Bullet Club Gold kidnapped the Reader as a bargaining chip to worm Jay White into a championship match with Ricky. He’s supposed to have back-up. Family and friends that the Reader called in for such an occasion. But things go terribly wrong.
Pairing: Ricky Starks x Moxley!Reader
Warnings/Promises: canon-level hostage situation and violence, ANGST, choking, unhappy ending, whump in general
Word Count: 1040
Note: Yes, writing the reader as Jon Moxley’s cousin is my favorite trope. There’s just so many opportunities for angsty family situations that way. I’m not about to change now. Also, Ricky is really pretty when he's in distress. And I was in an angsty mood earlier this week. Happy, or unhappy reading!
The thin padding of foam under the ring’s canvas did nothing to protect your knees. You grunted when Juice Robinson dropped you, pressing a heavy hand onto your shoulder. On either side of you, Jay White and the rest of the Bullet Club Gold chuckled at your distress. You wouldn’t flinch. Wouldn’t budge. They could make all the demands they wanted, but you wouldn't let them use you to achieve their goals.
Still, tears burned behind your eyes at the scene in front of you.
Ricky’s chest was heaving. The dark bags under his eyes made him look like he hadn’t slept in weeks, much less the six nights since you’d been kidnapped. The championship dangled worthlessly in his hand. Like he’d drop it in a second.
You couldn’t let him do that.
As for the figures standing with him, they didn’t reassure you as much as you’d hoped. Your cousin, Mox, looked ready to hurl himself across the ring to bludgeon his way through your kidnappers. But Claudio’s hand on his shoulder kept him nervously in place. Yuta stood on Ricky’s other side. Cold. Calculating. Watching the ramp and the audience behind them for any tricks. But the way they stood apart from Ricky… The back-up was there for you. If things went south, you would be the only one looking out for him.
“You ready to… negotiate, Starks?” Jay laid a hand on the top of your head. Before his fingers could dig into your hair, you pushed it away. Juice’s grip tightened on your shoulder. “Here she is. Undamaged. Mostly, give or take a bruise or two. As promised.” Jay angled his head as a challenge. “You gonna hold up yours?”
Ricky looked down at the championship in his hand. Then he looked at you. Exhausted.
You shook your head. Not like this.
You yelped as Jay jerked you to your feet, hugging you close. His tight grip around your rib cage didn’t waver as you struggled for more room to breathe. “You don’t have to hand it over. Just agree to the match. Just you and me. Everybody else stays backstage. Your pretty one here,” he dug his nose into the space under your ear, “she can be on commentary though. Where we both can see her.” He passed you back to Juice, who held a hand over your mouth to keep you from interfering.
Still, you shook your head. Glaring at Jay, then at Mox, you did your best to signal to everyone you could that, under no circumstances, was Ricky to agree to any of these terms. Which would change the second that Jay needed them to whether that was now, or during the match.
You bit down on Juice’s finger, making him shout. “If you wanted a match so badly, why didn’t you ask Tony for a contract signing?” With a grunt, you continued to struggle to get out of the arms around your waist. “I know why. It’s because you don’t deserve one. There are better wrestlers with better winning streaks than you right now, and you’re not at the front of the line. So you’re trying to cut. It won’t work. I won’t let it-“
As Juice’s arm wrapped around your throat, you squeaked. Angling his body back, your feet left the canvas. He muttered “now I gottcha.” His mocking laugh buzzed in your brain as your oxygen depleted, and your struggling lessened.
“Alright!” Ricky tossed down the championship. Jay’s eyes greedily watched it crumple in the space between them. “She’s right, you don’t deserve one. But you can have a match. Right now. I don’t care.”
“No-“ Your vision began to spot.
“Let her go. And call a ref. For every bruise you’ve given her, I’m gonna break two bones in your body.”
The horror had only just begun.
While Ricky threatened Jay with every pain known to man, Claudio inched into his space. Juice released you just enough for your vision to clear in time to see the following struggle. Ricky’s mic dropped to the canvas with a bouncing thump. He flailed. His eyes bulged, then shut against the panic as the grip around his throat tightened. His nails clawed into Claudio’s forearms and shoulders where he could reach. Yuta watched on, glancing between Ricky beginning to fade and you. Finally, when Ricky stopped moving, Claudio released him. You cried out as his body landed in a heap.
“Alright.” Mox stepped forward, over the championship, into Jay’s space. “You gonna uphold your end?”
Jay grinned. Slowly, he looked at Juice.
You shoved him away when released. “What? Jon, what is this? Ow!” You were unable to dislodge his grip on your arm as he dragged you out and under the ropes. “No. Stop.” You glanced at the ring. Claudio and Yuta had left, working their way around to meet up with Mox. Inside, the Bullet Club Gold circled around Ricky as he started to stir. “Wait. We can’t leave him!”
“You shouldn’t be here to see this. Now come on. I’ve got you.” He nodded for Claudio to grab your other arm.
“You promised! You promised you wouldn’t do this. I asked for your help, to have his back like you’ve had mine. You promised!” You managed to break loose from Mox’s grip at that. In a terrifying mirror of your earlier position, Claudio wrapped his arms around your waist and began to carry you out of the arena. “NO! Please. Ricky!”
In the ring, the Gunn brothers had Ricky on his knees with his arms outstretched. He glanced up, his head lolling side to side as his brain tried to figure out which direction your voice was coming from. Looking for you, he didn’t see the danger. He didn’t see Jay with the championship in hand. He crumpled again as the metal plate on the belt crashed against his forehead. They backed off as a referee entered the ring.
Your vision began to spot again. Screaming for Ricky, so close after Juice had toyed with choking you out… it was too much.
The last thing you saw was Ricky on his feet, knees wobbling, fists up but punch drunk. The bell rang. And your world went dark.
Chapter 21 Extended Cut: BTE Ride-Along with Mox and Y/N
Series Masterlist Here
Chapter 21: Speaking Without Talking
***
“Are we going to talk now?”
“A few more miles.”
You still weren’t ready.
“How’s Cincinnati?”
Your eyebrows shot up. Then you tilted your head. At least it was a start. “It’s fine. The Graeter’s in Fountain Square closed down.”
“What!”
“Most of Fountain Square is shut down. They opened a Frisch’s, though.”
He frowned and grumbled, “because Cincy needed another Frisch’s.”
The seat was uncomfortable. “Most of the good places in Cincinnati have disappeared since you moved to Vegas.” The tone of your voice didn’t have a drop of guilt-tripping in it, and he knew it. His car seat was uncomfortable too.
“Why’d you show up tonight?”
“I was told to take my issues to the source. And I have had an issue since you crashed my announcement night.” Shifting in your seat again, you licked your lips. “I can’t seem to get out from under your shadow. I had a total career through Ohio Valley, NXT, and then you showed up. It was good to see you, I’ll admit. But I had kind of been hoping we wouldn’t meet… until November.”
“Until November?” He grinned. “Wow. I think I would have crashed your show at some point, if I hadn’t already.” A hard breath caught your attention. “If I had known the whole thing was your idea… I would have waited. I- uh. I never did get say… I’m sorry for- for crashing your ‘announcement.’”
Why were your lips so dry? Why was this making you so nervous? “Do you have any suggestions how to- how to become my own woman again?”
“Keep being you. They’ll forget or the ah, the Universe will tell them to let it go. Eventually.” The leather on the steering wheel creaked under his grip. “You don’t have to be me. I was an accident. You- you’re a whirlwind.”
You shook your head. Under your skin, your blood was beginning to boil again. “Why do people compare us at all? So what. We share the same blood, and we were born in the same city. Big deal. We are two completely different people. I’m not you.”
“Damn right you’re not,” he said with a grin.
“I’ve got my own legacy to build.” It came out harder than you meant, making Mox’s forehead crease.
“Good for you. But don’t forget your roots.”
“My roots?!” You turned in your seat. “You were struggling through the end of your run on WWE, you abandoned Cincinnati about the time I was gaining momentum, and I wanted to ask you about wrestling options. AEW was about to jumpstart. You were about to jump ship. And I couldn’t find you. Your friends in Cincy, the ones who trained both of us, couldn’t contact you. I was a nobody. What could I do? Waltz up to WWE headquarters and demand a phone call with you? I was alone. What roots do I have? I’m the one who’s kept up with our trainers. I’ve kept up with the local guys who sneaked us treats for lunch. You ran away. Left us all behind. Now that I’m in my own league, I’ve tried to make my own name. I should hate you for destroying the base I made for myself.”
“But?”
Your cheeks were warm, right under the surface. It wasn’t time to cry yet. “But I want your help. And I hate it.”
He nodded. “That’s fair. I thought I’d never be able to escape the Shield. Every time we were in the same ring- the same building sometimes! Every time, commentary and the Universe would demand the links between us. Yes, I ran away. I needed it. What do you need? What do you need, Y/N, to move forward-”
“I want to be me!” Heaving, you gripped the handle on the door instead of digging your nails into your palms. “Every time I step into the arena I feel like I’m putting on a mask. I wear one all the time anyway, as protection. I am my own woman, my own wrestler and athlete. People know who I am as a competitor without needing to know my inner self. That is for me only. Titles are great; they show off your skill. But they’re not everything. I don’t want to lose my sense of self for anything or anyone. But now I’m having to hide everything.”
“That’s the business sometimes. You’ll handle it.”
“I don’t want to handle it. I want to just be seen as I am: the best wrestler in Cincinnati. Without having to fight against the legacy already there.”
Mox laughed. “You’re not the best in Cincinnati.”
“Yes, I am. You moved to Vegas, remember?” Just as quickly as tension had suffocated the car, it dissipated like one of you had rolled the windows down.
Blissful silence gave you both time to think. And then Mox poked a needle into your chest.
“You’re not going to erase me,” he said calmly.
Pinching the bridge of your nose, you sighed. “I’m not trying to erase you. And, as angry as I am, I am proud to- to- I’m proud of us. Okay? I’m proud of us. Coming up from nowhere. But, damn, if I don’t want to punch your face in for screwing up my plans,” you ended with a giggle.
“Snot-nosed kid.”
“Bloody bastard.”
Mox mock gasped. “Hey, that’s your Aunt you’re insulting.”
The car shook with how hard you two laughed. As the miles rolled by, the conversation morphed into family memories. You were reminded how much you missed your cousin, and having Mox as a cousin. Both of you were little menaces before he quit high school and really dug into wrestling. Terrorizing your moms. Terrorizing the whole neighborhood. All the times you wrestled each other out of trouble. The job you both ended up in was the only option, come to think about it.
“And then you really wailed on him,” you ended the story with a laugh. “We could do it, you know. We could fight.”
He glanced at you. “What, at Collision Course? I thought you were trying to avoid me.”
“Sure.” You shrugged. “What better way to cement my own legacy than beat you to a bloody pulp? You’re Jon Moxley. You can take it.” You winked.
With a grin, Mox tossed back, “if you think that’s what would happen. I think it would end completely different.”
“Of course you do.”
Taking a deep breath, you had to breach one more thing. “If I asked, no matter what happens in November, would- would you ever fight me again. Or… or fight by my side. As much as I’ve fought it up till tonight, I wouldn’t mind having-
“You’re not going to convince me to come back to WWE.”
You swallowed. Hard. And accepted. “I know.” You knew he’d never agree to something that big. But, “it’s just… the way you act and talk about… it’s like it was all bad.”
Mox didn’t look at you. Couldn’t or wouldn’t, you couldn’t determine.
“I know you always loved fighting. You had to fight your way out. Then- It would be… not nice, but... helpful to have a heads up about how much I’m going to have to fight from the inside. I’m not a big name yet, and I’m still sorta under the radar, give or take this whole ordeal. But I’ll probably have to fight eventually, right?”
Mox sighed and tried not to look too tired. Tried not to scare you with a look. It didn’t work. He pulled the car to the side of the road.
“I can’t help you with the McMahons.” Just saying their name made the steering wheel creak again. “But I will fight you at Collision Course. If that’s what you want. Is it?” Finally, he looked at you. His shoulders looked as tense as your spine felt.
“Yeah.”
He nodded. “Alrighty then. You tell your people; I’ll tell mine.” He drove back onto the highway. “And, for the record,” he looked into the cameras set up by the Bucks, “I think you’re handling the McMahons better than anyone else ever could. Me included. And I can’t wait to see what you do next, on Raw and after November.”
Now, you might cry. You swallowed it back. “Th- thank you.”
He drove to the airport, dropped off the car, and split ways from you at the gate. You headed to the next city for your job, and he headed towards his. On either side of the country.
The Reader, newly shifted from NXT to Raw, makes an immediate statement. What follows is unprecedented wrestling: two companies destined to meet in head-to-head competition. And to boot, she has a personal battle to face.
This is part 2 to Family Found, but you don’t have to read it to understand this series. It’s an AU of an AU because I’m a writer and I can do that. *evil laugh*
Prelude 1
Prelude 2
Prelude 3
Chapter 1: Chaotic Reunion
Chapter 2: Confrontation
Chapter 3: Final Investments
Chapter 4: Opportunities in the Sky (Money in the Bank)
Chapter 5: The First Battle Line
Chapter 6: History Collides
Chapter 7: Stepping Stones
Chapter 8: Fractured Challenges
Chapter 9: What Would You Do
Chapter 10: Extreme Chances (Extreme Rules)
Chapter 11: Plans Versus Goals
Chapter 12: Officially Threatened
Chapter 13: Handshakes
Chapter 14: Set in Sand
Chapter 15: Summer Glory (Summer Slam)
Chapter 16: Writing History
Chapter 17: Out of the Blue
Chapter 18: Avoidance
Chapter 19: World Shock
Chapter 20: Face to Face
Chapter 21: Speaking Without Talking
Chapter 22: Defiant
Chapter 23: Legacy of a Loss
Chapter 24: Boo (Hell in a Cell)
Chapter 25: Old Threats in New Ways
Chapter 26: Chess Pieces
Chapter 27: Ultimate Stare-down
Chapter 28: Surviving the Collision Part 1
Chapter 29: Surviving the Collision Part 2 (Coming Eventually)
