[London Underground]

 The following takes place on Wednesday 20th November 2019

Since becoming the champions again, you gotta admit, we've done more in that short amount of time than previous champions, especially the last lot, just by being on camera every single week. We've sat and we've done what was expected in a division with no challengers, us, like the championships have been pretty much part time, but no reason not to flog them every now and again. Now when I sat there and stuck out an open challenge to any team, I didn't really expect anyone to answer, in fact I was set to go and speak to the people in charge and tell them apart from us, this mixed tag division is a bit of a mare, but instantly, one team popped up, shoulda figured to be honest, the gold hungry Steele's jumped at it. Would it kill people to go a few months without a title shot of some kind? Seriously? Shoulda seen that one coming but we didn't, the shocking response was a week later from Carter. We should have said no for his own good, but there's always lessons to be learned and we got a chance to teach.

Still, that was a few days away, today, we had to do things for our main source of income, it was a casino day where I was likely to either hack off or delight my staff. Let's find out which, shall we?

*******

"I hate these kinda meetings." Daniel says as he stands with his back to a red curtain.

The Golden Ring Casino had many things to offer, all your gaming needs, all your sports needs. It had stores of well known brands, all placing a cut in the pockets of London Underground, it even had celebrity appearances from SCW and SCU stars that would attract the crowd, and even had it's own theatre area where bands, and plays could delight the crowd but today, the Casino had yet to open. Contrary to popular belief, from time to time, Casino's close to allow a full restock to take place, to allow cleaning and maintenance to take place. The Casino was closed yesterday, just to restock everything in the building so that there was no need to resupply for a while. Daniel had seen this chance to talk to not only his employees in the casino, but the employees of the stores in the casino too. There was only one place big enough to talk to that amount of employees and that was in the theatre in the casino, the only place big enough where he could stand in front of the crowd and speak.

"Piss off, you love it." Mackenzie says as she stands in front of her suited up boss.

"Besides." Charlotte adds. "If you don't wanna do it, you could make Os do it."

Charlotte, standing just to the side of Os, gives him a slight smile as the big man looks at her stone faced.

"It's just one of those things." Daniel admits. "Bit hard to see how people are gonna take this."

"It's not like you're turfing them out on the street and not giving them anything for the pleasure." Mackenzie says, looking Daniel right in the eye.

"I think most of them would actually appreciate it." Charlotte says as she looks out from the side of the red curtain separating the behind the scenes, to the main stage.

Daniel looks down at his watch, being on time was one thing he prided himself on, and expected from everyone around him. He wasn't a fan of anything less than a few minutes early, but didn't tolerate lateness, even by a single minute.

"Better get this show on the road." Daniel says to himself. "Hopefully, this won't take too long."

Daniel walks around to the side of the curtain and on to the stage, as the others wait in the wings, watching Daniel walk across the stage, his firm soled leather shoes hitting the wooden boards catching the attention of everyone in the room, causing their idle chatter to stop as they look towards the stage. Daniel nods as he spots Dani Weston in the front row, a few seats down from Nick George. Daniel stands at a set up podium, turning his head to the right to see Christina Rose sitting a few rows back. Daniel clears his throat as he looks around the rows and rows of people, the theatre almost full. He takes a deep breath and speaks near the microphone.

"First off, thank you all for being here this morning. I know the casino opens soon, so I wanna thank you for coming in a touch early for this meeting." Daniel starts, looking around the room of curious looking faces. "And a thank you to you guys who have popped in for this on ya day off, I will try and get through this and let ya back to ya day."

Daniel looks across the stage to see Charlotte, Mackenzie and Osbourne standing just off stage and looks back at the crowd.

"We've been going here at the casino for a while now, and I got a lot of you guys that have been here from day one, I got a lot of you here that has been here before day." Daniel says as he looks towards Dani Weston. "And there's a few of you joining us over recent months, but regardless of if you've been here a month, day, or a year, you've all played your part in making this successful."

Daniel stops for a second, his eyes bouncing from curious face to curious face, each not sure where this is going.

"I've always been the kinda bloke that if you do something for me, I will do something for you, I reward what needs to be rewarded." He says confidently.

Looking around the room some more, Daniel could see the faces changing, the word reward has that effect on some.

"I'm gonna reward you with a gift or two." Daniel continues. "The gift of family. I know as a bloke a long way from home, you miss ya family more around the holidays, you should be with them so from December 20th, the Casino will be closed to the public and everything in it, until the forth of January."

The crowd start to talk amongst themselves as Daniel looks towards the side of the stage, Mackenzie nodding her head in agreement.

"What about the money we'll lose?" A voice in the crowd calls out, Daniel's head snapping around to the front to look around.

"Well that's just rude calling out." He says, not knowing who called out. "But I was getting that if ya gave me half a chance."

The crowd seem to simmer down as Daniel looks around them.

"Your shifts were already made by then, rotas had gone out, but I ain't a man who's up for screwing you out of a couple of quid." Daniel says, his eyes scanning the crowd. "You'll all get paid for that, you're not gonna lose a penny, if fact, you'll all be getting a bonus on the 20th, along with your pay, a good bonus, and for those who work a lot for tips."

Daniel's eyes can't help but move towards Christina Rose.

"You too will be compensated." Daniel tells them. "I will be personally throwing down tips that you would have lost out on."

The crowd seem to intently talk amongst themselves, partly happy at essentially getting paid for nothing.

"What about the people who should be working in the stores?" A female voice calls out. "I have kids."

"I know many of you do." Daniel tells the crowd in general, not knowing exactly where the voice has come from. "But I've also spoke to each and every leader in the stores, long before I came out here to talk to you, to tell them I will be covering their wage bill for the time off."

Another satisfied murmer comes from the crowd, but Daniel continues.

"The simple fact is, we have made an arm and a leg this year from the Casino." Daniel says honestly. "More than we projected, thanks to your work, and our deal with SCW and SCU, the fact that we've had more events here than we thought possible. It's allowed us to turn our noses up at serious money to be made over the holiday season, and we would have made a mint over Christmas and New Year. We decided that for your hard work, you should be out there enjoying those holidays, rather than stuck at work. We were willing to sacrifice those two money spinners to reward you all for what you've done for us. In fact it doesn't stop there."

Daniel looks around, the crowds eyes on him, curious to find out what is coming next.

"I keep mentioning family." He says as he looks around. "So I'm willing to put you with yours. If you have family not around here and you want to go be with them, but couldn't because of work, or cash, or whatever, I'm gonna put you with them and pay for your flights to go be with them, where ever they are, and that includes you shop staff too."

The crowd gasp in shock and surprise but the camera cuts to Charlotte and Mackenzie for a second.

"I wonder how many SCW people will be looking for jobs here if this ever got out?" Charlotte asks as she looks at Mackenzie.

"Half the fucking roster." Mackenzie replies. "The ones who live in Vegas would pick up work here, just for the Christmas benefits."

The camera cuts back to Daniel, as he waves his hands to get some kinda silence.

"But don't book ya flights too soon." He tells them. "Because it's all about the wording, I said the Casino would be closed to the public from the 20th. On the 21st, we are having one hell of a Christmas party for you all, where you won't be waiting on people, people will be waiting on you."

Another happy burst of chatter goes through the crowd as Daniel smiles.

"So here's how it's gonna work." Daniel tells them after a few seconds. "You need to be somewhere for Christmas, there will be a form to fill out, that you can get from the admin office, grab it, fill it in, get it back and we'll do the rest."

Daniel looks down at his watch and checks the time before nodding towards the corner, where Charlotte, Mackenzie and Osbourne stand before turning his head back towards the crowd.

"Anyway, thanks again for coming in before you're meant to start work and on your day off." Daniel tells them. "If you have any questions, feel free to find us and ask. Off to work you lot."

Daniel walks towards Charlotte, Mackenzie and Osbourne as the crowd start to rise to their feet to leave. Daniel stands in front of the trio.

"Well?" He asks.

"Everyone seems as happy as pigs in shit." Mackenzie says with a firm nod.

"Why wouldn't they?" Charlotte adds. "They've got free money out of this, plus time with their family."

Before they continue, footsteps on the wooden boards can be heard as someone moves towards them, the group quickly turn around to see Nick George walking towards them.

"So no massive new years party or public Christmas party that would have made us bundles?" Nick says as he puts his head next to Daniel's, moving his eyes to Daniel's ears.

"The fuck are you doing?" Mackenzie asks confused.

"Seeing if his brain is still there." Nick replies.

"One, you wouldn't be able to see it through his ears." Charlotte says with a shake of her head.

"And two, you wouldn't know what a brain looks like, you've never had one." Mackenzie adds.

Nick looks at the pair of them, his head moving between both of them.

"Look at you two having a creepy twin moment." Nick replies with a smirk before turning back to Daniel. "Explain?"

Daniel calmly shrugs.

"We've made three times as much money as we thought we would." Daniel tells him. "And I dunno about you, but do you wanna deal with pissheads over the holidays when you can be putting your feet up back in London. Smashing back some pie and mash and dancing on local boozers tables, or staying sober and looking after a crowd? I mean, I personally thought you'd rather be spending your Christmas bonus..."

Nick tilts his head as he looks at Daniel.

"Oh don't tease me with a good time, mate." Nick says as he looks at Daniel. "You mean I'm actually getting a Christmas bonus this year?"

Daniel leans next to Nick's ear and whispers something in it, causing his eyes to widen.

"Fucking hell mate." Nick says surprised. "I can buy a football team with that... Well.... In the lower league... Debt ridden maybe..."

"Still wanna moan about Christmas?" Daniel asks with a smile.

"What's Christmas?" Nick says with a grin of his own.

"Anyway, back to work." Daniel says with a nod.

Nick nods and disappears and Daniel looks at the women.

"Right." Daniel tells them. "Here's ya jobs for the day. Have a word with Christina about that tweet, I ain't dealing with wrestling drama in the casino unless it's an SCU show. Get Caleb all set up too, and if you see Dani lifting anything heavier then a pen, cuff her or something."

Mackenzie nods her head.

"And hit the camera on for the stage from upstairs, might as well stand at the podium and speak about Carter while I got the chance." Daniel tells them.

Charlotte nods her head and the two women move away from Osbourne and Daniel. Daniel points to the stage and Osbourne nods his head and the two make their way back across the stage....

*******

Daniel once again stands at the podium with Osbourne behind him, the theatre now empty. Looking up, he sees the signal for the camera to be recording is now on and hoped it was zoomed in on both he and Osbourne.

"I really wasn't expecting Carter to be one of the people who put their names forward for a match against us for our titles, did you?" Daniel asks Osbourne.

Osbourne shakes his head.

"Usually, I'd shoot it down Carter." Daniel admits. "I'd say ya still a bit wet behind the ears and got ya mothers milk still on your cheeks but something made me say yes, and it's something Gabriel and Odette put in to my head when we was just like you, when we were training away and I'm sure they have got it in your nuts too and that's never stop learning and always teach what you know."

Daniel pauses to think about those words.

"This is a teachable moment for you Carter." Daniel says firmly. "It's about walking before you can run. I don't know if it was the bright lights, or the fact you was on the A show and not the B show somehow, that you were there in front of a live camera talking to a big crowd and you got a bit over excited, but you accepted an open challenge and here we are now, days away from the actually biggest match of your career just a month or so in to it."

Daniel shakes his head.

"This is where the walk before you can run thing comes in." Daniel says.

He glances a look towards Osbourne.

"You've overstepped here Carter by a distance, and I think that reality has set in a little bit, or should have done by now." Daniel guesses. "This ain't like fighting no names in SCU, not saying SCU is full of them, but you haven't really come up against anyone decent as yet, but here in SCW, there's a reason we've swept up the tag gold in all divisions, there's a reason Mackenzie smashed Mikah a while ago, there's a reason why many see us as an explosion waiting to happen. Frankly, we know if we wanted to take every singles title in SCW, we could probably do that too, and you've stepped up to us, mate, it's not gonna end well at all. You're already out of your comfort zone."

Daniel takes a sharp breath.

"All you've had to do is turn up to SCU and do what they tell you to do, right?" Daniel questions. "You haven't had to stand there and talk like this about someone. You haven't had a crew follow you around all day to capture sellable moments. First time that happens, people freeze and you should now be feeling that. Problem is mate, it gets a lot worse when that music hits and you start walking down that ramp knowing your facing champions. That's when the arsehole goes."

Daniel smiles.

"And that is what's gonna happen Carter." Daniel tells him. "This match is gonna be a bit too much for you, but use the experience, enjoy your time in a big boy ring, but don't expect to get anything out of it other than experience. Don't expect the Mixed Tag Team championships to be coming with you, don't expect us to take it easy on you because we were trained by the same people, don't expect anything except us walking out with what we walked in with."

Daniel clears his throat.

"You know me Carter." Daniel says with a smile. "I only deal in facts."

Daniel nods to Osbourne and the duo walk off stage.

[London Underground]

 While Danny and Os had their thing going on, cutting a promo on our next opponents, there was still a casino to be run. Me and Kenz knew we had a few things to deal with today, there was a lot going on, there always was when we closed the day before for a restock. Believe me, rather than having constant deliveries every day, creating chaos it was always better for us to co-ordinate with other businesses within the casino to get things done on the same day. Don't get me wrong, we had the odd delivery in when we needed to but to us, this was the best way forward and it was decent to come in to work knowing it was just gonna be a day of normal stuff rather than signing for things for this place or the other. Today, we had some casino business to take care of. We often had SCW stars come in for a signing, it worked out well for us all. They'd get a place to sell off some shirts, we take a small cut, they get a tab here, the fans flock in and stay, everyone wins. Today we had another from SCW doing just that for us....

*******

The casino hadn't been open too long but the crowds had already streamed in at a more than steady pace, making their way to their favourite games and slot machines, the bar area already taking huge amounts of drink orders and waitresses earning their money. Las Vegas was a strange place, it didn't matter what time it was, it was always time for a drink, but Charlotte and Mackenzie had a few things to do before they could try the latest concoction from the mind of Dani Weston, business came first.

The two walked across the casino floor, looking around at the people coming through the doors and settling at their tables of choice. Mackenzie looks towards a woman, seemingly popular as the crowds seem to gravitate to where she stands.

"The fuck is that?" Mackenzie asks.

Charlotte shrugs her shoulders.

"I dunno." Charlotte says. "But she looks like a Banton to me, but no one knows her yet."

Charlotte smiles and looks at the stone faced Mackenzie.

"Well I don't fucking know her" Mackenzie says as the two continue to walk.

The two stop in front of a specially set up booth, the SCW logo above it and a poster next to it with the words "Meet SCW star, Caleb Storms." written across it. Charlotte and Mackenzie look towards the back of the booth where they see Caleb Storms, wringing his hands slightly nervously, with Katie by his side. Charlotte and Mackenzie approach Caleb from behind, Mackenzie looking towards Katie.

"What's the matter with him?" Mackenzie asks, catching Caleb's attention, the long haired man turning to face her.

"He's done signings and meet and greets before, but never to this level." Katie responds.

Charlotte looks at Caleb with a smile.

"I dunno what you're worried about." Charlotte says. "We only get thousands of people through here every day and a lot of them are wrestling fans."

"So by the time I sign all these pictures, I won't be able to throw a punch, let alone wrestle?" Caleb says as he looks at Charlotte.

"Or other things that need good wrist action." Mackenzie says turning her head.

"You're worried over nothing." Charlotte reassures him. "All you really have to do is what you always do at meet and greets, be friendly so people buy your shirts, smile a lot, throw up the devil horns a few times."

"Just thousands more people than you're used to." Mackenzie throws in, trying to make the young man nervous.

Caleb looks at Katie but Charlotte breaks the silence.

"Don't worry about her, she's in a wind up mood, has been all day." Charlotte says as Mackenzie just raises her eyebrows up and down rapidly. "More of that stuff you sell, the better everyone is. In fact, this is better for ya than most signings you do."

"How so?" Katie asks.

"Well this is not a grotty little toy store or anything knocking out cheap action figures." Mackenzie tells them. "And Daniel is a generous guy when he gets the SCW people in. Show the bar those passes you got round ya neck, or the restaurants in here and they'll take care of ya, flash them at the cashier, get a hundred in free chips. You want anything tabbed, just let us know. Fucking easy life for signing some pictures and getting people to hit the merch table at the end."

Caleb nods his head up and down.

"Not bad for a few selfies." Charlotte adds.

"I'm good, just never done one of these things in a casino." Caleb admits. "Plus that big match coming up is on my mind."

"Big matches are big matches. I've kicked the shit out of Mikah." Mackenzie says with a smirk, never getting tired of saying that. "But that's weeks away, you gonna spend weeks worrying about it?"

"He probably will." Katie says trying to hide a smile. "You should have seen him leading up to that Lions Den match with Fenris."

"Please don't" Caleb replies. "I'm still having nightmares about it."

Mackenzie grins widely as Charlotte shakes her head at her, but Mackenzie could never resist.

"Let's hope they don't make this six way match thing inside a Lions Den then." She says with a wicked grin. "I mean could you imagine not only having Fenris in there, but Senor Vinnie, Austin James Mercer, Ben Jordan and Lachlan Kane in there? Be less room to run."

"Stop it." Charlotte says with a laugh. "Don't scare the boy."

Charlotte leads him by the arm towards the table where he will be signing things for the fans.

"Look on the bright side, you can spend the day making Christina Rose getting you drinks." Charlotte tells him. "That should get your mind off the match."

"A lot of people come here just to boss her around." Mackenzie tells him. "It's actually fucking fun."

A smile crosses Caleb's face.

"I bet Jessie Salco would sell her soul to be here to do that." Caleb says with a grin.

"Probably more than her soul." Charlotte comments as Caleb sits down. "Os should be down here in a minute to cover security."

A big grin cross Mackenzie's face as she looks at Caleb.

"And looks like you've got your first customer." She says looking Caleb dead in the eye.

Caleb looks around, seeing no one around him, but Fenris quickly pops up behind him, putting his arm around Caleb's neck and leans forward holding a phone, quickly snapping a selfie of the two, Fenris with his mouth open and tongue out, while Caleb looks horrified.

"Can Os take care of him when he gets here?" Caleb asks sheepishly.

"More than likely." Mackenzie answers. "But we've gotta go. You two play nice."

Fenris gives a thumbs up, but Mackenzie leans over the table and punches Fenris in the arm before walking away, leaving Caleb confused.

"She still pissed about him running off to Iceland." Charlotte explains. "Anyway, catch you in a bit."

Charlotte moves to catch up with Mackenzie as the scene cuts.

*******

Twenty minutes later, the initial buzz of the crowd coming in, their eyes hitting the machines, their minds racing on what to do next, has slightly quietened down a little, giving time for Charlotte and Mackenzie to observe something, well, someone, quickly running around doing her job.

"I am really not sure what was going through Danny's mind when he hired her." Mackenzie says through gritted teeth.

"He likes helping out the less fortunate." Charlotte replies with a slight shrug of her shoulder.

"Less fortunate?" Mackenzie scoffs. "Are you having a bubble? She owned her own film studio, made herself the star of so many shit movies, she had more going for her than most. I don't see why we have to suffer cause she was too fucking stupid to see a drag queen and someone who should be in a padded cell steal it away from her."

Of course their eyes were on, some would argue, one of the biggest names in wrestling, now forced to work as a waitress at the casino due to money mismanagement, or as anyone from the United Kingdom would say, skint as fuck, Christina Rose.

"Method in his madness I think." Charlotte says, talking about Daniel. "Where else can you tell a former World champion to bring your rum and coke to ya table?"

The two watch as Christina drops another drink off at a table, smiling politely for the customer as he hands her a tip. She turns around, giving the duo a friendly wave but Mackenzie puts her hand up and beckons Christina towards her with one finger. Christina moves towards the two with a cheery smile on her face. She stops in front of the two with a smile on her face.

"Haaaaaai!" She says, catching Charlotte off guard and moving in for a hug.

She wraps her arms around Charlotte before Charlotte can react and turns to Mackenzie with her arms wide but Mackenzie puts her arms on Christina's shoulders, stopping her from getting close.

"Two things." Mackenzie says with her hands still on Christina's shoulders. "One, it's hi or hey, now haaaaaai, that just makes you sound like an idiot child and secondly, if you try to hug me again, I will bite ya fucking nose off."

Christina steps back, a bit taken back by those words, her eyes turning towards Charlotte.

"She'd probably do it." Charlotte says casually. "I've seen her do much worse so I wouldn't be surprised."

Christina looks at the two of them, her eyes darting from side to side at them before settling on Mackenzie.

"Did you want something?" She asks in an overly sweet tone.

"Yeah." Mackenzie tells her. "Need to have a little chat with you about a tweet the other day."

"But you're not on Twitter." Christina says to Mackenzie.

"No, but Daniel is as you well know and he spotted something he wasn't happy about." Charlotte explains. "Now we've been a bit busy getting the money in place to give everyone their bonuses and money aside for flights to send them where they need to be for Christmas, so we haven't really had a chance to sit and talk to you about this, but now seems as good a time as any."

"Oh?" Christina says with a tone of surprise, not knowing where this particular conversation was heading.

Charlotte casts a look towards Mackenzie and back to Christina, deciding it would be best for her to handle it rather than Mackenzie. Mackenzie handling a situation always has a higher chance of explosion.

"We heard after that match you had with Bobbie, when Dani's music played to help you get that win, you was gonna have a word with her at work, correct?" Charlotte asks.

"Well..." Christina says. "I wasn't happy how that went down."

"Yeah, well you don't bring that shit to work here." Mackenzie says. "Alicia Lukas claimed to have done it, so let it go. Dani helped build this place and if you wanna work here, I wouldn't sit there and cause waves."

"I guess I just wanted to win properly." Christina says. "But don't worry, I won't cause trouble."

"Good, and don't look a gift horse in the mouth and complain about it." Mackenzie adds, much to the confusion of Christina.

"She means you're in a top match at a supercard." Charlotte explains. "Doesn't matter how you got there, you got there."

"Crystal would have done it and not think twice about it." Mackenzie adds with a wicked smile, her determination to poke many bears as possible today was well underway.

Christina looks at Mackenzie, shaking her head.

"I'm not Crystal anymore, as much as people want me to be." She tells Mackenzie. "I'm just Christina Rose."

Charlotte and Mackenzie share a look towards each other, Mackenzie opens her mouth to speak but Charlotte shakes her head. Charlotte looks back towards Christina.

"We're just making it very clear that drama you have at home, drama you have in the wrestling world, stays out of here." Charlotte tells her. "The closest thing we want to drama here is when SCU roll in to do a show here."

"We don't tolerate bullshit from outside." Mackenzie says. "Daniel done you a massive favour hiring ya, and to be honest, this is a decent place to work, you're protected here, and he like loyalty and no bollocks that takes away from what we're trying to do here, and that's make a shit ton of cash. We make a shit ton of cash, you make a shit ton of cash. I don't want this place known for fights when wrestlers get the arsehole with each other."

"So if you're gonna sit on social media all day, don't stir the pot with people you work with." Charlotte tells her. "Does our business no good and that would mean letting people go."

"I.e, you will get the sack." Mackenzie says seriously, but quickly realizing Christina has no idea what she's talking about. "Fired, gone, end up out there on the streets, giving twenty buck handy's in an alleyway."

Christina looks at Charlotte, hoping for a translation, but Charlotte brushes over it.

"Look." Charlotte starts. "You're doing a good job for us, people are coming in to ask when you're working, but keep the wrestling world and the casino world separate."

"You should probably get back to work." Mackenzie tells her. "I'm surprised you can't feel that blokes eyes burning another hole through your arse."

Charlotte and Mackenzie turn to leave, but Christina calls them back.

"Before you go." She says. "That thing Daniel spoke about a bit ago, sending employees to their families and paying for it, is that for real?"

"Daniel don't bullshit." Mackenzie tells her. "If you need a flight to Sweden or whatever for a family Christmas, he'll pay for it."

"He is like the best boss ever!" Christina says with a smile.

"Don't let Mark Ward hear you say that, you might end up having to work here full time." Charlotte says with a smile.

"Ah fuck no!" Mackenzie says as she looks away for Christina, her eyes looking in a different direction.

Charlotte looks but Mackenzie takes off in the direction that she's seen something happening...

*******

What the hell was she running to? I know Kenz goes off on a mad dash or two, but something had caught her eye across the casino. The answer was soon reveal.

Charlotte catches up with Mackenzie as she steams across the casino floor, her eyes locked on something in the distance.

"What is going on?" Charlotte asks as she tries to keep pace with Mackenzie.

"That." Mackenzie says as she points in the distance as she keeps moving.

The two make their way closer to the bar area and look.

"Put that down!" Mackenzie orders.

The camera turns to see Dani Weston holding a case of bottled beers in her arms, looking towards Mackenzie like a deep in the headlights, shocked by the tone of Mackenzie's voice.

"Put it down!" Mackenzie orders once more.

A nervous look crosses Dani's face as she puts the case of bottles on to the floor, looking at Mackenzie, not sure how to reaction.

"You spotted that from across the casino?" Charlotte says with a surprised tone in her voice.

"Well yeah." Mackenzie whispers back. "But I'm glad, because I really would have been biting noses if Christina tried to hug me again."

"I'm..." Dani stumbles out.

"You shouldn't be lifting anything." Charlotte tells her in a softer tone. "We're glad you came back to work and wanted to be here but you shouldn't be lifting anything."

"Danny's orders." Mackenzie tells her. "He said if we saw you lift anything heavier than a pen, we could cuff you to something, but I left the cuffs in the office."

"I'm sorry." Dani says softly. "But I'm fine, I can do that."

Charlotte and Mackenzie take seats at the bar, looking across at Dani's nervous and apologetic face. Charlotte sighs deeply.

"Doesn't matter if you can, or can't, you shouldn't be." Charlotte tells her. "You got nothing to prove to anyone, and the last thing you need is to rip that shoulder out and ended up having surgery on it before Christmas, which will put you on the shelf again for a few more months. It's not worth it if you wanna get back in the ring at some point in the near future."

Dani walks over to the bar, leaning on it and looking across at Charlotte and Mackenzie.

"I can't just sit here and do nothing." Dani says with a sigh. "I can't come to work and get paid to sit and watch everyone else work. It's not fair on them."

"Could always sit at home and watch Disney movies with Aron and Fenris." Mackenzie tells her. "Or sit in the office and look over numbers, you don't have to be behind here, lifting heavy things when you're the boss of this bar, you can make others do the work while you recover."

"I like to be a hands on boss." Dani tells them. "I'll go crazy if I sat here and did nothing at all."

Charlotte and Mackenzie look at each other, and Charlotte looks at Dani with a smile.

"What if I gave you something to do, if you promise not to be lifting anything." Charlotte tells her.

"I'm listening." Dani replies.

"Well just cause we're closed for Christmas, doesn't mean we can't make this place look Christmassy." Charlotte tells her. "What if I gave you the challenge of making this place look like Christmas, by Saturday night?"

"But it's Wednesday now." Dani says tapping her chin.

"That's the challenge." Mackenzie adds. "You get a good budget, you get a few days. All you gotta do is come up with a design plan, get the stuff you need, get it in place, but like she said, no picking up anything, leave that to the hired help, it's what they get paid for."

"Can I make everyone wear Christmas jumpers?" She asks excitedly.

"Yeah...." Mackenzie says slowly "Depending on what's left in the budget."

A smile crosses Dani's face as she looks towards Charlotte and Mackenzie.

"I will not let you down!" She says with a grin.

Dani turns to rush off to look around the casino and get the creativity flowing.

"This should be interesting...." Mackenzie says with a firm nod.

The camera fades as the women turn to move to get on with another task for the day.

*******

A busy Wednesday has come to an end and the women of London Underground sit at a table in the main casino bar, a glass of wine in front of each of them.

"So, time to get some focus on our upcoming match." Charlotte says as she looks at Mackenzie.

"I know this wasn't Ari's choice, but fucking hell, talk about your best friend putting you in danger." Mackenzie adds. "The fuck was Carter thinking putting Ari in a match against one of us. Surely they know when we've turned up to train, we don't take things easy, we sure as shit won't take it easy on Ari. I dunno if it's even smart to allow herself to be booked so often in matches this quick, that body ain't used to healing that quick and three matches in a week is gonna fuck her up, especially with us in the middle."

Charlotte nods her head.

"I agree with that." Charlotte says. "I mean The Good Shepherds, we've been in the ring with, tomorrow they face them, there's a reason members of those bible bashing cult have titles, they're more experienced, then coming against us for the championship. This is gonna be a case of one of us picking her apart."

"She's pretty much fucked in this situation." Mackenzie replies with a calm shrug. "The only thing that gets you ready for a match like this is experience. I like Ari, I wouldn't go to her place for dinner, but I like her, but Carter has got her in way over her head for this one. I do mean way over her head. That music is gonna hit and she's gonna see one of us standing in that ring and it's gonna be flashbacks to the gym with her watching us pick apart people."

Charlotte picks up the glass of wine and takes a sip before replacing it on the table.

"It's what I do." Charlotte says with a slight smirk. "And trust me, I've picked apart more experienced opponents than Ari. Could you imagine what she's feeling at this point? She's probably trying to get her head around the fact that she has The Good Shepherds tomorrow, but you know for a fact that's she's sitting there thinking about facing us, she's dreaming about winning SCW championships in her debut SCW match, just a few matches in to her career and she could be a champion."

"Could be but won't be." Mackenzie comments.

"Be as that may." Charlotte continues. "The thought is planted in her head, it's stuck there, and you know it's every proper wrestlers dream to become a champion, especially those who wanted to do it from when they were kids, those who had to choose between that dream and family."

"Her parents are dicks." Mackenzie says through gritted teeth.

When it comes to Gabriel and Odette's gym, it was like a family, you trained there, you became a family, everyone is close and tends to know a lot about each other.... Well, most, London Underground kept their real business closely guarded.

"They are but that made her more determined than your average Joe." Charlotte explains. "She got the drive to prove her parents wrong, she needs to or she looks like she made the wrong call. No one wants to go back to their family, cap in hand and admit they was wrong. That may get her to play a blinder and put on one of the best matches she has ever had."

"Fuck that, doesn't matter." Mackenzie responds. "Most people on their best days couldn't beat us on our worst days. She'll huff, and puff and one of us will smack her in the chops and reality will set in that this is way too soon for her. This is probably gonna ruin her friendship with Carter, I mean who the fuck does that, knowing who we are, and puts your best friend in the whole world in danger?"

"Maybe he has faith in her?" Charlotte ponders.

"Faith is one thing, but we're a whole new level." Mackenzie says. "You can have faith that the truck running towards you at 200 miles per hour won't kill ya, but it fucking will. We're the truck and no matter how much blind faith he has in her to actually beat us, it's misplaced. All he's done is put her in a position where she could get hurt."

"I guess he just got those stars in his eyes and got excited." Charlotte says with a shrug.

"Maybe he just fancies Danny and wants to get his hands on him." Mackenzie replies with a smile.

"Either way those titles are still coming back with us." Charlotte says. "We'll give them what they want with this match but they ain't getting those belts."

The two women raise their glasses, knocking them together as the camera fades to black.