Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“No one is buying this crap.”

He said it more to himself than to anyone in the room. On some level, Cody Travers knew he didn’t look half as absurd as he felt. A gorilla trampling around in a three piece suit. A convict playing some weird little game of play-pretend. And for whatever reason, everyone in the city was playing along.

Haggar appeared behind him in the mirror, placing a hand on his shoulder. His grip tightened, and Cody’s gaze shifted from his own clean-shaven face and brightly colored vest. He looked Mike over. His features seemed even more pronounced than ever before. His hands were so weathered, his muscles so tight and his smile so genuine. Cody tried to think of a time where the man had ever lost his resolve.

No wonder he had been elected mayor time and time again. Over and over, the city voted for him. Metro City loved him. Ever-present, never-wavering, always willing to fight. Of course the city wanted him, unyieldingly.

Until he finally hit the term limit, and the people found themselves searching desperately for someone new.

“You’ve won.” Cody could hear the amusement in Haggar’s voice. “I’m pretty sure they’ve already bought it.”

Cody rolled his eyes, barely fighting back a smile as he gently batted the man’s hand away. He finally turned away from his own reflection in the mirror. He still had trouble believing it, most of the time. It didn’t look like him, no matter how many times he tried to put the pieces together. He looked Haggar up and down, wondering for the hundredth time exactly how he was supposed to fill boots that large.

Haggar heard the question before it was even spoken, gesturing towards one of the windows in the office. Cody’s office. It still felt strange. They still hadn’t changed out any of the named and plaques. But they would read his own name in due time.

He shook his head of the thought and moved towards the window.

“What do you see?” the former mayor asked, gesturing out to the downtown streets, sprawling out from City Hall.

“A shithole,” Cody said bluntly. “An old, weathering city that has lost itself. Some place that desperately needs a hero. Someone other tha-”

Haggar laughed, interrupting his thoughts. “You never change, do you?”

Cody shrugged. He had changed quite a bit, he thought. There had been too much he had gone through. No one would be the same after all of it.

“But the strange thing is? I see the same city. It’s a shithole.” Haggar laughed again, and this time Cody chuckled with him. “But it needs me. And I’ll still be here for it. It needs you too. It always did. And now it finally has you again.” He paused for a moment, “And I don’t think it will let you go that easily.”

Cody smiled, taking a long breath that he sorely needed to take. “I’m not going anywhere.”

Haggar knew it already, but it was clear from the way he was grinning that he wanted Cody to admit it. He sighed for a moment, placing his hand once again on Cody’s shoulder. “I would have been proud to call a man like you my son.”

Everything came to a halt, for only a second.

Throughout all of this, they hadn’t talked about. Not avoided talking about it, per say. They just hadn’t talked about. There were other things to do. Cody had just gotten out. There were things to take care of, rumors to soothe, campaigns to run, and more than a few criminals that needed to put in their place. But Cody was quickly learning that he couldn’t run forever. Not from the city, not from Haggar, and most certainly not from himself.

“Listen, Haggar,” he started.

“Stop that. It’s Mike,” he quickly corrected, running his hand through his hair. “Jessica was…is…” he paused, uncharacteristically lost for words. A smile crept back onto his face as he looked at the streets below them. “I’d take a bullet for Jessica, you know that. Hell, I’d fight an entire army for her. But she lost faith in you. She gave up on you just when you were giving up on everything. You didn’t need someone like that by your side.”

Cody closed his eyes for a moment, trying to slow down his thoughts as Haggar spoke. He straightened his tie, just to give his hands something to do.

“Between you and me,” Mike’s voice fell low, rolling his neck back, “you deserve someone that never stopped believing in you, and would never be surprised to see you where you are now. You’ve got and uphill climb. If you have someone by your side, it better damn well be someone that never left.”

Cody snorted. His name came to mind, immediately. His face. His tiny, infuriating smile. Cody rolled his eyes at the thought of it. He moved to his desk and sat down, kicking up his feet. “Yeah yeah,” he waved his hands, knowing exactly what Mike was getting at. “I think I know just the guy.”

Chapter Text

Guy placed two bowls of dollar store ramen on the table. Loose brown flecks floated around the noodles, and the steam reeked of three or four contrasting flavors at once.  “I had to make it in the mess hall’s coffee maker,” he explained, making some kind of effort to look embarrassed. “I was going to grab some food from King Dragon, but they do not allow premade stuff in here. They…are thorough in their security checks.”

“No shit. King Dragon’s takeout is too good for these crap guards to be digging their dirty fingers through. Honestly, this is better than the usual crap they serve around here, coffee grounds or not.” Cody reached for bowl, pulling it forward using the chain of his handcuffs. He didn’t need to, of course. But he thought the action might at least get a chuckle out of his all-too serious friend.

He should have known he’d be wrong.

“Loosen up Guy. It’s been a week.” Cody didn’t feel half as relaxed as he pretend to be. But it would be a cold day in Hell before he let Guy know that. “They’ll figure this shit out before long and I’ll get out of here.”

Guy didn’t say anything. He only stared at his soupy, coffee-riddled noodles with a completely unreadable expression.

Cody was nearly halfway through his bowl, wiping his mouth against his sleeve absentmindedly, when Guy decided to speak again. He still hadn’t touched his own food. “You do not belong here, Cody,” finally said, his voice low. “The charges against you…that wasn’t you, was it?”

Cody shrugged and drained his bowl dry. The charges were trumped up, sure. Sometimes, when things got rough, Cody’s mind would wander too far. He would wonder if someone had manipulated the system, framed him for something beyond what it was. Otherwise, perhaps he really was…

“You gonna finish that?” he asked, interrupting himself from his own thoughts. He nodded towards Guy’s bowl, who pushed the now cold bowl of instant ramen over to him. “Thanks.”

“Cody,” Guy started again. “You belong out there. You were a hero. Surely if you just fight for a proper court hearing, the people will see that you fight for justice. That you aren’t some kind of…”

“Monster?” Cody asked with a tired smile on his face. He rattled his handcuffs, pulling at them until the metal began to strain under the pressure. He stopped and went back to the bowl of noodles, letting the chain hit the table, still intact. He didn’t want to see Guy’s face. He didn’t want to look at the disappointment in his eyes.

“I’m okay, Guy.” He finally said, once again not believing his own words. “I got you visiting me, bringing me this fine American cuisine. I got Haggar, yelling his lungs out at the DA to get this sorted. And I got Jessica.” He tried not to stumble on her name, tried not give away any more than he absolutely needed to. Not to Guy. Especially not to Guy.

His friend seemed to already know more than enough.

“She’ll come, I am sure. School has her busy. Then we will sort this out and you will be out of here in no time.” He glanced down at the handcuffs and added, “Legally.”

Cody scooped up the last of the noodles, trying to think of what else to say. He knew distantly that he should thank the man for the confidence, even if he did not feel it himself. He knew he should say something to steel Guy’s resolve. Anything. But all he could do was shove the coffee-tainted noodles into his mouth and nod.

“Yeah. Sure.” 

Chapter Text

Guy didn’t know much English when he and Cody first met, back when they were kids. Cody never seemed to mind very much, and Guy was a quick learner. They would hang out sometimes, and watch TV. Propped up on their elbows in a tiny house in Metro City, desperately trying to drown out the sounds of Cody’s parents arguing in the kitchen. Cody would smile through it, ignore it, and turn the TV volume up. It wasn’t the fondest memory, but it was one the first memories Guy had of his friend.

Sometimes Guy would point at a scene and give Cody a quick glance, and his friend would explain in English. Guy would repeat the words back, of course. Sometimes he would then give the phrase in Japanese, to see if Cody would do the same. The boy would just shrug, unable to get his mind around the foreign phrasing.

Guy pointed to a scene of a man and woman. After talking in hushed tones, they enveloped each other, lips touching tenderly. “Kissing,” Cody said, off-handedly.

Guy nodded, glancing from Cody’s mouth back to the screen. “Kissing,” he repeated, memorizing the feeling of the word on his tongue.

“Yeah. ‘Cuz they’re in love,” Cody responded, with all the matter-of-factness that a ten year old boy could have while watching TV with his best friend.”

Guy understood that much. It was a pretty simple concept, after all. He nodded again and repeated it. “In love,” he said with a nod, doing his best to eradicate his accent while he spoke.

He glanced over at his friend to see if he had anything else to say about the scene. Cody caught his glance and a smile crept onto his face, expanding ear to ear. “Yeah,” he started. “And then it will lead to sex.” Cody enunciated the last word specifically.

Guy only stared at him. The word was foreign to him, but the look on Cody’s face was not. He knew what the boy looked like when he was trying to get his friend to say something inappropriate. He was foreign, not stupid. He grunted and rolled his eyes, turning back to the screen.

“You’re no fun anymore,” the blonde sighed, shoving his shoulder into Guy’s side.

From the kitchen, a plate shattered to the floor as a woman screamed.

A baby began to cry.

Guy shoved back into Cody.

Cody then shoved Guy over. Guy kicked. Cody punched. Guy grabbed Cody’s hair and began to pull. The two boys said very little, but their mouths were twisted into smiles as they continued to tug and push and fight at each other. Guy twisted Cody’s arm around and pulled. Cody snapped back and slammed Guy to the ground.

So many of their encounters went this way. Not maliciously- far from it. It just made sense. Guy didn’t know a lot about English. He didn’t know how to say what he needed to say, most of the time. He had no idea what to say to Cody, or what Cody wanted to hear. He knew he would learn it all in time. But for now, all they had was this.

After all, fighting is a universal language.

Chapter Text

The first time Cody picked a prison fight, the guy well and truly deserved it.

The second time, it was some guy throwing rocks at squirrels in the prison yard.

The third, it was over the last scoop of lukewarm mashed-potatoes in the mess hall.

The fourth, fifth, and sixth were all because someone had given Cody the wrong kind of look.

By the seventh…

“What are you looking at, Pretty Boy?” a man growled.

Cody blinked to attention, facing a gelatinous mountain of a man staring him down. He hadn’t been looking the thug’s way on purpose. He was just sitting in a shoddy alcove, with two card tables, a barely working television set, and a couch that was rapidly losing all of its stuffing. He was fighting sleep, mostly, staring off towards the mess hall as the news prattled away on the TV.

Cody took in the sight. He was massive man covered in tattoos, with holes in his ears big enough to fit a golf ball. He snorted at Cody, his massive nostrils flaring up and showing every single nose hair. “I said,” he said slowly, moving closer to Cody’s table, “What the hell are you looking at?”  

“Not much,” Cody sighed, looking the man up and down quickly. “Nothing to sneeze at, that’s for sure.”

The man moved forward, pressing himself against the table. However, before he could say anything else, Cody was already on his feet, flipping the card table up and using it to barrel into the inmate in front of him.

He fought back, of course. The monster of a man tossed the flimsy table aside, turning his attention over to Cody as he railed a fist into the man’s chin. Cody took the punch with gritted teeth, steeling his feet and grounding himself firmly. It rocked his jaw a little, but it hardly hurt. Cody was almost disappointed.

Cody fired back grimly, kicking into the man’s stomach so that he doubled over. As he did, Cody punched him three times and wrapped his handcuff chain around the back of the man’s neck. He tossed him down to the ground. For good measure, Cody stepped on the man’s head, letting his screams for help sound around the communal hall.

However, instead of guards coming to haul Cody back to his cell, more inmates looked up at him. They began to approach, some quicker than others. Cody glanced to the guards for a second, who only watched from their seats. Their nightsticks were in their hands, but their legs were crossed and their eyebrows were raised.

They were interested.

They were bored.

As three men rushed towards Cody with murder in their eyes, Cody realized that he and the guards had something in common.

They let out a fury of attacks, punching and kicking and biting and spitting. And Cody met them all. He took as many blows as it took to keep him interested, and dealt out twice as many of his own in turn. Cody took two men by their heads and slammed them together, rendering them both unconscious as they slumped to the floor.

This made sense. Cody landed a punch, reveling in the skin against skin. The bone, the teeth, blood. The ribs cracking under his feet. It wasn’t the violence, or the bloodshed. It wasn’t the sound of inmates screaming or the panic of the guards rushing in as a riot ensued. It wasn’t people pulling at his arms, ripping at his hair. They were all symptoms. This was about the disease.

It was the fight.

It was all he had to make sense of himself at that moment. It was the only thing coursing through his mind. The only thing he wanted to do. He flung his body into a guard, knowing full well that he would pay the price for it later. He wanted to pay the price. It’s what he deserved. He wanted more. He wanted a challenge.

The first few fights were born of necessity, were born of justice, were born of frustration.

By the seventh…

Cody brushed his hands together as he landed another low-life thug to the ground, glancing around at other inmates, disgruntled, uncomfortable and afraid. And for the first time in nearly a year, Cody smiled.

“Well now, let’s see if I can do something about my boredom.”

Chapter Text

“Mister Travers, should you be elected mayor, what do you plan to do about the city’s continually aging infrastructure?”

Guy sucked in a breath. It was not that he doubted Cody. He never doubted that Cody would make it this far. Sure, the man had fought the plan with reluctance and self-doubt. Even now, standing on the podium in front of the press, he seemed to have disbelief in his eyes. But despite all of it, he had gone along with Haggar’s endorsement with honest effort.

The ninja always knew that Cody could, of course. But he wasn’t sure how much longer it would last. As though midnight would strike, and everything would come crashing back down.

Cody glanced around, running his hand through his hair as he searched for an answer. He did not look back at Mike. He did not search the crowd for some kind of clue. The answer had to be all his own. Guy could tell from the look on his face.

“Well, I have a wrench and a steel pipe.”

The crowd laughed. Some applauded, and the journalist nodded with a pleased smile on her face as she wrote down his answer.

Guy let out the breath he was holding. Only Metro City would be happy with that answer. But then, he supposed, only Cody could really be fit to lead a place like Metro City. It was a perfect match, he had to admit. Haggar had some pretty strange ideals sometimes, but this one seemed to be working out in its own way.

Cody looked out, his gelled hair just slightly out of place as he scanned the crowd. His eyes rested on Guy, if only for a second. And Guy realized, far from the first time, just how beautiful Cody was when he smiled.

Chapter Text

“Cody.” Guy’s words were calm, his breath surprisingly steady despite having just finished. Cody supposed he shouldn’t be surprised. Guy was nothing if not enduring, and not too shabby of a fighter, though Cody would never admit it out loud.

“Yeah, yeah,” Cody wiped his brow of sweat and began to walk through an alley in the city. Fighting the power of the Pandora or not, it was still best for the two of them to lay as low as possible. Cody wanted a good fight, sure, but he wasn’t stupid. “I went too hard again, I get it. Spare me the lecture. But we can’t underestimate them just because they’re a couple of school girls. The Pandora thingy is making everyone all aggressive, right?” He shot Guy a half-lidded glance, expecting another lecture on violence and restraint. It seems to be all he’s heard this entire time.

“There is still benefit to perhaps holding back,” Guy tilted his head to the side in thought, “However that’s not what’s on my mind.”

“Yeah?” Cody hopped onto a dumpster in order to climb over the alley’s separating fence. He held out a hand to help Guy up. “Well then spit it out.”

In a quick leap, Guy effortlessly bounded off the left wall and landed neatly on top of the fence, his nimble feet balancing on top of a post. It was all Cody could do to resist swiping his hand at Guy’s ankles. Instead, he just muttered “Show off,” under his breath. If Guy had heard him, he didn’t let it show.

Instead, he knelt down while still balanced on the post, hovering just slightly over Cody. His eyes were keen, examining every nook and cranny of his friend’s face. He paused for a long moment before he found the words.

“You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?”

Cody blinked. It seemed like a simple question, so he wasn’t sure why it threw him so off guard. He straightened himself up and shrugged, grabbing the fence and hopping over. He landed on the ground below, his handcuffs rattling slightly as he dusted off his hands. “Well I’m certainly entertained. Evil magic boxes from space, crazy possessed school girls, robots, sentient bears. What’s not to love?” He rolled his eyes sarcastically and looked up at Guy.

With another seamless bound, Guy instantly landed right next to Cody, who simply rolled his eyes again. “You like having a purpose,” Guy clarified. “You like doing what’s right. You like being free, and fighting.”

With me.

It wasn’t spoken, but Cody heard it.

He continued walking.

“Cody,” Guy continued, swiftly walking after him. “You keep talking about easing your boredom, and about going back once all is said and done. But is that what you really want?”  

Cody shrugged, not slowing down his pace.

“You could stay out here, find a place to live, and fight for justice.” When Guy said it, it sounded so simple. Cody almost laughed. “You do not need to always be alone.”

He finally paused in his tracks and looked back at Guy. A smile crept onto his face, but it failed to reach his eyes. “I told you before; I’m not the guy you remember. I’m meant to work alone.” His voice felt hollow as he said it, but he knew it was true.  “We can’t all be married men leading some big fancy ninja clan.”

Guy stopped next to him, blinking quickly as he looked at his former friend. His brows furrowed for only a second, a moment so quick that Cody nearly missed it. “Married?” His eyes bore into Cody’s, searching for something. “Who said anything about me being married?”

It had been years, Cody realized.

He opened his mouth to apologize, or perhaps to inquire about what happened. But nothing came out.

It was no one’s fault, of course. Guy had assumed he already knew. Perhaps everyone knew. Perhaps there was some kind of scandal. Everyone who deserved to know had already heard the news. And Cody…

Cody was contained. Sequestered. Shoved off into some ageless and untouchable corner, where nothing could touch him and he couldn’t hurt anything. And for the first time since his last break out, Cody realized just how much the world had continued to change without him. The world continued to spin relentlessly, leaving him to simply rot into dust.

Cody kept walking forward.

And Guy followed.

Chapter Text

Guy and Cody were still sparring by sunset. Cody was up nine rounds to three, only gaining a real disadvantage once Guy brought out the practice blades. As it finally grew dark, Guy sat down in the grass and looked up at his friend. Even at fourteen, Cody was beginning to put on muscle. Adults were suggesting he get into sports; they would tell him how “far” he was going to go. They would tell him how much talent he had. They weren’t wrong, of course. Anyone with two eyes could see how gifted Cody was. Guy just wished he could get his friend to see it.

The young man sat next to his friend and stretched his legs out. “Quitting already?” he chuckled. “Come on, I’m sure you could go at least one more round before dinner.”

Cody was tired too though. Guy could see the light sheen of sweat in the setting sun. His hair was matted to his face, his face red in the summer heat. Soon the sun would start setting earlier, and they’d be back to school.

“Cody, I’ve been thinking,” Guy said slowly, still staring up at the sky. It was slowly turning darker blue, fading out from shades of purple.

Cody only raised an eyebrow. “Yeah?”

“Bushinryu,” Guy explained simply. In truth, he had been thinking about it for some time. The master of the clan, Zeku, had reached out to him a while ago. At first Guy had brushed it off. However, the man had proven persistent, and Guy found himself wondering time and time again what his life might be like if he worked towards a specific direction.

From where he sat, Cody had everything. He had talent, social skills, an infectious smile and determined grit. People loved him. He was impossible not to love. The beautiful Jessica rarely left his side, save for these sparring sessions. He had it all. He could walk anywhere and success would follow.

The first few stars began to appear in the sky. Cody could go anywhere. Guy, still so young, felt aimless.

“It suits you,” Cody finally nodded. A slow smile crept onto his face. “All that ninja stuff, I mean. They’re all a bunch of stuffy old men, right? You’ll fit right in, frowning all the time.”

Guy let out a tiny laugh, a small smile. And Cody beamed back at him, ear to ear before also turning his attention to the sky. “That’s cool though,” he finally finished. “You got something you want.”

“And you?”

Cody shrugged, looking at his hands in the slowly creeping moonlight. Guy stared at him, probably for too long. His heart picked up as he imagined all the places Cody could go, all the things he could do. And somewhere, in the back of Guy’s mind, he knew that Cody would one day leave him behind.  

“I just want to fight, I guess.” Cody concluded, pulling off the wraps he had around his hands. “Beat up some bad guys, help fix this city. It’s not much, but I feel like these two fists can really make a difference, you know?” 

The two boys thought for a long moment, chasing thoughts and dreams that they felt too far away to even have. Cody hummed under his breath, before adding. “Plus, I’ve got you, right?”

Guy nodded once.

“You have me.”

Chapter Text

They had been out shopping all day. It was endless, tiresome, and at times completely mind-boggling. Mike Haggar had effortlessly led Metro City for years without ever bothering to put on a shirt. Cody simply could not understand why he had to own a sixteen-year supply of neckties and a truly perplexing supply of double-breasted vests. Before this morning, he had no idea what the word “double-breasted” even meant. To be honest, he still only had a vague idea.

“Kid, are you almost done in there?” Haggar pounded on the door, shouting impatiently. Cody simply rolled his eyes and worked on his tie. He glanced over at his phone, looking at the step-by-step tutorial he had found for a basic Windsor knot.

“Relax, old man,” Cody sighed, trying not to give away his frustration. “It’s just a trial run, right? We don’t have any press conferences or publicity events for a few more weeks, right?”

He wanted to do this. He did. He told himself time and time again. He folded the tie over and pulled it through the loop. He wanted to change. He wanted to help push the city forward.

He wanted to get better.

“Doesn’t mean you have to take longer than a school girl on prom night,” Haggar grumbled. Cody smiled, wondering what Guy was making of Haggar’s lack of patience.

He pulled the tie tight, satisfied enough with the knot. Guy had picked out this particular tie, along with a solid proportion of the rest of his wardrobe. Haggar had insisted he come along to help, but Cody had doubted such an obnoxiously dressed ninja could actually match colors and styles well. As it turned out, the man had a pretty discerning eye. Cody hated to admit it, but Guy was right; pinstripes were a good look for him.

He stared at himself in the mirror, examining himself. Flattering shirt, fitted vest, bright tie, stylish pants. Tired eyes, unkempt hair, and steadily growing five-o-clock shadow. None of it added up. None of this added up. Haggar had insisted that Cody could do something with his life, that he didn’t need to keep lecturing him anymore, and he didn’t need to make excuses. Haggar needed a successor, and Cody needed change.

He reached for the shaving cream.

Get better. 

He ran the razor across his face. He knew it wasn’t as significant as it felt, in the long run. But he wanted to make it into a big deal. He wanted to transform. He knew he’d never leave the prison behind, not really. He knew there was a piece of him that was broken and lost and may never return. But if he could change just a little bit from who he was yesterday, then maybe the person he was today could be better.

The hair gel was next. Cody had nearly forgotten what he looked like with his hair out of his face. The last time he had it slicked back like this, he had to have been just a boy, going to church with his mother. He laughed at the thought. He certainly didn’t look like some gangly kid in a Catholic church now. Now, he looked grown up. He looked official. Trustworthy.

He looked…

“That’s it! We’re coming in!” Haggar announced loudly.

“Wai-” Guy started to protest, but the door was already slammed open. Cody spun around to greet his two friends.

Neither Guy nor Haggar said a single word.

Cody smiled. “Not bad, right?”

“Incredible,” Guy said, softly. So soft that Cody thought, for a moment, that he heard incorrectly. Guy’s eyebrows were raised, a tiny smile growing on his lips, almost impossible to see. But Cody found himself looking. He found himself looking very closely.

“Unbelievable!” Haggar shouted, moving closer to Cody and slapping him on the back. Between the two of them, they could hardly fit inside the tiny bathroom. Cody shifted uncomfortably as the man’s massive body nearly shoved him into the toilet. “I might as well give you the keys to the office now!”

Mike leaned over and ruffled Cody’s hair, messing the just-drying hair gel. Cody struggled to move away from him, tumbling straight into Guy, who was standing in the doorway.

The ninja caught Cody by the arms, steading him out as he stumbled. Guy stared him down, taking it all in. And Cody took the opportunity to do the same. He liked it, he decided, the way Guy was staring at him. It wasn’t hopeless or angry or confused. There was something else there, and Cody found himself wanting to know exactly what it was.

Haggar slapped his back, jolting Cody forward and causing Guy to step back from him. “Who would have guessed this was underneath all that scruff, right?” he laughed loudly, pleased with the results. But Haggar didn’t seem to realize all the steps it seemed to take to get there.

“I had some suspicions,” Guy said, stepping to the side and letting Cody through. But Cody could tell that this was far from the case. He knew the whole time. He knew that he could step forward, shave himself, slick back his hair and…

Get better.

Cody glanced back at the bathroom mirror, catching his reflection just barely behind Haggar’s massive form. His hair was out of place again, his tie already loosened, and the smile on his face still unsure. But it was there, and he was smiling. For the first time in a long time, things seemed plausible again. Things seemed worthwhile, even if just a little bit.

With Haggar at his back.

And Guy leading him forward.

Chapter Text

“WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU?”

Cody gritted his teeth. He had expected something like this. Guy was never one to sleep when there was trouble in the world. The man still believed in the ideal, still believed in fighting for peace. He knew, on some level, that there was a possibility they’d run into each other. Maybe he was even hoping for it.

Guy looked at him, shaking his head slowly, as though trying to put all the pieces together.

Maybe he wanted Guy to see him like this. Maybe a part of him just wanted Guy to know what the man had gone through. But even so, Cody had never seen so much emotion in Guy’s eyes. He had never seen the man in such an unrestrained state of distress. It was loud, unrefined, and everything that Guy never was.

It hit Cody like a punch in the jaw.

He wanted to tell Guy everything, in that moment. A rush of desperation, to reach out. To tell him about the hopelessness, the monotony, the reckless fighting in the prison yard. The community service. The horrible food. Each and every passing visitation hour, spent alone in his cell.

Cody only shrugged.

And for the first time in a very long time, Guy threw the first punch.

He fought back almost on instinct, throwing Guy to the ground almost effortlessly. He was always stronger than the other man. But prison had made him harder, tougher. It made his muscles bigger, and his punches fiercer. He could land almost anyone on their feet in a single blow, much less a full-bodied throw.

But Guy stood back up. He wiped his chin and came back running, as though nothing had happened. He came in swinging, faster than ever. He swung his arms around Cody’s neck, bringing him crashing down before Cody stood back up, matching the blow with another of his own.

Every punch, every kick, every swing and every cut. It was all an attack. Cody wasn’t surprised that Guy was putting up such a fight. He wasn’t even surprised that Guy was holding his own. Even back when they were kids, even when Cody won every spar, Guy managed to back himself up in a fight.

Only, this wasn’t some scuffle in Cody’s backyard after school. This wasn’t a street fight against a group of no-name gang members. This wasn’t a boredom-induced prison yard brawl.

This was something brutal. Something that had Cody’s teeth rattling with every single hit. His muscles straining every time he returned the favor, almost automatic, as if they were acting all on their own accord. Every single inch of him felt exhausted and overused, but thrumming with excitement and energy. He felt anger. He felt frustration. He felt every single shout that came from his lungs, made of sound and escaping air. He felt every single harried breath and every single frenzied punch. He felt every kunai slash his skin and he felt every single drop of blood settling on his body.  

And for the first time in a very long time, Cody felt alive.

Chapter Text

It had taken the two of them nearly three days to secure a safe flight to the Antarctic. The cities were in chaos, and there were plenty of other interested parties looking for the Pandora. Plus, Cody didn’t exactly have an updated travel visa. It had taken a lot of searching, a lot of Guy using his social standing, and it had taken a lot of fighting.

At least one of these things was okay by Cody.

Cody kicked back his knees onto the seat in front of him. Guy gave him a disapproving look, but in the end, there was no one in front of them on the tiny private plane. There was no one at all save for the pilot, an old weathered man who owed the Bushin clan after saving his daughter.

“For the record,” Cody said, trying to find some way to fill the silence over the endless hum of the engine. “Rena was a fool for dumping you.”

Guy raised an eyebrow, clearly caught off guard by the conversation. They hadn’t talked about it since the alleyway. Cody had no idea what to say, really. But he hadn’t exactly been able to get it out of his head. “Excuse me?”

“Yeah man,” Cody tried to sound as casual as possible. “You’re a total catch. Tall, dark, handsome. Infuriatingly noble with this whole ‘fighting for peace’ thing. You know, the works.” He rolled his eyes, but he really did mean every word.

His friend was silent for a long moment, shifting in the seat next to him. He glanced out the window, the icy clouds building around them. “You misunderstand,” he finally stated, his mouth twitching at the ends of a deep frown. “I was the one who ended our engagement.”

“Shit man, why the hell’d you do that?” Cody spat out, instantly regretting his reaction the moment it came from his mouth. He couldn’t help it though; it had taken him off guard. He never knew the woman that well, but from what he knew, she was cheerful and effortlessly optimistic. She was loyal, friendly, and she was beautiful.

Guy sniffed, in what could have either been a scoff or a laugh. “She wasn’t happy,” he said, as though it were that simple. “I couldn’t abide by that. All of my focus was on the clan, and that was before I had taken over the title from Master Zeku. I could only imagine how hard it would have been on her to be married to a man who never had time for her. I suspect she is much happier now.”

Cody raised an eyebrow, once again unsure of what to say. Fighting, that was easy. Punching his way through problems was simple. Maybe it was an addiction at this point; maybe Guy was right. But it was easy. He didn’t really mind saying what was on his mind every once and while, but usually it was only a prelude to a thrown punch. This, this was something different. Something he couldn’t really get his head around. So instead, he just nodded his head and said “Yeah? And what about you?”  

Guy flexed his fist, his thumb just barely brushing his ring finger. It was a movement so simple and subtle, that Cody was amazed he caught it. It was only then Cody realized just how close of attention he paid to Guy.

He tried not to think about it.

“I have everything I need,” Guy said plainly.

Cody tried not to think about that either.

Chapter Text

Jessica was crying in her father’s arms. Guy was never sure what to do in these situations. He had learned a lot through Master Zeku, but how to deal with a young woman that had just been kidnapped was not one of them. He looked outside, as the sun was falling over the city. Things should have felt peaceful, resolved. But they didn’t. They felt far from over, and Guy felt an itch in his bones that beckoned him outward.

Cody followed.

Guy looked over at his friend with an eyebrow raised. It was not his business to tell Cody what to do, of course. He had always been told not to meddle in the affairs of others. Still, Jessica could be heard, broken and relieved sobs mingling with Haggar’s gruff voice comforting her. “Forgive me,” Guy started slowly, “But shouldn’t you be inside comforting the young lady?”

Cody laughed. “Young lady? Jessica’s tough. You know that.” He looked out towards the slums, trash dusting the streets and the smell of sewer gas leaking out from under the sidewalks. The whole place was vile, but Cody’s arms were stretched out, looking more relaxed than ever. “There’s too much work to be done. Too many baddies to beat down. I’ll catch up with her later. You and me? We got work to do.”

Guy frowned. Something seemed wrong. Something wasn’t adding up. He stopped in his tracks, grabbing Cody by the arm and spinning him around to face him. “I understand it’s not my place to tell you what to do, but she was just kidnapped by Mad Gear and held there for days. She didn’t even know if she would make it out of there alive. She needs you right now.”

Cody did not meet Guy’s eyes, staring up at the sky instead, splashed with reds and dying oranges. His hands were twitching underneath his wraps. Guy could see it in his posture alone. Cody wasn’t satisfied with the ending of this story. He wanted to go out, he wanted to keep fighting, and he wanted to push himself to the limit, he wanted to see how far he could break others before he broke himself.

Guy had ignored the signs back then. Sometimes he found himself looking back on that day, wishing he hadn’t.

“Yeah?” Cody smiled, pulling himself out of Guy’s grip. He loosened his shoulders and stretched out his arms, showing off the full results of his training in an easy stretch. His grin was lopsided as he looked at his friend.

He gestured to the entire girth of the city, the back-alley slums, eyes trained steadily on his friend. “What if I said that I had everything I need, right here?”

Without even thinking, Guy lunged forward, connecting his fist with his friend’s jaw. He scoffed just a little, just enough for Cody to know how annoyed he was. And he left, leaving Cody to explain to Jessica his behavior.

Chapter Text

Guy came home to his apartment, now the 39^th Grandmaster of the Bushinryu. It had been a long journey, all in all. But at the end of the day, the mission had been completed, and evil was vanquished from the world again. M. Bison had been defeated and the world was freed from the threat of Shadaloo, at least for the time being. He had proven himself to a new rival, made some new friends, and faced a few old ones.   

He paused as he started to open the apartment door, turning that fight over in his head. He closed his eyes for a moment, clearing out the thoughts as he always did. Cody was living his life as he saw fit, and he had to accept that. No matter how badly he wanted to change the direction the man was on.

He opened the door, stretching and gingerly taking off his shoes, placing them by the door. The entire apartment smelled strange, full of familiarity, but not one Guy could place immediately. He frowned, tightening his stance before making his way over to the tiny and modest kitchen. He walked swiftly, quietly, ready to fight should the situation call for it. He steadied his heartbeat, careful not to give away any signs of weakness, should someone be in the apartment.

A small pile of Chinese takeout sat on the counter.

Guy tilted his head, touching the boxes lightly. They were unopened, and still just barely warm, though likely they had been cooling for some time. There were two boxes, and a collection of cheap wooden chopsticks and sauces sitting on top of a note, scrawled on the back of a King Dragon menu.

Guy only sighed.

I’m not sure what kind of weird ninja diet you’re on these days. But I thought that you can’t go wrong with the good old King’s sesame tofu, right? I asked them to go light on the sauce this time, but you know how they are.

But hey, I tried, right?

Also if you’re wondering how an escape convict managed to order and pay for Chinese takeout, watch the eleven o’clock news.

Second thought, don’t watch the eleven o’clock news.

Guy laughed, startled by the sound of his own voice, and by the smile creeping onto his face. Only Cody could make him react like that. Only he could make him so blindly angry, shocked and saddened and irritable. And only he could make him smile, shaking his head in the middle of his kitchen. Guy looked inside the containers, and looked at the tofu, drenched to the brim in sesame sauce.

Some things really don’t ever change.

Guy grabbed the container and the cheap chopsticks, moving towards the living room couch. As he collapsed, he stared at the ceiling for a second, trying to let it all wash over him. Zeku would recommend he mediate, or perform his katas, or perhaps write some kind of haiku processing his feelings.

Instead, the man just reached for the remote. He had all the time in the world for meditation and practice. Right now, all he wanted to do was enjoy some overly-seasoned tofu and watch the nightly news.

Chapter Text

Cody paced the lobby of the office, waiting for the press to arrive. Soon they would be flooding the front steps, waiting to hear from the mayoral candidate. Glenn Campbell, his main competition, had blown his first conference out of the water, smooth and commanding in every way, shape and form. The man was a natural politician. And more than likely connected to Mad Gear, Cody reminded himself with a long breath.

“You’re nervous,” Guy noted, voice matter-of-fact. It wasn’t a question, and Cody had no use denying it. Still, he shot Guy the most withering glance he could muster, rolling his eyes. He forced out a laugh, perhaps just to show he could. And within a matter of seconds, the man started feeling a little more confident.

It was almost dizzying how easily Guy could bring that out of him.

He caught his reflection in a window, stopping in his tracks to take himself in. “I look ridiculous, don’t I?”

Instead, the man just snorted. “Your tie, perhaps.”

Cody frowned, fumbling with his tie. “Really? Didn’t you pick out this tie?” It was a garish red, but Haggar had assured him that it suited him, that it complimented him. Cody still wasn’t really sure what that meant.

“That’s not what I meant. Come here.” Guy’s voice was stiff as he took a few steps forward. Cody met him in the middle, closing the distance between them. Guy’s hand immediately started to unknot Cody’s tie, freeing it gently.

“You never loop it around enough times,” Guy offered in way of explanation.

Cody rolled his eyes with a small groan. “And you never told me?”

Guy shrugged. “I had hoped you would figure it out on your own.”

Cody really couldn’t argue with that. He simply shrugged and Guy began pulling the tie around to the correct length, his hands deftly folding the fabric across itself with utmost care.

Only Cody wasn’t paying attention to Guy’s hands. He was looking at his face, so close to Cody’s own. He was looking at his eyes, narrowly focused and as intense as they always were. Guy’s arms were almost resting against Cody’s chest, and he could nearly feel the weight of the man against him. It gave off a warmth to the room that Cody couldn’t describe. And it provided a strange comfort as the slowly arriving press began to fill the outside.

“What am I even going to say?” Cody said, just to fill up space as Guy worked. “I look like some sort of representative for a complicated pyramid scheme.”

Guy rolled his eyes and continued tying, letting Cody talk things out amongst himself. It was once again a strange comfort, having Guy just silently standing there, fixing his tie. But it worked somehow. Cody then laughed to himself. “Hello, my name is Cody Travers and I went from throwing rocks to buying stocks.”

Guy snorted, fighting a smile on his lips. Cody tried again, now determined to get the man to say something, if not even laugh for him. It was a challenge, but Cody found himself wanting to try. “I think I’m really onto something here. Hello, everyone, I went from making prison shanks to investing in major banks, and now you can too with these simple steps!” he said with as much false bravado as he could muster.

Instead of laughing, Guy just grabbed the newly tied tie and yanked it forward, tightening around Cody’s throat and pulling the knot loose. Cody’s hands instinctually grabbed for Guy’s, wrapping around the other man’s. However, neither movement was forceful. It was just a statement. It was just a small wordless communication between the two. Cody marveled in it, running his thumbs over Guy’s knuckles, savoring the feeling of his skin under his fingers.

For the first time in a very long time, Cody wanted to do something other than fight.

Guy finally spoke, eyes trained carefully on Cody. “I wouldn’t worry so much,” he said with a firm gentleness. He pulled the tie back around and began to fix the knot. “At all, actually.”

He looked back down, taking a slight breath and breaking into the slightest smile. “I knew you can do this. The city loves you.” He paused for a moment, as though trying to find the right words. Yet, he didn’t look troubled. No, for the first time in a while, Guy looked truly and honestly relaxed. “We always have.”

Cody examined Guy’s face, finally finishing the tie. He hadn’t changed much, physically. Where it seemed like Cody was ever-evolving, and constantly aging, Guy had somehow managed to stay ever-consistent. His face was a little harder, his eyes a little wiser, his hands a little rougher to the touch. But he was still unwavering, always there, in his showy red clothes and ridiculous shoes. He was a constant in Cody’s life. And Cody didn’t have a lot of that lately. Or ever, really.

“Thank you,” he finally said, trying to fight how his face was heating up. He flexed his hands awkwardly for a moment, considering brushing them against Guy’s arms, or perhaps even resting upon his waist. It was too much though. He brushed his hand through his hair, taking a long breath as he refused to meet Guy’s eyes. There would be time for that after this was all over.

Instead, Guy just gave him a gentle push, and Cody opened the door to City Hall.

Chapter Text

Prison turns all creatures into creatures of habit.

Cody woke up to the sounds of the guards shouting through the halls. He shaved some days. Most days he just looked on with tired eyes and did his best to avoid looking at his own reflection in the grime-covered bathroom mirrors.

Breakfast, work out, lunch, fight, work out, dinner, shower, sleep. It all seemed to tick perfectly in time to the clocks that adorned every wall, relentlessly spinning and going nowhere. Even the fights seemed to bleed into each other, but Cody couldn’t seem to stop. It consumed every thought, every movement, as he woke up at the same time, and as he fell onto his cot at the same time.

Fridays were community service day. It was the only reason he ever knew the days of the week.

They would clean up roads, most weeks. Sometimes they would work in soup kitchens. One time they were loading an exhibit into a local museum. Cody was dragging in a large structure to build around some ancient rock of utmost historical importance. The wardens were yelling at the inmates in the background, threatening them should they break the pieces.

A young curator walked by him, and asked him to step aside as she checked the air temperature of the massive protective case. She looked at him as she did it, her eyes trained on him steadily. She wasn’t paranoid or distrustful. She wasn’t afraid, and she wasn’t angry or irritated that a bunch of convicts were rubbing their hands over her life’s work.

No. Her eyes were full of pity.

“We should be good here. You can grab the next one.”

She didn’t recognize Cody. All the newspaper articles had been long since tossed aside. To the common man, he was another convict serving his time in a downtown facility. Like he deserved. She didn’t see him as the city’s fallen hero. The city didn’t need a hero. There was nothing left to fight for.

Cody got back to the prison that night, showered, and caught his face underneath pale green mildew growing on the mirror. He reached for the razor. He put the razor down, face untouched. The lights started going out one by one down the hallway, chasing the man back to his bunk. He walked there slowly and let the darkness lead him.

He found his bunk and went to bed thinking about nothing. Collapsed. Relapsed. Woke up the next day, and did it all again.

Chapter Text

Perhaps Cody should have been a little more upset that the box just destroyed itself.

The box whirred open slowly, glowing with an unnatural power. At this point in his life, Cody had seen just about everything one could imagine. Magic, robots, psychics, creepy cloning experiments. Not much fazed him in the first place, and the years passing managed to make all the oddities seem normal. Still, he kept his eyes locked on the device as it hissed and thrummed with strange energy.

Something thrummed inside of Cody too. Something alive and powerful and floating at the back of his mind. He couldn’t quite describe it. It was not quite the thrill of an oncoming fight, the threat of a new challenger. No, it was much less physical and much more gentle, pushing Cody’s thoughts rather than his body. It was quiet and wordless, but it sent Cody thinking about everything he wanted. Everything that had happened in this journey and everything he lacked in his life. It was a brief sensation, but the thoughts overcame him in a flurry.

All Cody wanted was something to end that constant boredom, the endless cycle of monotony and imprisonment. Something that could cure the constant itching under his skin. Someone to talk to. Someone to fight.

Someone.

He glanced over at Guy.

By the time he glanced back, the box had imploded quietly.

“The box has seen the wisdom in destroying itself,” Guy offered in way of explanation. Cody shrugged. It made enough sense. Plus, despite his stiff posture and perpetual frown, Guy seemed pretty pleased.

It occurred to Cody as they walked back to the plane that perhaps he should have been upset. Maybe he should have been more disappointed that it wasn’t something more climatic and dramatic. Another strange creature like the one they had just fought, perhaps. Or some sort of endless alien power. Or perhaps they would have had to fight to destroy it.

In the end though, Cody wasn’t lying when he told Guy that it didn’t make much of a difference.

And when Guy told him that he enjoyed working with him, Cody hadn’t lied when he said it wasn’t boring. He wanted to say more, but he didn’t really know what to say. The words got caught, somewhere. Between the cold and the confusion, perhaps. Or perhaps they just got caught in the mess that was Cody’s general thought process. Guy seemed to understand anyway.

As they walked, Cody thought about the the Pandora. He remembered rumors about the box’s immeasurable power. He remembered someone mentioning that perhaps the box could even grant a wish to the humans who found it. They were probably just stories, really. Wishful thinking, even. Cody thought about the strange feeling he got when the box opened, and pondered it for a moment. He looked back at the strange thing, cracked and torn amongst rubble and dark spikes of rock. And finally, he looked over at Guy, thinking briefly about what he would have wished for.

Guy looked back at him for only a second, and he smiled. Cody shrugged and felt a small smile of his own tugging on his lips. Perhaps that wasn’t important, Cody decided. Perhaps, if only for now, he already had what he wanted.

He looked up at the sky, and snow began to fall.

Chapter Text

“I’ve been expecting you,” Rose said as soon as Guy entered. He snorted a little, but sure enough, there were two cups of tea sitting on the table. One was sitting in front of Rose as she looked at him expectantly, ornately decorated with sugar cubes neatly stacked to the side. And the other was a plain, Japanese ceramic cup, filled with still hot green tea. He shook his head in quiet defeat, realizing a long time ago that it was useless to doubt the woman.

“I had access to a plane for a few more days, so it only seemed fair to pay a good friend a visit.” Guy explained plainly as he sat down. He had come for another reason, of course. But he knew it was useless to say it. Rose would figure it out on her own.  

“You have questions.” She smiled a little and waved her hand, floating a small plate of biscuits over to Guy’s side of the table. She reached for a deck of tarot cards, shuffling them idly as she waited for Guy to speak his mind.

Guy frowned for a minute, wondering exactly how he should phrase it. He took one of the biscuits in politeness, but he did not eat it. Instead, he placed it the side and stirred the tea pensively. With a firm nod, he decided to start from the top and work his way down. “I set out to destroy the Pandora, just like we discussed in our correspondences. We traveled all across the globes, beating back many other parties looking for it. However, when I approached the device, it destroyed itself. At first I assumed it just knew that humanity wasn’t ready for its power. But in that case, why didn’t it just go back from where it came from?”

Rose hummed to herself, continuing to shuffle out her cards. “As you know, I had been following the Pandora. A cosmic box of unimaginable power, bound easily to the darkest depths of people’s hearts. Of course, it needed to be destroyed before any vile force could get its hands on. However, for it to destroy itself without prompting? It seems quite against its own destiny, doesn’t it?”

Guy opened his mouth to respond, but stopped when he saw Rose smile at him, all too knowingly. “Let’s ask the cards, shall we?” 

Guy was not sure if he always liked the cards. He wasn’t always sure if he liked Rose’s single-minded approach to things like fate and destiny. And he absolutely was sure he didn’t like how easily Rose accepted her own fate, even in the face of despair. However, there was nothing world-ending on the horizon this time. So there was no harm in indulging a friend that he rarely got to spend time with.

Before he could answer though, Rose was already drawing the first card.

She placed a card on the table and raised her eyebrows a little. “Judgement, upright.” She thought for a moment. “I had wondered such a thing myself. It seems our mysterious object from the cosmos was here not as a threat, but as a test. A sign of rebirth and absolution.”

“The Pandora was sent to…test humanity?” Guy ran the thought over in his head. It would explain the power it granted to those in conflict around it. The conflict itself was the choice of man, not the device itself. It almost made sense, and he resolved to listen to Rose as she continued.

She nodded. “A test. And possibly, a gift to those who approached it with a pure heart and a clear mind,” she decided, looking at the card carefully, as though it were speaking to her. Perhaps it was.

“You always did say I had an empty head,” Guy mused. It was not meant as a joke, but Rose laughed.

She pulled the next card. Guy stared at the strange and meaningless image of a man sitting at the base of a tree. He looked up at the woman with a single eyebrow raised. “Four of cups, reversed. It seems that when you approached the Pandora, all it found to judge was boredom, missed opportunity, and repressed feelings.” She frowned. “Perhaps your mind is not as clear as you once thought.”

She paused again as she contemplated the card. “Or…there was something with you clouding the box’s judgement, or perhaps obstructing your own thoughts. Was there someone with you, Guy?”

Guy cleared his throat and took a long swig of his tea. He steadied himself, careful not to show any weakness or surprise on how easily Rose had guessed. “I ran into an old friend of mine along the way. He agreed to help me.”

“Ah,” Rose said, all too knowingly. “Was there some sort of regret you held towards this friend? Something that you may have wanted to tell him, but could never find the emotional certainty to do so?” She raised an eyebrow of her own, a smile still on her lips.

Guy frowned, ignoring how his own heart raced at the thought. “What does the next card say?” he asked, as calmly as possible.

Rose shook her head sadly, but was respectful enough to not push the issue. She pulled the final card and placed it down. “Nine of cups, upright. The card of wishes.” She nodded and her smile grew once again. “It seems your cosmic device tried to solve your problem, my friend. But in the end, there was ultimately nothing to solve. A wish fulfilled, a satisfaction felt between two people.”

Guy furrowed his brow, trying to put Rose’s thought process together. Something was not quite adding up. “Come again?”

Rose hummed in agreement. “I have heard stories throughout the years, of great cosmic entities attempting to fulfil desires of mankind, as perhaps some sort of test.” She looked the cards over and touched them gently. “All three of these cards would certainly indicate such a purpose. However, the item destroying itself…”

“Makes perfect sense. I set out to destroy it, so that was my desire, right?” Guy nodded and took another sip of the tea. So it did add up after all, he decided. Perhaps it was a few leaps of logic to make, but Guy had certainly seen stranger things than wish-fulfilling boxes from space. “The Pandora must have sensed that desire and done away with itself.”

“Conceivably.” Rose agreed with a nod. “But also consider,” she started, tapping the second and third cards, “The Pandora seems to be linked to people’s emotions, and their desires. It is very possible that it merely destroyed itself because it looked into both hearts, and saw nothing left to grant.”  

Guy furrowed his brow again, right back to his initial confusion. “Are you saying that Cody had nothing he wanted either?” He somehow found that hard to believe. Cody had been lost for so long, it seemed impossible to think that he wanted nothing more from his life than what he was given.

“Maybe,” Rose mused. “But I am afraid you are missing one very important possibility.” She swooped up the cards and shuffled them back into the deck. Without ever breaking eye contact with Guy, she shuffled the deck with skilled hands, the smile never leaving her face. She then placed the deck on the table, pulling out the very first card on the top of the deck.

The Lovers.

“Perhaps the Pandora destroyed itself because the only thing you both wished for, was each other.”

Chapter Text

Cody had escaped jail a grand total of fourteen times before they finally let him go. The cell opened in the middle of the day, after yard time but well before dinner. Cody raised an eyebrow from his bunk, staring down the correctional officers with vague interest, his eyes sleepless and distant.

The guards beckoned for him to follow them, wordlessly. One of them flashed the gun at his hip in a silent thread. Cody almost laughed at him, but thought better of it. Instead, he shrugged and stood up, following one guard as two more followed on the rear.

He would have heard about it if they were going to execute him, he decided resolutely. He wasn’t particularly bothered by the idea of that it could come down that. Still, he had no idea what was going on. “So you gonna tell me what this is all about or…?” he trailed off, hoping someone would bother to fill him in.

“You made bail. The old man paid it off this morning,” an officer finally informed him. He didn’t make eye-contact with the man. And Cody realized, dimly and distantly, that the guards were afraid. It made sense after all he’s put them through. After all, he’s broken more than a few bones in the . He was probably their worst nightmare, a blonde-haired blue-eyed monster.

So why were they even bothering to let him go?

“Do I even have a bail at this point?” Cody raised an eyebrow, before the rest of the statement hit him. “Wait. Old man?” The gears started to turn in his brain until they were practically burning. “You can’t be talking about Mike Haggar, right?”

The lead officer snorted. “Who else would be able to have that much sway over the prison? Trust me, it wasn’t easy. The Super put up a huge fuss about it.” The officers behind him choked back a laugh, and Cody almost wished he was there for that conversation. “Haggar won though. And now you’re free. Crazy how that works.”

Cody frowned. Haggar had bailed him out before, a long time ago. Several times, actually. He did his best to keep him out of prison for the first few months, Cody gave him that. But one way or another, the man would find his way back in. Cody got tired of hearing the lectures, and then soon after, Haggar got tired of calling in favors and putting in effort for someone who never gave back.

So why now?

Once they reached the personal effects room, they handed Cody a pair of sneakers and a worn leather wallet. Cody opened it to find two cancelled credit cards and a picture of Jessica. He snorted. Locked away from the sun for so long, the picture hadn’t even faded. She still looked just as young and beautiful as Cody remembered when the picture was taken, rich with shades of gold and red.

He stuffed the wallet into one of the sneakers and threw it all into the trash. He looked up at the correctional officer with an impatient expression, waiting for some kind of prompt. He was so used to just charging out of the prison, heading out on his own personal mission to end his boredom. He had long forgotten what he was supposed to do upon actual legal release.

“You’ll be driven to the main office,” the officer then explained, scrambling for words after being stared down by the man in front of him. “There you will meet with the man who made your bail. He apparently would like to speak with you.”

“No kidding,” Cody said, his voice completely flat. In truth, Haggar wasn’t the only one that wanted to talk. Cody just wasn’t sure what he was going to say.

When the door finally opened, Superintendent Cole glared him down, dressed in a heavy winter coat and gripping a pair of keys in his hand. “Come on, Travers. I haven’t got all day and neither does the goddamn mayor.”

Cody tried not to laugh as he followed the man out.

---

“For the record, I don’t approve of this.” Cole said on the ride over. It was a short ride, and the Superintendent wasted no time speaking his mind.

“Yeah,” Cody smirked. “Heard you threw a temper tantrum in front of the mayor. Who knew you wanted to keep me around that much, eh Super?”

The man rolled his eyes and shot Cody a withering glance before returning to the poorly paved gravel that divided up the sections of the prison. “I’m just saying that if it’s hired muscle he’s after, there are easier ways to get a bodyguard.”

Cody shrugged. In truth, he hadn’t even thought of that possibility. “Have you ever seen Mike Haggar? Man’s not looking for a bodyguard.”

Cole was silent for a long minute, but there was a small smile on his lips. Finally, he took a long breath, as though releasing something that had been on his mind all day. Maybe longer than that. “Look, Travers…” he paused, “Cody.”

“No, call me Travers.”

“Fine.” He sighed again, fighting back that smile all the same. “Look, I just…I didn’t know. About Edi E. and Poison and all that scumbaggery going on in the legal system. I didn’t…I didn’t know and even if I did…” he paused again, still trying to think of the right words. “I’m sorry.”

Cody looked out the window, glancing back at his own little section of the prison. The walls were patched up in a strange patchwork quilt of bricks and cement, pieced together after multiple escapes on Cody’s part. The lights were dimming out from a distance, and everything felt strange. Nothing made sense, but it didn’t send Cody into a frenzy for once. He didn’t have the urge to break out, to start fighting, to cure some itch under his bones. He just felt confused, but definitely not bored.

He looked over at Cole again, as they pulled into the lot for the main office.

“Yeah,” he finally said with a small sigh. “I’m sorry too.”

Chapter Text

“You want me to what now?”

Haggar let out a long groan as he drove Cody back to the man’s house. “How many times am I going to have to spell it out for you, Boy? I told you already back at the prison. You’re going to replace me as mayor of Metro City.”

“Run for mayor,” Cody corrected. “You want me to run for mayor.” Because even if Cody agreed, the odds of him actually succeeding were slim to none. Haggar had to have known that. But looking at Cody right there, the man never looked so sure of something in his life.

“I can’t be Mayor of this damn city forever,” the man said. His voice was gruff, but there was a note of tenderness to it. It was easy to tell that if term limits didn’t exist, the man would stay in office until he took his last breath. He was made for it. He loved it. He loved the city, and he loved its people, for better or for worse.

Cody stared at him for a long time, his brain doing somersaults trying to make sense of things. He had so many questions; more than he could ever hope to ask in this short car to Haggar’s place. Mike assured him that he could stay there until he found a place of his own, but the caveat was clear. Cody had to find a place of his own before long. He had to get a job, whether in politics or not. He had to figure out his life, and Haggar wanted it done fast.

Cody snorted to himself and decided to start with his first real question. “Why even bother with all of this, Mike?” He sighed, more to himself than to anyone else. “I’m just going to land myself back in jail again. Hadn’t you learned that lesson after the first few times?”

Haggar laughed, as though it were genuinely some kind of joke.

After a few minutes, Haggar then realized that Cody was not in fact joking. He glanced away from the road for a second, studying Cody’s face before turning back to the road. His fingers drummed on the steering wheel, his smile completely gone from his face and his brow furrowed, looking for the right words.

“Glenn Campbell,” he finally offered.

“You said he was the Republican candidate, yeah?” Cody raised an eyebrow.

“You were paying attention after all!” Haggar somehow sounded more delighted than sarcastic, truly well and pleased that Cody was in fact listening to the man’s crackpot planned. He then nodded, back to that sullen expression. “Bastard has been dealing with Mad Gear for years. Using them to push drugs, stir up turf wars, fear mongering, the works. He’s in their pocket as much as they’re in his, I can smell it. When you’ve been working politics for as long as I have, you get a sense for these things. You know the look of a liar. You hear a lot of rumors, and you learn which ones to listen to.”

Cody grunted. “Sounds like too much work for me.” It wasn’t necessarily true, but Cody was pretty sure it was too high of mountain to climb. And he knew better than to let Haggar get his hopes up about him.

Still, it was nice to have someone actually have hope.

“It’s you and Guy,” Haggar finally said. “You’re the only two I know I can trust right now. Mad Gear thinks they have this in the bag. They have to have other people in their corner. Crime’s picked up nearly four times as much since he was announced as candidate and like hell am I going to find out what happens if he wins.”

They were nearing the house now, pulling past one beautiful multi-story home after another. They were all white and glistening, with green grass maintained by hired help and windows polished by maids who just moved to America looking for a better life. It was a ritzy kind of neighborhood- one that Cody had only really set foot in while he was dating Jessica. He didn’t belong here. And he didn’t belong in politics. He thought about the last time he was at Haggar’s home, kissing Jessica on the couch and hoping her father didn’t walk in on them.

She laughed as he kissed her neck, grabbing at his hair with a playful gasp.

Months later, she balked from the nearest touch, apologizing profusely and swearing she was getting help for it.

Cody looked over at Haggar. He was sure he was going to lose the election. He was certain that Mike Haggar’s word was far from enough to push a jailbird to office. But he was also certain that he didn’t want Mad Gear to win. He didn’t want what happened to Jessica to happen to another woman ever again. It would make everything he had already done meaningless. And whether he was still a hero or not, Cody couldn’t abide by that.

“Sure,” Cody finally said as they pulled into the garage. “Fine. Whatever. But only because it sounds like I’m going to be able to beat some people up.” He paused for a minute, running the options through his head. “And when I lose, you’ll let me go back to my jail cell in peace.”

Haggar laughed again, once again more delighted than he was annoyed at Cody’s dismissive behavior. It confused Cody, but a small part of him felt relieved that he wasn’t pushing the man away for once. “You got a deal, kid. But you won’t lose.”

“Yeah? Why’s that?” Cody raised an eyebrow as they unbuckled and got out of the car.

Haggar looked him over, a smirk on his face.

“Because the hero always wins, in the end.”

Chapter Text

Guy dismissed his students with a curt bow, allowing them to go off to play amongst themselves while waiting for their parents. Times were changing, he realized resolutely, as he looked out at the children from the inside of the dojo. Many were still sparring amongst themselves, taking the knowledge they learned that day and trying to apply it. They all had a long way to go before they could call themselves practitioners of Bushin. But all stories had beginnings, and he could very well be looking at his own successor right now without even knowing it.

The thought was comforting, knowing that despite all the changes time had made, Bushinryu would continue to survive.

“So many of them are wearing sneakers,” a familiar voice said from behind him. “My poor father is likely rolling in his grave at this very second.” The words were harsh, but Guy could hear the smile on the woman’s lips, and the soft tones of laughter that followed.

Guy turned around to face Rena, merely shrugging in response. “Master Zeku says it all the time; things are changing. If one cannot adapt to the current world, then the path of the Bushin will disappear into history.” He then paused, adding a little sheepishly, “Besides, they’re comfortable.”

Rena laughed, honest and full-bodied. Her hair was tied into a tight bun and her loose top was tucked neatly into a long blue skirt. Her face showed just the slightest hints of aging, but she still looked so cheerful and elegant, never slowing down and always facing towards the future. “Of course. Who am I to stand in the way of the great Master Guy’s teachings of comfort and Nike Dunks?”

Guy blinked at her, unsure how to react exactly. Instead, he gave a thin and forced smile. Rena only shook her head sadly in response, the smile still on her face. “Is Maki upstairs?” she finally asked, glancing around the room of the main dojo, as though expecting her younger sister to come storming through any minute.

Guy shook his head. “The training room. I ordered her to meditation training this morning and she…was not happy about it.” The young woman was strong, full of passion and potential. But her lack of patience and overall irritation at self-reflection was certainly holding her back. “I believe she’s off blowing off steam with a few other members of the clan now.” She had wanted to spar Guy, initially. It was a pretty common desire of hers; but Guy had other things to do for the time being.

Rena nodded, glancing down at the large basket she had in her hands. “Other members,” she mused. “Oh dear. I hope I brought enough then.”

Guy raised an eyebrow as Rena looked up at him. “Made lunch again?”

“Of course! I’ve been practicing my vegetarian cooking, you know.” Rena pulled out a small container, labeled Guy in neat katakana. She held it out to him expectantly, smiling all the while. Guy wondered if the smile ever truly faded from her face. It seemed so ever-present. “I keep telling her to pass on any leftovers to you but…”

“Yeah,” Guy finished, knowing exactly how Maki’s appetite gets after long days of training. He rested his hands awkwardly on the container, his fingers just barely brushing Rena’s own. He glanced down, his eyes falling onto the glint of her wedding band. The sunlight bounced off it, the golden light shining in the late spring afternoon. It suited her. He grabbed the container, returning his eyes to Rena’s resolutely. “It is good to see you,” he finally said, honestly. “However, I have some contracts and proposals to flesh out before next week. I hope you understand.”

Rena pouted a little, but it was playful, far from disappointed. “That’s right! The campaign is going well, then? Maki tells me that you are awfully invested. She’s getting a little bitter, truthfully. Thinks that you aren’t paying enough attention to the clan.” She paused, her brain catching up with what she just said. She shifted her in her posture, catching herself. “I’m sorry! Don’t tell her I said that!”

Guy snorted. “The opposite, actually.” He glanced out towards the office, where piles and piles of paperwork awaited him. “I’m working closely with the democrat candidate to strike up a contract with the clan. Should he win, we will work directly along law enforcement to keep corruption out of the legal system. Setting up a system of checks and balances amongst the city st-”

Rena started laughing again, nearly dropping her basket of food in the process. “’The democrat candidate’,” she mocked innocently. “You’ve been making too many speeches, Guy. I’m not going to publish this on the nightly news. You can call him Cody around me.”

“Right.” He fumbled with his small container of food. “It’s…it’s been a lot lately. I’m sorry.”

Rena waved him off. “Don’t be. It’s stressful, I imagine. But you’ve been happier for it; I can tell.” She always seemed to have a way of knowing these things. She paused for a second, her ever-present smile turning sly and knowing. Guy felt a small pit of dread form in his stomach at that look.

“He certainly does clean up nice, doesn’t he?” Rena said, her eyes raking Guy over all-too-knowingly. “I’d have a hard time not voting for him, just on looks alone.”

Guy blinked several times, trying to steady his heart from beating. The last thing he wanted was for Rena to give him a hard time about this…thing he had for Cody. Guy still was not exactly certain what that “thing” was, but he knew he didn’t want Rena to know about it yet.

“He…certainly has some handsome features,” he started, before deciding to change the subject away from looks. “He’s slowly finding his footing again, through all of this. It’s not all at once, and he’d never admit it out loud, but its showing.”

Guy thought about the man, probably pouring over his notes for his next speech and going over note cards with Haggar right now. Recently he’s been trying to memorize all the important public figures in the city, after accidentally calling the head of public relations by the wrong name. “He’s still unsure of himself, and convinced that he never truly was what the city seems to think of him. But…” he paused, realizing that he was smiling to himself as he spoke.

Rena nodded, understanding. “I’m a little jealous,” she sighed. “Cody never gets to see what you’re like when he’s not around.” She refused to elaborate on what that meant. “I never knew him like you do, of course. But he does seem to be getting better, step by step. And you as well. I’m glad you have each other.”

Guy just tilted his head in confusion. She laughed and repositioned the basket in her arms, and Guy did not overlook the way her hand tenderly brushed over her stomach as she did so. “I’m just saying that not everything you do needs to be for the greater good.”

It was a familiar argument, but it had been years since she had last said it to him. All the bitterness from the past was gone, drowning under the smile on her face and the ring on her finger, and the warm glow as she pressed her hand against her belly. The words were different now, born of wisdom and devoid of callousness. “It’s okay to want to do something for just one person. Even if that person is yourself.”  

She started out to the courtyard to go find her sister, looking back at Guy with an encouraging smile. And for the first time in a very long time, Guy easily smiled back at her.

Chapter Text

“Or would you rather hear the sad, sad story of an ex-hero?”

Guy stood there for a long moment. He tried to remember the last time he saw Cody. It had been a prison visit, naturally. Probably the third time he had landed himself in jail, after Haggar had called in yet another favor to get him out. He had known something was wrong then. Cody had been putting on muscle and he looked entirely sleepless, but Guy had always assumed that it was the natural strain of prison life. It was just the constant monotony and exercise.

This was something else entirely.

Guy threw the first punch. He couldn’t stop himself, he couldn’t control himself. Zeku would be so ashamed; he could almost see the chiding look of disappointment. Newly named 39^th Master of Bushinryu and already breaking the codes of the clan. Don’t interfere in the lives of others; let people make their own paths, carve their own decisions.

He tossed a kunai into Cody’s side, just lightly ripping at the skin. Cody took it with a look of raw disinterest, charging at him with a full-body attack. This wasn’t Cody’s path. Guy could not allow for this to be Cody’s path. The man was a hero. He was the man who stopped Mad Gear and saved the city. He was the man who jumped to action and never had to be asked twice.

He was the man that inspired Guy to strive for his own goals, to push for more.

Cody slammed his fist against Guy’s chin, and Guy grabbed his arm in turn, twisting the man to the ground. He couldn’t let Cody become something that he wasn’t, even if Cody himself was convinced he was already there.

The problem was, this was the only way he would listen. This was the only way Cody could talk. Every throw, every kick, every punch. The rocks, the knife, the pipe. They were the only words that he could use, the only thing that Guy understood. His pain, his tedium, his loneliness. Everything was laid out in every rip of the skin.

It was just like when they were ten years old, and nothing was going right for either of them. Cody would come to school with bruises on his arms and a shiner on his eye. Guy would get angry; he was so young, but he was confused and angry all the time. He wanted to know what had happened, and Cody wouldn’t tell him. So they fought. And every punch let out every feeling that they both felt. It was all they could say, at the time.

Cody tossed him down to the pavement, laying him out to the ground. Guy’s body was covered in cuts and bruises already, breathless and aching as Cody left him behind, on his own private mission. But Guy wasn’t upset. Tired and bleeding, but not upset. It was just like it was then: they fought.

And fighting has always been their universal language.

Chapter Text

Nearly ten hours ago, Cody was named the mayoral elect of Metro City. He ran that idea through his head over and over again. There was still so much to do. The work never would truly be done, he realized. There were contracts to smooth out, conferences to make, and a couple of leftover Mad Gear goons to lay waste to. And that was all before he even truly made it to office.

That could wait though. All of that could wait. He had more important things to attend to.

He knocked on Guy’s apartment door, holding out the bags of Chinese food towards the peephole in a sign of good will. “Apparently the mayor eats free on election days,” he supplied loudly, knocking on the door again. He had just seen the man earlier that day, at the initial announcement and again during a few celebratory parties. Several champagne toasts later, Guy had retired back to his place, likely happy to call it a day.

Cody would normally let the man go back to his place in silence. He owed him that much. But not tonight.

Plus, no one said no to King Dragon.

The door opened and Guy looked at him with his usual unreadable expression, blinking once at the man and then down at the Chinese food. He looked back at Cody, eyes raking him over. “You haven’t changed clothes yet,” he then stated, motioning for Cody to come inside.

Cody shrugged, following after Guy and glancing around. He kicked off his stuffy dress shoes awkwardly before heading over to the couch, placing the food on a coffee table in front of the TV. The apartment was starkly decorated, but traditional and effective. It suited Guy. “No time, really. Haggar’s been dragging me around from place to place to make speeches and shake hands with various contributors. It’s nice and all but I just need to get away from him for a bit.”

It wasn’t a complete lie. The apartment-hunt was slowly coming along, with enough help from Haggar to wave away all the ex-convict flags that his application raised. But even still, it was a slow process, and learning to live with Haggar’s bizarre morning routines had taken almost as much adaptation as the prison. He needed a break sometimes. But even more, he needed… 

“So you came straight here?” Guy interrupted his thoughts, motioning for Cody to sit down with him, a little stiffly. Guy looked him over again, as though searching for something. His eyes shifted over Cody’s face, still immaculately clean-shaven from that morning, and then finally rested on his tie.

Cody followed the line of sight, loosening it just a little. His eyes watched carefully for some kind of reaction, opening the collar to show just a sliver of the skin on his neck. It made it easier to breathe, at the very least. Easier to relax. Guy always made it so much easier to relax.

Guy followed the action with his eyes, his lips darting inward for half a second before he immediately looked back up at Cody’s face, as though pretending he wasn’t looking at all. Cody tried not to smile.  

“We never shared our own celebratory toast,” Cody gave as an excuse, pulling out a six-pack of beer, offering his friend a bottle.

Guy glanced at it, giving a small smile and finally relaxing in his seat. “At least it’s not more champagne,” he sighed and grabbed the bottle, popping it open resolutely.

Cody laughed, pulling out a bottle of his own and touching it lightly to Guy’s. “I’ll drink to that.”

They ate in silence for a long moment, mulling over their own thoughts. The chicken was chewier than usual, Cody realized. In fact, the food was a lot more subpar than he remembered from when he was younger. But he had been craving it for so long that it hardly made a difference. Sitting here on the couch, eating mediocre Chinese food and drinking bear with Guy. In truth, it was the only place Cody wanted to be.

“Cody,” Guy paused, putting down his sesame tofu, this time mercifully light on the sauce. “How have you been doing?”

Cody blinked, frowning a little. With a quick sigh, he downed the last of his beer and reached for a second bottle. However, as he did so, Guy met him halfway, resting his hand on top of Cody’s and looking at him with his typicals intensity. Cody sighed again. “I just won an election, Guy. You’ve been with me the entire time.”

“You know what I meant.”

Cody did. It had been nearly a year. He still wasn’t the man that everyone thought he was. He was far from it. But every day he looked in the mirror, and saw someone that was just a little closer to that person. It was a slow process. But every single day was another step towards it. It didn’t seem so strange to fight for others anymore, but he couldn’t stop fighting all the same. The city didn’t feel like it was beyond saving, and Cody didn’t feel so far gone either.

“Better,” he finally said, smacking Guy’s hand away and grabbing the beer. He didn’t want to talk about it, not really. It was a lot to unpack and today was supposed to be about celebration. But Guy was never the kind of person to want to beat around the bush or make small talk. He should have expected that by now. They’ve known each other so long. “It’s getting easier to wake up every day.” He took a bigger swig of his beer, not even close to feeling a buzz from it. He decided just to down the whole bottle in a long gulp, trying to put together what he wanted to say. When he put the empty bottle down on the coffee table, all he could manage was “Thank you. For everything.”

But the message was clear. Guy smiled, glancing downward at his own drink, barely touched save for the celebratory toast. “No need,” he finally said. “I suppose I’ve always been self-righteous, in my own way. I only ever wanted to focus on one thing at any given time, so dedicated to only seeing one path. I suppose I’ve been unable to accept any other answer except the ones I myself came up with.” He fiddled with the cheap wooden chopsticks, spinning them between his fingers with his usual skill and precision. “You’ve likely never noticed, but you’ve always challenged that. You’ve pushed me in directions I never thought I would go, and taught me different ways to look at the world.” He paused again, meeting Cody’s eyes with startling sincerity, the tiny smile still on his face. “I never thanked you for that.”

Ten hours ago, they announced the winners of the mayoral election for Metro City. Cody had been waiting with Haggar, several members of the democrat campaign, and a small portion of the Bushin clan. When they made the announcement, the room exploded. Haggar pulled Cody into a hug that could easily kill a small bear, the PR rep immediately pulled out her phone and started tweeting the news, and a few reporters started asking Cody for comments.

He had looked over to Guy, smiling more than Cody had ever seen him smile in his life. He seemed so unguarded, lost in the moment as the two men stared at each other, completely unable to break way from each other’s eyes. Cody almost kissed him then. In front of Haggar, in front of the election committee, in front of the whole damn world. He wasn’t sure why he didn’t.

And for the life of him, he couldn’t figure out why he wasn’t doing it now.

He moved closer to Guy, bringing his hand up to cup the other man’s face. He paused, suddenly unsure of this. He flicked his thumb over Guy’s lips carefully, making his intentions as clear as he possibly could without having to say it out loud.

Unfortunately, he underestimated just how oblivious Guy was.

The man blinked at him rapidly, but did not move away. His brow furrowed, more in concern than confusion. “Cody? Are you alr-”

Cody only rolled his eyes as he moved closer, pressing his lips against Guy’s resolutely. To his credit, Guy did not take very long to get the message; his hand almost immediately came up to card through Cody’s hair. Cody took in everything upon a slow second kiss. Guy’s breath still smelled of beer and Chinese food, but it was the most intimate contact that Cody has had in years and he quickly found out that he didn’t care what Guy smelled like. His hand shifted down to take a handful of Guy’s arm, squeezing the muscle softly, just to make sure he was real, that this was all real.

Guy kissed back softly, before gripping his hand into Cody’s hair and gently pulling him away. Cody looked at him, desperately searching for something, anything that would assure him that this was permanent. That he wouldn’t blink and wake up in his jail cell, cold and alone.

“Was that also a celebratory toast?” Guy asked, not breaking eye contact with Cody, their faces still only a few inches apart. Guy didn’t seem bitter or irritated about it; just curious.

Cody didn’t really know how to respond. His own pulse was hammering so loudly that he could barely process the words. He wanted to say something reassuring. He wanted to kiss Guy again. And again. And again. Instead, he just did what he always did when feelings became too much for him. He shrugged and backpedaled. “It can if you want it to be.”

Guy furrowed his brow, scooting back a little bit. Cody moved with him, not willing to let the man get away from him that easily. Guy placed his hands on Cody’s shoulders, pushing him back gently. “I broke up with Rena because I could not be the man she wanted me to be,” he finally said, once again characteristically cutting straight to the point. “I could not dedicate myself to the relationship the way she deserved.”

Cody mulled the thought over. If he were being honest, he thought about it a lot. He wasn’t Rena. Never was. Rena was married now and had a kid on the way. She wanted a dedicated family, and she eventually found someone who made those dreams come true. Guy had a family already, with the clan. He had dedicated himself to that, and now was beginning to carve his way through the rest of the world.

Cody just wanted some place he belonged.

He kissed Guy on the jaw, and Guy arched back his neck ever-so-slightly, inviting Cody in for more. “You’re right,” Cody then said, moving his lips down to Guy’s neck, speaking directly against the skin. He shifted forward, feeling Guy shudder just slightly underneath his hands. “This is a terrible idea.”

“Almost as bad as an ex-convict as mayor,” Guy agreed, moving his hands down Cody’s shoulders and pulling him closer. The couch was not big enough for the both of them, their bodies already entangled just from the lack of space alone. That suited Cody just fine though, and Guy certainly did not seem to be complaining.

“Once I start my term, you’ll be promoted to a city-defense position.” Cody paused to gently nip at the skin of Guy’s neck, bringing the tiniest gasp out of the man. He loved it, relished in it. Needed more. “We’ll be working together constantly. A relationship would just be a conflict of interests, right?”

Guy nodded, rolling his neck around bite at Cody’s earlobe, sending a shock of pleasure through Cody’s systems. This was good, he decided. Better than good, even. Guy worried the lobe between his teeth, clearly enjoying Cody’s sharp intake of breath at the action. “I could only imagine the scandal. A relationship between us would most certainly be doomed from conception,” he added in agreement, moving his hands to untie Cody’s tie.

“Hey,” Cody said, as Guy whipped the tie off and tossed it to the side, casually beginning to unbutton his collared shirt. “I’ll have you know someone important to me picked out that tie. He tied it for me and everything.” He smirked teasingly, and Guy rolled his eyes as he nibbled at Cody’s collarbone, washing all other thoughts from the man’s head instantly.

“Sounds like quite a catch,” Guy added, deadpan. “You thinking of asking him out?” He raised an eyebrow and moved away to look back at Cody, back to his usual laser-focused intensity. Cody felt his face heat up, with Guy’s eyes boring into him. He was into his 30s, newly elected mayor, battered and bruised inside and out, and had no reason to be blushing like this. It was incredible the things that Guy could do to him.

“I’d love to, if he’d have me.” Cody’s hands came to rest at Guy’s side, his thumbs gently pushing up his shirt as he felt the skin under the whorls of his fingertips. He tried to convey everything he needed to say in that simple touch, not knowing how to say it all out loud. How hard his heart would beat when Guy was around, how alive Guy made him feel even when he thought his spirit was dead, how grateful he was to have someone who never stopped believing in him, even in his darkest moments.

Guy smiled, just like he did back at city hall when the results were announced. Unguarded and honest in a way that Guy never allowed himself to be. Never around anyone other than Cody. “I see,” he said, his voice stiff but his posture giving everything away. He leaned forward, this time the one to initiate the kiss.

Cody soaked it in, lips on lips, gently moving with each other, against each other. Friction and heat fading to softness and affection, and back to heat again. It was a lot like fighting, he dimly thought. It was a silent communication, an action that dulled the buzzing in the back of his always-churning mind. They moved in both conflict and resolution, all at once.

And Cody thought, perhaps he could get addicted to this too.