Post by irobin on Jul 16, 2011 19:20:49 GMT -5
“What the Hell was that?”
“What was what?”
“You know what I’m talking about, Jason. Waiting for Warrior in his locker room and then brutalising him with a lead pipe! My God, you could go to jail!”
“He won’t press charges. If he did, he’d go down like a stone with what he’s done to us.”
“So that’s it then? It’s revenge and that makes it okay?”
“What? No, that… That’s not what I said.”
Jace sighed and dropped his bag to the floor. It was the evening after the last episode of Sunday Night Vengeance, and he had just arrived back at his hotel room, and this was how May chose to greet him. Jace slowly shook his head, looking anywhere except at May, he couldn’t bring himself to meet her gaze, he didn’t need to see it to know the look of frustration that would be in her eyes.
“It’s what you meant though, isn’t it? You attacked Warrior because of what he’s done to you these past weeks. He was crazy and sadistic before, who knows what twisted plans he’s concocting now? Honestly, Jason, I told you to let this go!”
“And I told you that I can’t. If I let him just carry on like this, then it makes me look like a bitch. He won’t stop either, and you know that too.”
Now it was May’s turn to look away, she knew that Jace was right; Warrior had proven time and time again that he wasn’t going to let this go easily. He seemed to be intent on putting an end to Jace’s career (and if he was lucky, just his career) one way or another. In previous matches, Warrior had freely resorted to using weapons to get disqualified because he was more preoccupied with hurting his opponents than winning. It didn’t change the fact that May wanted Jace to get away from it all, to walk away whilst he could.
“Jace… I… I’m just looking out for you. This isn’t safe, this isn’t wrestling… It’s… I don’t know what it is, but I’m afraid that you’re going to get hurt. Seriously hurt.”
“I know what I’m getting myself into. I will deal with Warrior in my own way, last night, I raised the stakes and if anything, now Warrior will be having this same conversation. He’s suddenly found himself on the receiving end of a surprise attack, he’ll spend most of the time between now and the next Vengeance trying to get his head around that one.”
“And when he does, he’ll be filled with murderous rage, Jason! Don’t you get it? You’ve just escalated this all to the next level. He’s going to kill you!”
“He’s not going to kill me, don’t be ridiculous.”
“Isn’t he? He’s already put you in the hospital twice, what’s to stop him doing it again?”
“He won’t try anything without his back up dancers.”
“So? The Dogs of War are never far behind, and who’s backing you up, Jace? It’s you and me, and as much as I love you… I…”
“…You can’t help me. I know.”
“Don’t you see it? You’re alone. Dante Holly is injured, Roy Viper… Well, look how that one turned out.”
“Yeah, funny thing that, I’m going to have a chance to teach Mr. Viper a thing or two about loyalty myself.”
Jace clenched his fists, his eyes narrowing as he stared at the floor. Roy Viper had saved Jace and Dante from a beat down by Warrior and his lackeys not that long ago, and had seemed like a trustworthy ally, he had a certain charm and open honesty about him that Jace suspected came from his Irish heritage. However, he had proven himself to be a snake by nature, as well as name, selling out Kirk Kennedy and the entire EUW to aid Mark Rivera. His reward? A shot at the World Championship. Was it worth it? Jace somehow doubted it, although it may have been considered a good move if Roy had actually won the belt, instead of getting beaten by TITAN.
“You mean… You’re fighting Roy Viper?”
“Yeah, that’s right.”
“I’m not sure that that’s any better. He’s working for Rivera, isn’t he? Rivera wants you gone as badly as Warrior does, I can’t imagine he’s given Roy any orders to go easy on you on your return.”
“I’m quite confident that he’s told Roy to put me back on the shelf for another month or two.”
“So why are you going through with it?”
“Because I have to. I sent Warrior a message last night, and he received it loud and clear. It said that I wasn’t going to just take his crap any longer, I was going to fight back, even if that means taking a few pages out of his book to do it.”
“What does Warrior have to do with it?”
“…He’s also my opponent.”
“Oh God, Jace, you’re in a handicap match? They’ll tear you apart!”
“It’s not a handicap match. It’s a normal tag match.”
“And who’s your partner? Chance Fusion? Superbitch? Mark Rivera himself?”
“No, it’s none of those guys. It’s Danny Tenfold.”
“Danny T?”
“Yeah.”
May blinked in disbelief. Tenfold was going to be Jace’s partner? Really? What did Tenfold have to gain from getting involved in this bloody mess? However, she didn’t need to know the reason why, because it was the first good thing that she had heard since Jace got home. He wasn’t going to be alone in the ring with Warrior and Roy Viper, he had a partner, and more than that, he had a partner he could trust.
“Well, finally some good news then. At least you know that Danny will look out for you. That… That’s a big relief. He’s one of the genuine good guys.”
“Yeah, just like Roy Viper was.”
“Oh, Jason, you don’t mean that. Danny’s nothing like Roy.”
“Isn’t he? We all thought Roy was one of the good guys after he saved Dante and myself.”
“Well, that was clearly an act, wasn’t it? He saw a chance to divert attention… He was always a bit shifty if you ask me.”
Jace rolled his eyes.
“Yeah, because you’re always right, aren’t you? You KNOW that Danny’s a good guy, like you KNEW that Roy wasn’t to be trusted. Why didn’t you tell me that at the time? If you can see the future, why didn’t you warn me, huh? Why not tell me to stop Roy before he hit Kirk with that chair? Or better yet, why not tell me that the ladder was going to buckle at Back 2 Roots? Then I could have gotten off before it went down and won the belt for myself.”
Jace almost spat out the last few words, without realising it, he was already clenching his fists, a few fine beads of sweat appearing on his forehead as he spoke. His body temperature was up, his nostrils were flared and his eyes had narrowed, May knew the signs of anger and took a few steps backwards, turning away from Jace and peering out of the window to stare into the New York skyline.
“What is with you, Jason? You’re in a bad mood all the time, you spend all your time training and then when you come home, you just shout at me all the time. You never used to be like this, I mean, what happened to that sweet man that came to visit Chad Kennedy in the hospital when we met the first time? You cared enough about him to go behind Rivera’s back, knowing what he would do when he found out, and even though Chad wasn’t able to speak or even respond, you still came in and spent time with him.”
May turned back around to face him.
“That’s the Jason Ambrose I fell for. The one with the big heart and the cocky smile.”
Jace sighed heavily, the anger emptying out of him as his muscles relaxed and his head slumped, he looked up to say something and couldn’t find the words, so instead he stared down at the floor. May tilted her head and smiled softly, approaching him and delicately placing one hand on his arm, feeling his warm bicep against her palm.
“You never smile any more, Jace.”
“…”
“Jace, I just don’t want anything to happen to you. I love you, I don’t want to see you bloodied and beaten again.”
“I know, and I promised you that if it happened again, I would quit. For good.”
“But why does it have to get to that point? Can’t you quit now, before you end up in a hospital again?”
Jace clenched his fists again, his muscles tensing once more as he brushed May’s hand away from his arm.
“You just don’t understand it... You don’t understand me.”
“Perhaps if you just spoke to me about it some time! I know you think you’re protecting me, but you’re just pushing me away, I… I’m a part of your life, damn it, and I’m affected by these things too!”
“Now I’m pushing you away? What happened to ‘I’ll always be by your side’, May? So things are a bit difficult right now, and you want to just walk away? Is that it?”
“I…”
Jace didn’t move, he didn’t look up, and he spoke quietly and calmly.
“Is this it, May?”
May’s face fell, this was not what she had wanted at all, but he was being so stubborn, and she didn’t know how much more of it she could take. Everything she had said so far had been true, he was no longer the man that she had fallen in love with. Now, he was like a stranger to her, isolated, angry, always in a foul mood and full of dark thoughts about revenge and violence, she wouldn’t say it, but he had become a copy of Warrior. He was no longer “Amazing” Jason Ambrose, and May wasn’t sure that she loved this new man.
“Maybe it is.”
With that, May turned on her heels and walked to the bedroom, her feet slapping against the hardwood floor until the door was pulled shut gently, a quiet click signalling that it was closed. Jace heard all these sounds, none of them were loud, but that wouldn’t be right for May, nothing she ever did was loud, it wasn’t her style. So Jace was now alone in the lounge, he slumped against the counter that split the lounge and the kitchen and sighed heavily, it was the loudest noise in the entire apartment. However, it wasn’t the only noise, through the wall, Jace could hear a sound he had never wanted to hear. It was May, sobbing for all she was worth.
The next morning came around too soon for Jace, the light streaking across the room from the large windows, disturbing him from his sleep. His head was heavy and his reactions were slow, but the room was blurry and despite Jace’s best efforts, it wouldn’t stay still. He groggily sat up, wiping his eyes, glancing around to see the cause of such sudden and unfamiliar pain. Was it Warrior? Had he broken in and attacked Jace during the night?
Blinking, Jace’s memory slowly began to return to him. He had fought with May, there was a lot of shouting, she had gone to bed, he had slept on the sofa.
Standing up, Jace felt his foot hit something solid and smooth. Glancing down, he remembered even more.
May had gone to bed. He had drank bourbon until he fell asleep at some God-forsaken hour of the early morning. Jace sighed and slumped back down onto the sofa, his head throbbing now.
Jace should really have remembered that first, the smell of stale whiskey was on his breath, almost enough to make him gag, but as he collected his thoughts, he remembered more and more of the argument with May. She had questioned his strength, she didn’t think he was capable of handling Warrior in, or out of the ring. She wanted Jace to quit, because he wasn’t good enough to hack it alone, and she was only even receptive to the idea of him wrestling because he was going to be in a tag match.
May had told him that he wasn’t the same man any more. Of course he was the same, he was still The Jace, the fans cheered him on, they admired his spirit and will, even if he wasn’t as technically gifted as some people. He was still cool and popular, it was just that he now had to deal with Warrior being behind every corner. She said he didn’t smile any more. He still smiled, he still enjoyed life. He had smiled after clubbing Warrior with a lead pipe.
She had said she didn’t know him any more.
She had said that maybe this was the end.
Where was she?
Jace instantly got up, unsteady on his feet, he tried to walk, but had to grab hold of items for support, staggering into the hallway and knocking over a small table as he did so.
“May?”
“You there, May?”
Jace flung open the door to the bedroom, the curtains were open and the bed was made, but there was no-one in here. Out of the corner of his eye, Jace spotted a small piece of paper, folded over and placed on one of the many pillows on the huge bed in the centre of the wall. Specifically, it was placed on his pillow, and he knew instantly who had left it for him.
Jace immediately scrunched up the note and threw it across the room. What could he do now? Warrior had now taken everything from him. Warrior knew the pain of loss, he had once had a family, had been a father, May was as much as Jace has ever known and now she was gone. There was only one thing to do, and that was to do what May had asked him to do.
He had to take care of Warrior, and then, he could finally take care of May, as a proper boyfriend and not as some pale imitation like he had been. That meant that he needed to train. Jace turned on the en-suite shower to get the hot water flowing before heading back to the lounge and fishing his phone out of his bag and dialling in a number.
“Hey, Danny. It’s Jace. Are you still in New York?”
“Ungh? Jace? Yeah I am but… What time is it? Man, it’s early? …Too early, man, we can train later.”
“Not today, Danny. This is serious.”
“…You sound serious. Has something happened? Is it May?”
“….”
“Jace?”
“I’ll explain it later, Danny. Just get up and meet me in the gym by the Gardens, I’ll be demolishing a few punch bags.”
With that, Jace hung up and headed off for a shower. His head was throbbing, but that pain was barely noticeable now, as much as he wanted to blame Warrior, he had only himself to blame, because he had let Warrior get to him. That had cost him May, and that was a price that he had never expected to have to pay, but he would ensure that Warrior paid the price for her departure too. He couldn’t shake thoughts of getting revenge on Warrior and as much as it pained Jace to see that May was right about his obsessions, he could not change who he was, so he would go to Hell and fight Warrior on his own terms and then, when all was said and done, he would return on the other side, and May would return to him.
Until then, it was all about making sure that Warrior felt every second of the pain that Jace was feeling right now.
“What was what?”
“You know what I’m talking about, Jason. Waiting for Warrior in his locker room and then brutalising him with a lead pipe! My God, you could go to jail!”
“He won’t press charges. If he did, he’d go down like a stone with what he’s done to us.”
“So that’s it then? It’s revenge and that makes it okay?”
“What? No, that… That’s not what I said.”
Jace sighed and dropped his bag to the floor. It was the evening after the last episode of Sunday Night Vengeance, and he had just arrived back at his hotel room, and this was how May chose to greet him. Jace slowly shook his head, looking anywhere except at May, he couldn’t bring himself to meet her gaze, he didn’t need to see it to know the look of frustration that would be in her eyes.
“It’s what you meant though, isn’t it? You attacked Warrior because of what he’s done to you these past weeks. He was crazy and sadistic before, who knows what twisted plans he’s concocting now? Honestly, Jason, I told you to let this go!”
“And I told you that I can’t. If I let him just carry on like this, then it makes me look like a bitch. He won’t stop either, and you know that too.”
Now it was May’s turn to look away, she knew that Jace was right; Warrior had proven time and time again that he wasn’t going to let this go easily. He seemed to be intent on putting an end to Jace’s career (and if he was lucky, just his career) one way or another. In previous matches, Warrior had freely resorted to using weapons to get disqualified because he was more preoccupied with hurting his opponents than winning. It didn’t change the fact that May wanted Jace to get away from it all, to walk away whilst he could.
“Jace… I… I’m just looking out for you. This isn’t safe, this isn’t wrestling… It’s… I don’t know what it is, but I’m afraid that you’re going to get hurt. Seriously hurt.”
“I know what I’m getting myself into. I will deal with Warrior in my own way, last night, I raised the stakes and if anything, now Warrior will be having this same conversation. He’s suddenly found himself on the receiving end of a surprise attack, he’ll spend most of the time between now and the next Vengeance trying to get his head around that one.”
“And when he does, he’ll be filled with murderous rage, Jason! Don’t you get it? You’ve just escalated this all to the next level. He’s going to kill you!”
“He’s not going to kill me, don’t be ridiculous.”
“Isn’t he? He’s already put you in the hospital twice, what’s to stop him doing it again?”
“He won’t try anything without his back up dancers.”
“So? The Dogs of War are never far behind, and who’s backing you up, Jace? It’s you and me, and as much as I love you… I…”
“…You can’t help me. I know.”
“Don’t you see it? You’re alone. Dante Holly is injured, Roy Viper… Well, look how that one turned out.”
“Yeah, funny thing that, I’m going to have a chance to teach Mr. Viper a thing or two about loyalty myself.”
Jace clenched his fists, his eyes narrowing as he stared at the floor. Roy Viper had saved Jace and Dante from a beat down by Warrior and his lackeys not that long ago, and had seemed like a trustworthy ally, he had a certain charm and open honesty about him that Jace suspected came from his Irish heritage. However, he had proven himself to be a snake by nature, as well as name, selling out Kirk Kennedy and the entire EUW to aid Mark Rivera. His reward? A shot at the World Championship. Was it worth it? Jace somehow doubted it, although it may have been considered a good move if Roy had actually won the belt, instead of getting beaten by TITAN.
“You mean… You’re fighting Roy Viper?”
“Yeah, that’s right.”
“I’m not sure that that’s any better. He’s working for Rivera, isn’t he? Rivera wants you gone as badly as Warrior does, I can’t imagine he’s given Roy any orders to go easy on you on your return.”
“I’m quite confident that he’s told Roy to put me back on the shelf for another month or two.”
“So why are you going through with it?”
“Because I have to. I sent Warrior a message last night, and he received it loud and clear. It said that I wasn’t going to just take his crap any longer, I was going to fight back, even if that means taking a few pages out of his book to do it.”
“What does Warrior have to do with it?”
“…He’s also my opponent.”
“Oh God, Jace, you’re in a handicap match? They’ll tear you apart!”
“It’s not a handicap match. It’s a normal tag match.”
“And who’s your partner? Chance Fusion? Superbitch? Mark Rivera himself?”
“No, it’s none of those guys. It’s Danny Tenfold.”
“Danny T?”
“Yeah.”
May blinked in disbelief. Tenfold was going to be Jace’s partner? Really? What did Tenfold have to gain from getting involved in this bloody mess? However, she didn’t need to know the reason why, because it was the first good thing that she had heard since Jace got home. He wasn’t going to be alone in the ring with Warrior and Roy Viper, he had a partner, and more than that, he had a partner he could trust.
“Well, finally some good news then. At least you know that Danny will look out for you. That… That’s a big relief. He’s one of the genuine good guys.”
“Yeah, just like Roy Viper was.”
“Oh, Jason, you don’t mean that. Danny’s nothing like Roy.”
“Isn’t he? We all thought Roy was one of the good guys after he saved Dante and myself.”
“Well, that was clearly an act, wasn’t it? He saw a chance to divert attention… He was always a bit shifty if you ask me.”
Jace rolled his eyes.
“Yeah, because you’re always right, aren’t you? You KNOW that Danny’s a good guy, like you KNEW that Roy wasn’t to be trusted. Why didn’t you tell me that at the time? If you can see the future, why didn’t you warn me, huh? Why not tell me to stop Roy before he hit Kirk with that chair? Or better yet, why not tell me that the ladder was going to buckle at Back 2 Roots? Then I could have gotten off before it went down and won the belt for myself.”
Jace almost spat out the last few words, without realising it, he was already clenching his fists, a few fine beads of sweat appearing on his forehead as he spoke. His body temperature was up, his nostrils were flared and his eyes had narrowed, May knew the signs of anger and took a few steps backwards, turning away from Jace and peering out of the window to stare into the New York skyline.
“What is with you, Jason? You’re in a bad mood all the time, you spend all your time training and then when you come home, you just shout at me all the time. You never used to be like this, I mean, what happened to that sweet man that came to visit Chad Kennedy in the hospital when we met the first time? You cared enough about him to go behind Rivera’s back, knowing what he would do when he found out, and even though Chad wasn’t able to speak or even respond, you still came in and spent time with him.”
May turned back around to face him.
“That’s the Jason Ambrose I fell for. The one with the big heart and the cocky smile.”
Jace sighed heavily, the anger emptying out of him as his muscles relaxed and his head slumped, he looked up to say something and couldn’t find the words, so instead he stared down at the floor. May tilted her head and smiled softly, approaching him and delicately placing one hand on his arm, feeling his warm bicep against her palm.
“You never smile any more, Jace.”
“…”
“Jace, I just don’t want anything to happen to you. I love you, I don’t want to see you bloodied and beaten again.”
“I know, and I promised you that if it happened again, I would quit. For good.”
“But why does it have to get to that point? Can’t you quit now, before you end up in a hospital again?”
Jace clenched his fists again, his muscles tensing once more as he brushed May’s hand away from his arm.
“You just don’t understand it... You don’t understand me.”
“Perhaps if you just spoke to me about it some time! I know you think you’re protecting me, but you’re just pushing me away, I… I’m a part of your life, damn it, and I’m affected by these things too!”
“Now I’m pushing you away? What happened to ‘I’ll always be by your side’, May? So things are a bit difficult right now, and you want to just walk away? Is that it?”
“I…”
Jace didn’t move, he didn’t look up, and he spoke quietly and calmly.
“Is this it, May?”
May’s face fell, this was not what she had wanted at all, but he was being so stubborn, and she didn’t know how much more of it she could take. Everything she had said so far had been true, he was no longer the man that she had fallen in love with. Now, he was like a stranger to her, isolated, angry, always in a foul mood and full of dark thoughts about revenge and violence, she wouldn’t say it, but he had become a copy of Warrior. He was no longer “Amazing” Jason Ambrose, and May wasn’t sure that she loved this new man.
“Maybe it is.”
With that, May turned on her heels and walked to the bedroom, her feet slapping against the hardwood floor until the door was pulled shut gently, a quiet click signalling that it was closed. Jace heard all these sounds, none of them were loud, but that wouldn’t be right for May, nothing she ever did was loud, it wasn’t her style. So Jace was now alone in the lounge, he slumped against the counter that split the lounge and the kitchen and sighed heavily, it was the loudest noise in the entire apartment. However, it wasn’t the only noise, through the wall, Jace could hear a sound he had never wanted to hear. It was May, sobbing for all she was worth.
===
The next morning came around too soon for Jace, the light streaking across the room from the large windows, disturbing him from his sleep. His head was heavy and his reactions were slow, but the room was blurry and despite Jace’s best efforts, it wouldn’t stay still. He groggily sat up, wiping his eyes, glancing around to see the cause of such sudden and unfamiliar pain. Was it Warrior? Had he broken in and attacked Jace during the night?
Blinking, Jace’s memory slowly began to return to him. He had fought with May, there was a lot of shouting, she had gone to bed, he had slept on the sofa.
Standing up, Jace felt his foot hit something solid and smooth. Glancing down, he remembered even more.
May had gone to bed. He had drank bourbon until he fell asleep at some God-forsaken hour of the early morning. Jace sighed and slumped back down onto the sofa, his head throbbing now.
Jace should really have remembered that first, the smell of stale whiskey was on his breath, almost enough to make him gag, but as he collected his thoughts, he remembered more and more of the argument with May. She had questioned his strength, she didn’t think he was capable of handling Warrior in, or out of the ring. She wanted Jace to quit, because he wasn’t good enough to hack it alone, and she was only even receptive to the idea of him wrestling because he was going to be in a tag match.
May had told him that he wasn’t the same man any more. Of course he was the same, he was still The Jace, the fans cheered him on, they admired his spirit and will, even if he wasn’t as technically gifted as some people. He was still cool and popular, it was just that he now had to deal with Warrior being behind every corner. She said he didn’t smile any more. He still smiled, he still enjoyed life. He had smiled after clubbing Warrior with a lead pipe.
She had said she didn’t know him any more.
She had said that maybe this was the end.
Where was she?
Jace instantly got up, unsteady on his feet, he tried to walk, but had to grab hold of items for support, staggering into the hallway and knocking over a small table as he did so.
“May?”
“You there, May?”
Jace flung open the door to the bedroom, the curtains were open and the bed was made, but there was no-one in here. Out of the corner of his eye, Jace spotted a small piece of paper, folded over and placed on one of the many pillows on the huge bed in the centre of the wall. Specifically, it was placed on his pillow, and he knew instantly who had left it for him.
Jason,
I love you, which makes this all the more difficult because as much as you have changed and become some aggressive, violent man that I don’t recognise, you are still the man I fell in love with, somewhere deep inside. This whole thing with Warrior is proving to be a nightmare, and I know you can beat him, but I don’t know what you’re going to have to do to stop him. Frankly, I don’t think I want to know.
All I seem to do is get in the way. I threw in the towel to save you, to save your career! Warrior would have broken you, given the chance, I had to intervene, but you’ve never forgiven me for it. It’s an embarrassment to you. I am an embarrassment to you. I’m just your idiot girlfriend that doesn’t know the first thing about you, or about pride.
What I do know, is that I will always be rooting for you. I’ll watch you on TV, and I’ll cheer for you every time and, maybe one day, we can be back together, but as long as you keep up this madness… This obsession… I don’t want any part of it. It hurts me to see you like this, and I can’t help thinking that you’ll be better off without me getting in the way.
I need some time alone, Jason. You do what you have to do, and let me do what I have to do. Maybe we’ll both come out stronger for it. Maybe then we can be together again and be happy, like the old days.
Until then, just remember that I love you. No matter what.
May
I love you, which makes this all the more difficult because as much as you have changed and become some aggressive, violent man that I don’t recognise, you are still the man I fell in love with, somewhere deep inside. This whole thing with Warrior is proving to be a nightmare, and I know you can beat him, but I don’t know what you’re going to have to do to stop him. Frankly, I don’t think I want to know.
All I seem to do is get in the way. I threw in the towel to save you, to save your career! Warrior would have broken you, given the chance, I had to intervene, but you’ve never forgiven me for it. It’s an embarrassment to you. I am an embarrassment to you. I’m just your idiot girlfriend that doesn’t know the first thing about you, or about pride.
What I do know, is that I will always be rooting for you. I’ll watch you on TV, and I’ll cheer for you every time and, maybe one day, we can be back together, but as long as you keep up this madness… This obsession… I don’t want any part of it. It hurts me to see you like this, and I can’t help thinking that you’ll be better off without me getting in the way.
I need some time alone, Jason. You do what you have to do, and let me do what I have to do. Maybe we’ll both come out stronger for it. Maybe then we can be together again and be happy, like the old days.
Until then, just remember that I love you. No matter what.
May
Jace immediately scrunched up the note and threw it across the room. What could he do now? Warrior had now taken everything from him. Warrior knew the pain of loss, he had once had a family, had been a father, May was as much as Jace has ever known and now she was gone. There was only one thing to do, and that was to do what May had asked him to do.
He had to take care of Warrior, and then, he could finally take care of May, as a proper boyfriend and not as some pale imitation like he had been. That meant that he needed to train. Jace turned on the en-suite shower to get the hot water flowing before heading back to the lounge and fishing his phone out of his bag and dialling in a number.
“Hey, Danny. It’s Jace. Are you still in New York?”
“Ungh? Jace? Yeah I am but… What time is it? Man, it’s early? …Too early, man, we can train later.”
“Not today, Danny. This is serious.”
“…You sound serious. Has something happened? Is it May?”
“….”
“Jace?”
“I’ll explain it later, Danny. Just get up and meet me in the gym by the Gardens, I’ll be demolishing a few punch bags.”
With that, Jace hung up and headed off for a shower. His head was throbbing, but that pain was barely noticeable now, as much as he wanted to blame Warrior, he had only himself to blame, because he had let Warrior get to him. That had cost him May, and that was a price that he had never expected to have to pay, but he would ensure that Warrior paid the price for her departure too. He couldn’t shake thoughts of getting revenge on Warrior and as much as it pained Jace to see that May was right about his obsessions, he could not change who he was, so he would go to Hell and fight Warrior on his own terms and then, when all was said and done, he would return on the other side, and May would return to him.
Until then, it was all about making sure that Warrior felt every second of the pain that Jace was feeling right now.