Selena Frost vs. Asher Hayes

[SnowQueenSCW]

Project: Black Ice

”The Next Move”

Frost ‘Forever Home’
Manhattan, New York
September 28th, 2021
3:16pm

The primary sound she heard was the rainfall as it pattered above and around her. Being inside the house, the woman was quite protected from the storm as she lay on the couch, her eyes taking a break from the small, red book she had been reading that now rested over her chest.

Closing her eyes, she took a slow, deep breath, letting the quietness fill her and further her state of calm. She was tempted to fall asleep, her head supported by a sturdy, yet comfortable, pillow. She had often, in such position and state, drifted off to a nap-sleep this past week.

This past week…

Selena sighed, letting her breath drift out of her. It had been less than a week since she had lost the World Championship to Cid Turner and the myriad of emotions had not completely left her. Was she angry? Of course. Angry at herself for letting Cid take back the world title, because… well, it was clear to everyone that had watched.

Since the beginning of the year, when she had been thrust back onto the singles-division of SCW, she had worked harder than, she believed, anyone to prove that she still belonged there. To find her place within it. And in those seven or so months, she had beaten practically every person she faced, including Syren and Cid, she’d main-evented Rise to Greatness, becoming only one of five people to retain the championship in about fifteen years – she had done all she could to raise the standard of SCW from what it always seemed to fall back on: relying on friends and allies to interfere rather than by talent. For so many years, that had been the ‘go-to’ for so many champions… as it wrong for Selena to want to change that outlook? To give the SCW Universe matches where they didn’t roll their eyes and easily ‘predict’ how they would end with ‘so and so’ interfering? Was it wrong to keep them at the edge of their seat, watching superstars fight for who was better, even if it was just ‘who was better ‘that night’”? The young woman didn’t think so, but she had failed at Apocalypse. Lost the title to someone that…that…

Inevitably, she felt the second set of emotions come through her. Confusion. She had wanted to continue her train of thought in pegging Cid Turner as the same as Asher Hayes. Someone desperate and willing to do anything and break any rule to become World Champion… but he hadn’t. Cid hadn’t.

He had had every chance and, yes, he had taken advantage of a distraction to try and pin her, but…

He could have… Selena’s thought trailed off for a minute as her ears picked up the crack of thunder from the lightning, a temporary distraction from her thoughts, but not a long one. Cid had the opportunity to hurt Deanna, the Snow Queen had not been so incapacitated to not see that. Cid had knocked her down outside the ring and had every opportunity to hurt Deanna, who had been standing nearby… but he hadn’t. He had simply excused himself. Asher would not have done that.

Another sigh escaped Selena as she kept her eyes closed. She had no reason to believe anything Cid had said. He was spouting nonsense about this Gleenknorb or whatever it was called – clinging to whatever he could to give himself a sense of purpose or identity in this world. And there was still that inevitable “deal” he and Asher had put to paper – would Cid honour that? She had no reason to think otherwise. Despite Asher losing to Syren at Apocalypse, Cid WAS now the World Champion. And if Cid allowed that as Selena had predicted in her promos. If he just laid down and let Asher become the World Champion, joining her and Cid and others like Regan and Kelcey and Kennedy-

Her hands tightened around the red book she held in her hands, the spike of anger returning to her. Everything she had worked for: The months she had spent fighting the best to get a shot for the world title. The hell she went through to retain it… everything Deanna went through with her… and Asher would achieve the same end-result by Cid handing it to him… And while she was less certain that Cid would actually do that, there was still that belief that he would, far stronger than her doubt.

For a moment, she heard laughter coming from the other room, causing her eyes to flash open and turn instinctively. Immediately, she hissed quietly at the tightness in her neck, the pain (which had once been sharp and aggravating) was now dull and throbbing like a very bad headache, not as bad but still forcing her eyes shut and for her mind to mentally curse her.

She had had Cid trapped in the turnbuckle – like a Queen trapping a King for checkmate – when she had thrown that Glass Shard kick. He couldn’t go left or right because of his position in the ring next to the turnbuckle and it wasn’t like the man could fly. Selena had him… she had even thought the word ‘checkmate’ as she had thrown that kick.

But, whether it was his experience or desperation, Selena wasn’t sure, Cid had a place to go, ducking under to land an innovative electric-chair drop on Selena… onto the turnbuckle…

Slowly, painfully slowly, the Snow Queen turned her head back up to stare at the ceiling and reduce the ache in her neck. One second, she had been certain in her victory, the next, it was like her head and neck had exploded. All she could see was stars and her entire body was numb – refusing to obey her mind as part of it had screamed to ‘kick out! He’s pinning you!’.

The medics had been clear after that. Trauma to the neck… whiplash, essentially. Fortunately, it was treatable and the symptoms were manageable, even if Selena refused to take pain medication (which she had done) that the doctors had given her. A few weeks and you should be fine… they had said, causing Selena to almost laugh at the notion, not because of the prognosis, but because she didn’t have a few weeks. She now had nine or so days.

Nine or so days until Breakdown, where she needed to compete – where she HAD to compete, not because she was told to by management. Oh no, Selena had ACCEPTED this match.

Another bit of sound, a mix of cheering and groaning came from the room just beyond her, the family room she lay, close to the connected kitchen, leading to a door that lead to a dinning room, which was now a makeshift gameroom for today to give the Snow Queen a place to rest other than her bedroom upstairs.

Taking a deep breath, as if to prepare herself, Selena grabbed the armrest of the couch, pulling herself up and onto her feet. Immediately, the dull ache returning, exploding from the source – her neck – and travelling up to her skull and down her spine. She remained still as she breathed the pain away, the extent of it nowhere near as bad as it was a few days ago. She felt soft, smoothness of her burgundy nightgown flow down her, adding a little embarrassment of her attire when it was the afternoon.

Still, she didn’t want to lay down anymore and go through the same emotions and thoughts. Hadn’t the doctor opted for a little exercise and movement? Slowly, biting her lower lip and taking a deep breath in and out of her nose, Selena tackled what appeared to be the long walkway (long to her) one step at a time until she was standing in the doorway, her sapphire eyes casting out into the room. She saw her children laughing as they sat around the table, almost huddled over the plastic-and-paper-covered board.

“You landed on my space, which is doubled!” Elsianna declared with a smile. “That’s eight dollars!”
“No way!” whined David. “I don’t have that much money!” he added with a sulk, crossing his arms and sinking in his chair.
“Then that’s game!” declared the redhead sitting at the end of the table. “Count up your money, Elsianna.” She turned her head to the child in her lap. “Ami, want to count with me?” the smaller redhead in Deanna’s lap nodded as the mother picked up the bills.
“That’s a five. How much is five?” Deanna asked, waiting for little Amiliah to count the number on her hand. After several minutes, taking longer due to Amiliah running out of fingers to count, Deanna smiled at her youngest daughter. “Well, we got $23 dollars. How about you Elsianna?”

“Thirty-one.” Elsianna smiled, holding up all the bills she possessed in her gloved hands.
“Looks like you win.” Deanna smiled.
“No fair.” Whined David. “She’s older.”
“I’m older.” Laughed Deanna. “So?”
“I mean…” the boy huffed before an idea hit him. “I wanna play my game! The one grandpa taught me!”
“Chess?” Asked Elsianna. “I don’t think-“
“Chicken?” came the younger boy’s retort.

“David.” Deanna warned, her voice suddenly growing a stern tone. “What did we say about name-calling?”
Immediately, the boy practically withered under his mother’s gaze. “S-sorry…” he tried. “Sorry, Elsa.” He added for good measure. “But you’re still afraid to play me at chess.”
“Honey…” Deanna tried. “Your sister was taught chess by your mother. She’s actually really good.”

It was like the boy had been told there was no Santa Claus. His eyes became wide before he turned his head back to his sibling. “Really?”
Suddenly quite shy, Elsianna nodded her head. “I know a little…” she added.
“Well…what can I beat you in?”

“How about bowling?” Elsianna offered.

Of course, the mothers that stood in the room knew that the eldest child did not mean actual bowling, but rather the plastic-rubber ball and plastic pin set they had bought at the toy-store. Immediately, David’s expression brightened before nodding his head. “It’s downstairs!” he declared.
“And that is where you will be playing it.” Ordered Deanna firmly. “And no throwing the ball at each other!”
“Yes, mom.” David responded before scampering out of the room and down the stairs to the playroom. Quietly, Deanna handed young Amiliah to Elsianna, who took her before following her brother downstairs.

With a sigh, Deanna quietly set to collecting the pieces and papers of the Monopoly Jr. game board, placing them back in the cardboard box. Turning around, the redhead finally spied the smiling platinum-blonde that stood in the doorway.

“Hi.” Selena greeted her wife, who immediately left the now full box on the table before rushing to her wife’s side. For Selena, she was grateful her children had not seen her. Knowing David, the boy would have rushed to her mother for a quick hug or to be picked up or something and she would have had to disappoint the poor boy. As it was, Deanna was slow as she neared Selena, reaching up to gently grasp her wife’s arms.

“Did you need something?” She asked.
“Just you.” Selena smiled before leaning her neck down, despite the muscle and bones’ protests to the action, to capture her wife’s lips in a long, drawn-out kiss. Without thinking, she pulled Deanna as close to her as possible, feeling the redhead’s body fit lovingly against hers. Rather than wrap her arms around Selena’s neck, as she often did, Deanna opted to wrap them around Selena’s waist.

The Snow Queen held that position until the pain became too much, forcing her to lean away to ease it, her eyes staring up towards the far-ceiling. “Shouldn’t have done that.” She muttered with a laugh in her voice before groaning out the pain, feeling the stiffness in her neck.

“Good grief.” Sighed Deanna, who quickly moved out of Selena’s embrace, taking the Snow Queen’s hand to carefully guide her back the way she came, back to the couch. “You’ve already done your exercises for the day.” She chastised. “The doctor said you needed rest any time besides that.”

“I am resting.” Selena huffed. “Not like I was taking you on the table…Although…” she wanted to look back, but her neck refused to be cooperative. “There was that time-“
“Last week?” Deanna asked with a roll of her eyes.
“What?” Selena tried. “I had to make sure we were on the same page before the pay-per-view.”
“And which orgasm convinced you that we were?” Deanna teased back, throwing a sultry eye at Selena, causing the young woman’s breath to hitch.
“Somewhere between eight and eleven.” She slowly breathed-out her reply.

Despite their current topic, Selena’s mind did not flashback to such an intimate moment with her wife, but rather pushed back to that match that had ended her time as World Champion. How she had felt when her wife had gone to her as she kneeled on the mats outside the ring. How she had felt when Deanna had held her, helped her up, and all but carried her to the back.

“I’m so proud of you…” she whispered, repeating the words she had whispered that night to Deanna… “And…” she added the last part she had said. “Maybe I love you.”

Turning her head back to Selena, emerald-eyes flashing at the memory she, too, shared, Deanna offered the softest of smiles with a tilt of her head. “You’ll get it back.” She confidently proclaimed.

Selena wanted to nod, but instead, offered a smile to her wife. She knew she would be SCW World Champion again, even if it took another four years to do. So many of her peers had written her off as World Champion before she had won it off Cid and some were, even now, ready to write her off in favour of someone who won that night like Syren or Jordan Majors. But still, Deanna’s faith had not favoured and neither had Selena’s…

Some day… she thought as Deanna helped her down onto the couch, the redhead guiding her head back onto the pillow.

“I’ll get you some water-“ Deanna rose to leave, but the pale hands that gripped hers made that impossible.
“No.” whispered Selena. “Can you just…”

Without finishing her sentence, the former world champion slowly pulled Deanna down onto the couch with her, pulling her in to rest her head over Selena’s chest. Her body stiffened and her neck protested for a moment, but she was quick to breathe the pain away, refusing to have it cost her this moment with Deanna.

She had already lost much to Cid and Asher Hayes – both playing a part in the pay-per-view and the weeks that had come before it. She was NOT going to allow them to take anything else from her when it came to her private life.

“You okay?” Deanna asked, her own arms wrapping as much around Selena as she could without hurting her. “Stupid question. You’re clearly not-“
“I’ll be okay.” Selena breathed. “Have to be.”

The redhead released a sigh. “No one would think less of you if you delayed the match another week, you know.”
“I know.” Selena smiled.

In truth, after the analysis of her neck, she was tempted to do just that. It wasn’t like she cared what Asher Hayes thought or how he would spin it. As it stood, she was expecting to hear similar insults thrown her way when the bastard decided to do a promo for the match.

But she didn’t want to wait. She didn’t want to ‘put it off’. For all Cid had done and been part of, being, essentially, a “yes man” to everything Asher said, it was Asher, himself, that was the biggest problem.

Asher had been the one to put his hands on Deanna over and over again and threatened her life over and over again.
Asher had been the one that constantly spoke ‘for’ Cid and overplayed the whole ‘Co-World Champions’ nonsense with is fake title.
Asher was the one that was trying to become World Champion without doing a damn thing to earn it.
And it was Asher that had, for weeks, been goading Selena to face him.

No, she needed to face Asher next week, for Deanna, SCW and for herself. So, since she needed this match to happen next week, that just left her the option of waiting and hoping that her neck would be in good enough condition and not get in her way come that Thursday.

“If he tries to hit you in the head with the title again…” the growl came from Deanna as she spoke. “I am getting in that ring and kicking him in the groin again.”
“Can’t you just do it anyway?” Selena asked, casting her eyes to the wave of red hair that laid on her chest. “After I beat the hell out of him, I mean.”

The remark surprised the younger Frost, causing Deanna to lift her head so her chin rested just below Selena’s clavicle. “Are…” her eyes went a little wider. “Are you asking me to get in the ring? Get involved if necessary?”
“Not during the match.” Selena stated. “I DON’T want to wrestle or win that way-“
“Don’t ruin this by being a stick in the mud, Selena.” Deanna huffed. “You know what I mean – what I’m asking.” I want to hear you say it. The unspoken words, spoken in Deanna’s eyes, were loud and clear.

With a sigh, Selena gave the slightest of nod. “Yes, Deanna.” She sighed. “I am asking you to do whatever you feel you need to do and I trust you to understand the extent of that…”
“And what if I get hurt?” Deanna asked, raising an eyebrow.
“You’re not a porcelain doll.” Selena smiled, running a lazy pair of fingers through a few strands of Deanna’s red hair. “You can handle yourself.” She added with a whisper – words she had heard from Jonathan Knots when she had rewatched her match with Cid.

Satisfied, Deanna returned her head to her ‘pillow’ of sorts. “I’ll kick him extra hard just for you.”
“That should be my line, Deanna.” Selena replied, squeezing her a little hard in her arms. “Because I have no desire to leave him standing in the ring.”

The implication was very clear to both women. Last time she had fought Asher, the coward had used his ‘championship belt’ to disqualify himself, simply because he didn’t want to “lose his title” to Selena or whatever was in his warped brain. On top of everything he had done, she owed him a few knockout-kicks for all of it!

“We’ll beat him together, pet.” Selena smiled, continuing to pet her wife. “And then we’ll see about getting that title back…”

The knock on the door interrupted both women’s musings, Deanna gently removing herself from Selena. “You can relax and wait here. I’ll be right back.” She promised, leaning down to kiss her wife’s cheek before excusing herself.

For Selena, the platinum-blonde took a few deep breaths, her ears, once again, picking up the sounds of the storm outside her home. She remained silent, her ears only barely picking up the sounds of Deanna’s voice as she answered the door.

However, when those sounds changed to that of rushing steps, her eyes flew open as she saw Deanna rush into the room. “Selena…” her expression, a moment ago gentle and loving, was now worried and frantic, causing Selena, biting down on the pain, to pull herself to a sitting position on the couch. “What is it?”

“It’s…” Deanna opened her mouth to speak but closed it as the ‘door-knocker’ entered the room. Her coat and hair were wet from the few moments she had been in the rain between her car and the door of the house. Still, there was no mistaking that raven hair.

“Talia?” Selena remarked in surprise. “What are you-“ she fought to pull herself to her feet. “No, first, get out of that wet coat. Deanna, can you get her a towel for her, please.”

Giving a nod, Deanna rushed off to find one as the lawyer observed her long-time enemy-turned ally. As for Selena, the platinum-blonde could only regard the black-haired woman with surprise. “Talia..” she tried. “Is everything-“
“Malcolm sent me.” Talia sighed.
“From Nome?” Selena asked with a huff, unnerved by the mayor’s gall.
“I wouldn’t have bothered you if he hadn’t – or at least I’d have just called but he seemed to think it be more ‘effective’ if I came to you.” Talia’s eyes quickly scanned over Selena’s form, only then making the Snow Queen conscious of her attire.

As if reading her wife’s mind from the other side of the house, however, Deanna quickly reappeared into the room, handing a blue towel to Talia before marching over to Selena to wrap a black robe around her nightgown-wearing form.

“Thank you.” Selena whispered to her beloved.
Deanna merely nodded. “Talk to Talia. I’ll make some tea.”

“Actually…” Talia held up a hand in the midst of drying her hair. “What I say concerns both of you… and…” she sighed. “I’m sorry, but you’re not going to like it.”