NUR DIE SGE

And there's a new guy, you're being replaced by him (Niko/Ante)

And there's a new guy, you're being replaced by him

Niko should have known that something would go wrong, no, in fact, he knew it, he just didn't want to believe it, because he had this stupid hope of thinking that everything would go well. What a monumental failure. Not only did everything he could try to build collapse, but everything else he could believe turned against him. The weight of merit, change, failure, success. All of that has lost its meaning, all of that doesn't matter anymore. He swallows the bitter feeling in his mouth as he stands one last time in the locker room of Munich, it's better like that. Niko didn't even make this decision for him or Robert anyway, he decided to leave to let the club be alright. The height of hypocrisy at having believed that one day he could become someone. Now there is no one left for that stupid dream of attention that he had never really wanted the rest of his life. Munich has definitely changed him and he doesn't know if it's a good thing, because he no longer recognizes himself. He should never have left Frankfurt, and now he can't come back, because Adi is doing everything better than he is, because Fredi still has in the throat that he left without asking him. He got betrayed after he betrayed. The hypocrisy of his life is palpable.

Niko looks away from the locker room ceiling when he hears the door open, Hansi entering. He has mixed feelings now that he understands Rummenigge's plan. They're friends, but it's not the same. Rummenigge played on this string of friendship to bring Hansi to Munich, to make him work with him, to make him acclimatize with the players so that he could replace him afterwards. He should have understood, but this fine string of feelings, exchanged words, toasted glasses, all that manipulated him. Irony would almost suffocate him if there wasn't pain first on his list. Niko honestly doesn't know what to say to him, because seeing the locker room backfiring at him isn't just coming from Rummenigge or himself, because what he may have tried to do for the future won't be given to him. His fist closes slowly, his nails going into his skin, he doesn't want to talk about Bayern, even if it eats him from the inside, even if it makes him suffer, even if it was his biggest dream, even if he had always dreamed of writing history with the club, even if his fucking boss was his favorite player.

And now he's going to leave everything here, he's going to let his pain gnaw him, he's going to let suffering eat him for a moment, he's going to let his utopia collapse on itself, he's going to let history forget him or remember him only as a failure, he'll let Kalle make fun of him a little more. The height of insult. Hansi stands next to him, saying nothing. Understandably, he's not going to tell him "sorry for having participated voluntarily or not at the end of your dream, but it was to get your job after that, etc.". Niko isn't wasting time here, he wasted too much earlier due to overconfidence, so he blows from the nose and starts to leave. He didn't think Hansi would try to hold him back though. He doesn't want to stay with him for a few more seconds, not when something is already broken in him, but Hansi doesn't seem to want to let him go, even when he tugs lightly on his wrist to make it clear that his will is to leave him there.

"Flick..." Niko doesn't want to fight today

"You've never called me that before."

"You aren't going to stop me from leaving Hansi, my time here is over." Niko still can't get out of his grip, and it can only stress him a little more

"And if it was up to me to set my conditions, now that I am the coach." Hansi puts his hand on his cheek, he's absolutely not calm when nausea had just arrived

"Stop that..."

"Not now, because I can finally have you for me, without Robert being next to you."

There is such a contrast between Flick's smile and his cold gaze, as if part of his mask was finally fading now that there was no longer any glance at them. Niko feels like he's really going to throw up, he's not far from fainting, he sees blurry. No. He can't give him this satisfaction, he can't let him do it without at least trying to fight him a bit. And yet, everything seems useless when he feels chills running through his body, when hands foreign to his own slide on his skin, any miserable hope of escaping unhurt doesn't even seem to reach him anymore. You're wasting your breath.

___________________________

Ante bites his lower lip when he realizes the state of his former coach. It's a miracle that he managed to get to Milan. He swallows the lump in his throat as he closes the door behind him and holds him arm-in-arm-up to his sofa, he doesn't need much to understand that the last day in Munich didn't go as planned. He feels his eyes sting when he sees the blood on his hands, why? Ante helps Niko remove the clothes that can hide the wounds, how could he have come here before going to the hospital?! But now it's not the time to blame him as he runs to his bathroom to pick things to dry the blood and disinfect the wounds. He already knows who could have done this without even asking, because he saw the news. He hates him, and it's a weak word, very weak. Ante holds back a sob when he saw the extent of the wounds, seeing the red mark on Niko's cheek, the dried blood at the corner of his lip even if it was attempted to be wiped away. He feels his heart break in his chest every time he looks at the reddened skin from the blows he may have suffered. It's heartbreaking. Ante gives a light kiss on the neck covered with black marks, he will find the bastard who did this to him, and he will make him pay. But now it's not the time. For now, he's focusing on the little squeaks that Niko does when he wraps bandages around the body, on the blood that gets stuck under his nails.

Ante helps Niko sit on his couch, he can see his chills, and it can only make him more angry with the man who did this in Munich. He doesn't know what to do so that he can make him forget all the pain he must be containing, he can't even help him to no longer be in pain, because he can do nothing against nature, he can't be useful when the one he loves needs him, has come all this way counting on him. He can only offer him a revenge against the one who did this to him. Ante holds him firmly against him, avoiding the deepest wounds, he won't give up.

The End