Work Text:
Aviators
A/N: *sobs very loudly* Sooo, yeah. I’m not okay, haha. BTE made me very sad, and that ending has put all sorts of ideas in my head. So this is the result. All my angst and worry… Going back a bit in time to a little before the last fic (because BTE) and then we’re back to the present.
Kenny and Adam froze halfway down the hall from the Elite’s locker room when they ran into each other after the show. Kenny had watched the match. Saw Adam cost the Bucks. Saw what they’d done after the fact at the bar. There was so much going on in his heart and mind that he didn’t know how to react at the moment. Kenny swallowed, lost for words. Adam stood paralyzed, fear running through him, fear that this was it. This was where Kenny left him for good, sided with Matt and Nick, because why wouldn’t he? He had every right to tell Adam that he was everything they’d said he was and that the Bucks were right to kick him out of the Elite!
Before either of them could say anything, however, their eyes fell on Adam’s suitcase and bags, which were tossed haphazardly on the floor, and Adam looked away guiltily. Kenny took a deep breath, trying to keep his sudden anger at the sight in check.
“Is that everything?” Kenny asked, not looking at Adam or his things, trying to process the anger and hurt and the way his heart felt torn in two all over again.
“Um… The title. It’s…” Kenny nodded.
“Maybe you should… Wait out here.” Adam nodded, not meeting Kenny’s eyes as Kenny cautiously approached the locker room. Please don’t let them be here. Please… He breathed a sigh of relief when he found the room empty, quickly gathering up all his stuff and Adam’s title before putting as much distance between them and the room as possible. He really didn’t want to talk to the Bucks right now. Did they need to talk? Yes. Were any of them in any sort of okay-ish state of mind to? Hell no! Adam had gathered up his stuff, hesitantly taking his title from Kenny’s grasp, still not meeting his eyes. Kenny sighed, running a hand through his curls with a frown. Adam wanted to say something, explain himself, but the words wouldn’t come. What could he say?
“I…” He trailed off as he felt his throat tighten up, eyes stinging.
“Are you heading right back?” Adam nodded slowly, not noticing the worried look on Kenny’s face, the fire in his eyes, the furrow in his brow. “Okay. I’ll see you in a bit. I just need to… Clear my head.”
Adam just stood there for a few seconds, momentarily overwhelmed with despair before turning to go. Kenny heard the wheels of his suitcase against the floor, the echo of Adam’s boots, felt his heart grow a bit colder, a bit harder, the farther Adam got from him. Despite craving his presence, he didn’t want to be around Adam too long when he was like this. He needed to work some of the negative energy out of his system. Putting on his mask, he took another route to the parking lot, throwing his things in the back of his car and going for a run. Maybe a few laps around the arena would be enough. He didn’t bother trying to pace himself. The faster and harder he ran the more tired out he would be. The more energy he’d expend. The less wound up and frustrated he might be.
Jobber.
Drunk.
DDT Kenny.
Not good enough.
Kenny shook his head, trying to clear those thoughts from his head. Hearing the Bucks talk like that about him and Adam…
We need the old Kenny back.
You’re out of the Elite!
...Holding onto something that never even existed!
Kenny growled, eyes squeezed shut for a moment.
... I thought I mattered.
He slowed down his pace in shock as he heard Adam’s voice.
I was gonna say us…
I want this to work out.
You can’t have it all, Kenny.
I just want you to choose me!
Kenny tripped over his own feet, tumbling to the ground. He rolled through, scraping his hands and knees and panting as he found himself sprawled on the ground, wind knocked out of him. He laid on the concrete for a few minutes, just staring at the hard, unforgiving surface as he caught his breath. He loved the Bucks. He would do anything for them. But this? Kicking Adam out of the Elite without even asking him about it? Thinking they knew all that was going through his and Adam’s heads? Acting like they knew best, like they were in the right?
Had Adam done them wrong in the past? Yes. Several times. Heck, Adam had done him wrong in the past. And… The three of them had done Adam wrong too… So many times… But he had still been there for them after everything they’d all been through. Even when he declared himself out of the Elite he had been there, for the bits, the matches. He hadn’t abandoned them.
And Kenny wasn’t about to abandon him.
He slowly pushed himself up off the ground, rising unsteadily to his feet. He had to make sure Adam was okay. He slow jogged the rest of the way back around to his car, climbing in the driver’s seat and getting situated with a long sigh. He looked in the rearview mirror, saw his tired, conflicted gaze reflected back. Then he looked closer. He saw more.
Anger. Guilt. Frustration. Pain. Uncertainty.
Hope.
Conflict.
He blinked. An eerie melody, warped yet familiar, sounded softly, hauntingly, in his ears. He was wearing a pair of aviators, sneering, looking very reminiscent of 2016. Feeling very reminiscent of 2016.
...But whose shadow was he in now? What did he have left to prove? What home had he lost this time? ...Who was he to betray?
He blinked again. Same old Kenny. No sneer. No aviators. No music. No heartbreak, but plenty of heartache. Just a look of defeat and tiredness. Fuck, he needed to go. He needed to see Adam. He turned the key in the ignition and drove off.
XxX
Adam grumbled in protest at the loud buzzing of someone’s phone, burying his face further into Kenny’s chest and throwing a pillow on top of his head. The two were back at Kenny’s house the day after, buried under a mountain of blankets. Kenny groaned at the offending noise, blindly reaching towards the nightstand, eyes still shut. One eye slowly opened to glance at the screen. 13 missed calls from Nick. 14 missed calls from Matt. Shit. Adam let out a quiet whine as Kenny attempted to sit up, and Kenny chuckled softly, plopping a kiss in his hair and laying back down. He scrolled through his voicemail, stopping at the first of the messages. He hit play.
Kenny, please pick up. Listen, I know Adam’s your tag partner and all, but we need to talk, okay? I can’t believe he would—He had no right to do that! And I know he’s your boyfriend, but… Matt sighed. Just… Please call us.
Kenny swallowed after that, playing Nick’s first message back.
Hey, Kenny. I know you’re with Adam. Can we talk? We just want some answers. I know our last match was pretty intense, but I figured this time would be different, you know? I know it’s for the titles, and we may have crossed the line a bit before, but I thought things were fine. Call us later, alright?
Kenny slowly lowered the phone from his ear, hand shaking. What were the Bucks… Against his better judgement he raised the phone back to his ear and listened to the rest of the messages.
Kenny, pick up, man. Please call us.
We need to talk. Just call .
Call me, Kenny.
Call back when you can.
We want to talk.
Get back to us.
CALL US.
Kenny let out a harsh breath as he turned his phone off and tossed it towards his suitcase at the foot of the bed. He felt Adam’s calloused hand cup his cheek, brushing away a stray tear—And when had he started crying?!—and turning his face towards him. Kenny sniffled, torn between hurt and furious. They…
Why weren’t they blaming him too? Not that he wanted them to! But… They were pinning it all on Adam. Why did they want him to call them? To vent? To find some justification in kicking Adam out of the Elite like they did?
“Kenny?” Adam whispered, voice deep from sleep. Kenny hummed in question, meeting his gaze, trying to play it off as nothing knowing full well Adam wouldn’t have it. His false indifferent face crumbled, a devastated look replacing it.
“They… They want to talk.” Adam looked away. “They want me to call them.”
Adam put his head into his hands, shouting into them, “ Fuck! ”
“Adam—
“I didn’t want them to drag you into it. I…” He shook his head, lowering his hands. “I didn’t want to fight them again. I didn’t want anything like last time to happen. And, yeah, I kind of wanted to fight FTR because I thought…” He let out a harsh breath. “I’m sorry. I’ve made this into such a mess.”
“We’ve been a mess for a while. Let’s just get that straight.” That drew a short laugh out of Adam.
“You’re not wrong.” He sighed. “I just… This is all spiraling out of control, and I’m—
Kenny cut Adam off with a rough, passionate kiss, Adam kissing back and finding himself pressed deep into the mattress, breathless and speechless when Kenny finally pulled back after a minute, straddling him.
“Stop apologizing. You’re letting them get to you. All of them. Don’t let them make you feel like this is all your fault because it’s not. We’re all to blame for something.” He leaned down and pressed their foreheads together, voice soft now. Adam’s fingers wove slowly through in his curls. “Next Saturday it’s just you and me. You and me vs FTR. The four of us in the ring. No Bucks. No distractions. We’ve got this.”
Adam wanted to believe that. Hell, he didn’t know if Kenny even believed it himself. He pulled back, sitting up, looking into Kenny’s eyes. A warmth and love were clearly present, but there was also a tenseness, a darkness, a sharp, cold edge to his gaze that, though barely noticeable, was still there. Adam looked away, voice small when next he spoke.
“And if we lose? If something goes wrong?”
“We won’t,” Kenny answered automatically, almost rushed. Was he just as worried as Adam was then?
“But what if—
“We won’t,” Kenny reiterated, sighing and putting his head in his hands for a moment. “We can’t,” he whispered. I can’t handle the thought… Of what might go wrong, what might happen, that would cause us to lose. A miscue? A spot gone wrong? Maybe just not breaking up a cover in time? And… What’s going to go through my head if we lose? Where am I going to be at mentally?
What if I snap?
“Besides,” Kenny continued, looking up again, “We still have the go-home show. One more night to get a read on everything before the weekend.” Adam nodded, worried about the long silence that had just stretched between them, Kenny probably spiraling in his thoughts throughout.
“Right,” Adam agreed nervously. “One more night…” Kenny caught his meaning, his tone, his gaze.
“Hey, no. Don’t…” He took one of Adam’s hands in his own. “Don’t think like that.” Adam remained firmly focused on the way his hand felt in Kenny’s, the warm, gentle, calloused grip.
“I know you said you’d made up your mind, about who you would choose, but I just…”
“I choose you, Adam. No matter how All Out goes, I’m not going anywhere. I might… Storm off every now and then… When my mind’s not right… But I’m not leaving you.” Adam nodded again, collapsing into Kenny’s arms, clinging to him.
“I believe you.”
XxX
“You ready to go?” Kenny asked, the two of them about to leave the house for the drive down to Jacksonville for Dynamite. It would be a few hours on the road.
“Yeah. You got everything?”
Adam watched Kenny pat down his pockets and rifle through his bag for a few moments before finding what he was looking for and letting out a breath of relief. He didn’t pull them out of the bag all the way, but Adam had clearly seen a pair of aviators. Kenny nodded, slinging his backpack back over his shoulder as they left, putting their things in the back of Kenny’s car before hopping in the front seats. Adam hesitated to buckle his seat belt for a moment before finally deciding to reach behind him. He unzipped and felt around in Kenny’s bag until he found them. Kenny stared at him quizzically before his eyes landed on the dark aviators in Adam’s hand. His gaze darted nervously up to Adam’s, but he didn’t see fear, disappointment, anger, or sadness.
He saw… Hope. Understanding.
Adam held them out to him, nodded, smiled . I know why you have them. It’s okay. I trust you. Kenny, hand shaking, took them, put them on. After a moment he nervously smiled back, finding his free hand held firmly in Adam’s as he started the car. A loving smile greeted him when he looked in the mirror this time, and when he blinked it was still there.
They were on the road again in no time.