Archive of Our Own ^beta

He lost. Will did his best and lost. All that talk about regaining momentum and now look at him; nothing to show for it except a loss at the hands of someone who is too damned reckless. He was lying on a couch in his locker room, gazing at the ceiling like some understanding would hit him from above. Why did Darby win? Was Will's rationale not strong enough?

He sat up quickly, almost regretting it immediately due to the blood rushing to his head.

“Fuckin’ ‘ell,” He groused.

He stood up, slapping his hands on his thighs.

“Might as well ask the fucker myself instead of hurting my bloody head over it.”

Will just set a single foot out of the door and then he heard crashing and shouting. He sprinted towards the noise and lo and behold; the very person he needed to speak with was in the middle of the disturbance.

Darby was all but clawing his way through security to get at Claudio. His grey eyes were glowing as he was frothing at the mouth. Darby looked almost oblivious to the bodies impeding him. Will sighed and grabbed him firmly by the waist into a bear hug.

“Right. Come with me, you angry little shite.”

Will bodily hauled him to his locker room and unceremoniously dumped him on the couch. Closing the door behind him, he stared him down.

“First off….are you alright?”

Darby's eyes were still glowing as he just registered Will's voice.

“No, I'm not…you should have let me at him..!”

Will grabbed a chair and sat across from him, his gaze pinning him down.

“That's not what I meant, you bloody ghoul.”

The name calling seemed to settle him a bit as he cleared his throat and his eyes returned to normal.

“Not a ghoul. Revenant.”

Will paused for a moment to think it through.

“Right. A ghoul with extra steps. Anyway. Got something to ask you. Why are you so fucking reckless with your body, mate? What drives you to do that shit?”

Darby stood up at him, eyes blazing.

“Do you NOT see the shit that's going on out there? It's literal war. And in war, sacrificing your body is the least you can do. Rage fuels me…and it's all I need to know.”

Darby then sidestep Will and walks to the door. He turns for a moment and mumbles.

“Thanks for grabbing me.”

“No problem, mate. And as promised…I've got your back if you have mine.”

Darby allowed himself a small smile at that.

“Thanks, Will.”

Darby walked away, leaving Will just as confused as when he started.

“Fucking reckless, he is. And I have a lot of flipping nerve saying that.”

—----------------

Will was backstage, cursing about how he dropped another match, but this time it was against Ricochet. But this time, Will did everything right and that bald bastard pulled out every trick to beat him.

He flipped the towel onto his head, letting it obscure his vision. He gave a stilted laugh and shook his head.

“Dickhead knows he can't beat me clean. Bloody company has a bald bastard problem…”

He looked up and caught part of the main event. Darby was giving Claudio no shortage of hell, but he was getting absolutely battered. Not a surprise when the man is the offspring of a giant.

Will found himself transfixed by the match as he tossed his regular clothes back on. Despite them being in the same block, he cheered Darby on. When he saw Claudio reach for a chair, something itched in the back of his brain. He was going to try something against Darby. Under normal circumstances, he'd come out guns blazing and dump him on his fat head. But no…C2 rules forbid interference.

Didn't stop Will for preparing for the worst though. His feelings were proven true as he watched Claudio pull out silver plated brass knuckles as cracked Darby heavily on the jaw.

Will darted from his locker room to the front, knowing full well the match would be complete by the time he arrived. As Claudio left to grab further instruments of torture, Will slid in and grabbed the knuckles. Stashing them in his waistband, he picked up Darby and slung him across his back. Carrying him as if he weighed nothing, he dutifully made his way to the back. Darby regained enough consciousness to wave off the doc. He mumbled something to Ospreay and he carried him to his locker room. Carefully laying him on a couch, he looked Darby over again, inspecting the angry looking bruise on his jaw.

“Didn't know you lot were affected by silver.”

Darby opens an eye and laughs, the sound more of a croak.

“Learn something new every day, I guess.”

Will walked away for a moment and grabbed a basin and filled it with water. He set about gently wiping his face and the bruise to hopefully head off the swelling.

“...what are you doing, Ospreay?”

“This counts as looking out for you, you twat. Now shut up and get looked after.”

Darby raised his head to snarl at him in response but Will bulled forward and kissed him hard on the lips.

He groaned in response to Will kissing his objection away.

Will backed off and kept tending to him.

“You pull that shit often, Will?”

He smirked at Darby and stood up.

“Not often because people are actually rational. There are some that aren't so…I am sorry but it did reset you.”

Darby laid back down and sighed. A small smirk crept onto his lips.

“Apology accepted. But…in this case, don't be too sorry. Feeling softness is…it isn't half bad.”

“You deserve to feel softness. Before you can't anymore.”

Darby laughs and it turned into a cough.

“Weird shit to say to the living dead.”

“But you're still alive. It's something.”

Darby shook his head and sighed.

He beat Will but in this case, Will won.