Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Author Note: Set after Chikara's 2013 Never Compromise PPV. If you've never watched any Chikara shows, you should. Title is an adjusted lyric from the song 'She Wants To Move' by N*E*R*D.
A SPACESHIP I WANT TO RIDE
There were voices and noises; it was all way too loud. Everything was dark too. Gavin stirred and a warm worried hand soothingly stroked his arm. The voices didn't stop. Gavin frowned and stirred again. The noises got louder, the darkness began lightening. Gavin opened his eyes.
Wow, the light hurt.
And that warm hand was back, petting his arm as someone said his name. The voice was familiar and made Gavin want to smile for some reason. Eventually he managed to turn his head towards the voice and found himself looking at…Jakob? Jakob Hammermeier, eating red jello.
The German's face split into a grin. "There you are! Your face is open again."
Gavin coughed out a laugh. Why was Jakob here? Wait, where was here? Jakob leaned in eagerly, it was sort of terrifying.
"Ah, now, what do you remember?"
Right, the classic question. Gavin screwed up his aching face; he remembered standing across the ring from Tim Donst, who'd been smirking of course, so sure that he was going to win. Gavin remembered Jakob suddenly punching Donst and Gavin himself delivering a superplex from the top rope that had hurt like hell. He remembered the bell ringing. After that, all there was was just a whole lot of darkness and pain. So this place would be…Gavin managed to look around. Oh, a hospital. Yeah, that made sense.
Jakob nodded, more than a hint of pain in his eyes as Gavin remembered everything out loud. "Ja. Tim was not happy. But you are here and you are awake. It's very exciting."
He half-turned, maybe to hide his pain, and waved at somebody outside the room. Saturyne popped her head round the door, a giant smile on her pretty face. Her hair was windswept and she was wearing a jean jacket over her wrestling gear. There were little star patches sewn onto the jacket, Gavin noticed, and some sort of large symbol on the left-hand pocket. What did it mean?
Saturyne laughed as Jakob threw something towards the masked wrestler. Saturyne caught it eagerly, cellophane crinkling, and Gavin could just about make out that it was a sealed cup of lemon jello.
"She is a superhero," Jakob declared. "Without her, the condors would have swept us up."
Gavin frowned, was his mind playing tricks on him, or was Jakob making even less sense than usual? Why was Jakob even here? And why didn't Gavin mind all that much? Saturyne, he understood. She'd helped train him for his match. Jakob had always disliked him though; he'd feuded with Gavin during the whole BDK era. He'd even attacked Gavin when he'd pointed out what an asshole Donst was being. Now Jakob was all smiles, jello, and crazy words?
"Jakob, what's going on?"
A broad question, but a valid one. Chikara had always been crazy town, but this was new. Jakob paused, his mouth pulling unhappily downwards. Saturyne lingered in the doorway, like she was listening and also kind of like she was guarding them. That couldn't be good.
"Okay, so you don't remember what happened after your match, yes? Well, the main event, very exciting, it was invaded, by Wink and his condors. They tore everything down; they took Eddie Kingston and Icarus and just…took everything away."
Jakob's words were fast and furious but he sounded emotional, like he was seriously freaked-out by what he was recounting. Gavin glanced towards Saturyne and she nodded grimly. Okay, wow, so this was real. Wink…Wink had, what, destroyed his own company? Literally? It didn't make sense and it made Gavin's head hurt. It shouldn't, he'd witnessed alternate timeline versions of Archibald Peck, he'd met two time-travelling knights called Lance Steel. The unbelievable had been his life for years now, but Chikara, gone? His heart was hurting now too.
There was the sound of footsteps in the hallway outside and a flash of white coat, causing Jakob to leap to his feet.
"You must be checked. I will get the doctor."
He made an abortive move towards the door before suddenly turning and diving for Gavin instead. Gavin braced himself, for what, he wasn't sure; Jakob was proving to be full of surprises. But there was no hard landing, no furious violence, instead Jakob restrained himself and leaned in to press a very unexpected and chaste kiss to Gavin's lips. Then, just as quickly, he was gone, haring out the door.
Gavin's eyes were probably huge. His heart was thrumming like the strings of his guitar after a Chikara show. Saturyne laughed, the noise was tinkly and very her. Gavin slanted a stunned look her way.
"I think he's the one that needs a doctor."
Saturyne stepped into the room, her smile gentling. Gavin could feel himself relaxing in response; this was the only woman to graduate from the Wrestle Factory after all, this was somebody who'd stood by him when most people had been saying that he was crazy to wrestle Tim Donst. She'd been one of the few who'd told him to keep going.
"Mike's okay," Saturyne said into the quiet, her voice clear and calming. "We found him heading toward the arena. Eddie fought off Condor Security by himself and we gave Icarus a ride to some place that he claims nobody will find. He has my number."
She was giving a roll call. Oh God, what the fuck had Wink done?
"UltraMantis and his Spectral Envoy came aboard for a while, now they're keeping a very low-profile."
The idea of UltraMantis Black keeping any kind of low-profile made Gavin laugh, which hurt his ribs. It was true that Hallowicked and Frightmare were particularly good at hiding in the shadows though. Saturyne's smile sharpened behind her mask.
"There's a lot of holes in the roster, but Mike says we've got to focus on taking care of ourselves."
That sounded like Mike, taking on the responsibility of everything himself. Gavin pressed an uncertain hand to his bruised ribs.
"How long have I been out?"
"A few hours, they thought you might have a concussion but it turns out that your body just shut down from sheer exhaustion and pain. You need rest, but you'll be fine."
That was good to hear. Gavin felt like he could breathe a little easier. He could hear Jakob outside; he tipped his chin towards the noise.
"And Jakob?"
A shadow flickered across Saturyne's face. "He's still coming to terms with everything. Tim was…you know how he felt about Tim."
Yeah, Jakob had been devoted and Tim had treated him like shit. Only Jakob had defended Tim's behavior until finally snapping, beating Tim down so that Gavin could win his match against Donst. That was more than a sacrifice. Something warm stirred under Gavin's skin. He hadn't thanked Jakob yet. His lips burned in memory, was that gratefulness? Jakob finding someone new to attach his terrifying enthusiasm and tireless affection to?
Saturyne twisted a little, her eyes sparkling under the harsh strip-lighting. Sometimes she looked like a kid who'd skipped class, other times, like right now, she looked like those carvings people found in ancient temples of goddesses, beautiful and knowing.
"Everything else is a journey," she said simply.
It didn't sound like a ringing endorsement but Gavin knew that if Jakob was a serious threat, Saturyne wouldn't have let him hang around. Speaking of which, Jakob strode back into the room at that moment, armed with more jello.
"The doctor will check finally and then you can go home, for rest," he announced.
He sat down next to Gavin, one hand resting warmly on Gavin's arm. It soothed Gavin; Jakob had done that before, hadn't he? When Gavin was passed out or whatever. It had felt good then too.
Saturyne smiled with all her teeth and took a step towards the door. "I'm meeting Dasher for lunch. Call me when you're ready"
Jakob waved happily at her. "She is very nice, I think."
"Yeah, she's awesome," Gavin replied distractedly as Saturyne disappeared down a hallway. "How did she get everybody out? She doesn't drive…"
"Of course there is no driving. She has a spaceship."
Right, of course. She was known as the Intergalactic Luchadora after all, even if she never usually offered anybody a ride. Had she really broken that long-held habit for a bunch of Chikara refugees, like Jakob, who could use what they now knew of her ship against her? Saturyne would have fail-safes, right?
"Mmm, it's very nice. Very spacious." Jakob was opening up a package of blue jello. "But there were not lots of us. The ants went marching."
That made sense. Gavin wondered if the Colony had gone looking Soldier Ant. Hey, maybe the authority that Wink had used to split the ants up in the first place didn't exist anymore. Maybe, here Gavin's heart gave a little bump of hope, maybe that was what Mike was counting on. If Wink was that desperate to get rid of them, to sweep them all under the rug, maybe Mike could create another Chikara, a place where they'd be safe from Wink Vavasseur's ideas and WMD's grip.
Jakob was smiling at him. "You've heard, ja? I am Chikara!"
At Gavin's confused look, Jakob pulled out a cellphone and revealed a text message from Icarus. It simply read I am Chikara. Are you?
Gavin's initial reaction was to shout a positive reply, but he was exhausted and in hospital. Jakob patted Gavin's arm, why did that feel so good? And why was Gavin finding Jakob's puppyish behavior so endearing? They'd hated each other once, then it had evolved into total frustration for Gavin because Jakob had refused to see what Tim was doing to him. Had Gavin been just as bad, refusing to notice how Jakob apparently pushed his buttons? Or was that a more recent development?
God, he couldn't think straight right now.
Jakob produced a plastic spoon from his pocket and leaned closer. "It's a movement. Icarus, he won't say, but he leaves videos for the Chikarmy."
That made Gavin grin. Wink could try whatever he liked against the wrestlers, but the fans wouldn't ever accept defeat. They were some of the toughest most loyal fans that Gavin had ever come across. Mobilizing them was an inspired idea. And Icarus was spearheading the movement? It looked like Jakob wasn't the only one who'd changed…
Jakob's whole arm was pressed against Gavin's now, a spoonful of blue jello held out like an offering. How did he know that was Gavin's favorite jello flavor?
Why did this feel way more shocking than Chikara being rolled up like a circus tent and taken away? Maybe because Chikara wasn't the arenas, rings, and merchandise. Icarus had apparently realized that before anybody else. He was Chikara and so was Gavin. And there were a lot of people out there who'd take up that rallying cry too. This could be amazing.
He opened his mouth and tasted blue jello. Jakob's warmth didn't waver, and when Saturyne arrived to transport them, it wasn't her that Gavin reached for first.
-the end