Chapter Text
If you were to ask Andrew Pope Cody who he was, the answer would be short. He was Cody, the attack dog of the family, he was the one you'd call when you needed something done. And no, he couldn't say he was particularly happy by that sentiment but that was who he was, a Cody through and through.
Or he used to be, because he'd left that life behind, and everything was suddenly new. A new job, new name, new life, running away had left him with a hint of optimism he was not particularly used to.
Pittsburg promised something that Andrew was entirely new to, freedom.
—
Leaving was not the scariest part. being in prison for 3 years with barely any visits from his family didn't leave him with any sense of obligation to stay. Coming back to Smurf's house when they forgot to pick him up when released didn't help either, and it oddly enough had felt somewhat familiar to the times when his mom or Julia would forget to pick him up and father Kirby would have to drive him home.
Not getting caught leaving was the scariest part. He left with a solid 50k in his pocket and got out of there. He drove continuously, never stopping. He stole cars and switched plates. Erasing every trace he left behind.
He felt a twinge of guilt when he remembered J, or realized he had to leave Lena. He felt selfish, and he was, wasn't he? Leaving them with everyone else, but it was suffocating being around them. Like his lungs were compressed and his bones ached yet still had to carry on with whatever stupid act that was asked of him.
So he drove, he drove for days and days until the crawling under his skin stopped.
He ended up in Pittsburgh, of all places.
He got a simple job, a mechanic. Truthfully he'd always been good at fixing things so it wasn't the worst option.
He changed his name, pope cody had died and in his place was Andrew Smith.
—
6 months later
Andrew clocked out of work and began his walk home. He'd usually spend his days after work becoming familiar with the different streets of pittsburg, but today was different.
Pope was fiddling with his phone in his pocket when suddenly there was a short sort of muffled sound from a nearby alleyway.
He furrowed his eyebrows, was this really his problem to deal with? The yelling got slightly louder and he could obviously hear the sound of a body colliding with a wall coming from the alley.
He walked into the alley and was met with 2 men, one was obviously trying to rob the other while the other had him a bit by the scruff of his jacket as they tumbled around, the lesser man trying to release himself from the other's grasp.
It was really just a game of tug of war where the rope was the other person. Or at least it was just a game until the bigger man began throwing punches on the other guy's face.
Pope quickly sprang into action, quickly grabbing the man by his shoulders and pulling him down.
quickly he threw a few punches but not before he also received a quick one to the nose, hearing clearly the disgusting crunch and rush of blood that followed.
He grabbed the man by his shirt and headbutted him, holding the other guy back. standing up and walking back a few steps he stared down at the other man while he scrambled up and ran away. fleeing his own scene.
with the adrenaline of the fight wearing down on him, he quickly began coughing aggressively.
“shit are you okay?” a voice came from behind him
Andrew turned towards it and was met with what could probably be the bluest eyes he’s ever seen.
“what?” he groaned out, fuck his nose hurt.
“we should get you to a hospital. i’m a doctor i work nearby we can-“
“no.”
the other man’s face turned stern, “seriously you could’ve broken your nose, and it could heal wrong and that’d seriously be a hundred times worse.”
He was quiet for a second. Did he really want to risk going to a hospital, being around all those people? But then again did he really want a fucked up nose?
When the hell did Pope decide to start playing hero?
—-
“just wait right here while i check”
The waiting room was packed, even at this time of day there were still a handful of people sitting around waiting.
truthfully to him it just looked like germ central.
“hey” blue eyes had come back up without him noticing, “we can go back. I promise it’ll be quick”
Andrew groaned in return.
“Whitaker! what’s up, what are you- jesus what happened to you?!” Ellis’s face constorted from a smile made from her lighthearted teasing
“hey Ellis, yeah i kinda got, uh robbed- but they didn’t take anything” the man- whitaker, seemed a bit embarrassed by the fact,
“but luckily- wait whats your name”
“Andrew.”
Whitaker nodded “yes, Andrew had helped me and beat up the guy but the guy got him a bit in the face. you think you could take a look at him?”
“ofcourse man, hey come on back.”
Pope followed the woman through the doors and into the ER. taking a seat at the bed.
“I'm going to feel around your nose and I'm gonna need you to tell me what areas hurt, alright?”
“yeah”
After a quick feel and look Ellis was able to diagnose Andrew with just a broken nose which she confirmed could be easily healed if done correctly.
while she grabbed the supplies she needed whitaker spoke again
“Thanks by the way, Andrew. for helping me earlier”
Andrew seriously couldn’t stop looking at Whitaker.
He had a sort of mousy expression on, and his hair framed his face in a way that made Andrew feel a bit odd in his chest.
“s’fine, not like i was just gonna leave you there”
“yeah but I appreciate it anyway.” the man sat up a bit “i’m dennis, by the way.”
He looked like Dennis, if that made any sense. Pope never really understood what it meant for someone to look like their name and he never really thought he looked much like a “pope” or “andrew” but for some reason Dennis just fit.
—
“Alright, you're all good to go” the charge nurse, Lena, took his release forms.
Andrew's eyes lingered on her name tag. “thank you” he grunted out
“andrew!” a voice called. Pope turned around and was met by Whitaker walking up to him hurriedly.
“yeah?”
“I just wanted to thank you, again.” Dennis smiled at him, Andrew stared at the gap in his teeth
“Yeah, it’s no problem.”
“Well, I hope I see you around. well not around here but you get what i mean” he looked a bit nervous and pope just wanted to move the stray curl off his face.
“yeah, me to”