To the back!

Valley made her way through the back, with a weak smile on her face. Part of the reason for that was because she felt weak.

She'd just gone through what was, without a doubt, one of the toughest matches of her entire career. Easily in the top five. The only AFW match that had been more grueling was the one she did with Haley, and it didn't even feel right to compare since that one had basically been three matches in a row. Natasha Han had slammed her. Tossed her. Bent her. Defied some of the best moves she had. Valley kept on throwing everything at her, she went at her in ways that would've dropped almost anyone else flat, and the woman just kept coming.

She'd won. She gotten the narrow victory. She knew she should've been celebrating now, marking her second win of the year. But the realities of the match still weighed on her - the whole thing just did not make sense.

They'd fought like they were bitter rivals at a Pay-Per-View match, not like they were just two random wrestlers from completely different promotions who hadn't even been on the same continent before. On her way out of the ring, Natasha didn't look like she'd just lost some one-off match. To see the look of complete defeat on her face, you'd have thought she'd just gotten stripped of the world title. This match had meant the absolute most to her, and Valley was at a complete loss as to why.

But she was going to find out.

She made her way through the back, only stopping to exchange the occasional high-five with stagehands as they passed her by, returning their approving smiles. She appreciated the support, but right now her mind was only focused on the task of tracking down the iron woman who'd been thrashing her just five minutes ago. She'd asked Natasha  to stay and wait, and she could only hope that the woman would follow through...

Valley didn't need to worry. Natasha was waiting for her, the proud Russian sitting on a bench in the locker room. Her normally strong posture was gone, Natasha hunched over, staring at the floor, a tired, dead look on her face, the look of a woman who had just lost everyone.

She couldn't figure it out. She couldn't figure out how she had lost. She had went in with the right mindset, she had entered the match ready to walk out a winner, and she had done everything right against her American foe, but...

Somehow she had lost. Somehow, in the eleventh hour, Valley had managed to turn things around, and defeat Natasha. She had managed to give the woman a sound, solid loss, just one more loss added to the Russian's rapidly growing list. She couldn't stand it. Just thinking about the fight was starting to drive Natasha crazy.

She wanted to go home. She wanted to just get out of the arena and go home and get out of her wrestling gear and get a shower. She wanted to lie down, and not think about the match anymore, not until she had time to rest and time to calm down. She couldn't leave though, not yet. Valley had asked for her to stay, and perhaps without thinking, Natasha decided to stick around and to see what she wanted.

She just hoped the blonde would get to the locker room quickly.

Valley was wary as she came towards the locker rooms. She hated that, but there it was.

The AFW was better than Slamazons in a lot of ways - the scale, the paycheck, the work, the organization, the diversity. But one thing it lacked was the security. Slamazons protected their talent, at least as long as they were on property. After getting attacked by Amethyst, Valley learned the hard truth that she was fair game when she was walking around backstage, and that there was no such thing as a safe zone.

She didn't want to think that of Natasha. She'd been a great opponent, the kind Valley wished the AFW had more of. Strong, competent, honorable, skilled. But the passion in her face throughout the match, coupled with the dejected look as she left the ring, told her that there were all sorts of ways a meeting in the back could go. She had to be ready.

Valley opened the door and found Natasha sitting there, right on the bench. She wasn't ready to fight or eager to get back at her or anything like that. She had the look of a woman who had been completely, unquestionably whipped. Like Valley herself had just a few months ago, when she couldn't win a match to save her life.

She stepped in and let the door swing back behind her, closing with an audible tap that echoed throughout the room. "Hi," She gave a quick wave and stepped closer with a worried frown. "Thanks for coming."

Natasha didn't move as Valley ended the locker room. She let the echo ring out, the sound hitting her ears to catch her attention. She felt her shoulders slump a little lower, the Russian honestly not wanting to be here and to do this.

She stole a glance towards Valley, out of the corner of her eye, then resumed her stare towards the floor. "Yes," she answered, her voice lifeless and flat. "Speak. Make quick, please. I am wanting to get a shower and go back home."

Well, this was awkward.

A small part of Valley wanted to just walk right out of the door and spare herself from the trouble that she seemed to be barreling towards. Natasha didn't look like she was about to throttle her, but she clearly wasn't in a mood to talk, and Valley was probably the last person in all of existence that she wanted to see. So this was a minefield.

Nonetheless...

"Quick. Okay."' Valley held up her hands and took a step forward. "First off, let me say - amazing match. Really. You were incredible out there, and you really..." Stop flattering. Not the right mood for it. "Anyway, I couldn't help but notice that you were really, really, intense out there. And I'm just curious as to why that was, exactly. Especially when this was our first time in the ring together."

Natasha sighed as Valley began to slather on the praise, and she was glad when she stopped just as soon as she began. When the blonde asked her question, Natasha slowly lifted her gaze up towards her, staring straight at her, with an exhausted look on her face.

"It was a match. My first match in a long time. One must bring intensity to every match, da?" She looked as if she shouldn't have to explain something so obvious to Valley, and honestly looked like she just wanted to get up and leave now. "Every match is important. Some of them, like this one, are more important then others." She released a soft sigh, and looked down towards the floor again. "I could not let you win. You won anyway. You should be happy, and not ask so many questions."

Valley stared at Natasha for a moment, unsure of how exactly to proceed. Maybe it really was that simple. Maybe she was just reading things wrong, and there was no deeper meaning to it. Maybe it was just a case of Natasha being in a very competitive mood.

Maybe, but she doubted it. She had been in the AFW long enough to know things were never that cut and dry.

But she'd also been around the world enough to know that it was better not to wake sleeping giants. Natasha looked like she needed some alone time. She should have it.

"Fine." There wasn't any snark in the word. It was genuine. "I'll leave you to it, then. But I meant what I said: it was a great match. And if you ever want a rematch, just say the word. Not soon mind you, I need to heal up, but..."

The last part was meant to be a little joke, but it fell flat, along with a weak laugh. Valley shrugged and cut it off. "I'll get out of your hair. Take care."

She started to make her way out, careful not to move too fast.

"Wait."

Natasha's voice called out sharply as Valley turned to go, the Russian slowly climbing up to her feet. "I did not say to leave. We are not done yet."

She waited for Valley to turn back towards her, then stepped towards the blonde, standing only about a foot away from her. She stared towards her, staring deeply, intently into the woman's eyes. Her legs were shaky and her body was trembling, but she stood her ground before the Slamazon, practically staring holes through her head, her gaze was so intense.

"There will be a rematch. Not soon, but there will be one. I will warn you now, you will not win next time." She paused. Hesitating. Normally her tone wouldn't have be so hard and so blunt, but she was exhausted and not in a good mood. She wasn't in any sort of mood to tease or joke around.

"Next time that we are fighting, you will lose. Understand?"

Valley stopped, spun around, and found herself staring at a completely different woman than the one she'd been talking to just a second ago.

That fire was back. The same raw, blazing passion that Natasha had wielded to devastating effect in their match. The wounded fawn was gone, and only the fierce Siberian Tigress remained. A little wounded, maybe. But no less dangerous.

Valley was taken aback for a moment after Natasha had finished speaking, but she quickly righted herself and put on a fierce look of her own. She took one step towards her. Then another. Then a final, small step to put their faces only a few inches apart. There was some ancient, primal force between them, like two alpha wolves vying for the top spot of the pack. Eyes focused, face solid, muscles tensed.

"Oh, I understand. And I look forward to proving you wrong, Natasha Han." Her voice was full of sharp edge. Not hate, but not playing around, either. "Until then..."

Valley started to back out once again, and this time, her eyes never left Natasha's for a moment.

Natasha stared at Valley, feeling the woman's breath on her face, feeling the intensity radiating from her. She stared, as if she was trying to stare right through her, refusing to back down. She might have been beaten, but she was far from broken.

"You will be proving noone wrong, kukla," Natasha answered, holding her ground, even though her entire body was screaming at her to shut up and sit down and relax. "But yes, until then..."

She lifted a hand, gesturing for Valley to make her exit. She waited for the blonde to leave, and when she was finally alone again, she stepped back and dropping onto the bench, burying her head into her hands, releasing a deep, exhausted sigh from her lips.

What the hell I am doing? she thought to herself, the Russian unable to comprehend her own actions with Valley just now. Valley had beaten her, fair and square, and yet...she couldn't accept it. There was a part of her that just couldn't believe she had lost and accept that Valley had beaten her.

She stayed there in the locker room for what felt like forever to her, just sitting on the bench, thinking about the night's events. Then, eventually, when it was later, she gathered her things to leave, not even bothering to get a shower before heading out of the locker room and out of the arena. She had too much on her mind to think about little things like that.