Burn it All Down

[Vivienne Daniels]

"I imagine you must be feeling some measure of disappointment."

Vivienne sits in the darkness on a simple piano bench. As she speaks her eyes are fixed on the camera as she drums her fingers against the wooden seat.

"There is no shame in denying it, Dean Harper. After all, you had such grand dreams and designs for what would happen when you took Rowan out, did you not? You were not alone in those hopes. Both you and Warren held soaring aspirations for some kind of cease-fire. Some kind of demoralization. You can say it was about protecting Damien but I think I know you well enough to know that was only part of what you were aiming for... but fate, as it turns out, has a way of denying you your heart's desire.

I will confess, Dean. I have dreamed and prayed for this match. I will not deny I have been wanting your blood spilled even before I found you were the one behind hurting my sisters in the murder. Oh, I hunted you. I laid traps and tricks and maneuvered myself in such a way to best ensure that when the time was right, I would become the architect of something truly memorable. Truly monumental. A once-in-a-lifetime showdown..."

Vivienne’s fingers curl into fists, fingernails carving into the wood.

"You cannot fathom my... violent disappointment. My shame, even, that after all this time, after all of these years of proving myself to be more than a simpering little girl or a sex object that people still pearl clutch over the idea of me getting my hands on you. That people want to protect me. Want me to sit somewhere and wait for a white knight to handle my problems with you instead."

She closes her eyes and forces herself to calm down.

"None of that... is your fault, Dean. For all your faults, and they are numerous. You at least see me as an equal. Someone who can handle you in the one place you feel like you still have control."

Vivienne narrows her eyes.

"And despite the way Brooklyn and April have decided to hide or wait their time. I have no problem meeting you on the open field and proving you have nowhere left to hide. You are not in control here. You never have been.”

---

Vivienne had watched Dean’s promo while getting the boys' lunch ready. She tucked them into their afternoon nap and heard Cyrus watching it himself. She waited outside the boys' room until she heard them snoring before walking back into the living room.

Cyrus had clenched fists and was obviously tense, restraining himself. Vivienne took a deep breath and moved to pick up some of the boys toys. Something to keep herself busy while Cyrus processed whatever he needed to process.

Cyrus got up and felt his palm itch, he heard his father’s voice insist that Viv would betray him. Why else was this match, why else was Dean so important to her that she’d insisted on him getting her ready for this cage match? While he was teaching her to hold her own, maybe he should also keep her in line and teach her a lesson about loyalty, commitment, and trust.

Vivienne set the toys aside and started straightening the pillows. Cleaning helped her stay focused for a few moments before she turned to see him standing behind her. She tried smiling at him gently, “Hey.”

He wanted to raise his hand, but that smile made him falter as it always did. He took his frustration out by swiping the pillows aside instead. Anything else he could have done in this moment would have proven Dean absolutely bloody right and he couldn’t have that.

“Do you want to talk about it or take a couple more minutes to work through it?” Vivienne asked.

“Starlight,” he almost spat the nickname at her. “You fucked him, didn’t ya?”

Vivienne blinked, “I told you about the situation with Xavier and the nickname was from like 2016 back when he was giving everyone a nickname.”

“Don’t fuckin’ lie to me,” he breathed heavily, barely contained.

Vivienne felt her heartbeat get faster, “I’m not lying.”

“He implied that ya were more than friends once, what’s that about?”

“I don’t know. Just being an asshole?”

“Right, and ya don’t want ta be more?”

Vivienne stared at him for a minute, “Want more? You mean… Cyrus, I would never cheat on you. I don’t want anyone but you. Promise.”

“‘Cause I’ve treated ya well, haven’t I? Or do ya think of leavin’ me, of takin’ my nippers away? Do ya even love me or are ya just waitin’ on me ta change ‘cause Harper’s right an’ ya just can’t say no. Is that why ya married me?”

“I love you. You’re my soulmate, Cyrus. You are all I’ve ever wanted. Promise.”

Cyrus grabbed her by her waist, pulled her close, and held onto her even tighter “Good, ‘cause you’re mine forever, just like ya promised ta be. I own you. You belong ta me.”

“I am yours,” Vivienne promised smiling up at him.

He traced her collar with a thumb softly as if reminding them both where she belonged and with who.

“I promise all I want from Dean Harper is his blood and his head served in a platter. I want him to pay for all the pain he caused my friends. And now the pain he’s caused you.”

“Beat him bloody,” Cyrus encouraged. “I know ya can hold your own against the twink. Show him why you are my wife.”

“I will.” Vivienne beamed.

---

"Do you think she would be proud of you Dean? Perhaps pleased that you have at last taken up your rightful destiny. That you have embraced the legacy that you were born for. You have taken up the mantle that your father left behind. You have embraced the part of him that lives within you and made the choices as he would have made them. You have taken the steps towards your quest for domination, Dean. Begun to build your empire?”

“I know you find that this is more than simply building blocks. Part of you see this series of matches as the solidification of your legacy. That you looked at the Men’s Division and wept for you had little left to conquer? Tell me. Will you abandon your son as your father abandoned you, in favor of your newfound ambition?”

“You told me many times that you did not see family as being simply blood. Lots of late nights in The Pack compound where I felt lost and out of place. When I felt more alone than I ever had. You did your pitch for The Pack. I was there for Xavier, to try and save him from himself. I was there in the chaos during those last days of The Pack. Even as I hated what you and they represented I had to admit you had created something beautiful together - a family. A family that you tossed aside. I heard the justifications of course. You were losing members left and right. Management was pressing hard for a breaking point. You needed the money, you wanted to ensure a life for your son. I didn’t even judge you for that.”

She is silent and still for several long uncomfortable seconds... before she laughs.

“But even I saw that Brooklyn needed you. You were the brother she never had and always needed, and you... you walked away from her. You turned your back on her when she was vulnerable. You made her know what it is like to be betrayed by someone she loved. Not once but twice. Do you feel proud of that, Dean? Do the promises laid before you by your ambition make up for knowing that you gave her that feeling again? That you introduced her to her keenest, most painful betrayal? That of her beloved brother whom she adored, whom she looked up to?”

“I wanted your blood for something similar. Even if now I admit that Xavier might not have been the man I had hoped he was…Would he have similarly betrayed me if you hadn’t worked him over so specifically? Would he have cheated on me if you hadn’t come to our bed? Would he have tossed me aside and ripped my heart out if you hadn’t shown him how to do it?”

“Yes, I have a family and a husband I love with my whole heart now. But that pain doesn’t just go away, does it, Dean? Did you enjoy watching Warren want to step out on you? I never meant to lead him on, not on purpose, but knowing that I was a friction point in your marriage? I’d be lying if I didn’t think that was some well-deserved karma.”

Vivienne’s eyes seem to smile with sadistic anticipation.

“I know Rowan promised you no moment of peace for your betrayal. I was allowed to attack you after your match all those months ago when The Murder was announced. I might not be much to her. But she let me have that gift. Maybe I never would be her favorite. But She helped me. She dragged me out of the depths and set me on the path I am on now.”

Her eyes shine once again, with an uncomfortably joyful bloodlust.

"Maybe before I could never do what needed to be done. Maybe I held back before. But you’ve hurt me. You’ve hurt those important to me. You even made Cyrus question my loyalty. You will wilt like a flower before the heat of my loathing. You will collapse under the weight of all my hatred, all my strength, and all of my unchained, unleashed fury. You do not truly think you have a chance to walk out of this whole, do you? You should be concerned about your chances of emerging from the match with all of your limbs. I will break you. Burn you. Bleed you. Make you scream. Make you beg."

She goes suddenly still.

"... And despite everything, I know this will also affect your son. As a mother, I know that parents are sometimes God in the eyes of a child. It will hurt him to see you put in the hospital again. Perhaps another coma. To see that you are not only valuable but flawed. With Angel gone who will take care of your son? Likely Warren. Maybe it will be the tool he needs to take the last thing you care about as well. Hard to fight for custody when you aren’t there to argue your case, isn’t it?"

She smiles cruelly as she leans into the camera, filling the screen with her furious glare. "I will make you fear ever loving another, Dean... because whenever you do? I will make them suffer to make you suffer."

"... The rest of your world?

I will burn it as you tried to burn mine."