Summary: Not set within current rivalries. Erica Marshall joins the WWE and is immediately thrown into the current storyline of a rivalry between Kane and the Great Khali. And while and on-screen romance develops between Erica and Kane, it's hard for an off-screen romance to be kept at bay. Please R&R!

Disclaimer: I don't own WWE or the characters in it. I only own my OC.

A/N: Okay, so I kinda had a weird dream to inspire this. During my teenage years I had a total crush on Kane...I think it's those big hands...Anyway, Please review, I hope you like it. I know it all kinda just kicks off in this chapter and there's no real background information but it will come, I promise.

Happy reading!

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In Fiction and In Reality

Chapter One

Erica knew the drill.

Get in the ring, win her début match against Torrie Wilson all in good sportsmanship, celebrate, make a début speech, be interrupted and assaulted by the Great Khali, and be rescued by Kane. She'd met everyone she needed to so things should go smoothly, surely. Nervously, Erica brushed out her dark locks, wincing as she found a knot in them. She always got more knots in her hair when she got nervous. She bit her soft, plump bottom lip as she looked over her reflection with her blue-grey eyes.

Her wrestling attire, black with white, blue, purple and pink swirls up the sides, covered her up as much as Vince would let it. Her fingerless black gloves made her hands look stronger, and her black elbow pads made her muscles look a little bigger. She looked strong. She looked kind of hot, if she said so herself. Little make-up but enough to make her look more beautiful. Her breasts were pushed up comfortably and padded for protection, and her legs looked long and sexy. Perfect.

Her character was meant to be sort of lost with a sweet disposition. Yet she was meant to be hiding a dark side, and a dark past. Much like Kane. In reality, Erica had a wonderful childhood, good education and had been rather popular in school, but she'd had her fair share of trauma and heartbreak. She was hoping to incorporate some of that into her character, so she would be able to make it more believable.

Taking a deep breath, she took a drink of water, and met up with Torrie who gave her a soft smile. The first night was always the scariest. It was always the toughest because the crowd would make a judgement from the performance and the 'stage presence'. Torrie headed out first, and with a shaking breath, Erica braced herself for the biggest moment in her life so far. Her music, Science by The Birthday Massacre began to play, and she waited for her cue to walk onto the stage. And she did, making sure to look around at the crowd and encourage them to cheer for her. They were cheering pretty loudly, which was a relief to her. It gave her a boost of confidence, and as she climbed into the ring, thankfully without tripping over the rope, she smiled at Torrie, and held her hand out for the other woman to shake it. Torrie happily obliged and the match got under way.

It wasn't too showy, but it was a rather exciting match, and by the end, Torrie was too exhausted to keep it going so she let Erica pin her so she could try to catch her breath. Erica, before even beginning her celebration, helped Torrie to her feet, and shook her hand, raising her hand with her own to show that there were no hard feelings and that Torrie had fought as hard as she had. The crowd went crazy. The good sportsmanship thing always went down a treat, and Torrie made her way up the ramp slowly, so Erica could start to make her speech. She leaned over the side of the ring, asking for a microphone, and was handed one so she could begin her speech.

"Well, well, well." She began, "I've been training a long time to get here. And I gotta say, for that reception alone, the blood, sweat and tears have all been worth it."

The fans cheered for her again, and she regained her breath, running a hand through her messy hair as she took a moment to remember her lines the best she could. Vince said they didn't have to be spot on, as long as they were pretty much accurate with what had been written for her. She'd written most of it herself.

"I'm here to make a good career for myself, and fulfil my dream." She said, "I wanna be Women's Champion, and I will fight to the death if I have to, to achieve that goal. And I just know that you guys are gonna be a great help to get me through. I feel at home already. Thank you so much for this warm welcome to the WWE."

The fans cheered again, but as they did, the familiar sound of an Indian sitar filled the arena, and the fans began to make booing sounds. Erica knew what was coming, but did her best to look confused as she awaited the mystery person interrupting her speech. And as the Great Khali made his entrance, her expression changed to one of fear. She wasn't scared of him at all in reality but she had to play it up for the fans.

She didn't want to over do it, so she just looked ahead with her thin eyebrows knotted in a frown, while her body moved slightly as though she was on edge. As the giant approached the ring, he pushed her down onto the mat, and backed her into one of the far corners of the ring. She sat there looking up at him, and listened as the translator sent a message to Khali's current rival, Kane. They were fighting over the World Heavyweight Championship, and Khali had been terrorising other superstars for the several weeks this storyline had gone on to try and provoke a reaction from Kane.

"Kane!" The translator called, "The Great Khali realises that some of those superstars he has taken out were capable of fighting him back, and he knows that maybe his actions haven't angered you as much as he'd hoped..."

He gave a cruel smile, perfect for the moment, Erica thought before he continued, and Erica focussed back on the giant above her who reached out to grab her hair. She knew what was coming, so she just took a deep breath to brace herself.

"So...We figured we'd try a new tactic. Let's see how you'll react when the Great Khali tests his true strength out on our newest Diva, huh?"

The crowd cried out in shock as Khali grabbed a hand full of Erica's hair and lifted her off the mat as if she weighed nothing. She screamed in agony, terrified that her scalp was going to come away from her head. She kicked and tried to get her feet onto the ropes, anything for some leverage, but then she felt the pain of hitting the mat again as the monster threw her down, and she hit her head hard. It knocked her into a daze for a moment, but that horrible, huge hand was in her hair again, grabbing it as he lifted her head and slammed it over and over into the mat.

It was relentless, like he didn't realise he shouldn't be taking it so far, and Erica's face was red and wet with the streaming of the countless tears pouring from her eyes both from fear and pain. She was praying for Glenn to make an entrance sooner rather than later. She felt her heart jump into her throat because she knew that right now, she really needed saving.

Then the bang came that signalled Kane's fireworks and she caught a glimpse of Glenn literally sprinting towards the ring. He shot down the ramp, and Erica felt nothing but relief as he pulled Khali off of her, Irish whipping him so hard that he flipped over the top rope of the ring and fell gracelessly onto the floor. She'd never seen a man move as fast in her life, so momentarily, she wondered how bad Khali had hurt her. Glenn did the best glare he could at the larger man, warning him off, and the translator merely pulled the Khali away. The fans were probably expecting a punch up, not what had been planned, which is why the cheering suddenly became sounds of confusion.

Glenn's concern was Erica. She'd been hurt much worse than intended, and despite his overwhelming fear for her safety, he stayed in character the best he could. He spared a few seconds to huff and puff as Kane would before he turned to gaze at the young woman sobbing on the mat. His expression became confusion, like he didn't understand the emotion he was feeling, just as the creative team had told him, and he slowly approached her. The crowd quietened down with anticipation, wondering what was going to happen.

Glenn knelt down, still in character, and touched Erica's shoulder. She flinched, and he knew that she wasn't putting that on. It was a fearful reaction to him touching her and, fuck, did that break him a little inside. He carefully placed his hands on her shoulders and took gentle hold of them, which made the crowd produce sounds of awe.

Carefully, slowly, he pulled her to him and helped her to sit, reaching forward with a little look of uncertainty and brushing the hair from her face. The growing bump on her forehead looked so painful, and her face had lost all colour. He realised she must have felt very nauseous, so he knew he had to move her quickly. He spoke to her gently, which made the crowd even more curious.

"You alright?" He asked, watching her nod, despite her expression telling him otherwise, "Let me help you up..."

He carefully slid out of the ring and helped her onto the side, outside the ropes, and he put one of her arms around the back of his neck, and one over his shoulder so she could hold onto him, and he softly gathered her in his arms, going back to his acting as he studied her tear soaked face. He began to walk away, studying her, watching her, but as he got further up the ramp, the rage of Kane began to show on the tall man's face.

And he made his way backstage, leaving the mesmerised and bewildered crowd behind.

-TBC-

Okay, I hope you enjoyed it!

Thanks for reading so far!

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