Kth

once upon a time, seth took a chair to the back for cody rhodes. he made himself a shield, a sword, a plate of armor. he took all his faults, all of his regrets, and he made them into a weapon to wield against a man that used to be his family. for cody. for the greater good. for the future of the company. for what was best for business. cody looked at him from the throne that seth built for him out of his blood and his sweat and his tears. he looked at him and handed him a watch. a gesture too big for seth's bloodied hands. a wound that's still never quite managed to scar.

seth didn't wear the watch. not ever. not once. not until he found himself standing across the ring from cody again. not until he found himself in the familiar position of wanting. of craving. of needing. seth doesn't care what anyone thinks. not the fans or his friends or his enemies. but he does care about cody. he cares about what cody thinks of him, what he sees when he looks at seth. does he still believe that seth has the best interests of the future at heart? does he still think of seth as someone he would trust? does he see what seth has done, and does he understand why he's done it? does it matter if he does? when cody gave him that watch, he named seth his shield. was that real? was the watch a gift with meaning, or was it only an empty gesture? seth is worthy. seth is building the future of the company. he's protecting it. he is the past and the present and the future. he's the shield. he's always been the shield. cody knows that. cody knew that. does he still know that? sami doesn't, sami doesn't, sami doesn't.

seth came to this company as the shield, as the future, and it's always been his destiny to shape it and defend it. seth came to this company with brothers at his back and at his side. seth stabbed them in the back. he's slain kings and beasts. he's faced demons and fiends. he's stood face to face with traitors, deserters, outsiders. he fought and lost to cody rhodes, the runaway prince. and when cody came face to face with a monster of seth's own making, he looked at him and saw the future. saw the vision of what was and what could be. what he couldn't let the future turn into. so he defended it. he defended cody. he placed a championship around his waist and built him a kingdom from the ashes of his own ruined present. and when the time came for seth to come face to face again with that monster wearing his brother's face, he saw the future again. that desolate wasteland. and he did what he's always done and made himself a shield, made himself into the line you must cross in order to topple the kingdom. he stole the future for himself and called it the greater good. what's best for business.

cody looks at him from across the ring, holding the belt that seth handed him with the best intentions in the world, and seth isn't sure what cody sees. but he wants. he craves. he needs.