(Continued from ‘Awkward Realities and The Detour to the Dark Tower‘)

Her mind was a blur as she stepped out onto the balcony, her eyes rising to meet the horizon – just as the sun begins to disappear behind the open water of the gulf. The chilly air came off the water and whipped around her as she leaned against the railing, blowing her hair from side to side.

“Jesus..”

She muttered to herself, exhaling a deep breath. There was a lot to unpack about what had just happened inside. There was something there, wasn’t it? Something about the look in his eyes, and the words that came out of his mouth.

Part of her was pleading; telling her that she’s right. That there was something.. But the other part, it was screaming – telling her that she’s over-analyzing it. She’s looking far too deep into a conversation had between friends. Partners.

For the first time since she couldn’t remember when, Lucy actually felt as if she were close to the end of the dark, empty tunnel she’d been traversing through. And at the end was Rogan MacLean. The biggest, brightest light that consistently showed her the way and kept her going even when she doubted herself.

There wasn’t a doubt in Lucy’s mind that she had a good thing going, and she didn’t want to mess that up with misunderstandings or things like what just happened inside.

Because even if that look in his eyes was meant to be something more… Lucy didn’t know if she wanted to set herself up for more hurt, more heartache. That was the story of her life, so it seemed, as she stood there on the balcony, watching the waves crashing on the shore. She felt something, they felt something… And then everything always eventually fell to shit.

CJ. Maggie. Joe.

She didn’t want Rogan to be the next on the list of people she’s lost over the years because she’s… her.

Lucy turned around and looked back through the glass, watching Rogan as he nursed a glass of amber liquid – whilst holding a second in his other hand.

She was scared. Rightfully so.

But as she stared at him, watching him while he didn’t realize he was being watched – She felt more at home than she’d ever felt. Her stomach turned in her gut, and for a split moment it felt like Lucy finally knew who she was – Or rather who she wanted to be.

But could she accept it?

Could she accept that part of herself, like Rogan had done?

Finally, Rogan glanced up and towards the glass, noticing Lucy. A smile tugged at his lips as he held up the second glass and motioned towards her. And in an instant, any doubts she had blew away with the wind. She nodded her head as she grinned back at him and waited for him to join her on the balcony.

 

Lucy made it back home to Maryland late the next day, her mind still on the night before and everything that was yet to come.

It’s been a year of decisions for Lucy, and she wasn’t done yet.

As she ascended the squeaky wooden steps onto the front stoop of the old farmhouse that she’d begun her marriage to CJ Wylde in, she was on the phone, chuckling.

“I just got home.”

“Just?”

Rogan MacLeans voice came through the phone as Lucy nodded her head while she unlocked the door and stepped inside.

“I had.. Something I needed to take care of first.”

She said, mysteriously, looking down at the envelope she held in her hand. She knew the Dark Man loved a good mystery, some would even say he’s a sucker for them.

“Oh?”

“…And I’ll tell you about it soon. I promise.”

She smiled as she watched Morrie step into the foyer, looking at her curiously.

“But I gotta go. Talk to you soon?”

“Of course.”

The two said their goodbyes and she hung up the phone, shoving it back into her pocket as she turned her attention to Morrie.

“Hey Morrie, how’re you doing?”

Morrie shrugged his shoulders.

“I’ve been doing alright, Lucy. Did you enjoy your trip?”

“Well, I didn’t win the Conquest title, but yeah. It was pretty good.”

She replied, smirking. Morrie noticed and a grin of his own crossed his lips.

“I suppose you spent some time with Mr. MacLean, judging by that look on your face.”

Lucy shrugged her shoulders and slipped past Morrie, stealing a glance into the empty living room on her way to the kitchen – Once again in awe of how different it looked. And the further she moved through the house, the more happy she felt not seeing the past rearing it’s ugly head everywhere she looked.

It just felt right.

“And what does that mean, Morrie?”

Lucy asked as Morrie followed her into the kitchen.

“Oh, nothing.”

She rolled her eyes and laid the envelope down on the kitchen island in the center of the room and turned around to face Morrie.

“I know what you meant, and I’m going to ignore it because we need to talk.”

Instantly Morrie’s grin fell from his lips. The old man wasn’t sure what Lucy needed to talk to him about, but the worrier in him, no matter how hard he tried, always assumed the worst was coming. He approached the island and nodded his head as Lucy sat down.

“You see, I know you’ve not been a fan of all the work I’ve been doing around here, but.. I think we both know it needed to be done.”

Lucy began as Morrie looked on, watching Lucy fiddle with the corner of the envelope sat in front of her. The truth was, Morrie was perfectly fine with the house the way it stood before Lucy moved in, the items held within weren’t his to mess with, and even though CJ was gone, and Maggie was gone too – Morrie never felt the need to move anything from it’s ‘rightful’ spot.

But even Morrie had to admit that seeing the house as a home again, and not a museum of Wylde history made living there not as overwhelming as it used to be.

Lucy took a moment and glanced over at Morrie and upon noticing that he was still listening, she continued.

“But what you don’t know.. Is the real reason behind all of this.”

She motions around her.

“Oh?”

Morrie managed to say, obviously curious as to what Lucy could possibly mean by that. Lucy simply nodded her head and tapped her fingers on the envelope.

“Yeah, I mean I’m definitely doing this because I don’t need to see CJ everywhere I go, and I don’t think you do either. But…”

She slid the envelope towards Morrie, who looked up at her, baffled.

“Go on, open it.”

Morrie hesitated for a moment, but opened the envelope and pulled a small stack of papers out and began reading them outloud.

“This is…”

“That’s the deed to this property, I had it put in your name, Morrie. Or rather, it will be when you sign it.”

To say Morrie was stunned would be underselling it. He heard her words, he even saw his name on the papers, listed as the new owner of the home they were both standing in – but there was one thing he just couldn’t understand.

“But… Why?”

Lucy didn’t answer right away. The question floated in the air between them, like one of the many spirits that roamed these halls. To be completely fair, Lucy was surprised she hadn’t seen one in particular yet, trying to exert his will on her. Not that she minded.

Finally, Lucy laid a hand on Morries and gave it a pat.

“Because. You’re a good man, Morrie. I haven’t known you for very long, but you took care of CJ when he couldn’t take care of himself any longer. You stayed by his side until the day he died, no matter how painful that was for you. You took care of Maggie, or at least you did your very best to do what you could for her.. And you’ve tried to take care of me. In my eyes, this house should have been yours all along, and now? It is. I just want you to know, that in spite of everything that’s happened – I appreciate the shit you do, and everything you’ve done.”

She pulls her hand away and leans against the island, sighing.

“And this doesn’t mean you gotta stay here. This paper gives you the ability to do whatever you want with this place. Keep it, sell it… rent it out. I don’t care. But that’s why I’ve been doing all of this around here, to pass it on to you because well, I knew the moment I agreed to come back, that I couldn’t stay. And that’s even more obvious now. This ain’t my home anymore.”

Morrie sat back once Lucy finished. He was stunned.

“Lucy, I.. I don’t know what to say.”

“You don’t gotta say anything. And you don’t have to decide anything right now, but I didn’t come to this decision lightly, you know? I’ve done a lot of soul searching over the last year or so, and I think I finally know what I want…”

“And what might that be?”

Lucy chuckled.

“Can’t tell you that yet, Morrie. But just do me a favor?”

“Of course. What do you need?”

Lucy motions towards the paper.

“If you sign that, do it because that’s what you want. And whatever you decide to do with this place? Make sure it’s something that you want. You’ve done enough for everyone else. I just want you to take care of you.”

Morrie had thought he would need time to make a decision, but after Lucy spoke, he found himself reaching for a pen and without thinking too much about it, he scribbled his name on the dotted line and slid the paper back towards Lucy, a soft smile on his lips.

“Thank you.”

Lucy shook her head.

“No, thank you. If you don’t mind me sticking around until after Horizons, I’d be–”

“Absolutely, Lucy. Take all the time you need. I just.. I can’t tell you how much this means to me.”

 

Everything felt like it was falling into place for Lucy. She and Rogan were solid, and that’s exactly what they needed to be heading into Horizons to face their two closest friends for the Cooperative Championships. Lucy no longer owned the home she was currently sat in. She was mostly free of any and all obligations she felt towards her former home, and anyone who once resided within these walls – and she left that obligation with the one person she knew for a fact could (and would) handle it to the best of his abilities.

Lucy had left one room completely untouched in the home, and on this day, she was finally inside it – ready to take on the task of clearing it out for her own sake, and for Morries. But something was bothering her as she looked around CJ’s old office turned hospice suite. No matter how good she felt, she knew that cleaning this room would be the hardest thing for her to do.

And she picked the perfect time to do it – on the cusp of a match with someone who she’d never thought she’d ever see any piece of herself in, let alone the parts of herself that left her scarred for the rest of her life.

She didn’t know what Sebastian was going through, only the bits and pieces she could see on social media, but she did know that she didn’t like it. Lucy herself knew what it felt like to want to be hurt. She knew what it felt like to want to feel pain – and even though it was for different reasons – The result felt like it would be the same for both of them if Sebsastian ended up getting his way.

”Thinking about someone else while you’re shoveling the last of my shit into the garbage? Even in death, I get no respect.”

Lucy closed her eyes as she closed one desk drawer and moved onto the next.

“I was wondering when you were gonna show up.”

She said, glancing up to see CJ’s translucent form sitting on the hospital bed that he passed in.

“Besides, I’ve got more going on than ‘shoveling your shit into the garbage’.”

As she went back to emptying out the desk, she felt goosebumps rise on her arms as a chilly wisp of air circled around her.

”So I’ve noticed. Don’t want the kid to go down the same path you did, right? You weren’t that concerned about Maggie though, were you?”

CJ’s words poked her like a red hot needle, but she ignored him. Lucy wasn’t willing to play this game with CJ – Alive or dead.

”What is it about this… Sebastian… That has you so… worried? Best case scenario he realizes what ending up like you would mean and he snaps out of it. Worse case? He ends up like you, Maggie… or myself. I fail, however, to see where any of that is your concern. He hasn’t become Jenova too, has he?”

Lucy rolls her eyes so hard that CJ chuckles in response.

”I mean, you didn’t care about what you did to the last person who stole your–”

“Okay, enough!”

Lucy finally growls, turning her gaze towards him.

“You seem to think that I don’t care about what I did to Maggie, and maybe I don’t. She did that to herself.”

Silence fills the room and after a few moments, Lucy shakes her head and goes back to what she was doing – thinking that he’d finally taken the hint and left. But after a few moments, she felt a chill go up her spine and his voice startled her as he spoke directly into her ear, his icy words making her shiver, even in the heated room.

”You’re right. She was just a pawn. What happens to her from here on out is of no consequence.”

“Excuse me?”

Lucy replied as she felt the blood boiling in her veins.

”What more do I really need from her? What does her fate matter – that domino’s already fallen. You saw what I needed you to see… what I needed her to show you. Mission accomplished.”

“You motherfucker. That girl cared about you, God only knows why.. And you mean to say you didn’t care about her?”

CJ simply shrugged his ghostly shoulders, which brought Lucy to her feet.

“You never grew up, did you? You’re doing the same damn thing to her that you did to me! Wait a minute…”

She stopped for a moment, the realization hitting her like a ton of bricks.

“That’s what this is, isn’t it? You pushed me away and now you’re pushing her away too. God damnit CJ, you never fucking learn. You can’t just push people away because you don’t want them to get hurt. Getting hurt is a part of life. You should know that better than most.”

CJ lowered his head. His eyes were affixed to the floor at Lucy’s feet.

“Well I guess now you finally do get it, Luce. It truly is the more things change the more they stay the same. I never wanted to hurt anyone.”

“Well you did. And now Maggie’s out here doing exactly what you were trying to stop me from doing! So nice work, Ceej. Didn’t see these dominoes, did you?”

“The kid will be fine. She always is. Hell… YOU couldn’t stop her on your worst day.”

Lucy threw her hands up into the air.

“That’s the thing, YOU don’t KNOW that! She might NOT be fine, and what then? Oh, yeah.. That’s right. Nothing. Because you’re fucking dead and you can’t DO anything about it. So I’m gonna go do what you can’t.. Or wouldn’t do anyway.. I can’t decide which.”

She moved through his transparent form and headed for the door.

”And what might that be?”

Lucy stopped in the doorway and didn’t look back.

“The right thing.”

 

“I’m gonna say something to you, Sebastian. Something that you probably never thought you’d ever hear. Probably something that’s going to hurt you a lot worse than it’s going to hurt me.”

The scene fades in to find Lucy seated on the couch in what was formerly her living room. Her long, blonde hair is brushed to one side as she leans forward, her elbows resting on her knees.

“What I see in you right now, Seb.. It screams… me.”

She sighs and shakes her head.

“It screams Lucy of years past, and honestly? You’re so much better than that, Seb. God damnit, I know it. Deep down inside, you know it. Everyone and their fucking brother knows it. I know you’ve got a lot on your plate right now, and I get it. I get it more than you’ll probably ever know. But if you’re hoping to go into Monday night and find me across the ring from you, ready to kick your ass just for telling me I hit like a bitch? Boy, you’ve got another thing coming.”

Lucy sits back and crosses her legs.

“If you wanna go out there on Monday and have an actual fight, you know.. Like every other time we’ve faced one another? Fine. Let’s do it. I’m all for it. But I refuse to go out there and do to you what I let happen to myself over and over again. I’m still paying for the consequences of my actions, Seb. I’m still paying for the decisions I made when I felt like I needed to let myself hurt in order to feel anything. The truth was, I was guilty. I was miserable and I didn’t know how to deal with any of it. So I let myself get put into the hospital for over a month. I let a steel fucking cage get lowered onto my throat. I allowed that to happen, and because of it, I’ll never be who I was before it.”

“But you? I won’t be the instrument of your destruction, Seb. You can call me all the names in the book. You can tell me I don’t matter. You can tell me that I’m the worst wrestler on the planet. I don’t really care. Because this isn’t about you and I having a match anymore. This is about doing the right thing, regardless of what that means for me, or anyone else. So I’m taking the choice out of your hands, Seb. At least come Monday night. Fight me like the Sebastian that I know you are. I’m not Konrad. I’m not anyone else… I get it. And I’ll keep saying it until you get it through that thick skull of yours. I fucking understand what you’re doing, even if I don’t understand all of the reasons why.”

She shrugs her shoulders.

“But here’s the thing. I don’t need to understand the particulars in order to understand how you feel… or rather the lack of what you feel. I’m sorry for everything you’re dealing with. I really am. But learn to deal with it in a way that won’t get you hurt.. Or worse. Deal with it like a man, Seb. Do what I was too stupid to do when I was in your shoes. Do the right thing, for your own sake – Get yourself some help before you do irreparable damage to yourself, or the people that give a shit about you.”

With that, Lucy rises off the couch and walks away as the scene slowly fades out to black.