February 5th 2024
Synergy – Chicago, IL

“Nice work, BFF.” Sebastian said, giving Lucy a high-five as the two of them stepped through the curtain and into the backstage at the arena. “Pinning the world champ, not a bad night.”

Lucy nodded her head, even if the smile on her face wasn’t as excited as it should have been. “Well, we knew going in that Donovan and Vain weren’t gonna get along and they proved that exactly right. But I’m not gonna overlook a win over the world champ. Still feels pretty good.”

They both knew their victory wasn’t the exclamation point they wanted, but a victory is a victory and if the Empire of Calamity knew anything, it’s that Donovan and Vain would have felt the same way if they were in the same position.

Either way, the two of them slowly made their way in the direction of their respective locker rooms, Lucy herself more than ready to head back to the gulf and fill Rogan in on what had happened.

But something, some thought made Lucy stop in the middle of the hallway, and Sebastian along with her.

“Did you have that feeling too?” Seb asked, turning towards Lucy, who was already nodding her head.

“I smell a load of bullshit, BFF.” She motioned towards the door to her locker room, and a piece of paper taped to it.

Seb narrowed his gaze and took a few steps forward, immediately noticing a similar piece of paper taped to his locker room door, and he sighed. “Lovely. What now?”

Lucy didn’t answer right away, instead she walked down the hall and grabbed the paper off of her door, turning back to Seb as she held it in her hand. “No way to know without taking a look, I guess.”

She opened the folded sheet of paper and read the short message, finishing with a roll of her eyes before she passed it off to her BFF. Seb took it and did the same, shaking his head once he was finished reading.

“It just keeps getting better, huh?” Lucy said as Seb shoved the piece of paper back into her hands and moved down the hall, taking down and reading the note taped to his locker room door. “Yours say the same thing?”

Seb sighed before he read his outloud, “‘Dear Sebastian, please reference the note left for your partners. Enjoy.’… Fantastic.”

A tense silence settled there between them as they stood, unsure of what to say or do in lieu of what they’d just learned. Sebastian would be the referee next week in a match that saw ‘both’ of his partners facing each other.

Finally Lucy stepped up beside Seb and placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder. “It’ll be alright. We’ll be fine. They’re just trying to fuck with us.”

Seb, meanwhile, simply stood there and nodded his head before he casually moved away from Lucy and turned to continue back down the hall towards his locker room. “Of course, BFF. No doubt. I’ll see you soon.”

He turned back only for a second to shoot Lucy a smile before he disappeared behind the door to his locker room. Lucy stood there for a few moments more before retiring to her own room, trying not to feel like the proverbial rug was getting ready to be pulled out from under her.

 

February 8th 2024
“The Waystation” – Gulf Shores, AL

In the early morning hours of Thursday, Lucy and Rogan were just finishing closing up the bar and they’d just stepped outside into the cool, gulf air. The breeze was soft but chilling as they walked the short distance back to the small house they were leasing just off the beach.

As always, and no matter the temperature, Lucy walked through the sand with her shoes in one hand and Rogan’s hand intertwined with the other. The last few days had been slow, and it had given Rogan the opportunity to notice that Lucy wasn’t nearly as chatty as she usually was when she returned home from Chicago.

He knew what happened and as far as the Dark Man was concerned, it was par for the course – Regardless of who was holding the reigns as creative director. Rogan knew Lucy didn’t like it, but then again who would?

“You okay, Lass?” Rogan finally asked, giving Lucy’s hand a squeeze.

“Oh, I’m fine.” Lucy replied as they climbed the steps to their place and she let her shoes drop to the deck beside the door. “Are you?”

Rogan chuckled. “I’m better than fine. You’ve been a bit quiet, that’s all.”

Lucy watched Rogan unlock the door and the two of them stepped inside, turning the light on. She followed him through the kitchen and down the hallway to the bedroom where she sat down on the bed. “I’m sorry. Just been thinking about things.”

“Well I’m always here for ya to talk to, Lass. You know that.”

“I know, I know. It’s not even that big of a deal, you know? This week is a load of shit, and Infinity will be too. I’m not worried about it for me though.”

Rogan knew exactly what she meant. “But for Seb..”

“Seb doesn’t need this. At all. And I know I can’t fix everything, but he just.. He doesn’t need this bullshit right now.”

“I know he doesn’t. But at least he’s got you in his corner, yeah?”

Lucy nodded. But she knew better than most that sometimes that just isn’t enough. Seb had been pretty tight lipped since he and Sloane broke up. And in saying that, Lucy knew it sounded ridiculous because it wasn’t like Seb had disappeared off the face of the planet and she didn’t know where he was… But it just felt like it.

She worried that any more stress would push him over the edge and she’d lose him.

But Lucy also knew that whatever it was, whatever was going on.. She couldn’t push him. And that was difficult for her and her want to make everything better for the people she loved.

“He does. But he’s also got Travis in the other and I’ve gotta believe that it’s not easy to be in the position he’s in. Not that there’s any loyalty there for Travis, you know? It seems all too easy, just say ‘fuck Travis’ and run roughshod over him.”

“But the two of ya know it won’t be that easy.”

“Of course not.” Lucy replied with a sigh as Rogan came to sit down beside her. She grabbed his hand and laid her head on his shoulder. “ And this week, to add insult to injury, he’s gotta ref this match.”

C“Give him some credit, Lucy. It’s not easy, but if anyone can get through it it’s him.”

Lucy bit her lip. “I know. It’s just up to me to make his job as easy as it can be.”

 

You’ve always been big on truth, Trav. And while I can respect the concept of truth, I just can’t get behind your particular brand of it. I guess that’s because your brand of truth isn’t really the truth.

It’s bullshit.

It’s ego. And for someone like you to look at someone like me and inflate that ego the way you do? It’s kinda funny. It’s always a little funny when someone who would benefit from a little bit of humility lets their ego run out of control and make an even bigger fool of them.

Yeah, I’m calling you a fool.

That’s the truth, Travis.

You’re good. I won’t act like you aren’t. But you’re also a little too big for your britches. You think this opportunity you’ve got coming up means something much more than it really is. The truth of the matter is that I’ve got a partner and you’ve got a pipe dream.

Seb and I are more of a team than you and him ever were. But that’s a conversation for Infinity. Right now, this week it’s just you and I… With Seb to count the pinfall.

You attacked me a few weeks back and I’ve yet to pay you back for that. The bill always comes due, Travis and I’m about to collect. You’re gonna try to put Seb in a position on Monday that’ll help you at Infinity.

And that’s why you’ll lose.

That’s why you’ll always lose.

Friends are hard to come by and you, by the looks of it, don’t have any. And that’s the truth. Hope you choke on it.