Thank you for the responses to the last chapter, guys. It's really interesting to see how differently people are responding to the events. Here we go with the next one...

Friday, March 4, 2016
NXT
Agora Theatre – Cleveland, Ohio

"Alright, time to bring it home," Jet spoke into the microphone of her headset.

She saw the referee duck down on the monitor, close to Tye Dillinger on the mat, to let him know that they were in the last couple of minutes of their match. As he got up, he whispered the same message to Sami and they rounded it all out. Hunter leaned back in his seat, stretching his arms out in front of his body before taking off his headset now that they were in the intermission.

"Good job," he commended. Jet had really taken to production. She hadn't taken charge of any televised NXT shows that would require learning how to call camera angles, but he was sure she'd pick that up just as quickly. If he kept her around Florida for that long, anyway.

"Thanks."

He paused for a moment, tapping his fingertips on the desk. "Y'know, there's still time to put you on the card for tomorrow in Columbus. I've seen you working with Johnny, it's going good. Whaddaya say — you and Gargano versus Murphy and Alexa?"

"Tommaso would be horrified," Jet deadpanned.

"Oh, right, you're just worried about Ciampa's feelings."

"Of course. I'm a compassionate human being."

Hunter chuckled and shook his head but left it there. Now that she was over her bumping fear, she'd returned to the Jet he knew. Unfortunately, that opened up another problem — perfectionism. She was a master of her craft and wouldn't accept showing a crowd anything less than her absolute best. That meant spending more than two weeks shaking off five months' worth of ring rust.

"You know I can't help but try."

"I know. I'll be ready for WrestleMania," she promised again. "If you'll excuse me, I wanna go say hi to Candice."

"Intermission ends in twenty, be back then."

Jet nodded lazily as she got out of her seat, walking backwards away from him. "You know this isn't actually my job, right?"

"Your job is whatever I tell you it is."

"Aye-aye, Captain," she saluted.

It wasn't hard to find Candice. She had been front row for the whole show so far but had gone backstage as soon as intermission began to see Johnny before his match. She hung back, not wanting to interrupt the couple, until Johnny and Tommaso were hurried away for a last-minute talk through. When Candice noticed her, she practically bounced to cross the distance and threw her arms around Jet.

"Oh my God, it's been forever!"

"I saw you in December, it wasn't that long ago."

"It feels like forever. We've got loads to catch up on. Johnny said you're back in the ring now. How's that going?"

"Pretty well, actually. I've got more ring rust than I realised but I'm getting there."

"That's good. And how's… the other stuff?"

Jet was under no illusion that there was anyone who didn't know about her divorce by now. Someone — fan or dirtsheet writer, she wasn't sure — had found the public records of her petition online and it had quickly spread around the internet. She didn't particularly care; everyone knew they were separated since she'd moved to Orlando and they'd all figure out that a divorce was the next step. At least now she could openly talk about it with more than four or five people. It was a Godsend to have another girl to talk it over with. April had been far more understanding after the hearing than she had been in January. She agreed immediately that Phil had been completely out of line but Jet couldn't shake the feeling that April still thought it fell into the bracket of their usual arguments that they would resolve and get back together after. She wasn't sure what it would take for April to accept that it was over, but that she could maintain a happy friendship with both of them.

"It's just sort of in the background, to be honest. There's nothing I can do about it right now and I have zero interest in trying again to convince Phil so I'm just going to leave it. Hopefully he'll come to his senses someday soon and just agree finally but if not, I'll just wait." Jet paused when a thought came to her, "This is probably the wrong conversation to have with someone getting married this year. Sorry," she winced.

"Nah, it's nothing. I don't' think anyone has worries about me and Johnny." Now she was the one that froze, grimacing uncomfortably. "Not to say that anyone was worried about you and Punk, of course!"

Jet laughed. "You don't need to lie to me. I remember, everyone had plenty to say about us getting married. They weren't wrong, it turned out."

"Still, I shouldn't have worded it like that."

"Honestly, I don't mind. I'm happy I did it, even if it ended this way. Better to do and die than to never try, right?"

Candice smiled brightly. She had been a little worried back in Reseda that the brief mention of her bad years was going to stick in her mind. While she didn't doubt that Jet still thought about what had nearly been spilled during her conversation with Kyle and Roddy — she did know Jet after all, and she knew the woman was incapable of just letting things go as easily as she should — it was relieving to see that she was still seeming as well as she had back in December. She was in a good place and, as a friend who had seen the worst of her places, Candice was endlessly happy for her.

"Yeah, you're right. It's always better than wondering about it. If you didn't marry him, you always would have had that thing in the back of your head, wondering if you should have."

"Exactly. The situation isn't ideal, but what is? I'm dealing the best I can."

Candice's smile wouldn't shift the whole time they were talking. Jet was soon matching it while they discussed everything under the sun that had happened between December and March. Candice was most interested in hearing about Jon so Jet, of course, stayed coy and left it simply at "it's a thing".

Before Candice could plead for any of the juicy information, Johnny was back to let her know that intermission was ending and his match was up next. While Candice made her way back out to the front row to support her guy, Jet debated. She could either go back to the production centre in time for the match, or she could get food. The rumbling feeling in her stomach answered that question.

Hunter shot her an exasperated look when she finally returned to her seat and settled her headset back on. He pulled his microphone down away from his mouth as the tag match was ending and Johnny was soaking up the cheers from his hometown crowd.

"Do you have zero concept of twenty minutes?"

"I had to eat. Candice and I talked for a while."

"Yeah, I gathered. You women and your gossip."

"Rude. Besides, you owe me an extra ten minute break."

"I owe you? How do you figure that?" Hunter questioned, a small smile playing at his lips.

"You're taking Sami from me." As of that coming Monday, Sami was officially a member of the main roster and Jet couldn't say she wasn't a little heartbroken about it. It wouldn't be long until she was there, but she'd miss him endlessly for that month that he was gone for most of the week.

"Let it go. You'd be there too if it didn't take you so long to get your head out of your ass."

"Okay, fine, you owe me for Aries instead."

Hunter rolled his eyes. "You know, he's only had nice things to say about you."

"He's lying. Or being sarcastic. He hates me. I mean, I don't care, I hate him too. But you totally hired him and brought him into my safe space and everything. Not cool."

"You want me to run all future hiring past you first?"

"Yes, actually. That would be lovely," she replied, shooting him a saccharine smile.

"Make friends, Juliette. I understand you may have had your problems with each other years ago, but you're both older now. Time to bury the hatchet, don't you think?"

She crossed her arms, pouting childishly. "I don't want to."

Hunter patted the top of her head, mocking her pout. "You can be a big girl."

Jet wasn't sure she could. She and Aries had always clashed since she'd first met him at Ring of Honor. Technically she had been the one to start their "feud" with each other when she took exception to the way he spoke about her friends. She overheard him complaining about Sami, back in his El Generico days, for having too much fun. She didn't know what his problem was but she told him straight that he was a dick for it. Ever since, they'd had problems. He go out of his way to criticise her matches whenever they were in the same building, and she could return the insults in kind. They had very briefly crossed paths in Full Sail and Jet had been treated to his most impressive of sneers. She grinned back at him sarcastically and carried on with her day but she was less than thrilled that he was around.

"Hey," Hunter added, "The sooner you get back on tour, the sooner you're not in the same space as Aries."

"Yeah, until you bring him to the main roster."

He sighed and lifted an eyebrow at her. "You're lucky I humour you. Any other boss would have demoted your ass by now."

"Demoted me to where? The only way you could demote me is to fire me."

"Maybe I will."

Jet scoffed and obnoxiously flipped her hair over her shoulder. "We all know you need me." She couldn't help grinning as she punched him lightly in his massive arm and leaned across against his shoulder. "You're right, I am very lucky you humour me. I will do my best to not cause any problems with Austin Aries, and I will work very hard to warrant the care and attention you've put into both me and my career."

It sounded very professional and formal and absolutely not Jet. "I don't believe a damn word of that."

She smirked, "What, you think I'm gonna punch Aries in the face or something because he looks at me funny?"

Hunter looked pointedly down at her left knuckles and the scarring that was evident on them. "No," he drawled sarcastically. "Why ever would I think that? It's not like you've got previous."

Jet clasped her hands together and had the sense to look embarrassed. "Okay, yeah, you have a point."

"I always have a point. One day you'll learn to listen."

"I listen."

"You pretend to listen."

She rolled her eyes dramatically. "Alright, sorry, Dad. I promise I'll do everything you tell me from now on."

Hunter grinned, settling his microphone back up by his mouth as the next match was about to begin. "Wonderful, that's what I like to hear. We can start with Thursday; I'll be in Orlando, we can talk through things there, see where you're at."

Ever since Colby had thankfully forced her into the bump, Hunter had completely laid off his usual weekly phone calls to check on her progress. Now that he knew the major hurdle had been overcome, he trusted that she was working hard to shake off the rust. Matt and Sara had told him as much, that she was the first one in and the last one out, but it had been a few weeks and it was time for him to see just how well she was doing. He needed to know how possible that WrestleMania return really was.

"Sure," she agreed. "You could get in the ring with me, that'd be fun."

"You just wanna show me up in my own building."

She smiled innocently and whistled. "No idea what you're talking about."

Saturday, March 5, 2016
NXT Live! at the Arnold Classic
Greater Columbus Convention Center – Columbus, Ohio

Happy anniversary.

Jet stared at the screen of her phone, wondering if she was actually reading that. She tilted her head to the side, hoping that staring at it from a different angle would have it make sense. Nope, she definitely had that text.

You're joking, right?, she sent back. There was no way he could possibly be serious; no way he could have waited over two weeks to contact her only to open with that.

Of course I'm joking. Doesn't mean I don't love you, though.

Before she had a chance to send him something back that was expletive-laden and told him exactly what she thought of his 'love', another message was coming through.

I'm sorry. About everything but mostly about the hearing. It's no excuse, but I was pretty upset. If you ever have any time, it'd be nice to talk. Just so I can apologise properly. I'll be home any time if you feel like it. No hard feelings if you don't.

Her frustration at the gall of his text made way for surprise. She leaned back in her seat, ignoring all the noise around her and focusing purely on the words in front of her.

"What's got you looking like that?" Fergal questioned, leaning his chin on Jet's head.

She held her phone over her shoulder for him to read since she wasn't quite sure she had an answer.

He scoffed. "So he can apologise properly? Or so he can flip out on you again?"

"He's not usually good at saying 'I'm sorry' so he must really mean it."

"Are you gonna go out there?"

She shrugged. "It would be nice if we could get on decent terms just so I'd have a chance to see the dogs."

Fergal didn't look convinced. "Well, it's up to you. You're playing with fire though, Juliette."

Before she could reply that she absolutely knew how tense the situation was and that any step could make it infinitely worse, a ginger head was joining them at the table. Sami didn't have his usual grin on; instead he looked suspiciously between the two of them.

"Are you two conspiring? I don't like when you guys whisper, it usually ends with me in some kind of awkward position."

"Nah, it's her old man. He's trying to weasel his way in again."

"Huh? What's going on?"

Jet repeated the process, handing her phone over to Sami so he could read the texts.

"Oh, wow. Well, I guess it's at least better than him sending you horrible texts, right? But… why is he home any time? I thought he was in Milwaukee most of the week?"

Jet hadn't even noticed that. It was an odd thing for him to say in light of his hectic MMA prep schedule. "Yeah, he usually is. I don't know."

Fergal and Sami exchanged awkward glances. "Well, uh, we're gonna go," Fergal said, pointing vaguely behind them.

"Thank you," she replied, appreciating their tact.

They always knew when it was the right moment to get involved and when it was the right moment to leave her to it. She waited until they were well away from her and had stopped shooting completely indiscreet looks over their shoulders before she returned her attention to her phone. Now that Sami had mentioned it, she couldn't help wondering.

Any time? In between Roufusport time?

Despite her delay in replying, Phil's answer returned within thirty seconds: No, any time. I'm not training at the moment, I'm recovering.

She couldn't help herself from immediately texting back, Recovering from what?

Back surgery. Herniated discs are no fun.

She groaned, dropping her phone to the table. Once she had re-read the text to make sure that was what it said, she shoved her phone in her pocket and immediately followed the way her friends had gone. It took a while to find them, mostly due to being waylaid by an assistant who informed her that Hunter wanted to see her before the show started, but she eventually came across Sami in a hallway, taping his wrists.

"Oh dear, that's a face," he grimaced. "What? What happened?"

"He had back surgery, for fuck's sake. And he's recovering alone."

"He's not alone. He's got family and friends in Chicago."

Jet chewed her bottom lip and could feel her eyes watering. "I feel terrible."

"Don't," Sami shook his head. "It's not your fault and it's not your responsibility. I know you still care very much about him, but running out there to play nurse will only give him the wrong idea."

She knew he was right, he always was, but it wasn't as simple as completely ignoring the situation. How would she be able to shake the thought of him in pain and alone in Chicago? She wanted was a divorce but she didn't want him to be completely removed from her life. What if he specifically asked for her help? Could she deny him?

"Strength, remember?" Sami continued, squeezing both shoulders before pulling her into a hug. "You knew this wasn't going to be easy but you committed to it. You committed to being happier. Don't let yourself down."

As far as pep talks went, it wasn't the best. She didn't blame him, there wasn't much he could really say in that situation. "Yeah, I know."

"I can steal your phone, if it makes it easier."

Jet chuckled softly, shaking her head as she blinked away the tears gathering. "Thank you, but I'll manage. Besides, Shane is still texting me multiple times a day, you don't want to have to deal with that."

"No, you're right," Sami grimaced. "He's persistent, I'll give him that."

"You'll find out first hand on Monday. I'm still in denial that you're leaving me, by the way."

"I'll be home on Wednesday and you'll be back on the road soon."

"What about poor Fergal?"

"Oh, please, we both know Ferg will be with us in no time." He squeezed her shoulders again for good measure and skimmed her phone from her back pocket. "You know what you've gotta do."

She did. With a heaving sigh and that feeling of guilt surging back, she tapped out a short message: I hope you're okay and that the recovery goes well. Talking right now isn't a good time, I'll let you know if or when I'm ready for that. It didn't feel harsh, like she was cutting him down, but it didn't promise anything either. She was doing the best she could.

There was a slightly longer pause before she received a reply. Yeah, that sounds good. Thank you.

Thursday, March 10, 2016
Performance Center – Orlando, Florida

The PC was fairly busy but there was no mistaking the triumphant voice that was loud enough to be heard over all of them. Hunter's eyes scanned the area, settling on Jet and Fergal in the ring furthest to the back. Both of them were climbing up from the mat with Jet clapping her hands together excitedly. He made his way through, his eyes skimming over the other ring occupants and making mental notes, before he came to a stop at their ring. He rested his arms on the apron and looked in at the two of them.

"Well, what's going on here? You look happy."

Jet tightened her ponytail and glanced briefly at Fergal. She hadn't known the boss would be in so early. "Uh…"

Fergal, not knowing any better, answered honestly, "Turns out she's still an absolute pro at the Dragonrana."

Hunter narrowed his eyes. "Dragonrana," he repeated slowly, then sighed. "Juliette, we spoke about that when you signed."

"I know, I know," she agreed hurriedly.

They'd spoken (debated, more like) for almost an hour when she'd first been signed about which moves she wouldn't be allowed to use anymore and the Dragonrana had been top of that list. The corkscrew shooting star press had initially been on the list too, before she'd proven her proficiency with it. They hadn't even given her a chance to show that she was safe with the other moves, they were just vetoed straight out. She understood why – the risk of head or neck injuries was just too high, no matter how good the performer. They had to balance making safety paramount while not completely destroying her move set and ruining what those who had seen her on the indies were expecting from her. The office figured they toed that line pretty well, judging from her monumental success since then.

"So, what do you think you're doing?"

"I just started thinking it was a hasty decision. Ferg's strong enough to take it all on his shoulders, it's fine! I just really wanted to see if I could still do it."

Hunter pulled himself into the ring by the ropes and made a beeline for Fergal. He pointed at the side of the other man's face, straight at the discolouration on his cheekbone. "All on his shoulders?"

Jet had the sense to look sheepish.

"That was just the first one," Fergal offered up in her defence. "She got it perfect the second time and all the times since."

"Don't encourage this," Hunter groaned. The last thing he needed was to have to explain why his star woman, who was finally on the track to a return, had injured herself again by performing moves she'd been banned from almost five years ago.

"You know her," the Irishman chuckled. "If I didn't volunteer, she'd have tried on someone much less able to catch her if she fucked up. We all like our Juliette in one piece, right?"

Hunter shook his head, knowing that was the damn truth. They could reprimand her all they wanted, she was as stubborn as they came. "So, truthfully, you can still pull it off?"

"Yeah! I mean, it's not quite as tidy as it used to be, but it looks awesome and it's totally safe."

"All it takes is one mishap for someone to get spiked on their head."

"When have you ever known me injure someone else? I'm much more of a danger to myself."

Hunter stared at her in exasperation, his hands moving to his hips. "Is that supposed to make me feel better about this?"

"Yes? No? I don't know. I just wish you'd at least look at it. You've never even seen me do it."

"I watched tape after tape of you before we offered you a contract, Juliette. I've seen you do every move in your arsenal."

"And you were impressed, right?" she grinned. "Wouldn't have offered me a job if you weren't."

"Of course I was impressed. But I also made a mental note to make sure you weren't paralysed before the age of 30."

Jet sighed. He was a hard sell. "Boss, you know me. How many major injuries have I had? How many have come from my ring style?"

"How's your hip?" Hunter shot back.

She huffed. Her hip had bothered her for years, purely because of the amount of torque her body went through. Every other joint in her body hurt but those were just things that came with the business. None of them were in good physical condition once you stripped down to bare bones.

"My hip is fine," she replied. "Matter of fact, it feels all that much better for being put to work."

Hunter shot Fergal a long-suffering glance. The Irishman shrugged in reply. She was simply impossible. "Okay, fine, show me," Hunter acquiesced, waving his hands. "If either of you die doing this, I'll kill you both."

"Uh…"

"Don't say anything, just do it," Fergal advised quickly.

Jet nodded, quickly taking her place on the top turnbuckle. Fergal set himself up in front of her, bracing himself for the move. She met Hunter's eye just for a moment before performing a front flip to land on Fergal's shoulders. Then she executed a picture perfect hurricanrana. She finished by hooking his leg behind her for the mock-pin. She looked expectantly back at the boss, her eyes hopefully.

He tilted his head lazily. "Yeah, fine, it was pretty good."

Was that it? "Uh, so…?"

"So, what?"

"So, does that mean I'm allowed it back?"

"Who said that?"

"Well, no one, but I kinda thought it was implied. Y'know, I pull it off without anyone getting hurt and you give it back to me?"

"I never said that."

"It was kinda implied, boss," Fergal nodded, backing his friend up. Hell, he'd love to see her have her old move set back, it was part of the reason he'd enjoyed watching her wrestle for years before they even met.

Hunter sighed so loudly it drew attention from the rest of the room. "It's not like I can just say, 'sure Juliette, have your dangerous stunts back'. I don't have the authority."

"You're Triple H, I think you do."

"And when someone gets hurt, who's head is it on? Mine. If you want them back, you can come and talk to the office yourself."

It was sly but Jet didn't miss it. A conference in Stamford would put the return fully in motion and it had been avoided for months. Now he'd given her all the incentive she needed. She breathed in deeply and finally nodded. "Yeah, it's time for a meeting."

The long awaited return is finally upon us!

A lot of people have asked about Jet and April's friendship in reviews and PMs so I figured I'd just put something in here: April will be back soon and their friendship is most certainly not over.

As always, drop me a review to let me know what you think and if there's anything you'd like to see more/less of. I aim to please.