James Ellsworth has been through a lot the last year. Wrestling Braun Strowman, getting signed officially to the WWE, meeting and falling in love with one Princess of Staten Island, helping her climb in more ways than one towards the top of the SDLive women's division. Yes, they're currently working through some problems but he wouldn't change a thing. He doesn't even mind the leash much... well, at least until it keeps him from helping her when she needs him, but this is what she wants, and he'd do anything for her, so he tolerates it and quietly comforts her the best he can afterwards when she's hating herself and everyone else around her for yet another loss.
The last thing he expects is to be called into Vince's office before they all leave for the UK tour. It's always intimidating to be summoned before the boss but he tries not to let it show, smiling respectfully as he greets the CEO of the WWE, someone he's only seen one on one a time or two in his year with the company.
"Ah, hello, James," Vince tells him, motioning briskly to the chairs. "Have a seat." Once James is settled, Vince eyes him quietly, steepling his fingers in front of his face. "You've been with us for about a year now, haven't you, James?"
"A little over, sir," he says. "My first match with Braun was in July last year."
"Right," Vince muses. "Well, you're quite the character, and you've always accepted everything that came your way without flinching and... well, I respect that. So I felt like I should be the one to tell you."
James sits there, nodding numbly as he somehow senses what's coming, only half-hearing Vince explaining there's necessary budget cuts on the horizon and they're going to release him from his contract after the UK tour. "I see," he says quietly. "Thank you for telling me personally, sir." Vince says a few other things that only half-register with James and then they shake hands before he takes his leave, head spinning.
"Where have you been?" Carmella asks impatiently, looking him over when he walks up to her. "What's wrong with you?" She steps forward and reaches out for him, old protective instincts still there no matter how annoyed she might get with him sometimes. "Did one of those catty women do something to you?"
He blinks a few times. Still digesting Vince's words, how disappointed he himself seems in this. Surprisingly compassionate for all of the stories James has heard over the last year. "Oh, uh, no. Vince just wanted to discuss some issues with my contract before the UK tour." He smiles weakly and she eyes him suspiciously.
"They're still letting you come, right?"
"Oh. Yes, no worries there."
"Good, I'm going to need you," she says simply, turning away from him. "Come on." He nods obediently, trailing after her as she snaps her fingers at her things, his movements smooth as he grabs the handles of their bags and hoists them up, following her to the car.
It's during the flight to the UK that he starts to think seriously about things. Even when he's half out of the door at WWE, his days there numbered, he will do anything for Carmella, and her most pressing issue is the Smackdown female team not really gelling. She and Becky Lynch hate each other, Charlotte can't stand most of them, and Tamina is more and more of a wild card with Lana whispering in her ear. He doesn't want to think about Naomi right now, so he moves on. Decides there's really only one way to fix all of this, but he needs an opening for it to all fall into place...
Which Becky Lynch drops in his lap a few days later when she challenges Carmella on Twitter and James laughs obnoxiously at it, Carmella looking over at him warily. "What is it, Jimmy?"
"Wouldn't it be funny if I accepted the match instead of you? I'd embarass her so bad that she'd never show her face in a wrestling ring again and you'd be what you should've been from the start- leader of the Smackdown women team! Duh!" He plays it up as much as he can, watching as she mulls this over.
"You know, I like it, Jimmy. You've earned yourself a night off of the leash."
He doesn't really care about that, watching her with a soft look in his eyes as she posts a video in response to Becky's challenge. He's really going to miss her, her intelligence, her confidence, how she's never flinched away from him even when he was at his most obnoxious. He sighs and grits his teeth, determined to see his plan through and not let her down again.
In Carmella's eyes, the match against Becky that following Tuesday doesn't go according to plan. In James' eyes, however, it goes perfectly. The women all hate him, finding something to bond over, and Becky even shares the ring with Carmella and looks pleased when Carmella kicks James' jaw to pieces.
He hurts, his face and arm especially tender when he knocks on Shinsuke's door, relieved when he lets him in with no question. It's hard to get to sleep that night, but he feels accomplished. Like maybe this bare bones of a plan he is formulating on the go will work out perfectly in the end after all.
So the following night, and the next night, and the night after, he interrupts every time Carmella is in the ring with the other members of the Smackdown women's team, comes out with a growing amount of bandages, braces and pain etched on his face, bothering Carmella about coming with him. It entices the women to attack him again and again, working together seamlessly for the first time ever. It hurts, on more than one level, knowing that this is going to be the last memory people have of him in a WWE ring, but it's worth it. It'll be the last gift he gives to Carmella before he leaves WWE behind, clearing the path to victory for her team just a little hopefully, their hate for him enough to make them continue to work together and get a badly needed victory for the Blue Team. After Survivor Series, they can go back to hating each other and Carmella will cash in and he'll watch from home as she becomes champion, proud and yearning and everything in between, and all of this will be worth it, but for now...
For now, he's ok with being the catalyst that makes them set aside their problems and do what needs to be done. He just hopes she doesn't hate him for not telling her, for pushing her away like this before leaving entirely.
They fly back to the States and he thinks if they hadn't booked their seats together weeks earlier, he wouldn't be seeing Carmella again before his release is officially announced. Neither of them say much, Carmella spending most of the flight either thumbing through magazines or sleeping, but when she wakes up again, he can feel her eyes on him, scoping out the bandages on his head, the brace on his neck, the sling on his arm. She finally clears her throat and looks awkward when he glances over at her. "Are... are you ok? I mean... we were pretty rough with you the last few days."
Her touch on his arm is gentle, reminds him of better times, and he has to swallow hard as tears fill his eyes. "Yeah, Princess," he says softly. "I'm fine."
"Hey- Jimmy-" she shifts forward, about to brush at the liquid pooling in his eyes, but then an announcement over the intercoms interrupts them, instructions to please put their seatbelts on as they prepare to land, and she huffs, following the instructions. "Jimmy-"
"I'm fine," he insists, squeezing her hand and throwing her a smile, trying not to let it show, the emptiness as he realizes that this is the last time he'll be touching her like this, the last time they'll be flying anywhere together.
When the plane lands and they're allowed to file out, he disappears into the crowd while she's still fighting with her carry-on and her jaw drops in disbelief at how quickly he'd left her behind. "Jimmy!" she hisses, not used to this attitude from him. "What the-?" Finally she gets her bag to cooperate and races after him, but he's already out of sight, not even loitering at the luggage claim. "What the hell is going on with you?" she demands to thin air, a sinking feeling in her chest.
There's no match for her on Smackdown. Nothing for any of the women except for Charlotte against Natalya and yeah, as briefcase holder, she knows she should pay attention, but her focus is on James. Where he could possibly be hiding. She even looks for him after Shane McMahon's pep talk, the feelings she's been ignoring since the flight growing stronger the longer she goes without seeing him. "Where the hell is he?" becomes a bit of a mantra for her, but she doesn't trust the other women to tell her, not after the last week of beating him down mercilessly.
She starts to feel even guiltier over allowing that to happen, wondering how and why they'd gotten off track so badly. Even when he ran his mouth and kind of deserved it, she would always step in and protect him from the others, his encouragement and friendship invaluable to her. Had been his homegirl for so long that his suspension had ate at her, left her unsure what to do, where to go next. Even when he had returned, things had been different between them. Left her frustrated and vulnerable, leading to her kissing him. Sticking him on the leash, all of this demeaning stuff since. She's not really sure what she's been thinking now that she's alone.
The Raw women's team storms into the room abruptly, interrupting her dwelling on her relationship with James, decimates the Smackdown women, leaves them all hurting and sprawled around the locker room. Carmella gasps and holds onto her stomach, gritting her teeth against the pain as she's kicked once more, the women finally leaving them be. She ignores her teammates, deciding to turn her focus to that on Sunday. For now, she needs answers. She needs James.
The only place she can think to go to is the hotel, but she's clueless from there because she doesn't know James' room, or if he's even checked in here. She pauses however, seeing Shinsuke from across the hotel lobby. He tilts his head at her, walking closer. "Are you... looking for James?" he asks, speaking carefully, his English still far from perfect.
"Yes. Do you know where he is?"
Shinsuke stares at her, dark eyes glittering, lips twitching up in something of a smile as he strokes at his jaw. "Try the roof," he says and, when she looks confused and a little uncertain, he takes her hand and leads the way, finding the employee only exit that lets them out onto the roof. Once she's safely up there, tugging her coat tighter around her shoulders with a shiver as a cold wind bites through her, he looks around and nods at her before taking his leave.
She blinks a few times before turning to find- James. His blond hair gleaming in the moonlight as he sits with his back towards her. She chokes down a yell and grits her teeth, desperate not to lecture, not to be angry. She walks up to him and sits down, curling tighter into her coat. He tenses up but doesn't turn to look at her. "What are you doing, James?" she asks coolly. "I looked all over for you at Smackdown, and you've been here the entire time?"
He sits quietly for a few moments and then smiles weakly. "I was there for awhile, but... I had nothing to do, so I left."
She sputters at him. "I don't like this, James. You've changed and I don't know why. Did I go too far with the leash? Are we broken beyond repair?" Her lip starts to tremble as she senses him slipping further away from her. "What happened to 'Anything For Carmella'?"
He exhales and turns to look at her, a heavy expression on his face even as he leans forward and catches her eye. "That will always be my goal in life, Carmella, but it's just going to be a bit impossible to do from now on."
She shakes her head. "Why? Are they... moving you to Raw, or 205 Live, or...?"
His eyes grow even darker, sadder. "No, Princess. Vince is... releasing me from my contract. In the morning I think. My time in WWE is over."
She gapes at him. "Wha- what? No! James, that makes no sense!" But the longer she stares at him, the more things click together and she takes in the signs of his injuries from the last week, things finally aligning for her in a dizzying rush. "You jerk, you said all of those sexist things and made us all hate you so we'd be a more cohesive team for Survivor Series!" She pushes him angrily, tears beading in her eyes all over again, and he coughs, rubbing his chest.
"Like I've said for the better part of this year, I'd do anything for you," he tells her. "Make the world hate me at Money in the Bank, pick a fight with Becky Lynch, wear a leash, take beatdowns every night for a month if I thought it'd bring you success." She's trembling so he reaches over and touches her gently, rubs her knuckles with his thumb. "You might not want to hear this but since it's the last night we'll probably see each other, I'm just gonna say it. I love you, Carmella. The last year's been incredible for a number of reasons and at the top of that is getting to work so closely with you. I'll never forget this wild ride and hopefully you can look back on it with fondness as well."
She sobs and throws her arms around him. "Jimmy, you jerk," she chokes out into his shoulder, feeling him hug her back. "Why do you have to be so sweet, no matter how awful I am to you?" She clings to him, as though doing so will stop the morning from coming, will keep him with her for the rest of her career. He holds her and rubs her back until her tears ease and she pulls away, wiping at her face as she stares at him quietly, the two of them so close to each other that he can feel her trembling.
His lips part like he's about to say something but an unreadable emotion crosses his face and he stops, staring deep into her eyes. She smiles faintly at him, giving a quick, sharp nod, and he exhales at her silent permission. "Are you sure?" he breathes out and she nods again, watching him closely as he braces himself, brushing his fingers over her tear-streaked cheeks. He's nervous but sweet as he presses his lips to hers, more tentative than the kiss she'd given him all of those weeks ago but steady as he eases closer to her, wanting this to be good for her, like her kiss had been for him, even with the slap that had followed.
When he pulls slowly away from her, she traces her fingers over his lips and presses her forehead to his, searching his flushed face. "We might not work together anymore," she tells him quietly, "but you're not getting rid of me that easily."
He pauses for a moment, a dizzying spin of emotions crossing his face until he settles for a relieved kind of smile. "Whatever you want, Princess."
"Damn straight," she says, smirking at him before she cards her fingers through his hair and draws him in for another kiss, one that doesn't end in a slap.