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Supercard Roleplays / Re: PETER VAUGHN (c) v MILES KASEY - INTERNET TITLE - ANYTHING GOES
« Last post by MiloKasey on June 01, 2024, 11:54:34 PM »It’s been a hot minute since they actually were even close to the east coast, that wasn’t a layover for a flight that they were taking to an even further destination.
Coming out of Climax Control in Gettysburg, Miles was so damn riled up following what happened that night that there was no way in absolute hell that he was going to be able to check into a hotel and just settle for the night or even be remotely comfortable on a plane to head back to Vegas.
There were a lot of things that he had to settle in his head and he knew exactly where to start.
Both he and Carter had climbed into the rental, with him taking the wheel and with a couple touches of a button, in the late hours of that Sunday night, he threw it directly into drive and just went.
It was only 30 minutes or so in the time that passed and Carter realized that he wasn’t going to the airport. “Where are we going?”
“We’re gonna take a bit of a detour, love. Hope you don’t mind.” Miles simply stated before his phone went off with the name LJ in bright letters across the screen, “Shit. ....do me a favour, babe? Hit accept for me on that?”
Carter looked at the screen and grumbled, “Do I gotta?”
“Babe, please.” Miles said looking at him briefly, and Carter just rolled his eyes and reached up to hit ‘Accept’ followed by the speaker button, “Hey, bro.”
“Miles, Jesus, where the hell are you?”
“Yeaaaah, sorry about that mate, I needed to get the hell out of there.” Miles said, “I know we had made plans but-”
“Yeah, dinner. You gonna meet me somewhere?”
“No, man...” he took a deep breath, cursing silently to himself, “I’ll owe ya one, alright? But we’re about to get onto the turnpike.”
“Turnpike? Where the hell are you heading?”
“New York.” Miles stated flattly which caused Carter to look at him with those blue eyes wide, “It’s a long story that I’ll tell you about later but I have some business that I need to handle.”
“Do ya need anything?”
“[/color]Appreciated but no, it’s something that I need to do,” Miles said shaking his head at first and then with a quick glance at Carter, “Besides, I got Carter with me just in case I need bail money, which I won’t. But yeah, I think I’ve put this off long enough.”
“Alright, man. You two be safe and at least message me when you get there.”
“If not, I'll call in the morning.” Miles sighs, “Sorry again.”
“Nah, it’s alright. I can figure this shit out myself.”
Miles realized that this was pretty much the first time that his little brother had indeed been on his own but he is a 22 year old man. But Miles just couldn’t help himself, “Maybe Ally is still around...” Miles smirked when he heard Carter laugh.
“Hanging up now.”
“Awww, come on little bro, don’t be like that.” And then the line went silent and the GPS screen lit right back up. The couple sat in silence for a moment, Carter watching the darkness and Miles' eyes on the road. Miles just sighs and as he makes a turn he glances again at his fiance. “You alright over there?”
Carter just nods, sometimes his man confused and worried him with how quickly he was able to change his general course but this was something impetuous even for Miles, but hey...road trip, “So New York?”
“New York, if the roads agree it should be only about 3 hours, give or take...” Miles grips that wheel a little harder, “Sorry I didn’t tell you but- Let’s just say that I saw the opportunity and there is no way in hell I was gonna be able to settle myself tonight so I figured take it while I could. I checked, the old place is empty by some miracle, so I closed it off for our stay. I know it’s last minute but we can visit Bella and Mal if you want. Maybe her, Mattie and Alanah can show you some of the best places to shop. Of course if I know Mattie like I do, she’s going to want to show you her fashion house-”
“You had me at ‘New York’ but I think I need to ask this...What are you going to be doing while we’re there?” he asked, “I mean, not to pry but this is all rather spontaneous, even for you.”
“Something that I’ve put off long enough.” Miles just breathed out releasing the wheel just enough but still in control, “Why don’t you just kick back, relax and get some sleep. I’ll wake you when we get there.”
“If I-95 doesn’t do it first. If you need me...”
Miles reaches over and takes his hand, the hand where he slid that engagement ring on and brings it up to his lip and gives it a kiss, “I’ll wake ya. Sleep, love.”
--
It’s been a year and almost a half.
He left New York on a whim, took what he could fit into his suitcase and a couple of things that he couldn’t be without into a couple of boxes and just left New York with very little warning.
He had always intended to come back every now and again. Instead, he rooted himself in Las Vegas.
Some would have called it selfishness.
He would call it ‘Finding His Happy’. Blissfully happy and he wasn’t about to leave it and lose it.
But what he left behind would come back to haunt him on more than one occasion. Austin and Finn, on more than one occasion, as a prime example. He owed Wolfslair so much, one for bettering him in that ring, him being able to claim control of himself in that ring instead of his old devil-may-care style. The other was an ability to stand up for himself. For so long he took a lot of narcissistic abuse from people in his life and they showed him that he had no reason to even entertain that.
The Lukas Sisters, those two helped him work through a lot of that.
Kallie, and by proxy Aiden, helped him realize that he needed to stop hiding from the things he wanted the most.
Alex Jones, brought him into focus in the ring along with every single talent that he had ever worked with in the ring at the Wolfslair gym in New York.
Austin James Mercer...the heated rivalry that they had should have given Miles plenty of clues that he fucked up with them, and he knew it.
And then there was Finn Whelan, the man that took him in when he had to get out of the rat infested shithole that he lived in when he was snapping out of his latest hell of a relationship. Finn gave him sanctuary in a way when he didn’t have to.
Miles was never shy about making it known that his stay at the Wayward Home that Finn had was strictly temporary. In fact, that’s why Miles even HAD the modest two bedroom apartment quite literally 5 floors down from the penthouse of Finn’s. That was going to be his next step if he hadn’t let his heart lead the way to Vegas.
He never forgot about any of it but if anyone were to ever ask him as to why he just never came back, he would simply say “I found my happy.”
He still proudly took everything that he had learned at Wolfslair and implemented it into his time in Vegas whether it was working with some of the younglings when the door was open for him to work occasionally at GoGym or into his own training with Fenris.
Hell, he would even see Zoey more than anyone because she would come in and spend time with Aron so much that it was amazing that she just didn’t move in the Baltasarsson’s condo. And of course he and Bella were still extremely close as they always were, she also knew better to ask him about everything especially after how her and Mal’s story began.
You go where you are happiest and you hold on and don’t let it go.
But if Miles really wanted to be truthful about all of it....Maybe all of it was a tad bit of cowardice.
After a month turned into 4 months, that turned into 9 and then into a year and even to now...how the hell was it going to be for him to just show back up in New York and look at them all in their faces after ALL this time?
--
They got to New York and right into the apartment and nothing had changed much. He was thankful that Carter had talked him into hiring a decorator and maid for the place when he officially decided to rent out the space as an AirBNB, so when people came and went things were cleaned and fixed almost immediately.
They were here once before already back shortly after Bella had her daughter, and Carter was right, it really was a pity that he spent no real time here as the view even from a few floors down from the penthouse where he decided to pursue his heart’s desire, was absolutely spectacular even at night.
Carter was fast asleep and Miles...was the complete opposite.
He had to pull the proverbial band-aid eventually.
Dawn hadn’t even cracked in the city that never sleeps, he left Carter a note and he was out the door. He took the route he took when he lived at Finn’s just like had been doing it every day. It barely changed at all, except some of the graffiti, hell he ever recognized some of the faces along the way that he saw a year and a half ago.
Once he reached the gym, it was only then when his steps slowed.
The outside still had the basketball court where they would goof off and have a little fun with each other and the neighborhood kids. He walked onto it and just looked around, he sucked at basketball but none of them were made for the NBA which made it just as much fun. Just a bunch of the guys fuckin’ around, heckling the hell out of one another while the girls watched in amusement because they were all shit.
He kept his feet moving into the parking lot that somehow they managed to have and that’s where he stopped himself.
The front door.
He did this shit the last time he was in the city. He got this far and punked out. No one but he knew and he wasn’t about to pass it around. He told everyone that he still proudly waved the banner of Wolfslair but he was too damn chicken shit to make amends. At the least, he owed them an apology.
At the most, he was content on running drills until he puked, because hell he deserved it at this point.
That was even depending on if he could still get into the place.
“The keypad is still in the same spot by the door.” A voice, normally bubbly with her attitude, came across slightly snide. Miles turned his head in the direction and found himself staring at Kallie. She had her bag on her shoulder and her arms crossed. Aiden was coming up behind her, and his expression became somewhat of a frown.
Miles placed a hand behind his head, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. “Yeah…I wasn’t sure if my card still worked.”
“Might as well try it, mate. Sonja doesn’t update the thing though, hey.” Aiden replied, shrugging his shoulders. “If she has, well, you’ll ‘ave an answer.”
Miles reached into his back pocket to pull out his wallet and it took a bit of finagling but he did manage to remove that keycard from the spot that it had stayed, “As you can tell, it hasn’t been moved in a while. Carter is driving me nuts to get a new wallet but I just couldn’t.”
Taking a deep breath, he stepped up to the pad and held the card in front of it and once again as if no time had passed at all his card activated and unlocked the door. Miles just stopped as if he is even amazed by this even being a possibility, and he opened the door up to his shock, “I’ll be damned.”
“Lucky you,” Aiden pushed past him. Kallie, with her arms still crossed, pursed her lips slightly and then moved past him as well, holding the door open with her index finger.
Miles swallows hard before stepping inside the front area of the facility. Sonja was seated at the front.. Alex’s wife ran all of the overhead, and it was rare to see her down here at all. She glanced up and did a double-take. “Miles?” She questioned.
“Hi Sonja,”
“It’s been a while.” She tilted her head backwards, at the gym area itself. “They’re all in there.”
Miles nodded, and swallowed at the same time. This was the moment in time that he had been dreading, but at the same time, he needed to do this. He headed past the desk and into the large warehouse that had been converted into a full-fledged gym, complete with a wrestling ring and a variety of equipment to keep them all in the best shape.
He felt like a pariah when he opened the doors and felt the eyes of the others on him. Alicia threw down what she was doing and walked away in a huff, Zoey following while also trying to explain Miles’ absence to her. In the corner, by the rock wall, was Austin, who nodded in understanding, but his expression didn’t change. Aiden and Kallie had disappeared into their respective locker rooms. Kallie’s brother, Zach, was new to the gym, but he wasn’t unknown to Miles – he raised an eyebrow but went back to what he was doing. Alex, however, seemed mildly annoyed as he leaned over the ropes, nevertheless nodded.
“Look what the cat drug in.”
Miles looked over from the place at the entrance in the direction of the offices that the heads of staff held. Finn Whelan, the SCW World Heavyweight Champion, leaned on the metal bannister outside of his door, an eyebrow raised and a slight smirk on his face. He inclined his head into his office, and then headed inside of it, heading directly for his desk and sitting down. Miles followed, shoving his hands in his pockets.
“‘Lo, Finn.” Miles replied.
Finn turned to his computer and clicked on the mouse. “Sightseeing with Carter?”
“Actually, we made the trip up last night after Climax Control specifically for this. Well, I made it, Carter just came along. Left him back at the apartment, still sleeping.” Miles shrugged, “Told him to not worry about me, to call Bella when he got up. But I really needed to come here.”
A smirk slipped onto Finn’s face, and he chuckled, pushing his chair back and sliding to his printer. “Feeling nostalgic or guilty?” He glanced at Miles’ face, which betrayed more than he thought would. “Ah, the latter. Well, you and me can just be the heathens they keep around to point and laugh at if you’re feeling up to it. I mean, it’s not so bad. I still have an office.”
“Yeah, well I did just run off to Vegas to originally help Carter get comfy and then just sort’ve stayed for someone I fell stupidly hard for and just stayed put. Truth be told, I never in a million years thought for one iota of a second that I wouldn’t have been back here more but the longer I waited, the worse that feeling got.” Miles sighed, “I know I fucked up. Hell I still have dreams of the hell Austin put me through, and you as well. I just- I don’t even know. I don’t even know where to start with even trying to make up for it.”
Peering at him over his desk, Finn leaned forward onto his elbows as he crossed his arms. “Be here.”
Miles raised an eyebrow.
“I’m not saying all the time, I’m not saying once a week. Maybe one week a month, work it out with Alex.” The Irish-American nodded his head. “There’s a lot of shit that goes on in this place – everyone has fuck ups. But the one constant is that they are here. They are putting in the effort for the benefit of this place to benefit ourselves in return. You’re gonna have to run your paces. I mean…if you want.”
“Well,” Miles leans against the wall he was standing by, “I haven’t slept for shit because of how nervous I was about all of this but...you think they’d let me start now?”
“Wanna be hazed today? Because I’m sure McWaffletwat would be happy to provide that judging by her adorable demeanor.”
Miles smirks and looks back for the moment, “Well, I do believe the saying is ‘No time like the present’.”
“Then I would say…get to it.” Finn chuckled as he stood and clapped Miles on the shoulder. He tightened his grip though. “Be careful. And welcome back, kid. If Alex says something, just have him come to me. You know I love to have arguments with him.”
Miles snickered as he rose to his feet. “That’ll never end, will it?”
“Nah. It’s forever.”
--
“Peter, let’s be full on fucking obvious here. No matter how you paint it, you are the absolute asshole in all of this.”
“And I don’t fucking get you, mate. You are actually proud of the things you accomplished after our match of the year candidate, like it’s some big badge of honour to be an absolute shit-heel of champion right off the bat because no matter how hard you tried, you KNEW that you on your best day couldn’t beat my ass cleanly.”
“And hell, good on you, bruv. There isn’t a whole lot of people that could say that they wouldn’t do the same damn thing, and if they would, they would be a liar. The extreme desperation of what you did and have done is nothing short of breath-taking. Not only from the standpoint of someone who has watched this damn business for a long ass time, but as the man that you STOLE that Internet Championship from. You didn’t beat me bruv, you took it like a thief in the night and because- as the saying goes- the referee’s decision is final, you got away with an absolute sham of a win.”
“You have been walking around SCW like you won the lottery when we all know you robbed a piggy bank. And it’s a shit move but you just had to keep piling and piling and piling onto that. First of all, you are SO damn lucky that in that match that got your ass knocked out of the Blast From the Past, that it was Bobbie that ate that pin and not you. If you had dropped that title to Raven, I would have never forgiven you ever.”
“You may be a tosspot but he’s fuckin nuts and I just don’t have the time to deal with that right now.”
“But that match...that tag match in Turkey- I bet you have been praying since you had to use chloroform to knock Carter out, that I wouldn’t catch you. You’re lucky that our training staff knows what the hell they are doing because of how that country treats those of the LGTBQIA community. You put Carter in a lot of danger because your ego will never let you lose ANYTHING fairly. And you better fucking believe that I am going to take a whole lot of anger about that out on you because you honestly fucking deserve it.”
“You proved that time and time again. You are without a shadow of a doubt a sham of not only a champion but even as an SCW Superstar. I thought the Saviors were better than that but sometimes I really shouldn’t be allowed to think. But I think the fact that even I have hit my limit with your bullshit is why I even remotely agreed to this match to begin with. When approached with an idea of what it should be, there was one passing moment of potentially getting some flesh eating fish but- been there done that and I don’t think Carter would forgive me ever again if I had another scar on my ass from that.”
“Hell I even suggested possibly chucking someone off the side of the boat but that was frowned upon as well because the United States Navy can’t seem to bare the insurance costs...because the BILLIONS of dollars that this country spends on its military is just pulled a little too tight right now. BUT I DIGRESS! No, mate, if we’re going to end this, we’re going to end this properly. You, me and no more bullshit, no more fucking excuses. We’re going to beat the absolute piss out of one another.”
“Actually, nah, scratch that, I’m gonna beat the ever loving piss out of you. WHY? Because you deserve it, mate. You have been taking a piss out of everyone that you possibly could for a long time now and there have only been a handful that have managed to put your ass in your place. I could have been that a while ago but hell, I always loved the chase a little bit more.”
“You, Peter Vaughn, Savior and SCW Internet Champion are about to find yourself in the roughest situation of your entire life. I’m not out for JUST the Internet Champion. I’m out for redemption. I’m out for revenge. I’m out for your blood, bruv.”
“The Internet Championship is just the prize at the end of that particular rainbow.”
Coming out of Climax Control in Gettysburg, Miles was so damn riled up following what happened that night that there was no way in absolute hell that he was going to be able to check into a hotel and just settle for the night or even be remotely comfortable on a plane to head back to Vegas.
There were a lot of things that he had to settle in his head and he knew exactly where to start.
Both he and Carter had climbed into the rental, with him taking the wheel and with a couple touches of a button, in the late hours of that Sunday night, he threw it directly into drive and just went.
It was only 30 minutes or so in the time that passed and Carter realized that he wasn’t going to the airport. “Where are we going?”
“We’re gonna take a bit of a detour, love. Hope you don’t mind.” Miles simply stated before his phone went off with the name LJ in bright letters across the screen, “Shit. ....do me a favour, babe? Hit accept for me on that?”
Carter looked at the screen and grumbled, “Do I gotta?”
“Babe, please.” Miles said looking at him briefly, and Carter just rolled his eyes and reached up to hit ‘Accept’ followed by the speaker button, “Hey, bro.”
“Miles, Jesus, where the hell are you?”
“Yeaaaah, sorry about that mate, I needed to get the hell out of there.” Miles said, “I know we had made plans but-”
“Yeah, dinner. You gonna meet me somewhere?”
“No, man...” he took a deep breath, cursing silently to himself, “I’ll owe ya one, alright? But we’re about to get onto the turnpike.”
“Turnpike? Where the hell are you heading?”
“New York.” Miles stated flattly which caused Carter to look at him with those blue eyes wide, “It’s a long story that I’ll tell you about later but I have some business that I need to handle.”
“Do ya need anything?”
“[/color]Appreciated but no, it’s something that I need to do,” Miles said shaking his head at first and then with a quick glance at Carter, “Besides, I got Carter with me just in case I need bail money, which I won’t. But yeah, I think I’ve put this off long enough.”
“Alright, man. You two be safe and at least message me when you get there.”
“If not, I'll call in the morning.” Miles sighs, “Sorry again.”
“Nah, it’s alright. I can figure this shit out myself.”
Miles realized that this was pretty much the first time that his little brother had indeed been on his own but he is a 22 year old man. But Miles just couldn’t help himself, “Maybe Ally is still around...” Miles smirked when he heard Carter laugh.
“Hanging up now.”
“Awww, come on little bro, don’t be like that.” And then the line went silent and the GPS screen lit right back up. The couple sat in silence for a moment, Carter watching the darkness and Miles' eyes on the road. Miles just sighs and as he makes a turn he glances again at his fiance. “You alright over there?”
Carter just nods, sometimes his man confused and worried him with how quickly he was able to change his general course but this was something impetuous even for Miles, but hey...road trip, “So New York?”
“New York, if the roads agree it should be only about 3 hours, give or take...” Miles grips that wheel a little harder, “Sorry I didn’t tell you but- Let’s just say that I saw the opportunity and there is no way in hell I was gonna be able to settle myself tonight so I figured take it while I could. I checked, the old place is empty by some miracle, so I closed it off for our stay. I know it’s last minute but we can visit Bella and Mal if you want. Maybe her, Mattie and Alanah can show you some of the best places to shop. Of course if I know Mattie like I do, she’s going to want to show you her fashion house-”
“You had me at ‘New York’ but I think I need to ask this...What are you going to be doing while we’re there?” he asked, “I mean, not to pry but this is all rather spontaneous, even for you.”
“Something that I’ve put off long enough.” Miles just breathed out releasing the wheel just enough but still in control, “Why don’t you just kick back, relax and get some sleep. I’ll wake you when we get there.”
“If I-95 doesn’t do it first. If you need me...”
Miles reaches over and takes his hand, the hand where he slid that engagement ring on and brings it up to his lip and gives it a kiss, “I’ll wake ya. Sleep, love.”
--
It’s been a year and almost a half.
He left New York on a whim, took what he could fit into his suitcase and a couple of things that he couldn’t be without into a couple of boxes and just left New York with very little warning.
He had always intended to come back every now and again. Instead, he rooted himself in Las Vegas.
Some would have called it selfishness.
He would call it ‘Finding His Happy’. Blissfully happy and he wasn’t about to leave it and lose it.
But what he left behind would come back to haunt him on more than one occasion. Austin and Finn, on more than one occasion, as a prime example. He owed Wolfslair so much, one for bettering him in that ring, him being able to claim control of himself in that ring instead of his old devil-may-care style. The other was an ability to stand up for himself. For so long he took a lot of narcissistic abuse from people in his life and they showed him that he had no reason to even entertain that.
The Lukas Sisters, those two helped him work through a lot of that.
Kallie, and by proxy Aiden, helped him realize that he needed to stop hiding from the things he wanted the most.
Alex Jones, brought him into focus in the ring along with every single talent that he had ever worked with in the ring at the Wolfslair gym in New York.
Austin James Mercer...the heated rivalry that they had should have given Miles plenty of clues that he fucked up with them, and he knew it.
And then there was Finn Whelan, the man that took him in when he had to get out of the rat infested shithole that he lived in when he was snapping out of his latest hell of a relationship. Finn gave him sanctuary in a way when he didn’t have to.
Miles was never shy about making it known that his stay at the Wayward Home that Finn had was strictly temporary. In fact, that’s why Miles even HAD the modest two bedroom apartment quite literally 5 floors down from the penthouse of Finn’s. That was going to be his next step if he hadn’t let his heart lead the way to Vegas.
He never forgot about any of it but if anyone were to ever ask him as to why he just never came back, he would simply say “I found my happy.”
He still proudly took everything that he had learned at Wolfslair and implemented it into his time in Vegas whether it was working with some of the younglings when the door was open for him to work occasionally at GoGym or into his own training with Fenris.
Hell, he would even see Zoey more than anyone because she would come in and spend time with Aron so much that it was amazing that she just didn’t move in the Baltasarsson’s condo. And of course he and Bella were still extremely close as they always were, she also knew better to ask him about everything especially after how her and Mal’s story began.
You go where you are happiest and you hold on and don’t let it go.
But if Miles really wanted to be truthful about all of it....Maybe all of it was a tad bit of cowardice.
After a month turned into 4 months, that turned into 9 and then into a year and even to now...how the hell was it going to be for him to just show back up in New York and look at them all in their faces after ALL this time?
--
They got to New York and right into the apartment and nothing had changed much. He was thankful that Carter had talked him into hiring a decorator and maid for the place when he officially decided to rent out the space as an AirBNB, so when people came and went things were cleaned and fixed almost immediately.
They were here once before already back shortly after Bella had her daughter, and Carter was right, it really was a pity that he spent no real time here as the view even from a few floors down from the penthouse where he decided to pursue his heart’s desire, was absolutely spectacular even at night.
Carter was fast asleep and Miles...was the complete opposite.
He had to pull the proverbial band-aid eventually.
Dawn hadn’t even cracked in the city that never sleeps, he left Carter a note and he was out the door. He took the route he took when he lived at Finn’s just like had been doing it every day. It barely changed at all, except some of the graffiti, hell he ever recognized some of the faces along the way that he saw a year and a half ago.
Once he reached the gym, it was only then when his steps slowed.
The outside still had the basketball court where they would goof off and have a little fun with each other and the neighborhood kids. He walked onto it and just looked around, he sucked at basketball but none of them were made for the NBA which made it just as much fun. Just a bunch of the guys fuckin’ around, heckling the hell out of one another while the girls watched in amusement because they were all shit.
He kept his feet moving into the parking lot that somehow they managed to have and that’s where he stopped himself.
The front door.
He did this shit the last time he was in the city. He got this far and punked out. No one but he knew and he wasn’t about to pass it around. He told everyone that he still proudly waved the banner of Wolfslair but he was too damn chicken shit to make amends. At the least, he owed them an apology.
At the most, he was content on running drills until he puked, because hell he deserved it at this point.
That was even depending on if he could still get into the place.
“The keypad is still in the same spot by the door.” A voice, normally bubbly with her attitude, came across slightly snide. Miles turned his head in the direction and found himself staring at Kallie. She had her bag on her shoulder and her arms crossed. Aiden was coming up behind her, and his expression became somewhat of a frown.
Miles placed a hand behind his head, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. “Yeah…I wasn’t sure if my card still worked.”
“Might as well try it, mate. Sonja doesn’t update the thing though, hey.” Aiden replied, shrugging his shoulders. “If she has, well, you’ll ‘ave an answer.”
Miles reached into his back pocket to pull out his wallet and it took a bit of finagling but he did manage to remove that keycard from the spot that it had stayed, “As you can tell, it hasn’t been moved in a while. Carter is driving me nuts to get a new wallet but I just couldn’t.”
Taking a deep breath, he stepped up to the pad and held the card in front of it and once again as if no time had passed at all his card activated and unlocked the door. Miles just stopped as if he is even amazed by this even being a possibility, and he opened the door up to his shock, “I’ll be damned.”
“Lucky you,” Aiden pushed past him. Kallie, with her arms still crossed, pursed her lips slightly and then moved past him as well, holding the door open with her index finger.
Miles swallows hard before stepping inside the front area of the facility. Sonja was seated at the front.. Alex’s wife ran all of the overhead, and it was rare to see her down here at all. She glanced up and did a double-take. “Miles?” She questioned.
“Hi Sonja,”
“It’s been a while.” She tilted her head backwards, at the gym area itself. “They’re all in there.”
Miles nodded, and swallowed at the same time. This was the moment in time that he had been dreading, but at the same time, he needed to do this. He headed past the desk and into the large warehouse that had been converted into a full-fledged gym, complete with a wrestling ring and a variety of equipment to keep them all in the best shape.
He felt like a pariah when he opened the doors and felt the eyes of the others on him. Alicia threw down what she was doing and walked away in a huff, Zoey following while also trying to explain Miles’ absence to her. In the corner, by the rock wall, was Austin, who nodded in understanding, but his expression didn’t change. Aiden and Kallie had disappeared into their respective locker rooms. Kallie’s brother, Zach, was new to the gym, but he wasn’t unknown to Miles – he raised an eyebrow but went back to what he was doing. Alex, however, seemed mildly annoyed as he leaned over the ropes, nevertheless nodded.
“Look what the cat drug in.”
Miles looked over from the place at the entrance in the direction of the offices that the heads of staff held. Finn Whelan, the SCW World Heavyweight Champion, leaned on the metal bannister outside of his door, an eyebrow raised and a slight smirk on his face. He inclined his head into his office, and then headed inside of it, heading directly for his desk and sitting down. Miles followed, shoving his hands in his pockets.
“‘Lo, Finn.” Miles replied.
Finn turned to his computer and clicked on the mouse. “Sightseeing with Carter?”
“Actually, we made the trip up last night after Climax Control specifically for this. Well, I made it, Carter just came along. Left him back at the apartment, still sleeping.” Miles shrugged, “Told him to not worry about me, to call Bella when he got up. But I really needed to come here.”
A smirk slipped onto Finn’s face, and he chuckled, pushing his chair back and sliding to his printer. “Feeling nostalgic or guilty?” He glanced at Miles’ face, which betrayed more than he thought would. “Ah, the latter. Well, you and me can just be the heathens they keep around to point and laugh at if you’re feeling up to it. I mean, it’s not so bad. I still have an office.”
“Yeah, well I did just run off to Vegas to originally help Carter get comfy and then just sort’ve stayed for someone I fell stupidly hard for and just stayed put. Truth be told, I never in a million years thought for one iota of a second that I wouldn’t have been back here more but the longer I waited, the worse that feeling got.” Miles sighed, “I know I fucked up. Hell I still have dreams of the hell Austin put me through, and you as well. I just- I don’t even know. I don’t even know where to start with even trying to make up for it.”
Peering at him over his desk, Finn leaned forward onto his elbows as he crossed his arms. “Be here.”
Miles raised an eyebrow.
“I’m not saying all the time, I’m not saying once a week. Maybe one week a month, work it out with Alex.” The Irish-American nodded his head. “There’s a lot of shit that goes on in this place – everyone has fuck ups. But the one constant is that they are here. They are putting in the effort for the benefit of this place to benefit ourselves in return. You’re gonna have to run your paces. I mean…if you want.”
“Well,” Miles leans against the wall he was standing by, “I haven’t slept for shit because of how nervous I was about all of this but...you think they’d let me start now?”
“Wanna be hazed today? Because I’m sure McWaffletwat would be happy to provide that judging by her adorable demeanor.”
Miles smirks and looks back for the moment, “Well, I do believe the saying is ‘No time like the present’.”
“Then I would say…get to it.” Finn chuckled as he stood and clapped Miles on the shoulder. He tightened his grip though. “Be careful. And welcome back, kid. If Alex says something, just have him come to me. You know I love to have arguments with him.”
Miles snickered as he rose to his feet. “That’ll never end, will it?”
“Nah. It’s forever.”
--
“Peter, let’s be full on fucking obvious here. No matter how you paint it, you are the absolute asshole in all of this.”
“And I don’t fucking get you, mate. You are actually proud of the things you accomplished after our match of the year candidate, like it’s some big badge of honour to be an absolute shit-heel of champion right off the bat because no matter how hard you tried, you KNEW that you on your best day couldn’t beat my ass cleanly.”
“And hell, good on you, bruv. There isn’t a whole lot of people that could say that they wouldn’t do the same damn thing, and if they would, they would be a liar. The extreme desperation of what you did and have done is nothing short of breath-taking. Not only from the standpoint of someone who has watched this damn business for a long ass time, but as the man that you STOLE that Internet Championship from. You didn’t beat me bruv, you took it like a thief in the night and because- as the saying goes- the referee’s decision is final, you got away with an absolute sham of a win.”
“You have been walking around SCW like you won the lottery when we all know you robbed a piggy bank. And it’s a shit move but you just had to keep piling and piling and piling onto that. First of all, you are SO damn lucky that in that match that got your ass knocked out of the Blast From the Past, that it was Bobbie that ate that pin and not you. If you had dropped that title to Raven, I would have never forgiven you ever.”
“You may be a tosspot but he’s fuckin nuts and I just don’t have the time to deal with that right now.”
“But that match...that tag match in Turkey- I bet you have been praying since you had to use chloroform to knock Carter out, that I wouldn’t catch you. You’re lucky that our training staff knows what the hell they are doing because of how that country treats those of the LGTBQIA community. You put Carter in a lot of danger because your ego will never let you lose ANYTHING fairly. And you better fucking believe that I am going to take a whole lot of anger about that out on you because you honestly fucking deserve it.”
“You proved that time and time again. You are without a shadow of a doubt a sham of not only a champion but even as an SCW Superstar. I thought the Saviors were better than that but sometimes I really shouldn’t be allowed to think. But I think the fact that even I have hit my limit with your bullshit is why I even remotely agreed to this match to begin with. When approached with an idea of what it should be, there was one passing moment of potentially getting some flesh eating fish but- been there done that and I don’t think Carter would forgive me ever again if I had another scar on my ass from that.”
“Hell I even suggested possibly chucking someone off the side of the boat but that was frowned upon as well because the United States Navy can’t seem to bare the insurance costs...because the BILLIONS of dollars that this country spends on its military is just pulled a little too tight right now. BUT I DIGRESS! No, mate, if we’re going to end this, we’re going to end this properly. You, me and no more bullshit, no more fucking excuses. We’re going to beat the absolute piss out of one another.”
“Actually, nah, scratch that, I’m gonna beat the ever loving piss out of you. WHY? Because you deserve it, mate. You have been taking a piss out of everyone that you possibly could for a long time now and there have only been a handful that have managed to put your ass in your place. I could have been that a while ago but hell, I always loved the chase a little bit more.”
“You, Peter Vaughn, Savior and SCW Internet Champion are about to find yourself in the roughest situation of your entire life. I’m not out for JUST the Internet Champion. I’m out for redemption. I’m out for revenge. I’m out for your blood, bruv.”
“The Internet Championship is just the prize at the end of that particular rainbow.”