Flames

Taking Over, part 1

"You're looking at Twitter?" Becky's tone made it sound like he was doing something so heinous she couldn't even bring herself to mention it out loud. "But you hate Twitter."

Seth laughed, using his free hand to bring his wife close enough to kiss. "I do. Trust me, I do. But I wanted to see if I could find something again." It took him a while, especially since he wasn't in the habit of bookmarking tweets he wanted to remember, but a few internet searches finally found what he was looking for. "This. Behold, finally a tweet thread I was involved in that aged well." He tilted the phone so Becky could see it.

"The scrubs are taking over." Then she glanced up at her husband. "Should I read the hashtag too and sound completely pathetic?"

"Nah." Seth took a quick screenshot and sent it to both Sami and Kevin. They had all come a long way from their scrub room days, when it often felt like they were among only a handful of up-and-coming wrestlers who were actually devoted to the business and making it better. "It's just nice to see that all the hard work paid off, you know? Look at where most of us are now—Bryan, the Bucks, Kevin, Sami, me. We felt so left out at times and now we're running the shows."

"Very cool, and very deserved. All of you." Becky wrapped her arms around him and sighed. "You deserved a better Mania moment this year. I know they can't give all the celebrities to Miz, but...."

Seth shrugged, trying not to give in to the tension tightening his shoulders. Last year, his mystery match might have been one of the worst-kept secrets in the wrestling world, but it had also been surrounded by hype and intrigue. Logan Paul was polarizing—plus a large portion of the older audience members didn't even seem to even know who he was—and it was hard to get excited over a match that really wasn't leading anywhere. "I know. A win's a win, but...."

"But not all wins are equal." Becky smoothed his hair back and kissed him. "On the bright side, you have that amazing jacket now."

He had to laugh. "Do I? Because I saw how you were eyeing it. I have a sneaking suspicion it's going to find its way out of my closet soon."

"Maybe...." Becky pulled her phone from her boot—she was still wearing her ring gear in case something went awry and she was needed again at the last minute—and sent a quick text to their nanny, who had taken Roux back to the bus. "Sounds like our girl is still napping," she reported. "I'd love for her to be able to watch Kevin and Sami, but I know that will be late. I don't know if it's worth putting her off-kilter for all of tomorrow."

Seth took her free hand and led her to the main viewing area. "Just tell her to give us updates. If Roux's up and about anyway, it won't hurt to have her backstage. All the activity might wear her out a bit."

"Wishful thinking if I ever heard it." Becky sent off the message, though, and set her phone on her lap as they settled into chairs in the viewing lounge. The set-up was definitely nicer than at a generic RAW or SmackDown, and the lounge was full of other wrestlers and some various media types. The SmackDown Women's Championship match was just beginning, and Seth could see a bittersweet note in Becky's gaze as she watched Charlotte face off with Rhea. When she caught him watching her, she chuckled. "Yes, I still want a singles title. That's hardly a surprise."

"No, but...." He pointed to the screen. "There was more to your expression than title envy."

"It's... complicated. Rhea won the Rumble. She should get a main event slot; she's earned it, she can carry it, and she deserves it. I know it would give Charlotte the most main events for a woman or whatever, but...." Becky let out a long breath, tapping her fingers on her phone. "But Kevin and Sami deserve it so much too. They've put so much into this story and this company and to be a part of the first tag-team match to main event WrestleMania? That's incredible. No one will ever be able to take that away from them. I'm so happy for them."