Thank you for all the continued support on this story. I promise I will get back to replying to the reviews, I've been so lazy about that. For now, let's get on with the adventure.


Monday, April 4, 2016
Dallas, Texas

Jet hadn't slept.

The rush of being back out in front of a capacity crowd had her adrenaline flowing so intensely that she hadn't been able to rest. Unfortunately, now that it had finally tapered off, she was exhausted. She was sure she was going to spend the entirety of her birthday attempting not to keel over. Her mother definitely noticed, electing to spend their mother-daughter birthday breakfast just in the hotel restaurant rather than make her traipse around downtown Dallas.

"Celebrated too hard?" Carol asked, taking a sip of her lemonade.

"Yeah, I guess," Jet groaned, rubbing two fingers across her forehead. Despite the painkillers, it was still throbbing. "It's been a long weekend."

"You're happy to be back though?"

"Of course. It was nice to relax in Orlando for a while but it's about time I got my ass in gear again."

"Teddy was showing me some of Twitter last night. People like you."

Jet laughed. "No need to sound so surprised, Mother. I am pretty good at my job."

Carol tutted, lightly smacking her daughter's hand. "I wasn't surprised, I was just pleased for you. I know you were worried that your return wouldn't be as well received as you hoped. It seemed everyone loved it."

"Oh, I'm sure there are plenty of people who hoped they'd seen the back of me. Even around here," she added, her eyes following Mark Carrano as he entered the lobby and quickly made his way to the elevators.

Carol watched Jet's eyes, understanding the half-scowl on her face. "Does he work here? Does he treat you badly? I'll go have a word."

Jet grabbed Carol's wrist before she could leave the table; Carol Madden's idea of 'having a word' would inevitably be very loud and, most likely, end in slap around Carrano's face. Despite being the most sound-minded Madden, Carol had the most intense Mama Bear mode that Jet had ever seen in a person. If she thought her daughter was being wronged by someone in the office, she wouldn't stand for it. After all, Jet could still remember her mother threatening to give Triple H himself a thrashing during WrestleMania weekend two years prior.

"Honestly, it's fine," she swore. "Even if Carrano doesn't like me, I'm close with all his bosses. He couldn't cause me any problems even if he wanted to."

"At least he can't possibly be as bad as Malcolm."

Jet snorted at the reminder of the manager of the McDonalds she worked at as a sixteen year old. She needed all the money she could get to pay for the travelling she was doing to wrestle shows in mainland Europe, so she suffered at the fast-food chain. Malcolm was a creep of the highest order and proceeded to try to make Jet's life miserable when she summarily rejected his perverted advances. His attempts came to a very sharp halt during one late night shift when Tank, her godfather, made it very clear that if he even looked in Jet's direction again, he'd find himself without eyeballs.

"Oh Lord, no one is as bad as Malcolm."

Carol smirked into her lemonade. "You handled him well. At least you have a good boss now, huh? Hunter certainly stepped up."

Jet nodded, smiling fondly. "Everyone calls him my dad these days. He's been fantastic. Poor guy, I've put him through some shit."

"And you've got wonderful friends. It was nice to see Mister Cole around again," Carol continued with a smile. She'd always been especially fond of Adam.

"My friends are great," she agreed.

"How's the rest of your life?"

"What?"

"Well, your job is good and your friends are good. What about the rest of your life?"

Jet rolled her eyes. This was the thing her mother did — she wanted to ask about something specific but didn't want to be the one who actually brought it up. Instead, she'd drop hints for ages until Jet caved and broached the topic herself. "Just say it, Mum."

"Say what?" Carol asked innocently.

"Say you want to hear about Phil and Jon."

"I have no idea what you're talking about. But, since you mentioned it, I have been wondering."

"That's not smooth at all. Honestly, I must get my subtlety from Dad because you are completely incapable of being discreet."

"Oh, humour your mother, will you?"

"There's not a lot to say, Mum. Phil and I are getting a divorce, and Jon and I aren't together."

"Yet," Carol added.

"I don't know. We're going to talk in Orlando, see what happens. I just want to make sure it's the right choice; neither of us have any idea what a relationship with each other would actually mean."

"I want you to be sure it's the right choice too."

Jet could read that voice, she could hear the undertone of warning in it. "What does that mean? You don't think it is?"

Carol shook her head. "That's not what I mean at all. Jon could very well be the person you're supposed to spend the rest of your life with. I just don't want you making a decision like that based on convenience, about who's around more. Love isn't about that, it's about who's worth the hard work. Being with your father wasn't convenient. Grandma and Grandpa never approved, you know that, and I was at university while he moved around for work. If I had worried about convenience, I'd have settled down with one of my father's friend's stuffy sons and you wouldn't exist right now."

"And what makes you think that's it's just about convenience? You don't know about me and Jon."

"No, I don't," Carol admitted. She'd met the boy all of twice. "But I do know about you and Phillip. I know that no matter what you say to yourself, or what routine you go through, or even how you feel about another man, you still love him and you still miss him."

"I never said I don't," Jet mumbled, her eyes downcast. "Honestly, it's my birthday, do we have to do this today?"

"You're leaving for Houston and we're flying home tomorrow. If we don't talk about this now, we won't be able to."

"That's fine by me."

"Juliette," Carol tutted. "He doesn't have to be a taboo topic, you know."

"I know he doesn't." She sighed heavily and took a long drink of her coffee. She was way too tired for this today. "Mum, I'm not going to tell you I don't love him because it's not true. I always have, from the moment I met him, and I don't see that changing any time soon. But I just need to work at moving on."

"If it makes you feel any better, he said much the same. He wants you to be happy."

Jet wasn't at all surprised that her mother was still calling Phil. "I want the same for him." She paused momentarily then asked, "How is he? With the back surgery and everything?"

"He's doing well. Healing up nicely."

"Good. I was hoping all this would make him reconsider fighting."

"No chance," Carol dismissed. "He's set his mind on it and he'll do it. He did ask me to ask if you'd be there."

Jet lifted her eyebrows. "Be there? At the fight?"

"Yes. I told him to man up and ask you yourself."

"What did he say?"

"That he hasn't heard from you and he doesn't want to push it until you're ready."

She chewed the inside of her cheek, nodding at her mother. "It has pretty much been radio silence on my end. I feel bad, leaving him to recover by himself, but you should have heard some of the things he said to me at that hearing. I wanted to make sure that I could talk to him in a civil way before I got in touch."

"Yes, he told me about the hearing, too. You didn't," Carol added pointedly.

Jet avoided her mother's half-glare. "I'm a grown woman, I don't need to tell my family everything. Besides, Dad hates him enough. I didn't need to give him any more reason to want to beat him up."

"Oh, your father doesn't hate him. He's disappointed, that's all. He knows how much you love him and he hoped the two of you would have a long and happy life together. He's disappointed for you."

Jet kept her eyes on her coffee mug, idly stirring another packet of sugar in. "I'm disappointed for me," she admitted. "I never intended to be only be married for a few months."

"I don't think anyone ever does," Carol replied gently, reaching out to stroke Jet's hand. "But, you're a smart girl. You'll make the right decisions."

She scoffed. "I haven't made many of them so far, what makes you think I will from now on?"

"You've never made wrong decisions, Juliette. Marrying Phillip was the right decision. Separating was the right decision too. You just have to decide what the right decision is moving forward."

"Jon," she answered with certainty. "Even if it doesn't work out, I need to do this. Just to know." She paused then added, "I'm just not sure what happens if I find out and it's not what I wanted."

"You'll figure it out when you get there," Carol stated certainly. "After all, there's four and twenty million doors on life's endless corridor. You'll find your way through one of them."

Jet smiled as her mother referenced The Masterplan. "Well, this has been a very deep and introspective morning."

Her mother smiled and patted her arm. "Sorry to make your birthday so dramatic. If it makes you feel any better, I've been on Sebastian's case too. It's about time he started figuring his life out. Don't ever say I don't treat my twins equally," she teased.

"Yes, you harass us equally."

"As a mother should. Now, finish your coffee and get some of that food in you. You really have to start eating breakfast, Juliette."

Jet rolled her eyes but dutifully began to fork her eggs into her mouth. "Honestly, twenty-seven and still being told what to eat," she muttered under her breath.

"I heard that."


Monday Night Raw
American Airlines Center – Dallas, Texas

"Jet! Jet, can I get a quick word?"

Jet halted on her way down the corridor as she entered the building, pulling her suitcase to a stop at her side. She looked Renee up and down, waiting expectantly. "Yes?"

"Well, we saw you make your return to WWE last night at WrestleMania where you attacked all the competitors in the triple threat match, as well as Ric Flair and Lita. Can you shed some light on what motivated that?"

"Charlotte has my title. I want it back. I figured that Argentine cutter made the point pretty clear. Ric… well, you all saw Ric. The guy was asking for a fight and got one. It's not my fault that he's a senior citizen. If he puts himself in the ring and squares up, he's only got himself to blame for whatever he gets dished out."

"And, Sasha and Becky? You have well-documented friendships with both women. What made you turn on them?"

"Turn on them? I haven't turned on anyone. I'll admit, it wasn't necessary. But, y'see Renee, I was on the shelf for months. I sat around with nothing to do but watch other women take my spot. When it comes to the ring, there aren't any friendships. We all do what we have to do. I want my spot back and I made a point last night. I reminded all of them that Jet Madden doesn't mess around. When she says she's coming for the title, she's coming for it. Even if I have to go through Becky and Sasha first."

"How does Lita factor into your quest to reclaim the championship?"

Jet chuckled and tugged awkwardly at her shirt collar. "Hey, even I get a little too enthusiastic now and then. I got caught up in the moment, sue me."

Renee didn't have much to say to that. "Well… welcome back. Good luck in your pursuit of the Women's Championship."

"Thanks," she grinned obnoxiously widely as she grabbed her suitcase and continued on her way toward the locker room.


She paused just outside the camera's view, waiting for the producer to tell her the pre-tape was good so she could leave. She got a nod and a thumbs up so she began to leave again. She was halted by the sound of heels on the floor hurrying toward her.

"Jet!"

She considered not stopping. Still, it wouldn't serve any purpose to ignore the situation. It was a better idea to address it and make it very clear how she felt.

"Jet—" Renee began.

"No," she cut in firmly. "Now, I don't know about you, but I've still got some pretty strong feelings of resentment toward you. I'm trying to be as professional as possible in telling you that I really think it's best if we just don't speak, don't you?"

Renee kept her mouth shut and nodded shortly.

"Good."

That went about as well as Jet could have hoped it would. She carried on with her case, not sparing a glance back. She'd only just made it around the corner when her phone buzzed loudly in her pocket. She considered ignoring it but thought better of it. If it was her mother, she'd never hear the end of missing the message. She paused again, stepping to the side of the hall to grab her phone.

She absolutely wasn't expecting Phil's name to be waiting to greet her.

There's something waiting for you at home. Hopefully no one steals it from your porch.

Jet furrowed her brow. She hadn't heard from him in weeks; he had respected her request to just wait and see when she'd be ready to talk.

All my neighbours are senior citizens, not thieves. How did you get my address?

It was on the divorce paperwork. Happy birthday, pumpkin.

He hadn't called her that in a long time. It tugged at something she thought she had buried deep enough to ignore. She chewed her lip, suddenly feeling very guilty for not opening the channels of communication sooner.

Thank you.

You're always welcome.

She didn't know what else to say to him. Sooner or later they'd have to talk, face-to-face. For now, she was just pleased that he had extended the olive branch.

"You're looking thoughtful."

Jet glanced up from her phone, seeing Hunter approaching. She smiled warmly at him as she pocketed the device. "Me? Nope."

He extended his hand palm up, offering her the cupcake he was holding. "Here. Happy birthday, kid."

"Thank you," she beamed, taking it and swiping her tongue through the yellow icing. "Mm, lemon."

"If anyone asks, I wasn't responsible for getting you hyped up on sugar."

"Of course not."

"Good. C'mon, walk with me. We need to talk and I have all of…" He glanced at his watch, "two minutes."

"Sure, what's up?" Jet asked, falling into step beside him while slowly eating the cupcake.

"Just wanna go through the plans for the next few weeks. Your first televised match won't be until Payback. You'll cut promos on the TV shows from here until then, setting up for a title match with Charlotte in Chicago. We will, however, need you on duty for the European tour."

Jet nodded. She hadn't expected anything else. Actually, she was quite relieved her first matches would be at house shows; if she messed up, there wouldn't be a dozen HD cameras pointed straight at her. "Sure. I'm quite looking forward to a hero's hometown welcome."

"Actually, about that… you won't be on the Manchester show."

"Oh."

"It's the same night as Smackdown and we want you in London for that. You get Malaga, though," he added to soften the blow.

Jet grinned; she had been desperate during every tour for the warmer cities. For once, she was getting the Spain side. "Well, in that case, I suppose I can forgive you."

"Good." He checked his watch again. "That two minutes is nearly up. I gotta go, loads to do. Remember, be ready for the podcast about fifteen minutes before Raw goes off air." He was leaving before Jet even had a chance to say goodbye, heading off to deal with the next thing on his long list of post-WrestleMania tasks. He glanced over his shoulder just long enough to call back, "Nice to have you back, kid."

It was nice to be back. She hadn't been able to avoid Twitter the night before and it had filled her with a surge of confidence that such a large majority were so pleased to see her again. She wasn't unaware that there had been rumours from various sources that she was never going to be medically cleared to wrestle again, so her return had set everyone at ease. Even better, the triple threat match was still getting its due credit. She had worried — and verbalised those worries to Hunter and Steph — that her appearance might overshadow all the hard work Becky, Sasha and Charlotte had put in, but the fans were able to commend the three of them on a stellar match while still gushing over her.

The locker room was her first port of call. She needed to drop off her bag before she found a quiet corner of catering to fill her stomach and hopefully stay out of the way enough to catch a little shut eye. The lack of sleep was catching up on her. Once upon a time she would have been fine to go close to 48 hours before she felt like this, but months of being able to sleep when she liked had made her weaker in that regard. One night without any rest was kicking her butt.

"Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday, dear Juliette, happy birthday to you!"

Jet took an involuntary step back when she opened the locker room door and was hit by the noise. She grinned to herself during the short serenade and was immediately relieved. She hadn't known how the return to the locker room was going to go but, clearly, they were pleased to see her. She was showered in paper streamers just as Becky reached out to wrap her up in a warm hug.

"It's so good to see you finally!"

They hadn't had much of a chance to catch up the night before. As soon as Jet's involvement post-triple threat had been over, Becky was whisked off for stitches, Charlotte for victory photos, and Sasha to her fiancé. Jet had spent most of the evening fighting the urge to yell at Shane; after all, there was no way "I'll be careful" could be construed to mean "I'm gonna jump off the Cell".

"I know, I took my time, right?"

"You can say that again," Trinity laughed. "Seven months girl, where been?"

"I've been getting a tan. Takes us pasty Brits a long time."

"She's not wrong," Paige shrugged.

"You're looking good," Becky insisted. "The time off is probably exactly what you needed."

"I think my time off is what we all needed," Jet replied with a wry smile. She didn't want to kill the pleasant atmosphere but it was better to deal with the elephant in the room now than to let it fester.

"About that…" Nikki stepped forward from her place beside her freshly retired sister, still sporting her neck brace. "We're all sorry. Everything that happened… we were absolute bitches."

"Like I wasn't," Jet snorted. "I literally lost my mind for a little while."

"What Nicole's saying," Brie stepped in, "is that we've all dealt poorly with the situation and it wasn't fair of us to blame you for what wasn't your fault. If we had taken a second to think clearly, none of this would have happened. So, we're all really sorry. We hope we can put it all behind us."

"Of course. And, uh, about Singapore… that was totally out of line. I didn't even mean any of it, I was just pissed off."

"We understand," Paige assured her. "Matter of fact, we probably needed to hear most of it."

"But the point is," Becky cut in brightly, having been on of the few who wasn't in the middle of all the drama those months ago, "Jet's back now, we're all on good terms, and we're gonna rock this joint!"

"Damn straight!" Charlotte agreed. Jet appreciated the enthusiasm to disperse the slightly awkward air in the room. "After all, you're coming for my title, right?" she smirked, patting the championship beside her.

"Coming for it, and taking it."

"Girl, you wish."

"Yeah, you wait and see. Fair warning, I've got some new-old tricks up my sleeve," Jet winked.

Charlotte's mouth dropped open. "Oh, come on, no fair!"

Jet finally took a seat and crossed her ankles, smiling smugly at the second-generation wrestler. "Honey, you've got a storm coming."


Jet was dutifully making her way to Steve Austin's podcast well before eleven, making sure she was set and ready before Raw went off air. She'd had to drag herself away from catching up with Maryse, following the Canadian's return to help her husband win the Intercontinental Championship. If she had been late, she wouldn't have heard the end of it. A body stepped up beside her as she walked, heading in a similar direction.

Jet smiled across at AJ Styles. "Hey, nice to see you again."

"I heard it's your birthday."

"It is," she nodded.

"How old are you now, thirty-five?"

Her mouth dropped open. "First, how dare you? Second, don't you know to never ask a lady her age?"

AJ grinned cheekily. "So, that means the wrong side of twenty-five?"

She chuckled. "Sadly, yes. Twenty-seven today. Getting dangerously close to thirty now."

"Well, happy birthday. Take it from me, it's all up from here."

"I hope so."

"Y'know, Joe's been telling me about you."

"Joe? Anoa'i?"

"Samoa Joe," AJ corrected. "After I saw you at the Rumble, I asked about you. Wanted to know if I'd get my ass kicked when we finally roll in the ring together. Since Joe's been down at NXT, I figured he was a good guy to ask."

Jet chewed her lip, unsure if she wanted to know what he'd said. She and Joe Seanoa had exchanged pleasant enough conversation here and there but she hadn't attempted to get too friendly with him. He was one of Phil's oldest friends and had undoubtedly heard all the dirty details, if not from her husband then from the gossip.

"Oh?"

AJ either didn't notice her discomfort or elected to ignore it. "Yeah, he said you're one of the hardest workers he's ever seen. He also said you kicked Shane's ass."

She laughed at that. Shane had made good on his threat to show up in Florida during her time off in the hopes of convincing her back before WrestleMania. His pestering had ended in an impromptu match in the Performance Center. Despite the training Shane had been doing in martial arts, he couldn't account for Jet's youth and speed. Besides, he was the one who said not to hold back. It was his own fault that he took a stiff kick to the jaw and ended up needing a couple of moments to recalibrate his brain.

"He's not wrong," she smirked.

"I'll keep my wits about me when we get in the ring."

Jet held it together, making sure no awkward giggle escaped her this time. She could be an adult, dammit. "You should. You never know when I'll strike. You may not know this about me, but I actually hit a pretty mean Spiral Tap."

AJ gasped dramatically. "Move thief."

She shrugged. "Gotta do what you gotta do. Don't invent cool things if you don't want them stolen." She nodded her chin behind AJ's shoulder. "Looks like there's a runner for you."

He looked down at his watch, nodding rapidly. The poor young kid seemed far too starstruck to actually approach AJ. "Oh, yeah, I've got a main event to go to. You have a good night, Juliette."

"Thanks AJ, you too."

She appreciated that he had gone out of his way to wish her a happy birthday and let her know the nice things Samoa Joe had to say about her. With a smile on her face she continued on to where she knew the podcast was set up. She could hear the crowd behind her, popping loud for the entrances to the fourway match. Steve wasn't there yet so she set herself up behind the cameras by the wall, quickly sending her mother a text to let her know she'd be back at the hotel as soon as possible. She was hanging out in Dallas for the night so she could see her family off in the morning before doing the drive down to Houston.

She felt a nudge at her side as a shoulder came into contact with hers. She glanced across, catching Jon's eyes.

"Hey, I've been trying to find you all night."

She leaned back against the wall, smiling softly. "I've been around. Shane's all beat up, I've been helping him out. And, y'know, everyone's wanted to welcome me back and everything."

"You're a popular woman." He held out his hand, offering out the small box. The colour immediately gave away that it was from Tiffany. "Come on, don't leave me standing here like an idiot, take it."

"You really didn't have to do this."

Anyone spending any kind of large sum of money on her made her feel guilty, purely as a hangover from her less than affluent childhood. There wasn't just one thing in the box, either. When she took it and popped open the lid, three charms were waiting for her.

"I wanted to," Jon shrugged. "I know jewellery's lazy but it was the best thing I could think of. Figured you could add them to the bracelet."

She rested a hand on his arm. "It's lovely," she said sincerely. "Thank you."

The first charm was a crown.

"Self-explanatory, right?" Jon chuckled. "Queen of the ring."

"There are some ladies in the locker room who'd like a word with you."

The second was a four leafed clover.

"You really deserve some luck from now on. Maybe with that on you won't break your head again."

Jet chuckled under her breath, thinking she probably needed more than luck. Divine intervention, more likely. She carefully lifted the last charm in the box, smiling at the honey bee.

"Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee."

"Does this count as encroaching on Shinsuke's gimmick?" Jet mused. "The Bomaye, Kinshasa, whatever they're calling it now, that's his."

"I'm sure he won't mind. After all, you're his best friend, right?" Jon teased.

"I told you I would be. He's the coolest."

Before Jon could continue the conversation, one of the production assistants was patting her lightly on the arm. "Jet? We need to get you mic'd up."

"Right, sorry." She turned to Jon, passing him back the box. "Keep that safe for me while I do this?"

"Sure. We still on for Orlando?"

She nodded. "Of course. We'll talk about all of it on Wednesday."

"Good." He leaned in to kiss her cheek quickly before she was hurried off to be prepped for the podcast. She winked as she went, leaving him standing like a smiling goof in the hallway.


"Turns out I lost our little bet."

Jet had been hooked up to the microphones and had settled into her seat when Steve arrived. She looked at him in confusion. "Our bet?"

"Yeah. We ran into each other in… Oklahoma, I think it was. I bet you a hundred bucks that I'd get you on the podcast before 2015 finished."

Jet chuckled, the memory coming back to her. Before she could reply he was already fishing his wallet out of his pocket and laying notes on the table in front of her. "Steve, really, it's cool."

"A bet's a bet, lady. Take my money."

"Well, if you insist," she laughed, stuffing the notes into her bra.

It earned her a tut from one of the assistants who had to quickly rearrange her microphone before they received the thumbs up that they were about to go live. Steve did his introduction, the camera exclusively on him, while Jet wiggled a little more to get as comfortable as possible. Just as Steve turned his attention to her, she straightened up and adopted a bright smile.

"Miss Juliette, welcome to the podcast."

"Thanks for having me, Steve."

"I wasn't sure when I'd get you in here, you've been away a long time."

She chuckled awkwardly. "Yeah, I guess I have. I didn't intent to be away for seven months, honestly."

"How long were you recovering from the fractured skull?"

"Hm, about ten weeks. The doctors said I could go back to training after six weeks but I was under strict orders from Hunter to make sure I was absolutely one hundred percent before I risked any more damage."

"You one hundred percent now?"

Jet knocked her knuckles against the base of her skull. "Yep."

"How was the recovery? Hard?"

"Not really. The worst part of that was being stuck in the hospital in Brooklyn. I had a cerebrospinal fluid leak and because of the increased risk of meningitis I had to stay until they were sure it was under control. Then I wasn't allowed to fly. The pain itself was gone within the first week, though. Once I was back in Orlando, the mental recovery was far more difficult than the physical one."

"Give us some insight into that," Steve requested. "You struggled with getting back in the ring?"

"Massively. The skull fracture was pretty much my first real major injury in the ring. I don't remember it happening but I've seen the video enough times to know it could have been much worse. I know a lot of wrestlers say this, but once you get hurt like that you suddenly lose your sense of invincibility. It's not nice getting a stark reminder that we're all human and our line of work is incredibly dangerous. I struggled for months to take a bump. Everyone worked so hard with me, they were so patient, but I just couldn't do it. Every time I tried, I freaked out. It was not fun, I can tell you that."

"Well, since you're back now, I assume you got over that fear."

Jet chuckled. "Seth Rollins got me over that fear. He showed up one day, completely tore me out, and then shoved me over. I wanted to kill him at the time but he really did me a favour."

"When did you get over bumping?"

"Uh… Early February?"

"So, you had a couple of months between that and coming back last night."

"Yeah, I was working on shaking off that rust. Took a little while to get my groove back."

"Have you had a match?"

"I've had practice runs in the Performance Center. Nothing intense, Hunter didn't want to risk anything putting the return back, but I had a couple of ten minute roll arounds, getting the joints loose, the usual."

"Your relationship with Hunter garnered a lot of attention after SummerSlam. Everyone could see how concerned he was."

"Well, I nearly died in front of him. I'd be offended if he wasn't worried," she laughed. "Everyone knows he's my Wrestling Dad at this point. A lot of us have them — people who have been a parent or sibling figure in the wrestling world. I've had a Wrestling Mum, I am a Wrestling Mum, I've got a Wrestling Dad. It's just how it works out. It's funny really since we were on the worst terms ever less than two years ago. Miscommunication is maybe a problem of mine."

"Funny, plenty of people have said that about your husband, too."

Jet visibly winced. She knew Steve would want to broach this but she still wasn't quite prepared for it.

He noticed her discomfort but pressed on. "Your personal life has been in the spotlight for quite some time now."

She chuckled mirthlessly. "You can say that again. Ever since Someone-Who-Won't-Be-Named blurted my darkest and deepest to the whole company, I feel like I haven't had a bit of privacy. My personal life was never intended for public consumption. I do accept that this is a side effect of the job I chose, though. When we're on the TV every week, and we have Twitter and Instagram and whatever else, people feel like they have a real connection with us, they're genuinely invested in our real lives. I didn't do myself any favours by blurring the lines between the real and the fake, I suppose. Things on TV ended up real and vice versa."

Steve nodded along, jumping on the opportunity. "That was never as true as last summer in Singapore."

Jet pulled a face straight down the camera. "Ooh, Singapore. That was… not a good time for me."

"The video made the rounds in minutes. Completely unplanned?"

"Completely," she confirmed. "There was no way I'd have got away with that kind of language, foreign audience or not. I got a real bollocking afterward."

"So, what was going on there?"

"I had a lot on my plate," she replied tactfully, "and I wasn't dealing with it very well. I was getting heat for my pay, the perks, my spot, and it all just kind of boiled over. I never came into this business for the money. I'm pretty sure very few of us ever did. I'm here because I love it and I get a sick thrill from risking my life daily. I took exception to how I was being talked about and I exploded. Thankfully, it's all behind us."

"That's not the last time you've exploded. Your suspension—"

"My suspension was fully deserved and something I don't want to talk about," Jet replied firmly. It wasn't that she cared about discussing what she'd done to Zahra, but she wouldn't touch on the subject of the tweets about her miscarriage. That was hers, not something she'd open up to the public about. Maybe one day, but not right then.

Steve tread carefully, knowing he ran the risk of her killing this podcast. "Understandable," he nodded. "The root of the suspension…" He paused to ensure that Jet caught on that he was talking about the tweets, "Were they all true?"

"Sort of," she allowed. "I wasn't having sex with anyone behind my husband's back, if that's what you're asking."

"I wouldn't presume to be so rude to a lady," Steve chuckled, trying to set her at ease.

"Believe me, I've heard far ruder. There were things going on that I'm not proud of. The tweets never should have gone out because she knew absolutely zero about the situation."

"How is the situation now? Of course, you've always been Jet Madden here, but are you still Juliette Brooks?"

"Legally, yes. I'm single but still a Brooks." She smiled wryly. "If you don't mind Steve, that's something else I'd really rather not talk about. I know I'm disappointing people who want to know the nitty gritty but I don't think it's fair to talk about him. He's done nothing wrong, he's a good man, and it's our business. I'm open to pretty much everything else, except Phil."

Steve didn't miss a beat. "Sure. We're here to talk about you and your career, not CM Punk."

She smiled thankfully and finally relaxed into her chair. The worst part was over. Steve happily launched into questioning her about her roots, how life was in Manchester, how she started wrestling, and everything else that led up to her relocating as a barely-adult to the United States.

"What was the hardest part for you during your training?"

"Hm… probably learning to take care of the other person. I was a scrappy kid from a scrappy place. My brothers and godfather made sure that, from a young age, I could take care of myself. They taught me how to make sure people took me seriously, y'know, like, if you try something then I can knock your teeth down your throat. It took me months to learn how to properly pull a punch and protect someone's head. It was a hurdle since I had that instinct in me, but I got there."

"I honestly expected you to say that the flippy shit was the most difficult thing," Steve laughed.

She chuckled too. "Nah, the flippy shit was actually pretty easy. Once you do the first thing, it's not that scary anymore. I've always been agile and flexible so my first coach's idea to make me a high-flyer seemed sensible. I mean, I'm all of five-five, I don't think many people would take me seriously as a brawler, no matter how much of one I actually am. Circus tricks seemed the best thing for me. Once we'd covered moonsaults and the like, we graduated onto the more difficult stuff. It was all a bit hit and miss for a while but, by the time I was seventeen, I could hit the sweetest corkscrew shooting star press you'll ever see in your life. Fight me, Neville."

"I researched you pretty hard so I've seen a lot of your old tapes. There is something surreal about seeing a tiny little girl pulling that off, I havta admit."

"It's a little surreal doing it. I'm always struggling with where to draw the line between the stuff that's super cool and the stuff that's going to shorten my life considerably. Like, I wanna do the crazy spots, I wanna make people jump out of their seats in shock, but I also wanna be able to walk in twenty years. I don't want a dozen concussions behind me."

"That is something that I wanted to discuss with you," Steve began, clasping his hands together. "Do you think your style of wrestling lends itself to a long career?"

"Absolutely not. My hips hurt, my knees hurt, I'm sure every other joint in my body will hurt soon. Eventually I'm going to have to tame myself, dial it back a bit, but for now I'm just loving what I'm doing."

"Any regrets? You've had a long and storied career already and you're not even thirty."

"Sure, who doesn't have regrets? I regret never going out to work full-time in Japan. I regret not seeing enough of Mexico. I regret not taking more European bookings after I came to the States. Of course, they're only half-hearted regrets. If any of those things had happened, I would be right here right now." She didn't need to touch on the regrets in her personal life. That list was far too long.

Perhaps sensing a slight dip in her mood, Steve pressed on. He went back to her relationship with Hunter and brought Shane into the mix, asked her about the run-up the the previous year's WrestleMania and how all that had come about, and what she thought of how the division had been held together in her absence. She had nothing but wonderful things to say about her bosses and the other girls, and she could tell it bothered Steve. Since he wasn't getting the juicy news on Phil, he wanted something else. He wasn't above digging.

"You're beautiful, you're smart, you're talented, and you're friendly. There has to be something wrong with you. Someone has to hate you."

Jet laughed loudly. "Oh, there's plenty wrong with me. I have all kinds of emotional issues. I hold grudges. I can barely take care of myself. I act like an overgrown toddler far more than is remotely acceptable. I self-sabotage. People put up with my shit and I'm very thankful for that. I've been working hard at fixing those things but it doesn't happen overnight, y'know? As for people hating me… you don't know the half of it. Some people hate me for something that they've held onto for years. Some people hate me because they got the wrong end of the stick and don't want to be corrected. Some people hate me for reasons I don't actually even know."

"Who's that?" Steve grinned.

"Oh no, not a chance. I say the name, I get fired."

He laughed, knowing there was no way she was risking her spot just to name and shame one of the executives. Before he could even considering delving deeper into the subject, Kevin Dunn was motioning at them from behind the camera.

"Well, we're getting the go-home sign, kids."

Jet shot Steve an amused look and he immediately understood that the man she was talking about was right there in front of them. He smirked to himself as he did his goodbyes, thanking her for being his guest, and closing out the podcast. As soon as they got the thumbs up that they were off-air, Jet pulled her microphone off.

"I shoulda known," Steve chuckled, keeping his voice low. "Ignore Dunn, he's an asshole."

"You got that right," she agreed. As she tried to avoid Dunn's obviously annoyed glare, her eyes fell back on Jon. He'd hung around for the entirety of the podcast, apparently listening intently to what she had to say.

Steve followed her line of sight and seemed to nod to himself. He pushed his chair in closer to her, keeping himself quiet. "For what it's worth, I understand how difficult Punk can be."

She broke eye contact with Jon to glance at the Texan. "Believe me when I say I am far more difficult."

"I spoke to him recently." It seemed everyone beside Jet was speaking to her husband. "He sounds pretty… well, miserable, to be honest."

She bit the inside of her cheek, not sure what to say to that.

"I'm not trying to make you feel guilty," he added. "I understand where you're sitting too. You oughta give that poor boy over there a chance," he nodded toward Jon. "If it doesn't work out, at least you'll know. There are plenty of other paths in life."

Jet squinted at him, a small smile playing on her lips. "Have you been speaking to my mother?"

Steve laughed and eased up his hunched over shoulders, letting his voice rise in volume again. "I'm sure your mother knows best, Juliette. Just remember," he continued, standing from his chair and straightening his shirt, "the most important thing is that you give yourself a chance." He started to walk away before she could properly process what he was saying to her. It was vague but she didn't doubt that he very much had a strong inclination of which way she would end up going.

If only she did.


Next chapter will be the long awaited talk between Jet and Jon, I promise. We'll see Phil again soon, too. Maybe a couple of chapters down the line. While you're waiting on that, go ahead and drop me a review!