(Continued from the first scene in Rogan’s RP)

Walking away from him might have been the hardest thing Lucy ever did. Leaving him like that, after saying what she said – By the time she made it back to their locker room, she could barely breathe. She could barely see through the tears in her eyes as she entered the room and let the door close behind her.

She couldn’t let something happen to him just because Tempest wants to play some fucked up games with her. She couldn’t let Rogan MacLean become a victim of her success once again.

She was forced to watch Gabriel as he used Rogan as a lesson of sorts to Lucy – And to remind her of just what he is capable of. The image of Rogan falling backwards, the ground beneath him at least 8 or 9 feet below him – the sound of his ankle dislocating from his foot… And the scream of sheer agony that followed…

It haunted her. Especially now.

The room was dark, aside from the monitor that rested in the corner of the room, broadcasting Synergy for those who felt the need to watch on a television screen what they could see by watching from behind the crowd. As she leaned against the wall, she let herself slowly slide down until her backside touched the cold, unforgiving tiles.

Her eyes flickered upwards, unable to keep herself from watching as the match started out with Seb taking Rogan to task, and Lucy’s heart caught in her throat with guilt. What if she’s the reason he loses the Conquest title tonight?

Surely he’ll never forgive her for costing him something he’d worked so hard for.

And once that thought crossed her mind, she fell hard into a downward spiral of blame and self-loathing. Amid all of that, Lucy missed much of the match, and Rogan’s comeback… She missed the Dark man in his element, doing exactly what he told Lucy was going to do. Taking everything that Sebastian gave him, and beating him.

Lucy didn’t come back to reality until she heard the bell ring, and when she looked up at the screen, relief washed over her when she saw the Dark Man… her Dark Man standing tall with his Conquest title.

But then the memory of what Tempest had done earlier in the night brought itself back to the forefront of her mind, the images flipping through her brain like the pages of a bad picture book.

It didn’t matter.

She could be as happy for Rogan as she could be, but that didn’t change how she felt, or how God damned terrified she was that Tempest wouldn’t be throwing a fake Rogan off of that building the next time.

Lucy pulled her knees up to her chest and buried her face as far beneath her arms as she possibly could, and she cried. Silently. Painfully. She knew deep down in the recesses of her mind that this was exactly what Tempest wanted her to do. She knew that if Tempest smelled blood in the water, that she wouldn’t make it out of the Mill… Let alone out of the mill with the World Title.

And Tempest wasn’t the only one sniffing around for blood…

“Lucy?”

Rogan’s voice was soft, and curious – Almost as if he couldn’t see her at first as he stepped into the darkened room. She could hear him as he sucked in a hard breath, and she could feel the… fear that laced each breath he took.

Fear that she was gone?

She didn’t know, but she kept her head buried under her arms, wondering if the darkness would eventually swallow her up – but knowing it wouldn’t.

He approached her slowly, as if he were being cautious not to stir an angry bear. That wasn’t the case here, though. At least, not exactly. She could hear him stepping closer and felt him sit next to her and put an arm around her.

“I’m sorry,” he said simply. She heard the clunky championship as it fell against the floor next to him. “I should have been here to comfort you. It’s what I’ve promised you from day one. And I went against my word.”

He stopped and silence filled the room. He didn’t ask for forgiveness because he didn’t feel he deserved it. Instead, he only sat and stared at the wall, listening to the background noise outside.

“Don’t,” Lucy finally said, sitting up. “you didn’t do anything wrong.”

She wiped the remnants of her tears from her cheeks and let out a hard sigh. She wasn’t upset that Rogan had chosen to defend his title instead of chasing after her. How could she be? The longer she sat in here, the more she thought about what he’d told her and he was right.

The fear was still there. The worry that Tempest would follow through and take away the best thing she’s got in her life still clung to her heart, its claws ripping her to shreds from the inside out.

But what she was willing to do tonight, was something that was done to her in a past life. Something she herself had done to someone else – And it wasn’t right. It wasn’t fair, and as much as she wanted to save him from everything… Taking away his choice wasn’t the way to do it.

“I.. I tried to take away your choice because I was scared. I-I’m sorry, Rogan.”

“Don’t be. He got in your head. It happens. It’s what he wanted. Now… you have to overcome this. It’s why you have that.”

He nodded at the World Championship.  Her gaze settled on the belt as the moving picture illuminating the room reflected off of the metal plates, and she nodded her head. 

“Yeah.”