Chapter Five: Prosperity

November 23rd 2022
Enjoying the Big Apple

“It really is a shame that you never got to see my condo when I lived here.”

Lucy said happily as she and Rogan roamed the streets of New York, much to the dismay of everyone around them – who weren’t as content to simply meander around this busy city like the Dark Lady and Dark Man were. But it wasn’t everyone who lived lives like they did either.

Free to travel and do whatever they pleased, it wasn’t a bad way to spend their time. The only thing that made it better was being together while doing it.

“I’m sure it was very… you.”

Rogan responded with a smirk. The Lucy he knows now, he ventured to think, is nothing like the Lucy who lived here in the big city, surrounded by drama and unnecessary hustle and bustle.

“Maybe at one point, I guess.”

Lucy quipped, shaking her head.

“Feels like so long ago.”

“Why’d you move here, anyway?”

Lucy shrugged her shoulders at Rogan’s question.

“At the time? I’d just left CJ for the last time, and I wanted something completely different than the life I’d been living in Maryland… Living out of the public eye was nice, but I missed being around people. I missed being… noticed, I suppose.”

Rogan shook his head in disbelief.

“I couldn’t imagine a world in which you weren’t.”

A smile played over her lips as she glanced at him for a split second.

“Weren’t what?”

“Noticed.”

Lucy rolled her eyes playfully.

“Just because you notice me doesn’t mean the world has to.”

Rogan reaches down and takes her by the hand, bringing it up to his mouth and placing a soft kiss on the top of her hand.

“Fair enough. I’m just of the opinion that they should, Lass. Look at the year you’ve had, not to mention heading into your final defense of the Conquest title and headlining Horizons?”

A bit of pink rises to her cheeks.

“Yeah..”

If she were around anyone else, they might not have noticed the subtle falter in her smile, but Rogan did. Rogan always did.

“Lucy…”

After everything she’d put him through in the last few months, she wasn’t about to keep anything from the Dark Man. She stopped on the sidewalk, amid the mass of bodies trying to get here and there and everywhere, and Rogan stopped too – Staring down into her eyes.

“I have accomplished a lot. I know that. But.. Look at who I’m set to go up against in those two matches. Donovan and Tempest. One who I’ve never had a fantastic track record against, and the other who’s hell bent on making sure he fixes his own track record against me. I can’t help but worry about it.”

Rogan nods his head.

“I can’t blame you, but, and I know I’ve said this too many times to count – But I believe in you. You’re one of the best, and you prove it day in and day out. Donovan is a problem. Ask me how I know.”

Rogan himself rolls his eyes, thinking back to his own dealings with Donovan Hastings – and more so his own failures against the Lord of Pain. But in true Rogan MacLean fashion, he shrugs it off and sets his jaw, determined to be the example of dignity that he knows he is.

“But if anyone can beat him and bank that fifth defense? It’s you. As for Tempest? You know what he wants and you know what he’s willing to do to get it.”

She shrugs her shoulders.

“You’re right. Why are you always right?”

She asks sarcastically as they resume their path through the city. Rogan told her that he had a plan for them later in the day, but he never told her what exactly it was. So Lucy had been stewing on it all day long, and even in the midst of wondering and worrying about what the next few weeks would bring for her and Rogan – She couldn’t stop thinking about what the Dark Man had planned.

Lucy was terrible at being surprised, after all.

“When do I get to find out where you’re taking me?”

Rogan chuckled.

“When we get there and not a moment before.”

Lucy groaned, making Rogan laugh even harder.

“It’ll be worth it, I promise.”

Rogan stated matter of factly, squeezing Lucy’s hand for good measure.

“Oh, it’s already worth it. Even if I hate the suspense leading up to it.”

“Just like everything you’ve done this year… Even your whole career if I need to go that far. Win or lose, title or no title… It’s all a part of the ride, Lass and it’s all worth it.”

 

November 24th 2022
Thanksgiving with the BFF’s

“So…”

Eden said to Lucy as she lowered herself onto a rather comfortable looking sofa in the living room of their residence. Lucy followed her into the room, having just watched Gabriel and Rogan step away for a few moments to ‘give the ladies some time to gossip’ – To which Eden replied that ‘We’d gossip regardless of where they were’.

If that wasn’t the truth, then Lucy didn’t know what the truth was anymore. A few moments later, Lucy was seated beside Eden, letting out a sigh before she finally decided to acknowledge Eden’s question.

“Yes?”

Eden smirked, albeit uncomfortably. The woman did look like she was about to pop, after all.

“How are things really?”

Lucy rolled her eyes. She and Rogan had already been asked how things were during Thanksgiving dinner, but Lucy found it funny that her best friend waited until Rogan was absent to get the dirty details. No doubt Gabriel would be doing the same with Rogan.

Then again, probably not.

Lucy shook her head.

“The answer is the same as it was earlier. We’re good. Real good.”

And if there were anyone else that could pick up on Lucy’s subtleties, it would be Eden Morgan-Baal – And she picked up on the slight falter in Lucy’s voice at the end of that statement and she jumped on it like she would whatever little Quentin was craving nowadays.

“Ah… There’s a ‘but’ coming, I can sense it.”

“But… I did almost fuck things up royally a few weeks ago.”

Eden’s eyes went wide and she put a hand over her mouth. In her condition, Lucy couldn’t tell if Eden was lusting for details because she’d been away for so long that her drama meter was running on empty – or if the poor woman was legitimately worried for her two closest friends and their relationship.

“Edie?”

Eden quickly started to wipe her face clean, clearing away all evidence of any emotions that this baby was bringing to the surface. To say it amused Lucy would be an understatement, but Lucy did her best to keep that part hidden.

“I’m fine. I’d hate for anything to happen between the two of you, but am I honestly surprised to find out that you nearly blew this relationship all to hell too?”

Lucy rolled her eyes.

“Apparently not.”

“Absolutely not. But I’m glad you didn’t. He’s good for you.”

Lucy smiled.

“Is it that obvious?”

“Duh.”

Lucy shot her best friend a look, while Eden sat back and laid her hands on her swollen stomach, very pleased with herself as silence settled between the two of them. But not for long as Lucy turned her head and stared at Eden which almost instantly annoyed her.

“What?”

“Why do you like Donovan so much?”

It was no secret that Donovan had become kind of a fixture in the lives of Gabriel and Eden. Lucy may not have understood it, but she respected it and simply opted to watch from afar and be annoyed in private over her friends choice in… other friends.

Eden looked confused at first, but finally let out a sigh.

“Listen, Donovan is a nuisance. He’s infuriating and he’s an endless source of continued, and ongoing exasperation for us. But surprisingly enough, I consider him a friend. And outside of you and Rogan? Him and the girls are the closest thing we have to family and whether I like it or not, I actually care about the pain in the ass. What, are you fighting him or something?”

Lucy sighed and nodded her head as well.

“As disappointed as I am that you’re unaware of what I’m doing week in and week out… I’ll let it go for the little guy’s sake.”

“Rude cow.”

Lucy chuckled.

“Should you really be calling me that… now? Really?”

If Eden’s eyes could have popped out of her skull in that moment, they would have.

“I’m growing a child you inconsiderate–”

“Cow?”

Eden stopped herself for a moment, and Lucy could see the gears turning in her brain, trying to come up with another insult besides the one she’s used towards Lucy for the last… forever, but in the end, baby brain won out and Eden, red faced and frustrated, crossed her arms over her chest.

“COW!”

She gave Lucy a look that could kill, but when Lucy returned it with an ornery smirk, the two broke down into a fit of giggles. A few moments later though, things finally turned serious again and Eden patted Lucy’s hand.

“I don’t think I have to tell you this but I will anyway. Donovan is a lot of things, and a lot of people just see him as a goof, but he’s dangerous. And if you have something that he wants, that makes him even more so.”

Lucy nodded her head.

“My track record isn’t great against him. And he’s the only thing standing between me and completing that fifth defense of the Conquest belt.”

Eden sat up, as best as she could and looked Lucy right in her eyes.

“He’s not stupid and he knows that. He’s counting on that, I’d imagine. He knows he’s bested you more often than not, so it’s up to you to figure out the code and mess up his plans.”

“That’s the plan, Edie.”

 

We find our Conquest Champion standing in front of the picturesque Brooklyn skyline, the view showing the Brooklyn Bridge behind her, just beginning to light up as the sunlight begins to fade. She stands there wearing a feminine dress, black with a subtle purple design covering it. The dress cinches in at the waist and creates an A-Line shape all the way down to her knees – very flattering for her figure.

Her long blonde hair blows in the breeze, and even though it’s quite chilly outside – Lucy looks calm as she steps forward, a soft smile on her lips.

“Here we go again, Donovan. I know it isn’t the case, but sometimes I wonder if you’re placed in my way at nearly all the most pivotal moments of my career for a reason. I’m probably exaggerating just a touch, but looking at Monday, it makes me think back to every other time we’ve ever stood across from one another and how just about each and every time… You’ve come out on top. The one that sticks in my mind is Horizons, a few years ago. I bet you remember it, or maybe you don’t. I guess it doesn’t really matter.”

Lucy shrugs, but continues anyway.

“I was nearing the end of one of the worst years of my career. And then they put you in front of me, and God damn if I didn’t get a little cocky, thinking that I could end my year on a high note by knocking off UGWC’s resident Jackass. But you put me in my place, didn’t you? Definitively and without a doubt proved to me that night that I should never overlook anyone, no matter what I may think of them.”

A bit of a frown crosses her features.

“So thank you for that, I suppose. It was a difficult lesson to learn, and looking back, I can’t help but think it was a lesson I not only needed to learn – But a lesson I probably should have learned far before you had the chance to teach me. Either way, it is what it is and here we are, once again in each other’s way.”

“I know how dangerous you are, Donovan. I also know how far you’re willing to go to get what you think is owed to you, and that’s exactly what the Conquest title is to you, isn’t it? You think that because you’ve got a wild hair up your ass to come after the world title again, that you’re somehow owed a shot at the Conquest title so that you can get back to where you rightfully belong?”

She rolls her eyes and shakes her head in disgust.

“That’s your problem, Donovan. It’s not that you’re not talented. It’s not that you’re not a hall of fame worthy wrestler, and someone that’s done a hell of a lot in the UGWC… But you stink of entitlement. You’ve never eaten a single slice of humble pie – and it shows. You’re not owed anything in this God damned business, none of us are. And that’s why it’s so devastating when you inevitably fail, because you cannot fathom a world in which Donovan Hastings isn’t simply handed everything he wants on a silver fucking platter while everyone of those who he deems to be lesser than grovel on their knees and worship his greatness.”

“I don’t know, Donovan. I feel like the way you are… It’s just such an old and tired way of thinking. That’s not the way things are in the world anymore. The UGWC is full of people who are far more able and far more grateful for any and all opportunities they’re afforded here. Oh, and they understand the value of EARNING what they have. A concept that’s so foreign to you, I’d imagine. Like of course you earn what you’ve got, in the most basic sense of the word but when you beat someone, you don’t look at it like I do.”

“I come into each match knowing that it could go either way, and I know that I’ve got to be on top of my game if I’m gonna win. And if I do win? I know it wasn’t handed to me. I know I had to earn it and I’m fucking grateful for it. I don’t want my career to be marred by easy wins or gifted opportunities. And maybe you look at the opportunity I have at Horizons against Tempest as a bit of a gift, but that just goes to show how out of touch with reality you truly are.”

She grins.

“Tempest and I… Our paths are tangled and our World Champion knows that he never really earned a victory against ME at Run of the Mill to win that title. He earned a win against Travis Pierce. I’m the one that got away… Just like you are to me, Donovan… And on Monday, I get that monkey off of my back once and for all. On Monday, I win my fifth defense and I get to choose what kind of match Tempest and I get to have at Horizons. On Monday, I get to show you that things don’t always go your way.”

That grin turns hateful as she gets closer to the lens.

“Be seeing you, Donovan. Good Luck.”