Chapter Text
Liam became a lawyer because he wanted to do good in the world and when that wasn’t enough, he went into politics because he wanted to change it. He saw the corruption and people’s personal gain standing in the way of duty every day. He saw the cover ups, the plausible deniability that everyone was hiding beneath. He saw innocent souls stigmatized because they were too powerless to fight against it. He saw people change, saw them cross a line Liam knew they would never come back from. It wasn’t fair. Liam couldn’t stand on the sidelines anymore. That was the only reason he was here today; because citizens paid the price of other people’s choices.
It was why he decided to run for Mayor, the youngest candidate in Beacon Hills’ history at only twenty four years old. It was also why he was here, standing in his campaign office, everyone around him silent as they watched him gritting his teeth, trying desperately to hold back his shift as he stared at the television.
Another candidate had entered the race last minute: Theo Raeken.
You see, there are people in the world like Liam, who make something out of themselves because of a desire to help others, but there are also people in the world so caught up in their own self-interest, they forgot that the world would keep spinning without them. Guess which category Theo Raeken fell into…
The guy was a real scumbag. His reputation as a conniving bastard preceded him and he won every single race and debate he had ever partaken in. He was notorious for using anything that could benefit him even if it ruined someone’s life, but there was never any evidence to prove it. Liam knew from experience, he had tried to connect the dots many times. He knew there was someone else pulling the strings, and he had tried to go after them, served subpoena after subpoena, threatened lawsuits and criminal charges but Theo Raeken was always there to quash any action Liam took in his wild goose chase. He had only come close once,so close, he could feel it on his fingertips until it was ripped away from him. It was all Theo Raeken’s fault. He had… No,that didn’t matter anymore. That was a memory Liam Dunbar had pushed to the abyss of his mind locking it behind a vibranium door.
In one word, Liam was screwed and he had barely even begun. He was only four months into the race. Things had looked bright so far, but with Theo Raeken in the game, Liam had lost the ground beneath his feet and he knew Reaken would be the one to cover up the hole left, just like someone had when chimeras had been created in Beacon Hills. Liam couldn’t believe that after so much work, so much money spent, so many sleepless nights creating speeches for events – because of course Liam Dunbar wrote his own speeches, thank you very much – tailoring everything to fit the people’s needs, to satisfy his need to create a better place, it was all going down the drain because of this bastard.
So colour him surprised when he got home that night, exhausted and barely able to stand on his feet, only to find his mortal enemy waiting for him on a pristine white couch that Liam had no clue how it even got there. Liam’s furniture was all black for a reason. That reason being that it was the only colour he knew how to match, but that’s not the point. Liam’s body tensed at the sight of the other man sprawled on the couch with an elegance few could ever master. Liam stopped just inside the doorway, after he put his coat on the rack and his leather bag on the floor. “How did you get in here,” he made it a statement. It didn’t matter if he had phrased it as a question, he knew Theo Raeken had the ability to frustrate him beyond his limits and implicature would make no difference. Liam bit back a growl as he watched the man get up from his seat and strut towards him. Yes, strut, who even did that? Liam did not groan at the picture the other man painted. Barely.
“Liam Dunbar,” Theo said, checking out the other man from head to toe with a smug expression on his face. Liam didn’t know if it was because he was proud of himself for getting such a reaction out of Liam, or if he was simply remembering…things. Things Liam knew nothing about. He didn’t. Theo walked even closer to the young lawyer, so close that one step and the whole atmosphere surrounding them was bound to change. Instead, Theo stretched his hand out, going for a handshake, “I’m happy to make your acquaintance.”
Liam hated that. He hated how Theo pretended he had never met him before, he had never spoken to him, he had never… No, Liam, wouldn’t go there. Fine. If Raeken was going to pretend, then so was Liam. He didn’t take the hand offered to him. Instead he glared at the other man and crossed his arms on his chest. “I’m not. What do you want?” he said, trying to get to the point quickly; pleasantries had no place between them.
Theo dropped his hand but not the smirk from his face, “What makes you think I want something?”
Liam couldn’t help but roll his eyes at that. Was this guy for real? “I don’t know, the fact that you broke in my house, brought in a sofa that I hope you’ll take back out or at least burn it, or maybe the fact that people like you always seem to want something?”
Theo looked at him carefully, calculating almost, his expression void of any emotion. “So you’ve heard things.”
Liam didn’t know how to take that. There was something there, an undertone or something. He couldn’t pinpoint it, but those words felt wrong somehow. They sent a pang in his chest that he didn’t know how to interpret. But the truth was… “Everyone has.”
Theo turned away then, choosing to walk around the place as he spoke, looking at the pictures on the wall more closely, checking the random sculptures to see if they reflected the style of owner or of the architect of this house. “So have I,” Theo said as he grabbed a picture from the mantle that Liam didn’t stop him from touching. “Which is why I’m here. I wanted to meet the virtuous man I’m running up against.” Believe it or not, there had been more than one person that had referred to Liam Dunbar like that to Theo. He had to see it for himself once again.
Liam snorted at that, earning a sharp look from Theo. “I’m far from virtuous. I just have morals, a word I’m sure does not exist in your dictionary.”
“Don’t worry, I know what morals are,” Theo said with a smirk, throwing a wink his way. He put the frame back where it was and turned to face fully the other man. He put his hands up in a placating gesture, having experienced a few of Liam’s anger explosions in the past, not wanting to spark another one., This wasn’t what he was here for; the past had no place here. “I’m not here to pick a fight with you, I swear,” Theo told him honestly, “or challenge you into a debate or whatever else you’re thinking that has you so defensive.”
Liam hated how the man could read his mind without even trying. Yes, he was afraid Theo was here with a sinister purpose. He paid attention to his words, trying to find the underlying trap that he refused to get dragged into, while trying to not let his thoughts show.. Now it was his turn to have a calculating look on his face. “Then what are you doing here?”
Theo shrugged then, “Easy,” putting his hands in his pockets, his mouth turning up at the corner a bit; not a smirk, not a smile, but something. Something Liam didn’t know if it was real or not. “I came to congratulate you, Mr. Mayor.”
Liam squinted his eyes at him. This didn’t make any sense. Theo had just entered the race, and as far as Liam knew people, especially those like Theo Raeken, only entered political races in order to win. “The elections are not for six months.”
Theo outright smirked at that, “I know. You’re going to win.”
Most people would have asked how? , maybe most people would have kicked Theo out from the start, but Liam knew there was something there. Every move Theo Raeken ever made was calculated with a full analysis of the possible risks, backlash and success rates. Theo Raeken was known for his strategic thinking. He was always ten steps ahead of even the most experienced politicians and now here he was, predicting Liam’s win against him. “Why?”
The answer was simple enough, but at the same time complicated things in a way that Liam couldn’t understand right now. “Because I want you to.”
Liam’s response was instant. He took a step back as if the greater the distance between them, the easier it would be to escape the man’s net. Whatever that meant, whatever games Theo was playing with him, whatever he wanted from Liam, Liam wouldn’t let him have it. If you accepted things or favours or even simple statements from people like Theo Raeken, you relinquished control. You wore a leash on your neck that you didn’t even know was there until it was too late, until the one holding the other end pulled, tightening the leash with each passing moment until you were fighting for air.
No, Liam wasn’t going to fall for that. “No! No, I don’t want anything to do with you!” Liam raised his voice a bit, his hand pointing at him as if it was both a threat and a warning whatever came next, “I know what happens to people who owe you and I’m not going to be one of them.” Dead bodies and mysterious disappearances have circled around Theo Raeken for the longest time, all ‘losses of great friends’ because no one could prove otherwise.
Theo looked calculating again, his mind working in ways Liam could not even imagine, calculating the risks at speeds Liam could never hope to follow, waiting until he reached the turning point. “You said in your speech you wanted a clean office.”
It was true. Corruption had taken root everywhere Liam turned when he interned for the District Attorney’s office and Liam made it his mission to expose them after he graduated, before if he could. He had taken a few traitors out of the equation so far. It was what gave him connections, why people knew his name and his work, why his supporters planned on voting for him. His fight against the dishonourable both during law school and after was what set him apart from the other candidates. But Liam frowned at whatever point Theo was trying to make, since surely Theo had his own agenda to implement rather than memorize Liam’s.
Just then the murmur from the TV sunk in and Liam walked a few steps forward to stand behind the white couch that faced Liam’s flat screen, which was turned to a news channel, one talking about Liam’s speech just a few hours ago, his response to the new candidate joining the race. “Were you watching that on my TV? How long have you been here?” Liam grumbled, annoyed for some reason, until Theo made his head spin round again.
“I agree with you.”
Liam turned to look at him so fast, he almost got whiplash. “You what now?!” Theo was his enemy, wasn’t he? Or at least he was supposed to be.
Theo took a step closer to Liam, his voice softer than it had ever been directed at Liam.It still held a hint of determination, a hint of strength that Liam didn’t know whether it was meant to be manipulative or reassuring or both. “I agree with you. This city needs a strong leader and that’s not me.”
Theo looked at him with such intensity that Liam couldn’t handle it. The aura around the room was becoming suffocating and Liam needed to alleviate the tension somehow. So he wore a fake smirk as he tried to get a jab in for once, “Are you saying you’re weak?”
But Theo’s wit knew no bounds, and it reared its head in moments when people thought him most docile, moments just like this one when Theo’s expression made up for his lack of words. Moments where with just a look Theo could make your knees shake. Simply by taking a step closer, and looking at you like you’re the prey he’s been hunting for and whatever you think, whatever you’re hoping for, you know you won’t escape his claws. Moments when only two words muttered with the utter confidence reminded you of a world you had forgotten. “Easy, Dunbar.” And then just as easily as he pulled you in, he threw you out, back to reality, back to the now, back to the issue at hand.
“Look,” Theo started, his expression serious again – Liam would have said honest, but he didn’t think that was something Theo was capable of – “I entered this race because people told me to not because I wanted to.” Theo let Liam take that in, because this was important. If the people he worked for had the Mayor’s office in their clutches… let’s just say bad things would happen. Liam needed to understand this. Theo needed him to read between the lines. “I think it’s time for this to stop, don’t you?”
Liam looked at Theo. He felt as if this wasn’t the whole story, as if Theo was revealing the headline and expected Liam to figure out the rest, but Liam didn’t even know where to start. But Theo was telling the truth, his werewolf hearing was telling him that much. But he had told the truth before, truths he didn’t hesitate to go back on. This felt different somehow, different than then. Liam hated that it did. “Why me?” he asked, paying the utmost attention, determined to detect even the slightest micro-expression to cross the other man’s face.
Theo smirked on the outside, but his eyes held his true emotions. “I get the feeling you’re stronger than you look.” He thought Liam was stunning. He was a ball of anger, yes, but he had a reason. He fought for what he believed in, went against anyone that tried to put him down, defended the ones who needed it even if he had to sacrifice himself in the process of giving them justice, of saving them from dangers they didn’t even know were waiting for them around the corner. He was admirable, but Theo had never admired anybody and he wasn’t going to start now. That’s what he told himself every time his heart tried to speed up at the thought of the other man. He knew what Liam was, even though Liam didn’t know about him. Liam could take it. Whatever was coming, Liam would come out on the other side. Maybe he’d be bruised a bit, scarred, or afraid, but he would be stronger for it.
Theo stepped back. He needed some distance because Liam’s scent always made his mind fuzzy. It made him forget, lose the big picture from his focus and this was a time he couldn’t afford that. He buttoned his suit jacket, preparing himself to leave right after he explained to Liam how this was going to go. “So I’ll help you win. I won’t get in your way.” He rethought his statement and smiled sinisterly, “Much. Just enough to not arouse suspicion,” he reassured the other man, palms up to not let Liam jump into any unwanted conclusions. “I don’t know what my PAC will do. As hard as it is for you to believe, I follow the law and have no association with them. But for every hit you take, I’ll give myself one worse.”
Liam knew no matter what he said, Theo would do whatever he wanted to do. If he said he was going to help Liam win, then that’s what he would do and there would be no trace of collusion or anything else Liam could use to stop it. And Liam would try to use that evidence, even if it hurt his own career because that was his responsibility. So the more he knew about Theo’s plan, the better. He needed to protect himself because he knew, he knew somehow this would backfire on him like he also somehow knew it wouldn’t be because of Theo this time. He looked at Theo confused then, “Why not let my team take care of it?” Liam had a great PR team. Mason was leading it and he trusted his friend implicitly, they had grown up together.
Theo shook his head at that, looking at Liam but avoiding his eyes, if it was because of shame or regret, Liam didn’t know. He couldn’t smell anything on the other man for whatever reason. “Because there are things I’ve done, that even you wouldn’t dare to publish, Liam Dunbar.” He looked at him then, a challenge written clear as day on his face, “But when the press comes at you, come up with at least a half-assed response, won’t you? I like a hint of challenge from my opponents.”
Liam smirked then, a real one full of promises, one that pulled them both into a memory where the setting was different but the tension between them was still sizzling when a different kind of challenge was accepted. “Bring it, Raeken.”
Theo’s eyes darkened, his mind following Liam’s to that night, as he took a threatening step closer and Liam didn’t back down. He hadn’t back then either. “Oh, I will Dunbar.” He had to walk out. He had to leave before he did something both of them would regret. Liam was more intoxicating than Theo would ever let him know. He was the drug he couldn’t escape, the memory he needed to protect. The memory of Liam was all he had, all he owned for himself and Liam would never find out as long as Theo breathed. This was getting too much; he had to go. Theo had almost walked out the door, but he couldn’t resist turning back one last time, one last time to get under his skin, to reignite that spark he knew Liam was so desperate to hide from the world, even from himself. He turned and raised an eyebrow at the other man, “Enjoy the sofa.” Truthfully, it was a beautiful piece. Theo looked around with a smirk on his face and added, “I think it brightens up the place a bit, don’t you?”
After he closed the door behind him, he heard a thud against the wood, and Theo couldn’t help but laugh and if Liam was the only one who had ever managed that, well no one had to know.