Ya did it, kid.
Into the Void - Backstage
Osaka, Japan
The noise followed him all the way down the hallway, cheers, clapping and the voices calling his name from somewhere behind him as he walked through the backstage area carrying both championships, his SCW Internet Championship slung over one shoulder, the SCW World Heavyweight Championship gripped tightly in his hand like he still wasn’t fully convinced it belonged there.
People reached out as he passed, clasping their hands on his shoulder followed with congratulatory words and excited voices talking over each other.
Miles heard all of it, but none of it really set in yet, not fully. Not while adrenaline still buzzed under his sweat soaked skin hard enough to make his hands shake every time he loosened his grip. Not while sweat that was starting to dry up and still clung to him, his wet curls hanging in face and his body screamed from everything he’d just put it through.
Not while his heartbeat still sounded like the crowd, loud, thumping and refusing to let up for even a moment.
As he made his way down, he thanked people where he could, nodded when he couldn’t and smiled when someone caught his eye and then finally, he reached the locker room. He felt like he had walked for miles upon miles to even get there. Miles pushed the door open, stepped inside, and shut it behind him with the noise disappearing almost instantly.
Not completely, but just enough.... Enough to hear himself breathe.
The room was cool compared to the heat outside, and for the first time all night there wasn’t someone talking at him, grabbing him, congratulating him, needing something from him, there was just silence. He just needed a Goddamn moment to collect his thoughts, just a moment.
Miles stood there for a second longer than he meant to, both championships still in his hands, before slowly walking toward the far wall. It was then that the exhaustion finally caught him, but it wasn’t sudden, it was like finally the adrenaline wore off. He turned around leaned against the wall for a moment and then he slid down against the wall until he hit the floor, legs stretched out in front of him as both titles settled beside him with a heavy metallic sound against the concrete.
And for the first time since the bell rang, as he sat there with his kickpads all skewed and twisted, he breathed a long breath. The kind that emptied everything out of his lungs all at once.
He allowed his head to tip back against the wall, with those same wet curls pushing up and he closed his blue gray eyes briefly while letting the reality of what he’d just done slowly started forcing its way through the adrenaline.
It had been six years, almost six full years since he started in SCW in a trade off with PWS: Apex.
Between working through COVID, the flights, the injuries and the losses that sat with him longer than they should have. The nights where people told him he was close but not there yet. The conversations where everyone had an opinion on what he should’ve done differently, who he should’ve been, how he should’ve carried himself.
All the times he was told he could be World Champion if he just followed the path everyone else laid out for him and every single time he took it into consideration and then because he was a stubborn ass, he ignored it.
From every wrong turn, every choice people questioned and every moment where it would’ve been easier to bend a little just to make things simpler....He didn’t.
And now....Now he was sitting on the cement floor in Osaka with both championships beside him.
After a brief few moments Miles, without even looking, slowly reached over and picked up the World Heavyweight Championship.
His championship....Even thinking that still felt like a strange thing to even think.
The leather creaked softly in his hands as he turned it over, eyes catching on the small details he’d only ever looked at from a distance before, even when Carter held it. Then he saw it, still there screwed in was a name plate, ‘Alexander Raven’. Miles stared at the nameplate for a second before letting out a quiet breath through his nose.
“That’s gonna be a nice change to see....”
And after a bit he lifted the championship slowly and rested the faceplate against his forehead, eyes closing again as the cool metal pressed against his skin.
That was the moment that he had dreamt about. Not the bell or the announcement that followed, it wasn’t even the crowd’s reaction.
It was this right here. This moment of sitting on the floor, sitting alone on the floor with the title in his hands finally understanding....He did it.
He actually fucking did it. There was no more chasing, no more “Future World Champion.” and sure as hell no more “almost”. He was the guy now, the face of the company and the man everyone else would start measuring themselves against.
A quiet sound pulled him out of it, the locker room door opening again and Miles didn’t move right away because he knew he didn’t need to look.
He already knew who it was as Carter stepped inside and shut the door quietly behind him, pausing for a second when he saw Miles sitting on the floor with the championship pressed against his head like he was trying to keep himself grounded.
He didn’t interrupt the moment immediately, he just stood there watching him. Watching the man he loved drag himself through absolute hell tonight and somehow come out the other side carrying the entire company on his shoulders. Before he finally spoke up, “Well,” Carter said lightly, “this feels dramatically different from the last time you sat on the floor after a match.”
Miles let out a tired laugh against the championship, shaking his head before lowering it into his lap, “There it is.”
“There what is?”
“The smartass comment. I was wondering how long that was gonna take.”
Carter smirked as he walked closer, "Hey, I gave you at least thirty seconds. That’s growth.”
Miles finally lowered the title and looked up at him then, and whatever Carter saw in his face made his expression soften almost immediately, not because Miles looked hurt but because he looked overwhelmed. Like he was still trying to catch up to everything he was feeling.
Miles shifted slightly and held a hand out toward him, “C’mere.”
Carter didn’t hesitate, he stepped over one of the titles carefully and lowered himself down onto Miles, straddling his lap comfortably as Miles’ arms immediately wrapped around his waist.
For a second neither of them said anything, they just sat there holding onto each other while the noise of the arena echoed faintly somewhere outside the room. Carter nuzzled his face into Miles drenched locks with a kiss as Miles rested his forehead against Carter’s shoulder and let out another long breath, “...Is this actually real?”
The question came out quieter than Carter expected. It wasn’t insecure but more like a completely stunned moment from Miles.
Carter pulled back enough to look at him properly, one hand sliding up into his hair, messing with those dirty blonde curls that he had threatened his husband not to cut just a few weeks ago, “Miles...” A small smile tugged at the corner of his mouth, “You pinned Alexander Raven in the middle of Osaka and took his World Championship.”
Miles laughed softly, still sounding like he didn’t completely believe it, “Yeah, but that sounds fake when you say it out loud.”
“That’s because, through your 30 years on this planet, we have all learned that your life is completely ridiculous.”
That got another laugh out of him, and it was a lot better this time, more light hearted.
Carter brushed his thumb along Miles’ cheek before glancing down at the World Championship resting beside them, “You did it, baby. And no one can take that away from you, not a single fucking soul.”
Miles looked down at the championship too, still almost studying it like he expected someone to walk in and tell him there’d been a mistake.
Carter noticed immediately and he grinned, “If you need proof though...”
Miles looked back up, and Carter leaned in slightly, forehead brushing his again, “I can absolutely make sure this feels real later.”
Miles barked out a tired laugh, finally shaking his head, "Yup, there he is.”
“Hey, you said it yourself when I won it, the World Champion gets rewards now. How’d you put it? Thems are the rules.”
“Oh, are they?”
“Once again, I recall when I became World Champion, you spoiled me absolutely rotten to the point and we had such a celebration that I was waiting for the cops to show up”
Miles smiled into the kiss Carter gave him after that, slower this time, softer, the kind that carried relief just as much as love and sitting there on the floor with both championships beside him and the man he loved in his arms, for the first time all night....
It finally started to feel real.
--------------
Even In Defeat
Turnberry Towers
Las Vegas
The condo wasn’t silent when they got home, there was still the low hum of the television somewhere in the background and the occasional scratch of a pencil against paper, but compared to the courtroom, compared to the tension that had followed them all afternoon, it felt almost unnaturally calm.
Kevin sat at the dining table with a textbook open in front of him, one elbow resting against the surface while he worked through homework. Ms. Thang had claimed her usual spot beside him, sprawled across a pile of notes she absolutely wasn’t supposed to be laying on while Kevin absentmindedly scratched behind her ears between writing things down.
The second the front door opened, Kevin looked up, “Hey!”
Carter managed a small smile, “Hey, kid.”
Miles said nothing at first, he shut the door harder than he meant to, not enough to slam it but, enough that Kevin noticed and enough that Carter noticed immediately.
Kevin’s eyes shifted between them, picking up on the tension almost instantly, "...How’d it go?”
Carter opened his mouth, but Miles beat him to it and in the flattest tone possible he just let out, “The Judge denied it.”
Kevin’s face fell slightly, “Oh.”
Ms. Thang jumped down from the table at the sound of Miles tossing his keys onto the counter harder than necessary. She trotted across the floor toward him immediately, weaving around his legs once before sitting at his feet like she could feel something was wrong.
Miles looked down at the cat for half a second and exhaled sharply through his nose.
Carter stepped further inside, loosening his tie, “It’s not over,” he said quickly, more for Kevin than himself, "The judge said we can refile if more evidence comes up.”
Miles laughed once under his breath, there was absolutely zero humor in it, “Yeah. Great, just means that he continues to be able to fuck with us while we “collect more evidence.”.”
Kevin closed the textbook slowly, "What happened?”
Miles started pacing before Carter could answer. It wasn’t a fast pace but just restless movement that clearly had nowhere to go, “What happened,” Miles said, “is that Lazarus got to sit there and play the fucking victim while some overpriced suit tried to make me sound like the problem.”
Carter immediately stepped in, “Miles...”
“No, because apparently threatening the man stalking my husband is somehow worse than the actual stalking.” his hands went to his hips before dragging back through his hair hard enough to shove the curls away from his face, “He stood there lying through his fucking bleached teeth, Carter.”
Kevin stayed quiet now, watching carefully.
Miles kept moving, “And the whole time I had to sit there and listen to him talk about you like you were confused. Like this was all in your head.”
“It’s not your fault,” Carter said softly.
That stopped Miles immediately, he turned around so fast it almost looked like he was going to argue, “That’s exactly the problem.” the anger in his voice wasn’t loud and that somehow made it even worse.
“I couldn’t do anything, not a damn thing.” He pointed vaguely back toward the door, toward the world outside the condo, “I had to sit there while that smug son of a bitch twisted everything around on you and I couldn’t do a damn thing about it because the second I react, suddenly I’m the threat.”
Carter watched him carefully now, because he knew this version of Miles. The one trying very hard not to become something else.
Miles started pacing again, “We should’ve had security downstairs already. Cameras in the halls. New locks. Something.”
“We already have security,” Carter pointed out gently.
“Well apparently not enough.” The answer came instantly, Miles rubbed both hands over his face before turning toward the windows overlooking the Strip, “He got into our home, Carter. Between the shirt, the wine, moving things around in here like he fucking belongs...” His voice tightened sharply there, “And then the garage.”
Kevin shifted uncomfortably at the table, Miles noticed immediately and stopped himself before he spiraled any further outward. He closed his eyes and just took a couple of deep breaths, but it didn’t help much, “I’m not letting that happen again.”
Carter moved closer now, slowly enough not to make it feel confrontational, “Miles.”
He got no response.
“Miles.” This time Miles looked over at him and bless this man, he was showing every ounce of feeling in his eyes including on the verge of tears, Carter’s voice stayed calm, "You trying to lock this place down like Fort Knox tonight isn’t gonna fix what happened today.”
“It’ll stop him from getting near you.”
“That’s not what this is really about.”
Miles’ jaw flexed, “Isn’t it?”
“No.” Carter stepped fully in front of him now, “This is about the fact you couldn’t hit something.”
The words that fell from Carter’s lips had an immediate effect because Miles looked away immediately.
Carter softened slightly, “You have always protected people by fixing things. By stopping the problem and right now there isn’t something you can physically fight.”
Miles let out another sharp breath through his nose, “That doesn’t mean I’m just gonna sit around waiting for him to try something else.”
“I know.”
“And I’m telling you right now if he comes near this family again....” His voice dropped lower and dangerously calm, “...I will bury him.”
Carter held his gaze for a few seconds before finally reaching out and grabbing Miles’ hand but not to stop him but to ground him, “I know you would.”
Miles’ shoulders finally loosened just slightly under that, as Carter squeezed his hand once, “But right now? I need my husband to think clearly more than I need him to be angry.”
Miles looked over toward Kevin then, seeing the kid trying very hard to pretend he wasn’t listening anymore while Ms. Thang had reclaimed her spot beside the homework like none of this existed outside her little world and that feeling hit him again, that sharp, almost painful certainty that this was his family now.
Not just Carter, and not just the life they built together. But every bit of it, every person in this condo including the damn cat that somehow snuck into their lives and the kid that he went out of his way to find and save, every piece of it.
Miles swallowed once hard before nodding slowly then finally said the one thing he knew with absolute certainty, “I don’t care what it takes....” His eyes moved from Carter to Kevin and back again, “Come hell or high water....You’re both gonna be safe.”
--------------
No Rest For the Champ Champ
GO Gym
Las Vegas
The gym is mostly empty long after closing time but sometimes names and titles get you the finer things or even the things needed to take a lot of frustration out. Miles had been at it at Carter’s request, for hours now. He spent at least 2 hours in the ring and outside working with Fenris before K finally said enough and told him to take it out on the punching bag that hung just off to the side of the ring.
That same heavy bag now swings violently from repeated shots while sweat pours down Miles Kasey’s face. The SCW World Heavyweight Championship and Internet Championship sit side by side on the ring apron nearby. Miles fires another hard combination into the bag before finally stopping, pulling the tape tighter around one wrist while Carter watches from the apron.
“You know what’s funny?” He shakes his head slightly, pacing a small circle before turning back toward the bag, “Everybody spends years telling you what becoming World Champion is supposed to feel like.”
He stops and throws another punch as another shot cracks into the leather of the bag, “They tell you about the moment. About the celebration. About standing there with the title over your head while the crowd loses their minds. What they don’t tell you....”
He catches the bag with both hands and smirks.
“Is that the second you win this thing, everybody starts coming for you harder. But considering I’m a guy that despite popular opinion, DOES pay attention, I already knew it was coming.”
Miles pulls one glove off slowly and tosses it onto the apron beside the championships, “And now here we are.”
A faint smirk crosses his face, “First Climax Control as World Champion and I get to team up with I’ve got Brandon Hendrix standing across the ring from me again.” he laughs once under his breath, “That’s gotta be rough for him, honestly.”
Miles looks over toward Carter briefly before continuing.
“Because while Brandon’s been out here running his mouth like he’s still the biggest problem in the room...my little brother finally got to beat the brakes off of him. LJ handled that business at Into the Void, and now Brandon gets to walk into Duluth and stand across from the guy holding both championships and the former World Champion.”
Miles taps the World Title resting nearby, “That’s not exactly an upgrade for him.”
He starts pacing again now, energy building naturally.
“See, Hendrix wants everything loud and everything very emotional. I mean look at how he returned, ever since then it has been everything chaotic. He wants people so angry because that’s where he’s comfortable. He wants fights turning into messes because somewhere in the middle of all that noise, he thinks he’s dangerous.”
Miles shakes his head.
“No, that’s not dangerous. It anything that is as predictable as the sun rising in the east and setting in the west,” He points toward the camera now, “And the problem with being predictable is eventually people start figuring you out. We saw that a couple weeks ago when LJ figured you out and now once again, it’s my turn.”
Miles grabs a towel, dragging it across the back of his neck.
“But Cyrus Riddle? That’s different. No screaming or even acting crazy for attention. Not trying to convince the world he’s something. Cyrus is just violent and took my husband Carter to an absolute limit in Osaka where Carter managed to get that win. I mean it is as simple as that and honestly? I respect that a hell of a lot more.”
Miles leans back lightly against the ring apron now.
“I watched what Carter went through with him. I watched the kind of punishment he’s willing to put people through. He’s dangerous because he means every second of it.” He folds his arms briefly, “But here’s the part that both of them better understand real quick.”
Miles reaches down and grabs the World Championship, looking at it for a second before resting it over his shoulder.
“I didn’t fight my way through six years in SCW just to become the guy who finally wins the big one and immediately folds under pressure.” The confidence in his voice sharpens, ““I didn’t beat Alexander Raven in Osaka just to start playing it carefully now. I sure as hell didn’t beat Alexander Raven in Osaka just to spend my first match as champion, worrying about whether or not I belong here.”
He looks straight ahead now.
“I know exactly where I belong.” Miles picks up the Internet Championship too, carrying both now, “And everybody keeps asking what it feels like being the World Champion.”
A faint grin pulls at the corner of his mouth.
“I’ll tell you exactly what it feels like. It feels like every person in that locker room suddenly realizes the target moved and now it’s standing right here.”
Miles points at himself with the hand holding the Internet Championship.
“So Brandon can scream, Cyrus can try to knock our heads off and Queen Frankie can throw whatever little royal experiments she wants at us. At the end of the night?”
Miles lifts both championships slightly before resting the World Title back over his shoulder.
“So Brandon can keep screaming about chaos. Cyrus can come looking for another fight. Queen Frankie can throw whatever little experiment she wants at us. But at the end of the night, the story stays the same.”
He glances over toward Carter with a grin.
“The World Champion and Helluva Bottom Carter are walking into Duluth together...” Miles smirks, “...and we’re walking out the exact same way.”
