The wrestling world had gone helter-skelter and a great divide was clearly emerging between the names Parker and Rhodes. The media was now more heavily involved and digging further into the situation that had been brewing most of the year trying to play catch up. Butch and Wisdom found themselves in one if the conference rooms going over Havoc and a million other things, trying to decide up on their best course of action and their official responses to just about everything under the sun. Butch is standing next to the large floor to ceiling window of the room looking out, and she looks up from her computer. His furrowed brow is a sign on internal struggles, and she hopes he isn’t regretting his actions. She gets up from her seat and comes up behind him wrapping her arms around his waist and nestles her head on the back of his arm.
(Wisdom): Penny for your thoughts?
Butch reacts by stroking Wisdom’s wrapped arms with his hands. A deep sigh emanates from his nose.
(Butch): Hmm? Sorry, I was miles away… I’m just waiting for the call from George…you know how he reacted the last time the shit hit the fan like this….what if what I did gets is thrown off the air? What if I’ve jeapordised everything we worked so hard to build?
(Wisdom): I think you can stop worrying babe. If George hasn’t called yet, he isn’t going to. Let’s not forget he was the one that pushed us to allow the Asylum Match. As much of a mess as this is, it’s also publicity and so far, he seems to be taking a page out of Eric Bischoff’s “Controversy Creates Cash” mentality.
Butch nods slightly, still not entirely convinced but Wisdom’s confidence in the matter did enough to placate him. He looked at his knuckles, still bruised from punching Cody’s smug face in. He’d be lying if he said if didn’t feel good, especially after the way he made Evina feel. Wisdom wasn’t ignorant to this either and spied Butch massaging his knuckles with his opposing thumb. She releases his waist and turns him around a bit to face her.
(Wisdom): Stop it! Stop doing this to yourself. You did what needed to be done. You did what any parent would have wanted to do, but may not have the balls. We can take the cowardly remarks and all that bullshit, but they overstepped. They brought our children into this and you did what any father would have done. I flew across the damn country to their house for less. CBS doesn’t give a shit about this. Hell, they aired that atrocious, goddamn interview with Erica right after Havoc. Half of them are probably sitting around the table like Mr. Burns twiddling their fingers wondering what’s going to happen next to make them some money.
She was getting worked up and sighed heavily. She just hated when he was hard on himself unjustifiably. He had worked so hard these years to be the boss and not the brute, but as far as she was concerned it was important for people to know it was a switch he could flip any time he wanted, just like her…and she was damn proud of him.
(Wisdom): Speaking of, have you heard from Hans? I tried calling them both, he and Vanessa but I got voicemail. Maybe they just need a little time. I don’t know what we can do here, she’s acting outside our jurisdiction for the most part, but this nonsense can’t go on like this. We have enough drama of our own to worry about.
The mention of his longtime friend snapped him back.
(Butch): I’ve tried but I just get voicemail too. You know I wouldn’t blame either of them if they just want to leave. No one could blame them, not after what they’ve been through. I hate our hands are tied legally with this bullshit mental health technicality. And to think I had to ####ing stand there two weeks at that goddamned press conference and preach about how we take sexual assault allegations seriously on the back of nothing but fabricated horse shit.
Butch felt his temper rising. He turned back to Wisdom.
(Butch): And for the record, I’m glad I pulverised that son-of-bitch’s face into bologna… I haven’t felt that kind of exhilaration in a wrestling ring in years!
Wisdom smiled, broadly looking into his shining green eyes. She knew a little blood on the lions claws felt good, he just needed to get over the little worries and feel like himself, no apologies.
(Wisdom): I don’t know…I hope they stay, but I wouldn’t blame them. They didn’t come back for the sport, they came back for us and I feel like we failed them, I keep thinking we could have better protected them, but this is just nuts. Everybody knows there’s nothing wrong with Erica, and nothing happened between her and Hans either…this victim and mental illness crap is playing into the hands of the law. She knows exactly what she’s doing and lets not forget Maniac is right in there in the shadows guiding her. He’s got a huge part in this too, its not just her.
Outside the conference room they could faintly hear the chatter of the building, the clinking of exercise equipment, and felt the occasional subtle rumble of the floor from trainees running on the track the floor above. It was a constant reminder that regardless of what was going on, the wheels of their great HWA machine kept turning. It refocused and centered them more times than they could count being able to turn away from all the exterior noise and drama towards core of who they are and their purpose above it all. Again, she sighed…
(Wisdom): Havoc wasn’t all bad at least. Kratos and Jesse did very well in their tryout matches, Draconis and their whole family has to be so very proud of them. There’s still of course this situation with Rain.
(Butch): Damnit, I still need to go back and watch their matches, take some notes and catch up with Matthew about it; get his steer on how they did. I’m still not sure about Rain though. She’s just as talented but goddamn, she’s so naive and William can’t see past that because it’s his little girl. She doesn’t understand what she did was wrong. It’s not like she was a regular roster member running interference; she was there as a guest, representing the academy… do you think I was too harsh suspending her?
(Wisdom): No, she stepped outside her lane and she needs to feel the weight and repercussions of her decision. The question is, when are you going to let up, we can’t punish her forever. At some point she has to be given the opportunity to show that she’s learned from this. She grew up with wrestling, I can see how she just jumped in and did what sort of came natural to her, but she has to learn to play by the rules. I don’t know if you’re aware or not, but she’s got more than you to worry about. She’s being pulled from more sides than she can probably count. She’s got her family, then the Briar and Lilianna who seem to be trying to groom her, and lets not forget Erica who I heard made comments showing her support for her. And in a whole different direction is Michelle and Alexis and Sarah who hope for her to be her person and stand on her own two feet at least. I think she’s in a tough spot and she’s riding the fence between making another dumb decision, or shutting out everyone’s voice so we can hear hers and hers alone.
(Butch): I’ll talk to her. Either before or at the next Havoc. I’ll lay down the law. You know like when I was trying to make Evina eat her spinach and sell her the benefits of it and then made her think she made the decision to eat them herself?
(Wisdom): That’s all we can do is be clear with our expectations, I don’t mean to sound harsh, but recruits are lining up by the day out there. If she can’t get on board, then someone else is certainly going to step up and take her place.
The large tv on the wall was on mute, but as she glanced over there was another news report about the war in Israel, and in the newsfeed on the bottom of the screen for upcoming topics she saw “Butch Parkers’ Unprovoked Attack on Cody Rhodes.” She looked over at Butch, but luckily he hadn’t seen it, he was too caught up in his thoughts. She didn’t want to get back on that subject but they had to address it.
(Wisdom): What do you want to do about this Rhodes crap babe? We can try and get ahead of them and put our own thoughts out there for the media to nibble on, or we really don’t have to do anything. They ignored us for so long, maybe its time we ignore them and just go about our own business. Whatever you want to do, we’ll do.
Butch shook his head. This is not how he wanted to play this one. He was done trying to be the bigger person. Everything collectively the Rhodes had done and put them through. Brandi's attempts to make the Reunion Show all about her, her leaking of the photos of him in the hospital bookended by Cody's unforgivable cerebral attack on Evina.
(Butch): No, babe. I've got my foot on Cody's throat and he knows it and I'm not lifting it off until he knows that it was a mistake to ever do what he and Brandi have done. To you, to me, to HWA, to our daughter. I can't forgive or forget that. We make them wish they'd never dared f*cking cross us. What do you say?
In an instant she think she felt her nipples harden. A smile cracked on her face and she felt like a kid getting permission to stay up past their bedtime. Butch was letting the floodgates open and she loved nothing more than when his feral nature came out to play with her own. She walked over to him, putting her hands on his broad chest and leaning up to peck him on the lips as her eyebrow arched.
(Wisdom): Whatever you say Mr. Parker…foot on throat it is!
God, she wanted him right then and there. She almost didn’t care that there were dozens of recruits just outside who could see them through the glass wall. She needed to control herself and backed away.
(Wisdom): Then that leaves us with Helloween Harvest. We have to put this card together and there’s a lot of buzz about Matt’s challenge to Maniac. We rolled out the red carpet for them once already. Art of War was supposed to be the end of this kind of stuff. God knows we could use some normalcy around here, but I don’t know.
She shakes her head in uncertainty.
(Wisdom): You’re right. I guess we can’t pull that carpet out from under him now. Let them finish this. Besides, we don’t want to disappoint Sarah…doesn’t she still have Matt’s poster up in her room, or was it Sean…I don’t remember. She’s a teenage girl, it’s probably both.
Wisdom laughs a little, feeling the mood lighten a bit from all the heavy discussion. Butch shares her laugh, absentmindedly reaching for Wisdom's hand and caressing the back of it with his thumb,
(Butch): So, we're green-lighting it? Maniac versus Matt Miller in an Exploding Barbed Wire Deathmatch? What about the rest of the card? William will be fit to compete by then. Stu-E's feeling a little downtrodden after losing to Sean, Jesse and Kratos will want to get their stuck in. I thought about Hans and Matthew but God knows what Hans' mindset is going to be.
(Wisdom): I don’t know…we’re going to have think about this. Jesse and Kratos definitely….
Before she can finish her phone is ringing and she looks over on the conference table and sees that its Vanessa calling and rushes over to grab it as she looks back at Butch.
(Wisdom): It’s Vanessa!
She grabs the phone and answers it putting it on speaker so Butch can hear.
(Wisdom): Van? We’ve been trying to reach you guys, how are you? I’m here in the office with Butch I have you on speaker.
Wisdom turns to look at Butch as she can tell Vanessa’s been crying from the sniffling, and the meager, low, saddened tone in her voice.
(Vanessa): I’m ok, I just…we just needed some time to think.
(Wisdom): I’m sorry about this, this is beyond a horrible situation, we can’t even imagine what…
Vanessa cuts her off, she needed to get it out before she lost the courage to say it.
(Vanessa): I’m not coming back!
Wisdom looks at Butch, her eyes filled with empathy and regret. Butch shares her look. They saw this coming. Given the gravity and the depths Erica had stooped to, to inflict this mental torture on both Hans and Vanessa, he couldn't blame her.
(Butch): Nessa, it's Butch. You know you and Hans have our unwavering support, professionally and personally. I'm sorry you came back to this for us and this is the thanks you get for it.
He sighs deeply before continuing.
(Butch): Where's Hans? Is he with you?
(Wisdom): I’ve never seen him like this Butch. You know him, he’s the most even-tempered man in the world, but…
They can hear her crying and look at one another feeling utterly helpless.
(Vanessa): You should see him, he’s…he’s quiet and bottling it all up probably for my sake, but I can feel him like he’s ready to just explode. Butch you have to do something, please. How can she just get away with this?
Butch looked furious, hearing Vanessa's tears and hearing her describe the mood of his best friend.
(Butch): I promise you, we'll fix this for you, Nessa, for Hans as well. She won't get away with this. Even if you don't decide to come back, we'll make this right, I promise you. I'll speak to our Legal Department straightaway, find out where we stand, we'll explore every loophole, every option. You have my word!
(Wisdom): Butch is right, we’ll do everything in our power to end this. Starting with CBS, they should have never indulged this nonsense with that special report. We had no idea Van, I swear. I heard it first from George Cheeks and he gave as much notice in advanced as they dared. I think he’d thought we’d…who knows what they thought.
Wisdom didn’t want to mention the condition Hans had left the locker room. She knew he was ready to blow.
(Vanessa): Thank you. The clinic called and we spoke with the director. They were beyond apologetic and are looking further into it but what difference does it make now. What if it was Hans’ sample, what if she’s pregnant? It will ruin us.
Vanessa starts crying again and Wisdom heart just breaks. She’s so pissed off herself but she doesn’t yet know what they can do. They can’t fire her, she’s entitled to a private life and everything she’s done has been outside the company.
(Wisdom): Honey listen to me, we’re with you…no matter what.
(Butch): Ness, tell Hans I’ll call him. I’ve been on this side of the fence before. Matthew and I will speak to him, let him know we’re there for him. We’ll get this all sorted, I swear.
(Vanessa): He’s out right now, but I’ll tell him. He already knows, and you know we love you guys. I don’t know where his mind is on this, but mine is made up. I’m sorry, I just can’t…not with her there, not like this.
(Wisdom): Hey, you don’t have to explain to us, we understand…we just want you guys to be alright…that’s all that matters.
(Vanessa): I’m going to go lay down right now, I just too a Xanax…this is, its just too much for me.
(Wisdom): We understand, and call us any time…we mean it.
(Vanessa): Alright.
Wisdom was about to say “We love you” but Vanessa had already hung up. This was bad, it was real bad. She looked at Butch as she set her phone back down.
(Wisdom): Goddamnit! What are we going to do? I need to call George again, I called him a few times already and I have a feeling his dodging us. I’ll go down to that damn office if I need to. How could they air that garbage? Do they have any idea what this has done to them? I’m worried for Hans, I didn’t want to say anything, but he nearly destroyed his damn locker room. I gave him that flashdrive with the interview…I couldn’t let him hear about that after the fact. It was bad enough Vanessa was home alone to see, can you imagine?
Wisdom starts pacing the floor, her hands on her hips in frustration. Butch rams his fist into the opposing wall. It didn’t make a dent but a crack was heard, no doubt one of Butch’s knuckles blowing out. You wouldn’t know it though, he didn’t even react.
(Butch): We have to deal with this. You’re right, we go straight to George. Maybe we can get an injunction. She’s done this outside of company time but this is having an impact on two of our employees, let alone our friends, we have to take friendship out of this and think of them as our employees if we’re going to make this stick.
(Wisdom): The problem is she's our employee too, she's filed that goddamn sexual assault crap and we have to honor that process or our asses are on the line too. It's like I was just saying before...Maniac has his hands in this too. He's connected her with attorneys and psychologists. He's done crazy for so long all she had to do was use his career as a template. Talk to Hans, see where his mind is on all this, I don't know...I feel like our hands are tied here.
(Butch): It can’t be, babe. You’re telling me with everything we have at our disposal, we just have to sit with our thumbs up our arses and see how it plays out? I can’t do that babe, there HAS to be something? Can Hans not sue Erica for slander or defamation of character? Ugh!
Butch punches the wall again, massaging his knuckles this time. That one hurt. He flexes them before mopping his face with his hands. Wisdom thinks about what Butch said and something occurs to her.
(Wisdom): I have an idea, I may know a way we can push the envelope and protect the company at the same time.
Wisdom looks out the window down over the training floor, then back to Butch.
(Wisdom): I gotta go to my office, I'll take care of this...you take care of Hans.
She runs up and gives him a deep kiss. She still wanted to rip his clothes off but there were more important things to do right now. Nevertheless, she gave his groin a little squeeze and with a wink she was headed out the door.
(Wisdom): Love you!
Butch watches as she dashes out the door, he had no idea what has just been cooked up in her head, but he knew she’d get a handle on it, now it was time for him to get a handle on Hans. He looked at his watch and headed out the door as the scene fades to black.
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