Antebellum

"You wouldn't have gotten pinned if I hadn't hotdogged it." Valley reached down and started to unlace her boots. Her aching toes were just begging for the relief. "It was a screwjob from the start."

She tossed off one boot and flung it to the corner, then started on the other. "That woman, Allison - can't be sure, but she's experienced, I think. She's not the sort of opponent you should be facing this early in your career, anyway." She looked up with furrowed brows. "Maybe that's part of the problem, you know? A lot of your opponents have been around the AFW a bit longer than you, there's a gap. Maybe we should start working your way up with wrestlers who are closer to your age and experience, not rush it." And off came the other shoe. "Just stay away from monsters like Iron Maiden or vets like Akashi and stick with stuff lower down the pole."

Ace frowned, not trying to take off her gear yet, taking in Valley's words. While she had to admit, Valley did have a point about Allison being a higher level opponent, Ace was very proud of the efforts she had put in against higher level opponents like Iron Maiden, Akashi, and especially her fight against Taylor, which was currently seen as the gold standard of Rookie vs Veteran matches in AFW. To be told she should go down to a lower level of competition...it stung. Like saying her previous efforts weren't worthwhile.

"I dunno Val.....I mean, your a 12 year veteran, your older and got way more experience than I do, and you've been wrestling longer than most of these girls have been in AFW, and last I checked babe, I superkicked you flat, and made you tap out between my legs... I believe your lips were pressed against the heart on the panties I wore under my outfit that day..."

Ace said with a small giggle, simply trying to add some levity to what had so far been a somewhat tense conversation, plus provide a response to Valley's claim.

Valley rubbed her forehead and swiveled away from Ace. She swore, she could almost see the elephant walking into the room. Ace was proud about that win, and Valley didn't blame her. But it wasn't nearly that simple.

"Ace." She placed her palms flat on the vanity table and let her hair come down around her face, not particularly interested in poise at the moment. "I'm not trying to take that match away from you, really, but you need to look at it from the right perspective. The match we had, it wasn't like your other ones. It was fun. It was light. I wasn't really trying to..." Valley smacked her forehead, giving herself some punishment. That wasn't the right way to say it.

"You shouldn't put too much weight on that, is what I'm saying. I didn't go into that match caring too much about winning, I wanted to have fun with you." She nodded, hoping that was the right combination of words.

"W...What do you mean?"

Ace asked, sitting up with a concerned look on her tired face, ignoring the still flaring, yet not as severe, pain that went through her back. Her eyes were wide as Valley's words sunk in.

"Are you saying....what, you weren't trying to win? You...You weren't doing your best?"

She said, shaking her head, thinking she must have misheard Valley or something. She was kidding or something, right? Yet, replaying the words in her head, there was no mistaking it, Valley was serious about not having taken the match very seriously. Ace had good reason to be upset. Her victory over Valley was one Ace was extremely proud of, given the level of experience between them, and, more importantly, it was the first, and so far only legitimate victory in Ace's AFW career so far, and it was a huge and much needed boost to her confidence. Finding out it might not have been real....that was too much.

Yet, it explained so much....why Valley kept interfering in her matches, why she wanted her to drop to a lower level of competition, why she jumped in the ring tonight whenever Ace so much as took a hit....

"V..Val.....you didn't....you wouldn't......did you let me win!?"

Okay, apparently that was not the right combination of words. She was missing something here, not finding the right way to convey what should have been a simple message. Ace was being emotional, that wasn't helping, but it wasn't like Valley was in the best mental state, either.

"No, I did not let you win." She swung back around to Ace and patted her knees. "That makes it sound like I just laid down and let you pin me, and you know it wasn't like that. But you were there, it was a relaxed match. It's not like I was going after you the same way I'd do with Chris or Amethyst or someone like that. It was almost foreplay."

Good foreplay. Very good. But foreplay, all the same.

"I'm not trying to take away from you or anything, but you have to be realistic about this. Know where you're at, that's all I'm saying."

"Foreplay!?"

Ace yelled, trying to stand up, and having to sit back down, her back tightening up on her. Panting, she glared up at Valley.

"Look, I know I did some stuff in that match just for you, with your ear and all that, but damnit, I was fighting as hard as I could in that match. I put almost everything i had into it! You think I was faking in that scissor hold? I passed out! I barely woke up in time! Every kick, hold, pinfall...I was having fun, but I was trying to win! I thought I had won a legit victory against you, and I was proud of it, now your telling me it was just FOREPLAY!? Like you weren't even really trying, like you were just going through the motions for fun!"

She yelled, running her hands through her hair and closing her eyes, breathing heavier as her anger grew.

"It all makes sense now.....all of it....I shouldn't have won that match..you let me...then you lied to me, made me think I was better than I really was...then you tried to hide it by constantly saving me and jumping into the ring tonight.....your trying to protect me, because you don't think I'm good enough to protect myself!"

Valley brought her fist down hard on the table, the crash echoing throughout the room. "Damn it, Haley, calm down!" The yell just came out of nowhere, but she couldn't help it - it was like talking with a brick wall. Maybe even worse than that, since Valley couldn't even imagine a brick wall being this stubborn. It was like Ace wasn't even hearing what she was saying, just what she wanted to believe Valley was saying.

"Just...calm down, okay?" She lowered her voice and calm down as she pushed on the arm rest and stood up. "I didn't lie to you, you are a great wrestler, you're just taking things too fast, that's all. You need to slow down. We need to slow down. And I don't protect you because I don't think you're good, I protect you because I'm your girlfriend." She leaned her way and rested her hands on her hips, her head cocked to the side. "Remember? Protecting you is a large part of that. All I do, all I've ever done, is try to look out for you. Just let me do that."

The argument was making the adrenaline starting to flow through Ace again it seemed, as once Valley crashed her fist onto the table, Ace managed to stand up fully this time, back be damned, as she moved up in Valley's face.

"I don't need you to protect me Valley! I've taken some lumps, fine, but I'm not some pathetic rookie! I've been doing this for Five Years remember? I didn't need you to look out for me when I was a Death Match tournament before coming to AFW, being put through tables and slammed onto barbed wire, because I won, I didn't need your help when I came seconds, seconds, away from choking out Iron Maiden. I didn't need your protection when I kicked Taylor Parker so hard i nearly gave her a concussion, and came inches away from a winning pinfall! I didn't need your protection at all before I met you, and I don't need your protection to beat you."

She finished, pushing her finger against Valley's chest, just above her cleavage, a fire in the silver haired girls eyes.

"Maybe you forgot that my career started before coming here, but the fact is I made pretty goddamn far without needing you!"

The aspirin wasn't working. Full headache, now.

"Haley, listen to me. Actually listen to what I'm saying, here." She rubbed her temples, looking to get some soothing from the massage. "You were fine in that league before the AFW, I'm not short-selling that, but this, the AFW? It's a different thing. You have to respect that, you have to take your time."

She grabbed Ace's finger and pushed it back - being poked in the chest was a pet peeve of hers. Haley had sharp nails, too.

"You need me, Haley. You need someone watching your back and helping you train and looking out for you." She took a step in, looking down on Ace as best she could with their close heights. Her mother's voice was coming out. "The AFW eats girls like you alive all the time - there are dozens of Jocelyn and Allisons and Hawks and Lionesses out there, and they see you. You're blood in the water"

She held her arms out. "Let me help you."

For a couple seconds, it seemed Ace was listening, the way her eyes moved, how her head darted left and right, she was clearly thinking about what Valley had to say. AFW was a dangerous place, Ace had already had that proven to her multiple times since she had been there. Not only that, but, in addition to everything else she loved about Valley, it felt nice to have somebody watching her back, to have a friend, especially after the last 5 years of being lonely and traveling around had been getting to her.

For a few moments, it seemed Ace would calm down, realize she was wrong, ask for forgiveness....but then Valley's tone shifted, her position changed, and, in Ace's mind, Valley went from a loving girlfriend honestly wanting to help, to just somebody else looking down on her, somebody else telling her she was just going to get hurt, somebody else telling her she just couldn't cut it.

Ace took a couple steps back from Valley, tears starting to brim in her eyes. This just confirmed it. Valley Doll had no faith, no belief in Ace or her abilities. She thought Ace would just get hurt if she didn't hide behind Valley. She didn't think Ace deserved to be here....deserved to be with her even.

Shaking her head, Ace just had one reply,

"You....You sound just like your mother did...."