Don't Just Walk Away

by Roselyne

When you abandon your team members in the middle of a serious fight, you must be ready to face the consequences. Wade Barrett probably made one mistake too much with THE CORRE. Can he still cross the bridge back to Heath Slater and Justin Gabriel?

Author's Note: Yes, another fic (I can already hear some of you grinding their teeth ;) ), but a one-shot. After what happened during the Smackdown taping for the episode of 2011.06.10, I HAD to write something ^^;

Authors' Note 2: Being a French speaking person, I may have done (certainly) a few mistakes in this English text. Don't hesitate to correct me :) I'm always eager to improve myself ;)

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DON'T JUST WALK AWAY

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Wade sat on the bench of the Corre locker room and opened his bag to take some street clothes. His instinct was urging him to skip the shower here and wait to be in the Hotel. His team members were probably pissed off, and he wouldn't risk to take a shower here, only to find that all his clothes had mysteriously disappeared. This was the type of jokes Heath Slater had already done earlier "for fun", leaving only behind a copy of... Cena's outfit. To whoever asked him afterwards the reason of him wearing Cena's shirt, he had pretended that he had rolled a dice, and lost a stupid bet.

But Wade was sure that tonight, they wouldn't even leave him a copy of BIG SHOW's outfit, would he venture alone in the bathroom and leave his precious bag behind. So he might be sweaty and slightly stinky, but his dignity could still be saved. Somehow.

Starting to remove the protections on his wrists, he heard approaching footsteps and recognized automatically Heath and Justin. And their quick stride clearly showed that they were pissed. Wade sighed but kept on removing his protections.

"Told you he would be there!". Heath's voice. Wade preferred to ignore them as they approached him with a determined pace. They stopped in front of him, Heath slightly on his right and Justin slightly on his left. In the heavy silence that followed, Wade kept on ignoring them.

"We have a problem, dude", Justin started in a voice that sounded like he was forcing to be calm while deep inside, he was about to explode in every directions. "We can't let it be seen that you're the one who's walking away from The Corre", he added after a pause. Wade slowed his movement, as a déjà-vu feeling hit him. He slightly frowned but he kept his focus on his bag.

"You'd better look at us, Wade...". Heath slow accent and strange voice. Wade lifted his gaze towards the red haired, and saw that both of them were still on the after effect of the fight they previously had. A fight that Wade had deserted when he had realized there was nothing to gain there. The problem was that he hadn't just deserted a fight. He had deserted his men. For the second time in two weeks. His eyes moved from Heath to Justin. If the south African looked really angered, the ginger one looked unease, pursing up his lips into a thin line, clenching and unclenching his fists. Like he didn't want to be there. Like the only thing he wanted to do was turn away and leave. Like he was afraid of the consequences of what would happen in the next seconds. His eyes were shining. He was not about to cry, no. But there were so many emotions here that, given time and chance, he would cry. Heath passed a shaking hand in his hair before he took a deep breath, Wade just didn't know if the shaking was still from the aftermath of their fight, or from some more recent stress.

Heath licked his dry lips before he went on: "... because we wanna make sure you see this one coming".

Wade stopped all movement, and looked at Heath, then Justin. He knew now why he had this feeling of déjà-vu. Those words, he had pronounced them against Zeke not so long ago, when Zeke had just walked away from their group. Their family. His two comrades were actually giving him a code. A sign that there was still a (thin) possibility to heal everything.

Strangely, Wade felt a great calm taking over him and he smiled. Apologizing RIGHT NOW could still save their group, before the first destructive blow was delivered on the fragile crystal-like structure that was now their friendship and fellowship.

He slowly stood up, thinking that if he apologized now to his comrades, the Corre would survive this crisis. And would come out of it stronger than ever. By abandoning them - twice - against Zeke and his torture rack, Wade had crossed a bridge, but with humble amends, it was still possible to walk back. But then, Wade got a mental look into the future and what was ahead for their group. He rather decided to actually set fire to the bridge he had crossed.

He looked at Heath in a rather soft way, then smiled bitterly at Justin, remembering their old feud from many years ago. "You'd better make this look good".

And with no further warning, Wade pounced on Justin and started to give him a few good punches. Heath remained still for a few seconds, before he finally decided to join the battle, and tried to tackle Wade to the floor. Wade managed to escape but the distraction allowed Justin to deliver a few painful punches in his face and stomach. Heath's second attempt to tackle Wade was more successful, and the moment Wade hit the ground, he knew he was done. But he intended to give them a run for their money. Heath immobilised one of his arms against his side and kept Wade on the floor as Justin repetitively kicked him in the stomach and ribs. But Wade fought back with all the energy he had and manage to give a few painful kicks into Justin's leg, and Heath's right knee.

Justin moved slightly away, limping, then took a chair and lifted it before smashing it full force on the side of Wade's head. A bright white light flashed before Wade's eyes, but by the time the intensity of the pain had decreased, Wade just saw that Justin had grabbed his huge black suitcase and lifted above his head. Heath had just the time to roll away from Wade before Justin connected the suitcase full force with the Brit's torso.

Wade closed his eyes and coughed painfully; for a few seconds he was unable to breathe. He felt a few kicks in his back and side, from two different origins and tried to blindly fight back. But his two other comrades fell on him with fists and elbows, and occasionally another kick.

Then they stopped their attack. Wade managed to breathe in and opened his eyes, staring at the ceiling first before a movement caught his attention and he focused on Heath and Justin, realizing too late what they were doing.

He couldn't avoid the row of metallic lockers that fell on him. A metallic edge connected with the side of his head, and half knocked him out. In the seconds before he lost consciousness, his chest pressed by the weight of the lockers and reducing his breathing, he heard Justin's voice as the South-African crouched near him.

"It has been a pleasure working with you, Wade..."

Déjà-vu again. Wade would have laughed at the irony, but his consciousness slipped away and the darkness welcomed him.

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END

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THE CORRE IS DEAD. LONG LIVE THE CORRE.

See the irony of the situation?

- 2010.06.07: Birth of the NEXUS
- 2011.06.07: Death of THE CORRE.

Both team had as leader the same guy: Wade Barrett.
Don't come with this "we are all equals" for The Corre. Surprisingly, there was always only ONE guy instructing the others about what to do next ;) And The Corre's entrance theme was previously Wade's when he was - briefly - solo at Smackdown.

Be there for Friday Night Smackdown 2011.06.10 for more explanation.

*hugs*

::Roselyne::