Chapter Text
Of all the painful bumps Iyo had taken throughout her career, the worst were always the ones born of her own recklessness. Tension locked up her neck, making every movement painful. Always the neck. Had Iyo been more careful to avoid injury when she was younger - during all those years wrestling to gymnasium crowds - would she have lost tonight's match? Likely not. Damn it, she had been so close to holding her title once more. But Liv's reactions had been just quick enough, a pair of boots to Iyo's ribs mid-Moonsault being enough to stun. The followup Oblivion had been textbook. How could Iyo be mad at anyone but herself for coming up short in a clean match?
The other members of Damage Ctrl had reassured her - Kairi and Dakota being very familiar with the endless chase of titles, only for their defence to be just as tedious a process. Much of her and Kairi's careers had been spent chasing the same titles and competing with and against each other on rotation. And Dakota had been alongside them for so long now that Iyo knew they were right, and felt her pain just as sorely as they would their own.
There was one aspect Iyo felt alienated over though, and that was the sheer competitive nature that flowed through her veins. When the others lost, they could recoup easily and remain positive about the situation - whether playing by the rules or not. Failure defined Iyo's life much more keenly, no matter how much she had grown as a person over the course of her career. Memories would always play in her mind of the depths to which she could sink when the failure was felt harshly enough. Whether Mayu or Bayley, those that she saw as standing in her way had always gotten their due.
"Got you an Icy Hot pack."
Iyo cringed at the painful effort of craning her neck to look at Rhea approaching. By her side, Dakota went stock still, hesitant and defensive after the last several weeks of re-adjusting to the RAW roster's rivalries. Kairi was comparatively relaxed leaning up against Iyo’s back, as always noting the lack of threat Iyo felt around the towering woman.
Perhaps it was odd to not feel at all uncomfortable in the midst of the most physically dominant woman in the company, but the track record spoke for itself. Rhea had never pinned Iyo, or really posed much of a threat aside from a rare bit of bluster to ensure their paths stayed uncrossed. The few times they had gone toe to toe, Iyo had come out on top after all. But however standoffish Rhea could habitually be, she had her soft spots - she had carried Iyo out of the ring a startling amount of times in the past couple months, and the same had proven true tonight.
"Thank you," Iyo said simply, Kairi accepting the gift on her behalf and applying it to her best friend's neck for her. "You didn't have to." She spoke in a straightforward manner, referring to both the pain reliever and the earlier help getting backstage.
While grateful, she was careful to keep her tone cool and detached. The woman before her didn't pose any threat at the moment, but Iyo was well aware that it had been only a week since Rhea had implied that if Iyo had won tonight, the Eradicator would have been coming after her with as much fervour as they both pursued Liv with. Perhaps that was why Rhea was treating Iyo kindly now, as a method of placating a potential future threat that had today been waylaid.
Iyo didn't need that pity.
"Yeah, well. Birds of a feather and all." The Australian gently, albeit awkwardly patted Iyo's shoulder. Dakota made an odd face in her periphery. She must not have seen the way Rhea had also consolingly patted Iyo's back as she carried the Japanese woman backstage in the first place. Strange, out of place affection was almost a hallmark of Rhea's style. In fact, the woman's hesitation even then belied her awkward bluster - though it often came off as arrogance to the untrained eye.
"Aside from sharing a side of the Pacific, I don't see too much similarity." Dakota rebuked, the Kiwi classically going on the defensive. Kairi shifted behind Iyo, hand coming to rest on the small of her back, heat blooming through the younger woman like a shot.
Rhea took a step back from the huddled Damage Ctrl, her usual haughty scowl in place as she addressed Dakota, and Kairi through proxy, "Didn't think being compared to me was offensive. But fine, point taken," she hesitated, taking another glance at Iyo, whose mounting physical pain was shortening her patience for these sorts of encounters.
She was done thinking through interactions for the night. Exhaustion was setting in, and fast. "We'll talk Monday. Good night, Rhea."
"Right. Rest up... you did well," the Australian sighed, deflating visibly. She clearly expected a different outcome from this conversation, but Iyo couldn't feel much beyond a foggy, aching anger that was quickly developing into a living form.
Iyo instead grunted her disagreement, pushing herself to her feet unsteadily and marching off with no further hurrah about it. Kairi caught up to the other woman quickly, slipping her arm around Iyo's waist to support her as the woman hobbled away in frustration. Behind her, she caught Dakota speaking, too faintly and quickly for Iyo to care about trying to translate through her brain fog. The Japanese woman pushed it all away, focusing only on the heat across her neck, and the aches of developing bruises across her torso that together formed the shapes of her failure.
Private dressing rooms were so eerily quiet. There was good reason that Rhea often went straight from the gym to the ring, with as little in-between as possible. Nothing could dissolve the silence - no amount of music, distant backstage chatter, or spiralling thoughts could overcome the pure feeling of isolation that hung over the Eradicator like a cloud. But that was a blissful ideal in comparison to dealing with the wildcards that other people presented.
She wasn't cut out to drag the weak across the finish line, not when they would just begrudge her for it and trip her up as soon as they found an opportunity to. As though others' lack of skills were her fault. No, the only thing she had control over was herself, and so she was the only person she needed. The truth was, so long as that deafening quiet was there, Rhea was miserable, but peacefully so.
It was the whiplash of the silence being broken that truly hurt, her emotions kicking back into high gear and making the contrast between what she had and what she had lost clear. Every roar of the crowd was a further introduction to anger that she had ever disappointed at all. All because she hadn't taken the time to listen to the painful truths that isolation had to share. Coming back off of an injury, she should never have been caught out and betrayed the way she had. If she couldn't tell something was amiss after so much distance and perspective, whose fault was it but her own?
Rhea could never accept that, and so she warred with the quiet.
On occasion, she could rely on Damian to break the routine, but as weeks dragged to months, their struggles diverged. Damian was at the point of true self-reflection, understanding that his losses were because he wasn't good enough at that given moment. Rhea still clung to the desperation of personifying her insecurities and failures, all in the form of a tiny perky blonde that had stolen her position in the world. It didn't matter that in retrospect, that position sucked. It had belonged to Rhea, and that made it worth clinging to.
Who was she, if not for the champion; the powerhouse of the Judgement Day; the woman who could bend weak men to her will just for the sake of it?
A knock at the door. "On in five."
Just another wrestler, it turned out.
Brutal wasn't always the type of person Rhea wanted to be, especially when it resulted in Liv beating the shit out of her with a kendo stick during a no-disqualifications match as Raquel held her down. She lashed back quickly with her head, hoping in vain to make contact with Raquel's skull, but the woman was starting to smarten up to all of Rhea's new tricks. The taller woman had also been clocking serious time at the gym, as it was no longer a simple matter of forcing her way out of Raquel's grapple. Back in the day they had chased each other's personal bests, and Rhea wouldn't be surprised if they were still near-equals in that regard.
Desperate, she pushed up and out with her legs, kicking Liv away with as much force as she could muster. The tiny blonde tumbled away into a pathetic little lump, as Raquel staggered back a few steps into the ropes, dragging Rhea alongside her. The Eradicator threw a headbutt again, this time hearing a satisfying crunch as the back of her skull made contact with the other woman's nose. Raquel cursed loudly, flinging Rhea into the nearby turnbuckle without hesitation.
On the opposite side of the ring, Liv had made it back to her feet, kendo stick still in hand as she prepared to charge. She was just about halfway across when a sudden flash of red entered the ring from the far side, bisecting Liv's charge with a running dive, taking the both of them careening into the dazed Raquel.
Rhea absorbed what she was seeing rapidly - Iyo Sky, clad in a shoddy mixture of street and ring-wear, had momentarily waylaid the pair, but the duo were rapidly recovering. Not quite fast enough, however, to avoid Rhea rushing forward to catch Raquel with a missile dropkick as the larger woman stood back up. From the Australian's periphery, she saw a blurred flash of movement as the kendo stick came down with a satisfying thwack across Liv's back, earning a delicious shriek from the so-called champion. Straightening back up, Rhea locked gazes with Iyo, noting the smouldering intensity of her gaze. The older woman wasted no time in throwing the kendo stick Rhea's way, making a beeline for the top rope to do what she did best.
Something in the Eradicator went on autopilot, all too easily swivelling around to beat Raquel into the far corner of the ring with a mixture of strikes and kicks. It was as though this were all planned, when not ten seconds prior Rhea had been wracking her brain for any way out of her predicament and came up empty. For all the times she had interfered with Iyo's matches, she hadn’t ever thought about the favour being repaid - but those debts coming due felt all too natural now. Pressing Raquel into the corner with the kendo stick, Rhea watched as Iyo crested through the air in a perfect moonsault, crimson hair streaming beautifully through the lights behind her. Not a single part of her felt perturbed by the roar of the crowd cheering, chanting the Japanese wrestler's name as she careened into the immobile Liv.
In perfect synchronization, Rhea launched towards Liv for the pin as Iyo kipped up and tumbled forward, splashing against Raquel in the corner as the ref began to count.
One,
Two,
Three.
The arena roared - the mixture of names on their lips bloody music to Rhea's ears. If only pinning Liv during championship matches was that goddamn easy.
Iyo hadn't intervened for Rhea's sake. In all likelihood, she would have interrupted the match either way, but the younger woman being in a tough spot made for a convenient excuse to charge in guns blazing. The events of the previous weekend were still fresh in her mind - what better way to prove to herself that her defeat had been a fluke than to recreate the dizzying circumstances surrounding the previous match. Her moonsault had landed perfectly this time, courtesy of the extra bit of abuse sent Liv's way.
While the match was Rhea's alone, the pinfall may as well have been Iyo's own - the cheers she received the very ones she had been deprived of ever since Bayley had taken her title at the previous year's Wrestlemania. It was as though the entire arena had been brought to life at once, the collective breath of the crowd nearly knocking the wind out of Iyo, a sensation which sent her heart racing. A sweet catharsis, but one she couldn't linger to appreciate. She simply couldn't stay to watch Rhea revel in the glory of victory that she herself had failed to capture.
It wasn't a title match, just a shot for contention. Nonetheless, it was an achievement Iyo had hand fed to Rhea, bringing her one step closer to obtaining the title, all for the sake of pride.
Backstage, Iyo was intercepted by Dakota and Kairi, the other Japanese woman barely able to voice praise for her performance before Dakota's confusion presented itself plainly. "You didn't tell us you were scheduled to appear in that match."
Iyo kept walking, self-consciously raking her dark bangs away from her face. "I wasn't."
The truth of that statement was making itself rapidly apparent, PAs racing to and fro amidst the back halls of the venue. She was sure the General Manager, Adam Pearce would be waiting at their dressing room to intercept Iyo and give her an earful for the unauthorized interference. That was the hellish part of the business - the bureaucracy. Raquel and even Dom could show up nearly as often as they liked in Liv's matches because they were teammates, a part of the same brand which brought attention to each and every show. But they couldn't market the unexpected. Iyo treading her own path was not the way to get into the company's good graces. Not the best situation to build back up to another shot at the title.
Kairi rushed after her, looking at her with no small amount of worry, her typical calm, experienced demeanour faltering slightly. When she spoke, it was in their native Japanese. "Iyo... What are you planning?"
Dakota, several steps behind, caught up as Iyo slowed her walk and turned to face her companions. Iyo met Kairi's language shift in kind, trusting that whatever Dakota failed to understand could be translated to her later. "Nothing at all, I just needed to do that for myself," she sighed. The tension was beginning to creep back up her neck. "They shouldn’t react drastically… not unless it hurts their ratings, but the crowd loved it. Nobody will know it wasn't a booked match. I won't make a habit of it."
The blonde hummed lowly, shaking her head in disapproval. "But why now?"
"Exactly," Dakota echoed in English. "What does helping Rhea pin Liv do for you?"
"I want to know that as well," the deep, even voice of Adam Pearce sounded behind the trio. Iyo's hackles rose, doubt creeping into her from all directions. "But that sounds like a conversation Iyo and I can first have in my office. Alone."
"Of course," Iyo responded in English with a sigh, shooting an apologetic smile to her companions. Kairi returned the sentiment with a comforting hand to her shoulder, before she and Dakota were ushered away.
But Iyo was not taken to an office, rather to a meeting room where a small handful of higher-ups in the company were seated - the head of the table occupied by none other than WWE's CCO, Paul Levesque. She swallowed nervously. This wasn't a conversation. It was an interrogation.
When Rhea arrived backstage, her ears were still ringing, the blood pounding through her skull. The crowd had been deafening, and in the moment, it had been as though Iyo and herself were of one mind. She knew that in the end, the victory was hers, but there was no feeling quite so intoxicating as the energy of a pair of wrestlers working in perfect synchronization. There had been few times Rhea had ever experienced the highs of competing as part of a tag-team who could truly click with each other. Her one match teaming with Damian had been a welcome rush, but the restrictions of an intergender match was a far cry from truly fighting in tandem in a game of equal opportunity. That chemistry was something Rhea hadn't experienced, ironically, since tag teaming with Liv Morgan herself.
As much as she loathed the woman, she had to admit they worked well together for a time - knew each other's strengths and weaknesses, and compensated for them. Liv could tumble nimbly around the ring, constantly aware of exactly where she and her opponent were positioned. She could go tit for tat with similarly sized opponents, and hold her own brazenly against much stronger wrestlers until she found an opening to exploit. Nor was she afraid to fight dirty. None of those aspects had changed about the blonde, only improved, and for that reason she was a thorn in Rhea's side that couldn't simply be ignored.
Funnily, much of the same could be said for Iyo - barring, of course, the feelings of hatred Rhea felt towards Liv.
The Australian was so deep in her thoughts that she nearly missed the sound of hushed talking around the corner, ducking back at the last second to avoid revealing herself. It wasn't difficult to recognize Kairi's and Dakota's voices, and if not for the pang of curiosity she felt once she heard their hushed and hurried tones, she would likely have simply continued on her way. It was difficult to catch what they were saying, but there was a clear disturbed urgency to their behaviour. And where was Iyo? The trio were never far apart. Something wasn't right.
Rhea thought about revealing herself and demanding to know what the issue was, but she and Damage Ctrl had always had a bit of an uncomfortable, tense atmosphere around one another. There was no bad blood, but both they and The Judgement Day had pissed off far more than their fair share of the roster. Drawing their enemies' shared ire seemed foolish at best, not to mention that neither side could truly judge a group that was just as underhanded as their own. Times had changed, but was that enough for them to let Rhea into what could well be none of her concern?
She wasn't Iyo's keeper. They weren't even friends. But what if somehow, her enemies had gotten to the woman? A pit of worry grew in Rhea's gut.
Decision made, she stepped from around the corner, brusquely getting to the point without worrying about revealing her attempted eavesdropping. "What's going on?"
Kairi and Dakota looked up in surprise, the former's eyes narrowing in distrust, while the latter's eyes widened in apprehension. They were already tense, and that only confirmed that there was indeed a problem.
Dakota spoke first, her tone clipped, "Iyo got pulled into a meeting with management."
Rhea blinked in surprise. Nothing good could come of that, given the pair's body language. "About what?"
"The match," Kairi answered, her voice steadier than Dakota's. She, like Iyo, was a woman of relatively few words - in fact, Rhea wasn’t sure Kairi had ever directed a full sentence her way. Though, for such a brutalist in the ring, she usually had a warm and trusting air about her. Now, her aura was guarded, even as she explained openly, "No one knew her plan. Everyone’s confused."
Rhea hadn't considered that. Truthfully, she hadn't thought much further than the fact she needed help, and Iyo had provided it - they shared an animosity for Liv, wasn't that enough? Clearly not, if her own friends hadn't seen it coming. While they had interfered in each other's matches before, Rhea realized that the outcome to that night's match truly provided no benefit to Iyo at all.
The Australian scowled as she considered the situation. If that was the case, crowd enthusiasm or not, the powers that be would not like Iyo muddling a narrative they had crafted carefully around the roster's interpersonal issues. Like the others, she didn't know entirely why Iyo would put herself in the line of fire, but what if it had been out of a sense of loyalty to her? Being punished for trying to protect her didn't sit right with Rhea. Management needed a reason that could be marketed to the masses. If Iyo didn't have one, she was screwed - and a suspension now, after everything she had been through, would be catastrophic. For that matter, after all the injuries Rhea had endured from getting jumped without anyone in her metaphorical and literal corner, hell would freeze over if she would let her one potential ally go to the executioner's block.
"I'll handle it, " she declared. The remainder of Damage Ctrl blinked at her in moderate surprise, a question clearly beginning to form on Dakota's lips that she seemingly thought better of.
"You better not make it worse," the Kiwi threatened instead.
Rhea nodded seriously, careful to tamp down the full feeling of fury that was climbing her throat. "I wouldn't dare."
Hunter hadn't said a word while the rest of the meeting room execs took turns expressing their utter displeasure regarding the night's events. They had failed to provide a translator, so Iyo couldn't quite keep up with all the intimate details, but she was sure she had understood the broad strokes.
"We have a hard enough time keeping the rest of the roster in line, do we have to start worrying about Damage Ctrl getting in the way of all our scheduled matches again?" Adam Pearce had led the charge.
An older man Iyo didn't recognize shifted his weight forward onto the heavy wood of the table. He had the classic, shark-like looks of a promoter, supported by the low rumble he spoke with, "The last time your group started jumping into other scheduled matches, the reception was not good." Iyo stayed quiet about how tonight, the crowd had roared her name as though eagerly awaiting her involvement.
"You don't have the threatening aura of a wrestler who should be beating people with sticks," a blonde woman who Iyo did recognize as a ‘character development’ marketing specialist, whatever that meant, piped up. "I tell Liv the same thing. Leave the dirty work to the tougher wrestlers." That one was hard to ignore, Iyo's nose crinkling in revulsion. She had been in the industry for eighteen years, and defeated every one of those so-called 'tougher wrestlers' she encountered with ease.
"Your involvement and efforts were appreciated while Rhea was off, but you really need to focus on picking the right battles now," a trainer that looked nearly half of Iyo's age offered.
It was hard to feel that she owed anyone in the room a single thing at that point. As the dictating to her drew to a close, she let the silence stretch across the table uncomfortably. For those that supposedly wanted to know her reasoning for interrupting another wrestler's match, they sure hadn't provided any opportunity to say much of anything. Pearce shifted uncomfortably as the tension festered. Levesque, on the other hand, seemed unperturbed, deep in contemplation as though he hadn't listened to a thing anyone in the room had said up until that point.
There wasn't anything to say. Nothing that would help, anyhow. The truth was rather simple. Iyo was pissed off at her own failings and wanted to prove to herself she was a threat. The suits at the table has already determined her fate anyhow, so what did any amount of defence matter?
"We should talk penalties --" the promoter began, just as the door to the meeting room slammed open with all the gentleness of a hurricane.
Iyo watched as all the heads in the room snapped on a swivel to the entrance, barring her own and the CCO's. She did turn, albeit slowly, not startled by the interruption nor willing to shoot sharp nerve pains down her still healing neck and back just to sate her curiosity. Spinning her chair 180 degrees, the Japanese woman wasn't particularly surprised to see Rhea glowering there, but she was somewhat taken by the minuscule signs of worry in the way the larger woman gripped the door as she locked eyes with Iyo. She hadn't even taken the chance to change out of her ring gear - face still splattered with gore, a cut on her forehead just beginning to crust over on its own.
"You better have a goddamned good reason for trying to stonewall me out of this meeting." Rhea cursed, stepping into the room and slamming the door back shut behind her. The Eradicator spun Iyo's chair back into a forward-facing position, leaning along its back possessively. "I'm not about to let you all punish my tag partner for helping me."
"Tag partner?" Pearce asked incredulously, his eyes narrowing at the two women. "Is this true?" Levesque's eyebrows raised, leaning back in his chair with arms crossed - his first reaction to any of the meeting's events.
"Yes," Iyo confirmed, the words coming out of her mouth before her mind had even caught up to the fact that she was going along with whatever lie Rhea was trying to spin. She tried to imagine the look Kairi would give her when she was told that the Sky Pirates had been dissolved without any discussion at all. Would Damage Ctrl understand the position she was in, or count this a betrayal on her part?
The Australian gave her shoulder a supportive squeeze before continuing. "You've seen us interacting and cooperating the last several weeks. We were still discussing how it would work, but Raquel's appearance forced matters. No better time to announce our partnership than during the thick of it?"
The character development specialist shook her head in disbelief. "Did you not think to inform the company at any point?"
Iyo's hackles rose. She was somewhat used to being talked down to, but enough was enough. "I wanted to tell Kairi first. But I couldn't let Rhea fight alone."
Rhea grunted her agreement. "Wouldn't that look bad if I got my shit caved in today, and next week we're trying to debut our partnership?"
"That's not the point!" the promoter protested, his face incredulous. "We're supposed to push our big name stars. Damage Ctrl has a history of --"
"Damage Ctrl has a history of doing what they're paid to, which is to put on a damn good show, often to their own physical detriment. They give more to this company than anyone else, and you know it. Did you not hear the reactions? Are you really going to pass up an opportunity to push to new heights because you, unlike the audience, won't recognize talent when you see it?" Rhea scoffed, moving to stand right beside Iyo's chair, laying her arm around its back protectively. The fluorescent meeting room lights glinted menacingly off of her canines - her eyes carrying the exact same expression they had in the ring. Her blood-spattered face added well to the impression of a wolf about to strike. "Is the problem that it wasn't planned, or that you just don't like the person it pushes?"
The room went quiet, the trainer piping in with a hesitant, "She does work hard without complaint. Maybe we ought to consider this."
Pearce's face reddened, his hand slapping down onto the desk with a loud thud. "This is ridiculous! You two have usurped me on my own show, I won't --"
"It's a good idea," Hunter interrupted, his voice unperturbed. "You have issues controlling the rest of your roster, Adam. Iyo has never had issues following directions when pertinent - her judgment is fairly sound. Do you really feel that they don't reflect each other's strengths?"
Iyo watched, wide-eyed, as the bravado deflated out of the general manager. The rest of the table avoided Levesque's gaze, as though they had suddenly realized that perhaps his early silence hadn't suggested agreement with their assessment of the situation. She could feel the slight shake through the back of her chair as Rhea chuckled quietly to herself, evidently pleased by the mood shift in the room.
"Would you have me sign off on this as though it were one of our ideas?"
"Why not?" Levesque leaned back in his chair, fingers folded together over his barrel of a chest. "Our viewership is tiring of this feud's stagnation. I'm not proposing they go straight for the tag titles. But it is beginning to land badly - one week, Rhea manages to defeat Liv, Raquel, and Dom singlehandedly - the next, they injure her badly enough she misses weeks of planned shows. This pairing is well-received, it makes sense, and it fixes many of our current issues. I don't look gift horses in the mouth."
The Japanese woman released the breath she was holding. It was an odd sensation to realize that the company's chief creative officer was watching her back. She still wasn't quite sure that he wasn't just bored of the same feuds dragging on too long and looking for a welcome out - but the relief was palpable.
"Fine," Adam acquiesced. "We'll give this... partnership a chance. But I want it in writing, and it goes through our booking team. I'm done with unannounced surprises."
"Yes, sir," Rhea drawled, a sly smirk spreading across her face that was nonetheless almost entirely sincere. She patted Iyo's shoulder, the Japanese woman gazing up at her in bewilderment. How quickly the tides turned when she had an intimidating goth by her side. "Just have whatever documentation you need sent to our hotel rooms. Iyo's in her preferred language." The tall woman gestured to the conspicuous lack of an interpreter, which did earn an apologetic tilt of the head from Hunter. The Japanese woman had to appreciate that about Rhea - even in their NXT days, she was careful to ensure there was clear communication whenever they had dealings with one another.
With that, Rhea gently pulled the back of Iyo's chair, signalling for her to stand, following at the smaller woman's heel. The door clicked shut behind them, leaving a tense meeting room in their wake. Iyo was sure that wasn't the last they would hear about the night's events, but at least it seemed that most of the organization's frustration was now focused inwards.
"I need to talk to my girls," Iyo stated plainly, looking up at her supposed partner in gratitude. "They will not be happy. But thank you."
Rhea's lips quirked upwards slightly, her arms folded across her chest casually in a feigned shrug. Iyo unconsciously reached up to fold away the younger woman's bangs, carefully inspecting the partially hidden forehead wound. She wondered how Rhea had found out about her predicament so quickly, but thought better than to ask.
The younger woman's nose wrinkled up as she winced away almost imperceptibly. "No big deal. You save my ass, I save yours. Just now it's going to be a formal agreement."
"I could have a worse partner." The Japanese woman nodded, letting her hands drop apologetically. "After we should talk."
A look of slow realization passed across Rhea's face, the Australian wheeling around to take stock of their surroundings. She found what she was looking for quickly, snatching a marker from the check-in board noting the night's scheduled matches. Without hesitation, Rhea grabbed Iyo's arm, quickly scribbling down a few numbers along it. The older woman flushed - it wasn't the first and certainly not the last time she would receive such treatment, but usually there were far different circumstances at play. "My phone number and hotel room," Rhea explained. "In case things run late. I'm a night owl anyway."
Iyo cleared her throat a bit uncomfortably, pulling her arm gently away from Rhea. She thought about trying to crack a joke that Rhea really ought to be more careful about suddenly grabbing another wrestler like that, lest she end up in a reverse grapple. Then thought to clarify that she already had Rhea’s contact info, as rarely used as it was. The moment stretched long however, so Iyo simply nodded instead. "Deal... partner."
"Partners," Rhea agreed, giving a casual, albeit awkward wave farewell as she headed off to her own changing room, no doubt to wash off the sweat, dust, and gore she had accumulated.
With Rhea gone, a strange feeling of dread once more settled into Iyo's stomach as she made her way back to her group members. It wasn't a feeling that came with bad premonitions, but the feeling of being in over her head. As well as Iyo could typically read the younger woman, Rhea was still a wild card. While they certainly knew each other well enough due to the years of working in parallel, their paths had only crossed a few brief times - and each time saw Rhea taking the role of a deadly reactive force. There was no doubt they could work off of each others' strengths, but what of their weaknesses? Rhea was, simply put, not a tag team wrestler. She didn't know how to let things go and trust someone else to have her back.
While that feeling wasn't unknown to Iyo, she had always been able to trust at least one other person throughout her career. Betrayal happened, but it was rare that Iyo didn't sniff the turncoats out first. She wasn't concerned with Rhea turning on her - rather, she was concerned that there would be issues with that trust running both ways. How long would it take before Rhea instinctively began gravitating to their side of the ring, how long before she was setting up for one of Iyo's finishers without thinking about it?
For the time being, she had to imagine that however long this partnership lasted, much of it would be spent walking on eggshells around the larger woman. She could only hope that their questionable decision didn't backfire and damage her relationship with her true, long-term allies.
As she entered their shared dressing room, Iyo found Kairi and Dakota waiting for her expectantly. The aura of worry was palpable, and Iyo felt as though her heart would rip in two. "I'm sorry," she began, initiating what would prove to be a long, difficult conversation with two of her dearest friends.
It was nearly 4am by the time Iyo's knock sounded on her hotel room door. Rhea's eyelids were beginning to grow heavy, but she had forced herself to stay awake, occupying herself by chatting with friends and family back home whose schedules rarely aligned with her own so well these days. As the hours dragged on, she began to wonder if Iyo had somehow decided to renege on their shoddy plan - or perhaps had gotten pulled into another abrupt interrogation. Rhea imagined those suits trying once more to pin some kind of blame on the Japanese woman, needling her to tell them the truth behind her actions. Fortunately, the knock came before she had much more chance to overthink, Rhea springing up to answer before there was any chance for Iyo to back out.
She hadn't expected to find Iyo looking so exhausted, the Japanese woman's darkened bangs hanging limply around the lighter than usual pallor of her skin. She had changed from her earlier gear into a pair of sweats and a t-shirt that nearly hung to her knees, but her face was still covered in makeup. It was apparent the older woman hadn't taken any time to shower or eat since Rhea had seen her a few hours prior.
Rhea stepped back to let Iyo inside. "You look rough. Do you want to just go get some rest?" she asked. Iyo shook her head, avoiding eye contact as she trudged inside stubbornly.
"Sleep is for the dead," Iyo responded, her voice tired, "but food is good." Rhea was relieved to note the Japanese woman didn't seem to be angry.
The taller woman nodded, stepping away to locate the hotel's room service menu. Iyo followed sluggishly behind, making her way to the room's kettle, rifling through their sparse selection of tea bags. Rhea had thought about putting on some coffee earlier on, but decided against it in favour of an energy drink for herself, not knowing what Iyo favoured. "What do you fancy? They've got like six pages to this thing."
"Burger is ok." Her response was short and simple, accent slipping out a little more prominently than usual. The exhaustion emanated from her in waves.
Without thinking about it, Rhea put down the menu, stepping up behind Iyo and grabbing the kettle from her. "Hey. I'll put it on. Go take a shower, ok? My makeup remover is on the counter. Help yourself to it and my good shampoo."
The shorter woman reacted slowly, turning to blink up at Rhea like an adorable sloth. The Australian took her by the shoulders, gently guiding her into the en-suite and closing the door behind her. If the older woman had any complaints, she was too drained to voice them.
Rhea hoped she hadn't overstepped, but Iyo really did look like she needed a bit of a pick-me-up, and being six hours out of a match without washing the gunk off was not good for anyone's mental well-being. With a sigh, Rhea set about boiling the water, grabbing one of her good travel mugs for Iyo in lieu of the hotel cups which had been last washed god knows when.
Five minutes later, she was on the phone with the front desk, ordering a prime rib burger. She wasn't entirely sure what Iyo's preferred side was, so requested all of them, reasoning that she could just eat whatever the other woman didn't. On impulse, she also ordered them both an ice cream cobbler. Rhea wanted something to occupy herself while they talked, and by the looks of it, Iyo could use a little sugar anyhow.
By the time Iyo came out of the bathroom, she looked like a new person, the blood pumping through her again. She was wearing the same clothes, but her face was freshly washed and lightly flushed, her damp hair let out of its usual small braids. Rhea had seen Iyo backstage barefaced and casual often enough, but it was a bit different seeing her in closer proximity. She looked younger, somehow - but no less striking than usual.
Rhea passed her the mug of tea, having made sure that the water would be the right temperature and the bag had been steeped according to instructions. While Rhea wasn't fussy with her coffee, she wasn't sure whether Iyo was similarly relaxed about her drink of choice, and didn't want her efforts to help be in vain. To her relief, Iyo sipped happily at the mug, the pair settling down at the oft-neglected sitting area situated near the room's sole window.
"Thank you," Iyo began, her voice less strained than before. "I think Damage Ctrl is done."
Rhea's head swam with the rather straightforward news. Was that all Iyo had to say about something that monumental? If this were her, she would be tearing this room apart in anguish - or at least pumping iron at the nearest gym until she couldn't think anymore. How could the woman just be sitting there, declaring such terrible news to the person who inadvertently caused that turmoil?
"What?" was all she could manage to muster up, suddenly unsure of what to do with her hands. Or her face, for that matter. Would Iyo suddenly snap if Rhea didn't look apologetic enough, or would she throw a punch the second she sensed any kind of pity? Instead, Rhea balled her fists up beneath the table and stared into the murky, streetlight-speckled night outside.
"They were not happy." Iyo sighed, "Dakota will be ok, she is just afraid I will be like Bayley. Kairi is... complicated." She shook her head as she explained. Though the older woman was in many ways unfamiliar to her, Rhea could tell she was struggling to find the right words to express what she wanted to.
It was odd. While the younger woman didn't know Damage Ctrl intimately, from their sparse interactions, Dakota had seemed so protective of the others, like she would be the one to stubbornly stick her heels in against any change. But Kairi had always seemed to be Iyo's other half. Rhea had remembered during the inaugural Mae Young Classic hearing about how Kairi was even more determined to win because Iyo was meant to be there with her. And win she had. The following year, when Iyo had pinned Rhea in the semi-finals, the woman had been hard pressed to disagree with the sentiment. They had been a fixture of WWE ever since, the two always seeming to reunite against all odds. Perhaps that was why Kairi was taking the news as a slight against herself.
"This isn't forever," Rhea promised, not knowing how else to reassure her new partner. Festering resentments wouldn't get them where they needed to be. "I can tell them it's my fault, I was just trying to-"
"No." The Japanese woman shook her head. "It is my fault. I didn't think about them when I went out there tonight. That is why they are upset. I didn't think of them at all."
Rhea ruminated on that surprising truth. That was something she had never considered. Perhaps never would. Was that what made the Judgment Day different from Damage Ctrl? For all their other surface similarities, the Judgment Day fell apart precisely because with their no-leaders structure, everyone was simply out for themselves. The second an opportunity presented itself to further herself, Rhea had taken it. The same could be said for every one of the members, past or current. She never asked herself if charging headlong into a fight would impact anyone else but her. That attitude hadn't ultimately changed since becoming a lone wolf, only strengthened.
No one could touch her so long as the primary concern for Rhea was her own well-being alone.
There were downsides to it, of course, but at least she never was stuck in the wallowing pit of self-blame that Iyo seemed to be slipping into. Were friends really worth that much?
"Well, you saved my ass tonight," Rhea finally replied. "I'll be damn sure to repay that debt, whether you come with backup or not. I hope either way this pans out, you won't regret it."
Iyo took a long, thoughtful draught from her mug. When she did respond, the younger woman noted that she carefully avoided her circuitous question. What she did say confused Rhea all the more. "Kairi worries I will be lost in you. They think I think of you more than them. They're wrong, I didn't think at all. I only cared about hurting Liv." She pushed her mug to the side, stretching her arms out in front of her to the point that her fingertips nearly grazed Rhea's hunched shoulders. "This is still all I think of."
"Ditto," was all Rhea could think to say. What the hell did she mean by 'lost in you'? It was far from the first time she had been confused by Iyo's way of expressing herself, but usually she didn't care to try to interpret past the initial statement. Perhaps she meant that Kairi was concerned Rhea would turn on her, or use her - but as a decorated veteran, it was certain Iyo would see such a thing coming from a mile away. Especially after all she had been through. For that matter, Rhea was as transparent as a glass of water. She couldn't hide her intentions if she tried.
Before she could talk herself into or out of pressing for further explanation, a knock at the door announced the arrival of their food - or, mostly Iyo's. The Japanese woman started to stand, then startled, patting at herself. The universal body language of forgetting one's wallet. Rhea laughed, and stood to answer the door in her stead. As though she'd order for Iyo and then leave her with the bill.
"Thank you," Rhea greeted the hotel staff member as warmly as she could as she collected the food. "Charge to the room, I'll settle up on checkout. Put down an appropriate tip." The server nodded in understanding, returning the words of thanks before leaving.
Rhea brought the food over, settling back on her bed to flick through late night TV. Iyo dug into the burger after thanking Rhea, looking pleased with her selection. She made a slight sound of excitement when the channel surfing landed on Law & Order, so Rhea let it play. The older woman was a fast eater, but it was clear that it wasn't due to usual habit alone - she was simply starving. Rhea made sure to point out Iyo’s dessert to her as she tucked in to her own. The Australian was satisfied that her efforts at cheering up Iyo were successful. The older woman was smiling again, light returning to her eyes.
"Not too late to back out," Rhea offered, a rare feeling of guilt emerging for her part in Iyo's troubles. "We could run some one-sided schtick, put you over more as a face and drum up my whole anything for vengeance angle." Truthfully, she was more than a little anxious about the arrangement herself. Wrestling solo covered up a whole bunch of weaknesses that were otherwise exposed by an ally's skillset making apparent what their partner simply couldn't do. She had seen damn near every match Iyo had wrestled in since joining the WWE - nevermind those prior - and the performances Rhea felt confident about replicating were in the low single digits.
The crimson-haired wrestler let her spoon fall to the table with a clatter, swivelling to face Rhea all too seriously. "No. This will be good for us. A new challenge."
"There's a lot of work ahead of us. You know I don't do this much," Rhea warned, rare insecurity clawing through her stomach.
Iyo shrugged. "You will learn."
The younger woman was surprised by the conviction behind the Japanese woman's response. There was no questioning her. It was a far cry from the exhausted woman who had walked through her door an hour ago. With her mind made up, there was no talking her down. It was an aspect of Iyo's personality Rhea could admire, but one that she was sure they would clash over sooner or later.
"Ok," Rhea conceded for the moment, a smile creeping back onto her face. "Let's kick some ass then. Partners."
Iyo nodded, turning back to the TV. "Partners."