Jonathan finished, Pat put the containers to the side and flopped on the couch longways. Jonathan crawled up Patrick’s chest, snuggling into him. Patrick allowed this and kept his eyes on the television.

It was snowing out, and Patrick’s house wasn't set in the warmest setting. Jonathan shivered three times in one minute then four in the next, and decided to do something about it. He walked down to Pat’s legs and bit his shirt.

Patrick looked down at the hedgehog in confusion. “What are you doing?”

The hedgehog looked up at Patrick, beady eyes staring into Pat’s blue ones, a piece of Kaner’s shirt in his little mouth. Then, Jon pushed his shirt up to reveal his abdomen. He walked up and nuzzled around until Jonathan was inside Pat’s shirt. He flopped onto his chest, enjoying the warmth radiating off his bare skin. He felt Patrick chuckle and hold him there by his butt, and Jonathan fell asleep soundly.

Patrick must have taken a nap, too, because his breathing was evened out when Jon woke up. He was nice and cozy where he was, and he felt a sudden urge to hug Patrick until they died. He didn't have the arms for that. So, he settled with licking Pat’s chest, repeatedly.

Patrick woke up, giggling tiredly to the feeling. He looked down his shirt, and Jonny looked back up at him, tongue pressed to his chest. Patrick smiled and leaned his head back, falling asleep within seconds.

Jonathan decided to let him sleep, and so carefully crawled out of Pat’s shirt and plopped onto the floor. He walked around the house, deciding to investigate now that he was little and could fit in new places. He could get under the bed, couches, and into the fridge (if Pat would have left it open).

He ended up in Pat’s room, wandering around his closet floor. He pushed aside things with his nose, wrinkling it when he found some dirty clothes. He threw a pair of socks and paused. There was a picture frame upside down. Jonathan used his snout to flip it over.

It was a picture one of the photographers had taken when the won the Stanley Cup. They were hugging each other with one arm, and the others held the Cup, lifting it high in the air. They were both grinning massively, caps on their heads.

Jonathan felt his little heart clench. He wanted to hug Patrick. He wanted to hug him so bad. He wanted to hug and kiss him, hold his hand and cuddle with him in bed. He wanted Patrick. He loved Patrick. And he was a fucking hedgehog.

Jonathan sniffed and backed away, before running out of the room. He folded up and rolled down the hall, being able to get placed faster this way. He found Patrick on the couch, still asleep, arm falling over the edge of the sofa.

Jonathan ran towards it, nuzzling his palm and licking it. He wanted to be held. He wanted to be loved. He wanted Patrick to love him.

He continued to nuzzle, but he wasn't getting anywhere, so he bristled and poked Kaner in the hand repeatedly. Kaner woke up and yelped, holding hand and looking down at Jonathan in betrayal.

“Hey,” he glared, “That was mean.”

Jonathan squeaked, jumping in hopes that Kaner would understand what he wanted.

“We have another game tonight.” Pat sighed as he scooped up Jonathan, “Saader’s on IR. I bet he'd take care of you.”

Jonathan huffed and poked him with a quill. Patrick hissed. “Listen, Tazer, I know you want to be with me and the team, but it's not safe for you there. You remember what happened today? You could have gotten seriously hurt.”

Jonny frowned and curled his legs up, laying in Pat’s palms. Patrick brought him up to his shoulder, letting Jon rest his snout on Pat’s shoulder and snuffled. Then, he licked, and Patrick knew it would be okay.

______________

The game went terrible. Like, seriously, terrible.

Even with both A’s on the ice, the team just wasn't the same without Toews.

Patrick came home sulking, throwing his duffel on the ground, keys and coat going with it. Saader was on the floor, watching something on the television with Jonny asleep on the floor next to his thigh.

Neither men said anything, and Saader knows what's going to happen, because Kaner always goes to Jonny when he's upset about a game, and even though Jon is a hedgehog, he's still Jonny.

Saader left with a reassuring clasp on the back. Patrick walked over and picked Jonathan up, holding him to his neck. Jonathan stirred, but Patrick rubbed circles on the back of his neck until the hedgehog fell asleep again.

Patrick went up to the bedroom and laid down, Jonny resting on his shoulder. The tv volume was turned down low, and he was watching with half interest when his phone rang.

He picked it up, feeling Jonathan shift a little, lick Pat’s neck, and pass out once again. Patrick put the phone to his ear, “Patrick Kane. Talk quietly.”

The person on the other end obliged. “Kaner, is Steve from PR. Listen we've done some research and contacted both Sidney Crosby and Shawzy. Shawzy turned back within a couple days. Crosby took a week. They both said that they changed to an animal when they were stressed out, and changed back when they felt completely, one hundred percent relaxed and safe. If you want Toews to change back, you need to make sure he's relaxed and calm.”

Patrick absorbed the information slowly. Okay. He could do that. He glanced down at Jon. He seemed pretty content right now. Why wasn't he turning back now?

But as he thought, he realized that yesterday wasn't the best day. First the occurrence during practice, then the freak attack that woke him from his nap. It probably didn't help that Patrick had to leave for a game, Tazer couldn't play, and was left with Saader. The only people hedgehog Jonny seemed to like was him and Sharpy.

“I'll do my best.” Patrick mumbled.

“You'll be fine, Kane. Just keep him happy and away from danger.”

And yeah, he could do that.

________________

Patrick took Jonny out for a walk.

Well, Jon wasn't walking. Pat was carrying him in his shirt pocket, but Kaner was walking. They went down to the park and met up with Sharpy and Duncs, who brought their dogs to play with.

Sharpy and Duncs tossed the football around and let the dogs run after it, while Patrick sat on a swing, Jonny in the crook of his elbow, as he swung slightly.

Jonathan had woken up upset, and Patrick figured it was either because of a nightmare or because Jon really missed being a human. He remembered the conversation with Steve and decided to take Jonathan outside after lunch. He invited Sharpy and Duncs. Sharpy had brought Maddy, Sadie Abby, and the dogs, and Duncs had brought Colton and his dog.

Patrick watched the families play, and wondered what it would be like when he had a family. He tried to picture himself with a pretty wife and a couple of kids, but all he could see was a young tween and a little toddler running around with a Labrador. He couldn't see a wife, and that made Patrick worry, until Jonathan shifted and squealed as a leaf fell on his face, and suddenly, all Patrick could see was Jonathan.

Jonathan dressed in a tux, walking down the aisle to meet Patrick.

Jonathan sprawled out on the bed, naked and glistening with sweat, and Patrick above him, grinning.

Jonathan with a toddler boy, trying to teach him how to walk.

Jonathan on the couch with a four year old curled by his side, newborn on his chest, dog at his feet as he yelled for Patrick to hurry up with the popcorn.

Patrick looked down at the hedgehog in his arm, who had suddenly bristled. Patrick burst into laughter when he saw Jonathan was glowering, leaves impaled on his quills. He plucked them off one by one, and Jonathan squeaked happily when they were gone.

Patrick leaned down and kissed his nose. Jonathan tilted his snout up and licked Patrick’s own nose.

Patrick’s heart melted.

______________

The next day, they had another game. Jonny was allowed to come to this one. He was seated on Pat’s duffel bag, laying in his stall as he watched on Duncs’s phone.

Right now, they were in the end of the third period. They were doing pretty good, probably because they were used to Tazer being absent on the ice but watching from afar. Everything was going fine, until Kaner got slammed into the walls by Nolan Patrick of the Flyers.

Jonny growled, and started flashing his quills a little at the screen. He watched Patrick collapse onto his back, staring at the ceiling. It looked like he was having difficulty breathing. They took Kaner off the ice, and Jonny saw red. Two mi jets later, the horn sounded, and the Blackhawks took the win.

A couple minutes later, the boys piled into the locker room, Pat in the group as he stumbled to his stall. He had a ring around his lips that was a little dark, an indication that he wasn't breathing as well as normal. He gave a small smile to the hedgehog. “Doc says I'll be fine.”

That didn't stop Jon from scampering over and squeaking at him until he walked closer. He sat on the bench and allowed Jon to nudge at his face and look over him. Some of the guys cooed. Duncs tried to reach over, but Jonathan immediately bristled, growling as menacingly as a hedgehog possibly could. Still, it made Duncs back away.

Sharpy chuckled. “Don't mess with Jon when he's in ‘Mommy Mode’.”

Kaner rolled his eyes, but smiled when Jonathan jumped and plopped down in Pat’s lap to examine the rest of him.

______________

Jonny had been stuck like this for five days, and Patrick was slowly going insane.

He loved hedgehog Jonny half to death, he was so fucking adorable with his soft tongue and kisses and how he bristled when he got pissed off. He especially love the snuggles and Jonny falling asleep against his neck as they laid in bed and watched hockey games.

But Patrick missed his best friend.

He was getting slightly annoyed at the fact that Patrick was doing everything to keep Jonathan calm and happy and relaxed, but every time he looked back, Jonny was still a hedgehog, and it was pissing Patrick off.

They'd just come back from an afternoon practice. Nothing went wrong, everything was great, and Jonathan had even gotten on the ice and rolled around excitedly. The day was relaxed and chill, and Patrick was positive Jonny would turn back as the hedgehog napped.

He didn't.

Patrick tried not to get upset, but then they lost a game. Still, even with Patrick's sour mood, he didn't snap. And then, Jonathan was sitting on the freezing cold island where Pat had placed him when he got back from the UC and accidentally pushed off a potted plant when he slipped, and the pot shattered and dirt went everywhere and Patrick fucking screamed.

Again, here he goes losing his temper.

He didn't care, though, and started to angrily clean up the floor as he yelled random things, talking about how hard his day had been and how he was so annoyed with having to deal with Jonathan.

And his big mouth had to go and say, “I'm doing everything for you! You don't have to be so selfish!"

Jonathan physically flinched. He squeaked, but it went unheard to Patrick as he continued to mutter things. Jonathan scrambled to the edge of the island to get to Patrick, but the player stood up, grabbed him, and tossed him on the couch.

Jonathan bounced and rolled off, landing on the sore shoulder that he'd hit when he fell off the bench that day at practice. He whimpered, but again, it went unheard. Patrick stormed upstairs and slammed his bedroom door shut.

Jonathan slowly got up, sniffing. His chest hurt, and if he were human, he'd defiantly start crying. His heart was racing, and he tried to walk, but ended up collapsing when a searing pain went through his shoulder. He got up again and fought through it, limping to the window that Patrick always left open. He bit the screen and lifted it up to where Jonny could get through.

No more, he thought, No more pain for Kaner.

Slipping through the opening and landing on the grass outside, Jonathan limped away from the house.

________________

Patrick trudged to the door, not really in the mood for anyone’s shit. He opened the door and found Sharpy outside it, staring sympathetically at him.

“What do you want, Sharpy?” Patrick rolled his eyes, but walked away from the door to let the player inside. Sharpy walked inside and closed the door.

“You take losses pretty hard and Tazer isn't human enough to give you the kind of hugs you want.” The left winger replied, “I just wanted to make sure you're okay.”

Patrick rubbed his face with his hands. “I'm fine, Sharpy. Just tired.” He paused, “Jonny broke something and I kind of blew up in his face.”

Sharpy furrowed his eyebrows and looked around the room. Jonathan had always been within a foot of Patrick since he turned and he was nowhere in sight. “What did you say?”

Patrick thought a moment, “I said-” He broke off and went pale as a sheet. “I called him selfish.”

Patrick felt sick. He'd called Jonny selfish five days ago and gotten him into this mess, and now he'd said it again.

“Patrick…where’s Jonathan?” Sharpy asked, a sudden rush of dread pooling in his stomach.

Patrick looked around the room, searching desperately for the hedgehog, but he couldn't find him. Patrick began to panic.

“You look upstairs. I'll take the kitchen.” Sharpy ordered, and both men broke off into sprints.

They shouted for Jonny and searched his entire house, every nook, cranny, and pile of clothes. Jonny wasn't there.

“Kaner!” Sharpy shouted, and Patrick stumbled down the stairs. “Look.” He pointed to the open window, perfect size for a hedgehog to squeeze through.

“He ran away.” Patrick gasped, and his eyes started to water. “Oh my god, what did I do?”

“You fucked up,” Sharpy snapped, “Okay, I'll call the others and start looking for him. He couldn't have gone far. His legs are too tiny.”

Patrick held himself as he stared at the window. Sharpy held the phone to his ear as he dialled Crawford, and put a hand on his shoulder. “PR said that he'd only change back if he was relaxed. We don't have to worry about him changing midst snow storm.”

That didn't do much.

Soon, the entire team was inside Kane’s house, and Sharpy was shouting orders. He split the team into groups and told each group to look somewhere different. There was four to a group.

Kaner was with Sharpy, Hayden, and Crow. They set out, and each group had a small container of cat food and water, plus a blanket incase they found him.

They split up and ran off. Pat’s group tried the UC, Jonny’s Ice Arena, and Patrick’s entire neighborhood. Jonathan wasn't anywhere in sight.

Patrick was ready to give up. It was snowing even heavier now, the snow coming up to his ankles. It was freezing. Jonny was going to die out here.

Patrick stopped walking and held his face in his hands, starting to cry. He sobbed into his hands, letting out every emotion he'd kept bottled up for five days. The fight he had with Jonny when he turned, guilt for every time he thought hedgehog Jonny was being annoying, and the fight they just had. Jonny was going to die thinking Patrick hated him.

A pair of arms wrapped around his front, and Patrick melted into the embrace of whoever it was. He held on tightly, sobbing and sobbing until he felt lightheaded.

“Patrick! Look!”

Patrick looked up – it was Hayden who was holding him – and found Sharpy taking off down the street and Seabs pointing to the snow.

Holes.

No, no those weren't holes. Those were footprints of a tiny animal. Those could be Jonathan’s footprints.

Hayds pulled Patrick along the group ran as fast as they could, following the tracks. The park. They were headed towards the park.

They ran through the entrance and shined their flashlights. “Jonny!” Patrick cried as the four split up to search the park. “Jonathan!”

The footprints were gone, the snow messed up. Kids had been playing here before, destroying any evidence that Jon was here. Still, Patrick kept looking.

And then, as if God had felt he'd suffered enough, Patrick looked at the swing. There, curled up in the plastic, was a little ball, covered in snow.

Patrick surged forward. He fell to his knees in front of the swing and brushed the snow off his quills. “Jonathan.” He sobbed, cradling the hedgehog to his chest. The hedgehog lifted his head weakly and mewled.

Patrick cried harder when he saw that he was alive. The others ran over and crouched down around them.

“We need to get you guys inside,” Seabs said as Hayds wrapped the blanket around Jonny and over Pat’s hands. The team helped Pat off the ground, the boy’s knees bitter cold. They helped him, still sobbing, down the street to Pat's house.

Seabs got to calling the others while Sharpy and Hayds helped Patrick sit on the couch. Patrick wrapped the blanket around Jon, his little hands cold as ice. Hayds draped a fluffier blanket around both of them, and put the containers of food and hot water by them.

“I just heated it up.” Seabs told him. He went to pet Jonathan, but the hedgehog bristled and hissed. Seabs put his hands up in surrender. “We’ll leave you to it.”

The two laid on the couch after the others left, Patrick sniffling as Jonathan trembled beneath him. “I'm sorry, Jonny,” he hiccuped, petting Jonathan through the blankets, “Oh god, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean any of it.”

Jonathan nudged forward towards Pat’s thumb and licked it. Patrick gave him a watery smile.

He grabbed the hot water and held it to Jonny’s snout. The hedgehog licked into the water and drank it, pausing when Patrick moved his free hand from Jon’s side. When Pat put it back, Jonny continued to drink. Patrick went for the food next, and let Jonny eat a little, before letting him drink the water again.

The little hedgehog was still shaking, and still freezing cold. Patrick wasn't exactly warm either, so he decided to run a bath. He carried Jonathan upstairs and into the bathroom, closing the door and placing Jonny on the fuzzy toilet seat. He plugged the tub and started filling it up with hot water. He let it run, and sat on the floor, not wanting to kneel because of his sensitive knees. They were still raw from the snow.

When the tub was warm enough, he stripped naked and got in the tub with Jonny. Jonathan shivered but relaxed into the warmth, snuggling up against him. Patrick washed Jon’s quills and stayed in a little longer, maybe about an hour or so, before he drained it and got out. He toweled them both off and slid them into bed, holding Jonathan to his neck as he fell asleep.

________________

Patrick almost fell out of the bed.

He'd woke up to creaking and pained groaning, and opened his eyes to find Jonathan, half awake next to him, fully human.

“Jonny?” Pat whispered, causing the other to look up tiredly. He looked down at his hands and- holy hell he had hands. Jonathan jumped, tumbling off the side of the bed. “Tazer!” He peered over the edge, seeing Jonathan scramble to stand. He was naked.

Jonathan stared at Patrick, before bolting out of the room. “Jonathan!” Patrick yelled, leaping up to race after him. He found Jon viciously wrapping a blanket around him, panicked and breathing heavily and he was pale as a damn ghost. Patrick walked over and put a hand on the back of Jonathan's neck. “Jon…” He breathed out quietly, staring at Jonathan with mixed emotions.

And then he started to cry.

“I thought you were going to die,” Patrick sobbed, holding Jonathan in a hug as tightly as possible, “I'm so sorry, Jonny. I never meant what I said! And then you went missing in the snow storm and you were so cold...I thought you were going to d-die thinking I hated you.”

Jonathan wrapped his arms around Patrick tightly, sniffling. He dropped his head into Kaner’s shoulder and started to cry, too. “I'm sorry,” he hiccuped, “Y-You were so mad and I-I felt like I'd become a burden. I didn't want to cause you more pain…”

Patrick let out another sob. “Oh god, you could never be a burden to me, Jon.”

Jonathan sniffled, “I love you.”

“I love you, too.” Patrick muttered into his shirt.

Jonathan pulled away. “No, Patrick. I love you. I'm in love with you. I always have been.” His voice cracked at the end and he looked down at the floor in shame.

Patrick stared at Jonny in bewilderment, before tilting Jon’s head up. “I love you, too.” He repeated, and there was a little sparkle in Jon’s eye. Everything was okay.

______________

They made it to the playoffs against the Blues. They creamed the Blues in a glorious score of 7-2. The team on the bench jumped onto the ice in screams and cheers, laughing and hugging and shouting Chelsea Dagger at the top of their lungs, dancing along with the music that was blaring from every inch of the United Center.

Jonathan was handed the Cup, and the first thing he did was skate over to Kaner, let the latter pull him into a hug, and instead of hugging, Jonathan pressed his lips firmly to Pat’s.

The entire UC somehow got louder, practically shaking the ground. His team wolf-whistled and cat-called, and Jonathan thrust the Cup over his and Patrick's head in a two-way victory. The Stanley Cup, and his now-outed relationship. They pulled away and Patrick grinned at him, taking the Cup Jonny put into his hands.

Kaner made a couple rounds before handing it back to the captain. Jonny lifted it above his head with a shout of victory. His engagement ring glistened in the arena light. His team barreled into him, making a group hug. Jonathan could see they were on the jumbotron, and therefore wasn't surprised when Kaner leaned over and kissed Jon again, this time, it being broadcasted all over the stadium.

“When we buy a house, can we get a hedgehog?” Patrick asked over the screams. Jonathan raised an eyebrow, and Pat was quick to defend himself, “What? I got used to having a little hedgehog running around.”

Jonathan just chuckled and shook his head, pecking Patrick on the lips again, “Sounds good to me.”