The art of losing

OUTSIDE LOOKING IN

Chaos.

I stand there watching it unfold from afar, The Murder Show at my side. Our first instinct is to run down there and take our frustration out on every single piece of shit out there, setting a precedent as to what happens when the Bandits are cast aside like last week's news and notes.

Glue.

Fuck Your Tag Team.

Nobody's Heroes.

Tag Team Championship match.

Culture Shock.

As much as it sucks to not be a part of the match – especially after the beating we gave to the champs – it sucks even more to realize that there is so much more behind what is going on in that ring right now. All anyone else sees is a bomb going off, an all out brawl between a couple of PRIME's factions.

All we see is the snub.

The blatant disrespect toward the eGG Bandits is hard to swallow, especially on a night like tonight. Cancer Jiles stood in that very ring earlier tonight to start the show, telling everyone in the stands – and more importantly everyone in the back – that we were not only going to enter the Manhunt match in honor of the GOLDEN BANDIT…one of us was going to win it.

For Coral.

Ha.

That's why we're still standing here right now, because cooler heads need to prevail. They think they can disrespect us, that somehow we are lesser than now that our Captain is gone. They're wrong, but we're going to let their delusions continue a little longer.

Give them just enough rope to hang themselves.

Then we strike.

Leave them standing there with eGG on their face.

-_-_-_-_-

A NEW FACE

Olivia Henderson couldn't describe the darkness that consumed her the moment she saw him across the hall. The smile on his face as he stood there and joked with his friends caused a bit of bile to rise up and settle in the back of her throat, because she knew the fate that awaited her brought that same smile to his face and it disgusted her.

There was a voice somewhere in the back of her mind that whispered to her, pleaded with her to say something and end the nightmare that had come to life. It was his voice that drowned out that whisper, that echoed in her head and reminded her that this was all her fault. He had found a way to drill that into her, to imprint it as a truth she would never be able to escape.

It was her fate, brought on by her own actions, and Nick only did what he did to her because it was what she deserved. Much like what created the scars on her thighs, this could just be another form of pain she inflicted upon herself.

“Excuse me, but do you know where room one thirty six is?”

Olivia turned to face the person that had asked the question, and found the smile of Nate Colton looking back at her…Oinkers on his shoulder. It was just a picture on a dark blue tee shirt with the PRIME logo on the bottom right corner though, she had to lift her chin a bit to see the actual smile of the boy wearing the shirt. His brown hair was pulled back away from his face and tied into a short ponytail, a few strands framed the sides of his face. He stared down at her with eyes that she wanted to lay in, arms outstretched as they comforted her like a warm hug. For the first time in a long time, a smile found a way to curl up like a kitten on her lips and just relax there for a moment.

His smile widened a bit when she sighed out loud, and her cheeks suddenly flushed a light shade of pink when she realized he heard it.

“I…I'm sorry,” she turned away, slightly embarrassed.

“Don't be, you're adorable.” He chuckled awkwardly, it was his turn to be embarrassed. “I mean, it's adorable. The situation, not you…not that you're not adorable. Okay, I'm going to shut up now.”

“No, don't!” The sudden change in her tone, and how loud she said the words caused a few heads to turn their way. It made the interaction a bit more awkward than it already was.

One person, in particular, paid a little more attention to the situation that slowly unfolded in the middle of the hallway.

“I don't know why I yelled,” she told him, apologetically. “This is so embarrassing.”

“It feels like everybody is staring at us,” his eyes darted around the hall as he spoke. “Oh, they actually are.”

They shared a laugh.

“I'm Travis,” he stretched out his hand.

She took it in her own and replied, “Olivia.”

They stood there for a moment, lost in it as everything else seemed to fade away.

“Don't you have somewhere you need to be?”

Nick's voice brought everything back into focus like a tidal wave crashing against the shore, and just like that her smile was gone. Travis glanced to his right just as Nick Cruz walked up, his gaze focused on Olivia as he stopped next to her. He never looked over at Travis at all.

“Hey, buddy,” Travis, on the other hand, did not appreciate being ignored. “Not sure how you didn't notice, but we were talking here.”

“Oh, I noticed,” Nick never looked back as he answered, his eyes locked on Olivia's. “Olivia just has somewhere she needs to be, and it wouldn't be smart for her to be late.”

“She was just about to walk me to my class though,” he grabbed her hand again, started to pull her toward him.

“I'll walk you to your class,” Nick's lip curled into a sneer as he glanced at their hands.

“Do you want to hold my hand, too?”

The quick wit from Travis brought another smile to her face, something else Nick wasn't happy about.

“Nick's right,” she reluctantly pulled her hand away. The thought of how much worse things could become if she didn't listen to him, used a clammy hand to silence the whispers. “I better not be late.”

“That's what friends are for,” a smarmy grin creased his lips. “You still need me to walk you to your class?”

“I'll probably be better off finding it on my own,” Travis adjusted the backpack on his shoulder, as he watched Olivia turn down a corner at the end of the hall.

“Suit yourself,” Cruz placed himself directly in front of Travis Greipe's line of sight. “Just means I need to tell you now. Don't be a chubby chaser Olivia doesn't have time for a guy like you.”

“A guy like me,” his eyebrow cocked slightly, curious about where Nick was headed. “What's that supposed to mean?”

Cruz chuckled as he sized up the new kid in school, then just walked away. He had somewhere he needed to be, with someone that needed to be reminded about her place.

He could feel his excitement grow, as the thoughts of what he planned to do to Olivia danced behind light brown eyes.

-_-_-_-_-

THE WORKING MOM

“Any questions,” Victoria Henderson asked as she looked out at the agents seated in the briefing room. She was never sure if the lack of questions meant she explained everything with enough detail, or no one wanted to admit they didn't fully understand. Either way, the lack of response meant they were done. “Very well, let's get this one solved quickly then.”

She winced as the chairs scraped against the floor when everyone stood up to leave the room. She disconnected her laptop as they filed out one at a time, conversations about the case shared amongst them drowned out by the hustle and bustle outside the room. She missed being out in the field, the excitement when a lead panned out and she felt closer to closing a tough case.

She thought it odd that she was able to track down and capture a criminal based on little tidbits of evidence, but she couldn't figure out what troubled her daughter so much that she would alienate herself from not only her mother…but a father she had longed to have in her life. Maybe she had been behind a desk for too long that she had lost her touch, or perhaps the fact that she felt it would be an invasion of privacy that would hurt their relationship even further. It's not like her daughter was a criminal.

“Excuse me, Agent Henderson,” the voice yanked her away from her thoughts, which was probably for the best. “Do you have a moment?”

“What's on your mind, Gentry?”

“I just wanted to thank you for the opportunity,” Tina Gentry started, one hand on the door to hold it open while she gestured slightly with the other as she spoke. “I know I'm new here, but I'm eager to prove myself.”

“Just focus on the job,” Victoria replied. “I don't need you going out there half cocked for the wrong reasons. If you're here, you've already proven yourself, so the only attention you're going to draw will be negative.”

“Yes ma'am,” she said apologetically. “I just really want to catch this guy.”

“We all do, Gentry,” Victoria nodded reassuringly toward the young upstart. “Hell has a special place for assho…”

A tune played in her pocket, she held up a hand with her index finger stretched out. It was her daughter's school, and they never called her unless something bad had happened.

“Hello,” she answered sincerely. The last time they called, Olivia had assaulted Nick Cruz.

“Give me a minute, will you,” Tina was already halfway through the door when Victoria pulled the phone away from her ear and waved the back of her hand in Tina's direction.

“What was that you said about a video?”

-_-_-_-_-

A BEDTIME STORY

Tony sat at the edge of his bed, head in his hands after another restless night. His white shirt clung to his chest, drenched in sweat as he took a few deep breaths.

Thoughts of failure had once again managed to sneak their way into his mind and stomp away the feeling of accomplishment he has after winning his last match. What did the win do for him, for his career, nothing really. It didn't get him closer to a tag team title shot, and the loss to Snow only knocked him back down to the bottom of the list for a singles title. He had already cost the Bandits the tag team titles, and who knew when they would get another shot at those.

Yet, he thought he could walk out of night two with a shot at the Universal…what a joke. Best he's going to do is serve as comedic relief, eat a few pins, and save their new Captain. Maybe his head is more messed up than he thinks, or maybe it's always been this way.

Always a bridesmaid and never a bride.

Ha.

He doesn't want to accept the truth though. No, he wants to hang onto the delusion for a bit longer, have that bit of hope in his fingertips that anything can happen.

Until it doesn't.

Because Tony Gamble isn't championship material. He never has, and never will be. The voices in his head won't let him forget, and the emptiness around his waist will never be filled.

The best to never hold the best…that's what he'll be known as.

His phone buzzed on the nightstand. The only light in the room.

He picked it up and placed it to his ear. “Hey, Victoria, what's up?”