Going Solo
3MB had always been an overlooked group in WWE; something that wasn't meant to last, or find any kind of success. Admittedly, actual success had been shaky at best, but the three men had definitely survived, through personal and professional losses, embarrassments, even Heath Slater's lingering back injury not enough to break them up, Drew McIntyre and Jinder Mahal finding a replacement for a few events to ensure that their presence would still be felt.
So, only a few weeks after he finally feels well enough to return to WWE, when Drew and Jinder sit down across from where he's reading over some WWE paperwork, he barely glances up at them until Drew clears his throat loudly. Heath blinks, thrown from what he's reading, looking up. "Drew? Jinder? What's goin' on?" he asks, realizing that something's not right- both men look somber, far from the cheerful rockstar looks he's used to from them.
"We've been thinkin'," Drew says, his accent thick as he leans forward, eyes locked on Heath's face. "Our contracts all expire around the same time in June..."
Heath shrugs, not understanding. "Ok, yeah, I knew that, I guess. So...?" He taps his fingers against the pile of papers he'd just been skimming through, frowning deeply.
"So Jinder and I think we should take the band elsewhere." Drew watches as Heath freezes, his fingertips still pressed against the brisk, white papers. "We would've mentioned it to you sooner but you've been goin' through a lot with your back and all, so we didn't want to pile on, leave you with something this huge to decide while you were recuperatin'. But you seem better so now seemed like the time..."
Heath swallows, glancing from Drew to Jinder. WWE had always been his dream, he had toiled in developmental for so many years just to get to this point, but 3MB had become part of his soul the last couple of years, the men before him becoming like brothers to him after so many jam sessions and matches together. He's still sitting there, struggling to think through everything, when the hotel room door opens, snapping them all out of their thoughts.
"What's happening, gents?" Wade Barrett asks, sounding as close to cheerful as he ever gets, dropping his bag on the floor and wandering over to his bed, sitting down on it and running his hands through his dark hair. When none of them rush to answer him, he frowns and sits up a little straighter. "Is something wrong?"
The members of 3MB exchange glances before Drew raises his hand and motions at Heath to tell if he wants to, so the former one-man band clears his throat awkward and turns to face the Brit. "Drew and Jinder are thinking, when our contracts expire, we should take the band elsewhere."
Wade looks as surprised as Heath had felt minutes before and, as the silence drags on, Drew turns to look at Wade. "We're not given the chances that we deserve here. We're constantly overlooked and made jokes of, so I'm thinkin' we could find somewhere else that would see the rockstar potential 3MB really has."
Glance shifting from the other two members of 3MB to Heath, Wade nods slowly, taking it all in. "I see," he says finally, an odd tone hiding behind his British accent. "What do you think about all of this, Slater?"
Heath swallows and shrugs. "I'm not sure. I've just found out myself, I need... I need to think about it." He glances over to his other bandmates. "Give me some time? I'll let you know soon, alright?"
Drew doesn't look thrilled but Jinder nudges him. "I told you it's a lot to spring on him and expect an answer right away. Come on, let's get out of here, find something to do. We'll give you all the time you need to think, Heath," he tells their bandleader. "You know where we'll be."
Drew sighs and stands as well, turning to follow Jinder. "Fine, but don't take forever, Heath. We need to make plans about what's next."
Heath takes a deep, shaky breath when they turn to leave, Jinder muttering lowly to Drew as he stares at the door closing behind them. "Oh God," he groans as soon as it clicks shut, scrubbing his face with his hands. "What do I do now...?" He peeks through his fingers at Wade, rolling his eyes. "Well, get it outta your system... you wanna laugh at us or share some of your patented bad news, or... what? Just say somethin'," he demands, shoulders held tense as he stands and paces anxiously around the room, tugging at his lips with one hand and aggravatedly scraping his other through his hair.
Wade watches him for a few moments, finally surging back to his feet and cutting off Heath's jittery movements, dropping his hands on his shoulders and kneading the tense muscles there. "Bloody hell, Heath, just breathe, you're going to hyperventilate or pass out at this rate." When the ginger listens, slowly matching Wade's breathing, Barrett nods. "There. Now, as for my reaction to all of this... it isn't humor or sarcasm, for once." He nods at the piles of paper on the table. "Is that what I think it is?"
"WWE sent me an early draft of a revised contract for when my current one expires," Heath admits, glancing over at it too. "Sounds about right, I'm sitting here reading over my potentially new contract and my bandmates come to convince me to let my current one expire so I can go with them to... who knows where."
"But you're conflicted because WWE's always been what you've wanted," Wade surmises. "So you're stuck choosing between them and your dream..."
"Right." Heath pulls away from Wade and sits down on the couch, staring blankly at the papers. "I have no idea what to do about anything right now."
Wade sits where Drew and Jinder had been less than ten minutes ago and stares at him until Heath glances up, their eyes locking. "I'm not going to tell you what to do, you're smart enough... sometimes... and you know what you want better than most, so I have no doubt you'll figure this out soon enough... though I think you already have."
"What do you mean?" he mumbles, eyes dull and troubled as he glances back at the contract.
"When the contract first arrived, what was your initial reaction? Before McIntyre and Mahal came in, before everything else. What were you imagining?"
"I guess I was imagining having a few more years here, time to get 3MB into a better place, to become champion again..." He sighs and closes his eyes, a bittersweet smile on his face. "Some of my happiest times was when I was tag champion... But if Drew and Jinder really wanna leave, then I guess either things can't really happen."
"So you were planning on signing the contract," Wade says, though he'd already guessed as soon as he saw the papers sprawled across the table. "One other thing I noticed when you were talking about 3MB leaving, it was Drew and Jinder are thinking... not you. I think both of those things pretty much says it all, mate." He stands and claps Heath on the knee, turning to leave. "I'll give you time to think, I'll be down at the hotel bar getting a pint. I'll see you around."
"Alright," Heath mutters, scraping his fingers through his hair as he stares down at the contract. "See ya." He closes his eyes and finds his cell phone in the mess of papers, quickly sending a tweet about his mind racing a hundred miles an hour and coming up on a fork in the road. "C'mon, Heath. You know Wade's right," he mumbles, the words on his phone's screen doing nothing to make him feel better. As he rereads the contract, memories of the past couple of years with 3MB flash through his mind and he sighs heavily, shaking his head. "Yeah... Well... Damn..." He finds a pen and traces it lightly over the paper, realizing just how right it feels, how perfect it looks to see his name on the revised WWE contract. He would always carry 3MB with him, but he can't help but feel unfulfilled when he even tries to consider leaving WWE this moment.
Wade is still sitting at the bar, in the process of downing his drink, when Heath slides into the seat next to him, resting his elbows on the solid wood and staring blankly at the various bottles of booze across from them. "Come to a decision, have we?" he asks after swallowing down the beer and turning to look at him.
"Yeah," he says quietly. "I guess you're gonna be stuck with me for a few more years."
Wade nods, turning back towards the bar. "I see." He motions to the bartender to serve Heath while refilling his own glass, smirking slightly. Not that I'd tell him, but it's better than drinking alone.
Drew is far from thrilled, Jinder disappointed but understanding, the group painfully agreeing that it will mean the end of 3MB by mid-June. "We're not going to leave you in the lurch, Heath. Our contracts end on June 12th, but we'll see if we can remain long enough for that week's Smackdown, since it falls kind of awkwardly in the WWE scheduling."
"Alright," Heath says. "I, yeah, that works. I... I'm going to miss you guys, alright? But... well, we have four more months to rock people's faces off, so..." He glances nervously from Drew to Jinder, his guilt growing the longer Drew remains quiet, staring everywhere but at Heath. "Le- let's make the most of it?" He holds his hand out in his part of the 3MB symbol, waiting for his two brothers to follow suit. Jinder does so with little hesitation and they both look over at Drew, staring at him as he seemingly ignores them. "Drew, c'mon, man, please," Heath finally whispers, wondering if perhaps 3MB wouldn't survive to June after all, but finally the Scotsman leans forward and presses his hands next to theirs, finishing the link that had bonded them since July of 2012. "You're in?"
"I'm in," Jinder says, both men staring at Drew.
"I'm in," he says heavily after a few minutes. Heath nods and pulls his hand away, releasing a soft breath. "And Heath? ... I'm going to miss you too." He turns to get himself a drink from the grossly overpriced hotel bar, missing the subtle smiles crossing Jinder and Heath's faces as they glance at each other.
The months pass slowly but speed by all at the same time, Heath in disbelief that this all will be coming to an end in a matter of weeks now. None of them let it show, though, still having fun teaming together and celebrating the rare win as it comes. They doubt even Hornswoggle knows what's on the horizon when he joins their group to fight Los Matadores and El Torito, Drew and Heath laughing together at him when he's shaved nearly bald after losing to El Torito, Heath's breath catching in his throat when he looks at his bandmates, the laughter nearly turning to tears as he realizes that it's now the start of June, that they'll soon be separated, Drew and Jinder off to find their dreams and Heath remaining here to try to rediscover his own.
Jinder notices, patting him on the knee, and he nods, swallowing down his guilt and that old terrible temptation to second-guess himself. He had made his choice months ago, had signed the contract, and now he has responsibilities to uphold. Not to mention, at this stage in his life, he wouldn't want to have to work at finding his place in the wrestling world yet again. He's settled here, and he's comfortable, surrounded by friends and some people who had even become close to family... and just because Drew and Jinder would soon be away from the WWE, their bond wouldn't be broken, they'd still have each other's backs, supporting each other no matter where they end up. It gives him something to hold onto when he's trapped in moments like these, wondering what exactly he's going to do without Drew and Jinder.
So when that day, June 12th, comes, Heath is somewhat prepared but not enough when he reads the words that Drew and Jinder have been released from the WWE on their website, taking deep breaths as he tries to remind himself that it's not over, that he'll still see them at Superstars that night, and again for Smackdown the next night, since they had convinced the higher ups that it would be best for business... it's just not enough. He closes his eyes and taps his phone against his forehead, struck anew just how much he's going to miss them, going to miss being 3MB. He had been the one-man rock-band for so long, he hadn't even realized just how lonely and isolating it was until Drew and Jinder had joined the party. To go back to doing this all solo leaves him floundering and breathless until a large hand claps on his shoulder and he looks up to find them there, Drew and Jinder staring down at him. "You ok?" Jinder asks, sitting down next to him and reading the words on the screen.
"Yeah. I'm fine. Are you both?" he asks awkwardly, turning to look at his bandmates.
"Never better," Drew shrugs, shrugging off his jacket and settling in next to Jinder. He had warmed considerably since Heath first told them his decision, but there's still a bit of tension in him, their approaching split foreshadowed when they all had stopped wearing the same kind of gear, something that had hurt Heath when it'd happened but he had accepted it, understanding that it was something they needed to do to prepare themselves for their departure from the WWE. "Ready for this match?"
"I guess," he shrugs almost listlessly.
"Don't worry, we'll be there to keep the posse back, you'll have an even shot at winning," Jinder promises him, clapping him on the back. "Let's get ready to get out there and rock the arena to the ground, yeah?"
"Hell yeah," Drew agrees, smirking. "Let's do this thing."
Even Heath can't remain grim in the face of their overconfidence. "Alright, boys," he says, shaking his hair out every which way to get in the right frame of mind himself. "Let's go then."
He loses on Superstars, all three of them get beat down on Smackdown, and for another wild moment, Heath thinks maybe Drew and Jinder were right, that this isn't the place for them, but he still isn't quite ready to give up, determined to find the happiness that level of success he had found while in the Nexus and the Corre yet again. What's missing, he's not sure, but he'll have to build up from the ground up as soon as he's alone once more, and he thinks perhaps then he could figure that out, work through it. Make himself better, stronger, a competitor who could win consecutively.
After dragging themselves backstage- Wade helping to scrape Heath off of the floor after that spear as he'd leapt from the stairs and then leaving them to their own devices- none of them are eager to leave the Smackdown arena that evening, all too aware that this is it. This will be the final time 3MB will be seen together in the WWE, and it hurts. Drew and Jinder hang near Heath, watching him peel off his wrist tape, taking his time so that they have an excuse to remain there a little longer. Wade watches from the doorway as they linger near each other quietly, not a word spoken as the end approaches. Techs are wandering around, doing last minute things before they exit the arena, and he knows he should say something soon, but he can't bring himself to break the moment up just yet, Heath eventually tossing his roll of wrist tape into his bag and zipping it up.
He stands and turns to look at Drew and Jinder, opening his mouth. No sounds come out and his teeth click together as he presses his lips closed, for once speechless. Neither of them seem sure what to say either, Jinder finally stepping forward and hugging Heath tightly. Drew remains frozen until Jinder and Heath turn to him, opening their arms up for him to join in, waiting patiently until he finally does so, squeezing them back as they mutter lowly to each other, too faint for Wade to hear, but the words are easy enough to guess- farewells and apologies, gratitude and promises to remain in touch, among other things. Their goodbyes are happening now because Drew and Jinder will be returning to their apartments in Florida while Wade and Heath travel on to the next city on the tour schedule.
When Drew pulls away, squeezing Heath's shoulder one last time, Jinder follows suit a minute later. "Time to go," the Scotsman says.
"Right," Jinder breathes, grabbing his bag. "Bye, Heath. We'll talk soon."
"Yeah, see you, Heath," Drew echoes, pulling his own bag over his shoulder. They walk past Wade, Drew nodding briskly at him. "Take good care of him."
The Brit nods back, watching as they leave, Heath inching up alongside him as Drew holds the door, waiting for Jinder to exit first. As Drew walks out of the building, he doesn't look back and Heath releases a soft breath. "Are you alright?" Wade asks after a moment, glancing down at him.
"Yeah. I will be," he mutters, turning to grab his bag so they can leave, eager to put this night behind him.
Barrett nods, knowing that very few have been able to bounce back as well as Heath, through suspensions and injuries and teams breaking apart, group after group falling to pieces, and many other things over the years that makes even Wade's head spin. "Yes, you will." As they head for the car, Wade claps him on the back, ignoring as Heath looks up at him with a small smirk, visibly relieved not to be completely alone on the beginning steps in this next stage of his career.