He'd been close.
So close. Tan cerca.
And it hadn't been an easy fight. He was used to two opponents, three tops if the match was handicap. But four? Four meant a pending strike every time he turned around. No way to avoid confrontation and a scuffle. This would carry on second by second until someone was the winner.
He fought, and he fought, and fought. That's what it meant to be a Lucha Dragon. Lucha. Fight. That was the foundation for success: unabating battle against the odds and all adversaries. He'd protected himself and defended his partner Sin Cara whenever the Usos or two-thirds of the New Day started to get a little belligerent. They'd worked well in the ring together as usual, playing off each other's strengths to pull off moves that gained them the advantage.
Kalisto had been given a clearing late in the match. Big E and the Usos were nowhere to be found. Sin Cara was sprawled on the floor after a hit. Kofi Kingston, visible and stirring, hadn't made it back into the ring yet.
He was alone.
It had been his chance. Una oportunidad para la victoria. He was more than halfway up the ladder. The tag team titles glimmered in the murky lights of TD Garden. Damn, how good would those look around his and his partner's waists…their first championships in this company since moving up from the NXT…he was going to do it, he could feel it, he was so close now, tan cerca…Sin Cara would be so proud of him…
He reached for the belt.
A blunt object struck his achy back.
Kalisto nearly lost his grasp on the ladder rung. He swung around to find out what the hell had hit him.
That damn trombone! Xavier Woods had hurled it from outside the ropes. The bell didn't ring, of course—there were no DQs in this match.
Suddenly a great force knocked into the ladder, into Kalisto. Kofi Kingston had returned. Kalisto landed on his back and bounced, physique tingling with new tenderness. Now on his stomach, he couldn't move from the mat, flat and aggravated beneath the ladder which now supported Kofi Kingston. Xavier Woods screamed for him on the side.
Kofi scaled the unstable ladder and claimed the belts as his own, on behalf of his team. Kalisto rolled onto his back just in time to witness the official end of the match.
The New Day had retained their tag team championship.
Their obnoxious theme music blasted as Xavier joined Kofi on the ladder and Big E wiggled his hips on the mat below his partners.
So close, Kalisto thought, grimacing beneath the soft fabric of his mask. Tan cerca, tan cerca, ¡maldita sea!
Victory seemed to always be "so close". Yet just out of reach. Every time.
I'm sorry, Sin Cara. I let us both down.
Kalisto rolled off the mat, bracing himself to hit the floor. Sin Cara was still draped over the dirty floor like a discarded towel. Funny, that's how Kalisto was certain this company viewed the Lucha Dragons sometimes. He inched towards Sin Cara, still pounding from head to toe, and lifted a hand onto his partner's broad shoulder.
"Hey," he managed. "You okay?"
Sin Cara shifted in place. "Is it over?"
"Yeah," Kalisto said, dejected. "I'm afraid so."
"Shoot." Sin Cara plucked himself to a sitting position with a grunt, cradling his ribcage. They'd both taken some pretty nasty hits all over tonight. "That was pretty awesome, though."
"It was?" What match had he been watching? It had been yet another trouncing of the Lucha Dragons.
"Claro que si. Come on." He offered a hand to Kalisto so they could help each other up at once. "Let's get out of here. This music's giving me a headache."
"Not to mention, the announcers," Kalisto muttered, unheard over Michael Cole's and JBL's voice going on and on about the New Day stealing the show.
Sin Cara had gathered energy from a source unknown during the stroll from the ring to the locker rooms. As soon as they'd rounded a corner and Kalisto was unaware of anyone else around them, Sin Cara lifted Kalisto off his feet into his arms and spun him around a few times before returning him to the ground.
"That was amazing, mi tesoro!"
Sin Cara called Kalisto his treasure. That was a new one. It made Kalisto's heart take flight.
"I couldn't believe what you did back there," Sin Cara gushed. Beyond the mask, Kalisto could see the smile unfurling over his tanned face. "That Salida del Dol off the top of the ladder? Mierda. I was applauding you, man."
Kalisto managed a smile. Perhaps it hadn't been worth it now that the match was over and he was no victor as a result, but he would have been thoroughly impressed if he'd witnessed Sin Cara pulling off such a dangerous stunt. "Thanks. It was scary up there. Hurt like hell."
"Oh, I'm sure. You've got a big welt where you hit the ladder."
"I do?" He could certainly feel it, but Kalisto couldn't move his neck in the right position to see it. Sin Cara put a hand on his back. He winced when the pressure went over the tender area.
"Sorry," Sin Cara said. "We'll get you some ice. You'll be alright. You're a soldier. And I'm so proud of you."
Kalisto's face warmed red under his mask. "Thanks. You know, you're awfully cheery for having just lost a match again," he soughed. He couldn't help feeling so cynical. Had things been this bad when he and Sin Cara were down in the NXT? Not that he could remember.
Sin Cara shrugged a bruising shoulder. "So we lost. It's no big deal. We'll get them next time, right?"
"Geez, I hope so. I'm feeling kind of discouraged lately," he admitted.
Sin Cara seem truly surprised. "Why?" He held the door open to the locker room.
"I just…it feels like we keep getting screwed over, man. This company isn't giving us the chance to grow, improve, rise to championship levels like where we were in the NXT."
"No, no, see, here's what's really going on. The company thinks we're so good, that they keep putting us up against these really strong opponents, because they believe in what we can do. Maybe too much. But we'll get there. You'll see. The New Day better hug those titles tight tonight, because they won't be reigning champions for too much longer."
Sin Cara's buoyancy was borderline annoying, but his words were comforting. "You really think we've got it?"
"Of course we do! We're Lucha, baby. We can do anything we want. If they keep setting us up like this, we just need to keep fighting. Swim through the stormy oceans. Charge down the stretching track and not stop once to rest. And we'll get there. Every day is another step forward. It may feel like we're stuck in one place sometimes, but we're sure not going backwards. We're headed in the right direction."
"So you're not tired of being overlooked by everyone? Rejected in favor of guys like the New Day?" Kalisto's headache worsened just thinking of those eccentric loonies with the trombone and the unicorn horns.
"Nah. I'm not in this for everyone else. I'm in this for me, and I'm in this for you." His fingers swept over the edge of his mask, tugging it off with a swift motion. Then they reached towards Kalisto for the same reason. "Especially for you."
With a naked face, it was hard to hide his silly little smile. The flush in his cheeks. Two years they'd been together—as tag team partners, anyhow, a bit shorter of time together together—and Sin Cara still had that effect on him.
"You may feel like we're stuck here, mi tesoro, but really, it's not so bad. No es tan malo. Because at least I'm stuck here with you."
He called Kalisto "his treasure" again. Kalisto's knees were close to giving from under him. If they do, at least he knew he could rely on Sin Cara to catch him. Sin Cara always protected him like that.
"And I really am proud of you tonight, Kalisto. You fought like a warrior. I'm honored to be your partner…and your partner."
His hand cupped Kalisto's chin, guiding it upwards. With a knowing smile he swooped down and seized Kalisto's lips in a warm kiss.
It healed him. Treated his wounds. Sewed up his abrasions. Patched up a troubled heart. Pacified his unquiet mind. Sin Cara had this wonderful way of making Kalisto forget that the world wasn't perfect and there was far more than existed in its realms than just Kalisto and Sin Cara. El amor de su vida.
Sin Cara drew away for a breath. Kalisto was dizzy, giddy.
"Feeling better?" Sin Cara queried.
"Yeah, I guess so." The only pain he was aware of now was an ache in his jawline from smiling so damn much. "You really know how to get to me."
"It's my job. Nobody else's." Sin Cara twined an arm around Kalisto's waist and pulled him in for a kiss on the forehead. "Come on. Let's shower."
This was perhaps one of Kalisto's favorite parts of their secret relationship: stolen kisses, and even stolen showers before the locker room filled to capacity with other superstars. Three or four minutes of nothing but loitering steam, the gentle trickle of hot water, and Kalisto and Sin Cara in their most natural form. Kissing, touching, lathering one another up in scented soap, massaging, tickling, feeling…it was hell having to cut the time down to a few minutes, but that was what Kalisto liked about it. In the locker room, they were private, under wraps, a secret hidden away from the wrestling world. It somehow made their time together more sacred, more sensual.
Of course, he did love it when they were back at the hotel room and showers could stretch to half an hour, accompanied by sex and cuddles shortly after. Sometimes even during.
Moments like these made Kalisto realize how silly he was for being so negative. So they weren't champions yet. Nothing to be discouraged about. They'd get there someday. But this job was just as much about the journey as it was the destination, and with Sin Cara along for the ride, Kalisto wasn't unhappy.
It wasn't so bad after all.
No es tan malo.