Road to Ruin [AEW Oneshots]

the road ahead

Elizabeth Wells was one of the hardest working women on the AEW roster. Pac could attest to that first-hand, having been close to her for well over a year now. She busted her ass every single day in order to hone her craft and the interactions she had with her fans usually went very well.

The problem, however, was that no matter how hard she tried, Elizabeth just could not get over with the general audience. Not in the way that she and management had hoped for. Even when her matches were of the highest quality, the fans simply were not invested in what she had to say or what she did.

Of course, she did have her die-hard fans, whether they were ones that had watched her in the UK indie scene or had first been introduced to her in NXT UK or Impact. Hell, it wasn't as if no one paid attention to her work in AEW, either, as many fans who regularly watched Dark seemed to enjoy her work, too.

It wasn't as though the crowds usually booed her, either, they just... Didn't care enough. It was a situation where they typically didn't give her any sort of reaction.

Truthfully, that hurt more than anything.

For Elizabeth, the biggest saving grace she had was just how much Tony enjoyed watching her wrestle. When the boss is high on you, you can almost always expect some sort of job security.

After her recent feud for the AEW Women's Championship had been unsuccessful in generating any sort of buzz for Elizabeth, Tony had told her to take some time off. To disappear from the public eye for a bit so that when she returned, she could hopefully at least get a return pop.

Elizabeth was frustrated. She had thought that she had reached a new groove with her character and had been particularly proud of the work she had been doing, but it just hadn't been enough. Not in the eyes of the fanbase. And when Tony had told her to give it time, well, Elizabeth had headed home.

When she had left, she had asked Pac for space. The two still communicated daily over text message, but Pac was respectful of his girlfriend's wishes. Even when he himself returned to the United Kingdom for a few days between AEW shows, he didn't bother Elizabeth by stopping by her home unannounced or uninvited.

If she wanted to have time to herself, time to figure her shit out and heal, then who was he to stop her or get in her way?

Even if he was there, even if he did try to help, who was to say that he'd actually be of any use to her? That he wouldn't just make Elizabeth feel worse about herself?

"Pac. Have you got a minute?"

... Or at least, Pac assumed he was doing the right thing. Really, he did.

Looking over his shoulder as he made his way down the hall of their weekly arena, Pac was admittedly a bit surprised to see Maxine making her way over to him. Even more surprising was the fact that she didn't have her unofficial sweetheart, Hangman, trailing behind her.

"What?" Pac stopped until Maxine had caught up to him.

In his heart, he knew that the only reason Maxine could have to try and talk to him like this was Elizabeth. He and Maxine were friends at this point, yes, but in the time that Elizabeth had been absent, it wasn't as if Maxine or Hangman had made much of an effort to talk to him.

Until now.

"Have you heard from Liz lately?" Ah. Of course. Maxine went straight to the point, as always.

"I talked to her last night, when I made it to the hotel. Sent her a picture of some stupid shit that Penta and Fenix were doing. I've not heard from her this morning, but I did message her," Pac answered honestly. "Why? Has she said something to you?"