September 29th 2008…
"Here is your winner and the new WWE Women's Champion, Amanda Cena!" Lillian announced as Amanda held the championship upright with pride.
In the front row, Max and Chloe cheered and smiled.
"About damn time she got a title opportunity." Max responded.
"She's earned it." Chloe replied as Amanda smiled and nodded at them.
In the backstage area, Amanda sat down with her back against the wall and the title on her lap… and Chloe and Max walked over.
"All too much?" Chloe questioned, Amanda nodding.
"There's someone who I thought would be here… he's been gone for over a year now, his wife and son are gone too." Amanda explained, Chloe and Max crouching down to her.
"Sometimes, it's just too much to handle. Losing people that are always around." Max responded.
And now that she and Chloe were near Amanda, they could see how young she was.
"Goddamn, you're just a kid." Max replied.
"18. But you two don't look much younger than I am. Where are your parents?" Amanda responded.
"You don't want to know right now. Go on and celebrate, you won your match." Max replied, Amanda nodding before she stood up while holding the title and left.
Max and Chloe stood up and looked at each other.
"If only she knew the truth, right? Got to keep someone innocent for as long as possible." Chloe responded.
"True. She's barely older than we are but she's grown up too fast… I know scars of pain when I see them, someone clearly roughed that girl up." Max replied.
Chloe knew that was true…
Present time, November 10th 2014…
"Martha, please just listen to me, okay? Owen wouldn't want you barring his induction into the Hall Of Fame, he'd want to be there alongside his brother." Amanda responded, the 24 year old hoping to talk Martha Hart into allowing this for the 2015 Hall Of Fame ceremony as Wrestlemania plans were already forming in advance.
"Honestly, I'm not surprised Vince talked you into this! He doesn't care about the health of his employees and you didn't know Owen!" Martha replied angrily.
"I was there in the arena that night… I actually got to meet him, I still have the autograph he signed. It was a short time but yes, I knew him as a fan. I saw the accident happen and I tried to run to the ring to check on him." Amanda explained, startling Martha. "I'm sorry you lost your husband, that your children lost their father… but he deserves to be honored and remembered by his fans and friends as well." She responded.
She heard the dial tone a second later… and Amanda put her LG Nexus 6 in her hoodie before she felt a pair of arms around her shoulders.
And turned to see 33 year old Finn Balor.
"No go?" Finn questioned.
"She hung up on me when I lost control of my mouth and told her that I knew Owen for only a few hours. I wasn't thinking when I said that." Amanda replied.
"She got under your skin and you feel like it was deliberate." Finn responded.
"When I mentioned the ceremony, she just started yelling at me. Tried to hang up but she just kept yelling and yelling and I finally admitted that Bret was the one who suggested it, which she didn't believe because she kept blaming Vince… no one could've known what would happen. And honestly, why can't Bret suggest that his brother join him in the Hall Of Fame? If anyone knew Owen better, it's his older brother." Amanda replied.
Nearby, Max and Chloe looked at each other.
"Well I'll be damned…" Max whispered, recognising Amanda.
"Have we seen her before?" Chloe questioned.
"We were at an event a few years ago and met her backstage. Her hair was a little lighter then." Max explained, noticing Amanda's hair was a chestnut brown now and pulled back into a ponytail. "She looks a little upset." She responded.
"And exhausted." Chloe replied, Max turning curious as Finn held Amanda.
"Maybe I should just call her back and apologize." Amanda responded.
"You told her what her brother in law wants, she just won't believe it." Finn replied.
Max went back a few minutes and flinched at the yelling from Martha, Max sitting down.
"Angry woman?" Chloe questioned.
"Angry widow. Her husband fell to his death 15 years ago at an event." Max explained, Chloe turning horrified.
"And the young lady there wants the good times to be remembered." Chloe replied, looking closer at Amanda… who was rubbing her head. "Max… she looks ill." She whispered, Max turning to where Amanda and Finn were.
"Stress of the business… enough of it can do that to people. You saw what I was like after…" Max responded, trailing off. Chloe didn't need her to continue, she knew already the mark that the storm and Mark Jefferson had left on her.
Finn guided Amanda to their locker room, sitting down and getting her to lie down with her head on his lap.
"Fucking migraine…" Amanda muttered as Finn removed the ponytail holder from Amanda's hair to let her achy head relax.
"Just rest now, Darlin'." Finn responded, turning the lights off halfway and rubbing her back.
"Preferably before Seth goes looking for us." Amanda replied.
Seth stormed into the backstage area, only for Max to stop him.
"Going somewhere?" Max questioned, knowing anger when she sensed it.
"You've seen a woman walk by here? 24, long dark hair, hazel eyes? She was supposed to interfere in my match and she didn't!" Seth responded.
"She's not feeling well, her friend got her to go lie down." Max explained, Seth rolling his eyes.
"You know, half the time I think he wants her tied to a chair so she can't go out of his sight." Seth responded. The moment he said that though, Max's demeanor dropped from casually curious to somewhere between shocked and disturbed.
"Why would you say that?" Max questioned, Seth looking at her and now noticing her sudden change, unable to quite work out why she seemed so negatively affected by a few words.
"It's only what I think he's after with her." Seth answered, Max's head tilting down a bit and her eyebrows lowering. "He'd have a room to just the two of them any day, keep her there so she'd never-" Seth then jumped back, taken off guard as Max had suddenly violently launched herself at him.
Chloe stepped out of the back room she'd been in as she heard Seth's surprised yelp, then Max in pain. She saw the two, Seth having grabbed Max with ease from her smaller size and had her gripped in an armlock, neither aware Chloe was there…
"Let her fucking go!" Chloe yelled. Seth noticed her then, when she had pulled her Colt revolver on him. He quickly released Max's arms and opened his arms out away from himself, though Chloe lowered the gun as soon as Max ran towards her and tightly gripped her arms around. "You're not there, Max. You escaped that place…"
Max sat up and Seth walked away in fright.
And Max and Chloe knew that the noise had echoed.
