Far From Strangers

[Cordy]

$20,000 dollars was a considerable amount of money and a hell of a band-aid for Donnie Cross' battered ego. Sure, he hadn't won the Rookie X Cup: an honor taken home by FGA's reigning Mid-Atlantic champion, Izzy Anders; but he was damn proud of how far he'd made it into the tournament. Making it to the finals had been no easy task; It had more than taken its toll on him physically — but the experience and the exhilaration of it all would be something that he'd never forget. 

Plus, once again, it made for a hell of a band-aid. 

His run in the Rookie X Cup tournament had been just what Donnie had needed to to take his mind off of what had happened at 2nd Impact; Valcone getting the drop on him yet again with a low blow and earning the victory for he and Laura. The night had been a disaster and the worst part of it had been feeling as if he'd let Bree down. That was the last thing he'd wanted to do. God knows he'd done that enough as of late — even if he hadn't outright told her what had happened with Katie, Donnie could see it in her eyes whenever he looked at her, that Bree knew; and things had grown mightily awkward between them. 

The Rookie X Cup had served as a wonderful distraction; but now it was time to focus on home, and make things right there. 

In more ways than one. 

“I reckon we get to give it another go.” Donnie proclaimed, as he walked onto the scene. Stopping in front of the LDFC banner that hung in the background, he turned on his heels and faced towards the camera. "I mean, we sure ain't no strangers now, are we, Ms. Fontaine?" He continued, a soft smile lining his face at the mentioning of his familiar foe. He ran a hand through his hair, stopping at the back of his head. "No ma'am, we done found ourselves in that ring with one another on quite a few occasions." He said, recalling the tag matches at Pride S01E03 and New Generation. "And we've always had our partners handy — but this time? Well, it kinda looks like we've been left to dance on our own, and ya know something? That's quite alright with me." 

"Cause we're gonna give'm a show, and a damned good one at that; that's for sure. Ain't a doubt in my mind about it. Cause if there's one thing I done learned about ya over these past few months, its that ya always come to show out for the world to see. Well, best believe Lil Donnie Cross is gonna be out there shootin to do the same exact thing."

"Cause 2nd Impact?" He shook his head with disgust. "That show done went and left me with a bitter taste in my mouth. I hate it. I hate that things ended that way; I hated that MacRear got the best of me. I hate that I let down Bree, but also the few fans that we done picked up along the way. But you wanna know what I think will help get rid of that bitter taste that I was left with?" 

He raised his finger as if an idea struck him. 

"Victory, Ms. Fontaine. Cause ain't a thing sweeter." 

"Now I respect ya — I respect you and Ms. Serenity a whole hell of a lot; I don't even think that even needs ta be said at this juncture. I’ve trained with ya, I’ve been in that ring with ya, you gals are as legit as it gets. Like I said, we ain't no strangers by a longshot, I know fully well that you're comin' ready and you're comin prepared. I wouldn't expect anything less from ya. And truth be told, ya shouldn’t expect anything less from me either.”

“What I did at the Rookie X Cup? It caught a lot of people by surprise. Hell, it even caught me by surprise.” He admitted with a sheepish smile. “But it wasn’t no fluke. And at this next taping of Pride, I prove that when I step into the ring with you Ms. Fontaine. During that week, I proved that I could stand toe to toe with some of the best young talent in this business. And at Pride S03E01? I do it all ...again.” 

“It’s just you and I this time, girl. No Bree. No Serenity. And ya wanna know something?”

He folded his arms across his chest. 

“I don’t think there’ll be any difference in the outcome either.” 

He gave a final wink, before turning and walking away.