Holly Adams vs. Selena Frost

[SnowQueenSCW]

OOC: Posted in two parts due to length.

Project: Black Ice

”Haven”

They walk together – or at least try to, their feet dragging through the thick snow that came up to their shins.

She can see her breath misting in the cold wind with every laborious breath she manages to huff out, her legs heavy as they push through the thick white blankets. Beside her, her beloved wife keeps by her side, as weary and hurt as the Snow Queen, herself. There are cuts on the young woman’s face and streaks of dried blood that were once as bright as the red-hair the woman has. Hair that, like the platinum-blonde’s, is covered with snow as the storm rages on above them.

They had kept going. Just like they had told one another – just like she had been prompted to do with every journey in this hell of cold and death.

The wind howls harshly, pushing the older woman back – or it would have if a strong hand had not sprung onto her shoulder and held her in place, bracing her against the push. Throwing her head back, platinum hair whipping around, Selena spied the smiling, yet weary, face of her Deanna, emerald eyes sharp but tired. With her own smile and nod, Selena pushes forward, continuing to trek as Deanna returns to her position by her wife’s side.

They had moved past ‘the temple’ that had housed so many confrontations for Selena (as well as so many deaths). But The Brand had not been left behind. They had followed, striking and attacking with crowd after crowd.

The strategy was always the same. At least one (with associates or distractions) would attack, prompting battle. And while the Frost women – ‘Witches’ their enemies kept calling them – held their own, they would inevitably be ambushed by more and more of The Brand’s group. Still, they fought, still they held them back until the Brand would flee, leaving the two women alone to continue their trekking once more.

Over and over the cycle had repeated itself, Selena losing track of the number of times. Still, she had no strategy to change it, which was what burdened her as much as the exhaustion and aches of battle that clung to her. 

They couldn’t do anything about the Brand’s attacks. There was just two of them and many of their enemy. Paid, manipulated, mislead, there were just too many… and the Frost wives were alone out here. 

What could they do but just keep fighting… just keep going?

She hears the sound of snow crunching loudly and quickly turned her head, expecting another such attack, but was stunned to see her Deanna on her knees, her left hand pressed against her chest.

“Deanna!” Selena cries out, rushing to her wife’s side and dropping down to her knees. She doesn’t feel the cold or wetness of the snow. Why doesn’t she? Why does it slow her down but not hurt her like the pain of battle or the turmoil that she feels of the state of this land thanks to The Brand? Taking her wife’s hands into hers, the Snow Queen finally sees the dark-blue wife’s hands are turning.

“Oh no…” she whispers in the dark, her hands reaching out to the maroon fabric of the coat and the dark-green sweater Deanna wears, pulling the redhead to her. It is only when her wife is in her arms that she feels Deanna shivering…so fast. “Put your hands on my skin.” She whispers. “It’ll warm them.”

No words are spoken but Selena suddenly feels a sharp stab of cold under her shirt, against her abdominals, taking a short intake of breath as her body stiffens a little. Still, she does not complain, using her hands to cradle Deanna as close to her as possible.

“It’s okay.” She whispers. “We’ll be okay.”
“Yeah…” comes the soft voice, a shiver in it. “Just a l-l-little chilly right now.”

Crunch.

Selena’s ears perk up a little at the sound of snow being walked on – it isn’t just one, but an army of crunching. Keeping her wife’s head nestled on her collarbone, sapphire eyes scan around them.

She can see them. See their glowing red eyes, small and beady, as they watch her and Deanna. The pawns, the crew, the mislead…the leaders. The Brand.

They were waiting for this moment, taunting them as they hid behind the trees and the tweeting birds. Whispering their lies and BS… waiting for them to be too weary to fight back.

The crunching sounds are louder as they finally leave the safety of the forest, surrounding the Frost wives. Selena can see their grinning faces, full of pride that they, an army, are about to defeat two women. Her eyes cast upward and she sees the large glowing eyes above her, the clouds doing nothing obscure them. 

Eyes of disappointment?
Eyes of disgust?
Eyes of… wishful thinking?

Whose eyes are they? Are they directed at her? Or the actions of the Brand? Is this enemy, Killjoy or whoever, bored with this outcome?

It doesn’t matter… Selena sighs, lowering her head to rest it against Deanna’s as she holds her tight.

The crunching grows louder before it suddenly stops. Looking up, the young woman sees the mass surrounding her and Deanna in a circle. Closer to her and Deanna, however, stands the leaders. 

Giovanni, grinning his wicked grin as he preaches from a black book “the many wrongs of Selena Frost”, as if he can make Selena ashamed for loving the world she has protected for eight years.

Cid Turner, with Cookie by his side, shaking his head and wagging his finger at Selena, as if he can make Selena ashamed of being an honest woman, while he whispers manipulations into Cookie’s ear.

Holly Adams… grinning maliciously as she struts around the Frost wives, waving her hand and declaring how she and she alone conquered them. Selena can’t really hear her words anymore, more focused on the redhead in her arms, even as Holly is screaming in the platinum-blonde’s face… as if she could make Selena ashamed of being in love with Deanna and loving her with all her heart.

A sad but satisfied smile crosses Selena’s features. They were pathetic.

They thought they could make her regret protecting SCW.
They thought they could make her regret being honest with the SCW Universe, for better or for worse.
They thought they could make her regret loving Deanna…

She feels tears prick her eyes as Deanna lifts her head to look at her, emerald eyes meeting sapphire ones. 

Eyes filled with love.
Eyes filled with trust.
Eyes filled with hope.

Without a word, Selena leans in, capturing her wife’s lips with her own, keeping Deanna tight against her form. Against her chest, she feels her wife’s cold hands reach up to press strongly against her skin, touching her breasts, then her back to pull her in as well. She doesn’t have to open her eyes to see the look of disgust in the Brand’s eyes, to hear those damned lies of ‘incest’ and…and…

She tunes it out and simply dives further into the feeling of her wife in her arms as the Brand descends upon them, eager to erase their ‘abomination’, as they were calling her and Deanna, off the earth. She ignored them and simply focused on the feel of her wife in her arms and her lips on Deanna’s.

And then…oblivion….

*************************

Frost ‘Forever Home’
Manhattan, New York
January 19th, 2022
3:02pm

She jolted awake, hearing the ringing of her phone alarm going off, effectively ending her 15-minute power nap. Her sapphire eyes blinked several times as they adjusted, her mind shifting and trying to reorganize itself from it’s short spell of sleep. A few slow breaths escaped her as her head fell into her waiting hand, the arm resting at the elbow on the large desk that filled up part of her office in her home in Manhattan. With one more slow breath, she savoured the spike in her energy from the power nap - something she cherished but knew that it would not last for long. She would need a little more help…

Quietly, Selena Frost pushed herself out of her seat and marched around the room, running her hands through her scalp in an angry scratch. “This is so fucking stupid…” she hissed in a whisper, instinctively lowering her voice, knowing of the children that were in the house. As she passed one of the walls, there was a break in the shelves of books that circled around the office space perimeter, allowing for a large mirror with black and silver metal-trim to hang on the wall.

Seeing her reflection out of the corner of her eye, Selena turned to it. The woman that stared back had the same clothes as her – black sweat-pants and a light-blue t-shirt, walking around in bare feet along the carpet – but Selena was surprised to see how blood-red her eyes were – like a sea of blood surrounding a swirling vortex of sapphire and black, as well as the bags that hung under them. Was that her? Was this the face of the world champion of SCW?

Heh, guess that’s where the ‘crazy eyes’ thing comes from… Selena thought, remembering one of the many insults Holly Adams had thrown her way every time the Snow Queen, or her wife, posted anything on Twitter, though she also chastised herself for trying to rationalize any ‘one-liner’ that woman had thrown her way when so many of them were either flat out hypocritical statements or just plain nonsensical ravings.

Stepping closer, the Snow Queen took another look at herself before giving out a sigh. “What do you expect?” she whispered to the reflection. It was an open question but one that carried explanation. What did she expect to look like after three days of barely any sleep beyond short naps in her office?

With a long exhale, the platinum-blonde lowered her head a little, her forehead resting against the cool glass. She knew that this was not the smartest course of action, staying in here and only coming out of her office to eat, shower, and spend a little time with her family (though she cursed herself at how little) but she couldn’t help it. The two factors that played in her mind were, inadvertently, working in tandem, leaving her to isolate herself in her office in what she had felt was the best course of action.

First, Talia had kept her word and sent Selena as many files and data as she could regarding Malcolm Scythe’s business dealings in his many years in Nome, Alaska, both on and off the record. And the lawyer had not been lying when she had said it was too much. In fact, she may have been underselling… 

Because it was terabytes and terabytes of data – from PDFs to videos, it was insane! Selena had gone cross-eyed for a second just looking at all the icons of files that had appeared on her desktop screen as she had opened the external hard-drive Talia had priority shipped to her (only giving Selena the encryption key through phone call). Ordinarily, the Snow Queen would have only managed a few hours of such tedious, monotonous work at a time before needing to workout or go swimming or even just going for a walk or something with the family. But then the second factor had reared its ugly head.

Holly Adams… Selena growled. 

Yes, it was annoying that the ‘head’ of The Brand in SCW had caused so much trouble for Selena – effectively ruining their End of the Year match after their own plan to screw Selena out of the world title through interference had failed, leading to a ‘retry’ of sorts at Body, Heart and Soul, the first Pay-per-view of the new year – but what that fake-blonde had done…


It hadn’t really hit Selena full until a few days ago while the wrestler had gone grocery shopping for the family, with Deanna watching the children at home. With the school season returning from the holidays, the children (specifically Elsianna and David) were, once more, attending classes and getting homework (though it was hardly such with David in kindergarten). But there Selena had been, walking down the cereal aisle with a shopping cart, picking up Frosted Flakes for David, Honey-Nut Cheerios for herself, Shreddies for Deanna and Elsianna, and regular Cheerios for Amiliah (who loved picking up the pieces to stare through the middle of them) to add to her already full cart when it had happened. 

She hadn’t seen the person come up to her until she had turned around to place the Cheerios box into her cart, almost jumping back as the middle-aged man stared at her. It was rather surprising, to say the least, mostly because, after 7 years of living in Manhattan and shopping in the same neighbourhood stores with the same people, most people tended to leave her alone beyond kind greetings. Yes, fans still came to her once in a while, but it wasn’t the bullrush it was in other cities or arenas during SCW shows. Manhattan had, seemingly, gotten use to its resident Snow Queen and the ‘Frost Family’ as it were. Still, a fan was a fan, and Selena was not going to chastise one for having the courage to approach her.

If only it had been a fan…

”Any truth to Holly Adams’ claims?
Have you always had such a discrimination against blondes?
What about all the people that look up to you? How could you hide this from them?!”

The slew of questions that had followed had thrown Selena off completely – even now, her jaw clenched at how ‘deer-in-the-headlights’ she had been – stunned at such absurd questions. How she’d managed to leave the grocery store without saying something profoundly stupid that could’ve wound up on TMZ? She wasn’t entirely sure. 

Why had she been so bothered at having a recorder shoved into her face? It wasn’t like it was the first time it had happened! She had lost track of how many times someone had come to her, looking for some kind of scoop. Why couldn’t she just have stayed calm and rationally explained the BS behind Holly’s obvious lies? But she hadn’t.

Instead, she had walked away from the man, come straight back to her home, locked herself in her office and, instead, dived into Malcolm Scythe’s files, searching high and low for any sign of “Project: Black Ice”, not wanting to think about that moment. Yes, she was still acutely aware of Malcolm’s warning when it came to Project: Black Ice – the late former mayor of Nome warning her that such research would lead to her destruction, a fact that Killjoy had goaded Selena with at Malcolm’s memorial service in Nome.

Still, she kept digging through the files bit by bit. Because Killjoy had been right. Selena was sick of feeling powerless where Killjoy was concerned. Sick of always having to ‘wait’ for someone to act and she to simply ‘react’. She wanted to be the one to be on the attack – both in this and in SCW… which was difficult when her enemy was, basically, four people against her and her wife. Still, if this ‘Project: Black Ice’ was going to help her better understand what Killjoy was or maybe give some insight as to why he was after her, then damn the consequences!

She was also just tired of thinking about The Brand like she just had been! For Odin’s sake, they had bugged the world title so they could spy on her! Was that even legal for them to do?! Yes, she had been on an SCW show when it happened, but there was such a thing as privacy, and Holly had invaded hers!

Angrily, Selena reached over to open a drawer at her desk, where there were pens, papers, a stapler and a wooden box filled with 5-hour energy shots, which she constantly refilled whenever she was low. Stifling a yawn, she grabbed one of the remaining six and downed it quickly, tossing the plastic bottle into the nearby trash bin (dark blue with white snowflakes decorated) and began pacing the room again. She had alternated the last three days between researching Scythe’s notes and thinking of ways of dealing with Holly’s lies – and the most depressing thing was that ‘going through Scythe’s notes’ seemed like the easier job!

Because it didn’t matter what she said or did – in person, on Twitter, through video or promo post, Holly was always there with a ‘counter’ regardless of how ridiculous it sounded! Holly brings The Brand in to interfere in her match? It’s Selena’s fault. Holly bugs the World title? It’s to expose Selena’s evil! Selena retains because The Brand messes up? Selena did it on purpose cause she’s afraid of Holly. Selena beats any member of The Brand? It’s witch-hexes and cheating and luck.

The Snow Queen shook her head as she sat back down against her seat, casting her gaze up at the ceiling of the office. It wouldn’t matter what she said. If she told the world Holly was lying and proved it beyond a shadow of a doubt? Holly would just say Selena was lying and repeat it over and over again, screaming it loud to try and drown the facts out. If Deanna said anything, The Brand would just claim that Selena was ‘using her witchcraft to brainwash her’. If they said it together, then Holly would somehow ‘hear the tremble in Deanna’s voice, indicating coercion’.

“Oh it’s there!” Selena stated in a high-pitched voice to the ceiling, imitating Holly Adams – if she were a cartoon character. “I don’t care if none of you heard it! I heard it! And I’ll find 10 people to come on my show and pay them to say that they all heard it too! And that will mean that EVERYONE heard it!”

She was acting being petulant and immature, she knew, but she was beyond furious. All that had happened in the last few weeks, all the crap Holly had spewed both inside and outside the ring (on her show and on Twitter, for example) – none of it really had anything to do with SCW or the World title. This was just Holly being a bitter brat because, while she had been voted as the world title challenger for End of the Year, it had been Selena, herself, not Holly, that had been voted as the Female Wrestler of the Year. And now Holly was doing all she could to just hurt Selena’s image in the eyes of the SCW Universe… and she seemed to be having more success than Selena wanted to believe, given what had happened in that grocery store.

Trying to scan one more page of Malcolm’s files, Selena’s ears suddenly perked up at the sound of footsteps approaching. Quickly, she pushed the power button to turn off the screen, casting her eyes up to see the gorgeous red hair that entered first, along with the most beautiful emerald eyes.

Looking around the room for a second, Deanna Frost’s eyes settled on Selena, offering her a sad, knowing smile. 

“Hey…” whispered Deanna as she shuffled into the room. From a casual glance, the redhead seemed no worse for wear from their match a few days ago at Breakdown, and she had taken some serious hits – a swell of pride graced Selena as she remembered how her wife had leveled Giovanni and shocked Cid and floored Holly in that match, moments where she had shown just how much potential she had, holding her own against two former world champions and former adrenaline champion! Even if the match had been thrown out, Deanna had, as she said she would, stolen the show by her performance.

“Hey.” Selena offered a tired smile, pushing back the drowsiness as Deanna moved around the desk, immediately wrapping the smaller woman in her arms as the redhead helped herself to sitting in Selena’s lap. Like Selena, Deanna was wearing comfort clothes - a long, lime-green shirt, which fell past her hips to just above her knees, almost concealing all of the black shorts she wore. Her hair was loose but she still managed to keep it out of her eyes.

Selena felt her wife’s hands around her neck as Deanna rested her head against Selena’s. “You’ve been cooped up in here for a while now.” She started slowly. “And I’m not going to guess what it’s about, but I am sure if I did guess, I’d be right.”

A sigh escaped Selena. “You would be.” She admitted with no hesitation, earning a groan from Deanna, who separated herself from Selena to stand up and pace around the room as her wife had done.

“Ohhh, Selena!” she chastised with an irritated, breathy sigh. “Why are you letting her get to you? She’s a lying bit-“ Deanna caught herself. “A lying brat!”

“The problem is-“ Selena countered, raising a hand. “Is that ‘lying brat’? People are believing. Or at least a few very loud people are. Very invasive people… And they want answers.”
“So tell them.” Deanna shrugged. “Do that thing where you sit in the ring and just rip them a new one with your words!”

“It’s not that easy.” Selena gave a small smile. “No matter what I say, she’ll just counter with something equally outrageous. Like witchcraft or hexes. Or she’ll do something even worse than bugging a title.” For a moment, Selena closed her eyes before giving a shake of her head. “Like… what if she tries to spy on us here, Deanna? If she bugs our house or places cameras there or…something…“ 

The redhead, fiery as always, rolled her eyes as she crossed her arms, taking a moment to laugh a little at Selena’s words. “Is she ready to be arrested if she does?”

“Probably not. But Xander Valentine almost pulled it off.” 
“He didn’t even get past the gate, Selena.” Deanna tried. 
“But she’s got plenty of expendable stooges.” Selena sighed, pushing herself out of the chair and walking to rest her back and head against a shelf of books against the wall – sapphire eyes meeting emerald ones. “Look me in the eye and tell me she isn’t the kind of person that would do that just to ‘expose me’.”

That was the true crux of the matter. The ‘bugging of the world title’ – it had been less about Selena ‘being caught’ as Holly had wanted and more the act of Holly invading her and Deanna’s privacy. For Selena, despite being honest about her life when asked or approached, she still did her best to keep her private life and SCW life separate. For as much as she loved SCW, she could not deny the bad things that were part of it. The liars, the cheaters, the manipulators, monsters, and one didn’t have to go too far to find some truly deplorable things happening in SCW by those ‘wishing to get noticed’ or ‘get ahead in the business’. It was even more so where the World title was involved.

For the Snow Queen, she wanted to keep her private life – her children and family – as far from that as possible. Now, with Deanna being with her, which Selena was grateful for, that was not entirely possible, but she still tried. But there had been some people that had taken ‘invasion of privacy’ to the next level:

Vixen Cain stealing her bus with her, Zelda, and her prince son, David, inside.
Xander Valentine stalking and filming outside the house she now sat in.

Those moments had scared Selena to her soul – when her home, her children, the private sanctuary that was supposed to be free of SCW, was being invaded or put on display or anything like that. She had hoped that, after Xander’s actions and how she had punished him, that no one would try such a stunt like that again…

And then Holly had spied on them… Giovanni had promised to sell the recording as part of his ‘package deal’ or whatever! And again, there was nothing there for Selena to be upset about… but the fact that such an invasion had happened…

The two wives stood in silence for a moment before the younger Frost was, once more, by her wife’s side, taking the world champion’s pale hands into her own.

“Look…” she sighed, her thumbs rubbing lazy circles against Selena’s knuckles. “You need to get out of this room. Stop thinking about Scythe, because I know you are.” An emerald glare silenced Selena as the Snow Queen tried to open her mouth. “Stop thinking about Killjoy and, especially, stop thinking about Holly and whatever crap she is going to say or do.” She gave Selena’s hands a firm squeeze. “You love me?”

A sad smile came to Selena. “Maybe I do.”

“And maybe I love you.” Deanna smiled back. “That’s all that matters where Holly’s words and ‘translations’ of us talking come into play. That is all she is going to see if she tries that crap of spying on us again. A loving family and two women who love each other more than anything. I chose you and I’d do it again in a heartbeat.” Standing on her tip toes, Deanna was able to place a gentle kiss on Selena’s lips – the redhead noticing the bags under Selena’s eyes but saying nothing.

“Come on.” She urged in a whisper, guiding Selena out of the study. “You promised to help Elsianna with her homework.”

Mentally, Selena cursed herself, not because she was being taken out of her study, but because Deanna was right. She had promised her eldest child days ago and had been too wrapped up with Scythe and Holly to keep that promise. 

She is fucking me up… Selena thought as she followed Deanna. And if it’s part of her plan, then I’m playing right into it.

The thoughts faded as Selena reached the ground floor and walked into the family room and kitchen space, her eyes squinting a little in reaction to the bright light that filled the room from the inside, as well as the outside. From the large balcony window on the opposite side of the space, Selena could see nothing but snow as the massive blizzard raged on outside, clumps of snow falling from the skies without mercy!

“When did that get here?” the platinum-blonde asked, her tired eyes widening, delightfully taking in the mountains of snow that covered the ground and trees, which allowed the blue of the small lake to stand out from its place farther from the house.

“Late last night.” Deanna replied patiently, watching her wife smile a bright, yet tired, smile as she moved to the balcony window. She refused to break a moment of wonder, however brief it would be, for her beloved. She saw such moments in the eyes of her wife so rarely lately. Going skating with the children, going family bowling, reading to Elsianna, when they made love – she took a slow breath as she savoured the memory of the last time they had a few days ago. Moments of joy were rare lately for Selena, and even when she had them, Deanna could see it – at the rim of Selena’s sapphire eyes – the ever presence of sadness, frustration, helplessness.

It was as if the emotions were fighting each other back – fighting for Selena’s focus and attention. Not that it surprised Deanna. Even being the World Champion, Selena had not been able to truly enjoy her fourth reign as she wanted to. Whether it was being ambushed or spied on or… Deanna shook her head. The places for her beloved to escape the evils of the world was decreasing rapidly in number… 

She had already lost her home of Nome, Alaska, thanks to Killjoy. Quietly, Deanna prayed that this home – their private life together – would never fail to be such a sanctuary… Even if Holly wants to try to... she thought darkly as she saw Selena continuing to gaze out the windows, a hand against the cold glass.

“So much snow in one half day?” she asked out loud before sighing and turning back to face the rest of the room, a hand raising up to rub at her eye sleepily. “Where’s Elsianna?”

“Right here, mother.” The young girl answered, appearing before the two Frost wives from the doorway as if summoned. “I heard you both coming up from the basement.” She added before giving a quick sniff of her nose, using a free hand to scratch it.

“Yes.” Selena sighed, moving over to the table in the kitchen to pull out and sit in a chair. “I promised I’d help you with your homework, didn’t I?”

The child, the spitting image of her mother, gave a quick nod and a smile before quickly marching over to the table, allowing Deanna and Selena to see the binder of black and the pencil-case bag in her hands, as well as sheets and sheets of colored cardboard-paper. Immediately, their eldest child set to work, placing things on the table in proper order, pulling out papers with instructions printed on them, etc. As Selena watched, she also spied the worksheets in Elsianna’s binder, papers with math questions, English questions, questions that were, obviously, easy for an adult to answer, but challenging for someone of Elsianna’s age.

“Do you need me to look these over?” Selena asked, stifling a quiet yawn as she moved a hand towards the printouts. 
“I already did.” Deanna replied gently. “She’s fine there.”
“Oh, okay.” Selena shrugged, returning her attention towards Elsianna. “So, what do you need help with, Snowflake?” she asked.

“All that’s left is arts and crafts.” The young girl admitted. “We’re supposed to create a landscape. We can use paints, cardboard, and whatever else we want but we have to have a parent supervising us when using paints and scissors.”

“A landscape?” Selena asked as she watched her daughter pull out a ton of white cardboard. “Any…any idea what landscape you want to do? Maybe we can get a picture off of Google or something-”

Tilting her head to the side, the young girl pointed a small finger towards the balcony Selena had just been looking out of. Following her daughter’s gaze, Selena, once more beheld the winter-wonderland that was her home during the winter season. Instinctively, her hand reached up to rub her left shoulder, where she felt the black snowflake tattoo etched into her skin. 

“So are there any other rules?” Selena asked, picking up a piece of white-cardboard and turning it in her hands. She felt a little of the dizzying spell coming from her tiredness and her ‘wiredness’ of the energy shot, but she quickly breathed it away as best as she could.

“Nope.” Elsianna shook her hand, fumbling with the child scissors due to the black gloves she still wore. “Just ‘be creative’, that’s what Mrs. Shire said.”

“Not much to go on…” Selena whispered without thinking. “Yet they make 40k for it…” she added until she lifted her head to behold the surprised expressions of Deanna and Elsianna. “Did I say that out loud?” she asked in surprise. “I’m sorry…I’m just…” she tried shaking her head.

“Your mother is very tired.” Interjected Deanna, placing a hand on Elsianna’s shoulder. “She’s not as good with her words like she usually is.”

Selena – in her current state – almost snorted at that. Good with her words? How many times had she, accidentally, put her foot in her mouth with her ‘words’? She had honestly lost track. Whether it was Twitter or her promos. Hell, if she was half as good with her words as her past opponents like Vixen Cain and Syren and Ravyn, then Holly, Cid and Giovanni would barely have any material to throw at her beyond there over-exaggerations and parodies! Hell, Cid wouldn’t even have had Cookie in his clutches if she had just chosen her words better!

A sneeze from Elsianna brought Selena back to reality, sapphire eyes observing the young girl’s continued struggle with working the scissors with her gloves. 

“Sweetheart…” Selena tried. “You know you can take your gloves off, right?”

The wrestler regretted those words the moment they left her mouth as she watched Elsianna’s head jerk to stare at her mother, mouth hanging open a little. “I…I…” she stammered, unable to come up with a decent reason as to refute her mother’s advice. “Okay.” She whispered, placing the scissors down beside her.

Slowly, almost snail-like, Elsianna pulled off her gloves one at a time, her hands shaking and steadily increasing in that. The first glove came off, followed by the second. The white, miscolored, scarred flesh ran up both of her arms, starting at the wrist and travelling like a sea of scars across her entire forearm, reaching the elbow where they seemed to ‘lick’ the bicep in their approach. Selena saw her daughter, subconsciously, rub her arms with her hands, as if still trying to cover them before reaching for the scissors with one shaky hand, the other taking up a piece of what paper cardboard.

It was heartbreaking to watch for the Snow Queen. For if Elsianna had been struggling with the task while her gloves were on, her anxiety at having them off was making her hands shake so much that the paper was making little noises as it flapped in the air and against the shaking scissors-

“Elsa!” Selena suddenly cried out, not wanting to see any more of her child’s discomfort. Pale hands took the paper and scissor-holding hands gently. “Why…” she tried. “Why don’t I do the cutting and you can tell me what you want me to make and glue it all together. Okay?”

A look of relief seemed to wash over the white-blonde girl, who eagerly nodded her head before pulling her gloves back on, a long exhale escaping her as they were, once more, in their rightful place.

She’ll have to face that someday… Selena sighed as she held the red safety-scissors. “So…what will we start with? Clouds? Snow on the ground?”

In answer, Elsianna handed a dark-green piece to her mother. “Trees, then lake.” Elsianna declared. “Then we can add snow and maybe even some animals.”
“I can try and do a cut-out of a gray bunny.” Selena shrugged. “Or maybe a brown squirrel looking for nuts?”

The project continued in such a fashion for the next two hours, with mother and daughter working together to create shapes and patterns. Elsianna would ask Selena for a certain shape and Selena would cut it for her. Elsa would then, using a glue-stick, stick the shapes to a bigger cardboard piece that would be her ‘frame’ for the landscape-art. From the trees to the snowy-covered lands that surrounded the lake, they worked at the project, and for what it was worth, Selena did not, once, think about either Malcolm Scythe/Killjoy or Holly Adams/The Brand. She barely noticed Deanna watching them from the kitchen, the warm smile gracing the redhead’s face as she quietly tended to Oberon and Amiliah and David.

“This…” Deanna whispered to herself as she walked throughout the house, in the midst of doing some light laundry. “This is what she needs…”

While Selena would never admit it out-loud, her wife knew that Holly and The Brand had thrown Selena off her game, and she would be lying to herself if she hadn’t been thrown off a bit herself. From the planted ‘audience member’ (like Selena, she refused to believe a fan had chosen to attack her) costing Selena her match with Giovanni, to the blindsided attack by Cid after he had lost the title to Selena, to even things like Holly kicking out of the Glass Shard during the End of the Year match with that controversial finish – The Brand were holding more and more of the cards, always seeming to get one over on Selena and putting her wife more and more off her game.

It had been so different with Cid Turner. Yes, there had been words and underhanded attacks with a belt, but the matches themselves had, mostly, been what the Snow Queen had wanted. Matches of skills and ability, thanks to SCW management banning the Brand from ringside.

No such rule had been enforced for this upcoming weekend – despite THREE members jumping in and getting involved last time. It meant that, once again, she and Selena would probably be facing the entire Brand at Body, Heart and Soul. 

But that was only just part of the issue. As Selena had mentioned in her office, what had mostly thrown Selena off her game was Holly’s blatant invasion of their privacy. 

She wants Selena to think there’s no place for her to have her haven. Deanna thought as she bitterly folded clothes for David before placing them in the drawer in his room. It was beyond unreasonable. Did Holly think that just because she paraded her own fake, cheap, superficial life on television that Selena had to as well? That just because Holly was so desperate and attention-seeking that she was constantly filming herself that meant that she could do it to Selena too?

Selena wasn’t like that! Selena liked getting away from work to recharge and be, not a wrestler, but a wife and a mother. What was so wrong about that? Nothing… Deanna’s jaw clenched. But that bitch… she could swear in her mind. That bitch thinks she can film and record and twist it all – she thinks she can do that to anyone she wants just because no one in her circle tells her ‘no’…

Finishing the task, Deanna breathed a slow exhale. This was why she had tried to get Selena out of her office. She needed to see that their ‘forever home’ and the family she and Deanna were part of were still a haven for her. Still a place for her to refocus and get her head on right – which is what Selena needed if she had any hope to retain the world championship.

Making her way down the stairs and back to the main floor, the redhead had to jump to the side of the wall as she suddenly heard the platinum-blonde bolting past her. “It’ll be perfect!” Selena shouted as she ascended the stairs Deanna still stood on two-at-time, disappearing down the hall on the second floor and entering their bedroom. A few moments passed and the sound of drawers opening and closing filled Deanna’s ears until she, once again, heard the steps of fast-walking. This time, however, as the platinum-blonde bounded down the stairs, she was stopped by Deanna putting an arm in her path. 

As the platinum-blonde turned to Deanna, the redhead could see the eagerness and the excitement in her wife’s blood-shot eyes. The negative emotions were, still, on the edges of the sapphires, but the joy was winning out, if Selena’s smile was any further indication. Swept up in it, Deanna gave a smile of her own before moving her hand up Selena’s arm to cup her face, quietly moving in to steal a kiss from her beloved wife.

“Having fun?” she asked as she leaned away.

To answer her, Selena held up a bag of cotton balls – were those the ones from their bathroom that were used for rubbing alcohol? – and a tube of their Crest toothpaste.

“I’m sure there’s a connection…” Deanna started, eyeing each item. “But I’m not seeing it.”

To answer, all Selena did was lift and drop her eyebrows knowingly before leaning in again to kiss her wife’s cheek. With that done, she scampered down the stairs, back into the bigger gathering room where Elsianna was waiting. 

Now…it was at this point that Deanna had a choice. She could either continue to lament on Holly and the Brand and the many ways they were pissing her off by burdening her minx. Or… she mused… she could practice what she was preaching to Selena and let this place clear her mind and be part of the more important aspect of her life than The Brand’s BS… her family.

It was an easy decision to make.

Making her way down the stairs, she placed the empty hamper near the basement door before following Selena back into the room, just in time to see Selena squeezing the tube of toothpaste right in the middle of Elsianna’s picture!

“Whoa!” the redhead cried out, afraid that the exhaustion in Selena’s eyes was turning her into a ‘delirious scientist’ of sorts. “What are you doing?”

“Water!” Elsianna replied, standing up and pointing to the spot Selena had pushed the toothpaste onto. “Mother puts the toothpaste there and gently turns it with a toothpick so only parts of it turn white, indicating the parts that are frozen!”
“The rest of it will harden in its natural color.” Selena finished, already working on using the toothpick on the pile of paste.
“How did you think of that?” Deanna asked, somewhat surprised, earning a gaze from Selena, as well as an incredulous smirk from her.
“Really?” the Snow Queen asked. “Three kids that we have to remind every few nights to ‘rinse out your toothbrush and clean the sink after use’ and you wonder why I know that toothpaste hardens if left alone for a bit?”

“Fair point.” Deanna laughed. “And what about the cotton swabs?” she asked, watching as Elsianna pulled and stretched them into wisps.

“Snow clumps and wispy winds!” Elsianna replied. “This is going to look amazing!”

“Sure is!” Selena agreed as the two continued to work, adding cotton swabs to the trees and ground, with Deanna now helping to pull and stretch the swabs with Elsianna. Another hour passed of the three until the they heard the front door open, the loud barking of Oberon being heard as he scampered from his sleeping spot in the family room to rush to the door.

A few seconds passed before David, their second born, entered the room. 

“Hello, prince.” Selena smiled, dusting her hands off to make her way over to her son. “Did you have a good time at Clark’s?”

“Yeah…” David replied, but his tone seemed distant, somewhat somber – certainly not matching the tone of a boy that had just had a playday with a friend from the neighbourhood.

“What’s wrong?” Selena asked, kneeling to David’s height as she helped the boy out of his winter coat. “Something happen?”
“Umm…” David seemed to consider his words before talking. “We were walking past the ‘adult room’.”
“What’s the adult room?” Deanna asked as she overheard, immediately growing suspicious. 
“Well, there’s a kid room where the kids go to watch TV and play games.” David explained. “And the adult room where the adults go to watch TV and play games.”

The Frost wives shared a look, both women praying to Odin that ‘adult TV and games’ was not what it sounded like. “Ooookay…” Selena dragged out, only interrupted by a small cough from Elsianna as she continued to work on her art with Deanna. “So, what happened when you walked past the ‘adult room’?”

“I saw mommy.” David replied. “Both mommy and mother. On their TV.”

“OH!” Both women laughed in relief. “So you saw something about where we work, right?”
“Yeah…” David nodded his head. “But then there was a really angry woman yelling on the screen. She called you-“ he looked at Selena. “A witch and Selena Fraud. All the adults were laughing at that.”

Selena had to wince at that. She knew Clark’s family – the Winslows. Good people, kind people. Were they laughing at her?

“Some of the guys said that-“ he searched his mind, as if trying to remember what he could. “Holly would win because she was hotter looking. What does ‘temperture’ have to do with it?”

Perhaps it was her exhaustion, but Selena could not help rolling her eyes at that remark. Typical men… she thought. She had no delusions about her appearance. She wasn’t ‘beautiful’ compared to the bombshells and models like Syren, Sienna, Kelcey and, yes, Holly Adams. She never claimed to be a ‘stunning’ or ‘hot beauty’. Hell, there was a time that a “Hot or Not” list had been made on the SCW website, and Selena had DEFINITELY made the “Not” part of that list. Still, she was glad that ‘hotness’ had no factor in determining who was the better wrestler, and while, objectively speaking, Holly was a more attractive woman than Selena was, Deanna beat them both without even trying!

“It doesn’t, David.” Selena sighed. “They were just… having fun watching TV. Nothing wrong with that.”
“But they said you’d lose.” David replied. “And that woman said you were Selena Fraud. Why is she calling you that? Aren’t we Frost?”

“We are.” Selena assured, rubbing her son’s shoulders. “See, some people at work like to bully and call us names. Fraud is another word for ‘fake’ and the woman that was screaming? Well, she’s been saying I’m a fake.”

“But you’re not.” David tried, doing his best to grasp at what his mother was saying.

“No, she’s not!” Deanna assured, casting her glance over the table she stood at towards her wife and son, trying to simplify things further for the boy. “That woman screaming was just a bully calling us names. Remember when that boy at the Oberwesel zoo insulted Oberon because you said he was part wolf?” 

“Yeah…” David grumbled, remember that day they had all been kicked out of the zoo for misconduct.
“But what if you lose?” he asked, despite, Selena was sure, him not really knowing how exactly Selena ‘played’ at work.

“And I might.” She sighed. It was a real possibility. First, Holly was good enough to beat her on her own. She had proven that by beating Syren. Second, when she inevitably brought in the Brand, there was a chance that they could outnumber and overpower her, even with Deanna by her side. The Brand were a damn powerful group together – the World and Adrenaline Champion with Deanna only able to battle them to a no contest last Breakdown.

“I might lose.” Selena admitted. “And that…that would suck.” Quickly, she held up a hand towards Deanna to prevent the redhead from interjecting again. “But what happens when we get knocked down, David?”
The boy looked up to his mother. “Pick ourselves up?”
“And it’s not about how many times you get knocked down, is it?”
“It’s about how many times you can get back up.” David repeated, remembering the lessons his mothers had instilled on him, Elsianna and Amiliah for years.

“Right.” Selena smiled, reaching out to ruffle the boys hair, which still had a few specks of fallen snow from the outside. “Now go take a hot bath before you get sick from the cold.”

Behind her, Elsianna gave a small sneeze, earning her mother’s attention. “You too, Elsianna. I’ll make some hot chocolate for everyone.”

“With marshmallows?!” David asked, giving a whoop and a holler as Selena nodded her head. With no further prodding needed, the boy scampered up the steps to the bathroom to grab a hot shower, Elsianna quietly leaving, after giving her thanks to her mothers, her landscape homework in tow.

Alone in the room with Deanna, Selena moved over to the kitchen to get to work making the promised beverages for her children, using the proper cocoa powder with a bit of heated water and milk. A sigh escaped her as she stirred the contents with a spoon.

“Least they’re not being harassed at school about what she’s saying.” Selena replied before giving a yawn. “Last thing I want is for them to go through what I did…”
“With Gavin?” The question came from Deanna, and Selena nodded to it.

In a way, her past with the younger Scythe, was the reason why she could handle so much of the bully-tactics that Holly employed. Her children… she wanted to spare them that, even though she couldn’t 100% do that, as was the case with Elsianna and Aaron Stanton years ago.

“I’m scared.” The voice came from a whisper from Selena as she gazed down at the brown and white drinks she was stirring. “How long before she brings her camera-folk here? How long before she starts showing up at our kids’ school or something? Like she wants to ‘read them a story’ again or whatever crap excuse she conjures up?”

“The school wouldn’t do that without contacting us.” Deanna assured, moving up behind Selena to wrap her arms around Selena’s waist, the Snow Queen leaning into the warm body of her wife.

“I wish I could believe that.” Selena thought. “But I didn’t think Holly would stoop so low as to spy on us. And Cid Turner broke into our bus to deliver that desperate letter to come to his complex – for Odin’s sake, he wanted to impregnate you! And we both know how truly sick Giovanni is.”

She felt Deanna’s head nod against her neck, the touch comforting but the confirmation not so.

“You’re worried you’re losing your haven.” Deanna whispered.
The platinum-blonde gave a long sigh. “Yes.” she whispered back, lowering her head, her hands splaying out onto the counter next to the mugs filled with liquid chocolate. “I’m so scared that Holly’s going to go too far. And if she does… if she brings her vapid cast and superficial show here… just to mess with me…”

Her throat bobbed at the thought and her heart sank. It would be so easy for Holly to ‘show up’ at Elsianna or David’s class with ‘a book to read’ – or, gods forbid, Giovanni Aries... It was as terrifying as Xander showing up outside her gates while she was at Breakdown or outside her bus with her wife inside years ago!

“I should be thinking about ways to beat her in the ring!” Selena spat angrily. “Not if my children are safe in my own home and in my own city!”

Deanna’s arms tightened around Selena’s waist, her lips pressing a soft, kiss, desperately trying to calm the platinum-blonde. They remained standing there for what seemed like several minutes…

“We need a break.” Came Deanna’s voice as she turned Selena around to face her.
“What?” Selena asked, reaching up a hand to rub at her eye, heavy from the crashing effect of the energy shot she had taken.
“We need a break – you most of all.” Deanna explained. “They got to us a few weeks ago with that bugging the title thing. And if we keep letting them get to us whenever they so much as tweet or say something stupid, we’re not going to be able to beat them next weekend.”

“So, what are you suggesting?” Selena asked patiently, her voice sounding tired.
“We go out.” Deanna shrugged. “No kids, no wrestling. Just us – like we use to in order to get away from all of this.”
The platinum-blonde tilted her head. “A ‘break’ date, huh?”

The redhead gave another shrug but the excitement in her voice was not lost on the older Frost. “Think about it. We get away for one night. We recharge! Reclaim our haven!” 
“Reclaim our haven?” Selena asked, a chuckle in her voice.

“Yeah…” Deanna nodded, biting her lower lip in thought for a moment. “I want her to pay too, okay?” she admitted. “You think I like that she invaded our privacy? For all that stuff she’s said about us, our marriage, about your career- the fact that you don’t feel safe here.”
“Deanna-“ Selena tried before she felt warm fingers pressing into her pale lips, silencing her.

“No. I know you don’t.” Deanna interjected. “At least not like you should. You’re so worried about a spy-cam or someone coming in or whatever that you’re wearing yourself out and you’re playing right into Holly’s hands! She doesn’t want you at your best like you would for her. She wants you easy prey so she can just take the title. She doesn’t care how she does it as long as she gets it! And that… that isn’t you. That isn’t us.”

Selena remained silent for a moment, weighing her wife’s words in her mind. “So, you think a date will solve that?” she asked.
“One night – no work, no wrestling, no Holly. Just two people who love each other finding a moment of happiness together.” Her volume dropped lower. “Like we use to…” causing a sigh to escape from the Snow Queen.
“We use to talk about wrestling all the time.” Selena countered. “Even on dates.”
“And if that happens naturally, so be it.” Deanna offered. “But we can’t just stay here and wallow.”

This wasn’t some date/booty call that they would laugh about later. Deanna was genuinely worried. Selena could see that even in her current state. And she had a point. Holly’s actions were different than most people she had fought against in the past. In Holly’s case, it was less worried about inside the ring and more outside that took up Selena’s mind. The interferences, the tactics, the desperate acts Holly had done… but if she kept thinking of it. If she let Holly keep having such a large living space in her head…

Then Selena’s reign as world champion would end this Sunday and all her and Deanna’s work to make the title worth something would have fallen to one who used the title as a damn spy-tool, no different than the last one before Selena, who had used it with a fake title to promote a fake brotherhood…

“Alright.” Selena smiled. “Why not? Let’s do it.”
“Really?” Deanna asked. 
“Sure!” Selena smiled, reaching up to caress her wife’s face. “In fact, I say we go all the way with this whole ‘like we use to’.”
“What do you mean?” Deanna asked, a bit surprised.

“I’m thinking…” Selena lowered her head and whispered. “Tony’s?”
Emerald eyes went wide. “Tony’s Di Napoli?!” she almost shrieked happily, throwing her arms around Selena, who caught her, though just barely. “This is going to be so wonderful!”

“I hope so.” Selena whispered before gently disengaging from Deanna to give another yawn. “So, Friday?” she asked mid-yawn.
“Sure.” Deanna nodded.
“Okay.” Selena nodded. “You think you could give the kids their drinks when they come downstairs. I have to get back to studying Malcolm’s notes.”

“Oh…” Deanna looked back for a moment before staring up at Selena’s red eyes, once more seeing the bags underneath them. “Yeah, sure… just… can you do one more thing for me?” she asked, thinking quickly.
“I guess.” Selena shrugged and was surprised when Deanna took her by the hand and lead her to sit on the couch with her.

“I just need your help to help me do my cleansing breaths.” She explained, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath. “Just take my hand and close your eyes with me.”

A little surprised, Selena still did as she was told. “Okay, now what?”
“Now just count backwards from 100 as I breath. That should help.” Deanna replied, her eyes closed and her back straight.

“Alright.” Selena shrugged. “100…99…98….97…….96…….95………..94………”

The time between numbers grew longer and Deanna could hear Selena taking longer breaths in-between numbers. Sneaking one eye open, she spied her wife slowly wobbling a little to the left and right.

“56……………….55…………..54……………”

Slowly and gently, Deanna reached out around her wife’s shoulder, gently pulling on it to guide Selena to fall into her waiting arms. Catching the Snow Queen, Deanna let them both fall until they were lying on the couch, the world champion of SCW safe in her wife’s arms. Selena’s voice stopped and was replaced by a quiet, calm breathing as Deanna ran a hand through her wife’s platinum-blonde hair. As she heard the children coming down the stairs for their hot chocolate, she signaled to them with a finger to her lips.

Seeing her mothers in such a state, Elsianna nodded her head before stopping David from entering the room. Keeping him quiet with silent-sign directions, the eldest tiptoed across the kitchen, grabbed the mugs and tiptoed back to David, the two disappearing into the basement to leave their mothers alone.

I’ve got you… Deanna whispered as she held her wife in her arms. Even if they expose and ruin all of this… I will always be here. She gently kissed her beloved’s crown. I will always be your haven…