Family Roots

Chapter 2

Translations:
Mi mariquita - Spanish for My ladybug
fa'amolemole - Samoan for please

"...One root..."

Ava Raine wandered back to the women's locker room in a daze. She never felt so alive to borrow from an overused cliche. Everything she did with Dominik, and everything he did to her, still made her tingle all over.

"I'm his..."

She couldn't go back to Gacy in this state. She'd have to calm down, then clean up. But that meant going into the wastelands known as the NXT Women's locker room. She always got ready quickly in there and left, opting to stay with Schism as much as possible. Being The Rock's Daughter isolated her from the rest of the locker room, and no matter how much she tried to cover it with Schism, it hurt.

She shuddered. She'd rather take her chances walking into the NXT parking lot.

Ava pushed open the women's door and stepped inside. Conversation immediately quieted, pairs of eyes staring at her for the longest moment of her life before returning to their normal routine. It was the reaction she'd hoped for: to be ignored. She hurried to her locker, fumbling with the lock. She just needed her gear bag and...

"Well, well...Looks like the little mousey finally had some fun!"

Ava whirled, putting her back against her locker. She'd learned a long time ago to have something watching your back, whether it be another person or a solid object.

The sneering face of Jacy Jane looked back at her. Ava winced. This was not the time for her to deal with one of the resident mean girls of NXT. Squaring her shoulders, she simply asked, "Are you here for a button? I'm afraid I'm fresh out."

"Ava, darling, I didn't know you had that sort of relationship with Gacy and the Dyad." Jacy snickered.

"What are you talking ab-"

Jacy grabbed Ava by her shoulder and slammed her hard against the locker's door. The vibrating metal sound reverberated throughout the locker room, and the conversation instantly quieted. Pain shot through her body, but the eyes she saw staring back at her were worse.

Angered and embarrassed, Ava slammed her knee against Jacy's stomach. Jacy doubled over, wheezing, and Ava shoved her away. Jacy fell backward to the ground.

"I don't know what the fuck is your problem, Jane!" Ava snarled, keeping her back to her locker. She didn't have many allies, so she had to do this on her own. "Leave me alone!"

"My my. Look at what getting a few love bites does to the mouse." Jacy smirked and slowly got up from the floor. "Who put them there, hmm? Gacy?"

Ava's hand flew to her neck. Dominik. The eyes staring at her seemed to look at her more intensely, and Ava just wanted to run and hide among the roots of her tree. "That's...."

"No! Let me guess...you had Gacy and the Dyad at the same time! No wonder they're still fighting, you little slu-"

Ava cracked Jacy across her jaw, feeling immediate satisfaction as a thin line of blood dribbled from Jacy's lips. Jacy brought a hand up to her mouth in shock.

"I'm gonna- "

Suddenly, someone snatched Jacy's head backwards. Rhea Ripley, the Eradicator of The Judgment Day, loomed behind her and tangled her hand in Jacy's hair.

"I'd be careful if I were you, Jane." Rhea's accented voice filled the entire locker room. "This mouse has teeth."

With a savage yank, Rhea sent Jacy flying into a nearby locker. Silence filled the locker room as Rhea casually rolled her shoulders.