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March 25, 2024. Chicago, IL. Monday Night RAW.
Seth squints against the harsh hallway lights. His head feels like it’s been nearly split open by the futureshock from Drew. He presses one hand to his temples; the other hand stabilizes him against the wall as he makes his way toward medical. He and Cody planned to rendezvous there if they got separated, regardless of injury. Cody is probably already waiting for him there; it shouldn’t have taken him long to deal with Jimmy Uso.
Behind him, back in the arena, Jey’s music is fading out. The crowd’s yeeting dies down as the show comes to a close.
Then something starts playing on the arena speakers - some kind of fight, from the sound of it. Bodies colliding with solid objects, shoes squeaking on tile. Someone is shouting again and again, in a rhythm, punctuating a hit.
Seth pauses his slow march and turns his head to listen. That coiled up sensation returns to his stomach - the feeling that had been plaguing him right up until Drew gave him something else to worry about. Something is wrong.
Before he can hear more, the entire crowd screams. The rhythmic shouting stops. There’s a loud thud. Then a different voice, this one instantly recognizable, rings through the arena.
“Look at you now, boy!”
Seth’s blood turns cold. He pushes off the wall and whirls around, wincing hard. He doesn’t know where they are, but the nearest screen is in gorilla. He shuffles back the way he came, gritting his teeth against the pulsing in his brain.
“Look at you now! Look at you now!”
The curtain leading to gorilla flies open before Seth can reach it. He expects to see security, refs, maybe even Hunter on their way to stop this. Instead, a frantic-looking Jey Uso bursts out into the hall, still shirtless and breathing hard from his match. He skids to a stop just in time to avoid knocking Seth over. They lock eyes, and relief flashes briefly across Jey’s face.
“Where are they?” Seth asks.
“West gate, uce. C’mon.”
Jey wraps an arm around Seth’s back to support him as they turn back down the hall. The going feels painfully slow, especially when they can hear everything happening over the speakers.
A crash, another taunt from the Rock, the dull thud of a body hitting the ground. The roar of the crowd lowers to an eerily quiet rumble as they watch whatever is unfolding on the tron.
“Chicago, look at your hero!” the Rock shouts. “World, look at your hero!”
Cody gasps and cries out with every breath.
Seth can’t take it anymore. “Where the hell is Pearce? Where’s security?!”
“I don’t know. Everyone in gorilla just looked like they was too scared to do something. He’s the boss, y’know.”
“I don’t give a fuck. When I get my hands on him…”
“I know, uce. Whatever happens, I got your back.”
The Rock is ranting now, but they’re too far from the arena to make out what he’s saying. Cody’s cries have gone quiet.
Seth’s pounding head sends waves of pain down through the rest of his body. He forces himself forward anyway. The signs on the wall tell him they’re almost there, but it’s taking too damn long. Jey feels it too; he grips Seth tighter and picks up the pace as much as he can. Seth hates how much he feels like dead weight. Part of him wants to tell Jey to leave him behind and just run, but he doesn’t. He’s selfish. He wants - needs to be there. He promised Cody.
They turn the final corner. A dozen exit doors line the wall; most of them are barred with yellow tape. There’s no one in sight, but the telltale signs of a brawl are littered down the length of the west gate. Trash cans dented and overturned, tools and their toolbox strewn on the floor, a metal barricade shoved out of place. At the end of the trail, a door has been left cracked open. Cold air hisses in through the gap, carrying no sounds of a scuffle outside. Everything has gone horribly quiet.
Jey shoves the door open, and the two of them stumble out into the rainy Chicago parking lot. The asphalt is slick with water, giving it a glossy blue sheen in the cold light of street lamps and vehicle headlights. Cody’s unmistakable bus is parked just a few yards from the door.
A body lies unmoving near the front wheel.
Seth’s heart clenches. He wants to call out but can’t, wants to move but can’t. Time stands still as every worst possible scenario tears through his mind at once. This can’t be real. This can’t be happening. He should have been there. He should have -
“Cody! Hey! Cody!” Jey shouts. He surges forward, practically dragging Seth along with him. Time resumes. It’s all real.
They both drop down beside the body. Seth’s bad knee sends a jolt of white hot electricity up his leg, but he doesn’t have time for that now. Cody Rhodes is lying in a pool of his own blood. His forehead has been split open, his face washed with red. Eyes closed. Weak gasps against the pavement.
Jey lets go of Seth and reaches for Cody’s hand, squeezing it gently the way they’ve been trained. “Cody, hey, you awake? You with us, uce?”
Cody groans faintly but doesn’t move. His hand lies limp between Jey’s fingers.
“Where is he?” Seth asks. “Where the fuck is the Rock?”
No answer. Seth scans the area, but the rest of the parking lot is hidden by darkness and vehicles. No sign of the Rock or the rest of the Bloodline. Whatever crew members were out here filming are gone too, probably on the Final Boss’s orders.
“God dammit,” Seth says through his teeth.
Beside him, Jey is yanking the compression sleeve off his own arm. He presses it to Cody’s forehead, cutting off the stream of blood. It’s the most they can do for him right now; without medical personnel, moving him could just make things worse.
“You got your phone?” Jey asks.
Seth shakes his head. “No. No, I left it in the locker room.”
“Hold this here. He can’t lose no more blood, alright? I’ll go get help.”
Seth leans forward and replaces Jey’s hands with his own. Jey jumps to his feet and races back through the open door, leaving Seth alone with the man he was supposed to protect. The man whose current condition he is responsible for.
Seth shifts his body over and braces the back of Cody’s head with his knees so he can press down harder on the wound. Seth stares down at Cody - at his body lying completely limp. His shirt ripped open and nearly torn off. Purple marks forming on his skin. Blood in his hair, on his eyelids. Seth has never been squeamish, but he feels like throwing up. He never imagined the Rock would go this far. He’d been more bark than bite for a long time; the most physical he’d gotten was slapping Cody at the press conference. But what he did tonight - this was plain, old-fashioned brutality.
“He said, ‘Tonight, I’m gonna make you bleed.’”
“Ha! Yeah, I’d like to see him try. Give us a little sneak peak at how washed he’s gonna be at ‘Mania.”
“I don’t know, Seth. Something’s different tonight. Something’s wrong.”
“That’s not what you said to Jackie.”
“I didn’t want to alarm anyone. But I got a bad feeling.”
“You wanna tell Hunter?”
“No, he’s got enough on his plate. And so do you. With Drew and Punk -”
“Stop. I already dealt with them. Rest of tonight, I got eyes only for you. You know that.”
“Okay. I’ll talk to security and see if Rock left the building. You find Jey.”
“Got it. No problem.”
“And be careful, Seth.”
“We’ll be fine. He won’t try anything with all three of us around.”
A sudden, terrified gasp pulls Seth back to the present. Cody’s eyes are open now, blinking against the blood and rain. His body tenses, and he tries to turn his head. Seth holds it in place.
“Hey, don’t move. Just hold still. I got you.”
“Seth…?” Cody says in a voice that’s broken and far away.
“Ye-” Seth’s throat constricts. He swallows past it. “Yeah, it’s me. Jey went to get help; they’ll be here soon.”
“The Rock…”
“I know. He’s gone.”
“He… I…” Cody’s breath quickens, and he can’t get the words out. His body starts trembling.
“Shhh, just take it easy. We’ll talk later.”
Seth takes his hands off the cloth just long enough to remove his jacket and drape it over Cody’s torso. Then he hunches over, his chest hovering just above Cody’s head and shoulder. Shielding him from the elements the way he should have shielded him from the Rock. Trying to make up for it somehow. But it's too late. When Cody needed him most, Seth wasn't there. His promise lies broken on the asphalt.
Seth tilts his head down. At this angle, Cody can see Seth's face too, hanging upside down in front of him. Cody struggles to focus, but then his eyes find Seth’s. They look at each other in the dim blue light. Seth tries to keep his expression reassuring, but angry, guilty tears prick at the corners of his vision. Cody's eyes are watery too, glossed-over and tinted red. The lids droop and eventually fall shut. Cody's trembling stills to a light shiver, and his breathing evens out.
Cold rain patters against Seth’s bare back. His spine aches, his head throbs, his knee pulses against the ground. But none of that matters now. He breathes deeply and lets the frigid air numb his bones.
“I’m sorry,” Seth whispers, his voice barely audible above the rain. “I’m sorry.”
He repeats it until the sound of many hurried footsteps drowns him out.