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[NOW PLAYING - Lostprophets - Last Summer] [SCENE TWO - Homecoming]
DATE/TIME: 4:00 PM, Sunday, October 12, 2008 [CAST]
"It's about bloody time your arse showed back up around here, SJ!" That was the deep, crackling, heavily-Australian-accented voice of one Douglas Henry Phidippidies McNamara III, more formally known as Dougy McNamara, Steve Jason's best friend and the man who'd stuck faithfully by Steve's side for the past twenty-seven years. He was a lean man of average height, with a mop of curly golden blond hair surmounted by a red trucker cap. His face was distinctly mischievous, and his green eyes seemed to match that. As per usual Dougy McNamara style, he'd decked himself out in a bright yellow Hawaiian shirt and matching shorts, sitting on one of the balcony's deckchairs with a bottle of Heineken in his hand. 'The balcony' was in fact the balcony of Steve Jason's Los Angeles residence on the beach, commonly known to all as 'Casa del Marine'. While it wasn't an extravagant mansion like so many other wrestlers treated themselves to, it was a rather impressive two story house set right out on the sand of the beach, only a matter of yards from the crashing blue Pacific with its foamy white waves. Most of the house was painted a brilliant white, including the walls from which the balcony protruded. The balcony itself was a long, broad, tiled half-circle that jutted out over the sands below. Steve's infamous barbecue grill sat to one side, while a long table took up the majority of the balcony. On the very edge of the balcony were two deckchairs- one of which Dougy as occupying. Steve had just emerged out onto the balcony, decked out in a simple white t-shirt and blue boardshorts. He hadn't come back alone, however. Sergei had come back with him, the Russian wearing a black long-sleeved shirt and black business pants as he stood behind Steve on the balcony. "Dougy. It's been a while." Sergei replied. But there was one other person with them too. Steve... hadn't honestly expected Karie to come with them. After all, they were only dating, it wasn't anything all that serious at the moment, and she had a life and job in Denmark. But still, she'd asked if she could come along- claimed to want to see America, thought she was long overdue a vacation- and who was Steve to deny that? He did like the girl after all. She wore a rose-colored top and blue jeans, and unlike Sergei's familiarity, she seemed decidedly uncertain of the place and the person she'd just met. But Steve wasn't. If anything, this was all too familiar. His home city, his house, his home federation were all within reach again. Finally, after months- no, years of aimless wandering, Steve Jason had finally found himself back... home. Home. It was strange. Steve Jason never thought he'd call Los Angeles 'home' again, not after he left the last time. In fact, he'd spent most of 2008 mooning on about how he didn't want to go back to California and how he'd do everything in his power to stay away. He was too high-profile here, too well-known. He couldn't take a walk down the street without somebody wanting something from him- or without some of his corporate contacts here wanting some kind of favor from him. And then there was the fact that this was Steve Sayors' stomping ground, meaning that Steve would get little if any peace in this town. But for some reason that had all become of no circumstance to Steve once he'd heard about Christian and AJ. When Phoenix Rising was announced, it was as if those great inconveniences, and the great pains Steve had gone to in order to avoid them, had just disappeared, wafted away into nothing. Those inconveniences were nothing, absolutely nothing, compared to the chance he had to honor Christian and AJ. When the tragedy occurred last time... he wasn't there. He was on a remote corner of the Earth and was unable to pay his respects and show his gratitude, and that had eaten away at him. Steve was an honorable man, and believed in paying respect to those who had fallen and those who had played a major part in his career. Christian was one of those, and AJ was both. This time, he would walk through a legion of Steve Sayors-es if it meant getting the chance to finally pay the respect that those two men deserved. "Sweet mother of Gandhi, SJ, you have outdone yourself this time!" Dougy grinned appreciatively, eyeing Karie up and down with absolutely no show of inhibition whatsoever, his green eyes lighting up, "I mean, your last couple of gee-effs were hot, but I would hit that like the fist of an angry God!" Steve just rolled his eyes at that. He was expecting some kind of comment along those lines coming his way, and Sergei punctuated it with a sly chuckle. Karie, on the other hand, was not ready to be identified like that by a complete stranger in front of such a crowd. She looked awkwardly at Steve, her expression very uncertain, almost like a deer in the headlights as a rosy blush worked her way onto her cheeks. Fortunately, Steve knew how to head this off. "Yeah, yeah, keep your little observations to yourself, Dougmeister. Don't embarrass the poor girl." "I don't think he could embarrass her any further..." Sergei remarked with a dry laugh. "Is he... always like that?" Karie asked, her expression still bewildered, although the flush was fading from her cheeks. "Pretty much." Steve answered with a casual shrug, "I've known him since we were toddlers, and I think he's been talking that way since we went to school. Disturbing, I know." "So what's the go, SJ?" Dougy asked as the three made their way towards the table not too far away from Dougy's deckchair, lowering themselves down into sitting positions as Dougy continued speaking, "You're back in LA, obviously- didn't expect to see you back here. I thought you hated California?" "I don't hate it, I hate certain aspects of it..." Steve disagreed, steepling his hands, "But to answer your question... I've come back for Christian and AJ." "Really?" Dougy blinked, raising an eyebrow slightly, "I mean, I'd heard the rumors, and I knew about the show, but I didn't expect to see you back to be honest. You were pretty finished with XWF last I heard." "Times change, and this is more important. AJ and Christian are more important than my wishes to avoid the spotlight. I just hope I'm capable of putting this thing back on- and I also hope I can do it and not get sucked back in again." "Eh, just go with the flow, SJ," Dougy shrugged casually, his easy-going tone making it sound so easy, "Just focus on having this little shindig for AJ and Christian first. Then see how you feel after it and decide then. I wouldn't be making any snap decisions right now, you might regret 'em either way- and you don't want that distracting you from the match. You've got some Kiwi arse to kick!" That had to be headed off right now. Steve knew Dougy, and he knew his fanatical pride in his home country. Every time Steve faced somebody from England or New Zealand, it was always the same- Dougy would try to rile him into making it an international dispute. While sometimes that happened- and hell, Steve and Lee Stone were known for ridiculing each other based on that very fact- this was not the time. He turned his gaze to his best friend, his facial features turning deadly serious. "Not this time, Dougy." he asserted, levelling his friend with a solid stare, "Any other time, it probably would turn into a trans-Tasman rivalry, but this is one match where that petty crap will not fly. This is not about me, this is not about Lee and this is not about our egos. So you need to give up on that notion right now." Rarely did Steve have to give Dougy ultimatums, but this time the situation required it, and it showed on his friend's face as he suddenly turned serious and nodded once. "Understood, SJ. I'll rein it in. Sorry, mate, I didn't realise how sentimental this one would get for you." "Good. Anyhow, I'm gonna be down in the shrine for a while. Make yourselves at home." With that said, Steve rose up to his feet, then turned away from his friends and made his way back into the house, quickly making his way for the stairs. [FLASH FORWARD - 5 minutes later] 'The shrine' was in fact a reconverted version of a small side-room in Steve's basement. Steve wasn't exactly Shinto or Buddhist, but there was no doubt among anybody that knew him that he had borrowed extensively from the philosophies and rituals of both Eastern religions- and one major part of that was meditation. His 'shrine' was the one room that he set apart to do that in- a quiet, peaceful place where he could focus his mind and relax himself free of all distractions of the real world. It was a simple square room no more than twenty feet long each way, and unlike all the other rooms in the house, this one was lit by a deep blue globe, filling the area with an almost mystique blue glow. While the ceiling was bare and unremarkable, the walls of the room were lavishly decorated, with murals of dragons, samurai, the curling waves of the ocean, and even artists' representations of some of Steve's closest friends from his youth on the walls. The floor was polished wood, although there were a large number of soft cushions scattered throughout. The faint scent of perfumed air hung around Steve's nose as he entered the room and made his way slowly to a cushion in the center of the room, lowering himself down slowly onto it and crossing his legs, setting his hands on his lap. After a few moments, his breathing began to become deep and shallow, and he felt himself beginning to disappear into himself as he began to meditate. There was a lot on his mind. Being back in America, the constant question of where he would be going next, concerns about his future and where he was headed next. And inevitably, his thoughts tracked back to the here and now- the match with Lee Stone. It would be... unusual meeting Lee under these circumstances. Usually the two men were in a strange kind of rivalry- not quite enemies, and there wasn't really any kind of hatred between them- indeed, there was a strange sense of respect between them- but there was no question that the two got on each other's nerves like no tomorrow. Each battle was an attempt to prove themselves better than the other, and more often than not their promos concealed a million tiny barbs and wise-alec comments specifically engineered to question, 'expose' and even straight-up annoy each other. This time it would be different. Neither man's ego mattered this time. That was not what this night was about. It wasn't for Steve, and in spite of the differences between the men, Steve knew that Lee Stone was a decent enough man to feel the same. They would fight with every last fiber of their being- and it could potentially be one of their fiercest clashes yet- but this time, egos, reputations, and the fact that both men annoyed each other incessantly was irrelevant. This time, the trans-Tasman rivals would be focusing their energy on one thing- the memories of AJ the Exterminator and Christian Phoenix. God, it had been a long time since Steve had seen Christian- and even longer since he saw AJ. It was almost as if they'd fallen off the edge of the Earth once they had been taken out of the game. That wasn't true of course, but to Steve they might as well have been. And that actually stung. Steve was very, very cautious about who he considered his friends in the XWF- he had a great number of acquaintances and a fair few people he respected, but there were very, very few who he trusted enough to grant them his friendship- and even fewer proved themselves worthy of that trust. AJ the Exterminator had done both, and in doing so had cemented his place as one of the dearest people in Steve's life. And the feeling of seeing a friend like that out of the game... removed from the thing he loved the most... and knowing that he'd rarely if ever get to see him again just cut Steve up inside. Then something happened that very, very rarely happened in Steve Jason's life- and something that he reserved for only the most private moments where he could have been certain he was alone. He felt his eyes welling up with the unmistakable sensation of tears. He wasn't the kind to wail, nor was he the kind to allow himself to become a snivelling wreck, but nevertheless he sat there, cross-legged, with his eyes brimming in sympathy and loss for his fallen comrades. "Goddamn, I miss you guys..." he murmured in a quiet voice, closing his eyes. His jaw clenched, and tension began to build up in his shoulders as he silently grieved. Then suddenly the silence broke. "Steve, are you alright?" Even with Steve's eyes closed, he immediately detected the Scandinavian-accented voice behind him that identified Karie. Steve's eyes snapped open suddenly, dropping out of his relaxed meditative state and snapping his guard up quickly, his shoulders becoming firm and rock-hard as he turned to look over his shoulder. Sure enough, Karie was there, standing in the doorway of the sanctum. "I was just..." Steve began with a quiet choke, trying his best not to show the moment of sadness... the moment of vulnerability... that he'd allowed his usually stoic personality to show upon thinking about his fallen friends. Karie, however, saw right through him, almost gliding across the room gracefully before finding a cushion opposite him and sinking onto it, her luminous blue-green eyes softening as they met his. "It's alright. You don't have to defend yourself or justify yourself to me, Steve. You're a man and you have emotions. Your job means you can't show them most of the time, but it doesn't make you weak for having them. It's your friends, isn't it?" "Yeah..." Steve answered, wiping a sleeve over his eyes, "Jesus tapdancing Christ, look at me. I'm a mess. Why in the hell am I blubbering like a baby? Steve Jason never cries, Karie. He never does." "You aren't blubbering. You're just upset. And it's fair enough that you feel that way, you obviously care about these guys very much." she said gently, reaching out to take one of her palms in his. At that moment, Steve felt himself almost completely crumble physically, and his body gave out. Karie, seeing what was happening, shifted her legs forward and reached out for Steve, who sank into a lying down position, his head settling in her lap as one of her hands stroked through his hair tenderly. "It just sucks, Karie..." Steve grieved, his eyes staring up at the ceiling and her face, "It sucks. Why them? Why did this have to happen to them? They're the last people in the world who deserve to be taken out of the game." "The world's not fair," Karie replied, letting her fingers trace over his forehead, "I'll be honest, I don't completely understand your sadness here- I'm sorry for that. I guess as a stranger to your world, I can't understand it." "That's alright. It's not the sort of thing many people actually understand, and I don't expect you to. It's hard to describe, Karie..." Steve explained patiently, pausing to take a sigh before continuing, "Wrestlers look at the world a little differently- or at least the kind I am do. To fall and not be able to wrestle any more can be a cruel fate- it's being robbed of your livelihood and removing you from the thing you live for. I know that's one thing I fear the most in the world- getting injured and not being able to do this any more. And to see friends taken out like that... well, it's painful." "You really cared about them, didn't you?" Karie's voice was surprisingly gentle as her other hand reached out to lock her fingers with his own. "Yeah. I didn't know Christian Phoenix very well, but I followed him enough to feel the kinship I feel for many of my fellow warriors, and to see him out pains me. And AJ... well, AJ and I went through a lot together. We were opponents once- and he took me down to the wire, showed me his mettle and prowess and still remained the respectful class act where so many people became arrogant. He refereed a match I had once too- let me tell you, I usually never trust guest referees. Nine times out of ten, I wind up getting screwed over by them. It's like a curse." "And you still trusted him? Even in spite of that?" "Yeah. Because AJ was one of the very few people that I could honestly say that is worthy of that trust. I can count the amount of people involved with the XWF I could put my full faith in on one hand, and AJ was one of them." Steve felt a double-rush of emotion flooding through his head at that point- on one side was the pride of knowing that Exterminator had managed to become one of the few who he could trust, and on the other was the bitter sting of loss, "He called that match in my opponent's favor. But it was the right call, and you know something? I thank him for doing that. I thank him for respecting me enough to call it down the line. I just wish I could repay him for that. I can't, but I will do the next best thing on Saturday." "I can't honestly say I understand all of what you're saying..." Karie admitted, looking down at Steve and squeezing his hand, "But for what it's worth, I hope you do exactly what you set out to do. You were trying to run away from your past life and take time away- and even before you told me what you did, I could see you were trying to get away from something. And yet the moment you were told about this, you came back. That says to me that these two men mean the world to you." "They do, Karie." Steve admitted solemnly, once again feeling that odd mix of pride and sadness flush throughout his system, "They really do." "What are you going to do after the show?" Karie asked curiously, looking at Steve full in the eyes, "Are you going to stay in America?" "I don't know. I probably shouldn't. Not sure if I'm ready at the moment." he admitted, acknowledging the feelings currently rushing through his head. On one side, he was starting to feel 'at home' again, and Steve knew what tended to happen when he let that get into his system. If he got carried away enough here, if he let LA back into his system, if he soaked in too much of the atmosphere at Phoenix Rising, if he spent too much time with the XWF roster and reminisced too much on old times, it could get in his blood again... and he may not have left when the time had come to leave. He wasn't ready and he was almost certain staying would be a mistake, but already, even before the show, the memories of wonderful people like Christian and AJ reminded him of why he took pride in the XWF- and why try as he might, he just couldn't stay away. He'd gone to the ends of the Earth- literally- before, and he'd always come back home. Because of people like AJ and Christian. "Don't make the decision right away..." Karie suggested, "That's one thing your drunken friend was right about. If I were you, I'd just focus on doing what you came here to do. Let the other stuff wait. It seems like that's your main focus anyway." "It is." Steve nodded solemnly before slowly pushing himself back up to a sitting position, "Well, I guess I can't be sitting here all day. But thanks, Karie. I don't often open myself up to people much about this, and the fact you were there to listen says a lot to me. I needed to get that out in the open." "That's alright. You were hurt, you needed help. And you needed to get it out so you could move on to the next part of doing this for your friends. Besides, what are girlfriends for?" "Girlfriend?" Steve raised an eyebrow, an amused look on his face, "I kinda like the sound of that." "You'd better, because that's what I am, like it or not." With that said, Karie reached forward and pulled Steve close to her, the two going eye to eye for a few moments before his hand went to her cheek, his eyes closed, and both joined their lips in a deep kiss that seemed to last for several seconds. A warm rush shot through Steve's body, and while he was still upset and while his thoughts were still on AJ and Christian, they seemed to be clearer. There was no point moping about the past. He needed to do what he came here to do- pay tribute and honor in their name. With every last breath. Finally, Karie released him and the two sat there quietly for a moment before she spoke. "Did you want to stay here for a while? I'm OK with it if you do." "Nah, I need to get up." With that said, Steve rolled backwards before springing up to his feet- a move he used quite a few times in the professional wrestling world, offering a hand down to help Karie up, "Gotta hit the gym." "Why the gym?" "Because..." Steve paused briefly at that, letting a smirk cross its way onto his face before he finished... "...I'm sitting here wasting valuable time that I could be using for one of the most meaningful matches I'll ever fight in, that's why! 
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