Bree Lancaster vs. Syren

[HardyGirl]

OOC: Part 2. Shorter than I planned but I deleted a scene because I hated it, lol.

Sometime during the break I am going to get the RPs I've done since returning up on my site (provided I can pay for the hosting by the 21st...) so don't get used to this "J posting RPson the boards" thing. (Unless I can't pay for it.)

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-- “Custody Battle! Lancaster vs Teller; Round 1”
 
-- “Following Attack on Photographer, Dominic Teller Feels Consequences – In Court.”
 
-- “Bree Lancaster sues Dominic Teller for Custody of Son – In Court Today.”
 
-- “Agent: SEAL Star in Louisiana Court Today; Ex-wife Bree Lancaster Wants Custody.”
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

{{ Monday, June 8th

Harvey, LA

Bree’s house }}

 

 
 
 
By the time Josh and I got home, my phone was already going nuts with notifications. Some news alerts on my name, some texts. This might sound like a long time, but the courthouse actually isn’t very far from our neighborhood. With Josh driving, I answered the one call that came through on speaker, while I skimmed all the news headlines. It’s Amy, because of course it is.
 
“That was fast.”
“I take it that means you know why I’m calling?”
“I have you on speaker in the car because I’m reading. I knew this was going to happen. We saw the guy who was writing things down and took those pictures.”
I’m looking at an article with the pictures, one of me and Josh walking down the front steps of the courthouse. We both have grins on our faces; I remember Josh had made a joke. The article claimed it was happiness over winning the day. The other picture is Dom, Lisa, and the pompous lawyer, Chandler, I forgot his first name already. Standing on the sidewalk at the bottom of the steps, the lawyer looks sour, like his favorite football team lost a big game. Dom is looking down at the ground, and Lisa has her hand on his upper arm, in a sort of calming or comforting gesture. Josh slows the car to a stop at a red light.
“Let me see the pictures. Oh, hey Amy.”
“Hi Josh.”
I show him my phone screen. The first one is us, which he kinda shrugs at. He scrolls down to the one of Dom, and scoffs.
“You see that, right?”
The light turns green, so I pull my phone away.
“Yeah, I see it. I wish I didn’t.” I don’t know why it bothers me so much.
“Oh so I’m not the only one who thinks that looks like more than an agent’s advice?”
“I told you last month after that insane text she sent Bree. They’re hittin’ it. Hard.” I make a gagging sound. “Sorry, babe. But I mean….” I look at him as he shrugs. I shake my head and look back at my phone. That picture tells me that Josh is right. I can see it on her face, captured in color for the world to see. With a sound of disgust, I close the news apps and bring my attention back to Amy on the phone.
“Has it got on TV yet?”
“I don’t know. After Ed texted me, I put something on Disney Plus on for the kids just in case.”
"Good idea. I can’t have Heath hearing any of this on TV.” I get the feeling I won’t be able to protect him from everything, though. The stupid show that’s filming now is supposed to drop the first half of the next season almost immediately after they finish filming, in August. That means ads are starting to be everywhere. TV, social media, in stores, I even saw a poster on the side of a bus stop in the city. I almost wish I didn’t hate the show and that character so much because it’s been so successful.
“Does he know what’s going on?”
“No. Not yet.”
“Bree…”
“I know. Soon. Speaking of, we’re almost there. See you soon.”
“Okay.”
 

* * * * *

 
 
The next morning, after having slept on it, I decided that I did need to have a conversation with Heath about everything. Eventually he was going to notice he wasn’t going to his dad’s anymore, and he’d ask why. I needed to get ahead of that. I just have no idea how. He’s four years old. How do you explain to a four-year-old that Momma thinks Dada doesn’t know the difference between himself and a fake character anymore and that makes it too dangerous to be around him? I can barely wrap my head around it myself. Until I saw that video on the news I never once believed that Dom would ever be a threat to our son, even unintentionally.
 
I have no idea how to explain any of this to Heath. But I have to think of something.
 
 

* * * * *
* * * * *

 
 
 
It seems like I came back to SCW at just the right time of year. Rise to Greatness season. The time when some on the roster put their best foot forward, to prove that they deserve a spot on the show, and a good spot at that. It’s also the time when others on the roster put their best mask on and pretend they’re still a star, still relevant, still matter to this company. There are several of you who fit that description but for now, my obvious focus is on one such pretender, in fact the biggest pretender that this business has ever seen.
 
Syren.
 
You made such a cute little speech a few weeks ago, after interrupting me I might add. Trying to convince the SCW Faithful that you’re the better wrestler, the better fighter, that you know the New Order’s playbook because you’ve lived it, you claim you learned from two of the smartest people in the business.
 
That may be true, but let me shine a little light of truth on that for you, okay babe? First of all, you assume that playbook is the same for everyone. Some of the New Order may subscribe to ‘win by any means,’ however anyone who’s paid attention to me for five minutes knows that is not how I operate. Have I used… less than fair tactics before? Of course. As a last resort. After I’ve done everything I can the right way, after others have thrown trickery at me. That’s when I decide it’s appropriate for me to throw it back. Better and more devastating than anything they could muster.
 
You may have learned under two of the smartest people in the business, but I learned from two of the most dangerous in the business. Years ago I spent a lot of time training with and working with Blake Mason in this ring. I’m sure many of you remember how the two of us as a tag team tore through SCW and left injured bodies and egos in our wake. I learned a lot of things from Blake, some of them do not need to be spoken here, but one thing that’s very relevant to now is that… you can’t cross a line if there are no lines
 
A little more recent than that, I spent just as much time at the side of Sienna Swann. I don’t think I need to remind anyone how dangerous and dominating she was. Sienna taught me a lot of things about myself too, but in the ring? I learned that just when you think you’ve dug as deep as you can go to give everything you have to that canvas… you still have about twenty feet more to dig. And when you get to that depth…. The person across from you ceases to register as human. They’re just an obstacle to overcome. A threat to neutralize. That’s the “its me or them” mentality and I am here to tell you babe that it’s always going to be me surviving and standing on top.
 
Even the smartest person in the world can’t withstand the storm of a dangerous person with no limits. They don’t stop to think. They just react, out of instinct. And that’s what you’re up against here, Syren.
 
I can already hear you protesting, in that shrill whiney voice of yours. “But Bree… you weren’t here for almost two years. I’ve been here the whole time fighting!” Do you think I was on a two year vacation? I grew a tiny human, brought her into this world under very difficult circumstances, and stayed home most of her first year of life, to not repeat the same mistakes I made with my son. When he was a baby, I came back to the ring too soon. My work suffered, and my family suffered.
 
I tried to be different. I came in with a clean slate, holding no grudges. Determined to simply speak the truth and tow the line and see how far that would take me. As it turned out… not very far.
 
I was trying to be something I am not. Or rather, someone I am not. I thought I was setting a good example for my son, trying to be the ‘turn the other cheek’ type. The grounded, calm presence to counter the theatrics and dramatics of everyone else. But what I actually did was become the one thing I hate more than anything else.
 
A pretender.
 
I have had it up to my fucking eyeballs of pretenders! And I am not going to do it anymore.
 
Hi, have you met me? I am basically the queen of dramatic. I can hold a grudge almost as hard as Amy Chastaine does, and if you know anything about her, you know that’s saying a lot. And sometime between having a daughter and taking time to blend and grow and protect my family… I realized that it’s a far more important thing for my children to learn that above all else in life, one should always stay true to themselves. If that means they’ll grow up watching me say terrible things to people who deserve it, do terrible things to people in the ring because they didn’t stop while they were ahead and these are the consequences… so be it. I have faith that my children are smart enough to understand why I did the things I have done, and likely will do in the future. I want them to grow up with the confidence and enough faith in themselves that they never feel like the need to try to be anything other than what they are. I will not raise pretenders.
 
So yes, you may have been here this whole time fighting and still trying to reclaim that top spot that you were clawing desperately at when I left. But that isn’t because you’re more loyal than me, or more dedicated to the business than me. It’s because you just don’t know when it’s time to let go. You’re pretending to yourself that you can still go at the same pace as ten years ago. You said it yourself, you’ve been doing this for two decades. Twenty years. Longer than my nephew has been alive.
 
My original teacher, the person I learned the fundamentals of this business from, Amy… she did this for over twenty years. And do you know what she did when she realized that giving over twenty years to this business was enough and she had nothing left?
 
She retired!
 
She had enough sense to hang it up before she got herself hurt or became the joke of an athlete who doesn’t have it anymore but can’t accept it. Sure, she’s older than we are, Syren. You and I aren’t very far apart in age. But all of the damage, trauma, injury you’ve put your body through has aged it beyond your chronological years. You’re trying to hold on to a spot that’s meant for someone else because your mind hasn’t yet accepted that your body just can’t keep up anymore.
 
And don’t come at me with “But Bree, Shaun and I beat you and Alistaire on Breakdown, who’s the one who can’t keep up, hah?” Because everyone watching that has two brain cells to rub together saw what happened. Ali had you seeing stars and was about to put you away for the count, until Shaun stuck his foot in where it doesn’t belong. You didn’t land the final strike, babe. You basically flopped on top of him and got the three by accident. The only reason I didn’t lunge to break it up is because I knew it would bother you to your core that you didn’t get a definitive pinfall. That kind of three count, where you’re barely conscious, doesn’t exactly scream “top tier athlete,’ does it? Yet it still seems like you can’t accept the fact that your time is up.
 
But don’t worry, babe. I’m going to fix that for you. I am going to prove to you, and everyone else watching, that you are far past your prime. I’m going to do that by wrestling circles around you before putting you down, not out of anger or spite, or even jealousy…. But out of mercy.
 
You don’t know when to let go, when to give up, so I will remove the choice from you and force you to recognize that you are at the end, babe. And when you’re at home, recovering from all the years of turmoil in the ring, sitting with your kids and your wife, watching the rest of us carry SCW on into the future… when you finally come to terms with it and find peace in retirement…. You’ll know who to thank.
 
The speaker of Truth. The Premier Asset of SCW. The Classet of the entire wrestling business. Yours truly and the one and only Bree Lancaster.
 
You’re welcome.