ғᴏᴏᴛsᴛᴇᴘs | ᴋᴍ ✔︎

Blue

"Will I ever be okay without something in my veins?
Does anyone know? Does anyone know?"
- Carlie Hanson.

"C'mon Blue!" Cody yelled as she jogged ahead of Blue down a quiet sidewalk in Portland. The dogged barked happily as he quickly caught up.

It had been a week since Cody had arrived back in Oregon. Her grandma decided it may be best for the younger woman to take care of Alex's dog until the others arrived back home, and despite her reservations Cody had to admit that it was a good idea.

She had taken for granted all of the ways Tobin made her feel less alone, and without the Heath woman the house was definitely lonely. With Blue by her side, Cody felt happier, and closer to Alex who was more than happy with her daughter spending time with her dog given what happened to Zeus.

"You're getting slower, dude." Cody sighed as she took a bottle of water from the refrigerator, before filling up Blue's water bowl. 

The dog whined in response just as Cody's laptop bleeped.

"That's your mama, boy." Cody grinned and put her laptop on the coffee table while sitting on the floor, her back leaning against the couch.

The call finally connects and Cody is met with Alex's happy expression, Tobin on one side and Jack on the other.

"Hey baby girl." Alex greets first, but before Cody can utter a single syllable Jack interrupts.

"I miss you so much, Maxi!" The blonde screamed making Cody laugh as her mother and Tobin physically flinched from the volume.

"I miss you too, Jack. I miss all of you, even you Tobin. Portland isn't the same without you, weirdly lonely."

As if feeling dismissed and unhappy about it, Blue whined again, trotting into camera view and lying across Cody's lap.

"Right. Not completely lonely, huh dude?" Cody pets the giant baby who licks her hand.

"I'm happy you're both getting along." Alex grinned, speaking over the cooing noises Jack was making.

"He's my jogging buddy." Cody smiled, chuckling softly as blue sits up straighter as if sensing the oncoming barrage of 'good boy'. "He's really slow, though."

Blue whines again.

"Hang on." Cody grumbles, moving Blue off her legs as she stands to close the drapes. The Portland sun shining off a window across the street and hitting her right in the face. She turns back to find Blue had taken her place. "C'mon, dude. We talked about this."

"Have you seen Mark?" Tobin asks, wanting to get straight to the point.

"Not yet." The brunette admits. "I've spent the last few sessions with the physio, I've to meet Mark in a few hours."

"How is the recovery going?" Jack questions. "I mean, I know you can move around and stuff, but are you close to playing again?"

"Well the background team seem happy." Cody shrugs. "Blue here is keeping me moving and I'm hitting the gym everyday just to strengthen my leg."

"Don't overdo it, baby girl."

"I won't. I'm doing this right, I promise."

There's a moment of silence as Tobin and Jack watch the mother and daughter smile at one another.

"What's it like being at the Olympics?" The younger Morgan asked, not verbally aiming it at anyone but it was clear she was talking to Jack.

"Honestly?" Jack grimaced. "It's scary. Would be a lot easier if you were here."

"Yeah right, I know Press got called up." 

"Fuck you." The blonde groaned before standing up. "I'm leaving now. Good luck with your meeting, asshole."

"Love you too, Jackie." 

Tobin and Alex watched silently, like proud parents, when Cody laughed at Jack complaining about her best friend using her full first name like that. The two adults didn't utter a word until Jack had left and Cody was quiet.

"You two look happy." Cody quips after a moments silence, watching as the her mom shared a love-filled look with her fiancée.

"I could say the same about you and Blue." Alex teases, laughing when Blue barks.

"Yeah." The younger Morgan sighs, petting Blue softly on the head.

"What's wrong?"

"It's just...spending this time with Blue," Cody trails off. "I can't help but think that it should be Zeus."

As though  he understands and agrees, Blue whines once again and lets his head drop onto Cody's lap, a sad look in his big eyes.

"I know it's hard, baby girl. You just have remind yourself that he's in a better place, and he's not in pain anymore." Alex speaks softly, treading carefully while Tobin quietly watches Cody wipe a stray tear from her cheek.

"I know." The youngest brunette glances behind the camera, her eyes landing on Zeus' urn on the mantle. Yep, she's one of those people. "Anyway. I gotta go shower before I head to my meeting, you guys have prep work to do right?"

"We do." Alex sighs. She hated the interruptions, well...only when it came to Cody. "Stay safe, baby girl. We'll talk later."

"You got it, mom. Go kick some ass, love you both." Cody smiles at the surprise painted on Tobin's face before it's replaced with a giant grin.

"Love you too, kiddo."

"Love you, baby girl."

____________

A Few hours later and Cody is being put through her paces as Mark and a few physiotherapists watch along on the sidelines. The woman donned in Portland Thorns gear doesn't let up once, taking everyone by surprise - they expected at least a little hesitation on Cody's part.

Morgan only stops when she's finished the tasks at hand, not a second before and jogs to her coach. She happily accepts the water handed to her.

"I'm impressed, Cody." Mark nods his head in appreciation. "You're further along in your recovery than we'd imagined you would be, I gotta say...I think you're ready. We just need to get you match fit, get you back in with the squad that's here and we'll find you some game time. We have a few friendly games coming up, I think that could be your chance."

"Great." Cody grins, a breathy chuckle escaping her lips.

"Just one more thing." One of the club doctors speaks up, there's a discomfort in his tone, like he doesn't want to bring any issues up.

"It's okay," Mark insists. "She knows the drill."

"We need an on-the-spot drug test."

"You got it." Cody nods. 

It was once an awkward situation, when she felt shame for her addiction. Those days are gone, she herself insisted that these tests take place, simply for the club she played at. Cody would always be so thankful for anyone, any club, that took a chance on her despite her issues, that she would bend over backwards to put their concerns at ease.

This was one of those times.