Testing Loyalty

"You wanna show us how loyal you are? Then lose."

"Excuse me?"

It had been two weeks since Jillian was carried out to the oVe compound in Ohio. She'd spent almost the full two weeks there, save for working a few wrestling shows. She hadn't even gone home to pack a new bag of clothes. Sami had insisted she simply wash the ones she had. That or wear things that belonged to their Madman.

She did both, actually. Finding wearing some of the shirts he owned brought her a sense of peace. Plus, he didn't seem to mind it much.

Jillian had learned via Jake Crist that they hadn't done any of Fulton's routine 'cleansing' since the night they brought her in. Apparently they wanted to see his full reactions to her. And Callihan wanted to know just how far his control currently went.

It was pretty far. Their Madman was still under full control and had yet to act in a way that proved otherwise. Even when he was becoming lucid. Though he still had a long way to go on that front. Should Sami decide on letting him get that far.

During that time the other men of oVe decided to try and get to know Jillian better, mostly to decide whether she was worth it or not. Meaning she was essentially interrogated for two weeks.

The young woman wasn't pleased with this in the slightest. But it also meant she got to see Fulton again. And while seeing him in such a state was heartbreaking, the moments when he showed signs of actually being human made it feel worth it.

But now Callihan was asking things of her in the name of proving she would be loyal to all of them, not just Madman Fulton.

He started with small things. Like leaving her alone with Fulton for long periods of time, leaving her alone in the compound with ample opportunity to bolt, going out in public together and not screaming for help, and making their dinner, this one was high on the list because poisoning was easy. There was also the promise of meeting his co-ringleader. She was his partner in everything. She was his everything. She just preferred a more behind the scenes approach.

But his current request was not something Jillian had expected in the slightest.

"You want me to lose a match? On purpose, to show loyalty?"

Sami chuckled, "Not just any match. A four on one. You'll take on all of us. And hey, you can think of that as another test as well."

"So you aren't going to beat me senseless?" She questioned.

"Oh no, we are," Sami assured. "I want to see exactly how much you can take."

"Then why tell me to lose if you're going to make sure I do anyway?"

This time he smiled at her. A real, genuine smile. The first one she'd ever seen from him, actually. "Because I've seen you in that ring and I know how good you are. I know that your heart and determination will get you just about anything you want. It's something I both hate and admire about you. So I'm telling you now to lose because I know if I don't, you'll find a way to win no matter how many of us there are. That or you'll die trying."

Jillian took a step back in shock. Had this man, in his own way, given her a genuine compliment? That was something rare for Sami to give anyone. Let alone someone not officially in his little group. But what he'd just said.. "Sami, I-"

"Don't," he cut her off. "Whatever it is, don't. Go get ready for the match."

That was another test she'd been given. She was allowed to stay in the women's locker room and not, in Sami's words, go crying for help. Jillian wasn't entirely sure if this was simply to give her a small sense of privacy from the group or if he just found the idea of a woman in their locker room too weird. She appreciated it, either way.

Their match was the last of the night and slated to be the longest. Dave had apparently pulled a few strings to get that one done. Sami had been beaming with pride when that was announced.

The match itself was brutal. Chair shots, kendo sticks, that signature baseball bat and other dirty tricks were used but Jillian still put up a fight. Even though she was going to lose she'd made up her mind to go down swinging.

In the end it took three chair shots to the head and getting smacked in the face with a barbed wire wrapped baseball bat to take her down. Sami got the win, of course. As the leader it was deemed necessary.

After the bell rang, they all crouched down around her, fully prepared to carry her out should she need it. Because while she still had a long way to go, she did earn a certain level of respect from them all. She powered through like a true champion and gave it her all, despite knowing she'd lose.

Jillian laid in the center of the ring, pain shooting through various parts of her body and blood dripping down her forehead. As the crowd chanted and shouted, tears began to fall as she let herself feel everything. Normally this was reserved for the locker room or hotel you might be staying in that night. But right now she needed this. To let everything out and just feel. No matter how much it hurt.

The men around her were hesitant upon seeing her tears. They remained there, unsure of what to do past hauling her up and out of there.

Fulton made the first move for them. Humming low in his throat and running fingers through what hair he could reach with her laying down. This only seemed to make her cry harder though as she covered her face with her hands and started to curl up on herself.

The big man made another noise, this one of distress and looked up at Sami for help. He didn't realize that by comforting her, he only made her think of their now forgot past. At least on his part it was still forgotten. For her it wasn't. It was still etched into her mind with such fondness that she didn't know what to do with it.

"Hey now," Sami whispered while placing a hand on her arm. "you did good. You passed the test." He turned his attention to Dave with a sigh as shudders ran through her. "Aftercare?"

Dave nodded. "She needs some form of it. She took a lot tonight."

"It's gonna have to be our monster," Jake quickly added. "Even like this, she doesn't trust us the way she trusts him."

Sami nodded and watched the man in question begin to whisper to Jillian while still running his fingers through her hair. "We'll have to walk him through it but we should be able to manage. I`m pretty sure he's aware enough to do it."

As they carefully hauled her out of the ring and to the back, the Crist brothers shared a look.

"Think this will work?"

"Maybe. Just depends on how well his control is of our monster."

Jillian tried to drown out their words and curled further into Fulton's chest, making him tighten his hold on her. He was carrying her again.

There was a part of her that was waiting for Sami to lecture her on showing weakness. But in this case at least it wouldn't come. To a certain degree he understood. She'd been through a lot these past couple of weeks and after the beating she took tonight, it was enough to make anyone break down just a bit.

What he didn't know though, was there was a part of her that was mourning. She was mourning for the man she'd held dear now being turned into someone else, for the life she'd no longer lead, for the things to come, and for everything she'd do in the name of oVe.