A Whole New World [Vendetta Aftermath/Lovey Joint]

[Raven MacDemare]

“You don’t want to go for a ride do you?” That was the voice of Lord Blake. “We could get out of the palace, see the world.”

“Is it safe?” That was Raven MacDemare, obviously. Who else could it possibly be?

“Sure. Do you trust me?”

“What?”

“Do you trust me?”

“.... yes.”



As soon as the song started to play, Lord and Raven started singing together, and it somehow sounded absolutely perfect. Lord and Raven, or Aladdin and Jasmine in this case, truly fit together in every single way.

Raven and Lord smiled as the song reached its conclusion and shared a sweet, adorable kiss. After a second, Raven stopped recording their impromptu karaoke sesh thanks to the Blu Ray they were watching. They somehow knew every single word to every single Disney movie, ever.

“I’ll upload this to our Insta account,” she said and settled back against the pillows.

For someone who was recovering from a violent injury, Raven certainly seemed to be in good spirits. She had ended up with a busted forehead from having been slammed into the side of the limousine. Staples were holding the wound together and she had ended up with a mild concussion as well. Lord had suffered similar injuries, but his outlook on the situation wasn’t as sunny as his girlfriend’s. Truth be told, the 20-year old Canadian had been experiencing a massive amount of guilt for failing to protect the single most important thing in his life.

“I hope this gets as many views as our ‘Frozen’ video did!” Raven smiled at the memory and started uploading the video.

“How are you not upset right now? You should be furious with me.” Lord sighed.

There. He had finally said it.

Raven frowned and bit down on her bottom lip. Truth be told, she had an inkling that Lord had been beating himself up over what had happened to them on Thursday. She just hadn’t really known how to approach the subject. “Baby, I’m not mad at you at all,” she truthfully replied after a moment. She took his hand. “It happens. That’s just wrestling. People always go after the ones they can’t compete with. Remember when The Halo killed your dog just to hurt your dad? We are the Adam Blakes in this situation. Whoever did this to us is probably The Halo. But it’s whatever, because now you and me have something else we can share and tell our kids about in the future.”

He got up at the end of the bed, dragging one of their memory foam pillows with him and threw it down on the floor in frustration.

“But it’s not just whatever, Ravey! The sight of you bleeding your own blood turns my stomach. It’s something I should have been able to protect you from. I mean, I didn’t even get a good look at the person - I was useless during the investigation.”

He looked down at his feet and Raven crawled across the bed on her knees to wrap her arms around his waist.

“Babe, don’t. There’s nothing more you could have done. You were so valiant.”

He looked down at her and smiled a sad smile.

“You’re sweet to say that, but there is so much more I could have done. You’re right, we have a target on our backs because of who we are. We were born with all the knowledge and skills that it took the rest of them years to master. I should have recognized that anyone would be lucky to get one over on us like this, but it wouldn’t stop them from trying.”

He developed a hardened look in his eyes and propped one foot up on the chest at the end of the bed.

“From now on my guard is up at all times. Anyone we add to our staff will be thoroughly vetted, anyone who we have to interact with on RSW’s staff will be thoroughly vetted. I’ll have Driver install tinted windows and anti-child locks on the doors and a Playstation 4 in the car. I’ll have Dad personally pay to upgrade The Arena’s security systems if I have to. If someone wants to get to you, they can do it by standing in front of us and trying to get past me first!”

Raven sat back on her bottom and crossed her legs underneath her. “I still think you are taking this a little too seriously,” Raven finally replied. It wasn’t often that she disagreed with Lord, but this was one of those rare occurrences. She didn’t blame him at all for what happened to them and she didn’t want him to feel bad about it. “Both of us are fine. I mean babe, look.” She patted the bed beside her, motioning for Lord to sit down next to her.

He did.

Raven pulled the sleeve of her hoodie up and pointed at a long scar across her left forearm. “Remember when I broke my arm during a cheerleading stunt my senior year? That wasn’t anyone’s fault. No one made me fall off the top of the pyramid. My foot slipped. I was fine.” She smiled sweetly and cupped Lord’s cheek with her hand. “When I was 13, I was competing at a gymnastics meet. Well, I decided to change my vault at the last minute. I wasn’t sure about the landing and it didn’t go well. That’s how I ruptured my achilles and how I basically ended my gymnastics career before it could even get started. The London Olympics had been my dream.”

Raven showed Lord the scar from having her right achilles surgically repaired. “That was no one’s fault but mine. And look,” she pointed out yet another scar, this one on her knee. “I fell off my bike when I was five. Accidents happen, babe. Yeah, our attack wasn’t an accident, but it still happened. It was going to happen. We couldn’t stop it. It was no one’s fault, least of all yours. We will be okay and we will get through this.”

His hardened look had softened after looking at the scars. Not only was there no way for him to have protected her in those situations, but they were each accidents that happened one single time and she learned from them, never making the same mistake twice. It was exactly what they were going to do; someone had caught them with their guard down once. The same mistake wouldn't be made twice.

Furthermore, she was more than capable of looking out for herself in those situations. There was no one looking out for her to protect her and she had made it through all those with nothing but superficial wounds. She had been booked against some of the biggest men that RSW had to offer so of course he would still be coming to with her to the ring, but maybe he didn't have to be so quick to jump to her defense as quickly as he thought. After all, they had taken this journey together and she had known exactly what she was getting into with him and was ready for everything that came with it.

He tilted her forehead down and placed a kiss on the bandage covering her staples and then touched their wounded foreheads together.

“You're right, we'll get through this the same way we've gotten through everything else in life: by being winners."

Raven looked at Lord with stars in her eyes. It was the usual look she had for him, anyway. She laced their fingers together and motioned towards their Blu Ray that they hadn't paused. 'Aladdin' had been playing the background this entire time.

"We are in this together and when I agreed to leave the TopCats and come to San Francisco with you, I knew what I was getting involved in. My mom and my da-, uh Genocide, devoted their lives to the business. I know the risks. But it's kind of like when Aladdin asked Jasmine if she wanted to go for a ride. She hesitated for only a second before she said yes and took his hand. I would go with you anywhere because I trust you. This is like a whole new world, but it's one we were born into. We do deserve to be here. We will be okay, baby. I just know it."

Her positive attitude was everything, and Lord wrapped his arms around her and kissed her. Raven melted against him and got herself lost in the moment.

Together, they were unbreakable.

/End.