Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It was a relationship that was destined to succeed for glory. It was a relationship that was determined to fail. It was supposed to be about much more than gold. And yet that was all that mattered in the end.

Ruby Soho wasn’t blind, or stupid. She had seen the changes in Toni since she lost the title for the second time. And part of her…part of her blamed herself for not doing enough to help her beat Shida. Because it was clear, Toni had been absolutely miserable since she lost. Going from someone so confident, bright, someone Ruby could joke around with and actually enjoy being around in the Outcasts…to someone who was much more likely to launch a shoe in someone’s direction than crack a smile. But she never thought it would come to this. Really, Ruby thought that just one of them, one of Toni or Saraya holding the belt would be enough. As long as it wasn’t Britt or Shida, especially Shida, it would be enough to finally have it back with them. She and Saraya had been as happy for Toni as if they won the title themselves when she won. Not that Ruby would know what that was like. But still, they had been, so why couldn’t it be enough for Toni?

Ruby guessed she knew why, after all, if you put together a group based on selfishness, about believing you’re better than everyone else, it would inevitably come back around to believing you were better than each other. But still…Toni punched Saraya’s mother, her own tag partner and she hit her mother. And then she tried to break Saraya’s neck again, deliberately. They were supposed to be friends…they were all supposed to be friends! And when Ruby tried to remind her of that…she attacked her too! Even at her worst moments, which she had had, Ruby never could have imagined trying to hurt Liv or Sarah like that, attacking their family in front of them. She couldn’t imagine trying to do that to Mox or Eddie either. But Toni had crossed that line…because she couldn’t stand not being champion. And sure she had sent an apology text later…to her, not to the Outcasts Group Text, but in the moment, Toni had been willing to kill…to do anything to them or anyone…just to have a chance of being champion again.

In Ruby’s planning, she had thought that they, all three of them, would be out celebrating having the title back, whether it be with Toni or Saraya. And then they’d drink, and maybe both of them would show her around, having spent a lot more time in the UK than her, and they’d talk, and plan for her to beat Statlander the next weekend, and they’d be happy. Instead, Saraya was out celebrating with her real family, and didn’t that sting, and Ruby was left to try and find and talk some sense into a Toni who had clearly been losing her mind for weeks now.

“Toni, hey Toni?” Ruby calls, trying to sound gentle as she knocks on the locker room door, before stepping inside to the dark room. She trusted her ability enough that even if Toni was setting an ambush, she could defend herself. But Toni wouldn’t do that, not when she had had time to cool down. She’d apologized, it’d all be okay. She couldn’t lose this group, not after isolating everyone else. “What happened out there, man? You went a bit crazy…” Ruby says with a bit of a giggle, keeping her voice level somehow, before she hears a bitter laugh from somewhere, making her jump a bit.

“God…it’s just so unfair, isn’t it?” Ruby wasn’t sure whether Toni even heard her words or just knew she was there, that was the level of acknowledgment to her words.

“What is Toni?” Ruby asks back, trying not to have her voice shake. Toni was clearly a bit crazy…but she wasn’t scared of her. She wasn’t scared of her best friend.

“The fact that Saraya can waltz on in here, coast on her legend status, and get all the glory just because it’s her home country.” Toni says, chuckling again as she finally steps forward as to where Ruby could see her.

“You were one of the ones talking up her as a living legend,” Ruby just says back, making Toni laugh again. It was unsettling, hearing her laugh now, unlike how sweet it was a month earlier. God…Ruby wished she could go back to a month ago, take a hold of her friend, and literally drag her away from Hikaru Shida.

“Yeah, well, she pulled the wool over my eyes,” Toni admits, sounding grudging about it. “But it’s so obvious, isn’t it? She wouldn’t even be in this match if it wasn’t for us. She would’ve lost to pathetic lil’ Skye Blue if it wasn’t for us, Skye Blue, Ruby! She couldn’t beat Skye Blue if not for us!”

Ruby remembered needing to help Toni beat Skye Blue to retain the title. She was not going to say that though, she had more than enough sense for that.

“Saraya sold us on being better because of where we came from because she couldn’t cut it here, Ruby! She knew it was the only way she’d ever be anything again! And she used us! What makes her more deserving than me to hold that title?” Toni continues to rant.

“Well…she did pin you tonight…” Ruby says, only to be cut off by a dark glare by Toni, making her step back with her hands raised.

“And if you hadn’t stopped me, that wouldn’t have happened.” Toni steps forward and gets closer to Ruby, who tries to hold her ground despite the glint in her eyes being much less than friendly. “If you hadn’t stopped me, I would’ve knocked her out and I would be the historic first three time champion right now as I rightfully should be.”

“If I hadn’t stopped you, you would’ve ended her career Toni!” Ruby snaps back, now getting in Toni’s face. “I know you haven’t been okay the past few weeks, and really, maybe I could’ve done more to make sure you were handling this better, but Toni…you tried to end her career tonight. You hit her mom in the face, and then when she got mad, you tried to break her neck! You didn’t just do it incidentally with a regular move, you intentionally set something up to do that! And Toni…we were supposed to be friends. We were supposed to be the Outcasts, us against the world, did that even matter to you?” Ruby felt herself tearing up a little bit, still glaring at Toni who had the decency to look at least a little bit ashamed. But only a little.

“Oh Ruby…don’t you get it? I was trying to solve our problem.” Toni then starts laughing while Ruby wipes her eyes and glares at Toni. “Saraya doesn’t deserve this. I deserve to be champion. She didn’t even deserve to be in this fatal fourway! What made her more deserving than you, Ruby?” Toni’s face twisted into something much more conniving. “Why are you so okay with her getting the opportunity tonight and not you?”

“She’s a Living Legend…she earned the chance to be here tonight in front of her family…” Ruby answers, but she knew it was weak justification. She knew it was the right answer though, Saraya did deserve this after everything she had been through.

“Do you know who else is a Living Legend who steals opportunities and titles from those more deserving?” Toni asks, a twisted grin crossing her face. “Chris. Jericho. Tell me Ruby, what would Eddie say knowing that his Ruby is fine being a lapdog to the female version of that? Huh?” Ruby was spluttering, and mad, but Toni wasn’t done. “Tell me Ruby, what would precious lil’ Livvy say knowing that the big, brave leader won’t even jump without asking Saraya ‘How High’ first?” Toni was laughing then, and Ruby had heard enough, smacking Toni across the face. She finally stopped laughing, instead shooting Ruby an absolutely malicious glare.

“Shut up about them! Do you forget that Saraya was more than happy to let you win the title from Jamie when she was hurt? Or what about the fact that I have a title match next weekend? Huh! Maybe stop making shit up to suit your narrative and face the facts, Toni!”

“Oh really? And what are the facts Ruby? What are the facts?” Toni sounded mad, but Ruby was too, and like, there was no saving this anyway. No matter how badly she wished there was.

“You are great, you’re one of the best women in the division. But you lost to Shida, and tonight, you lost to Saraya, and you can’t handle it, and you’re blaming everyone else!” Ruby snaps, seeing each word land a blow to Toni. Which almost made her want to stop. “So you can keep doing that…keep pulling from 40s actresses and shit, or you can actually acknowledge your mistakes, and stop blaming everyone else. When you do…we’ll still be here.” Ruby tries to soften the blow, she still did care about Toni and the Outcasts, before turning to leave. However, turning her back on her was a mistake, as the vengeful blonde quickly grabbed her by the arm and sunk her nails in, making Ruby wince as she gets spun around.

“Oh…leaving so soon Ruby?” Toni asks, tilting her head and grinning, acting like their conversation never happened. Maybe because it didn’t go her way, it never did. If only matches could be like that too. “But we didn’t even get to have fun together yet?” She pouts.

Fun with Toni had taken many forms. When Toni first arrived in AEW, it involved working out, working together to plan against Britt and Jamie, and just bonding over a similar background. When Ruby first joined the Outcasts, it involved bullying the rest of locker room and painting either members of it or their belongings. When Toni had won the title, it had evolved to Ruby finding ways to sneak away from Saraya with her and make out in the champion’s locker room. And when she lost it, it had turned to Ruby needing to assure Toni that she still wanted to make out with her. Now though…now that she had snapped, she was loathe to imagine what she would have in mind that would be fun.

“I think we’ve got different definitions of fun there, Toni,” Ruby says, trying to sound casual about it despite the fact that, for the first time since confronting her, she actually felt scared.

“Really? I seem to remember us having the same definition.” Then, before Ruby could react, Toni was kissing her again. Too shocked to react initially, Ruby finally shoves her away after a few seconds. She didn’t want to make out right now! “Aww, is someone shy? Don’t worry Ruby darling, I forgive you for your outburst.”

“What is wrong with you?” Ruby shouts, to what looked like amusement on Toni’s face. “If you think you kissing me is going to convince me that you’re right in all of this…” Ruby stops when she hears Toni just cracking up, like it was funny.

“Oh, I could care less if this convinces you of if I’m right or not. I know I am.” She says it so simply and confidently, Ruby wishes it was something much more agreeable. “Because I know that you aren’t strong enough to break away from me, Ruby darling. You talk strong now…but who do you have left? Me and Saraya, and I know you always preferred me to Saraya.” Ruby felt a pit in her stomach, the one thing she hadn’t mentioned yet was that Toni’s charisma was almost magnetic to her, she knew how to draw her in, even saying something like this. “So Ruby, darling, stop resisting already. And then we can go back to having fun. Plotting how to make you TBS Champion and me World Champion, and then making out wearing only the belts, isn’t that so grand?” Ruby tries to tear her gaze away from Toni, but she just can’t. Not as she steps closer and keeps dropping terms of endearment that felt the furthest thing from endearing.

“C’mon Ruby, face it, it’s still the Outcasts vs the world…but we’re the Outcasts. Just us. We don’t need some fake legend to support us, we’re better than her.” Toni continues, wrapping an arm around Ruby’s shoulders, who can’t find it within herself to shrug it off, even as Toni talks down about her other best friend, someone she did not want to turn her back on. “So let’s just have fun, okay darling? Let’s have fun…and then break that stupid cow’s neck.” Toni then leans in and kisses her, and Ruby just had to say:

She’d never had less fun kissing Toni Storm.

Chapter Text

It was a relationship that was destined to crash and burn horribly. It was a relationship that was determined to survive and thrive. It was supposed to only be about gold. It had become about so much more in the end.

MJF wasn’t an idiot. He knew what people saw him as, he knew what Adam Cole saw him as. When they first got paired together a couple months ago, he knew it would be a race to see who would turn on the other. So he decided to pretend to go all in, with shirts, team names and finishers, bonding sessions, nicknames, birthday parties, you name it! He imagined someone with a soul wouldn’t be able to easily betray the other if they had emotional investment, and those were the things that would get someone emotionally invested! Not him, he was too smart, but to someone who would keep a loser like Roderick Strong around or open themself up to the inevitable heartbreak of an actual, romantic relationship, it was sure to work!

And then…MJF accidentally made the biggest mistake of his life. He made a friend named Adam Cole. Now don’t get MJF wrong, he still wasn’t an idiot. He knew what this was all about, it was all it was ever about. It was about the Triple B, his championship, his life’s work. That’s all anyone cared about. But still, he couldn’t help it, Adam seemed…nice, in ways that Max wasn’t. And he seemed to care about him too, somehow. Despite knowing what Max was, he actually showed caring about him. He took the scorn from his best friend, and his girlfriend, yes Max watched the show, despite what he said, and still tried to be friendly towards him. It could be a ploy, it probably all was a ploy…but MJF was smart you see, part of being better than you, so he came up with a plan.

Plebs maybe didn’t know the difference between one championship and another. While the Triple B was the only one Max could ever truly want with his life, MJF knew that others didn’t mind. So if he and Adam could win the tag titles together…gold could sate him. MJF could keep his title and Max wouldn’t have to lose someone who seemed to care about him. So they won the tournament, because MJF didn’t make a career out of losing matches he was forced to wrestle in, and set up a match against FTR Brainless and FTR Baldy for the tag belts. Something to save this relationship for Max for as long as possible.

But then he did the worst possible thing. See, MJF knew that if he let Cole take the Shatter Machine, he could have rolled up Baldy himself. But no…he couldn’t sit back and watch that. Not when Adam gave him a theme mashup and jackets and tried to help him…things nobody had ever done. So Max saved him, and then doomed him. No titles, besides his Triple B, no reason for Cole to stick around. So MJF knew he needed to work quickly. He took the title and waited for him to turn around…better to strike now and save himself from the pain. But…he couldn’t. Max couldn’t, not when Cole was willing to take it for him. For. Him.

And then…his faith was repaid. Sure that basic white guy Roddy low blowed him, and sure Adam’s attacks came a little close to possibly breaking his neck. But, in the final…he didn’t use the belt. He chose Max over his older friend. And MJF retained. And sure, he briefly thought it was over, but Adam tossed aside the ROH tag title they won together. The thing that MJF was sure would save their relationship no matter the outcome of the main event. The only reason he had agreed to wrestle twice in one night. But then, when given the chance to strike him and get another shot at the Triple B out of it…he didn’t. Adam didn’t turn on him, and Max didn’t get his heartbroken.

So now, while Max was alone backstage, he wasn’t actually alone. Instead, he was staring at his titles, one in each hand, while Adam was with Britt, comforting each other, Adam had said. And if that was just an excuse to go bang…respect. MJF had to respect it, even if Max did wanna go see what Adam had in mind for them to do in London. But for now, he was just looking at his titles, wondering.

The Triple B was the most important thing to him. It was his life’s work. Max had spent his whole life trying to get this recognition, this acknowledgment that he was the best, and MJF would die before he lost it to anyone. Even Adam. It was what mattered. But the ROH Tag Title…full disclosure, up until a few weeks ago, MJF viewed tag titles in general as nothing more than consolation prizes for the guys who couldn’t win on their own. But then, Max had seen the light. Just like with video games…maybe it mattered who you teamed with. Maybe it made this inferior title belt so important, because he won it with Adam. Because Max won it with Adam, on the night when if he had betrayed him, he would’ve taken the Triple B from him and taken his heart and soul in the process. Maybe that made this inferior title that wasn’t even part of the main AEW brand…just as important as the Triple B? Was that even possible? MJF didn’t think so, but Max was realizing it may very well be so.

Has it always been that way? The person who holds it makes the title. Sure, MJF knew that he made the Triple B what it was by holding it, but that was because he was a generational talent, a one in a million type guy. Did it work that way for other belts? Max was beginning to realize that.

“Maybe I should try putting this one around my waist…” Max mutters to himself, actually setting the Triple B down to actually put on the ROH Belt. And…it felt odd to have some other title on, kinda like he was cheating on the Triple B. But…it wasn’t all bad. It felt kinda sweet to wear something else Cole had gotten for him. “Gotta love friendship.” He says, patting the plate a few times. And now, while MJF was tempted to take it off and restore the natural order…Max wanted Adam to see him wearing one half of their titles. Their titles. Titles they won with nothing but effort, and guts, and friendship. Three things MJF would have scoffed as pathetic mere months ago, but three things Max was learning to appreciate.

“Hey! Max!” MJF jumps, instinctively grabbing the Triple B and turning to glare at whoever dared talk to him, before calming down quickly. It was just Cole. “Sorry for the delay man, I needed to get my head on straight after what happened out there, tensions ran a bit high.”

“I get it dude; don’t worry,” Max says back, and if anyone happened to pass by and see him, they’d swear he had an identical twin. MJF didn’t smile like he was at that moment. Soft, reassuring, genuine. “Besides, you and Baker each had hard losses, you may have lost one of your best friends, you wanna be with someone you love when that happens.”

“Yeah, that’s exactly right. Is that some empathy I’m seein’ outta you, man?” Adam asks, grinning teasing and so proudly at him, it makes Max’s heart flutter a bit. “I’m proud of you, you probably woulda said something about how I needed to bang more chicks or something to get outta my funk.”

“Hey man, you can’t stay stuff like that, it’s not cool,” Max fired back, laughing a little bit and noticing that Adam did too, which just makes him happier.

“My bad, my bad,” Adam says, holding his hands up innocently before both of them start laughing. This was…the best relationship Max had ever had and it wasn’t even close. The Pinochle and Wardlow were just business and MJF using them to help him try and get closer to the Triple B, PG Punk was a case of misguided hero worship, and the Inner Circle, the closest he had ever come to actual family…well, Max hadn’t let himself treat it like such. It had only ever been a plot to get himself ahead. Maybe if he’d been more open back then…but then maybe he never would’ve met Adam like this.

If a butterfly can flap it’s wings and change destiny, then MJF wouldn’t do anything else differently. Not if it could change him, standing here, laughing with his best friend after they just main evented in front of the biggest crowd in wrestling history. Max would take a beating with quarters, a loss to PG Punk, suffering through teachers who couldn’t handle his ADHD all over again if it meant it could be him and Adam, here together, champions, main eventers…and still fine.

“Hey, c’mon brochacho, let’s go out and celebrate. Put on your title belt and let’s go party, London Style!” MJF shouts, slinging the Triple B over his shoulder and frowning a bit. “You can even invite Baker if you want.” Max would hate it…but Cole could. Anything to make him happier after how close he had come earlier to breaking his heart.

“Nah dude, this is bro time. C’mon, I have just the thing in mind for us.” Adam says, making Max smile even wider.

“If it’s just video games, I’m going to kill you.” He says, completely joking and Adam knew it too, laughing right along with him.

“Don’t worry, we’re in a foreign country, we’re going to find something new to do here. Maybe go sightseeing or something. Let’s have some fun.”

Honestly, Max didn’t care what they did. Because, as long as it was with Adam, it would be tons of fun! And then, well, Max knew he shouldn’t think this. But MJF shouldn’t have made a friend, shouldn’t have done a dive through the ropes, shouldn’t have let someone close enough as to where he wouldn’t do whatever it takes to retain the Triple B, shouldn’t have wrestled almost every week for a month or twice in one night on the biggest show ever, shouldn’t have worn another title belt when the Triple B was right there, shouldn’t have done so many things. So yeah, MJF was well experienced by this point of listening to the heart he didn’t think he truly had, which meant when he thought this, it felt natural:

’It would be more fun to kiss Adam Cole.