“Wow, I can’t believe they changed the banners for the circuit" Giovanni said with a laugh, "Admittedly, it looks better", "Yeah, I guess" Dean said, half-heartedly listening as he looked around. He and Giovanni had arrived only a few minutes ago and already he was having second thoughts. He wasn't able to take in the change that he saw without constant worrying that someone might have seen him. 

Dean wore his usual clothes underneath a heavy, black hoodie, with the hood always slung over his face, and a bandana around his mouth. He wasn’t very recognizable, which was why Mac didn’t question him at first. But it didn’t change the lingering feeling of guilt he felt. Hiding away from the people he knew and had seen as family for so long. It was horrible but…he just needed the time away. Surely they understood that? Yes. Yes of course they would. They wouldn’t be that petty…right? Dean gently gripped the bandanna over his mouth and pulled it down under his chin, “This feels wrong” he said. Giovanni looked at the boy and sighed, "Come on, son" he said quietly, "At least try to enjoy this…it might be your only chance", "I'm really trying G…but what if someone sees me?" Dean replied. "Don't worry" the older man said, grabbing the boy firmly by the elbow, "No one will see you, I promise"

"It still doesn't feel right…" Dean replied, Giovanni gave him a small smile, "They haven't seen you in years son…plus given all the whooping they've had over that time…their memory of you might be a bit…well…not all there" the older man brought the young boy in tight.  

"Dean?" 

"Ah shit" 

Both guests turned to see Mac making their way over to them. Dean was somewhat relieved that it was only his friend, but his nerves didn't settle by much."It IS you!" The younger boy whisper-yelled, "I thought you…y-you told me you could never-", "I-I had a…a change of mind…" Dean explained quietly, Giovanni nodding in affirmation, "Si! We've dressed him up so the others don't recognize him", "Don't do much for the NERVES though" Dean retorted under his breath. 

"Well, I'm glad you're here" Mac said happily, placing a reassuring hand on his shoulder. Dean gave a slow exhale of content as he gripped Mac's hand loosely on his own. Standing with Mac now, everything felt a lot less pounding on his nerves. He looked around and was finally able to take in the changes Giovanni spoke of. He wasn't fond of the banners but he didn't feel right saying anything. "Thanks, Lil bro" he said quietly, "I'm glad to be here too, I think…feels nice to be…back"

"Seriously?"

"Yeah…seriously"

"Does that mean you'll come to my match this Friday?"

"Eh I don't know…not yet…maybe?…b-baby steps I think"

Mac nodded, again, not the answer he was looking for, but certainly better than what he was getting yesterday. The young boy smiled and brought his friend into a small hug, The older tried to shove him off but eventually he gave in to the embrace and put an arm around his friend in return. Giovanni smiled, it had been a while since he had seen the older boy smile that way, he knew that this was where he needed to be. Yet Dean was still afraid of even being here. Just standing in the building itself now made the big clam up. But Giovanni knew the boy would grow out of the funk, he just needed the time.

"Mac! Où es-tu?" A voice echoed, "Doc is looking for you", "Shit, Joey" Mac exclaimed, "You need to go if you don't want him to see you", "Indeed, Forza ragazzo mio, prima che veniamo scoperti" Giovanni said, grabbing Dean's arm and making his way towards the exit. But Dean didn't move. Even with the constant yanking and nagging from the older man, and the lingering fear of seeing one of his 'uncles' after so long. Dean felt his body unwilling to move, unwilling to go with the tugs. Instead, he found himself grabbing the bandanna around neck and lifting it over his mouth once again, slowly approaching the man, with Mac in tow. The frenchman caught a glimpse of the two boys and tilted his head in confusion at the sight of the taller, lankier boy. “H-Hey, Joey,” Mac greeted, eyes nervously darting between Joe and his friend, “Salut, Mac…who’s your friend?” The Frenchman asked.

“Oh, this is-”, “My name's Parker ” Dean lied, in a surprisingly calm tone. Mac huffed, that was a much better name than what he came up with. Joe scanned the taller boy in awe before smiling, “W-well, Bonjour Parker! Lovely to meet you!” He said, extending his hand out for Parker to shake, Dean hesitated before turning back to Giovanni, the older man giving a small gesture of his hands that signaled for Dean to continue. The tall boy sighed behind his bandana and gripped Joey’s hand firmly. “Woo! What a grip!” Joe said with a laugh, “My name is Joseph, by the way! Welcome to the WVBA!”, “Uh…pleasure to be here, I suppose?” Dean replied with a laugh. 

"What brings you here, might I ask?" Joe asked, his eyes filled with curiosity 

Dean rubbed the back of his head, "Oh uh…got bored at home, thought I'd give this place a looksie"

"Ah, oui, the stagnant feeling of boredom, I hate it so"

"Yeah it ain't pleasant, I-"

"-Absolutely not, like honestly I can understand your frustration, it's truly the worst. Being cooped up doing nothing, with no one to console you but your thoughts"

"Yeah it's-"

"-ESPECIALLY if you've had a rough day, like honestly being caught up with such negative thoughts all alone? Eh, absolument horrible, juste... horrible…which is why I'm grateful for this conversation because let me tell you these past few days have been absolute he-"

“WELL! Now that you two are acquainted, maybe we should get you back home to your kids, ey D- Parker?” Mac butt in hastily. Dean shot Mac a confused look, “My…Kids?” The young teen gestured to Joe with a look of ‘Shut up and go with it’. The older one nodded, “Oh yeah! My…uh…Kids…” he lied, now his calmness was starting to fade. Great job, Mac. Joe looked between the two boys with slight confusion, but mostly annoyance, “Is there…is there something going on here?” he asked, flatly, “Mac gave a nervous chuckle, “Nah! It’s just…umm…we’re thinking about…um..”

“About what, Mac?” Joe asked again, his tone a lot more aggressive than usual. Fucker knew how to be scary. Mac began to stutter on his words as Joe kept glaring daggers into his soul. “The boys were-a going to go to the cafe down-a the road!” Giovanni piped up. The three of them turned to face the older man, and Joseph felt his heart rush at the sight of seeing him. “GIOVANNI!?” he yelled. Mac wondered how he didn't see Giovanni earlier but he didn't want to question it too much. “Ciao, Mi Amico!” the Older man greeted with a smile, “Long time, no see, eh?”

Joe didn’t answer and instead rushed towards the older man and embraced him in a tight hug, “OH MON DIEU IT’S BEEN SO LONG!” he said, almost squeaking at the end of the sentence, “Si…it has” Giovanni replied, his voice a little weak due to the Frenchman’s tight grip on him. Giovanni then gestured for the boys to leave, to which they did. “We’ll go out back” Mac said quietly as he and Dean made their way down the hallway, while Giovanni kept Joe occupied by listening to his ramblings.  “What were you thinking?” Mac asked through gritted teeth, “He could’ve found out it was you and then what would happen? I thought you didn’t want to see them anyways?”, “No, DEAN didn’t want to see them…Parker on the other hand…” Dean trailed off quietly, Mac shook his head, “Look we just need to get you out of here, I've got enough on my plate with what happened yesterday"

“What happened yesterday?”

“I nearly killed Aran”

“That don’t seem out of it for you”

“NO! I mean-AH!”

Mac yelped in surprise as he and Dean came face to face with Bald Bull and Soda Popinsky, “Hello, Mac!” Soda said happily, “Glad that we caught you, are you ok?”, “You look…flustered,” Bull added, observing the boy, only then his attention turned to his taller friend, “Oh, who is new friend?” he asked. Dean held his hand out for “Name’s Parker, I was just-”, “-LEAVING” Mac yelled, grabbing Dean by the wrist and dragging him along the hallway. Both older men shared a confused look between each other before shrugging and continuing down the hallway.  "Why are you so high strung? I thought you wanted me to be here?" Dean asked, "and now it's like you don't want me here at all", "I do want you here!" Mac replied, placing an assuring hand on his friend's shoulder, "It's just that…" He paused, scanning his friend's face. "...It's just that…I did something awful yesterday…all because my mind was just….overwhelmed by people not….not giving me a straight answer," he explained, "Everyone is just keeping stuff from me…no one is giving me a clear response, no one answer, no details, just….I just…" Mac trailed off as a small tear formed in his eye. He quickly wiped it away, "...I want to help…" He said quietly.

Dean sighed and knelt down to meet Mac's eye level. He gently grabbed his friend's shoulder and gave him a serious look, "You listen to me…" He began, "...my problems are my problems ok? I don't want you to tangle yourself up in my business…especially if it stresses you out to this…I'll work it all out on my own…I promise", "But…I don't want you-" Mac began before he was met with a firm grip on his shoulder. Definitely not nice to feel after a training session. "No Mac…I don't want you getting involved…it's not your problem…it's mine" Dean said firmly, Mac gave a defeated sigh. It didn't feel fair leaving all of this pressure on him, to have him carry that weight on his own. Mac wanted to help and take it all away. But Dean was someone he loved and someone he would do anything for No matter how persistent he wanted to be. No matter how badly he wanted to help. Dean didn't want him interfering with his problems. Mac didn't want to let him face them alone.

"I just…wish I could help you" The younger boy said softly, looking down. Dean sighed and looked around the hallway. The two boys were closing in on the exit at the end. Just then, the older boy's face lit up with an idea, "...I think I know how you can help me…" Dean said, quietly, Mac slowly looked up, his eyes lighting up with joy. 

"Of course, what can I do?" 

"...If you help me keep up this Parker facade, I can keep coming back here and facing the guys! They have no clue it's even me so it can work and then once Friday rolls around I'll come to your match, then after I'll drop the act and we can go back to normal!"

Mac's smile slowly faded as his friend expressed the idea. Oh God. This was too much. Yes he wanted help but…but not like this! He already had to keep up one lie for him and now he needed to keep up another?

"Dean I…this is…I…" Mac stammered, trying his best to find a response. Nothing coherent was forming. Dean's smile quickly faded too as he took notice of his friend's strange behavior. "What's wrong?" He asked, "Look…I can't do that" Mac replied hastily.

"Why not? You said you wanted to help"

"Yeah but…not like that!...I've already kept you a secret for how long from Doc…and now this? I can't call you Parker! I've got way too much on my head already! School's a pain, Training for my matches ain't relieving it, I almost got Aran choked to death in the ring!-"

"I'm sorry?" Dean asked, Mac paused and cupped his hands over his mouth. He looked up at his friend with worried eyes. "I…it was an accident I swear but…I've got so much on already…especially since most of the guys hate me now because of that…'' Mac explained, "Mac come on now, I doubt any of then hate you for that" Dean interjected, "Look, you'd be doing me a huge favor…when I'm with you…in here…I feel safe…and I can feel like I'm…home…and if being Parker can bring that feeling again…then I need to let Parker stay longer…but I can't do that alone…" He said quietly.

Mac sighed, looking at his friend. This was a big deal for Dean, he knew that. He wanted to help Dean take those steps. He wanted to help his brother feel that feeling again. The one he felt all those years ago before it was unrightfully robbed from him. If 'Parker' was more comfortable coming back here than Dean…then maybe he could do it for him…but how much would this fix? This wouldn't change the fact that Dean had left. This wouldn't fix or even remedy the rift. This wouldn't ease the tension that was brought up around even mentioning Jordan. Parker couldn't fix anything. Mac just wanted to know…why?

"Why does Parker have to do this?" He asked, "Why can't you?", "I just…coming back here is hard for me…trying to just brush it all off…" Dean replied, "...I-If you were there you would understand!"

"But I wasn't! That's the point! So HELP me understand!"

"Look trying to brush it all away as if it never happened is just…it's hard…I really don't know what else I can tell you…"

"...Alright then…"

"Please Mac…just help me keep this up a little longer and then come Friday you won't ever have to deal with this again…I promise…cut me out of your life if you need to-"

"-Uh, no not doing that, sorry" Mac said, "This might be nuts but it ain't worth cutting you off", "So you'll do it?" Dean asked. Mac pondered for a second before giving a nod and a smile, "Can't say no to the bro who saved my life"

Dean gave a fist pump and a quiet 'Yes!' as he grabbed Mac and swung him around in a hug. "Thank you!" He whisper-yelled, "You're the best!", "It's nothing," Mac replied happily, turning his gaze to the back entrance, "Come on let's go before someone notices us", "Oh! Right, ok" 

Soon both boys approached the door to the back entrance. Mac tried his best to quietly turn the knob and push the door open. It was heavy and old, so it required a lot of effort. On the outside, Giovanni was waiting for them, out of breath. "Mamma mia" He huffed, "I forgot how much Joseph loved to talk", "Yeah he's a bit of a blabbering nowadays" Mac laughed, Dean snickered as he made his way alongside Giovanni. "You guys better get going, I'll see you tomorrow?" Mac asked, Dean gave a nod, "Yeah, you bet! Might come watch you train", "You're coming back tomorrow?" Giovanni asked, confused by the boy's sudden change towards this.

The boy gave a smile, "Well I'm not…but Parker is…right, Mac?", "Uh…yeah, yeah he is" Mac replied, a nervous smile painting his face. Giovanni gave a worried look, but at the same time, he was happy that Dean was at least making an effort to get out. Even if it was under a false identity. He just hoped that wasn't going to push Mac too much. 

The two older peers soon said their goodbyes and made it back around to the front of the WVBA. As soon as Mac saw them leave, he slammed the back door shut. A sigh of relief escaped him. "Goddamnit man, now I got TWO lies to keep up" he said angrily to himself, turning to walk back down the hallway, only to be met with Disco Kid and Doc. The latter gave a disapproving look, that was to be expected, but what wasn't to be expected was Disco's look of worry. That man almost never frowned. At least As far as he knew. Something must really be up for that to happen.

"What are you doing back here son? I was waiting for You!" Doc said, trying to keep a level head, "And who were you talking to?", "Uh…Bob" Mac lied. He seemed to be doing a lot of that today. "What's up with you?" Mac asked, gesturing to Disco Kid. Both Disco and Doc shared a look between each other before Disco rubbed the back of his head, "Well I…um…it's..uh-", "Don't change the subject, no time to slack we got a match this Friday and you're acting out of it" Doc scolded, "Did you want me to take your gloves away again?"

"No, of course not! I-I've just…just really been going through a lot…schools hounding me and I'm starting to get headaches all the time now…" Mac explained, Doc's expression softened and he sighed as he looked at the boy. Turning a look towards Disco, the older boy didn't look back. "Look I know yesterday was a lot, but you can't keep dwelling on it…it's gonna land you in hot water ya keep it up" Doc explained calmly, "I know you want to help but-", "It's fine Doc, I…I-I'll get through it" Mac interjected, putting a very wobbly grin on his face.

"Mac, I-" Doc started but was cut off by Mac proceeding to March back to the gym, "Come on we better get back before they notice we're gone!", "They…they already did, dude!" Disco called. Doc sighed and shook his head as he followed after Mac, "Come on Disco" he called to the other boy. Disco didn't move. "I umm…I'll be with ya, I just need to do…something" Disco said. The older man nodded and continued back down the hallway to the gym. 

‐------------------

"There you are" Aran said, as he watched Mac and his trainer enter the gym, "Thank God you came, Joe's really been acting tha' Maggot!", "He's been going on about some old boxer friend he saw and now he won't stop," Don added, gesturing to the small crowd that had assembled around the frenchman. Joe was sitting right in the middle, still rambling about Giovanni. Mac silently prayed that G didn't spill any beans about Dean. 

"It was so crazy seeing him again! I thought he would've gone back to Rome!" Joe exclaimed, flapping his hands about in excitement. Hugger had to put one of his larger hands on his just to have him settle down. "Okay, ya hoser, we get it" The larger man chuckled, "Who are you guys talking about?" Doc asked. All the boxers shot him a confused look. "Giovanni, Mon Ami" Joe said, "He came in today with a friend of Mac's, really tall, what's his name? Parker?", "Y-Yeah! Parker, yep that's him" Mac answered, nervously wringing his hands together.

"Dude Giovanni left years ago, you're being Bogus, man!" Macho chimed in, earning a cheeky smirk from Aran, though Macho wasn't laughing, in fact his face was screwed into a very annoyed frown. His eyes looked a little red too. "I am not being Bogus!" Joe retorted, "I saw him! Mac can vouch for me, Oui Mac?", "Apologize and I might" Mac grumbled under his breath. Seems he was still holding onto yesterday. Doc could see it clear as day. Written on his face, though the boy tried to hide it. 

The man put his hands to his hips in a huff. "I think we should cut training short today," Doc said, "Clearly something is eating at all of us, so we go have a rest and then tomorrow, back here, 3 o'clock sharp, don't want no dilly dallying from any of you."

The boxers all groaned in annoyance but Doc's word was final. Soon the guys were packing up the gear, cleaning off the equipment and shoving their gloves into their bags. Aran continued to grumble as he shoved his horseshoes into his bag, before stopping and noticing an empty bag in a very glamoured locker. "Oi, where's fecking Devon at?" The Irishman asked. The guys all stopped to look around. Disco hadn't come back yet. "Hmm, he's probably still out in the hallway," Doc said, "I'll go get him", "Nein, don't trouble yourself, I'll get him" Kaiser spoke up, making his way to the Gym's exit.

The hallways were dimly lit. Kaiser could only just make out the walls, the doors that lined them, and the lone figure of Disco Kid standing amongst the darkness. "Devon, come, we're packing up now" Kaiser said, firmly. Disco didn't move. The older man groaned as he neared the boy. As he approached he began to hear ragged breathing and murmurs, Kaiser's face soon shifted from annoyance to concern. "Devon?" He said quietly, "Mein friend, vhat's zhe matter?", "That…t-that fucking bi-itch" Disco growled quietly, his voice sounding strained and choked from holding back a sob. 

"Devon, vhat's going-" Kaiser began, before being shoved out of the way by Disco who marched down the hallway, discarding a photograph from his hands. The older man watched as it floated onto the floor.

Disco didn't even bother going to grab his bag. He marched straight out of the building, into the carpark, and to his car. Not a second thought filled his mind. He hopped in the driver's seat, checked his mirrors, though half-heartedly, angrily fumbled around with his key until he finally slammed it into the ignition. The car started up and soon Disco was driving out of the carpark and merging onto the road. He didn't didn't notice the other boxers trying to grab his attention. At this point he was beyond caring. 

He drove for a little longer until he came to an intersection. It was the New York evening traffic, everyone trying to rush home, so the light would likely stay red for a while. It gave him ample time to make a call. He quickly grabbed his phone and dialed in a number. He held it up to his ear and waited as the phone rang. Soon a tired, female voice responded from the other end.

"Hello?"

"Mom?"

"Devon what's wrong?, you sound ma-"

"We need to talk…now"