heated rivalry fics

Works:
12
Complete:
No
Words:
541,590

  1. cause it's on again, off again (love you like oxygen) by

    Heated Rivalry (TV), Game Changers Series - Rachel Reid
    • T

    2026-05-25

    “Y-Yeah, totally,” Shane replied. “D-Do you uh– do you know who that kid with Rozanov is?”

    Scott laughed a little, tilting his head in confusion.

    “Probably Rozanov’s kid,” he informed Shane, causing his brain to stall completely.

    “You didn’t hear?” Scott asked, and Shane blinked, trying to reboot his mind from the crash that Scott had just caused. “It’s why he took time off,” Hunter informed him. “Found out he had a kid, I guess. Or something like that, I didn’t really get the details.”

    Of all the reasons he’d thought of for Ilya disappearing for the past month, this had never crossed his mind. A million different thoughts raced through Shane’s mind. How the hell was Ilya a dad, and why hadn’t he told Shane and how the fuck did Scott Hunter of all people find out before him and—

    And what the fuck was Shane supposed to do now?

    _______________________________________________________________

    After the tuna melt situation, Ilya suddenly disappears from hockey for six weeks, claiming some sort of family emergency. Shane showed up to the All-Star game ready to try and fix things, only to be shocked to find a little girl at Ilya's side with remarkably familiar blue eyes.

    Language:
    English
    Words:
    118,425
    Chapters:
    24/?
    Files:
    1
    AO3:
    #76668636

  2. in the middle of the darkest night (in the middle of the hardest fight) by

    Heated Rivalry (TV), Game Changers Series - Rachel Reid
    • T
    • ✓

    2026-01-18

    “Ilya,” he clarified, wincing as he swallowed, his throat feeling like he’d eaten a fistful of glass. “I need to call Ilya.”

    He fumbled around for his phone, desperately needing to hear his fiance’s voice. Together, they could figure this out. They’d make a plan. Ilya could drive with his parents from Ottawa and–

    But Ilya wasn’t in Ottawa. He was in Russia.

    No.

    No.

    They’d kill Ilya in Russia. They’d kill him, or arrest him, or– or–

    Oh god, they’d kill him.
    __________________________________________________________________________

    A family emergency means Ilya is in Russia when Hayden's FanMail video ends up on Twitter, outing them to the entire world. It, predictably, ends horribly.

    Language:
    English
    Words:
    32,065
    Chapters:
    6/6
    Files:
    4 versions
    AO3:
    #77085301

  3. things that go bump in the night by

    Heated Rivalry (TV), Game Changers Series - Rachel Reid
    • M
    • ?
    • ✓

    2026-03-30

    “I’m Shane. Hollander. Vampire hunter,” The introduction would be madness anywhere else. But Shane had ducked out to catch his breath, exhausted from the constant stream of networking and chatter with other vampire hunters. He was a newly minted hunter and beamed with pride to tell anyone about it. He was certain this stranger wouldn’t be scandalised but when he held out his hand, they just stared at it.

    “Ilya Rozanov,” he introduced himself, then flashed Shane a wicked smile, “vampire.”

    Shane hunts feral vampires. Ilya is a vampire, but Shane's not interested in hunting him - no, he wants something far more dangerous. When the lines of their rivalry start to blur, they find themselves entangled in an age old conflict that will have far-reaching consequences.

    Language:
    English
    Words:
    29,563
    Chapters:
    6/6
    Files:
    1
    AO3:
    #81593171

  4. your presence has gone through me (like needle through a thread) by

    Heated Rivalry (TV), Game Changers Series - Rachel Reid
    • T

    2026-05-25

    "We're setting you up with a billet situation," Fletcher continued. "It's pretty common for first-year players, especially international guys. Gives you a chance to settle in, learn the city, have someone looking out for you."

    "Okay," Ilya said slowly, not entirely sure what a billet was, but not wanting to admit his ignorance.

     He could guess from the context – he’d heard of rookies being assigned to live with older single players, veterans who could show them the ropes. Maybe that was what Fletcher meant. Connors maybe, he was probably a handful of years older than Ilya. Or perhaps Becker. Ilya just hoped it was someone who–

    "You'll be staying with Nikolai Petrov and his family."

    The words hit Ilya like a punch to the gut. For a moment, he forgot how to breathe.

    "Petrov?" he managed, his voice coming out strangled.
    __________________________________________________________________

    The Bears decide that Ilya should be set up with a billet for his first season. The idea of spending a year living with a man that Ilya is sure hates him is completely terrifying. And yet, it ends up being the best thing to ever happen to him.

    Language:
    English
    Words:
    103,460
    Chapters:
    12/?
    Files:
    2 versions
    AO3:
    #77858951

  5. so give me your eyes (i need sunshine) by

    Heated Rivalry (TV), Game Changers Series - Rachel Reid
    • T
    • ✓

    2025-12-29

    Shane had known for a while now that he was in love with Ilya Rozanov. But it was seeing the sweet, gentle, caring side of him that leaked out more and more after they finally admitted their feelings for one another that clinched the deal. “We’re good here,” Ilya promised him, voice softer than Shane is used to hearing it as he gently ran a lar ge hand gently over his shoulders. “Your family is here. Your boyfriend is here. You’re good here, okay?” “My boyfriend?” Shane asked, slightly surprised at the other man’s use of the word. And it was when he looked up, staring into Ilya’s soft blue eyes as he casually confirmed his words, as though there was no doubt in Ilya’s mind that they were anything but, that Shane knew. He could love this man for the rest of his life. He could love him for all of their days, and it wouldn’t even be hard. Loving Ilya was easier than breathing. It was natural, instinctual, and impossible to live without. ________________________________________________________ During their visit to Shane's parents' house, he reflects on just how much he loves Ilya Rozanov It wasn’t until Shane saw Ilya at his parents’ house, a setting completely unlike any other one they’d ever been in together (for starters, there were actually other people around that knew their secret), that he began to realize all the things he hadn’t noticed about the other man before. The first thing he noticed was just how… polite Ilya was with his parents. Shane hadn’t ever realized that was something Ilya knew how to be. Charming, yes. An asshole, yes. But polite? Sure, he could be sweet and affectionate, a side of him that Shane was thankfully seeing more and more of, but even a sweet Ilya Rozanov was still a bit of an ass. Except in his parents’ home, Ilya was polite. Polite and… nervous? If there was one thing that Ilya Rozanov had always been defined by, it was confidence. He exuded it at every moment. Even before a championship game, you would never see anything but complete confidence in him. Shane had seen him uncomfortable before – in press interviews, when he couldn’t quite piece together what a reporter was asking him, during the Olympics because, well, Russia was Russia – but he’d never seen him nervous. At least not until Shane brought him home to meet his parents and watched as the cool, confident Ilya Rozanov turned into a shy, timid version of himself. He’d brushed it off, for the most part, too busy having a panic attack to really think much about it. It wasn’t like he could blame the man, after all. Shane was far more of a wreck than he was. Anyone in this situation would be nervous, he thought. Shane had known for a while now that he was in love with Ilya Rozanov. But it was seeing the sweet, gentle, caring side of him that leaked out more and more after they finally admitted their feelings for one another that clinched the deal. It was the way that, when Shane was struggling to get air into his lungs, too busy spiraling about what a complete and utter shit show his life was, Ilya was the first to comfort him, not his parents. “We’re good here,” Ilya promised him, voice softer than Shane is used to hearing it as he gently ran a lar ge hand gently over his shoulders. “Your family is here. Your boyfriend is here. You’re good here, okay?” “My boyfriend?” Shane asked, slightly surprised at the other man’s use of the word. And it was when he looked up, staring into Ilya’s soft blue eyes (the eyes that were his favorite color in the world, the ones he could stare at forever and never get tired of, eyes that saw every inch of Shane for who he was) as he casually confirmed his words, as though there was no doubt in Ilya’s mind that they were anything but, that Shane knew. He could love this man for the rest of his life. He could love him for all of their days, and it wouldn’t even be hard. Loving Ilya was easier than breathing. It was natural, instinctual, and impossible to live without. By the time they waved goodbye to his parents and pulled out of the driveway, Shane had never been more grateful for Ilya than in that moment. There was no way, he knew, that he would’ve made it through the afternoon if Ilya hadn’t come with him. He’d been perfect. Supportive, kind, gentle. All the things Shane had desperately needed that day. While lying in bed later that night, unable to sleep due to the last vestiges of anxiety clinging to his brain, he replayed the afternoon in his mind. It was then that he realized that even the things Ilya had done that, albeit in the moment had annoyed Shane, were really just more parts of Ilya that he found so endearing. His use of the word lover hadn’t been some sort of snarky remark. It’d been the language barrier, the fact that there were so many words that Ilya knew the definitions of but not the true context of them. The way he’d been the only one eating the meal Shane’s dad had made for them while the rest of them were talking hadn’t been rude or a lack of awareness of the situation. It’d been an attempt to be respectful to David, to show that at least one person was grateful he’d gone through the trouble of making them a meal. And, the more Shane thought about it, probably because it was the first home-cooked meal Ilya had been given in a long time. Maybe since his mother died. He rolled over in bed, watching Ilya sleep, the man looking more relaxed than he ever did awake. His curls, which had been sprung free of any gel the entire time Ilya had been at the cottage – much to Shane’s utter delight – were falling into his face and Shane reached forward, gently brushing them back. Ilya snuffled a bit in his sleep, adorably, in Shane’s opinion, although he could hear Ilya’s protests already. Russians are not adorable, Hollander. We have never been adorable. This is not something we are. And even though most of the world would probably say they were a horrible match for one another, even though the entire deck was stacked against them, even though they might not be able to publicly be together for another decade… Shane couldn’t help it. He loved him. He loved Ilya Rozanov with every fiber of his being. The same things he used to hate about him, the things that used to drive Shane crazy, were now the parts about him that Shane loved, the parts he couldn’t live without. Ilya was the first person Shane had ever loved, and he desperately wanted him to be the last. His beginning and his end. And while the logistics of their relationship wasn’t easy, being with Ilya, loving Ilya, well… That was the easiest thing in the world.

    Language:
    English
    Words:
    1,079
    Chapters:
    1/1
    Files:
    2 versions
    AO3:
    #76630851

  6. How About that Other Team? by

    Heated Rivalry (TV), Game Changers Series - Rachel Reid
    • E
    • ?
    • ✓

    2026-08-01

    Boston, while they usually draft players they know to be aggressive, see Shane Hollander, classically Canadian, composed, and calculating, and realize they have an opportunity. Not to reform their image necessarily, but to put out the narrative of a better influence. No one expects Shane Hollander to snarky, suave, and all together trouble for the league.

    Montreal sees Ilya Rozanov for exactly what he is, brutal, talented, and masculine. He’s the leadership the Voyagers need, he’s tough on his teammates, on himself, and he doesn’t take shit from anybody. However, he’s too quiet off the ice, and it’s unsettling. He’s everything and nothing they thought he would be.

    Language:
    English
    Words:
    57,882
    Chapters:
    9/9
    Files:
    1
    AO3:
    #83305816

  7. hiraeth by

    Heated Rivalry (TV), Game Changers Series - Rachel Reid
    • T
    • ✓

    2025-12-29

    hiraeth (hee-ryth): a profound, nostalgic longing or homesickness for a home, place, or time that may never have existed or is lost forever “Do– Do you miss it?” Shane asked him carefully, tilting his head up so he could look Ilya in the eye. “Russia.” He wanted to brush the question off. To assure his husband that he didn’t miss the country in the slightest – because knowing Shane, if Ilya confessed that he did, he’d spiral into a guilt trip faster than Ilya could blink. Shane would probably believe him too. But he didn’t want to lie to his husband, or hide his feelings from him. They’d done that for so long, and Ilya was tired of it. “Mm, I don’t miss Russia,” he said slowly, searching his brain for the exact words he wanted to say. It was hard enough communicating his feelings as it was, but the fact that he had to do so in English made it even harder. Finding the words he wanted to say always seemed so exhausting. “But… I miss how it was when I was little. With my mother.” Home to Shane Hollander is a very different concept than it is for Ilya. To Shane Hollander, home was a cozy, inviting house just outside of Ottawa, a place where he’d been raised with nothing but love and care by two people who loved him more than anything in the world. To him, home was the place where nothing in the world could go wrong, where he was safe and protected. To Ilya, home was a far more difficult concept to grasp. The only true home he’d ever known, the only real love and care he’d had growing up, had died with his mother. It vanished with her, lost forever, never to be recovered. The cold, looming manor he’d grown up in was not the sort of place one would describe as a home. It had silence, where the Hollander house always had laughter. Cold, unyielding marble floors instead of soft rugs, ones that protected little knees learning how to walk and made the perfect place to sprawl on for a family movie night, rather than the marble that only ever left Ilya’s knees bleeding when he fell. It was the type of place where arguments were ended by a harsh, forceful hit instead of a hug. For years, whenever Ilya talked about home, he simply meant Russia. Moscow was where he’d grown up. It was more home than Boston was. The fierce, cold winters, the strolls along the Moskva, the familiar flow of Russian out of everyone’s mouths, that was what made it home. Familiarity. There was nothing wrong with Boston. Not really. It had just never felt like home. At first, Ilya had blamed it on the language barrier. His English had been good enough when he arrived, or so he thought, but soon he’d realized that trying to carry conversations all day, every day, in his second language was downright exhausting. And no matter how much he talked, no matter how many words came out of his mouth, he never felt like he was saying exactly what he wanted to. The message always ended up blurring along the way. But that feeling of not being at home didn’t ease once his English improved. After that, he blamed the food. He’d replaced the borscht and pelmeni he’d eaten his entire life with burgers and pasta - not exactly the most American food in the world but Boston’s North End meant Italian food was practically unavoidable in the city. He’d started cooking on his own more, trying to recreate the recipes his mother had made during his childhood. They were never quite the same as he remembered though, always leaving an odd taste in his mouth afterward. Eventually, he’d resigned himself to simply never feeling at home outside of Russia. After all, it was where he was born and where he’d been raised. Surely, every immigrant felt like this. Out of place, adrift, longing for a way back home. It wasn’t until he and Hollander had finally started become something more that Ilya finally realized just how fucked his definition of home was. How wrong it was that to him, home was a city, rather than a house filled with a family. “I wouldn’t be able to go home again,” he explained, knowing exactly how poorly things would turn for him if the people of Russia found out he was in love with a man. “Ever. Do you get that?” From the immediate look of confusion on Shane’s face, he could tell he didn’t. Shane’s fears about coming out revolved around hockey. The impact it would have on his dreams, on his goals, on winning another Cup. For Ilya, his fears were far more terrifying. “Because of your family?” he asked, and Ilya sighed in frustration. He wasn’t really annoyed with Shane. How could he be? It’d be like being mad at a cute, little puppy that didn’t know what it’d done wrong. Especially when the man had turned those stupidly soft, brown eyes on him, looking at Ilya like he was about to break apart at any moment. It was simply the reality of their situation. Ilya’s only home, or the only one he had left, was a place defined by mere borders on a map, and nothing more. Hollander’s was his family. When Ilya had said home, Shane hadn’t immediately thought about Russia. No, he was assuming Ilya couldn’t go home because his family wouldn’t approve. As though the problem was that Ilya would be kicked out onto the streets. And while that was partially the problem, it certainly wasn’t what Ilya had meant. His father’s house hadn’t been home in a long time. To Hollander, that was the worst possible scenario about coming out. Losing his family, even if that was a highly unlikely scenario. But that was how Canada was. For Ilya, the worst case scenario in Russia – and a highly likely one at that – was death. “Because Russia!” Ilya explained loudly, his temper boiling over. But his anger wasn’t at Shane. No, it was at the unfairness of the situation he’d found himself in. “I would not be able to go back to Russia!” Shane went quiet for a moment before hesitantly asking his next question, as though he didn’t want to know the answer. “What would happen to you?” The mere thought of being outed while in Russia was enough to nearly make him sick. He couldn’t say for certain what would happen. Had he been asked years ago, he would’ve said his father would kill him. Now, the man was so far gone he didn’t even remember who Ilya was. Perhaps Alexei would be the one to do it. Ilya wasn’t sure he’d have the guts to do it himself though. His brother had always been a coward. No, he’d probably turn Ilya over to whatever angry mob appeared first, and then that’d be it for him. Death, either by a hanging, or being dragged through the streets, or some other awful way to go out. “I don’t want to find out,” he confessed, swallowing heavily against the nausea waging a war in his stomach. The thought of losing Russia shouldn’t have terrified him so much.

    Language:
    English
    Words:
    2,917
    Chapters:
    1/1
    Files:
    2 versions
    AO3:
    #76620251

  8. I think my gaydar's broken by

    Heated Rivalry (TV), Game Changers | Heated Rivalry - All Media Types, Game Changers Series - Rachel Reid
    • T
    • ✓

    2026-05-20

    Rose: I’m serious, I think my gaydar is actively trying to sabotage me now.
    Shane: What do you mean?
    Rose: [Article: Rose Landry’s Inability to Hold Down a Man: What’s Wrong with Her?]
    Shane: What the fuck?
    Shane: They’re serious?
    Rose: Yup. Maybe I can borrow Ilya’s gaydar. Think he’d let me?

    ---

    OR: Rose needs Ilya's help to find a boyfriend.

    • Part 3 of
    Language:
    English
    Words:
    1,878
    Chapters:
    1/1
    Files:
    1
    AO3:
    #85238051

  9. I'll move, just hold my hand by

    Heated Rivalry (TV), Game Changers | Heated Rivalry - All Media Types, Game Changers Series - Rachel Reid
    • T

    2026-07-26

    After Rose helps Shane realize his sexuality, he decides he needs to come out to the important people in his life. He's not ready to be out publicly, but he needs friends in his corner.

    • Part 2 of
    Language:
    English
    Words:
    122,633
    Chapters:
    53/?
    Files:
    2 versions
    AO3:
    #77675241

  10. Shane Hollander, Gay Hockey Jesus by

    Heated Rivalry (TV), Game Changers Series - Rachel Reid, Game Changers | Heated Rivalry - All Media Types
    • M
    • ✓

    2026-07-03

    Compromising pictures surface after Ilya Rozanov’s phone is hacked. Determined not to let his Russian situationship face the fall-out of getting outed, Shane Hollander comes out, starts Twitter fights, and commits to acting unhinged on main, enlisting the help of a few trusted allies.
    His objective? To become the bigger news story so as to draw attention away from Rozanov, in an insane bid to distract Russia from coming for his... whatever they are to each other.
    Whoever said you can’t singlehandedly change an entire narrative has clearly never met Shane Hollander.

    • Part 5 of
    Language:
    English
    Words:
    13,272
    Chapters:
    5/5
    Files:
    1
    AO3:
    #87552201

  11. Stupid Canadian Jailbird by

    Heated Rivalry (TV), Game Changers Series - Rachel Reid, Game Changers | Heated Rivalry - All Media Types
    • E
    • !
    • ✓

    2026-08-31

    Shane and Ilya get arrested hours after Team Canada wins the World Junior Championship. From one day to the next, their lives are flipped upside down. As prisoners – er, incarcerated persons –, they are no longer climbing the hockey social ladder. They are no longer rival captains and star hockey players bearing responsibility for their nations’ and their future MLH teams’ hopes. They are nothing more than cellmates awaiting trial, caught in a tedious cycle of empty days where privacy is a distant memory. However will they pass the time?

    Good thing they have each other. Now if only they could be honest about their feelings... Ideally, before they're released and face the legal and professional consequences of their venture into crime.

    ***

    OR a fact-ridden, funny, and frustrating romance set in one of the world's least romantic and most devastating environments, courtesy of a prison scholar.

    Language:
    English
    Words:
    56,694
    Chapters:
    15/15
    Files:
    1
    AO3:
    #89569931

  12. wear me like a secret by

    Heated Rivalry (TV), Game Changers Series - Rachel Reid
    • T
    • ✓

    2026-01-05

    Ilya walked into the bedroom, stuttering to a stop in the doorway as he saw the rucked up bedding. He forced himself to move again, intent on making a beeline to the shower. Instead his eyes snagged on the neatly folded pile of clothes on the leather chair in the corner of the room. A brown jacket, a white tee-shirt, a pair of black jeans, even a pair of crew socks, stacked neatly, waiting.

    As if he were being reeled in, Ilya approached the chair and watched from outside his own mind as he ran a finger over the clothes, as if testing their reality. He pulled the jacket from the bottom of the pile, lifting it to his nose and inhaling slowly as he crouched low. He squeezed his eyes shut again, swallowed past the lump in his throat, and rubbed the back of his neck with his free hand.

    • Part 1 of
    Language:
    English
    Words:
    1,722
    Chapters:
    1/1
    Files:
    1
    AO3:
    #77111506