=| Fighter : Favorite Mistake |=

++The storm passed. She sits on a leather couch cigarette in her hand. Syn asked her to cut back, but he picked the most inoppertune time. So his request was denied. Her legs crossed, her body hugged in the plush material of the sofa. She dangles her sandal heeled foot, the bells of her anklet dangling. A gift from Syn. Pure gold. She flicks the cigarette, the stray ashes falling against her faded denim jeans. She's too wasted and out of it to care. Syn made her leave Bel at the estate to "do whatever the hell he wants, as long as he is out of my sight". She got the gist that Syn didn't like Bel's presence, but addiction and sex aside, she needed him in the matter of God. Her prescription glasses were tinted in the indoor light. She hated being near sighted. But at least the glasses looked hella cool. Tag match. With Devon. The man who just a week ago took his hand and struck her down. She took a vow that no man would ever raise a hand to her in anger. No man. Now here she was stuck in a rock and a hard place. Tag title defense, does she throw it, handing the titles over to a duo of lesser individuals, or does she take the high road. She hated Devon for this. She knew deep down it would come to this if the next man in line wasn't him. How could she make him understand. She had better think quick as Devon prances through the door, key card in hand and a smirk on his face. You would too if your ex, the mother of your child, your bosses current, was sitting in your hotel room, uninvited, unannounced, and unexpected. He goes to question how she got in, but she holds up a key card. Her name is on everybodys room. She has the extra cards. He just shakes his head++

"Why would I even be suprized you'd find you way in sooner or later and make yourself at home. So, what do I owe the pleasure?"

"We have a match this week. Titles on the line. Business doesn't stop for personal disarray. Not even if your partner is the one causing it, and you're caught in the middle of it."

"Personal disarray? Not my fault Syn can't keep his ego in check and he dragged you into this. You oughta be talkin to him, Liz, not me.."

"The last I checked Devon, Syn wasn't the one still chasing my skirt. Your obsession with me is tearing this group apart. It's causing me much pain and stress as if I wasn't already under enough. Why do you insist on doing this to me? You were the one who had a problem with Syn, you are the one who decided to mouth off, you are the one who just won't let go. You are the one who can't keep his ego in check Devon. Jon didn't have a problem with you until you decided to be a mouthy bastard and for what reason? All because you don't like my choices. All because you are still in love with me. And on top of that, you lay your hands on me, because I tell you the truth and you don't like it. Devon tell me, tell me where and what I signed that says I need your permission to live my life, to raise my daughter, to date, to speak? Produce me papers that say such things. I long to see them."

++She doesn't even turn to look at him. She just sits there, smoking her cigarette, flicking the ashes to the floor. Not her room. Not her problem. Not taking this anymore++

"As my daughter, I dererve a say in this to, don't I, or did you forget it was ME that fathered her? JON has always had a problem and it sits between his ears. Ego plus power equal BAD combonation, especially when your childish in your fights and do not know how to handle it. I still care about you yes and I don't think you should throw it away just so you can get in good with Syn in an effort to keep the naysayers off ass. You were never like this before...what happened?"

"Devon, she doesn't even know you. I don't want you to be a part of her life. What is so hard for you to understand about that? I'm trying to keep her life as normal as I can and it is very hard considering my profession and my promiscuity. Cage was there as early as she can remember and like I said, I'm keeping it that way. She didn't like Sayne, that factored hugely in my decision to leave him. That girl comes first. If she had not of taken to Jon, he and I would not exist outside of a purely sexual relationship. Jon's ego...is also not your problem. What he does. Is not your problem nor is it your concern. You need to worry less about what the people around you are doing and more about you. But that's right Devon, you're the Golden God, you're perfect, so you have to pry into everybody elses life around you. You aren't so mature yourself when it comes to fighting Devon, this whole predicament is childish. You are being more then childish and I'm growing tired of it. I'm not trying to get in good with Syn. Did you ever come to think that what is going on between he and I, is legit? Or is the standard now, it's not love unless its with you?"

"It doesn't matter that she doesn't know me...YOU KNOW ME! You know I would never do anything to hurt her and me having a say won't, I know what's best!"

++He sighs and lowers his head++

"I just...I just through things could be different for once. Thought maybe you'd actually listen to me. Guess not."

++Slowly he lifts his head and looks back at her++

"Jon's ego IS my problem because it is the Nations problem. He is getting US...ME into fights we can't win. Saleem isn't no where to be found, Romero's off doin his thing. HE is what is tearing us apart! Him and fuckin' mouth! Nothing with him is EVER legit. EVER! How long till he wants back in the spotlight? What are you going to do then? I know you won't get it to him, you can't stand to be out of it that long."

"We wouldn't be fighting if you would just back off. Saleem and Romero are entitled to do their own thing. They serve no one. Not me, not Syn, not you. But you are wrong about one thing...the question actually is, how long do I want to be in the spotlight...."

++She finally shifts her body and looks over at him. He knows right away what she is getting at. Retirement. The dreadful R word that most vets hate to speak and most bookers loathe to hear++

"What's the reason you wanna quit now?"

"I'm reaching that point, the one where all great talent reach. The one where you have achieved it all. There is really nowhere to go from here."

"There's always someplace to go. Liz, you've only conquered one land. You can do so much more. Mexico, Japan. So much more to see. Hate to see you go like this..."

"What's the point. No matter where I go, trouble will always find me. Look how things are going now. It's not worth it anymore Devon. The trouble. The fighting. It's taking more then it's giving. This business has taken so much from me and just when I hit the level, just when I finally think I'm out of the valley of the shadow of death, I fall right down the god damn hill into another one. No more."

"But...screw them. The naysayers. They don't know you, who you are, what made you, where you come from. They don't know a God damn thing but what they're told to know. I just don't wanna see someone I idolize to this day go out on such a sour note."

"You idolize me...yet.....oh forget it. Nothing I say will make a difference. You think you're right. That's all there is to it. Let's just go in, lose the titles and then this entire group can dissenigrate, we can all go our seperate ways and in the end, the only one miserable and spurred will be me, as always."

++she puts her cigarette out and stands turning the couch and blowing past Devon heading for the door++

"Liz...don't. Don't go yet. Look...I apologize. I have been acting erractic lately...I just don't trust any of'em and I worry about your safty, I see you as my sister and as that, I have to worry about you. About us...the Nation, Faye...all of it. I idolize you because of the way you carry yourself in all this adversity. Still headstrong and unwavoring, even with, now 2, hunks of gold around your waist."

"I would not be around people that I didn't trust. You need to respect my judgement. Despite Syns demeanor at the shows, around the Nation, he is a very different person with me. I wish you could see what I see when we are just Jon & Liz. I would not have that man around and alone with my girl if I did not trust him. You saw how I went out of my way to keep Cage away from her and how I went off the deep end when Sayne abducted her. I gave up time spent with her to protect her. It broke my heart to have to send her to that boarding school, but I don't trust people in this business. I don't trust myself. The drugs, the alcohol, the perverts. I laid down the law with Jon. She does not attend shows. She can watch from home until her bedtime. When she is at the estate or we are at Jons, we leave the business at the door. I don't care if it is four am and I have a flight to Rumble at six, if she comes in sick, I ain't gettin on that plane. Romero is good as gold. If I can trust him with the safety of my daughter, of myself, you can trust him. He is loyal to a fault and I respect that man for everything. Saleem called me her sister. And she remembers what happened the last time I trusted another woman in this business. She would never betray me. Jon would take his own life before he hurt me. Nothing in Jons life comes before me and that girl. Not Colo, not that bastard Enigma. Nothing. I am more safe now then I have ever been. You ain't got to worry about me. I'm fine. I'll be fine. What you need to do is you need to stop dragging this out. You need to listen to me, actually listen to the words coming out of my mouth. I will never falter or waiver in my career. My class, my professionalism, my personality is unmatched. I've got more to lose then any of you, anybody in this company if I fail. If I fail, it reflects on all of you. It ripples down the line. I can carry the gold just fine, its the drama, the politics and the bullshit that makes it hellish hard to show up at every Pay Per View and rumble. You look down on my addictions, my extracirricular business with Bel, my relationship with Jon, it is precisely those things that make me get up day after day, week after week and keep doing what I do. It is a struggle to get up from one morning to the next when every target is pointed at you. I'm the one who should be paranoid Devon. I'm the one who should be wondering who I can trust. I'm the one who should be so high on my toes that I can peek my head through the clouds and see God. And then you go and you throw this in my lap. You and Syn. Just when my load and the weight around my neck couldn't get any heavier, you go and pull this."

"Not my problem his ego's writing checks his ass can't cash, I thought you had a leash on him. I know you should be paranoid...but your not, which will probably a good thing...worries me. So unlike you. You know there are those out there that feel with you and Syn together, it's not right to have you as the world champ or the tag champ."

"Not my problem their egos are writing checks their ass can't cash."

++She glares at him++

"I thought I had a leash on you too. I'm done playing games. I wash my hands of this. I wash my hands of you. If you want to bicker like a little child and cause problems because your ego is bruised, you do it on your own time. Look me up when you grow up Devon. I want your belongings removed from the estate by the weekends close. You are no longer welcome in my home. It is my job to protect the AN and since you are having personal issues with Syn, and I feel that those issues will affect the AN, it's best you return to your own residence when we get back to the states. As far as our match, I'm going to go out there, defend our titles, win and as far as I am concerned it's business as usual. Wherever your head is at and whatever you choose to do, is not my problem. If you feel like you can't be a player for the Nation...then don't let the door hit you on the ass on your way out."

++She turns the knob on the door and blows a cold shoulder in Devons direction. No looking back. He grabs her shoulder++

"It don't gotta go down like this...just keep Syn out of my way, I'll be fine. Look...I'm sorry."

"How about you keep your egos out of both of our ways. You check it at the door before match time. Or I will take them on myself. The problem ain't Syn, the problem is you, but you ain't wantin to hear that, because in your mind you are always right. In your mind, he's the enemy. I came here to try and reason with you, but that ain't gonna happen. You know how you wished it would have been different? So did I. I wished that for once, people would just let me be happy. I wished for once, that people would have just left my life be. And I never imagined that out of everybody in my life, you would be the one who would deny me all that. Out of everybody...it had to be you."

++She sniffles and walks out the door, slamming it behind her leaving Devon on the opposite side, he pounds his fist against it and lays his forehead against it as Liz walks down the hall++

"I guess I'll always be your favorite mistake."

++FTB++