"You heard me! I want Kevin Owens in a title match at the next Takeover!" Sami pounded his fists on William Regal's desk.

"You need surgery, Sami. You could injure yourself more!" The general manager of NXT had a stone stern look on his face. "Anyway, what if you win? I don't want you winning the championship then being out for six months."

"Then make it a non-title match, I don't care!" Sami's eyes were glazed over and wild with rage. "I need to settle this once and for all."

William Regal's voice was calm and steady, yet forceful. "You won't get that either. You know Kevin will never agree to fight you without the title on the line." He put up his hand. "Once you're done in rehab then, if you want, you can have whoever is holding the title in a title match. If they don't want you on the main roster, that is."

Sami heard a snort behind him. "He's never going to get called up. You know that, Regal." Sami whipped around and saw Finn Balor, his best friend in NXT leaning against the door frame of William Regal's office. "That's not in the plan, is it, Regal?"

Regal narrowed his eyes and glared at Finn. "This doesn't concern you, Balor, and if you know what's best for you, you'll shut your mouth."

"Oh, come on, don't you want Sami to know the truth? That there's only one reason you recruited Kevin? That NXT has a special recruiting strategy now? That you're manipulative and enjoy playing with people's emotions to create compelling stories and rivalries? Is that what you don't want Sami to know?"

"Finn!" Regal started sweating. His face turned red.

"What are you talking about, Finn?"

"It's their special 'Roster Strategy' that they don't want anyone to know." Finn walked closer to the two men. "It's why they recruited you and then recruited Kevin. It's why they recruited me and Hideo. It's why they recruited Sasha Banks and Becky Lynch. They wanted NXT to be a touring brand, but they couldn't do it until they created a strong roster with compelling rivalries. See, they saw what amazing rivalries that John Cena and Randy Orton had. They saw the amazing effect that breaking up The Shield had. So they started looking for talented wrestlers who had history with each other and then they manipulate it for their purposes."

"FINN BALOR, YOU ARE OUT OF LINE!" William Regal was enraged.

"Oh, no, Regal. I think it's only fair that Sami should know how he's been manipulated and used." Finn turned to Sami. "Alex Riley told me that he had been promised a promotion back to the main roster if he would seduce you. Of course, I had to beat that out of him."

Sami flashed back to what John Cena said to him. "You tell yourself 'just one more match and then it will be over' and you're doing nothing but fooling yourself. I'm telling you right now, just drop it. Your hearts will be able to heal. You'll be happier."

Sami stared at the floor. His soul felt rendered from his body.

"Sami, that may be true, but look at how the fans react! Look at the opportunity that this is giving you!" Regal attempted to reason with Sami. "You'll be famous. Kids are out there cheering for you and wearing your shirts! You're known across the globe. You will..."

Sami raised his hand and William Regal stopped mid-sentence. Regal and Finn watched Sami as he quietly turned and step by step, walked to the office door.

Sami paused, turned his head, and had only two words in response.

"I quit."

He then walked out of the office, then out of the Performance Center.

It was late when Sami's head was clear enough to return to clean out his locker. He'd have Finn gather up any remaining things he left, but the majority of his life here at the Performance Center was in the locker he was now emptying. Workout clothing, athletic tape, a couple of pictures that he had taped to the inside door. A couple of them showed him and Finn. One was of him and Bayley making muscles and funny faces, and looking at that one made him smile a little. Another one showed him posing with Adrian Neville and Charlotte, big thumbs up and cheesy grins all around. He had a lot of memories from his time here, but he couldn't take it anymore. He knew now that the pictures of Kevin and Tyler were probably staged. Kevin was probably seduced, just like Alex was going to seduce him.

Sami sat on the bench in front of his locker, just thinking of everything that had happened. He was so lost in thought that he didn't hear anyone enter the locker room and come behind him. He didn't hear that person sit down next to him. He only noticed when the person spoke.

"So you're leaving, huh?"

Sami came back to reality and turned his head. He saw Kevin Owens sitting next to him, grim and calm and looking right back at him.

"Kevin, I signed my release papers. I'm no longer your competition. There's no reason to attack me anymore. I..."

"Hey, calm down, Tiger. I'm not here to fight." Kevin's voice was sedate and calming to Sami, even after everything they'd been through. "I just wanted to see how you were."

"I feel broken, Kevin. Robbed of my free will." Sami's voice was shaky.

"I understand. They did the same thing to me. I can't tell you how many things I can look back at and be like 'oh, they were behind that too.' Fucking bastards."

"I...feel like I should apologize, Kevin."

"For what? For pursuing your dream and feeling the passion in your heart?" Kevin softly chuckled. "I can't blame you for doing that. You have such fiery passion inside you. It's part of the reason I fell in love with you, you know."

Sami felt the tears coming, but held them back. "You have that same fire inside you. I see it in your eyes." He paused and stared at the concrete floor. "Whoever is fighting for your title better have the same fire."

"I suppose we'll see. I'm sure they'll find two amazing guys to fight for it."

Sami looked up and at Kevin. "They're gonna put you in a triple threat?"

"No," Kevin looked away, licked his lips, then looked back at Sami. "I...I vacated the title tonight. I actually just got done signing my release papers too."

Sami's mouth was agape. "What? Kevin, no!"

"Finn told me why you quit, Sami. He told me, and all of a sudden, nothing is real anymore. I had the title, I knew I could take care of anyone that they threw at me, but no one was like you. I thought and I thought some more and then it came to me why I was so obsessed with fighting you for the title. In my mind, it wasn't that I was fighting to win the title. I was fighting to win you."

Sami shook his head. "Kevin..."

"Let me finish," Kevin continued. "I know it was a fucked up way to go about it, but yeah, we have unfinished business. In my mind, that was our rivalry. But really...really? It's about the fact that I still fucking love you, Sami Zayn. I still love you and I want you for mine...if you'll have me."

Sami couldn't hold back the tears anymore. "You didn't have to quit, Kevin...not because of me."

"Yes, I did, Sami. I had to quit because this means nothing without you. I don't even care if I wrestle again. I just want you, and if I can't have you, then I'll figure out what to do after that, but I can't be here at NXT without you."

"Habibi..." Sami took Kevin's hand and squeezed gently.

"Sami, let's go back to Montreal. We'll figure out what to do after that, but for right now, I need you. I love you. Please," At this point, Sami noticed that tears were starting to stream slowly from Kevin's eyes. "I'm sorry for hurting you. I'm sorry. And if you'll have me back, no more hiding, no more denying. I'll be proud to have you as my lover. I'll brag about you. I'll flaunt you. I'll make love to you every night." Kevin started sobbing and nearly collapsed in Sami's arms. "Please! Please..."

Sami couldn't hold back any more. "Kevin, I love you. I love you so much." He stood and lifted Kevin up to his feet. Sami wrapped his arms around Kevin and smiled. "I'm yours. Forever." Sami leaned in and kissed Kevin, a kiss that immediately erupted in passionate flames. The two men whimpered and kissed, breaking it and laughing through the tears.

"Let's go back home, Generico." Kevin smiled.

"Absolutely." Sami smiled, and for the first time in months, felt joy inside.

Hideo ran in to the apartment with the mail, eager to show Finn what had come. "Finn! Look!" He showed his boyfriend the cover of Pro-Wrestling Illustrated where El Generico and Kevin Zayn had the cover, showing off their newly won IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship Belts.

Finn took the magazine from Hideo's hands and smiled. "They look awesome. They finally won them from the Young Bucks. Looks like they're having great luck over there in New Japan."

"They look happy, Finn." Hideo smiled. "I'm glad."

Finn smiled and wrapped his arm around Hideo. "I'm glad too."