Ravyn/Ace vs. House of Frost

[SnowQueenSCW]

OOC: Deanna’s roleplay.

DISCLAIMER: The following is a work of fiction and not to be confused as complete or accurate representation of any beliefs, religions, etc. Please refer to research/articles by experts for that.

The Witches of Alden

”Breakdown”

Wells Fargo Arena
Des Moines, Iowa
April 8th, 2023

Deanna watched quietly as Selena signed the last item of the last fan that had been standing outside the parking lot just outside their “Believe It!” tour bus, waiting for them. It wasn’t an uncommon sight. Quite often, after Breakdowns and Pay-Per-Views, the Frost wives would see fans either waiting for them in the main ‘lobby’ of whatever arena they were wrestling at, outside in the parking lot, at the exits of the arena or, in this case, waiting outside their bus, merely wishing for a picture or an autograph.

Quietly, the redhead stayed a few steps back, leaning against the side of the bus as she waited for Selena to finish. She had changed into her street clothes of black jeans and a baggy green sweater, which prevented her from feeling the cold metal of the bus against her back as she watched the fans interacting with her wife. Truthfully, she wasn’t thinking too much about the fans asking for Selena’s autograph and not for hers. I mean, she was thinking about it, but it didn’t hurt her or bother her. There was no delusion in her mind. Selena was the bigger star, a more beloved person in the eyes of the SCW Universe, especially recently. Now THAT was something that stirred in Deanna’s mind as it came to her.

She had really ‘screwed the pooch’ on this. She had hoped that not saying anything regarding Kim’s trios cash-in promo-wise and opting to simply show up at that match and make the best out of a bad situation would have spared her from opening her mouth and being taken down a peg by O. D. again, as he had previously. Yes, she had mouthed off after Kimberly had strutted on Twitter over and over again about her ‘regaining’ of the Underground championship, but come on! That wasn’t fair to blast Deanna on that! It was a blatant cheap-shot! If Kimberly had played by the rules of her own game, she wouldn’t even be the Underground champion. The One or Luz or someone like that would. But because of a ‘special clause’ that was only allowed for Kimberly, she had gotten the title after one pin – NO! Not even a pin! A damn rear-staple!

Hell, if I had gotten the same pass as she did about ‘leaving the arena’, I might have had a chance at staying the tag-team champion with Selena… Deanna thought bitterly, but quickly caught herself. This was the kind of thinking she had tried to express professionally, failed miserably, and gotten booed for it tonight, which was why she wasn’t surprised to see a smaller crowd around the bus tonight compared to other nights.

She had watched the segment between Selena and Mr. D. in that medic room where O. was getting a staple out of his rear. Had heard every word her boss – or whatever he was or pretending to be at this point – had said about her and about Selena. About people liking what Kimberly had done in her cash-in; liking the disrespect she had shown the other ‘non-world titles’. People even liking Kimberly stapling the current owner of SCW in the behind!

Serves him right…

The thought came on its own and the redhead did all she could to shut it down. Still, there was no denying that after weeks of being insulted, disrespected, and talked down to in terms of skill and worth by the old man, there had been a spike of satisfaction in Deanna every time she imagined him being stapled like that. A spark of contentment that his decision to ‘let Kimberly do what ever the hell she wants’ literally coming back to bite him in the - ah hell! I’ll say it! – ass!

She felt the smirk sneak into her features the same time a cooler, night breeze blew past her. Turning her head over to the side, she saw her wife giving a nod of her head before placing her duffle bag down on the ground, the Snow Queen moving around to stand against the “Believe it!” logo on the bus, the fans, a couple, it seemed, moving with her – the man holding a cellphone up like a selfie.

“Here.” Deanna offered with a smile, at least the best she could manage, as she moved closer to the three. “I can take the photo.”

Gratefully, the man, wearing a San Jose Sharks t-shirt and jeans, smiled before setting a few options on his phone and handing it over to Deanna. Backing up a few spaces, the younger Frost centered the phone/shot, waiting for it to focus automatically. As she did however, her eyes spotted the expression of her beloved wife – or, more specifically, the part of said expression that neither of the fans were seeing.

Of course, the platinum-blonde was smiling. Regardless of how things were in SCW, Selena Frost would never begrudge a respectful fan her time or be anything but kind to them. She saw herself as the same as them, having come from humble beginnings like so many of the SCW fanbase. She had never wanted to be some arrogant snob like Sienna Swann or “I’m better than you” mentality that so many people in SCW had, like Josh Hudson, Ravyn Taylor, and Adam Allocco. She had always, from the moment she had stopped worrying about having enough money to get by, focused her passion in this business to wanting to be a ‘wrestler of the people’. Someone that listened and cared about what the SCW Universe thought and what they believed in.

No, Selena’s smile was genuine as she stood there with the two fans and it wasn’t what caught Deanna’s eyes as she was taking the picture. Rather, it was the sapphire eyes under the parking lot lights. They looked… they looked so tired. Exhausted. Mentally, spiritually… drained – that was the right word! As if so much of the light that she usually saw – what made her wife’s eyes sparkle like blue stars – was nearly gone. It almost made the redhead forget where she was and drop the phone, though she recovered quickly, blaming the near fumble on her joints being a little stiff from her match with Selena against the Playgirls. Quickly, she took a few pictures, which seemed enough to placate the fans, the couple even thanking both members of The House of Frost (taking back the phone from Deanna) before they were off, talking about ‘not believing they just met Selena’ and ‘what a great show!’. The zeal was enough for a small, distracted and grateful smile to come to Deanna, but spying movement in front of her brought her back to present as she watched Selena, still in her wrestling attire from their earlier match, make her way to the door of the bus, where it was opened from the inside by their driver and friend.

“Thank you, Eric.” Deanna heard Selena whispers as the Snow Queen made her way up the few steps to enter the luxury vehicle, Deanna, herself, slowly following her wife. Reaching the inside, she suddenly saw Eric’s arm slowly reach out to nudge her arm, gaining the redhead’s attention on the chauffer and friend.

“Is…” he eyed the back of the older Frost woman, who was making her way to the back of the bus, where her and Deanna’s bed and bath were located. “Is she okay?” he asked.

“I’m…” Deanna breathed, gazing back to watch her wife’s retreating form. “I’m not sure.” She answered honestly. “Work’s been really hard on her lately, Eric. I don’t… I really don’t know how to explain it.”

What she meant to say was that she wasn’t sure how she could explain to someone that didn’t care much for the sport of professional wrestling, when the boss and so many others that did just weren’t getting it. Some people, from Dracehwych to certain roster members to even some of the fans, were thinking this whole ‘attitude-shift’ regarding the Frosts was about their ‘place’ in SCW. That Selena was whining about not being where she wanted to be with titles and whatever.

Do they even know her at this point? Deanna asked with a hint of bitterness. This had nothing to do with titles and positions and accolades! For her, sure! She still had so much to prove and so much she wanted to do on her own in SCW! But Selena, especially, had more than enough accolades to match with any icon or legend in the business. Hell, if she wasn’t inducted into the Hall of Fame in the future, it would discredit the institution! This had nothing to do with accolades or ranks and EVERYTHING to do with what her wife believed in!

Still, she had never seen her wife so deflated… so defeated. Even losing the big RTG match against Regan Street years ago or being trampled by Xander Valentine – Deanna couldn’t recall a time that her wife had looked so… tired. Like she was on the verge of break-

The sound of a loud crash was suddenly heard, gaining both hers and Eric’s attention, coming from the back of the bus. Immediately, the casually-dressed man shot to his feet, but it was Deanna’s turn to hold out her arm and stop him from continuing further into the bus.

“No, Eric.” She ordered in a whisper. “I’ll take care of this. Just get us going.”
“But what if she’s-“
“Eric!” Deanna pressed. “Trust me. I’ll take care of this. Just get us back to Manhattan, okay?”

Her directness seemed to snap him back to reality in terms of his ‘position’ in their lives, the young man giving a swift nod before settling back down in his seat and firing up his GPS on his cellphone, which sat in a holder on the dashboard. “Maps say we’ll be there in about 16 hours. So… tomorrow evening it seems.”

“Okay.” Deanna nodded. “Don’t be afraid to stop for a break or a rest if you need a few hours.”
“I already slept throughout the day.”
“Regardless.” Deanna pressed, moving her still-extended arm to reach down and squeeze the man’s shoulder as he fired up the engines. “Selena and I are perfectly fine waiting a few hours where necessary.”

With that matter taken care of, Deanna braced herself and quickly marched across the length of the bus, tossing her own duffle-bag onto the couch she passed it before opening the door to the bedroom and entering, immediately closing said door behind her.

The first thing she saw was Selena – or rather Selena’s back to her – the black of the Snow Queen’s wrestling-attire contrasting with the white of the embroidered snowflakes on the shoulders and back of the jacket and the platinum-blonde of Selena’s hair. The next thing she saw was the golden shimmer coming from the floor. Casting a quick glance at it, she spied the SCW World tag-team championship belt – Selena’s – on the floor on the other side of the room, surrounded by a series of books that had been on the small desk there.

It didn’t take much to figure it how the title and the books had ended up on the floor, considering the crash she had just heard.

“Selena!” Deanna gasped as she marched around the room, though she stumbled a bit as she felt the bus suddenly lurch a bit as it moved out of the large parking lot of the arena. Carefully, she gathered up the title and books – taking a second to look at them. They were textbooks covering the various elements of witchcraft – specifically of Wiccan and Pagan studies – and it made Deanna grimace a little.

The Frost wives were set to begin their ‘schooling’ soon and had been given those books by Freya, Selena’s grandmother, for a ‘general education’. Both were required to read as much of the books (there were at least four covering various subjects) as possible before their ‘classes’ would begin.

Now THAT was a task in and of itself. Because of the ‘special nature’ of the situation that had occurred weeks ago in that ballroom in New York with the Alden family, Selena and Deanna couldn’t just ‘attend school’ like other Alden children. Their schedule as wrestlers wouldn’t allow it. Fortunately, or unfortunately, depending on who you asked, they would attend classes on the weekends they weren’t needed for pay-per-views, meetings, or house shows – private sessions meant for adult-learning. With a sigh, Deanna tore her eyes away from the books, shoving them into the drawer of the desk before gently picking up the SCW world tag-team title.

It was identical to the one she held - used to hold. The redhead reminded herself. She wasn’t the SCW tag-team champion anymore. She had failed to keep up with Selena, allowing Ace Marshall to weasel back into SCW and back into championship status. Despite her wife’s name on the title, the Queen’s Guard felt a pang of anger and frustration at the sight of it but swallowed it down. It was her own fault, she reminded herself. She had gotten too close to the arena exit and not paid attention to Polly. And while tonight had gotten her some solace with their victory over that same woman and Aisling, it didn’t couldn’t get her back the title she shared with her wife – or wished to share again with her wife.

No, to do that, they would have to not only beat Ace Marshall, but the partner he had picked in Ravyn Taylor. With a sigh, Deanna stopped the train of thought there, placing the tag-team title securely on the desk. “You really shouldn’t be throwing that, Selena.” She sighed, shooting a quick glance at her wife’s form. “If it gets damaged, you KNOW management’s gonna be fining you and gods know what else-“

“I…care…” She heard Selena in a mutter, causing her to turn around to, now, fully regard her wife, the Snow Queen’s back still to her.

“Sorry?” Deanna asked. “I didn’t get that.”

She heard a staggering breath come from the older woman’s small frame. “I said… I don’t care.”

The words felt more like the foulest curse words in Deanna’s ears – a shock that dwarfed what she had felt when she had seen Selena deck Ace Marshall earlier tonight during the ceremony, halting it prematurely. The redhead stopped dead in her tracks. She couldn’t have heard her wife correctly. No, she must have misheard her again. That was the only reasonable explanation for Deanna to have heard what she thought she just heard.

“Come on.” She tried to laugh it off. “Of course you care! That’s what you do. You care about everything-“

She was stopped as she heard a different sound coming from her wife. It wasn’t another sentence or declaration. It wasn’t even another word. It was a sound. A sound that came with a shaking of her wife’s frame. Slowly, Deanna moved around the room, circling around her wife until she was facing the platinum-blonde at last. Before her, the ‘Face of SCW’ stood with her arms crossed over her diaphragm, her head cast down, and tears streaming down her face as quiet sobs racked her frame.

“Selena…” It was more than enough for Deanna to leap into ‘protective-wife’ mode, rushing over to wrap her arms around the taller woman’s frame – though from Selena’s current, slightly hunched-over position, Deanna was the slightly taller one presently. Without a word, Selena gripped onto her wife’s arms so tightly that it almost hurt the younger woman, the redhead almost sure there would be bruises on her arms tomorrow morning but not caring in the slightest. “What is it? Please tell me…”

“I…” more sobs came from Selena as her frame shook. “I…” she kept trying to talk but she was too overcome with emotion, as if, upon being alone in the bus, everything she had been ‘bottling up/holding back’ had hit and the dam had burst or something. “I don’t want to do this anymore… I can’t do this anymore…”

Again, more words Deanna never thought she would hear. “Do what, Selena?” she tried, petting her wife’s back with her hand while the other arm held her steady. “I don’t understand what happened.”

Was it Ace picking Ravyn? That was the last thing they had did ‘on-air’ regarding SCW, and Deanna could almost understand that being the issue. After all, the Dark Fantasy member had been nothing but a constant torment to Selena throughout the years – her most recent act being unleashing Luna on SCW and Selena having to step in to protect not only Nicole Kinneck but also Ravyn herself. Deanna remembered what Luna and Ravyn had driven Selena to do in that match last year at Apocalypse, the Snow Queen having no choice but to use a weapon - a taser! Something she was staunchly against in all her beliefs – during the match to subdue Luna before the madwoman possibly crippled Ravyn or worse. Her wife had had no choice and yet… it still was a sore spot for Selena to recall. That had been the last time the Snow Queen had REALLY feuded with the ‘Bad, Bad Girl’ or whatever Ravyn was calling herself these days.

Still, while it sucked and was disgusting that Ace had chosen her, Deanna couldn’t believe that such a choice had been the reason for Selena’s current state, the Snow Queen breaking down within her wife’s arms. Was it Ace? No, Selena had beaten him so many times – yes the man was annoying as hell, but… he wasn’t Adam Allocco. He could be annoying and over the top and WAY too much at time, but the redhead was sure Ace wasn’t going to do anything bad the likes of what Vixen Cain or Xander Valentine had done in the past, and certainly she couldn’t think of anything Ace had said or done that would make Selena into this. Knocking him on his ass? Sure, absolutely! But break down in tears. No, he wasn’t THAT good at pushing Selena’s buttons. Was… was it the other stuff she had seen on the monitors earlier tonight? Was it what O. had said?

“Selena…” she tried to push her wife back a little, relieved when she finally managed to, gaining an inch of distance between them, though Selena refused to open her eyes and meet hers, the older woman’s sobs quieting to mere sniffles. “Look at me, please.”

Slowly, after several slow breaths, the former world champion lifted her head a little to gaze down at her wife, causing Deanna to gasp as she saw, not only the same exhaustion and lack of light in her wife’s eyes that she had seen when that taking that photo for the two fans, but now able to see the red from the woman crying. “Please, tell me what happened.”

“He…” Selena sighed. “He won’t listen to me.” There was no need to elaborate on who ‘he’ was. It was beyond clear the one person that was having such an impact on Selena. The only person in SCW that could affect the woman on this level – moreso than any Cain, Valentine, Allocco, or even Wallace or Street.

“I… I saw the segment.” Deanna sighed in understanding. “All of it…”

Selena’s eyes widened. “Don’t listen to what he said about you-“

“Forget it.” Deanna sighed. “This is about you now. I’m not the one having a breakdown here.”

“I just…” Selena shook her head, moving away from Deanna as she paced around the room, her pale hands wiping furiously at her eyes and face.

“Did you really mean what you said?” Deanna asked. “That you don’t want to do this anymore?”

“I don’t think I CAN do this anymore, Deanna.” Selena cried, turning back to Selena. “You saw it. O. wouldn’t listen to me. He wouldn’t care to listen. All he wanted to do was call us whiners and ignorant and keep us in the dark! He just kept throwing it back on me. Like it was my fault all this shit is happening!” she huffed. “That it’s my fault we’re in this shitstorm! I’M not the one selling the company and keeping it all in the dark. I’m not the one allowing that BS of a match to happen last week! I’m not the one that’s letting Kimberly and Allocco and so many others get away with whatever the hell they want but I have to smile and just be the good girl and do whatever he says?! Just let it happen cause it’s ‘funny’ or a few fans like it? Why?! Cause I’m ‘The Face of SCW’? Because if I don’t, suddenly I’m selfish or ‘acting out of turn’? Or I’m ‘not the Selena I hired’!”

The Snow Queen’s impersonation of her boss at the last sentence was a piss-poor impression to Deanna – very to snobby and obnoxious to be O. D., but the platinum-blonde clearly didn’t care as she let out a yell before slamming her fists onto the nearby desk, the SCW tag-team title rattling a little as it sat where Deanna had placed it.

For a moment, there was silence before Selena turned back to Deanna. “What’s the point?” the platinum-blonde asked. “Am I just trying to save an SCW that only we believe in? Why don’t I just walk away? We walk away?”

“You don’t meant that.” Deanna sighed, crossing her arms over her chest.

“I actually do…” a sad laugh escaped Selena, as did an equally sad smile as she ran a hand through her hair, tugging and pulling at her iconic braid until it was freed and now a main of white in the lights of the room. “I really do, Deanna. Think about it! I’ve got offers from XWF, TIA, UWWA, and they want you too! Several companies want us! Companies that will appreciate us raising the bar of integrity there. People that will listen to our experience and what we know. People that will appreciate what we bring to the table and not just scoff at us and call us whiners. People that will give you-“ she eyed her wife in sad understanding. “Any title shot you ask for. Any opportunity to become a real singles champion…” she looked away from a moment, seeing the buildings and cars whizzing by her as the bus continued to travel down the roads. “Why…” she tried with a shaky breath. “Why stay on a ship that’s sinking when no one wants to listen to us as we’re screaming that it’s going down? Why stay when the damn owner is already abandoning ship?”

“Selena… I…” Deanna tried to find the right words. It’s not that the idea didn’t appeal to Deanna. Because it did. Aside from Trios cash-ins, Deanna had not received a singles title opportunity since last July. Yes, she wanted to be tag-team champion with her wife – moreso than every after that ‘chaos-match’, but if Owen could get two double-title matches and be a double champion, when couldn’t she? And not only that, but she would be lying if she said it didn’t hurt how ‘small’ she felt in the eyes of management. Still, this was not the solution! Running away over something like that was NEVER solution.

“I…” she tried to explain, speaking slowly. “I don’t think it’s as bad as all that.” She held up her hand as her wife’s head jerked back to stare at her in shock. “I agree that things are going downhill. I do. I hate what Kim did. I hate what O. is doing. I hate what the Board is doing… But I don’t think we’re as… as powerless as you think we are. I think some people really DO believe in us and what we are doing. I honestly think that the SCW Universe can see that what we’re talking about is about more than just titles and ranking. That it’s about SCW. It’s about SCW’s survival.”

“Did you not hear them?” Selena laughed. “They were chanting ‘Kim’ while you wrestled.”

“So? Some of them were, sure.” Deanna shrugged. “But many others were cheering us!”

“Deanna…” Selena sighed. “O. called you a damn ‘cog’. He called you my shadow! On top of everything, he insulted you-“

“Oooo!” Deanna gestured, unimpressed. “One week, he said I acted like a rookie. Last week, he said I was a whiner. Now he’s saying I’m a bigger whiner and I’m your shadow – Selena, who the hell cares what he thinks?!”

“I do!” Selena shouted back, her voice echoing a little within the small space. “I do, okay?!”

“Well, don’t!!” Deanna spat, equalling her wife’s intensity. “Do you have ANY idea how embarrassing it looked to see him talking down to you while he’s lying on the couch with a damned staple in his butt?!” she shot back. “You’re the friggin’ ‘Face of SCW’, Selena! And he’s insulting you while he’s got his pants down! It was pathetic! He’s…” she took a slow breath, calming herself in front of her wife. “He’s not the perfect mentor or boss you think he is.”

“I…” the Snow Queen tried. “I know.”

“No, you really don’t.” the shorter woman stressed. “You’ve always looked the other way while he did nothing to help you. While he left you to suffer. Against Regan, Xander, Vixen… while he was pandering Kelcey in his VIP rooms and grooming Owen late last year, where was he for you? Nowhere! Now that you’re raising your voice and not ‘in line’ with him, now you’re ‘the bad guy’? Now you’re the whiner because you don’t agree with him or believe everything he says or what he’s doing is wrong?”

Selena’s mouth hung open, unable to form the words that seemed to flash before her eyes.

“I know without him and SCW, we may never have met.” Deanna sighed, reaching out to take Selena’s hands into hers. “I get it. It’s my love story, too, sweetheart. And I’m just as grateful to everyone for that – for you…” she reached up to cup the side of her wife’s face, guiding her wife to stare deeply into her eyes, refusing to let her look away. “But you don’t owe HIM anything. You owe SCW… not him….” She took a slow breath. “I didn’t become a wrestler here because I believe in him or what he says like you do. I became a wrestler because I believe in you and what you believe SCW could be.”

She gave the pale hand she still held an affectionate squeeze. “I… I want to be there when that SCW comes to pass. I want to be there when some other lost girl decides to join one day, looking to change her life and we can be there to help her. I want to be there when we leave, not because you’re broken like this.” She gestured towards her beloved wife. “But because you’ve done all you needed to do to make that dream and belief a reality.”

Silence enveloped the two for several minutes, Selena no longer able to gaze up at her wife, instead focusing her eyes onto the floor as more quiet sobs threatened to overtake her, the Snow Queen being pushed to her emotional limit.

“What if I can’t?” she finally whispered. “What if we can’t save SCW?”

Despite her desire to refute such a statement and smother her wife in positive reinforcement, Deanna couldn’t bring herself to lie like that. D. has done enough hiding and lying as it is. she thought darkly, feeling a bitter distaste for the man that had brought her wife to such a state of emotional breakdown. How dare he talk down to Selena after all she had done for him and for SCW. After fighting his battles for him! After protecting him and his company from so many people! After bringing more fame and prestige to SCW with the World Series of Wrestling! Hell, without Selena, D. wouldn’t have even had a damn company to sell in the first place! It would belong to Katya or The Brand or, gods forbid, Ravyn Taylor and Infamous! Was that worth NOTHING to him? Was a decade of scars and pain and all that came with it worthless in his eyes? Deanna’s jaw clenched in frustration at the thought of such a mentality, but her wife’s focused gaze on her brought her back to the present and the question Selena had posted to her wife.

“We…might not.” Deanna shrugged. “Maybe things will only get worse from here on out. The Board can very well arrange things to have us look like the bad guys.” Deanna shrugged. “From the announcers to the publicity… it wouldn’t take much.” She sighed, moreso at the validity of her words. The idea of someone being ‘clever’ and ‘desperate’ was but an opinion – like her match with Owen Cruze had gone – and when spoken with the power of someone like Jonathan Knots and Adam Sharper… it could sway thousands. Someone besides O. calling them whiners and ‘not good enough’ – not superstars that they could beat and disprove, but critics like those in SCW and around the world that were basically untouchable...

Again, Deanna sighed, this one more of a hum than anything else. Who knew what next week would hold? Would there be more boos? More words to insult their worth from the boss? Or would more fans not believe in their words? “But…” she shook her head. “If this is the end for us, don’t we want to go down fighting together? With integrity – then to run away?”

Selena said nothing right away, which said far more than a quick “Yes! Of Course!”. Maybe Deanna was naïve or foolish for thinking her words could produce that kind of affect from someone with nearly a decade of experience as her wife had. This would not be something that could be so easily ‘reset’ like some of their previous issues with things in SCW or some of their past arguments with each other. In fact, the question that came into Deanna’s mind was far more terrifying and hurtful than anything she had heard from D..

How much more can she take?

The thought was beyond terrifying. Because it was the only thing that actually made her want to contemplate listening to Selena and leaving SCW with her. For so many years, even during her time in Frankfurt Prison III when she had to rely on the stories her wife provided her (‘updates’ Selena would call them), Deanna had witnessed the same kind of ‘stories’ emerge. ‘Retribution’ or ‘Last Chance at Redemption’ like Owen and Adam Allocco, ‘Against all the Odds’ like her wife or Regan, or the most common: when someone turned their back on SCW, usually over something petty like ‘not enough title shots’ or ‘losing the big match and blaming the company’. Names like Glory Braddock, Syren five or six times (all of Infamous actually), the list was a long one of people with such stories, including good friends like Regan and people of incredible integrity like David Helms.

That was the scary part of this particular ‘story-type’ to Deanna. No one was immune to it. The highest of the high, the lowest of the low in terms of morality, it could happen to anyone. All that was required was a ‘breaking point’. A ‘crack’. And ever since she had known Selena – before the Snow Queen had even known Deanna existed – the redhead had never seen that breaking point. Not from people trying to take her hair, question her integrity, threaten her and her family, steal titles from her, screw her out of matches – not even people like Malcolm Scythe or Killjoy had made her reach it.

Yet… what had she just seen? A crack? A break in the armor… from the man Selena had respected on a level that was close to the Snow Queen’s own father.

Blinking her eyes to escape her thoughts, Deanna spied the floor, now, suddenly, littered with discarded clothes. She quickly recognized the snowflake designs of her wife’s wrestling attire on some of the clothes and, as the seconds ticked by, her ears picked up the sound of something in the adjacent bathroom – a loudish patter like dozens of little stones being dropped on the floor, but the former tag-team champion recognized the sound immediately as ice cubes. With a quiet sigh, Deanna quickly gathered up the discarded clothes, finding Selena’s pants, boots, bra and underwear. Carefully, she placed them in the hamper on the far side of the room before quietly undressing herself. She had taken a shower back in the arena changeroom, and while she would have been happy to have another with her wife (under normal circumstances), she was sure that such a thing was the last option in Selena’s mind. Tossing her own clothes into the hamper, she quietly drew out her dark-green nightgown, throwing it over her frame before lying out her wife’s favorite magenta one, lying it on the bed where she knew her wife would find it. Sometime during that, she had heard the water go on and run for several minutes before being turned off. Standing by the door that lead into the bathroom, which was slightly ajar, the young woman waited until she heard the sound of water moving and ice-cubes shifting, signaling an occupant inside the large tub.

Bet she forgot to lay down towels for herself… Deanna sighed before quietly pushing the door open. She quickly spied her wife in the tub, the ice-cube water just starting to settle before Selena ducked her head down into the water, submerging herself to let the cold seep into her – her ‘ice bath’ in full effect. Eyeing around the space, Deanna spied no towels laid out, causing her to shake her head knowingly before she quietly stepped further into the bathroom opening the secure drawer and pulling out a floor towel for Selena’s feet and a large black towel for the Snow Queen. She had just set the floor towel in front of the bath before she heard and saw Selena’s head pop up out of the water and ice, her features soaked. Blinking back the water, the former world champion’s sapphire eyes quickly adjusted, spying Deanna right before her.

In response, Deanna merely held up the large, black towel for the woman before placing it on the floor next to the other towel. She saw Selena’s eyes flash in realization at forgetting them, shift to a mental curse, and finally, offer a small smile of thanks to the younger woman before Deanna was pushing herself to her feet. She was stopped, however, when a cold, wet hand took hers, her attention, once more drawn to the drenched blonde. Before her, she saw Selena’s eyes gaze into hers before slowly shifting towards the unoccupied space in the large bathtub, the silent request hitting Deanna after a few such glances back and forth from the Snow Queen.

For a minute, Deanna merely shook her head, but after the fourth or fifth glance, she finally groaned before marching out of the bathroom. Back in the bedroom, she pulled her nightgown back over her frame, tossing it on the bed beside her wife’s. That complete, she marched back into the bathroom, flicking her hand at Selena to get her to move back a bit, which the platinum-blonde quickly did. With a slow inhale through her nose, Deanna placed her foot into the tub, immediately wincing at how cold it was and making the redhead, not for the first time, question how her beloved wife could possibly like this. Still, wordlessly, she managed to drop herself into the tub.

Immediately, she felt a pair of arms wrap around her, drawing her gently towards the soft form of Selena, the older woman holding her beloved to her and quickly rubbing her hands over Deanna’s back and arms to keep her semi-warm amidst the cold water. Despite the discomfort in the cold, Deanna said nothing, merely resting her head in the crook of Selena’s neck above water as her wife held her.

They didn’t say anything all night, even when they actually would go to bed. They didn’t have to. Everything had been left in the previous room. But for Deanna, while she knew she wouldn’t find anything but scars and bruises on her wife’s body (the latter from the hard-fought tag match with the Playgirls), she kept searching Selena’s pale form secretly for something else. Something far worse than the ‘badges of honor’ she wore on her back and sides. Far worse than any bruises she endured fighting for SCW’s integrity.

Rather… she was looking for cracks in her wife’s very being. Fissures in her wife’s beliefs and a ‘breaking point’ in her trust of O. D. and, more terrifyingly, in SCW.

Because more terrifying than anything else – more than being in the Underground division, being in Selena’s shadow all her life, and even more than the idea of SCW being sold…

It was the idea of an SCW with Selena Frost against it…