Chapter Ten: Bash at Berlin 8/31/24

Berlin, Germany

Damian found Rhea backstage, stationed by a monitor as she watched Hell In A Cell intently. Her shoulders were practically up to her ears, they were so tight. His hands went to them without a thought. That familiar calm passed through him as his skin contacted hers. Her shoulders dropped with his touch, even more so as he squeezed her trapezius muscles.

"We got this, kid," he assured her.

The bell rang, declaring a bloodied CM Punk the winner over a bludgeoned Drew McIntire. Too soon, Damian had to let go. Once he did, he scolded himself for laying a hand on her.

Damian's music played, and he strode to the ring. He met Dom with a slam to the mat as soon as the bell rang. When Dom tried to rally, Damian clotheslined him backwards over the top rope. He hopped out and punched him on the floor, well aware that Liv was right there next to him. He threw Dom into the apron, then pushed him back into the ring. Liv and Rhea stood on opposite sides on the apron. He felt their eyes on him. He threw Dom into a corner and punched the living daylights out of him. With the ref's signal, he had to lay off.

Dom staggered toward Liv. The two men looked at Liv, who reached for Dom. Damian threw him against the ropes a bit before tossing him to the mat. The crowd cheered. Dom held out a hand, which Damian grabbed and twisted. Dom somehow used the leverage to throw down Damian. Damian laid there as Dom climbed the middle of the top rope and jumped down into Damian's chest, knocking the wind out of him. Dom tried to pin him, but Damian kicked out.

Damian was too close to the apron – a sitting duck for Liv, who slapped him across the face. Even as he leaned forward, he heard Rhea yelling at the ref. He used her distraction to pull himself up the ropes. It wasn't enough of a break; Dom had him by the back of the neck. He got in two punches to the face before Damian thrust up and pelted Dom, who stumbled backwards. Damian got in another shot, then threw Dom backwards over the top rope…

But not all the way. Dom turned and managed to throw Damian into the ring. Damian's back hit with a slap. Again, Dom tried to pin him. That one didn't even make it to two.

He heard the crowd revving up and saw the wide swing of Rhea's stomping foot. He got Dom to the mat but needed to catch his breath. He pointed to her, signaling that she was up. Dom tagged in Liv before Damian slapped Rhea's hand.

Damian rolled out of the ring and to the floor. He heard the crowd reacting to Rhea in action but had to sit on the floor for a moment. He stayed there for a while, rising as Rhea choked Dom with her legs – the sexiest move in her arsenal. Then he watched as she gathered up Dom in her arms, getting ready for the Riptide…

If it weren't for fucking Liv. Damian saw her coming and raised his hand, unable to catch Rhea's attention. Liv kicked Rhea three times and jumped onto her back. Rhea wiggled out and dropped her.

"You chose her?" he heard Rhea yelling to Dom.

"Yes, I did."

Rhea shook her chest at Dom, Eddy Guerrero style. She tossed Liv to the mat. Liv came back with vengeance, laying into her.

Damian could tell Rhea was fading. He waved his arm frantically, willing Rhea to tag him in. She threw herself at him, their hands slapping as she dropped and rolled out.

Damian hopped the rope and charged at the oncoming Dom. He scooped him up and threw him face-first to the mat. The crowd cheered. Damian got in three kicks to the abdomen, then one to the jaw. Dom tried to gain momentum by bouncing off the rope, but Damian clotheslined him.

Damian roared, pumping his arms. He ran at Dom, grabbed him by the neck, and threw him down. Damian slammed his fist into the inside of his elbow, gearing up for a South of Heaven. The crowd clapped along to slaps. He clotheslined Dom and pinned him.

1! 2!

Liv came flying at him, breaking the hold. She tried to go after him again, but Rhea was there, holding her back. Rhea and Damian grinned at each other. With a nod, they boxed the others' ears in one fluid movement, raised Dom and Liv over their heads, and threw them to the mat. The crowd cheered as the Terror Twins stood over their battered opponents.

Rhea threw Liv out of the ring and then motioned to Dom. "Destroy him!" she cried, staring intensely back at him. He held her gaze, rolling down the straps of his top and exposing his chest. She thumped her fists into her chest in approval. He was so turned on.

Damian raised his hand, preparing for a South of Heaven that he knew would never come – not when he saw a flash of movement from the corner of his eye. JD rushed the ring, and Damian choke-slammed him instead. He turned in time to see Rhea throw Carlito face-first into the apron, before Liv threw Rhea back-first into the floor. Damian held his hands to his head, knowing he could do nothing to interfere between Rhea and Liv… but he could chokeslam Dom who was trying to sneak up behind him.

Just as Damian downed Dom, Finn threw him to the mat. Dom propelled Damian into the ropes, pinning him there and clocking him in the face with a swinging kick. Damian fell, then felt a weight on his chest and heard the chant.

1! 2!

Damian kicked out, then rolled out. He looked as Rhea pinned Liv for the count, flashing her raised devil horns that she flashed back.

"Eins! Zwei! Drei!" The German fans cried.

"Demons In My Dreams" blared. Damian watched as Rhea licked Liv's cheek while clutching a fistful of her hair. What hetero dude wouldn't love that? He climbed into the ring. He grabbed and raised Rhea's hand as the ref threw his hand in the air too. When they broke, Rhea ran into his arms. He held her to him, nose in her hair. Even as she walked away, he kept an arm slung on her shoulder.

They headed for the stage arm-in-arm, radiating the best of them both. Damian caught sight of a camera trained on him and shouted into it. "Hey, Judgment Day! That's just the beginning. We're not done with you. We're coming for all of you. We are your reckoning!"

They hung around backstage, soaking in the adulation from fellow wrestlers and the love they had for one another. He wasn't letting her go. He couldn't, especially when he saw just how off she was when heading for her dressing room.

"I say we go out for some chicken tendies," he suggested.

She grinned. "Works for me," she murmured, looking like she needed something strong to go with it. "How about right after post show?"

Post-show was interviews with Peter Rosenberg, Jackie Redmond, and Big E at the top of the grandstands after the fans cleared out. They ascended the steps arm-in-arm.

"We got a couple of big-time guests here joining us on the post show after Bash in Berlin, and I'll start with this, Rhea Ripley: Mami, how sweet does revenge actually taste?"

"Oh, ah…" She stuttered.

Damian laughed. So many ways to go with that question, especially with a mind like Rhea's. He crossed his arms and kept his sight to the ground. Her lipstick smudge Cheshire Cat grin was too much right now. He gave himself a minute to recover as Rhea continued.

"It tastes amazing. Honestly, it feels nice to get a little bit of revenge in this, especially because that's all that Live Morgan loves to talk about. Revenge, revenge to her this, revenge to her that. When is it gonna end? It's not even revenge at this point. It's just you being a petty little piece of…" Rhea pursed her lips shut for a beat. "You can finish that sentence. And it was about time that Mami got some revenge, and it feels damn sweet."

"Do you have a name yet for that pin, Rhea?" Peter asked. "Because this is becoming…"

Everybody was cracking up – no one harder than Rhea and Damian. She had to be replaying the tape of all the exotic and erotic names they gave Rhea's new pin while shooting the shit in the clubhouse. Her head rested on his arm, her breath on her bicep. She pulled herself immediately upright and smiled at Damian… with that lipstick smear. He laughed, using levity as an excuse to put his hand on her shoulder.

"Every time that happens, I feel the internet sort of stop."

Damian stretched out his propped hand. "I call it the take-it-easy pin."

Rhea lost it, probably because that was just the beginning of two of the names he had for her pin. Her laughter was contagious, and the others chuckled generously.

"'Ey! Oh!" Peter quipped.

"'Ey! Oh!" Rhea echoed. "I like to call it the pretzel pin, because it's very fitting."

Not once had either of them suggested pretzel pin.

"Just like them."

"DP, my man over here has been on podcasts, fantasy booking a love story between the two of you, and I told him that is a terrible idea."

Big E was talking about Peter, and Rhea whipped her head in the plaintiff's direction. Damian turned to Big E with a forced smile. What were his odds of dodging this question at some point, no matter how careful he thought he was?

"What I love is you guys having a real deep friendship. Yeah, give him that look. He deserves it."

Damian looked back at Rhea, who was giving Peter bunny ears. She flicked the back of his head enough for Peter to jump. Did she really think that was so ridiculous, or was she pissed off?

"That flick in the head was deserved," Big E said as the others laughed.

So, was it really that impossible or disgusting that someone would ship the two of them? Damian knew about shipping. He creeped on Archive Of Our Own long enough to read stories others wrote about him. Maybe Damian/Rhea was niche and he was in the vast minority as usual.

"Can you talk about your friendship and how much it's meant to you?"

Damian stared ahead. What the fuck could he say that was both honest and good for TV? He felt Rhea's arm on his shoulder.

"This has not been a new thing," Big E continued.

Damian felt his heart racing. He had to push down his excitement, especially with Rhea so close.

"You guys have been, this bond has been real and has been deep for quite some time now."

He surprised himself by lifting the microphone. "Yeah, since NXT, we formed this incredible bond where I just felt a deep love for her… like a little sister." So much for keeping honest. "And we've talked about working together and possibly doing something one day. And then came the Judgment Day, which was cool. But I'll tell you, the Terror Twin stuff now, it's a whole 'nother level to our friendship and our relationship. And I don't know, we just feel so comfortable and so on fire with this, it's incredible." He looked at her in the eye. "And I couldn't ask for a better partner."

She was so stunning, so locked in on him. But he couldn't stay forever in this beautiful pause.

"Look, the idea of The Judgment Day was we got together to elevate each other," he said as Rhea looked on, "cause we felt we weren't in the position we thought we belonged in. We're in the spot that we know we belong in."

Rhea smiled, so damn cute with her smudged black lipstick.

"We've won world titles while we were in the Judgment Day," Damian continued. "It's exactly what the point. Now this new crew, they felt slighted, because it wasn't about them, and I get it. But we grew, and I think we outgrew The Judgment Day anyway. So, if anything, they did us a favor. And as you can hear, our new family, I like them very much."

Jackie chuckled, and Rhea beamed at him.

"Of course, we build a bond, we build a friendship, and we did feel like a family."

Her smile faded. She looked into the distance, out of focus.

"So, of course, there's a part of us that hurts. And that's probably why we're so angry about this, this betrayal. But they're going to regret it."

Rhea arrived at the chicken shop wearing his Iron Maiden cloak jacket, her black Levi's skinny jeans barely visible beneath the long fabric. Damian smiled. She chose the restaurant - a brightly lit family pub. He was hoping for a more intimate setting that was much less family friendly. Seeming to sense his hesitation, Rhea laced her hand under his elbow and over his arm, resting her hand on his skin.

He reached for a chair and pulled it out. Was that too old school? He thought about pretending he pulled it out for himself, until she smiled.

"Thanks, Priest!" She replied. She took off the Iron Maiden jacket, revealing a white shirt with big bold print: "Eat. Sleep. Yeet." Oh boy. He smirked at how much she was leaning into the Rhea / Jey story arc.

"Kann ich Ihre Bestellung entgegennehmen?" A stout waitress asked.

Damian glanced at Rhea who had the same wide-eyed expression he knew that he had. They both laughed.

"Ich spreche wenig Deutsch," Rhea told the waitress.

"Ahh!" She said. She looked at Damian. "Sie brauschen Spanisch!"

Damian opened his mouth, but the server had already walked away. She nudged another server and pointed at Rhea and Damian. The waiter's eyes widened, and he rushed to them.

"Welcome, welcome!" The waiter beamed. "Herr Priest and Frauline Ripley, what would you like me to bring you?"

"Hallo! Danke!" Damian used the two German words he knew that weren't profanity. "Could we please have two orders of chicken tenders?"

"Chicken tendies!" Rhea exclaimed.

"With ranch sauce, please."

"Yes, ranch!" She drummed her hands on the table with a wide grin. "Lots of ranch!"

Damian smiled. "With lots of ranch, please." He giggled at Rhea's glee.

Damian didn't like fast food. He wasn't a fan of greasiness, the atmosphere, or the noise. He did appreciate that this place lived up to the claim of actually being fast, unlike that Taco Bell with the stoners that took forty-five minutes and made them late to work one time but that Rhea just had to have. Yeah, he still thought about that.

The chicken tenders arrived with at least two dozen little plastic containers of ranch. Rhea laughed so hard that she snorted.

"Thanks, mate," she said to the server. "Sorry. Danke… mate." She cringed. This time, Damian snorted. "Hey, dude!" She scolded him. Did she really not notice that she snorted too?

Rhea peeled off the lid of the first ranch container. She opened the Styrofoam box and took out two chicken tenders, handing one to Damian. Her fingers were so elegant sliding over the piece of chicken - strong as fuck… but so beautiful.

Damian accepted the chicken tender from Rhea with a smile. She met his deep gaze. "A toast!" He proposed.

She grinned and raised her piece.

"To…" Damian trailed off. Why did he propose a chicken tender toast without having anything profound to say? Then it came to him. "To the Terror Twins."

"To us!"

Their eyes met as they toasted tenders. Her gaze slipped out of focus as her smile faded. Like she thought of the implications of her words, like she were betraying Buddy. Meanwhile, he was betraying her by not leveling with her about what he did to Judgment Day.

"Look, Rhea," Damian lowered his voice. "I'm sorry, I…"

She bounced in her seat, then leaned to one side. She pulled her buzzing phone out of her back pocket. She glanced at the screen, and all her features softened. Her eyes watered as she answered the phone. "Buddy!"

Damian swallowed hard. Oh course. Buddy.

She sat quietly with the phone pressed to her ear, tears spilling down her face. Then she smiled. "I love you so much, Buddy!"

Then she looked at Damian, so hopeful. For approval? What could he do but smile, hold his double dipped chicken tender in the air, and pretend it was all good?