“Lookie here, Kids…”

At first, all that can be heard is her voice. The only thing seen is a familiar black Buick as it sits, surrounded by emptiness amid a sea of sandy beaches. In the background, the faint sounds of the ocean can be heard, and the sounds of distant laughter.

A few moments pass, and as if she appeared from thin air – Lucy steps out from behind the Buick, not at all looking like someone enjoying a day at the beach, dressed in a pair of tight black jeans and a tattered t-shirt, tied in all the right spots to highlight her petite frame.

Her long blonde hair drifts wherever the salty breeze takes it as she moves around the vehicle that’s taken the Dark Man on so many of his travels, and leans against the hood, no doubt making anyone watching wonder how she manages to step through the sand in heels that high.

Lucy stretches her arms out and tilts her head as if she were presenting herself to the world.

“Good old Lucy is back, ready to get up on that bucking bronco again. Ain’t that fun?”

Her words drip with sarcasm with not a hint of amusement in her expression as she continues.

“So much fun. Can’t you see, I’m just bursting with excitement. And what challenge awaits the resilient one this week? Flaming swords? Rabid dogs? Strung out criminals, desperate for their next fix?”

Lucy shakes her head, raking her hand through her hair and sighing.

“Nah. I get the distinct pleasure of fighting Dave Rydell and Mr. ‘Number One Contender’, Larry Tact. Congratulations, by the way, Dave. Losing to Alan kinda fucking sucks, doesn’t it?”

She rolled her eyes.

“Oh, and to you too… Larry. Bet you’re looking forward to Massive Melee, huh?”

Lucy stopped herself and let out a loud sigh.

“I’m sorry, guys. The world tells me I should be excited to be here, and be back on the horse, you know? But what’s to be excited about? No, really.. Enlighten me. Fought my best friend two weeks ago, in one of the biggest matches of my career to date. Shit happened, and here I am.. Dave Rydell vs. Lucy Wylde part, what? Seven hundred and thirty-nine?”

“I feel like we’ve done this just about as many times as Seb and I have faced Zane and Monty, you know? Oh, but Lucy! It’s different this time.”

Lucy shrugged.

“Is it really though? Larry’s addition to this does what, exactly? Because I don’t know about Davey Boy, but I don’t like the thought of Larry trying to show off before his big match against Seb by making us look like scrubs. But that’s probably just me.”

She tilted her head to the side.

“Definitely just me.”

 

Continued From “The Secret: Part Three”
Friday

“Okay, you can open your eyes.”

Rogan opened his eyes just as the Buick came to a stop at the curb. He looked out at the familiar sight of the Gulf shores. He’d missed it and he was happy to open his eyes to this welcome sight.

“Well, this is.. Surprising…” Rogan said as they climbed from the Buick, “So, what are we doing here?”

“You’re about to find out. Come on.” Lucy shot him a soft smile as she grabbed his hand and pulled him in the direction of the beach. A few moments later, they caught a glimpse of the Pink Pony Pub, but Rogan was even more confused when Lucy pulled him in the opposite direction.

Lucy hadn’t seen the bar since the night she’d had her little ‘meeting’ with McNamera, but she’d been keeping tabs with her contractor and she was assured that the repairs were underway. Bryan had been in shock, telling Lucy that ‘somehow’ they’d been funded by ‘someone’.

‘Someone’, indeed.

As they continued the short walk down the beach, Rogan was looking around, trying to figure out what he was here to see. He thought he’d seen just about all there was to see down here, having lived here for the time that he did.

“We’re here…” Lucy said as she stopped in front of a building that Rogan had seen many times as he walked the beach at night. The building never really drew too much of his attention because it was abandoned and it looked like it had been that way for many, many years.

But now, as Rogan looked at it, it looked brand new.

“Lucy.. I–”

And then he saw it.

The sign that Lucy had designed herself, naming this building.

“The Waystation…”

Lucy wrapped her arms around Rogan’s arm and laid her head on his shoulder. “I know you wanted to buy the Pink Pony but McNamera wasn’t having any of it. So welcome, Rogan MacLean to ‘The Waystation’. Your very own bar.”

Rogan didn’t say anything at first. He just stood there, staring, his mouth agape at the sight before him. Finally, he ran his hand over his head and stole a glance over at Lucy, who stood beside him, an uncertain look on his face. A look that quickly dissipated when Rogan smiled at her.

“Wow… This is what you’ve been working on?  I.. I don’t believe I know what to say, Lass.”

Lucy nodded her head. “It’s been quite a process, but that’s not all.. So let me show you the whole thing.”

Rogan took her outstretched hand and the two of them walked up onto the deck, and Lucy snuck a look through the windows and relief washed over her when she saw that things were completely cleaned up, as if nothing had ever happened. She pulled a set of keys out of her pocket and handed them to Rogan, pointing at the door.

“After you, Dark Man.”

He didn’t hesitate as he inserted the key into the lock and opened the door, stepping into the fairly empty room. Lucy stepped in behind him and took a deep breath, looking around the room, thrilled to see that McNamera kept his word.

“What do you think?” Lucy finally asked as Rogan walked around the room, taking it all in.

The Dark Man turned around, a bigger smile on his face than Lucy had seen in a while. “I’m just.. I love it. I can’t believe you’ve put all this together.”

But as he said that, Lucy could see the gears turning in his mind and she decided to head it off before he let his thoughts get too out of control.

“It wasn’t easy. It would have been done, probably a month or so ago… But the competition decided to break in and wreck everything.”

Rogan immediately knew what she’d meant.

“So.. That’s what you meant by ‘mostly’ Michael’s blood.”

Lucy nodded her head. “I had to convince him to fix all of this. But he did… And he told me he would stay out of our way.” She finished with a smile.

Rogan, however, stood beside the bar and stared at her for a few moments, no doubt considering the consequences of her actions.

“I didn’t decorate because I wanted you to have input in that because it’s yours. All yours. But there’s just one more thing…”

Rogan shook his head. “Lucy, I.. are you okay, Lass?”

That question confused Lucy but she shrugged her shoulders as she moved towards Rogan and pointed towards the door just behind the bar. “I’m fine, Rogan. Relieved that you’re finally able to see it and that you like it.  Don’t worry about McNamera either, he won’t be a problem anymore.  I promise.”

She motioned towards the door and Rogan turned the doorknob and stepped through, out into the back courtyard, surrounded by a tall wooden fence. He smiled again as he saw the white tents, and the log seats and the fire ring in the center of the space. “The Waystation.”

“Only for the Dark Man’s invited guests.”

“Lucy..” Rogan said, turning towards her and pulling her into an embrace, even if his brain was running a mile a minute – his thoughts jumping between how utterly amazing this gift was, and what Lucy had seemingly done in order to make it a reality.  It did trouble him, only because her actions as of late… They haven’t been very ‘Lucy-like’.  But instead of focusing on the negatives in the moment, he let out a sigh and kissed the top of her head.  “Thank you.. This is amazing.”

But underneath the gratefulness he felt to Lucy for all she’d done for him lay a concern, a worry for his girlfriend that just wouldn’t go away and Rogan MacLean wasn’t sure what to do.

 

A few days later…

After a bit of catching up with Eden and (not so little anymore) Quentin, Lucy excused herself and made her way to Gabriel’s office. She stood outside the door for a few extra seconds, preparing herself for whatever was going to happen once she stepped inside. Lucy always thought she knew what would happen anytime the two of them sat down for one of their little ‘talks’ but truth be told – She could never tell with Gabriel.

He was, after all, one of the few people who could see straight through Lucy’s bullshit.

Lucy sighed and tapped the door a few times because, at heart, Lucy was still a polite person – Well, as polite as one could be after leaving a bloody mess of a human for Gabriel’s people to clean up after her meeting with Michael.

She opened the door once she heard Gabriel inside and peeked into the room to find the good Doctor seated behind his desk.

“Would you like me to hand you the invoice for cleaning directly, or have it sent to your home address?” Gabriel asked, whilst still writing and looking down at the notepad in front of him. When Lucy didn’t immediately answer, he glanced up. “Anyone would have sworn I was covering up a murder.”

Lucy rolled her eyes and stepped into the room, closing the door behind her.

“Let’s be fair here, you’ve probably covered up worse.” She replied as she sat down across from him, crossing her legs and her arms over her chest. “Hi to you too.”

“Lucy.” Gabriel said in the way of greeting. He still wasn’t looking up from his notes. “You did quite the number on brother-dear. You realize that you were but a moment away from being interrupted? There were concerns that you weren’t going to stop.”

She sat there and watched him for a few moments, trying to not be annoyed at the fact that he wasn’t even bothering to look up at her, or put down whatever he was ‘working on’ to converse with her. After less than a minute though, Lucy sighed.

“He was being difficult.” She said in defense of her actions. There wasn’t much else she could say, she knew what she did and she knew that she didn’t really regret it. “But if you want me to apologize, I will.. But I don’t know that it would be entirely truthful.”

“I never asked for an apology.” Gabriel said quietly, signing his name to the bottom of the letter, and placing the pen to the side of the pad. “I just wanted to check that you’re okay. Usually, people who are okay don’t usually brutally beat their family members no matter how rocky the relationship.”

“Fair. But I’m fine. I asked him a question, and he.. He said some shit I didn’t like. It’s not like I beat up someone who’s completely innocent. I mean, you saw what he was doing, first hand. He’s lucky he’s still alive, in my opinion.”

“I don’t disagree, but one tends not to bloody ones own fists. If you’d wanted him dead there were cleaner ways of doing it.” Gabriel paused for a second. “But you know that, which means you didn’t intend for him to die. Ergo, this wasn’t revenge. It was punishment. So forgive me if I don’t fully believe the ‘I’m fine’ line.”

Lucy stared at Gabriel, the frustration on her face clear as day.

“You of all people would understand how often over the last few years that I’ve felt without any sense of control.” She paused, leaning forward, “I’m tired of it. I’m so tired of it, Gabriel. First my father, then all the shit that happened between CJ and I, you and I, the shit with my brother, and then when that motherfucker wrecked the bar… I just, I lost it. Just another person in a long line of people taking away my control.”

“I’m flattered at my inclusion in your list.” Gabriel said with a half-smile. “I understand your need to take control. It’s an innate part of the human condition. I can also see from whence this particular episode has built. I’m not here to lecture you, Lucy. I’m here to give you someone to talk to. Either off the record or…”

Gabriel paused for a second and smiled.

“I can offer you a friends and family discount.” he added as Lucy chuckled.

“Wow, such a giver, Gabriel.” She replied sarcastically as she slowly slid back in her seat and again crossed her arms over her chest. “I don’t know. I’ll think it over. But I guess for the sake of complete honesty, I should probably tell you that beating the piss out of Michael wasn’t the only thing I did that day…”

Gabriel surveyed her, as if trying to ascertain her meaning without asking the question. He failed.

“Explain.” he said, as he locked his fingers in front of his chest.

“Okay so..” Lucy started, actually excited to explain the events of that day to Gabriel, regardless of how he’d analyze it after. “I needed to know if the Krauss’ and the McNamera’s had any history, because you know… They’re the fuckers that messed up the bar. Once Micheal answered me, I figured I’d might as well go find him and let him know how bad of a decision he made.”

Lucy smiled.

“So I did. And you should have seen his face when I introduced myself as ‘Lucille Krauss’. You’d have thought the man had just seen a ghost. But anyway… We took a walk, I kneed his balls into his stomach and broke his nose and made him agree to pay for all of the repairs to Rogan’s bar.”

Once she finished, she knew she hadn’t mentioned the whole ‘being detained in customs’ thing, but she figured that was the least interesting part of the story anyway. Lucy was proud of what she’d done. She couldn’t deny it.

“Lucille was a bold choice.” Said Gabriel calmly. “I was under the impression you were still averse to that particular name.”

Gabriel watched Lucy carefully, and when she didn’t answer him immediately he continued.

“And this was before you were detained in customs for flying half way across the world still wearing blood stained clothes, yes?” Gabriel asked. Lucy opened and closed her mouth. “I keep my ear close to the ground… Lucille.”

To that, Lucy simply shrugged her shoulders. “The name got me what I wanted.”

“Quite.” Said Gabriel quietly. “So what now? What’s next for Lucille Krauss or are is she to be buried for good?”

“It’s funny, when all that was happening.. I told myself I was gonna bury it. Get what I wanted and let it go. But now.. I don’t know.”

“I can see the temptation that such a name might bring.” Gabriel said, drumming his fingers against the desk. “But allow me to remind you. You are not Lucille Krauss. You’re Lucy Wylde. Your name holds quite a bit of weight without the dark and blood soaked noose that the Krauss name brings with it.”

Gabriel pulled open a drawer, and leaned down to pull a large dossier from within. He placed it on the desk between them, before pushing it slowly towards her.

“Over the last month, I’ve been speaking to your brother. Trying to ascertain as to what extent your family may encroach upon your life. As much as I would like to tell you this is the result of his storytelling, as you’re well aware he is hardly an open book. So… I used some of my own resources to look into the Krauss family. Sans Lucille of course. I have no interest in seeing your browser history. Seeing the contents of your… Drawer… Was quite enough.” Gabriel said with a smirk. “Do with this research what you will. But I thought you had the right to choose.”

“No one asked you to look in my drawer,” Lucy said, reaching out and taking the folder into her lap. For a time she was completely engrossed in simply staring at the cover, wanting to open it and see the full veracity of her family’s history, but also unsure if she wanted to know the truth aside from what horrors she already knew. Finally, she glanced back up at Gabriel. “Thank you for looking out for me. It’s been a tough couple of months and it was nice to feel like I wasn’t just Lucy ‘the ever resilient doormat’.”

That phrase bothered Lucy more than anything else and she knew it was the result of being the one to walk out of Chaos in Chelsea with nothing – but knowing that fact did nothing to lessen the frustration.

“As man who’s success has historically been considered lesser than my potential indicates it should have been, I understand how you’re feeling. It’s easy to say don’t let it get you down – but that’s moronic. Loss is loss, and there will always be a grieving period.” Said Gabriel before leaning forward as if telling her a secret. “Alas, the real advice is to tell you to hold onto what you’re feeling – let it burn within you like a beacon. And every time you think of walking away from doing what you love, just think of how much it will piss off all your naysayers that you’re not… Going… Anywhere.”

Gabriel offered her a wink, before leaning back in his seat.

“Good advice.” Lucy said with a smirk. “The more I think about it, the more I think we might have to make this a regular thing, you and I.”

“Glad to be of service… Lucy Wylde.” Gabriel added with a smirk.

 

“But anyway… There’s not a whole lot to say here. Dave, I know there’s really no love lost between the two of us, and honestly? That’s okay. I’ve never really been worried about how you feel about me. But not for the reason you may think.”

Lucy stopped and pushed herself up off of the hood of the Buick and began to pace around.

“Do I think I’m a better wrestler than you? Yeah. I do. But that doesn’t really make me special, does it? We all believe we’re better than everyone else. You’ve always been somewhat of a… benchmark to me, Dave. A benchmark of what I don’t wanna be. What I don’t wanna end up being. But I think I’m fairly comfortable now with the fact that no matter what I do from here on out, I’ll never have to worry about it.”

Once she finished her thought, she paused, a thoughtful expression on her face.

“No, hold on. Everything I just said, it’s true. At least to me. But, the more time passes, I do get it Dave. I get why you’re the way you are. I get why you feel the way you feel – This isn’t an easy industry to be in. Especially when you’re surrounded by people putting you down, telling you that you’re not good enough.”

She shrugged her shoulders.

“When we faced each other for the world title, however long ago it was, I told you that you’d get there someday, and I meant that. I know that means jack shit to you. But hey, I can’t say I feel the same about a lot of what you’re probably gonna be saying to me. That’s just the nature of our relationship, Dave.”

She began pacing again.

“But let’s talk about the real talking point of this particular match. Larry Tact. Number one contender for the world title.”

A bit of a scowl formed on her face as she continued.

“I don’t hold any ill will towards you, Larry. Hell, I don’t even know you. You earned your shot at Seb, and for that, I do wish you the sincerest of congratulations as I can muster.”

She glanced up at her audience, and stopped pacing again just as she finished that sentence.

“But. Being who I am, having lost to Seb for the very world title you covet – I gotta say, I don’t entirely care about your little quest. That’s nothing against you. And you can think that I’m only saying this because I’m being a sore loser or whatever it is you wanna think – Again, I don’t really give a shit. I know I’m one of the best that UGWC has to offer, and if Seb can beat me?”

Lucy chuckled.

“Then I don’t really know how much of a chance you have, Larry. But what do I know? Seb is only the most dominant Chaos Champ in history, and now he’s gotten his hands on the world title? God help us all.”

Lucy shook her head.

“But Seb doesn’t need me to sing his praises, he does that well enough on his own. So Larry, I just wanna let you in on something… I have no intention on being just a stepping stone to build you up on your path to Sebastian Everett Bryce. Nope.”

Lucy sighed.

“I know, I said that two weeks ago too. That was when I had everything to lose. Now? I ain’t got shit to lose, so do with that knowledge what you will.” 

“I’m here, and I’m a problem.  Your problem, to be more specific and I’m not going anywhere.”

Just as Lucy finished, her phone rang in her pocket and she pulled it out to find a text message from Sebastian.

“Speak of the devil…”

She murmured as she read the message that simply said ‘We need to talk’. Lucy quickly typed back a response before turning her attention back to her audience.

“I’ll see you two at synergy.”