005: Pride (Before A Fall)

Tears were still streaming down Nessa Wall's face as she stumbled backstage at the Air Canada Centre, the Empire Championship title clutched tight to her chest. She felt dizzy, completely out of sorts. Everything felt surreal, like she was moving in slow motion through a dream. Through gentle pokes and prods and tugs at her arm, she found herself in the trainer's office while they checked the gash on her cheek, cleaning it before patching her up with a butterfly strip. Thankfully, it wasn't deep enough to need stitches - not that she'd have even cared at this point. She was on cloud nine, still in shock over the arrival of the two masked men who'd interfered in the match and that fact that Smith had fallen from the stage. Later, she'd probably make a call to the hospital, make sure he was still alive. In another lifetime, she'd actually hoped they could be friends. Now she knew that was never going to be possible.

It wasn't long before she had a familiar face enter the training room, applauding as he walked in. Having worked in the building enough times, he knew exactly where to go which lead to his speedy arrival from the crowd, he was just beaming when he saw her, not concerned with the cut at all. That was part of the business, part of the life as it were and he knew she accepted that. Matt was just happy that she had managed to do what she set out for, and in record time as well. "Congratulations, Ness." He said when the doctor was done with her, approaching the new champion. "You got what you wanted."

She looked from the belt that she'd been transfixed with up to him, a huge smile on her face. "Almost everything," she said, "but you're here now. Did you see it, Matt? Did you watch the whole thing?" Her blue eyes were glowing with excitement as she stared at him expectantly.

"Yeah, for the most part. I missed the tail end of your celebration, but I wanted to get back here as quickly as possible and I've seen you celebrate before. You deserve it, though, no one has worked as hard as you have to get where they are, I'm proud of you." He spoke back, matching her excited gaze.

"You are?" The tears were back, as she hugged the belt again, finding a weird sort of comfort in that. It wasn't every day that the man she was still in love with, the man who'd been there for her last two big title wins handed out words like that. "Really?"

"Of course, I am! You set your mind on something and you got it. I saw the way you were sticking up for yourself, and I'm glad cause you're one of the few people I respect in this business. You're Nessa Wall, and now you're THE Empire Champion." As he was talking, he was looking over at the way she was cradling the championship, reminding him of the way he held his, which put a smile on his face.

"The Empire Champion…" she echoed the words, hopping down off the exam table. Still grinning with tears in her eyes, she made her way over to where he stood and released the title with one hand long enough to throw it around him for a hug. "I don't think I could've done this without you."

"Me?" He asked, hugging her back without thinking about it. "What did I do? I just sat there and watched, maybe you should take a concussion test while you're here." He replied with a smirk, knowing what she meant but unable to help himself.

She stayed there for a few seconds, resting her head against his chest, breathing in that familiar scent. "They checked that," she quipped back, "I'm fine. Just take the compliment, Matthew. Good Lord… if you hadn't pulled that stunt in Phoenix, we'd probably still be there working a best of seven series against the world's worst tag teams of all time. This… is infinitely better, even though I really do miss working with you."

He patted her on the head like that was some sort of acknowledgement of appreciation. "You can't miss working with me now, look at you. A true champion, you're the best in this company, and while that may be because I don't work here…" he paused and smirked down at her, knowing she'd appreciate the arrogance. "You wouldn't be nearly as important as you are now if you were trying to get tag titles. You're the best, Nessa. Just you."

"Matt…" she took a step back, aware now of how it might look if anyone walked in and saw her almost groping her former boyfriend. "It was never really about the tag titles," her voice came out soft, the confession making her feel vulnerable enough that she was back to clutching the belt to her chest like a shield. "It was about having a reason to see you… to keep you in my life."

"A reason?" He questioned, as if that notion was ludicrous entirely "You don't need to concoct a reason to keep me in your life; I'm not going anywhere. I mean, I go to Memphis every so often, but you know what I mean. If you want to see me, all you have to do is ask. I came tonight, didn't I?"

"To be honest?" Nessa sighed, breaking eye contact, "I didn't think you would. I thought I saw you in the crowd but I wasn't really sure. I hoped it was you - clearly it WAS - it's just complicated now. I don't really know where we stand and I guess it's easier to cling to the past than admit how much things have changed."

"Well…" Matt started, tilting his head to try and get the eye contact back but she was quite adept at averting. "Right now, this very second, we stand here. Probably not the answer you were looking for, but it's fairly accurate. I don't really know where we stand apart from that, but that doesn't matter. What does matter is that you're the new champion! Enjoy it."

"I…" she looked down at the belt and then back up at him, nodding, "I will."

"Good." He said shortly, seeing her glance at the title. "You're going to be a great champion…" he added, leaning in and kissing her forehead. "But I'm going to bounce before that creepy boyfriend of yours shows up. Again, so proud of you." He repeated himself one final time so it'd hopefully sink in before he took his leave of the medical area.

She watched him go, hugging the title a little tighter. Matt Stone was proud of her and the last thing she planned to do was anything that screwed up the praise she'd been trying to genuinely earn for years. "Not just great," she finally said, conviction ringing in her voice, "the greatest ever."