Work Text:
You Left Me
A/N: Heheh… I may have finished the series out of order. Apologies for that. The go-home show for All-Out is the fic I missed, sooo here it is! Sorry for all the angst, especially after Full Gear.
Adam made his way out to the ring, bone tired and whiskey glass in hand, at Kenny’s side as FTR stood against them, looking ready for a fight. He was a wreck. Even after Kenny had tried to reassure him that the result at All Out wouldn’t change anything, worry and anxiety continued to eat away at him inside. He hadn’t slept much most of the time since then, dark circles under his eyes easily visible. Every verbal jab FTR threw at him sank in deep, riled him up, made him feel something other than the overwhelming despair and fear that he’d been running on the last seven days. That anger was something he could focus on.
“Explain to him who got in your head.” Dax demanded, pointing accusingly, cold, vicious, nothing of the friend he thought he’d had. “Explain to him who made you do the things that you did. Tell him who made you turn on your best friends so you wouldn’t have to have a rematch with them at All Out. Tell them. Tell them!” Adam clutched the title until his knuckles were white from the iron grip, fist clenched at his side the same way. “Because it wasn’t us. In fact, it wasn’t anybody! It was you. It was you.”
All the while Kenny’s gaze darted between FTR and Adam, gauging their reactions, any tells either side might have that they were about to explode. He could tell Adam was trying to hold himself back, that FTR was clearly getting to him. He wanted to say something, anything, but the other two weren’t giving him a chance. They were clearly enjoying getting under his and Adam’s skin, reveling in what they thought was a successful attempt at driving a wedge between them. It made Kenny seethe, made a part of him furious beyond words, and even if his expression didn’t show it he wanted nothing more than to beat the ever living shit out of Dax and Cash. They suddenly turned their attention to him.
“Listen, you’ve known him for four or five years. I’ve known Adam Page his whole career, and his whole career he’s been nothing more than an insecure little boy.” Adam paced in his spot at that, glare so fiery it could kill. Dax met his gaze without fear. “And that’s the thing. You got in your own head. We did nothing! We didn’t have to talk to you at all! You got in your head, so tell him. Explain to Kenny. Explain to him how you’re so egotistical, how you’re so ego-centric. All you do is care about yourself! Tell him, Adam, how big of a piece of shit you are!”
That was the last straw. Adam didn’t feel Kenny’s hand on his shoulder, title falling from his hand as he went to charge forward, only for Kenny to try and hold him back. He shoved him away, and Kenny angrily yanked him around to face him with an annoyed scowl.
“Are you kidding me?! They’re trying to get in your head again. They’re trying to get in your head again! Don’t listen to them!” Kenny warned him, pointing to his own head, trying to keep his own temper in check. Adam stared intently at him, trying to keep it together, trying to latch onto Kenny’s usual sense of calm and not finding it. Fuck.
“I think Kenny already knows how much of a piece of shit you are,” Cash told him. That made Kenny freeze, staring at him in outraged disbelief before he looked back to Adam in concern, trying to placate him.
“You need to calm down. We have one thing left to do: defend those titles.” That made Adam turn around, greeted by the sight of FTR holding both their titles with smug grins. It made his blood boil and he left Kenny’s side.
“Hey, give us those back! Give us those belts! Give ‘em to me. Those are our belts. Give ‘em to me!” FTR faked being confused, questioning him about who really owned the belts. “They’re ours. Give ‘em back!” For a moment it looked like they might… Before the titles were dumped unceremoniously on the mat. The gall!
It took everything in Adam not to go after them, watching them leave with Tully as he crouched down to pick the titles up, gaze fixed on them as he held Kenny’s out to him. Kenny, during that exchange, had put some distance between himself and everyone in the ring. Watching FTR disrespect Adam like that, hearing them try to bring him down and destroy his confidence, made that dark side of him howl in anger, and he reveled in the feeling. If Adam would just get out of the way…
He took a few steps back as he came back to himself, recoiling at the feeling before leaving the ring completely, trying to collect himself at ringside, hands on his hips. He shook his head to clear his thoughts as he looked up, Adam’s despondent expression greeting him as he did. Adam’s outstretched arm slowly fell as he looked away, and Kenny shook his head again, heading backstage. He waited for Adam when he arrived through the curtain, Adam stopping a few steps behind him, unable to meet his gaze. He set the titles aside on a production crate, running a hand through his hair. There were a few moments of tense, uncomfortable silence.
“You left me,” Adam told him quietly, “You left me alone, in that ring. When I needed you, by my side, backing me up, supporting me. I—” When he finally saw Kenny’s face, the guilt and pain and conflict and anger, it gave him pause. Kenny had a hand in his curls, tugging sharply, mumbling to himself. “Kenny?” Kenny fell silent, head snapping towards his in alarm, and Adam looked to him in concern. “You… You had one of those moments out there, didn’t you?” Kenny nodded after a moment of hesitation.
“Yeah. I… I wasn’t going to be able to hold myself back if I didn’t get out of there. If you would’ve tried to hold me back…”
“You know I would’ve helped, right?” Adam interrupted with an expectant look. “I know you told me to calm down, but if you went after them, I would’ve been right in there with you.”
“That doesn’t make me feel any better.”
“I’m just saying I would’ve backed you up whether you went darkside or not. You know that, right?” Kenny didn’t respond, averting his gaze. Adam sighed.
“I’m sorry I wasn’t there. I should’ve been.”
“It’s fine.” Kenny could tell it wasn’t. He could feel the hurt and the tension in the air, in just those two words. “You do what you need to. Just take care of yourself. Even… Even if it means putting some distance between us.” Kenny’s heart ached to hear those words, and he took a cautious step forward, slowly taking one of Adam’s hands in his.
Adam let out another sigh, squeezing Kenny’s hand softly as he intertwined their fingers. Kenny squeezed back. Some of the tension disappeared at that, but there was still enough to keep the air uncomfortable and stifling.
“What I need is you. Just you.” Adam gave a sad smile. He wanted to believe that. He wanted it to be true. He really did.
“You have me. You know that.” Kenny gave him a matching smile, thoughts similar to Adam’s, not giving a verbal response.
He took Adam’s other hand in his, and they stood like that for a minute, staring, contemplating everything before declaring, “We’ve got this on Saturday.” Adam could tell Kenny was trying to sound confident, but even he sounded somewhat unsure now. Damn FTR and their fucking mind games!
“Yeah. We’ve got this.” They both could tell Adam was even more unsure as he said it. They met each other’s eyes, really met each other’s eyes, looking for a spark, something to light that fire within them, and there was a shift in the backstage atmosphere.
“As long as we’re together, we’re going to walk out of All Out with those titles.” That sounded much more confident, and Adam felt a little bit of hope yet. He smiled a bit more surely.
“Hell yeah we will.” It was still a bit uncertain, but not nearly as much. It almost sounded believable. He’d take it.
It gave him some hope that maybe Saturday would go their way after all.
Closing A/N: Famous last words, Adam. Thoughts? Something like that. I’m sorry to post this so much later, and that there’s been a bit of a lack of fluff after Full Gear. I’ll get on that after I get some sleep. XD