I'm here
by Lily M.
It had been unexpected, the first call. Because Kotetsu rarely called him, especially not in the middle of the night, and then his voice – all the pants, the hoarseness, and the desperate words of I need your help. Barnaby hadn't thought twice, he was out the door not a minute later, driving all the way to Kotetsu's apartment. He was met with a silent door. And then with very loud noises outside.
Berserk. Kotetsu had gone berserk. He was glowing but it wasn't his usual power, no, it was an orange and ugly light and he punched the alleyway's wall so hard Barnaby was afraid it would come crashing upon him.
Barnaby saw fire in the Tiger's eyes and he was frozen a few steps away.
When the power died out, Kotetsu collapsed on the ground, out of breath, out of power, almost out of life. He wouldn't look in Barnaby's eyes when his arms lifted him, when Barnaby called his name, when he yelled his name. Five minutes, Barnaby. Give the old man five minutes. He barely had them anymore.
It happened again, and again. Barnaby would have questions in his tongue, are you okay, what do I do, but he didn't voice them. The first time Kotetsu buried his head on his chest and cried, he couldn't move his hands. Like every memory of hug and being hugged had left his mind. He was the orphan, the unstable one, the obsessed one. Kotetsu didn't cry. Kotetsu wasn't supposed to cry.
Barnaby moved in with Kotetsu – he needed to more than he wanted to. Kotetsu was slipping away and he wouldn't tell anybody else about his powers. He wouldn't tell Barnaby; he had to tell Barnaby. Barnaby knew this. Two hundred powers were better than a single one in the dead of night, scaring cats and breaking things. He needed Barnaby to hold him back. Barnaby knew this all too well.
So he would wake up on stormy nights to the cries and roars of the Tiger. His heart would beat like he never thought it was capable of. The raindrops were needles against his skin, but Kotetsu's voice were daggers against his heart. Pound, pound, pound, there goes a trashcan.
Burning. Kotetsu looked like he was burning from the inside out.
Barnaby's eyes glowed blue when he rushed to the man's side.
He was kicked in the chest, punched in the face. Kotetsu struggled so much Barnaby could barely grab hold his wrists, throw him to the ground, pin him down. His lower lip was bleeding, and he didn't know if it was the punch earlier or if he had bitten down on it. Kotetsu could throw him out if he wanted to, roll them over and beat him up if he wanted to, but he just struggled. Barnaby didn't know if Kotetsu was fighting him or if there was something else entirely – the old Kotetsu, his Kotetsu, fighting the beast.
Three minutes felt like an eternity.
He couldn't see Kotetsu's face when the glow finally faded away. It was raining so much he could hardly see anything at all. The raindrops felt like droplets of ice. Kotetsu's skin felt feverish under his touch. He wouldn't move.
Barnaby shivered when Kotetsu's scream broke through the silent night. He could vaguely hear the stray cats fleeing from the scene, screeching. Barnaby had let go of his arms at that point, but he couldn't move otherwise.
Kotetsu shielded his eyes from the rain, or from Barnaby, muttering words about his family, Kaede, this. Barnaby hushed him, bringing him to a sitting position, brushing his hair back and touching their foreheads together. His mother had done it to him, once. The steady rhythm of her breathing had calmed him. But Barnaby's breathing was as erratic as Kotetsu's heartbeat, he didn't know if it helped. Kotetsu's arms laid limply by his sides.
They couldn't tell Saito or Lloyds or Maverick. Kotetsu couldn't tell Kaede. They wouldn't talk about it, wouldn't speak about it. There were Kotetsu's tears and Barnaby's touches. And the ever-falling rain.
"I'm here, Kotetsu-san."
If Kotetsu left… If his power went out, and his hero days ended, and he left Stern Bild and he left Barnaby…
If Kotetsu left, where would Barnaby be?
Barnaby would cling to the man's fleeting powers, and his rage and frustration and sorrow. As long as Barnaby had his Hundred Power, he would be okay, he could take whatever came at him. Yes, he could take it, his ribs would feel better in the morning, his head would stop hurting eventually, his eyes would stop stinging from sleepless nights. It was alright. As long as Kotetsu needed him, he would be there.
When Kotetsu slid his arms around him, for a moment, all he could feel was his warmth. Kotetsu whispered his name, that name, his name. It sounded so small.
"I'm here."
And when they went inside, dried themselves and turned off the lights, with Kotetsu still looking scared and Barnaby sending him to sleep with a kiss, Barnaby knew exactly where he had to be.
Inside their bubble of false security and secrets.
And it was all theirs.