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And with that, it was over.

The months of mental anguish. The soul-crushing fear.

It had nearly cost him his career, but it was finally, blissfully over.

As he stood in the centre of the ring, his hand raised high above his head in victory, he took a moment to close his eyes and savour the feeling. Despite the bone-deep ache settling into nearly every part of his body and the exhaustion that threatened to buckle his knees, he was filled with an overwhelming sense of relief. It brought a smile to his face, the first genuine one he had shown all night. In his head, he said a silent ‘thank you’ as he felt the darkness slip back into the recesses of his mind. Far enough away that he felt back to himself once again…but never far enough away to call on, should the need arise.

As his eyes opened up again, struggling slightly with the drying blood and cracked paint all over his face, he gazed around at the crowd that was going absolutely wild over his victory. The arena echoed with their screams and cheers, and he turned in a slow circle to see them all before he slid out of the ring and started to make his way up the ramp. In a contrast to his entrance before the match, he reached out to touch the outstretched hands of the fans on either side of the ramp as they showered him in praise and adulation. Before long he was back at the top of the entrance ramp, and he turned around to get one more look at the crowd before disappearing behind the curtain.

It was there that he finally allowed the exhaustion to show as he sank to his trembling knees. A quick-thinking crew member handed him a small towel and a bottle of water, and he nodded gratefully as he uncapped the bottle and took a long drink. He dampened the towel with the remaining dregs of water and then used it to try and wipe away the dried blood and paint from his face and chest. Realizing that was a futile effort, he shrugged and draped the towel around his neck as he slowly rose to his feet and managed to take a few shaky steps out from the curtained-off entrance area into the brightly lit hallway.

“Daddy!”

Hearing the happy shriek along with the sounds of approaching footsteps, he glanced up to see a group of people heading towards him. At the front of the group were Jade and Olivia running full-tilt towards him, followed closely behind by Sierra. Malachi and Bella flanked Sierra on the right side, while Jack and Alanah were on the left. A smile broke out on his face as he watched Jade and Olivia run closer and closer to him and he crouched down to catch them in his arms, cradling them close to him despite the smeared paint all over his body. He stayed like that for a good long moment, enjoying the feeling of holding his daughters in his arms and knowing that once and for all, they were finally safe. When the rest of the group caught up to them, he rose back up to his feet, Olivia held up in one arm and Jade clinging tightly to his other arm.

Sierra immediately rushed up and grabbed his face, placing an intense kiss on his lips and pressing her forehead to his. They exchanged relieved smiles, and she whispered to him, “It’s over?” Her eyes shone with a hopeful enthusiasm, though there was still a small cloud of apprehension in their emerald depths.

He nodded. “It’s over. We’re safe.”

The relief was evident on her face and she closed her eyes and let out a breath. He softly kissed her forehead as the rest of his family joined them. He glanced around at all of them, pride swelling in his heart. He had promised to protect them, and despite a few frightening moments, he had done just that. There was always the possibility of Angel coming back around and potentially involving the rest of her twisted family, but for the time being he was going to enjoy the feeling of safety that he had fought and bled for, the protection that he had gone to war for.

He would go to war a thousand times over if it meant keeping his family safe. But, for now…

“Let’s go home.”