Title: Rubik's Cube
Rating: T for now.
Disclaimer: I think the world would be chaos if I did own it, but we don't.
A/N: Let's just call this 'the muse that wouldn't leave.' Now let's just imagine that the whole Nexus thing went a little bit differently. Enjoy.
Sometimes life has to get really ugly before it gets pretty.
Natalya told herself that over and over again every day hoping she'd believe it. So far she hadn't been able to convince herself but she pressed on because it was all she had to cling to as of late. Her whole world had been shattered only a month ago, but she held her head high hoping for better days to find her in this fog of uncertainty that loomed around her.
"You alright?" A familiar voice asked drawing her out of the jumbled thoughts in her mind. She looked up from her seat on the bench in the Hart Dynasty locker room and into the eyes of her uncle Bret Hart. He'd been keeping a close eye on her the past couple of weeks, and though she appreciated it, she missed the times when he saw her as confident and strong. "You seem out of it."
"I'm fine." She answered instantly, she found herself repeating that same line to everyone more frequently.
"Okay, just making sure."
She did her best not to snap and moved to get up, managing a fake smile as she got to her feet, she patted his leather clad forearm, a small gesture to let him know she meant it and turned to leave. She didn't even acknowledge Tyson or David as she passed them as she was exiting the room.
"Nat?"
She wouldn't look back. Looking back involved acknowledging that she was still upset over everything. Something she couldn't afford for her family to know. She needed to fake composure even if deep down she was falling apart at the seams.
Walking down the arena corridor, her eyes on the floor, she had no idea where to go in particular but stopped when she found a secluded enough area with nothing but equipment crates and dim lighting. Choosing one at random, she climbed up and positioned herself so her back was against the wall, one leg curled under the other that hung off the edge. She closed her eyes and let out a breath she'd been holding since she left Bret, Tyson, and David.
Tension was high around them at the moment no thanks to her, but what could she do? She couldn't erase what happened; she couldn't change the past, no matter how desperately she wanted to. She'd do anything to forget, but of course, something or rather someone always stood in the way of that.
"Well hey there Nata-Phat," a southern accent drawled close by.
Her eyes opened quickly at the familiar voice and traveled to the left where the fiery redhead Heath Slater and the charismatic South African Justin Gabriel were walking towards her. Hopping off the crate, Natalya prepared herself for whatever beating the Nexus members wanted to dish out. They both started laughing at her stance, Justin placing his palms up to face her signaling they meant no harm. His smiled beamed at her, a subtle amused look coating his features.
"Relax Nat," he teased, only making her tense up more. She placed her hands on hips and arched a brow at the duo she'd once considered genuine men.
"What do you want?" There was an edge to her tone, a way of letting them know she was not to be messed with. It only succeeded in making them chuckle.
"You know, just moseying around in dark corners waiting for the perfect time to strike," Heath laughed. Justin shot him a look before giving her an actual explanation.
"We just came to make sure this wasn't some trap the Hart Dynasty was setting up."
"After what you did to my family you better thank your lucky stars it isn't. We settle our beef in the ring. You know? Like real men." Hoping it touched a nerve she added a smirk so they knew she meant it.
The smile faded from Heath's face in obvious offense, but Justin just smirked back at her.
"Don't worry honey, its coming pretty soon, but like I said just making sure this isn't a trap because someone wants to speak to you."
Natalya's smirk fell, out of the shadows stepped the tall, brooding, and British NXT winner and leader of the Nexus. His black hair glistened under the light as he locked eyes with her, dismissing Heath and Justin with a wave, a huge intimidating smile spread on his face as he stopped a mere foot from her.
"Hello Nattie," he said with ease.
Shit. All the memories were flooding back.
It was an odd feeling being so close to a person that made your heart soar. But Natalya simply reveled in the feeling or feelings that overtook her when she was wrapped in the arms of this man.
They were wrapped in each other's arms under the satin sheets of his hotel bed. Skin on skin, he gripped her hair forcing her head back and kissed her with all the passion he had left in him after spending the past two hours exploring each other's bodies intimately. Natalya moaned into the kiss, feeling his tongue graze her bottom lip for further access. Knowing they were both exhausted she denied him further progress by cupping his face in her hands and eased him back.
"Don't over-exert yourself baby," she quipped.
Wade scoffed at her joke, but smiled as he rolled his eyes. "Is that a challenge?"
"Call it free advice," she smiled back snuggling closer to him.
Silence greeted them for a few moments which prompted Natalya to shift her gaze up to him only to see a far off look on his face. Usually he would have responded with a witty comeback, but this time he offered none.
"What are you thinking?" She asked, trying not to let worry enter her tone.
Wade still didn't look at her, but he did respond. "My Raw debut."
"Everything will go great," relief washed over her.
"I hope so," the far off look was still on his face causing her relief to waver.
"What's wrong then?"
Finally, he looked at her, noting the sliver of fear cross her eyes. The confused energy she gave off was emanate, "Promise me that no matter what happens you'll stay by my side."
"What are you talking about?" She questioned, her heart aching slightly. Why, she didn't know.
"Promise me Nattie," he said with conviction, trying to convince her. He didn't need to. She'd decided the moment she met him that she'd follow him anywhere. Whatever he was not telling her slowly started to eat away at her heart.
"Always," just like that Wade was over her, sealing their lips in another fervent kiss. At that, she forgot everything he'd just said, deciding that was the best course of action. Life was finally good for her.
Wade stalked up the ramp refusing to look back at the destruction he and the New Nexus had just caused. The ringside had been dismantled, along with every person surrounding it, and their pièce de résistance: John Cena, lying broken in the middle of it all.
Exiting the curtain they arrived to a ghost town. Seemed that the crew had been frightened off by the actions of the group. Wade was pleased with this, smirking at the rest of the guys who were still hyped up by all the action that had just passed. He himself remained calm and collected, reminding himself this was only the beginning and they would have a tough challenge to face soon.
"Wooo, that was awesome," Heath Slater bellowed high-fiving Daniel Bryan.
"We definitely made an impact," agreed Darren Young.
His debut made and the mission accomplished he urged the boys to follow him back to the locker room so they could change and begin strategizing for the next phase of their plan. He smiled as he reached the door, ready to plan and celebrate. Once he stepped inside his face fell. The room was empty, where was Natalya?
"Nat," he called. No return greeted him. "Nat!" He screamed again, looking all over like she would just appear. Finally he turned back to the door seeing the rest of the member's eye him carefully. "Where is she?"
None offered him an answer; they just stood there in the doorway gawking at his behavior. He needed to find her, shoving his way through his friends and began running down the hall shouting her name, ignoring the boys yelling after him.
Searching frantically his heart pounded in his chest. The Divas locker room was empty, and even the Hart Dynasty was gone. He'd asked her before he left the locker room to stay put and they would return to the hotel together. He hadn't told her what was going to happen tonight but he didn't expect her to leave without a word. Finally, he tried the parking lot. Luck was on his side, he saw her blonde hair bouncing as she rushed toward her rental car.
"Nat!"
She didn't look toward him, only focused on opening the trunk and placing her bags inside. Closing the lid quickly she moved to make her way to the driver's door when he was suddenly in front of her.
"Nattie," he said calmly, reaching for her shoulders. He didn't have enough warning when her hand recoiled and she landed a hard slap on his cheek. His head whipped to the side and he brought a hand up to the stinging cheek as his eyes met hers.
"How could you," she snapped pushing him, "How could you do that."
"Nat-"she pushed him again, "Nat calm down!"
"Why, tell me why?" Her eyes began to water and on natural instinct he reached out for her only to have his hands slapped away.
"I can explain all this later when we get back to the hotel," he reasoned.
"No! Now! I want to know now!" she commanded. "Why, why would you go out there and decimate everyone?"
"It's business sweetheart," he defended, "it was a statement that needed to be made. We were trying to-"
"No," she interrupted, "that wasn't a statement," she pointed to the arena, "that was carnage. That was an attack and on people who couldn't defend themselves."
"Sometimes things require a little more force than necessary," he replied, "this wasn't about my debut Nat. This was about retribution for how myself and the rest of the guys on NXT were treated. This was for anyone who's been treated the way we were."
Natalya scoffed at the defense, "You're delusional."
She clicked the key ring to unlock the door and opened it. Wade had other ideas and closed it swiftly. "No Nat I'm not," he stated confidently, "I'm angry, and upset, and I'm trying to get retribution not just for myself but for my friends as well."
Shaking her head, Natalya crossed her arms over her chest and looked away. She couldn't believe what he had done. Watching everything unfold backstage she had debated going out there to try and stop him but remained motionless in their locker room backstage.
Wade reached out lifting her chin forcing her eyes to gaze up at him. So handsome and strong, he'd proven he was lethal tonight and the idea made her inwardly cringe. "Join us."
Her eyes blinked and her head shook, his hand falling at the action. "What?"
"Join us," he repeated, "join the Nexus and together you and I can conquer the WWE one week at a time."
"Wade-"
"Join us Natalya, join me."
Conflicted with her feelings for him and the images of what had just happened playing over in her head she took a shaky breath and opened the car door. Sliding in quickly she shut it hitting the lock button knowing he would try and open the door.
"Nat," he breathed pulling at the door, surprise written on his face when he realized she'd locked it.
"Nat!" She started the car, bringing the engine to life, she refused to look at him and put the gear shift into drive. "Nattie!"
Tears began to roll down her face as she drove away.
"Hello Nattie."
A month had gone by, and they were still attacking other WWE superstars, more recently they had attacked David and Tyson. Wade hadn't tried to contact her, which left her to wonder if he ever felt anything for her at all. But now here he was, right in front of her, after a month without a word and here she was falling apart all over again.
"What's wrong sweetheart," he drawled in that sexy British accent, damn him, "Cat got your tongue?"
Inside she was fuming and wanted to slap the taste out of his mouth once again. Her breath grew ragged as she stared at him. She didn't say a word so he pressed on, taking a moment to appreciate her form. His gaze wandered over her figure from head to toe, his Nattie, once filled with fire in the ring and between the sheets. He'd watched her over the past month noticing she seemed off in the ring and backstage as well. Of course he followed her, sheltering himself in dark corners waiting for the perfect moment to talk to her.
"You're looking lovely," he commented, biting his lower lip when his gaze traveled to her chest.
She promptly crossed her arms when she saw the action and gathered her courage. "What do you want?"
Wade chuckled at her response, still his little spitfire. "I want the same thing I wanted the last time I saw you."
It was said with such amusement Natalya couldn't help but scoff, "In case you forgot the answer is no."
"You didn't give me an answer then," he objected.
"It would've been no then, and it's still a no now."
"Nattie," he said softly, his hand rising to rest the back against her cheek, "think of all this could do for you. You'd be the most feared woman in the entire WWE. Everyone would respect you-"
She smacked his hand away from her face, "I will not compromise everything I believe in for power."
With that she turned to leave only to have him grab her arm and pull her back to him so she was in his arms facing him. The close proximity coupled with the swift movement caused her to gasp. It had been so long since she was this close to him. She rested her hands on his chest; his own grasping her hips, squeezing "What about love?"
The seriousness in his tone caused her eyes to widen, "What?"
He smirked at her surprise, bringing a hand up from her hip to touch a pink strand of her hair. "I still love you Nattie, that hasn't changed."
"You could've fooled me when you attacked my family."
"They interfered when we were after John Cena, all they had to do was stay in the back."
"John is their friend," she reminded him.
"I suggest they get better friend then, but you're avoiding the point here," he said steering the conversation back to where he wanted it.
"You ignored me for a month," she snapped, trying to keep him distracted, knowing that she wasn't sure if she had the strength to say no.
"Irrelevant," he leaned forward pressing his forehead to hers. He invaded all of her senses with that. The musky smell he still gave off, his voice still music to her hears, and the feel of his skin on hers made her blush remembering that used to be a lot closer than this, with far less clothes.
"Join me Nattie, join the Nexus."
He was like subliminal messaging, trying to conform her so she would comply and go willingly. He was so confident that she was about to cave. He just needed to motivate her a little more, so he lowered his lips until they were a breath away.
"Hey!"
In surprise at the interruption Wade looked up to see Tyson Kidd and David Hart Smith running their direction. He mentally cursed himself, the brooding look returning to his face as he released Natalya and glared at the two superstars.
Hearing the commotion the rest of Nexus emerged from the shadows. Natalya wondered if they had been watching the whole scene play out, which made her temper flare a little as she backed away towards the duo, her eyes never leaving his. She held her arms out behind her, stopping David and Tyson from progressing further.
Wade smirked at her protectiveness over the two, still putting the safety of others before herself. He shook his head and turned to the group that flanked him, "Nothing to worry about boys, let's go."
They chuckled and nodded showing no fear at the trio in front of them and stalked back into the dark corridor. Before Wade joined them he looked back to exchange glances with the men behind her before returning to her gaze. "Think about what I said darling."
With that he turned to fade into darkness himself.
Natalya sighed lowering her arms and turned back to her friends that interrupted the closeness with her former lover. "I thought you were done with him," Tyson questioned.
"Don't worry," she replied, they began to leave with shaking heads apparently unwilling to let her finish the statement she'd repeated over and over to them the past few weeks when they brought up the subject of Wade Barrett. Looking back over her shoulder as they walked away she continued, "I am."
She walked away at that with him watching her, just like he had been doing everytime he saw her for a month.
"What happened to staying by my side?"