For a heartbeat, Hawk froze on his feet.

The kitchen was a mess. A couple of chairs had fallen and one was in pieces on the floor. Some plates and glasses lay shattered all over the floortiles among oranges and apples that had escaped a fallen fruit basket, that someone had stepped on. There was blood on the floor, its metallic tang mixed with the scent of oranges, cloves, and Christmas spices.

"Please—" Kyler was begging, as he tried to flee his attacker by stumbling around the large, wooden table in the middle of the room. "Please, stop—!"

If Cody heard Kyler's plea, he didn't care. With one, predatory leap he flew over the table and lunged at Kyler, kicking him in the face with a force that sent blood splattering to a nearby wall. Groaning, Kyler brought up his fists and tried to block the next kick, but that one got through too, as did the sharp knee Cody aimed at his gut. More blood poured from Kyler's mouth onto the floor tiles.

There were some bruises on Cody's face too, and a fresh, bleeding cut on his lower lip, proving that Kyler must have gotten some punches through as well - but it was clear who was winning. Cody fought like he meant to kill, his attacks were so fast and ruthless that Kyler had no chance to retaliate or even block them. It didn't seem to matter that Cody was a head shorter than his opponent, or that Kyler was a lot broader and heavier. The smaller boy was swift and fierce, and he knew where to hit to cause as much pain and damage as possible.

Jesus Christ, he's gonna fucking kill Kyler—

That thought was interrupted as Cody gripped the front of Kyler's shirt, spun them around to shove him against the wall - and he noticed Hawk in the doorway. Cody's eyes narrowed, his chest heaved with fast, panting breaths.

"Hawk?" He spat that out as if it was a dirty word. "What the fuck are you doing here—?"

That broke the spell, and Hawk could move again. He burst into action, strode into the room, and hit Kyler in the face so hard that the nose cracked on the impact. Kyler moaned, spilling blood onto his chin.

"I'm here to kick his ass—" Hawk seethed to Cody. "For what he did to Sky."

Kyler tried to break free, to punch Hawk but the attempt was weak and easily dodged. Before Hawk could retaliate, Cody's kick had already landed in Kyler's gut, sending him against the wall again.

"Yeah, well I don't need your help," Cody growled. "Get lost."

But the anger was burning like wildfire in Hawk's veins. He barely heard what Cody said, as he gripped the front of Kyler's blood-stained shirt, and shoved his back against the wall making some pots and pans fall from a shelf over their heads. They clattered onto the floor, the noise was infernal but it only fed Hawk's rage. He brought up his fist, and without hesitation, hit Kyler again. Blood splattered, Hawk tasted it on his tongue, the coppery tang, the thick, rich sweetness. His fist connected with Kyler's nose, again, then his cheek, his eye—

"This is for Sky—!" He groaned, spitting the words at Kyler's face. "You fucking asshole—!"

"Stop— Hawk—" Kyler tried to bring up his hands, to defend himself, but Hawk just kept punching, hitting Kyler as if he wasn't a human at all but the punching bag they kept at the back of the dojo. And he remembered every insult Kyler had ever thrown at him, every time Kyler had pushed him down the stairs, every time Kyler had thrown his backpack into the trash, every time Kyler had stolen his lunch money, had ripped apart his Dungeon Lord comics, had laughed at him, calling him Lip, Lip, Lip—

And this wasn't just for Sky anymore, this blood on his hands, this rage that was burning in his chest. It was revenge, it was retribution that had been waiting for release inside of him for years, it was a caged beast that was finally freed, and he wasn't Lip anymore, he wasn't even Hawk anymore, he was Eli Moskowitz, and he was fucking killing Kyler for everything he had done—

Someone yanked Kyler off his reach, and Hawk let out an angry growl.

"Enough," Cody grunted, wiping blood off his lips as he stood over Kyler whom he had thrown onto the floor. "I was here first. I get to do this."

Hawk drew in a couple of fast breaths. His head was spinning with the scent of blood, the taste of it, the craving for violence. On the floor Kyler was whimpering, squirming in pain, bleeding from his nose and his mouth, his face covered in swollen bruises that made him barely recognizable.

"Do what?" Hawk asked, his voice rough and raw. His fists ached, the skin had been peeled off the knuckles.

Cody didn't reply but turned his attention back to Kyler — and Hawk didn't realize how it happened, but suddenly there was a gun in Cody's blood-stained hands.

The time seemed to stop, the air turned cold and froze Hawk where he stood.

What the—?!

It felt like someone had poured a bucket of ice on top of him. He could do nothing, say nothing. He stood there like a statue, the frantic beat of his heart silencing every other noise in the room. Cody looked calm as he raised the gun and pointed it at Kyler who lay on the floor in his feet. Only the fast rising and falling of Cody's shoulders told of any emotion as he cocked the gun—

"You might wanna leave now," he said, turning to glance at Hawk over his shoulder.

The time leaped forward. Hawk let out the tense breath he'd been holding.

"Dude, what the fuck—? Put the gun down! You gonna fucking kill him?!"

A dry laugh escaped Cody's bloodied lips that curved into a cruel smile, but the hand pointing the gun stayed steady.

"Funny. And I thought this would be the one thing we could agree on, Moskowitz."

"Look— Kyler is an asshole! He deserved the beating, but—"

"But you don't think he deserves to die?" Cody turned his cold, calculating eyes back to the boy on the floor. "Do you even know what this worthless piece of shit did to Sky, huh? Do you know how scared she is, how fucking badly she's hurting?"

Something turned and twisted in Hawk's chest at the broken tone of Cody's words. It hurt to know Sky had confided in Cody, that she had told him what Kyler had done. And Hawk had had to hear it from Miguel—

"Yeah, but she wouldn't want you to fucking murder him!"

"So sure about that?"

"Yes!" Hawk was almost shouting now. "What do you think she's gonna do if you shoot him, huh? You think she's gonna be happy? You think she's gonna thank you?"

"No. I imagine she'll break up with me," Cody replied darkly. "That would certainly work in your favor, though, wouldn't it, Hawk? She'd run right back into your arms if I was out of the picture, and we both know it."

His words felt like a pang. The sheer hopelessness behind them cut through Hawk's anger like a knife, and he realized—

He really loves her.

For that split second, he understood Cody perfectly. They were both here because they loved Sky. They both wanted to avenge her. And Cody was prepared to kill Kyler to protect Sky from him, even if he knew he would lose her by doing so.

A disgusting thought slithered into Hawk's mind. Maybe I should just let him do it. Kyler deserves to die - and if Sky stopped loving Cody, she could be mine again—

No.

No!

He had quit Cobra Kai. He had promised to be a better man, to stop the violence, to redeem what he had done. He wouldn't start this new life by watching Kyler get murdered, no matter how much he hated him.

"I don't care! You can't just fucking kill him!" Hawk forced the words out of his mouth, no matter how bitter they tasted. "Do you have any idea what that would do to Sky? She already has one ex who's in jail for shooting someone! Do you seriously think she needs another one, huh? You want to fucking traumatize her for life?!"

Cody's jawline turned hard, the hand holding the gun was trembling slightly, everything about him was tense as a string. On the floor Kyler was whimpering like a baby, sobbing incoherent pleas of mercy, blood bubbling in the corner of his mouth, dripping down his chin. His fear had a sharp, metallic scent.

"Pleasedon'tdoit—" Kyler's words blurred together into a wet, gurgling sound. "Pleasedon'tkillme, pleasedon'tkillme—"

"Cody, come on!" Hawk's voice was thin, raw, cracking. "Just put the gun down! He's had enough!"

A sneer pulled Cody's lips back, revealing his sharp, bloodied teeth as ragged breaths tore through his chest. Kyler's nonstop begging blurred into background noise, just as Hawk's pleading He's had enough, put the gun down, he's had enough, Cody, don't do this—

Those couple of seconds seemed to last for a lifetime. Hawk's body was tense, waiting for the deafening boom of the gun, the explosion of Kyler's head, his brain, and his blood that would splatter all over the floor—

And then, suddenly, Cody's shoulders sagged with a strained, shaky exhale and he let the gun drop.

A tremor ran through his body as he clicked the safety back on and turned to look at Hawk. His eyes were black, empty, like bottomless ponds.

"Fuck you, Moskowitz," he groaned.

He left Kyler on the floor and shoved Hawk off his way as he strode through the doorway.

Hawk didn't try to stop him. He leaned heavily onto the counter, the smooth stone was cold under his palms. His knees were still weak, wobbly, his breathing thin with shock and fear and his hands were leaving bloody prints on the white marble. He felt empty, hollow. The rage that had burned in his veins when he had walked in here, was gone. He couldn't reach it anymore. It had turned into a disgusting, cold pit that was making him sick.

He had never been this close to a real gun before. And even if Cody was gone now, the cold shadow of death remained in this room, as if someone had sucked the air out of it. He could barely draw in a breath.

"Hawk—" Kyler groaned, and rolled onto his side, spitting blood onto the floor tiles. "Please. Help—"

"In your fucking dreams," Hawk grunted and pushed himself upright. "You're lucky you're alive, asshole. Touch Sky again and I'll fucking end you."

He had come here to kill Kyler but had ended up saving his life instead. He knew it had been the right thing to do, and yet it brought a bitter taste to his lips, it gave him no peace, no satisfaction. He couldn't shake the feeling that even if Kyler had lived, what had happened here today, would have a long and bloody trail.

He could only hope it wasn't Sky who got caught in the crossfire when the shit hit the fan.

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