Work Text:
"Don't say it."
Fallon turns her head towards Lainey, who is hunched over on the bench, clutching her neck. She crosses her legs and adjusts the Speed Championship on her shoulder before responding.
"What?"
Lainey gives her a sideways look, teeth bared.
"You know what."
Fallon rolls her eyes. Lainey always gets like this when she loses. It's a little embarrassing, to be honest. Fallon hates losing as much as the next woman, but at least she maintains her dignity, whereas Lainey regresses from a grown-ass woman to a sullen teenager.
"Sol beat you," Fallon says, shrugging. "So what?"
Lainey scoffs and finally turns to look at her.
"You think Jacy's going to see it that way?"
Fallon opens her mouth to reply but hesitates. Lainey has a point. Jacy's speaking to (or, more likely, yelling at) Stone right now, but she'll be sure to give Lainey a piece of her mind before the night is over.
"I know what you two think of me."
Fallon sighs. "And what's that, sweetie?"
"That!" Lainey snaps, standing up suddenly and jabbing an angry finger at her.
"You both treat me like...like I'm just some stupid kid!"
Fallon chuckles. "Then maybe you should stop acting like one, Lainey. You can't throw a tantrum every time you lose a match."
"I don't- !"
Lainey actually stomps her foot, blushing furiously when she realises she's just proved Fallon's point.
"I don't," Lainey insists, more calmly this time. She folds her arms and makes the kind of exasperated sound Fallon would expect to hear from her niece.
"It's easy for you. Jacy never gives you crap if you lose a match."
Now it's Fallon's turn to scoff. "Correction - she never gives me crap in front of you. It's different."
"How? I'm a part of Fatal Influence too!"
Fallon hates whining, but she is unusually tolerable of Lainey's. She smiles.
"Of course you are, sweetie- "
"Stop calling me that!"
"-and maybe one day you'll be old enough to sit with the grownups."
Lainey scowls at her and Fallon cannot help but grin. It's kind of endearing the way Lainey is so easily riled. She steps forward and puts a hand on Lainey's arm.
"Look, I know you think you're the third wheel in all of this- "
"Hey!"
"Don't interrupt me, sweetie. The thing is, Jacy and I have history. For what it's worth, Jacy likes you a lot more than she did Jazmyn. Although the bar is pretty low."
Lainey's expression softens, arms coming uncrossed.
"She does? Then why does she always treat me like a lame horse?"
Fallon shrugs. "That's Jacy. You either learn how to take it or you end up alone like that loser, Sol Ruca. Jacy made me a better competitor, not that I'd ever admit that to her. Give it time and she'll do the same for you. Want my advice? Give it back to her. Jacy's always had more bark than bite."
Lainey looks unsure. "I dunno. I- "
The door to the locker room flies open as Jacy storms inside and flings her NXT Championship across the room.
"Y'know, I thought Ava was the worst general manager in the history of this company, but that asshole Stone is a close second! I can't believe he's making me put my title on the line before Stand & Deliver. Those idiots out there pay to see me! I'm a prizefighter! I shouldn't be defending my title on a random episode of NXT! I should go straight to Shawn. Does he not see how badly it will effect ticket sales if Sol or Zaria walk in to the PLE as champion?!"
Fallon gives Lainey a look as if to say watch and learn.
"But that's not gonna happen, Jacy," Fallon says. "We'll have your back next week. Right, Lainey?"
She looks at Lainey, who looks startled. "Oh, uh, right."
Unfortunately, this draws Jacy's attention to the third member of Fatal Influence.
"And you," Jacy hisses, pointing and stalking towards Lainey. "What the Hell was that, huh? Did you want to give Sol an advantage heading into next week? Or are just not capable of getting the job done?"
Lainey swallows and looks at Fallon. Jacy snaps her fingers inches from Lainey's face.
"Hey! I'm talking to you!"
Fallon, suddenly overcome by a strange, protective instinct, steps forward.
"Go easy, Jacy."
Jacy looks at her, brows furrowed.
"Go easy? Since when do you fight Lainey's battles for her, Fal?"
Lainey stands up suddenly, fists clenched.
"She ain't fighting my battles! And y-you can't talk to me like that!"
Fallon's eyes widen and she feels something approaching pride towards Lainey, though more so concern given the look on Jacy's face. The NXT Champion laughs.
"Well, look who finally grew a spine! I'm so happy for you, Lainey. Maybe you can take it with you to the ring and actually start winning some matches."
Fallon takes Jacy's wrist. "Give it a rest, Jacy. She tried her best."
Jacy snatches her hand back and rounds on her.
"Oh, well that's just great that she 'tried her best', Fallon! Why the Hell do you even care?!"
Fallon feigns indifference. "Who says I do? But you're being a bitch."
Jacy gets right in her face then, their chests bumping.
"Oh yeah? What are you gonna do about it? You wanna take my spot, Fallon? Well I'd like to see you freakin' try!"
"Stop it!" Lainey yells.
"Stay out of this," Fallon growls.
"Oh, I get it," Jacy sneers, gesturing between the two of them. "This is like some kind of coup, right? You two are gonna take me down?"
"You sure do make it tempting." Fallon raises her fist, but just then Lainey snaps.
"STOP IT, MOM!"
Fallon and Jacy both freeze. Then, in perfect synchronicity, turn their heads to look at Lainey, who has both hands clamped over her mouth. Lainey's face has turned a shade of red darker than her hair, and her eyes are wide with embarrassment. Jacy, as usual, is the first to speak.
"Did...did you just call Fallon mom?"
"No!" Lainey lies, too late. Her eyes dart to Fallon, but she can only hold it for a second before averting her gaze as the blush deepens. Fallon doesn't know what to say.
Jacy grins wickedly and takes a step towards Lainey, who tries to retreat until her back hits the locker.
"Uh, yeah, you did," Jacy says, and Fallon can hear the glee in her voice. She doesn't know how she should feel herself. Embarrassed? Angry? Flattered?
"I-It was a mistake!" Lainey tries, but Jacy Jayne has never not pounced on weakness. She corners Lainey.
"Sure it was. You don't have to feel embarrassed, Lainey. Fallon is pretty old."
"Screw you, Jacy," Fallon says, speaking for the first time since...that happened. Jacy laughs.
"Well, isn't this just...adorable!"
Lainey and Fallon adopt matching looks of confusion.
"What?" they say in unison, and Jacy throws her arms around their shoulders, bringing them in close.
"Lainey called you mom, Fal! Mom! C'mon, don't act like it isn't cute. That means she looks up to you, right? Goes to you for advice? Uses your shoulder to cry on?"
"Shut up," Fallon says, freeing herself. Her face feels hot because Jacy is right. Lainey does come to Fallon for advice, though she'd always chalked that up to the former being scared of Jacy.
And Lainey's never cried on Fallon's shoulder, though there was that one time Fallon patted her on the back after Jacy yelled at her. Lainey had blamed dust in the air as the cause of her tears.
"You've got it all wrong, Jace," Lainey says, still unable to meet Fallon's eye. Jacy smirks, looking at both of them.
"You keep telling yourself that. Hey, if I started being nice to you, d'you think you'd call me, mom?"
"You wish," Fallon says before she can stop herself. She should know better than to challenge Jacy, who reacts accordingly.
"Wanna bet? Give me a month, no, a week, and I'll be making making Lainey's lunch for her everyday."
Fallon rolls her eyes. "That would require you to help someone other than yourself."
"Don't talk to me like that in front of my daughter."
"She's not- God, you're such an asshole."
"Stop it." Lainey says, but this only eggs Jacy on.
"Now look what you did. You're a terrible influence."
"I'm a bad influence? That's rich. You're just jealous that she called me mom-"
"STOP FIGHTING!"
Lainey's stomps her foot again. When Fallon looks at her, the younger woman's lip is trembling.
"If I call the both of you mom, will ya'll just shut up?"
Fallon and Jacy look at each, then back at Lainey, before bursting out with laughter. Lainey scowls at them both.
"Wait, wait, wait," Jacy says, wiping away a tear. "Lemme get this straight - we're both gonna be your moms now?"
"Sounds like a Hell of an idea to me." Fallon says. Lainey groans.
"To Hell with both of ya'll."
Jacy makes an exaggerated sound of indignation.
"Lainey Reid, don't you dare speak to your mother like that."
"Yeah, or you'll be straight to bed with no supper." Fallon adds, eagerly joining in.
Lainey looks from Jacy to Fallon, incredulous.
"The Hell is this crap?!"
"Language, young lady!" Jacy says, wagging a finger.
"I should take you over my knee for that." Fallon warns. Lainey pushes past them and makes to storm out.
"Screw this."
"Stop right there, Lainey Reid."
Jacy's tone is so stern that it actually makes Lainey stop dead in her tracks. She stares at Jacy, who can only keep the act up for a few seconds before breaking into giggles alongside Fallon. Lainey's face is so red that she looks as though she's taken a chop to the face. She mutters angrily under her breath as she storms out, Jacy and Fallon watching her go. Jacy looks at Fallon.
"D'you think she's gonna shut herself in her room?"
"Then refuse to come down for supper?"
"QUIT TALKING ABOUT ME!" Lainey yelled from the corridor.
Jacy sighs and slips an arm round Fallon's shoulder.
"They grow up so fast."
Fallon shakes her head.
"Kids these days.