Catfight Over Clay

Summary: Clay gives Rebecca a key to his apartment and Stella unexpectedly moves back to Virginia. What happens when Clay's current and former girlfriend meet? Who will he choose ... Rebecca, Stella, or neither?

Catfight at Clay's

Exhausted, all Clay wanted to do was go home and crash. The op had gone wrong in so many ways he needed all his fingers and toes, plus one of Sonny's to account for them all. Clay pulled out his keys, unlocked his apartment door, and stepped inside. He made a beeline for his bedroom and plopped down, face first on his mattress, not bothering even to kick off his shoes.

At least he showered on base before the debrief from hell. The yelling gave him a throbbing headache … or maybe it was because he had been too close to the explosion that brought down the brick wall. Blocking out his pain, or at least doing his best to ignore and push it away, Clay allowed the sandman to pull him into the blissful darkness of much-needed sleep.

His dreams were vivid and rather insane … no bombs, no bloodshed, no losing brothers … but a hot threesome romp in his bed with Rebecca and Stella. The two women lavished him with their attentions, trying to one-up the other in giving him pleasure. He briefly thought Sonny would never believe him and would be jealous at the same time.

Loud screeching brought his fantasy to an abrupt halt and pulled him back into the world of reality. The noise caused his head to throb, and he wanted it to stop. With a groan, he rolled over and tried to make sense of the high-pitched shrieking … his first thought that he left a teakettle boiling, and it now whistled incessantly at him. But he recalled he went straight to bed upon arriving home.

A crash, followed by a thud and a scream had Clay bolting up off his bed and racing for his door. His eyes rounded with shock at the visage before him. His jaw may or may not be resting on the ground as he gaped at the melee happening on his apartment floor.

Stella and Rebecca were engaged in a full-on catfight. Hair got pulled. Obscenities that would make a sailor blush hurled forth. Fingernails sought to gouge lines in delicate skin.

Flabbergasted, Clay could only stare until movement from his open doorway into the hall had him meeting Sonny's gaze across the fighting women.

Sonny grinned at Clay's stunned expression. He could tell his little buddy had been rudely woken up by the rumpled clothes, hair sticking up at odd angles, and the creases of pain around the kid's now squinting eyes. Jason tagged him to check on the kid since Clay, Brock, and Trent were all on concussion protocol. He never expected to find Rebecca and Stella in a catfight on Spenser's floor.

As entertaining as the brawl was … and who didn't like watching women wrestling … Sonny decided he needed to intervene and separate the sharp-tongued felines. Mostly for Clay's sake since their caterwauling likely hurt his head. He moved forward and slipped his arms around Stella's waist and hauled her off Rebecca. He held tight as she struggled to get free of his grasp.

Once separated, Rebecca scrambled to her feet, her eyes blazing as she yelled, "That bitch attacked me."

"Me? You're the one who broke into Clay's apartment, you frog hog. I was only defending Clay." Stella tried to wrench herself free of Sonny. "Let me down!"

Dizzy and too bushed to want to sort out this mess, Clay sagged against the doorjamb. At the moment, he would rather be unarmed and facing a bunch of terrorists than contend with his current and former girlfriend.

Dropping Stella, thoughts of both women disappearing, Sonny strode across the room in two shakes, concern radiating from him as Clay wobbled. "Whoa there, little buddy."

Clay tried to wave him off. "I'm fine."

"Like hell, you are." Sonny gripped Clay's bicep to steady him.

"What happened?" Rebecca asked as Stella said, "Clay, are you hurt?"

Sonny increased his grip as Clay tried to pull away. "Bed. Now." He steered Clay towards the bed, surprised when the kid didn't resist. "You take painkillers as Trent said?"

Slumping onto the mattress, Clay held his aching head between his hands and squeezed. "No."

"Stay put." Sonny strode to the bathroom and opened a cabinet, knowing right where Clay kept his meds. As he filled a glass with water from the sink, he overheard Stella and Rebecca starting to argue in the other room. Returning to Clay, Sonny handed over two pills and the cup. "Take these and lay down."

Clay popped the pills and washed them down with a gulp of water. "Need to deal with that." He waved a hand in the vague direction of his living room. He winced when Stella's and Rebecca's shrill voices ramped up his pain.

Sonny grinned. "I'll handle them."

"Son—"

"I'll be nice. If you don't rest, I'll tell Jason … and Trent."

Clay groaned. "You wouldn't."

"I would, and you know it." When Clay plopped back on his pillow and swung his legs up on the mattress, Sonny grinned. "So which one do you want to keep, cause Simba, two feisty lionesses are more than you can handle."

Cocking his brow, Clay eyed Sonny. "Don't know. Gave Rebecca a key … she didn't break in like Stella thinks."

Sonny nodded, pivoted, and walked out, closing the door behind him. Standing with his arms crossed, Sonny studied both women as they righted their apparel and glared at one another. "Both of you need to leave."

"I'm not going anywhere. Clay's hurt, he needs someone to look after him," Stella stated.

"I drove three hours to visit Clay. Who are you to tell me to go?"

"His brother," he answered Rebecca and then directed his next comment to Stella. "I got him covered."

"You can go … I'll take care of him."

Sonny guffawed. "Yeah, right. Just like you did before Mexico, Stella. And then when you left him again to flit off to California, asking him to leave Bravo to go with you. He doesn't need that kind of care."

Stella cringed, remembering how stupid she'd been. How she allowed her father's words fuel fears and ruined the best relationship she ever had.

Rebecca bit out, "I'm his girlfriend. He gave me a key. I'll stay."

"No, I don't think so. You've been using him for your own ends. I'm not as dimwitted as you believe us pipe hitters are. All this DC power couple crap … you'd be nothing without Clay. You picked him up at a funeral and that ain't a coincidence. Ya been messin' with my boy's head and that shit is gonna stop.

"Now, you're both gonna leave, and you'll give Clay a week before you try to contact him." Sonny stepped forward and held out a hand to Rebecca. "And you'll be giving me that key."

"I will not! Clay wanted me to have it. And I'm not leaving until Clay tells me to go."

"Fine." Sonny pulled out his phone.

"Who are you calling?" Stella asked. She didn't really want to deal with Jason, but Sonny's remarks about this other woman piqued her curiosity.

Sonny grinned and didn't answer her as he pressed the call button. "Hey, can you come to Clay's? Got a little trash that needs taking out, and I could use your help." He paused and then answered, "Stella and Rebecca." Another short pause and he chuckled. "Yes, both." He hung up and ambled to the fridge, pulling out a beer.

"I'm not trash!" Rebecca barked.

Leaning against the sink, Sonny twisted off the top of the bottle but didn't respond.

"What did you mean she's been messing with Clay's head?" Stella stared at the women whose physical features were similar to her own.

"I haven't. He is ambitious and will make more of a difference in DC than being a soldier."

"Sailor," both Sonny and Stella corrected. Their gaze met briefly across the room.

"Soldier, sailor … what's the difference? They're both grunts with no power." Rebecca attempted to tuck in her blouse and eyed the other woman wondering why Clay's ex was here. Noting a rip in her designer shirt, her eyes flashed with anger. "I'm sending you a bill for my ruined blouse. You'll pay it or I'll file assault charges. You're his ex, why are you here anyway?"

.

AN: Not exactly sure where this is going or how long it will be. This story is inspired by the winter premier after Clay gave a key to Rebecca and Stella showed up at his place. I wondered how they might interact ... and then my evil muse decided on a catfight. I'm not sure I like either woman ... but Rebecca's comments make me think she is using him, and I'm gonna go with that idea. Stella loves him, but she's scared of his lifestyle ... she might come to terms with that, or not. Hop aboard the relationship rollercoaster as I explore these things.