Rating:

Mature

Archive Warning:

Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Categories:

Gen, M/M

Fandom:

Heated Rivalry (TV)

Relationships:

Shane Hollander/Ilya Rozanov, Shane Hollander & Scott Hunter, Shane Hollander & Hayden Pike & Jackie Pike, Shane Hollander & Original Character(s), Shane Hollander & Rose Landry, Shane Hollander & New York Admirals Team Ensemble, David Hollander & Shane Hollander & Yuna Hollander, Kip Grady/Scott Hunter, Other Relationship Tags to Be Added

Characters:

Shane Hollander, Ilya Rozanov, Scott Hunter (Game Changers), New York Admirals Team Ensemble (Game Changers), Original Characters, Rose Landry, Eric Bennett, Carter Vaughn, Miles (Game Changers), Gloria Grey, Yuna Hollander, David Hollander, Hayden Pike, Jackie Pike, Kip Grady, Svetlana Vetrova, Zane Boodram, Wyatt Hayes, Troy Barrett, Jean-Jacques Boiziau | J. J. Dagenais, Other Character Tags to Be Added

Additional Tags:

Outing, Shane Hollander Gets Outed, Montreal Voyageurs | Montreal Metros Being Assholes (Game Changers), New York Admirals Player Shane Hollander, Shane Hollander Needs a Hug, Shane Hollander Loves Ilya Rozanov, Ilya Rozanov Loves Shane Hollander, Good Friend Scott Hunter (Game Changers), Good Friend Hayden Pike, Good Friend Kip Grady, Queer Culture, Social Media, Homophobia, Changing POVs, you heard of the "shane adopts a rookie" fics now get ready for:, Rookies Adopt Shane Hollander, that's their new hockey dad and if you mess with him, you're messing with the entire city of new york, My First Work in This Fandom, No AI Was Used In The Making Of This Fanfic, No Beta We Die Like the Voyageurs' Stanley Cup Dreams

Language:

English

Collections:

Anonymous

Stats:

Published: 2026-02-23 Words: 2,802 Chapters: 1/?

Like a Badge of Honor

Notes

Chapter 1: Less a Crack, and More a Quake

Despite what Gilbert Comeau will later claim in front of a grand jury and an audience of one million enraged fans watching from their TVs, laptops, and phones, the root of his crimes wasn’t simple curiosity.

If it were purely curiosity, Comeau could’ve stopped digging after Shane Hollander told the locker room that he and Rose Landry had decided they were better off as friends. If that was still not enough to sate him, he could’ve stopped when he pulled Hayden Pike aside and pushed for a better peek behind the curtain. If that were still not enough, he could’ve stopped when he cornered J.J. Boiziau and told him to cut the bullshit. And if the stone wall that was Shane Hollander and his two best friends was still not enough, Gilbert Comeau could’ve stopped when he stole Hollander’s phone, took ten minutes to guess his password, and read the relevant text messages between his captain and his A-list ex-girlfriend.

But Gilbert Comeau wasn’t compelled to act out of curiosity. Oh no. Gilbert Comeau was a petty, spiteful, envious man who saw his younger teammate’s unparalleled success and wanted to bring him down a peg any way he could.

This was difficult, because almost nobody could touch Shane Hollander’s skills on the ice, and with his fucking Rolex money, it wasn’t like Comeau could rag on him for needing to make stupid FanMail videos if he wanted to splurge on a new Ferarri. So when Hollander fumbled the bag on Rose Landry, Gilbert Comeau thought, ‘Finally. Here’s something Golden Boy’s fucked up.’

Comeau read the texts between the two partners-turned-friends not looking for answers or trying to solve a mystery. No. Gilbert Comeau combed through those texts like a soldier combing no man’s land for ammunition. And by God, did he find it.

<><><>

Gilbert Comeau ✅ @GComeauVoyageurs

Can’t believe I’ve been sharing a locker room with a fucking fag all these years. @S_Hollander_Voyageurs, you better not have been sneaking peeks everyday after practice. @RoseLandry if you want a taste of a real man, know I’m always down.

[link]

winterfells baby @starks_for_westeros

this cannot be real oh my fucking god

 

Team Pepper @PepperonyPlease

Say sike right now you did NOT just out your FUCKING CAPTAIN on main

 

Voyageurs (2)4 Life @voyageurs2in2009

Well that’s years of merch sales wasted

 

pro stick handler @putting_the_queer_in_hockey

i’m winning but at what cost. at WHAT FUCKING COST?!?!??!?!?!!?

 

24x35=69 @shayden_truther840

I don’t even care that this is feeding me: the shipping goggles are OFF for the foreseeable future. Gilbert Comeau your days are fucking numbered

 

Load More Comments

<><><>

Shane finds out exactly three hours and twenty-seven minutes after Comeau first posted. 

He had stayed a bit later to get some extra practice on a power play formation he wanted to prepare for the playoffs. Hayden had called him overly keen and claimed that he’d be jinxing their chances and ‘Really, Shane, we’ve got four months. Let’s focus on beating Columbus and New York, first.’ But he’d still waited around to heckle and chirp as Shane drilled alone on the ice. 

It was this familiar scene that J.J. stumbled upon when he raced out of the locker room, half-dressed, shoeless, and with a wild look in his eyes.

“Capitaine!” he shouted, waving his phone in the air, “Hollander! Have you seen this?!”

Shane completed his shot on the goal before skating back around towards the bench. Hayden had pulled out his own phone and was rapidly paling at whatever he was scrolling past.

“Is everything okay?” Shane asked.

J.J. and Hayden exchanged a look before Hayden hesitantly extended his phone to him. Shane pulled off his gloves, grabbed it, and began to read some horrifyingly familiar texts.

Shane’s hands were shaking by the time his eyes landed on Rose’s last teasing message. When he’ll think back later, Shane will view the next hour or so as if he were a bystander watching on as an alien slug took control of his body. He can’t remember actively deciding to storm into the locker room, dig through his bag and locker to find his phone, only to call it on Hayden’s and hear the vibrating echo coming from the locked cubby in Comeau’s locker. He can’t remember actively flagging down one of the custodians and begging them to take a bolt cutter to Comeau’s lock. He can’t remember blinking back tears at his hundreds of notifications, and what seemed to be every person in the hockey world demanding a soundbite. He can’t remember J.J. packing up his gear as Hayden steered him by the shoulders into his car.

What Shane can remember is snapping back to himself in the Pikes’ home, wrapped up in a million blankets with Disney’s Cinderella playing on the TV and Jackie’s fingers running through his hair. He blinks up at her, and before he can even get the chance to sniffle out a question, he’s in the center of a group hug between Hayden, Jackie, Jade, and Ruby.

“Are you feeling better, Uncle Shane?” Jade asked, “Daddy said you had a bad day, so we had to watch Cinderella because that’s the feeling-better movie.”

He felt Ruby nod into his stomach. “Yeah,” she mumbled into the blankets, “I had a bad day, too ‘cause Missus Tam from daycare yelled at the class for being loud. So we can have a bad day together.”

Shane wiggled his arms out of his quilted cocoon and returned her hug. “I’m sorry to hear we’re bad day buddies. Are you feeling a little better now?”

She nodded again. “Yeah. Are you, Uncle Shane?”

Shane’s eyes slid up. Hayden caught his gaze, and the two of them shared a look.

“Not yet, Ruby,” Shane choked out. “Not yet.”

The four-year-old’s lip wobbled as she squeezed him tighter. Her sister squirmed her way into the fold, with only Jackie’s comments about pajamas and bed times breaking them up. Jackie shifted Shane’s head out of her lap, leaving him and Hayden sprawled together on the couch.

“How bad is it?” Shane asked, staring despondently up at the ceiling.

Hayd heaved in a breath and slowly exhaled before answering. “I haven’t looked at anything in the past hour, but fucking Comeau still had his post up when I last check, and at least one news source promised ‘updates on the developing story,’ so you know it’s been screenshotted a million times by now.”

Shane let that information wash over him. “Fuck,” he whispered to himself, “Fuck.”

He felt more than saw Hayden shift around until Shane was safely cradled in his arms. He let himself be spooned for a bit until Jackie returned with a familiar bee plushie under one arm and a pink teddy bear under the other.

“I’ve been informed that Mr. Bumble and Princess Rosie are to keep ‘nightmares and monsters’ away tonight,” she said, dropping the two toys at the head of the couch before turning towards the kitchen. “Wine or ginger ale?”

“You know I don’t drink leading up to a game.”

“Wine it is,” Jackie called back. A moment later, she returned with an unopened bottle of red wine, two glasses, and a can of ginger ale. Jackie opened up the bottle, poured two generous servings in the glasses, and cracked open the can. Shane detangled his limbs from Hayd’s and reached for the ginger ale, only for Jackie to pull the can away and take a swig.

“And what do you think you’re doing, mister?” she teased, “I’m pregnant, remember? No wine for me. But feel more than free to let me live vicariously through you.”

Shane huffed and rolled his eyes, but grabbed one of the wine glasses off the coffee table. Hayden reached up and grabbed the other and the three of them sat silently for a bit, nursing their respective drinks. Eventually, though, the tension buckled under its own weight.

“So, ah…. is there something you want to be getting off your—silence also works,” Hayden quickly pivoted with a single look from his wife.

Shane just groaned. “It’s no use, Hayd. The entire fucking world already knows.” He took a long sip, deciding that his immediate need to steel his nerves overrode one of his dozens of pre-game rules and rituals. “There’s no use denying it. I’m gay.”

“Right. Right. Thank you for telling us,” Hayden said, “I’m sorry that it wasn’t your choice, and I wish, with every fiber of my being, that I could rewind time and rip Comeau’s dick off before he posted your texts.”

“Jar,” Jackie said.

“Is now really the time?” Despite his grumbling, Hayden still fished out a dollar and shoved it in the ‘Mormon Jar.’ Similarly to the Swear Jar, Jackie and Hayden had to pay up whenever one of them used a term or phrase they had deemed ‘too Mormon.’ How they determined that metric, Shane didn’t know, but the sheer normalcy of the act made his lips twitch at the corners. Jackie’s smug sip of ginger ale suggested that that was her goal all along.

Hayden returned to the couch where Shane immediately leaned back onto his shoulder. “I appreciate the sentiment, even if Comeau still has his dick.”

“Not for long, if we have anything to say about it,” Jackie muttered, “But he’s right, hon. We love you and we’re here for you. Whatever you need.”

“Let’s start with the small stuff, first: how hungry are you?”

Shane frowned at Hayden’s question before actually taking a moment to think about it. “Starving, actually.”

“Figured. You were kind of catatonic when we made dinner. Second thing: do you want to talk with anyone else tonight? We already texted your parents to make sure they knew you weren’t alone.”

Shane groaned and buried himself into the crook of his friend’s neck. “Tomorrow. I’ll text and call and do responsible adult bullshit tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow sounds perfect,” Hayden agreed, “Now, let’s get something in you other than alcohol.”

<><><>

A couple of hours later, after Jackie and Hayd got him fed and set up in the usual guest room, Shane made the classic 3AM mistake of scrolling through Twitter. 

Did he know doing so was a bad idea? Yes. Did Shane’s anxious mess of a brain still refuse to give him a moment of peace until he either soothed his nerves or fed his greatest fears? Also yes. Which was why he was glaring angrily at his phone screen trying to decipher penguine-carbonara’s intricate feelings about gay hockey players.

pasta birb 🐧 @penguine-carbonara

shout out to hockey rpfers i guess. is this your superbowl?

bear fan in every sense of the word @hairythighssavelives

i think the correct term is stanley cup

pro stick handler @putting_the_queer_in_hockey

Like 10% of fans that are insane and heartless are making it all about them and their ship right now, but the 90% of us (relatively) normal fans are more angry and devastated on Hollander’s behalf. This entire thing is clearly a huge breach of trust, and obviously no one’s said if it’s even real.

pro stick handler @putting_the_queer_in_hockey

If it is real, the first actively gay player in the MLH was outed by a teammate and coworker and now may have to deal with an extremely heteronormative and potentially hostile environment. If it isn’t real, a rising MLH star at the beginning of his prime is going to have to deal with “Are you secretly gay? Like actually?” questions for the rest of his career

pro stick handler @putting_the_queer_in_hockey

TLDR: Shane Hollander is having a Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, and if Gilbert Comeau so much as breathes in Hollander’s direction, I’m flying to Montreal and taking a mallet to Comeau’s kneecaps.

👑 @LA_Queenie5649

Of all the MLH cities in all the world, why’s MONTREAL the one with Rose Landry’s gay bestie?

guardians’ guy @guardian18fan

i hope that fag doesnt ruin the sport. keep that gay shit out of the mlh

Layla @la-la-la-layla-woods

I’m not taking this shit from a fucking Dallas Kent fan.

swing(er) disco @dancediscodance

The longer the Voyageurs’ office goes without saying “we are firing Comeau for obvious reasons,” the more worried I am that it’s never going to come. Montreal don’t fucking fumble this, please!!!!!

The Crease Divide @TheCreaseDivide_Pod

Listen in and hear our takes on the arising Shane Hollander homosexuality situation:

“Hollander’s obviously put the Voyageurs in a tough spot. After all, who wants to be known as the gayest team in the MLH?”

That last comment made Shane pause. The Crease Divide was one of the most popular hockey podcasts on the continent, and generally very conservative. The simple preview was most likely the tip of the iceberg, and the staggering number of retweets attached to the post did nothing to reassure Shane. 

‘Do a lot of fans think I’ll be a bad look for the team?’ he thought, ‘It’s not like I’d let something like that come in the middle of the game.’

With no small amount of trepidation, Shane clicked on the retweets, only to find that the lion’s share belonged to a single chain of comments using the article preview as a jumping base.

Aiden Gillis @AidenGillisAdmirals

“who wants to be known as the gayest team in the MLH?” Me! Me! Me, me, me, me, me 🙋🙋🙋🙋🙋

Shane blinked down at the excited tweet, desperately trying to remember who, exactly, Aiden Gillis was. It took a minute, but then the stats started to pour in. 

Aiden Gillis was a rookie right winger who had been drafted by the Admirals last year. He had seen a fair amount of ice time earlier in the season, but now that Scott Hunter was clawing his way out of his slump, that playtime had drastically decreased in favor of the Hunter-Vaughan power duo. The kid still had a respectable two goals and five assists over the past ten games, though, so Shane doubted Gillis had to worry about being pushed back to the AHL anytime soon.

Aiden Gillis @AidenGillisAdmirals

@S_Hollander_Voyageurs, seriously, if Montreal is stupid enough to let you go, we would LOVE to have you.

Aiden Gillis @AidenGillisAdmirals

There are probably a hundred reasons to come to New York. 1. We have Scott Hunter 2. You and Scott on the same team would be FIRE

Aiden Gillis @AidenGillisAdmirals

3. I will personally enact a 0-tolerance policy on homophobia (no I don’t care if I’m a rookie and can’t technically do that. I still will)

Aiden Gillis @AidenGillisAdmirals

4. We are going to win the Stanley Cup this year, and if you join, that’ll be your 3rd in a row. You could be a one-man dynasty!

Aiden Gillis @AidenGillisAdmirals

5. You can even keep the same color scheme! It’ll be perfect!

Aiden Gillis @AidenGillisAdmirals

I can’t really think of 95 more reasons right now, but they exist and I will send a list with @Scott_Hunter_Admirals to All-Stars. In conclusion:

Aiden Gillis @AidenGillisAdmirals

@S_Hollander_Voyageurs please join the New York Admirals. Please, please, please, please, please. 🙏 🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏

Shane chuckled at the thread of tweets, sent a quick reply, and finally turned off his phone.

‘I’m sure I’m overreacting and the Voyageurs will be just fine,” Shane thought, drifting off to sleep, ‘And even if they aren’t, I’ll have other options, even if they are just wishes of over-eager rookies.’