Ned sat on the ring apron of The Notorious Gym's resident dusty old POS ring, Darcy tending to a cut on his eyebrow with some rubbing alcohol. Despite the stinging sensation on his face, he wore a smile. He hadn't appreciated what he could do for others in a long, long time, nor what others could give him. He stared at Cooper's boots, each one clutched in his hands, feeling closer to the man despite how far away the two were. They were both trainers of a sort, he supposed. Perhaps, he was just pleased that he wasn't going to watch the man's legacy fade into nothing. His ears perked when Darcy spoke unexpectedly.

“I hope you don't think that I'm not still pissed off that you left to go fight that guy,” she said, being a little firm in her delivery, causing Ned to wince as she roughly prodded the wound on his brow.

“Trust me, you should be,” He forced out, trying not to flinch as she eased up a bit, “I was kind of a jerk. I'm not going to pretend like I'd make another decision, but I shouldn't have acted that way towards you when going through with it.”

Her eyebrows raised a tad, an “I told you so” expression covering her face as she continued.

“Well, I'm not gonna argue with you there.”

As she continued, Ned's gaze stayed firmly on the boots. It was hard for her to understand the importance of them to him, however it was obvious that holding them meant a lot to Kaye. She didn't know much of Steven Cooper at all, but she was aware that he was the one who dragged Ned to rehab at his lowest. Ned was who he was currently in part due to Steve and that was all she truly needed to know.

“You should wear them,” she said, finally trying to act gingerly in both her movements and vocal delivery., "It'd be like wrestling alongside him, again."

Ned chuckled a bit, almost shaking his head before she forced it into the proper place so she could continue working. He grunted a bit under her forceful hands.

“That's not exactly... a thing you do with somebody else's gear,” he said softly, his sights set on the S&C on the back of Steve's boots.

“But I think I have a more appropriate idea.”

TO BE CONCLUDED AT FINAL WARFARE

"You can't run from yourself."