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Liv’s back.
Roxanne’s lie is about to fall apart. She had everything under control. She was doing so well, everything was going right.
And now Liv’s back.
She feels like she’s walking to her own grave when she follows Dom to the ring. She tries to take it in as she goes, knowing this could be the last time she's with this group. Liv will see that Roxanne has been after Dom and she'll throw her out.
Roxanne doesn't think she'll even give her time to plead her case, and even if she did she doesn't think she'll be able to admit what's really going on.
She's always been aware she’s on a clock, that this was always going to end this way, but that doesn't make facing it any easier.
She can barely hear what Dom says in the ring. She knows he must be saying things about his match, bragging about beating Cena, but it all feels like she's underwater. Like she's watching from a tv far away, removed from all the drama.
Then words break through.
“...Liv Morgan!”
Then music plays, music that is familiar and terrifying. The herald of her doom is skipping down the ramp towards them.
She doesn't immediately punch Roxanne in the face, so that's something. She kinda just ignores her actually, lumping her in with Finn and JD in her speech. She supposes she deserves that, and it's better than being hated anyway.
The promo drags by and she's all too aware of the fact that Liv is only steps from her. At any point she could strike, exiling her back to the land of no friends and no faction.
But she never does.
The promo wraps up, and she's still standing there with them. Even as the lights lower and they flip to a commercial, nothing happens.
She stares at Liv openly as she hugs Finn, then JD.
Then Liv is right in front of her and she doesn't even have time to speak before Liv's arms are around her too. It's a firm hug, but not too tight. It's actually really nice. Liv Morgan is hugging her and it's really nice.
When she pulls back she keeps her hands on Roxanne's shoulders.
“We need to talk,” She says, and the fear comes back. She should have known. Liv just didn't want to make it a public spectacle. She hasn't been spared.
She follows Liv down the ramp, trying to hold her head high in her last appearance as a member of the Judgment Day. Maybe it would be smart to run, but maybe she deserves this. She's lying to them.
They glide through gorilla, untouchable as always. On the outside they must still look like a perfect union, a team without cracks or weak points. She wants it so desperately to be true, but all she can do is watch the swish of Liv's hair as she bounces along ahead of her.
Eventually, after what might be seconds or hours, they stop in front of the clubhouse. JD and Dom head in, completely oblivious to the impending storm. She steps to follow them, but then Liv's hand closes around her wrist.
“I need to talk to you real quick, Rox,” She says, tone kind in a way that raises the hair on the back of her neck, “alone”
Finn stops, turning around to look at them.
“Why do you need to talk to her alone?” He asks, tone suspicious.
“Come on Finny, we have a new member and I don't know anything about her. Let me go have some girltalk.” She says. At the mention of girltalk Raquel's eyes flick up, but something in Liv's expression must tell her something because she just follows the others into the clubhouse. Finn stays looking at them for a few more seconds but eventually he shrugs and steps inside too.
“Come on,” Liv says, tone still kind even though they're alone, "Let's find somewhere quiet to talk.”
She follows Liv though the maze of hallways and crates until eventually they find an alcove, tucked away from all the production staff. Liv perches on one of the crates, motioning for Roxanne to sit beside her. She does, eyes locked on the floor.
“You have a thing for my boyfriend.”
Here it is. The moment where her excuse to stick around becomes the thing that gets her kicked out. She should say something, but words are failing her.
“Except you don’t,” Liv continues after a second. Roxanne blinks at her in surprise, “I’ve been gone for months and since you got in the door you haven’t made any moves. You’ve actually backed off. You seem perfectly content to just hang around.”
She should really really say something now, but words still elude her.
“So do you have a thing for my boyfriend or not?” Liv finishes.
“No?” She says, and she wishes she sounds more sure. She wishes she could explain but she's terrified.
“No?” Liv parrots.
“No.” She says, more confident this time. She’s not lying. She has no interest in Dominik Mysterio.
“Great!” Liv says, back to upbeat in a heartbeat, “then we won’t have any trouble!”
Then she stands. For a second a wave of intense relief crashes over her chest. She's not being kicked out! For some reason, Liv believed her.
Then a feeling of guilt begins to build in her chest. Liv really doesn't seem nearly as bad or crazy as Finn made her sound. She's actually pretty nice.
For a second she considers her place in the Judgment Day. She considers what it would be like without Liv, and Dom would surely follow her because Roxanne is failing the task Finn set her and then Raquel would follow and she would be alone with Finn and JD.
She doesn't want to be alone with Finn and JD.
“Finns trying to break the two of you up,” she blurts.
Liv freezes, then turns and sits back down. Her face is sharper now, colder. Any niceness, false or real, is gone now, pulled back to reveal something fierce.
“Tell me more.”
“He’s been encouraging me to flirt, he’s been pushing us together. I’m pretty sure the only reason he recruited me was because he thought I was going to pull a you and steal him.”
Liv laughs for a second at “pull a you” but then she sobers up. When she looks at Rox she’s still angry, but it’s no longer directed at her.
“I’ve suspected something’s up for a while, but it’s nice to know it’s not just me. I’ll take care of him in due time, but not now. He’s not a direct threat yet, and blowing this all up might put Dom’s title in danger.” She says, eyes narrowing. Then she looks at Rox again, smiling, “and I’m around now. You’re not going to be kicked out if you don’t follow Finn’s plans. Just don’t go flirting with my boyfriend and we won’t have any more issues.”
“Oh trust me, Dom is not my type.” She says, then immediately regrets it.
Why would she say that? Things were going so well! She was going to get through this conversation calmly and without exposing herself and now she’s gone and made it weird again.
She’s about to start freaking out again, but then Liv smiles at her. It’s kinder than before, maybe even gentle. Then she reaches out and wraps an arm around her shoulders, pulling her close. It calms her down a bit. Liv doesn’t say anything as she does, just keeps smiling.
“So Raquel?” She asks, once Rox has calmed down.
Shit.
“That obvious?” She asks, voice small.
“Well we’ve ruled out Dom, you just totally ratted Finn out and you joined when I wasn’t even here, so it had to be JD or Raquel. I made an educated guess.” Her tone is still light, mildly comical but not mocking.
She considers lying, but there’s no point, and honestly someone else knowing about her crush makes it feel like a weight has been lifted off her chest.
“Yeah. She’s hot, alright? I like being around her, and she’s like a foot taller than me and she can throw me around and it’s really hot,” she says, trying and failing to not sound defensive.
“I know,” Liv says, and she sounds so understanding that it makes her want to cry. “She’s my bestie, but if she wasn’t I would totally want to hit that.”
And then they’re both laughing and suddenly she doesn’t even know why she was worried.
“I don’t know what Finn’s thinking, you’re great.” She says.
Liv laughs harder.
—
She's mostly calmed down by the end of the show. It’s Raquel that pitches interfering with the tag match, making a show of going after their titles again.
She feels a pang of anxiety at the knowledge that there’s two championships and three of them, but it’s muted now. She’s not afraid of Liv anymore.
Pretty much every woman on the roster beats them to the literal punch, but that just makes it easier to swoop in and pick at the scraps. They barely even put up a fight.
It’s a moment of victory when she swoops in and grabs her title, then is eclipsed by nerves again.
She turns and hands the title to Liv. She hopes Liv sees it for what it is, a signal of her loyalty, another promise that she’s not going to fight her, an offer of friendship.
Liv takes it, smiling. For a second she just holds it between them.
Then she shoves it back into Roxanne’s hands. She looks at her, a little shocked and more than a little happy.
Then, too quiet for anyone else in the ring to hear, she whispers to Rox.
“Go get your woman.”