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Cat and Mouse, part 2

"Three titles? Seriously?" Becky finished tying Seth's wristbands, tapped them for good luck, and sat back. The UpUpDownDown belt was back in Davenport, but the Universal Championship was sitting beside her on the bench. Now Seth was saying he and Braun Strowman were slated to win the RAW Tag Team Titles later that night.

Seth gave a small shrug. "Well, you and I couldn't come up with anything in place of 'Seth Two Belts'," he reminded her, kissing the top of her head, "so maybe three will work better?"

"Just like Papa H?" Laughing, Becky pulled her legs up to her chest and rested her chin on her knees. She had cut her promo against Sasha over an hour ago and as soon as it aired, compliments started pouring in on Twitter, but she still wished she had a match. "What about Trollins? Like 'Triple' and 'Rollins' put together. . . ."

"And not at all about trolling people on the internet, right?" After Seth finished tying his boots, he sat across from her and wrapped his hands around her ankles. "What's up? Your promo was amazing. From what I heard, even Vince liked it."

"It was a good promo," Becky agreed. Feuding against someone like Sasha, who could hold her own and dish it right back, was far more satisfying than the forced tension with Lacey Evans. Becky felt more energized by a few interactions with Sasha than she had for the whole Evans feud. "Give me a match any day, though. How many women's matches are there tonight? One? And it involves two women from SmackDown. I love Sonya, you know I do, but how are the people like Dana ever going to improve if they don't ever get the spotlight?"

"I know. It sucks." Seth went quiet as he massaged her calves. The underutilized women's divisions were something they talked about often, but he would never really know what it felt like to be an afterthought to the McMahons. "But don't forget how much work you did to get where you are. A lot of that was all you. You didn't wait for the spotlight. You made the most of your promos. You used Twitter. You found a way. You brought eyes to the women's division, but the other women have to do their part too. If they don't have the drive or the confidence, that's not on you."

"Isn't it?" A comment someone had made in one of her specials was nagging at her. "I kept saying I changed the game, and I was so proud of that. But what if I changed it into a game that's that much harder for the other women to win? Who does that help then? I can't fight Sasha and Charlotte all the time. Bayley will get there. Ember will too. Sonya could, but not without splitting her from Mandy. There's no real tag team division because it wasn't built up enough beforehand." Becky rolled her neck from side to side as she sighed. "I know they'll have me drop the belt to Sasha. Maybe not at Clash, but at least by Hell in a Cell. And I'm not mad about that. She'll be a great champ. She always is, if she's given half a chance. But then where am I?"

Seth bowed his head against hers, his steady breathing ruffling stray pieces of her hair. "Becks, you're not going to fade into obscurity. The fans love you too much for that to happen, and Hunter and Steph believe in you too much to let that happen. But you wouldn't let that happen either. There are other ways to be at the top that don't involve holding a title."

Becky's snort was muffled by her knees. "Easy to say when you're about to hold three titles at the same time." As she sat up, she managed a smile. Seth had a busy night ahead and he didn't need to be worrying about her moodiness. "That's a lot of hardware to carry. I can take care of U2D2 for you if you like. . . ."

"Becky. . . ." Seth's gaze sharpened, but before he could continue, there was a knock at the locker room door. Glancing down at Becky's watch, he swore softly. "We'll talk later, okay? I promise." As he rose, he gave her a soft kiss. "See if Sonya's still around. Talk to her about starting a feud on Twitter. If they do have you drop the belt to Sasha right away, then maybe you can at least plant the seeds for a new fight, right? Or talk to Dana about going for the tag belts. I bet she'd love an opportunity."

"Have fun, champ champ champ." Becky stood up so Seth wouldn't have to bend as much to hug her. "I'll make sure I have my bags packed so we're ready to head out right away." Their promised vacation was looming and she couldn't wait to have a break. Her past year had been incredible and she wouldn't trade it for the world, but she hoped having a little bit of time away would help settle some of her insecurities. Not having a camera following them everywhere they went would be an excellent start.

After Seth left for his final preparations, Becky headed back to the women's locker room to gather her things. Since she hadn't fought, there wasn't much to pack up, so she left her bag in Seth's locker room and started to walk around backstage, avoiding the areas blocked off for promos and storyline filming. She didn't recognize Sonya at first since her hair was down, but Mandy was difficult to miss. "Hey, ladies." Becky approached slowly, unsure of her welcome.

Mandy and Sonya seemed happy enough to see her, though, and Mandy offered her a donut. "Hey, Becky. That promo tonight was fire," Mandy said. Then she winked at her partner. "And you rock the ponytail almost as well as Sonya."

"Key word almost." Then Sonya laughed as she shook out her loose hair. "It's nice to have it down sometimes too, though. So what's up, champ? Still want to punch me in the neck for money?"

Becky had to laugh. With all the fuss over things said on Twitter, at least Sonya seemed to take it in the spirit it was intended. "To be honest, I'd do it for free, but a girl's got bills, you know? Of course I do. Neck, face, wherever: I'm down if you are."

Mandy patted Sonya's cheek. "Leave this beautiful face out of this. Yours too, Becky," she added quickly, though she didn't go so far as to touch Becky in turn. "Or find a tag partner and fight us. The tag division is going nowhere and it's so frustrating."

Sonya gave Becky a friendly punch on the shoulder. "We all miss you on Blue," she added. "It's not the same without you."

"I miss Blue right back." Becky had been thinking about SmackDown more and more as of late. It had always had a different vibe than RAW: more independent, less predictable, and open to anything. That was sure to change later in the year when it moved to a different network, but Becky still missed it. Would she ever have become The Man if she had been languishing on RAW? Probably not. "Survivor Series is going to feel so strange this year—" She stopped suddenly as she watched Mandy's expression go from, as Naomi would say, yaaaas to yikes. "What is it?"

Sonya pointed as subtly as she could, and Becky turned to see Samoa Joe standing not far behind her. "Hey, Joe," Becky said easily. "Seth doesn't have U2D2 here, if you're wondering."

Samoa Joe gave a slight shake of his head, and Mandy and Sonya clearly took it as their cue to leave, because they murmured some hasty goodbyes before Becky even had a chance to snag a second donut. "Close, but not quite, Lynch. Got a minute?"

Becky nodded and followed. It would have been nice to chat longer with Mandy and Sonya, but she could catch up with them another time; maybe she could get Sonya on RAW for a title match with the Wild Card rule, or use the rule herself as an excuse to visit SmackDown. "What's up?"

"Not so good at the gaming, are you?" Joe asked, sliding a bag off his shoulder. You could always trust him to get right to the point.

"Not so much, no." Becky had to laugh. When it came to video games, her enthusiasm and her enjoyment levels far outstripped her skills.

Then Joe reached into his bag and handed her a controller. "Well, we're going to work on that. Your boy has enough gold, I think. So here's the plan: I get you learned up, you go on to beat him, and then I'll beat you."

"Well, I was on board until the end of the plan," Becky laughed. "But I don't think a half-hour lesson will do the trick. . . ."

Joe took out his controller as well, slinging the cord around his neck the same way he did his towel. "That's why you're getting more than one. Not all today, mind you, and I think we can both agree it's for best if your boy doesn't know."

Becky narrowed her eyes. "Would I at least get to be Becky Two Belts for long enough to resurrect my shirt?"

"I'm amenable to that." Joe held out his free hand. "Deal?"

After a moment's hesitation, Becky shook Joe's hand. UpUpDownDown was all in fun, after all, and if Seth was going to have two official belts, he could live without U2D2 for a while. "As long as you don't tell me to use the brakes in a racing game," she declared.