L!GHTS OUT #31 | ALEX KINCAID vs KIRA IZUMI

“Heard you got in a fight.”

Just over a year living under Alex Kincaids roof had gotten Maggie used to that tone. Her told her about her latest screw up the way he would talk to somebody about the weather. She frowned as she studied her own face in the bathroom mirror. There was the yellowing remains of a few day old bruise starting to fade underneath her eye. Her lip was cracked and healing on the left side. Yeah, she'd gotten in a fight alright.

“You come down here to chew me out about it?” She shook her head and turned away from the sink “Because the time on that's long gone by. I got cracked in the mouth while you and Alyssa were in Chicago. And I've been getting a talking to from every teacher I run into because they don't think you're around to do it.”

Alex was standing in the door to bathroom, turned sideways as though she could possibly shuffle past his two hundred and thirty pound frame to get out of the room if she wanted to. He had his arms folded across his chest and he stared at her in silence for nearly a minute “Won a belt while I was down in Chicago. It was a worthwhile trip.”

Maggie shook her head, irritated, and turned back to the sink. She ran some water on a rag and dabbed at the corner of her mouth “You know, this is the time most people would be giving the speech right? Shouldn't you be telling me not to get in fights? Telling me I'm screwing up? Telling me I'm going to get kicked out of school? All that?”

“I don't know why the fight happened. I don't know who started it. I don't know why you thought it needed to happen. I don't know if you won or you lost.”

Maggie looked back at him “Does that matter?”

For just a second, she thought she saw the faintest ghost of a smile at the corners of his lips “No.”

“So what is this then? A girl smacked me in the mouth and slammed my head off a locker.” She pointed at her lip “I think I've been though enough. I've been sitting here waiting for you guys to get home because I knew I was going to get the speech, so you might as well get it over with.”

“Who is she?”

“What do you care?”

He shrugged “Well, if she's an ax murderer and she told you about her plans to indulge her hobby next time you saw her I might understand why you decided to pop her one.”

“Is that supposed to be funny?”

Alex kept his arms folded and kept staring at her. Finally, in spite of herself she cracked a little bit of a snicker. He smiled himself and looked down at his feet for a second. Maggie threw her hands up and sighed “I...Sarah. Sarah MacDonald. Her dad knew my dad back before...before I came to live with you guys. They worked together.. And when my dad died, everything came out about what her was doing. And I guess he went to jail. So she's mad about it.”

Alex shifted his weight uncomfortably and unfolded his arms. He grumbled and walked across the bathroom. He grabbed a hold of Maggie's chin and she just about jumped out of her skin. He caught himself and his grip softened. He frowned and stared at her, inspecting the bruise “You look okay. That had to be an ugly black eye for a couple of days right? You been icing it?”

“Yeah.”

He looked into her eyes like he didn't believe her – which made sense, since she was lying – before he took a step back from her. He took a seat on the edge of the bathtub and when she went to walk out of the room he took her hand. Maggie turned back, and he put the toilet lid down and nodded toward it. She frowned and took a seat.

“Who threw the first punch?”

“Why?”

“Who?”

“She did.” Maggie spat the words out, frustrated “I can't believe I didn't see it coming. You know she calls me a bitch, and she's running her mouth...like...fuck what did I think was going to happen? But then she hits me. And she slams my head off the locker. I barely remember it. I just remember throwing punches and the principal pulling me off her.”

“Alyssa told me you elbowed him in the head.”

Maggie sighed “That was an accident. I promise. I was scared. I didn't know who it was. I thought it might have been one of her friends.”

“Yeah.” He scratched his cheek, for long enough they both knew it was about killing time and not being itchy “I don't know what to tell you. I mean, that's why I wanted us to move to Florida last year. Fresh start. Get us both away from what happened. This town. What my family did to this town. Girls like that resent you father for what he did, and he did what he did because there was no other way to make a living in this town after my father bled the mines dry. We're on opposite sides of the coin but people around here hate the entire coin. And for a while I got you away from that.”

“Then you made us come back.” Maggie said “I was getting settled down there, I made some friends and then I come back to all this drama. I don't get it. I don't get why.”

“I spent months pretending I was something I wasn't. Trying to be different. Trying to be an entertainer. Getting our name out there in the news. And it didn't get me anywhere, didn't get us anywhere. Felt like I was acting all the time. The first time I walked into Union Battleground, I was trying to put that show on. I was trying to be full of energy and just put on the happy face...” Alex scowled and stared off into space, thinking back to his first days in the company “But then I thought Kira had threatened you. Thought that he had decided to take a shot at my family, and right away I'm back to who I really am. One more snake in a nest of vipers. Trying my hardest to not let anyone use my personal life to get an advantage on me. I was wrong, of course, it wasn't Kira and I never did find out who it was...but it kicked off months of he and I at each others throats.”

“I remember.”

“Do you think I regret those fights?”

Maggie thought about it for a second and shrugged “I guess I don't know.”

“I don't. Not a single one.” Alex said firmly, turning to face her again “No matter how bad it got. No matter whether or not we were bleeding all over each other, or I was trying to drown him...no matter if he was beating me up in front of you and Alyssa and we were all scared to death. Do you know why?”

“No.”

“Because now he and I understand each other. I don't think he likes me. I damn sure know I don't like him. But I know when I pass him in the hallway I don't think 'there's the asshole who wouldn't let that thing go'. I think 'there goes a tough one.' A fight like that teaches you something. So no, I'm not going to give you the 'don't get in fights' speech. Because fighting is what puts money on our table, and hell, I think you'd blow it off if I tried to give you that speech anyway. But I do want to tell you what I think a fight like that means.”

Maggie's eyes narrowed for a second, he could see the confusion on her face. He smiled a little and continued “I got Kira again on the next Lights Out show. And I know what it is, I know what the company is trying to do. I got my ass kicked out there against Elena DeDraca-”

“I'll say.”

He shot her a glare and she put her hands up in a gesture of mock surrender as he continued “They're worried I'll break. Worried it'll drive me out of the company. So they're putting me in there against someone who can wake the fire back up. Someone they think I hate enough to get things burning, get that spark back so I can't possibly walk away.”

“They're right aren't they?” Maggie said softly “I mean, you guys...it got pretty scary. The fights you guys had.”

“When you fight someone that much, you can let it burn you out or you can realize what it is...the fire burning itself off. I'm not saying I don't want to beat him. I do, and I will, but...look Kira and I did what needed doing. We had our fight and now it's up to the two of us to decide if we want to dwell up the past again. Because what was there isn't the same. Promoters don't understand that. Hell, I don't think the audience understands that. They're expecting us to kill each other.”

“So you are just...what? You're just fine now? All that history doesn't matter?”

He chuckled “No. No, not at all. It still matters. But it matters the way it should matter. I need to beat him. I can't let him think that after all that he's any better than me. Because we're always going to be in each others sight, one way or the other. But keeping this going? Keeping that fire burning every time I see him? That's letting him own space in my head rent free. You don't let someone do that. It only hurts you.”

He pointed at her, emphasizing his point “That's it. That's my speech. No I'm not going to tell you not to get in a fight. Especially not with somebody who hit you first...but I'm going to tell you that what you do with that fight is a choice. You get back to school tomorrow, and the two of you are going to see each other. And one of you makes a choice on how this thing keeps going. Someone has to. Because otherwise it festers, and it festers and it builds into hate.”

“She slammed my head off a locker, you don't think she hates me now?”

“I think she hates something.” Alex stood up and shook his head “But no kid, I don't think it's you. Maybe something you're standing at the edge of. That's all. I'm going to get something to eat. Clean up, join me if you want.”

He stepped toward the door and was nearly out before she spoke again.

“Alex?” He turned around to face her and Maggie watched him for a second before she nodded “I think I get it. Thank you. And, hey, good luck against Kira alright? Maybe one of this weeks you guys can take me to another show.”

“See if Alyssa will let you come to D.C.” Alex shrugged “You might have to argue with her about getting the time off school. Tell her it's educational. We'll hit a monument or something.”

Maggie snickered and Alex headed upstairs, leaving her with her thoughts.





The next morning Alex idled the family pickup in front of the school as he watched Maggie make her way across the lot. She wiped her messy auburn hair back and looked back over one shoulder at him, uncertainly, He did his best to show his own concern in his face. The girl she'd fought with – Sarah? - was standing with the rest of her pack near a bike rack at the front door. Alex knew Sarah was watching. He could see in her posture, the way she angled away a bit on her hip. Maggie had her spooked.

He took some pride in that. Even if he knew he shouldn't.

He didn't know how things with Kira would go. A lot of what he said, he wasn't sure how much he believed. But he was hoping it was true. The fire needed to be burned off. That rivalry with Kira defined his entire early career in Union Battleground, everything else after that was just trying to get back to that same level. Like it or not, he'd made his reputation in those fights. He wasn't sure what coming back to them meant. But he knew it wouldn't be the same.

Maggie hit the sidewalk and walked toward the door. Sarah muttered something at her and Maggie turned to face her. There was a moment. A moment that hung in the air long enough for his hands to tighten around the wheel white knuckled. But then Maggie nodded and Sarah nodded back...and that was it. The two of them walked by each other. That was it. All there would be. A fight to burn off the fire...and then peace.

He drove away from the school and began to prepare.